DSST Principles of Speech

[Lady Grace of Pemberley]

Okay, my next test is the Principles of Speech . Just wondering if there's one good book to use. I read on the forum that some people recommend Mcgraw-Hill's "The Art of Public Speaking," Lady Grace of Pemberley said that she used "The Wise Owl Guide" to this exam, and I also have access to Peterson's "Official Guide to Mastering the DSST." Is a combination good, or can I use just one, and is there one that is better than the others?

Hello, SoliDeoGloria! You probably won't need to use all of those books. To be honest, the multiple-choice part was mostly common sense (i.e. "In which situation will your audience be more receptive to your message? When you are screaming at them or when you sprinkle advice in with praise?"). Whichever book you get, you'll probably just need to skim it briefly. On another random note, if you've taken the Technical Writing DSST, that will help you a lot - I found the questions on those two tests to be quite similar. Focus more time on practicing speeches; that was a lot tougher and more stressful for me! However, having taken the College Composition CLEP with essays will be a HUGE help to you as you are preparing for the speech section!! The format you should probably use for the speech is almost exactly like the essays you probably wrote for the College Comp. CLEP. In fact, the essay topic for the citation essay on the Comp. CLEP was the exact same topic as the speech from my Public Speaking DSST!! Definitely made the essay a lot easier to already know my points. Good luck on your test, and let me know if you have any questions!