Site #1
Website Name: Speech Mastery.com
Web Site Address: http://www.speechmastery.com/persuasive-speech.html
Copyright Date/Update: September, 15 2008
Author/Organization: Jonathan Steele
Website Design/Ease of Navigation: This website is layed out in such a way that it is easy for the visitor to navigate through and easy to understand. The home page does a good job on highlighting different public speaking issues and allows the reader to think about their weakness as a speaker. On the left hand side of the site are many links that cover the different areas within the speech genre. One can find a link to speech blog, speaking skills, gestures, thoughts about power points, and speech topics just to name a few. All of these links are related to mastery in the many speech areas. Half way down the home page one can find a search box so the reader can easily search the site on any topic related to speech and public speaking. Another great thing about this site is it highlights key speech words so you can click on that word and find more information concerning that topic. For example, if you in the public speaking area and it mention persuasion then the persuasion word would be a link that would take you to an area of the site that talks about persuasion. This is one reason the site is so easy to navigate through. I like the fact that there is an area to post you thoughts and offer suggestions to the site as well as contacts link to contact the author of the site for questions.
My Response/Recommendation (Intended Audience)
This site offers a lot of information on different areas within the speech world. I would highly recommend this site for my students or any other person that is interested in speech/public speaking. I would highly encourage my students to participate in the blogs that are offered because the knowledge that can be gained there is tremendous. I would also encourage my students to use the site to help them in developing their speeches and post them on the blog so others can critique their work. This would not only improve their grades but allows them to get different perspectives on their work. The more feedback a student can get the better because it offers more chances to learn different things. I would also use the site to continue expanding my own personal knowledge on different speech topics as well as receiving tips and advice on speech lessons. Another feature of this web site that I like is the book review section. One has the chance to leave a book review over a speech book they have read and would like to share with others. This gives the reader a chance to find new reading material over the subject and other people’s opinions on that material. This site appeals to anyone that has to speak in public and/or give a speech of any kind. The site does a good job in helping you write and prepare a speech as well on great tips to help you deliver the speech in the most effective way. Not many sites offer this much information on a particular topic but this site really sets the standard in that area.
Site#2
Website Name: Writing Guides: Informative Speaking
Web Site Address: http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/speaking/infomod/index.cfm
Copyright Date/Update: 1993-2008
Author/Organization: Colorado State University
Website Design/Ease of Navigation:
The site is designed very well. All the sites links are listed on the left hand side of the page and are always present no matter what page you are on within the site. The home page does a great job of giving the reader an overview of what the site is about and what help could be offered within the site. The site is loaded with information dealing with informative speaking and all the information can be accessed at a moment’s notice. Across the top of the site are more links that lead the visitor to other related sites, site information, help, an area on teaching the subject, and a link so the viewer can leave feedback if they choose to. The font on the site is easy to read and the color scheme used makes it easy on the visitor’s eyes. The site designer did a great job in creating a user friendly site that everyone can enjoy using.
My Response/Recommendation (Intended Audience)
This site has many uses for anyone interested in learning more about informative speaking as well as teachers who have to teach on the subject. I would recommend the site to anyone that is interested in public speaking and especially for teachers looking for fresh ideas teaching the subject. The site I feel is geared towards speech students and or teachers but as I said before, it is user friendly for anyone that has no prior knowledge on the subject. The one thing that I like about this site is the area that is for teachers. Once inside the teaching area one can find links to teaching guides, teaching activities, teaching links, and an area on dealing with plagiarism just to name a few. The teaching activities section has activities that you can use within your class discussions, small group activities, peer review activities, working with sources, and other activities. This area alone offers teachers many tools needed to change up their lessons if they so choose to. Another useful link is geared toward both writers and teachers. The area of the site provides access to a wide range of resources for writers and teachers of writing. There is also an opportunity for the visitor to list their favorite site on the subject so others can have access to it. Another great area is an area on writing itself. There are writing activities, writing guides, and even an area to get feedback from others on your own personal writing. The writing activities section offers writing processes as well as different writing genres. The writing processes area focuses on preparing to write, starting to write, conducting research, reading and responding, planning, drafting, & organizing, revising and editing, and finally publishing. The different genres looked at are business writing, science writing, writing about literature, argument, and composition & academic writing. This area is a great resource for not only one’s students but also for anyone that is serious about their writing in general. To me this site can be used for many things. A speech teacher can use the site as a place to turn their students to in order to help with many of their assignments.
Site #3
Website Name: A Research Guide for Students
Web Site Address: http://www.aresearchguide.com/3tips.html
Copyright Date/Update: 1998-2008
Author/Organization: Online Computer Library Center
Website Design/Ease of Navigation:
This is a basic site that is easy to navigate through as most sites are. There are quick links at the top of the site that the reader can quickly access. These links are on topics like giving a presentation, presenting, public speech, and short speeches. Towards the bottom of the site there are many links to public speaking that can be accessed very quickly. Throughout the site there are key words that are highlighted in red so one can stumble across different topics and gain access to them. All links are in blue so it easy to see that they are clickable links. The whole site is easy to read and the language is such that all audiences can understand the material covered.
My Response/Recommendation (Intended Audience)
The site has a good overview on what public speaking is about. The topics covered deal with body language, maintain eye contact, speaking with conviction, not to read from notes, and the importance of speaking well and listening to your audience, These are all great things that one needs to know when studying the art of public speaking I would use this site mainly has a great place to find sources on public speaking. There are numerous links to great sites that give in depth information about public speaking and one can learn a great deal from these sites. This site kind of reminds me of a speech specific library that speech students can access quickly for great information and help on the topic of public speaking. The site was mainly targeted for students in public speaking class but made simple enough for others who may not have any background knowledge about the subject. I also like the articles on public speaking topics that are listed. It would be easy to print these articles off and use them as handouts within my classroom setting. These articles would aid in discussions that we may have as well as getting students to critically think about the subject. These articles include issues such as using humor, how to close a speech, identifying your audience, and attention gaining devices just to name a few. I would highly recommend this site because it’s a good resource for speech topics. The site itself may lack on in depth information but the amount of resources that can be found here are top notch and a must for anyone in the speech field.
Site #4
Website Name: Public Speaking Website
Web Site Address: http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_public_speaking_2/
Copyright Date/Update: 1995-2008
Author/Organization: Pearson Allyn & Bacon
Website Design/Ease of Navigation:
The website is easy on the eyes. The color scheme makes it easy to look at and enjoyable to navigate through. Up at the top of the site there is a drop down box that will take the reader to the different chapters/topics that are covered within the site. There is also a site search utility that one can use to search the site for topics that the reader may be interested in. The site uses pictures to lead the reader to different activities on the subject, links to other sites, and instructor notes that may be left for the students. For example, the picture of a pencil is what alerts the reader to learning activities, a picture of a building will lead you to other site links, and the picture of the man will lead you to instructor’s notes. The site is to be used with a textbook so it is interactive and very useful. The site is very basic so that makes it easy to navigate through and read. The language used is easy to understand and it seems to be on a level that everyone can interact with. The key words in the site are highlighted so one can get right to the topics that need to be covered. One glance at the site and you can see the topics that the site will cover and deal with.
My Response/Recommendation (Intended Audience)
This site is no doubt designed for students and teachers that are using the public speaking textbook that it requires. I think it is helpful to use a text that has an interactive site with it because it makes the lessons for the students more enjoyable and breaks up the old routine of reading a plain text. In today’s world, kids are growing up using technology that makes things easy and convenient for students. That is why I think it is important for teachers to use the technology available to enhance learning or else the student may get bored and not do as well as he/she could. That is why I like this site so much because it does just that. The site does a good job covering six different modules on public speaking. The modules cover assessing, analyzing, research, organizing, delivering, and discern. The assess module requires you to think about your speech and identifying the structure that is needed to make a good speech. The site suggest to the reader to consider the occasion, topic, speaking goal, and developing your central ideas and thesis. The site also offers great ideas on analyzing you audience. These ideas require you to consider the cultural background of the audience, gaining feedback from the audience, interacting with audience during speech, and exploring other characteristics of the audience. These are very important issues because to be an effective speaker one has to know who the audience in order to reach them. The site does a good job discussing these issues. I would recommend this site and textbook to all speech teachers if in fact they are able to choose their own text. Another great thing about this site is it suggests other books that the reader can get on the topic of public speaking. I always like sites that offer other resources for the reader to use so that it is easy to get other views on the topic of public speaking.
Site # 5
Web Site Address: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/
Copyright Date/Update: 2001-2008
Author/Organization: Michael E. Eidenmuller
Website Design/Ease of Navigation:
I feel this site is easy to navigate through even though there is a lot of information and links to explore. The home page has a list of site links on the left so one can easily scan through and access a topic. The rest of the page has different sections that are colored coordinated so you can easily tell the sections apart. This separates the different information that is provided and makes it easy and appealing to the eye. The site also has a “site search” so one can search for specific topics. This allows one to know immediately if the topic they are looking for is contained within the site. There is also a contact section so the reader can easily find and contact the author of the site as well as review the copy right information.
My Response/Recommendation (Intended Audience)
This site is jam packed full of information on rhetoric and different famous speeches from the times past. The site is for anyone that is eager to learn about rhetoric and the history of it. I do feel however that the site is mainly focused to scholars and others within the academic world. One of the great things about the site is the section on famous speech givers from our past times. The site offers definitions on rhetoric from the views of people such as Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, George Campbell, and I. A. Richards. There are also sections that are dedicated to just Plato and Aristotle and their view point on rhetoric. I really think that these two are the “fathers” of rhetoric and to focus on their view points of interest raise the credibility of the site. Another cool feature of the site is the rhetoric quiz. This can test your knowledge of past speeches and speakers and add a fun aspect to the site. There is a section of the site that ranks the top 100 speeches of all time. This can be used to find great quality speeches and use them in the class setting. These speeches can be read and analyzed by the students in open discussions in order to take them to a higher cognitive level. This is very important when trying to understand rhetoric and how to be an effective speaker. You can find Christian rhetoric, 9 1 1 rhetoric, and speeches used in the movies. This is the great thing about this site, it offers any kind of rhetoric that you can imagine. I feel this site highly promotes learning because it gives the readers many perspectives on speaking as well as many forms of work that has been written over time. I highly recommend this site to anyone that wants to improve their ability to speak and speak well. Great site!!
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