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The Real Dirt Behind the New Edition of Speaking of Speech

Our story begins almost exactly three years ago when a young sales rep from Macmillan enthusiastically proposed a new edition of Speaking of Speech with a DVD. Knowing that a high quality professionally produced DVD is prohibitively expensive, we smiled at the young rep and thought to ourselves "I'll believe this when I see it."

Then, two years ago at JALT, we noticed a very attentive woman in the front row of our presentation (this is not to say that not all of the attendees to our presentations are attentive! They are! And they all sit on the very edge of their chairs...). After the presentation she tracked us down and introduced herself as a Macmillan executive who was very interested in doing a new edition of Speaking of Speech ? with you guessed it?a DVD! And, in order to offset the cost of the DVD, it would be sold not just in Japan, but also throughout Asia. A wider readership?every author's dream!

We worked out a very good working relationship with Macmillan. They kindly agreed to cede to us an unusual amount of control over the book. We all agreed that the second edition would not just have a few cosmetic changes. It would be a new edition, a fundamentally different?hopefully better--book.

As it turned out, the second edition is everything we wanted it to be:
1. The new DVD is on a different level than any video or DVD we have ever seen in the classroom. It elicits smiles and laughs from students during the sample speeches and even applause at the end of the speeches.

2. The Performance Units have been expanded and rewritten to include a new systematic approach to preparation.

3. The section on visuals has been expanded by 50% reflecting the need to address computer-projector presentations.

4. The book is full color, but does not use color gratuitously. It uses color for meaning, to color code and emphasize information. There is also a multitude of sample color slides in the visual section.

We have kept what you like and improved the rest. You will believe it when you see it!

Yours sincerely,
David Harrington
Charles LeBeau