Public Speaking The ACA Open Knowledge Online Guide

Dearest Reader,

It is with great pride and pleasure that we present Public Speaking: The ACA Open Knowledge Online Guide. Since our founding in 1993, the American Communication Association has worked to advance the Communication discipline with projects inspired by Freedom, Openness, Inclusivity, Virtuality, Equality, and Cooperation. This new Public Speaking text demonstrates the revolutionary influence that scholars and practitioners can achieve when technology is harnessed to enrich the entire community. The World Wide Web liberated the publishing process from the need for physical resources, and with this textbook ACA shows that collaborators can not only generate high quality content, they can also freely share it with everyone.

The American Communication Association is an organization designed for innovation. We are launching this work in response to a very real and pressing need for many students in this country. Put simply, the cost of textbooks is excessive. Far more expensive than hardback best sellers, the traditional textbook model of education creates a marketplace of captive consumers. In contrast, ACA supports educational modes that enable community and equality. Here, each scholar’s work is provided at no charge. This is not a new idea. Benjamin Franklin took no ownership of the products he created. Franklin’s stove design advanced society and immeasurably improved millions of lives. We do not suppose that this textbook is comparable to a stove, but we know studying the art of Communication can certainly improve lives. If this project eases the financial burden of one student, or provides a learning resource for one person, or assists the teaching of one professor, then our mission will be accomplished. If this concept finds wings, we hope that other works will follow and that in some small way we will be able to ease the burden for those who want access to higher education.

This Public Speaking guide is offered freely as a gift to all who love the Communication discipline and believe in the value of critical listening and effective expression. Digital publishing costs are modest and ACA is proud to fund server rentals and related expenses. If you also find this textbook valuable and would like to provide financial support for future developments, please visit http://www.americancomm.org/donate.php to share your donation.

Of course this text is not the only free ACA project. Freedom is one of our Core Values so almost everything about our association is free, including membership! There are no dues for ACA; to become a member simply visit http://www.americancomm.org/join-membership.php and sign up for our open member listserv. While visiting the site, please take some time to look into our other wonderful projects, like our free peer-reviewed scholarly journal and our new discussion boards. It’s easy to volunteer to help too, just start posting ideas to the listserv and get to work!

Public Speaking: The ACA Open Knowledge Online Guide represents an exciting revolution in the textbook industry. It’s an entire college course worth of material composed by experts and designed by professionals, all freely offered in an easily accessible format. Wow!!! Please join ACA in offering heartfelt thanks to Ty Adams, Lori Roe, Christine Krus, and all of our fine volunteers for making an amazing contribution to our discipline.

Sincerely,