The new edition of Toward Speaking Excellence addresses the recent changes to the Test of Spoken English (TSE(R)). The text introduces readers to the format of the new TSE(R), typical questions, and scoring criteria. The second edition of Toward Speaking Excellence includes actual student responses that are used or modified to highlight specific characteristics of effective communication. Two complete sample TSE(R)-like tests are included for further practice. Also provided are practice with some of the skills that, while no longer tested on the TSE(R), are key to sounding more native-like and fluent. Toward Speaking Excellence may be used as an individual study tool or as a course text. While the material is directed toward the TSE(R) and SPEAK(R) tests, the communication strategies presented will prepare students for other types of oral exams (including the TAST(R), interviews, and performance tests. Toward Speaking Excellence is a course book but may also be used for individual test-preparation/self-study. Dean Papajohn is a Specialist in Education at the Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign..

A practical and empowering guide to public speaking and becoming a more effective, persuasive communicator in all areas of life. The world is full of brilliant people whose ideas are never heard. This book is designed to make sure that you’re not one of them. Even for the most self-confident among us, public speaking can be a nerve-racking ordeal. Whether you are speaking to a large audience, within a group, or in a oneon- one conversation, the way in which you communicate ideas, as much as the ideas themselves, can determine success or failure. In this invaluable guide from two of today’s most sought-after communication experts, you’ll learn to master three core principles that you can apply in a wide variety of situations: Content: Construct a clear and lucid architecture of ideas that will lead your listener through a memorable emotional experience. Delivery: Use your voice and body in ways that engage your audience and naturally support your message. State: Bring yourself into peak performance condition. The way you feel when you perform is the most frequently overlooked component of communication. Accessible, inspiring, and laden with useful tips, As We Speak will help you discover your authentic voice and learn to convey your ideas in the most powerful and unforgettable way possible.

Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of prac­ticing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct com­plex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By complet­ing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the meth­ods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard key­board, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the sim­ple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Fig­ure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcompo­nents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accu­rate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chain­saws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.

Learn the powerful techniques that will boost your presence and influence. Are you as successful as you'd like to be in meetings, presentations, speeches, and videoconferences? Do you achieve maximum impact and influence? Whatever your job title, when you speak you're the leader in the room. Learn how to influence others with poise, presence, and power. In this revolutionary book, actor and executive speech coach Dr. Gary Genard reveals the secrets of engaging, persuading, and inspiring any audience. Discover how cutting-edge research in neuroscience and emotion, storytelling, body language, voice, and audience dynamics can transform the way you move listeners. Gary Genard is the speech coach for multinationals, financial firms and healthcare organizations, entrepreneurs, the U.S. Congress and United Nations, governments worldwide, and nonprofits and small businesses. He is the author of Fearless Speaking, the book on overcoming speech anxiety named in 2019 as "One of the 100 Best Confidence Books of All Time," How to Give a Speech, and Speaking Virtually. Now he presents the definitive and comprehensive approach to public speaking performance. If you've ever wanted to speak with leadership presence, this is the book that will show you how! This guide to more profitable speaking will show you: How to fully develop your natural talents. Secrets for greater clarity, conciseness, and confidence. How to be comfortable and dynamic in front of large audiences. Ways to hook any audience within sixty seconds. Storytelling tips to move listeners emotionally. Essential qualities of speaking for leadership. An actor's techniques for commanding a stage. How to achieve virtual presence . . . and much more! "Speak for Leadership is an extraordinary book! It's a strikingly original approach to speaking strategically yet with a strong sense of performance." - Rebecca Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute.

As an annual event, International Conference on Language, Literature, and Education in Digital Era (ICLLE) 2019 continued the agenda to bring together researcher, academics, experts and professionals in examining selected theme by language, literature and education in digital era. In 2019, this event held in 19-20 July 2019 at Padang, Indonesia. The conference from any kind of stakeholders related with Language and literature especially in education. Each contributed paper was refereed before being accepted for publication. The double-blind peer reviewed was used in the paper selection.

Two sworn enemies start to fall in love through anonymous notes in How to Speak Boy, a fun and charming YA novel from Tiana Smith. Quinn and Grayson have been fierce speech and debate rivals for years. They can't stand one another, either in competition or in real life. But when their AP Government teacher returns their school assignments to the wrong cubbies, they begin exchanging anonymous notes without knowing who the other one is. Despite their differences, the two come together through their letters and find themselves unknowingly falling for the competition. Before the state tournament, the two of them need to figure out what they want out of life, or risk their own future happiness. After all, what’s the point of speech and debate if you can't say what's in your heart?

Performing Music History offers a unique perspective on music history and performance through a series of conversations with women and men intimately associated with music performance, history, and practice: the musicians themselves. Fifty-five celebrated artists—singers, pianists, violinists, cellists, flutists, horn players, oboists, composers, conductors, and jazz greats—provide interviews that encompass most of Western music history, from the Middle Ages to contemporary classical music, avant-garde innovations, and Broadway musicals. The book covers music history through lenses that include “authentic” performance, original instrumentation, and social context. Moreover, the musicians interviewed all bring to bear upon their respective subjects three outstanding qualities: 1) their high esteem in the music world as immediately recognizable names among musicians and public alike; 2) their energy and devotion to scholarship and the recovery of endangered musical heritages; and 3) their considerable skills, media savvy, and showmanship as communicators. Introductory essays to each chapter provide brief synopses of historical eras and topics. Combining careful scholarship and lively conversation, Performing Music History explores historical contexts for a host of fascinating issues.

Across Syria, many gardens conceal the dead bodies of activists and protestors who adorned the streets during the early periods of the uprising. These domestic burials play out a continuing collaboration between the living and the dead. The dead protect the living by not exposing them to further danger at the hands of the regime. The living protect the dead by conserving their identities, telling their stories, and not allowing their deaths to become instruments of the regime. Gardens Speak is an interactive sound installation that toured around the world. It contains the oral histories of ten ordinary people who were buried in Syrian gardens. Each narrative has been carefully constructed with the friends and family members of the deceased to retell their stories as they themselves would have recounted it.This book contains the narrative text of those ten oral histories in both English and spoken Arabic. It includes an acknowledgement and introduction by the artist, and illustrations of the audience experience in Gardens Speak.

In this instant New York Times bestseller, Angela Duckworth shows anyone striving to succeed that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent, but a special blend of passion and persistence she calls “grit.” “Inspiration for non-geniuses everywhere” (People). The daughter of a scientist who frequently noted her lack of “genius,” Angela Duckworth is now a celebrated researcher and professor. It was her early eye-opening stints in teaching, business consulting, and neuroscience that led to her hypothesis about what really drives success: not genius, but a unique combination of passion and long-term perseverance. In Grit, she takes us into the field to visit cadets struggling through their first days at West Point, teachers working in some of the toughest schools, and young finalists in the National Spelling Bee. She also mines fascinating insights from history and shows what can be gleaned from modern experiments in peak performance. Finally, she shares what she’s learned from interviewing dozens of high achievers—from JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff to Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll. “Duckworth’s ideas about the cultivation of tenacity have clearly changed some lives for the better” (The New York Times Book Review). Among Grit’s most valuable insights: any effort you make ultimately counts twice toward your goal; grit can be learned, regardless of IQ or circumstances; when it comes to child-rearing, neither a warm embrace nor high standards will work by themselves; how to trigger lifelong interest; the magic of the Hard Thing Rule; and so much more. Winningly personal, insightful, and even life-changing, Grit is a book about what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that—not talent or luck—makes all the difference. This is “a fascinating tour of the psychological research on success” (The Wall Street Journal).

If fear of public speaking is undermining your success, Fearless Speaking can change your life. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Gary Genard shares his proven method for transforming your self-doubt into confidence. His easy-to-use system will help you escape the negative thinking, physical symptoms, and avoidance behavior that are holding you back. This step-by-step, personalized approach features 50 exercises that will dramatically boost your comfort level and skill in as little as 12 days. From business presentations to contributing at meetings to persuasive speaking to wedding toasts, Fearless Speaking will help you put your anxiety into perspective, turn harmful self-talk into positive thinking, and acquire the skills to become a more dynamic speaker. You'll find techniques to dramatically reduce the physical and emotional aspects of stage fright while boosting your focus and presence. Actor and speech coach Dr. Genard shows you how to grow your confidence quickly with The Fearless Speaking System, a performance-based approach that has helped thousands worldwide. You'll learn how to understand your personal fears while discovering ways to create your own success. If you've been avoiding speaking opportunities, if you dread delivering speeches, or if you have a make-or-break presentation coming up, this is the book for you. It's a self-directed course for eliminating speaking fear forever that you can learn quickly, efficiently, and effectively. Dr. Genard's exercises, many of them directly from the world of the theater, help people from all walks of life deal with issues like establishing rapport with an audience, pacing your presentations, moving and activating listeners, and other critical challenges. Don't let fear of public speaking limit your success any longer. Read the book, practice the exercises . . . and start enjoying public speaking!