Week 15 · Readings & resources

Week 15 — Readings & Resources

Public Speaking Free sample edition

Your primary reading is Chapter 15 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 10 items (4 readings and 6 videos). Allow 35–44 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (16–21 min total)

① Answering when you had no time to prepare

Chapter 15, Section “The PREP frame: build an answer in four parts” · Session 1, Segment 2, “The PREP frame” · Remember: say the point first, pick one frame, and finish it.

Impromptu Speaking: How to Get Better at Speaking on the Spot — Toastmasters International — a short tutorial from a public-speaking champion that walks through PREP (point, reason, example, point), adds a pros-versus-cons pattern, and warns that the big risk of speaking on the spot is rambling; as you watch, notice that its PREP uses the chapter's four labels, though its reason step explains why you chose the topic and its example step allows several examples, where the chapter's reason supports the point and one example backs it, and treat pros versus cons as one more single frame, never a second frame inside the same answer. (video, 6 min) (captions: creator)
Improve Your Impromptu Speaking — Toastmasters International — a magazine article on calming your body before you answer, listening for the real question, and organizing a reply as "What? So what? Now what?"; compare that shape with PREP and with the two backup frames, and decide which one you would commit to for a drawn prompt. This builds on Week 9's work with impromptu delivery. (reading, 5–7 min)
Preparing for an Interview — NWS Learning Office — a weather forecaster explains how to handle a surprise request for a media interview: ask for a little time, breathe, and plan the basic who, what, where, and when before you speak; it is buying time on a bigger scale, so use it while you complete the Week-15 module overview. (video, 2 min) (captions: creator)

② Taking questions from the audience

Chapter 15, Section “The Q&A session: answer every question honestly” · Session 2, Segment 4, “The Q&A session” · Remember: hear the whole question, say it back, answer with a point and one support, and tell the truth when you do not know.

Dealing With Presentation Questions — SkillsYouNeed — a practical guide to the question period: restate each question so the room hears it, treat a provocative question as a real request for information and answer calmly, and admit when you do not know, then follow up; match each tip to one move in the chapter's Q&A toolkit. (reading, 5–8 min)
The ABCs of Answering Difficult Questions in Academic Presentations — Digital Learning Commons — a one-page guide built on three moves, acknowledge the question, be honest, and contribute what you do know; read the "be honest" part beside the chapter's unknown question and notice that neither source lets a speaker bluff. Its sample replies open with "That's a great question!" and allow a guess labelled as a guess; this course trades the stock compliment for a pause and a reframe, and meets an unknown question with "I don't know, but I can find out" rather than a guess. (reading, 4–6 min)
Having All the Answers — NWS Learning Office — a two-minute tip from a forecaster on media questions: use plain language, think ahead to the questions people will ask, and if you do not have an answer, say so, offer to find it, and never make information up. (video, 2 min) (captions: creator)
AAP Media Training 101: Bridging Technique — American Academy of Pediatrics — a physician shows how a spokesperson turns a loaded media question back toward the message without getting angry; it is the chapter's bridge, but notice the difference in setting: in a Q&A session you answer the real question first and bridge sparingly, once, where it is needed. (video, 2 min) (captions: automatic)

③ Keeping the message when something goes wrong

Chapter 15, Section “Mishaps: recover with one calm sentence” · Session 2, Segment 5, “Mishaps” · Remember: know your summary sentence before you walk up, and keep one calm sentence ready for a dark slide.

AAP Media Training 101: Controlling the Interview — American Academy of Pediatrics — a physician explains how to boil a message down to a few key points, keep an outline of them in your head, and plan transitions so each answer leads to the next; it is the summary sentence and Week 5's organizing work applied to questions you cannot script. (video, 2 min) (captions: automatic)
Toastmasters Tips – What to Do if You Get Sidetracked — Toastmasters International — a short tip from a public-speaking organization on losing your place mid-speech: rehearse the ideas rather than every word, keep your note cards numbered, and if you blank, pause, breathe, and keep going without apologizing; it covers the blank rather than the dark slide, so pair it with the chapter's one calm sentence for a slide that will not load, and treat its advice on blue cards as one coach's preference. (video, 4 min) (captions: creator)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

Credo for Ethical Communication — National Communication Association — the communication field's ethics statement; reread its principle on truthfulness and accuracy and connect it to the honest answer in a Q&A session, where an invented figure is a fabrication. (reading, 3–5 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

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