1. Foundations of persuasion / Johann C. de Wet -- Persuasion as a process of communication -- Persuasive communication: the historical context -- Plato's criticism of rhetoric -- Aristotle's view of rhetoric -- Uses of rhetoric -- Differences between rhetoric and dialectic -- Rhetoric as an art -- Artistic proofs and the enthymeme -- The Romans and the classical tradition -- Cicero -- Quintilian -- 2. Theories of persuasion / Johann C. de Wet -- Persuasion in an interpersonal setting: broad starting-points -- Verbal messages -- Theories of persuasion -- Attitude-change theory -- Learning theories -- Classical conditioning and Skinnerian behaviourism -- Social learning theory -- Consistency theories -- Balance theory -- Congruency theory -- Cognitive dissonance theory -- Belief-hierarchy theory -- Social judgement-involvement theory -- Mass media effects theories -- Mill's theory -- Technological determinism -- Uses and gratifications theory -- Climate-setting theory -- Agenda-setting theory -- 3. Introduction to public speaking -- The oral tradition -- Importance of public speaking -- The public speaking process -- Differences between public speaking and other forms of communication -- Ethics and public speaking -- Listening in the public speaking context -- A preview of the steps in speech preparation.

4. Analysing the audience -- Types of information -- Gathering the information -- How to use the information: adapting to your audience -- 5. Selecting a topic and purpose -- Choosing a topic -- Determining the general purpose -- Phrasing the central idea -- 6. Supporting your ideas -- Forms of support -- Where to locate supporting material -- Recording your information and citing your sources -- 7. Organising your material -- Structure of the speech -- Organising the body of the speech -- Preparing the introduction -- Preparing the conclusion -- 8. Preparing the delivery -- Verbal behaviour -- Vocal behaviour -- Visual behaviour -- Overcoming speech apprehension -- Methods of delivery -- Practising an extemporaneous speech -- 9. Persuasive speeches -- Attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviour -- Developing your persuasive speech -- Persuasive strategies -- Organising your persuasive speech -- Evaluating speeches -- Maslow's pyramid of needs -- Speech evaluation form -- The SMMA speech evaluation system.