Dissatisfied with public speaking textbooks on the market, Mark Ward Sr., a communication professor at Texas A&M University-Victoria, wrote his own. “Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach” was published in 2022 and has since been adopted by multiple institutions. Now Ward’s book has been honored by the National Communication Association as the recipient of its 2025 Distinguished Textbook Award.

Mark Ward

“The recognition is special because it’s judged and presented by the association’s Basic Course Division, made up of faculty who direct and teach their institution’s core courses in oral communication,” Ward said. “Only one book is selected each year and is recognized for bringing to the field a ‘unique approach and impact.’”

The honor, titled the Bill Seiler Distinguished Textbook Award, will be formally presented during the NCA annual convention to be held Nov. 20-23 in Denver, Colo.

Craig Goodman

“Dr. Ward’s work demonstrates his commitment both in the classroom and as a leading scholar of Communication in the United States,” said Craig Goodman, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences. “His textbook provides a new lens for teaching and promoting more effective student learning.”

Ward joined the faculty of what was then the University of Houston-Victoria in 2010 when the university became a four-year institution and for the first time added a core curriculum of freshman and sophomore courses. He was tasked with developing the basic course in public speaking.

The traditional method to teach public speaking is a deductive method, Ward said. The instructor explains all the parts of an effective speech, and then students are expected to deliver a full speech. However, Ward found that students, when expected to give a full speech from their first attempt, felt anxiety.

“So, with our students, I piloted a new inductive teaching approach,” Ward said. “The components of an effective speech are broken down into small, manageable chunks and learned one at a time. As students acquire each skill, they build gradually toward a full speech, like constructing a building one brick at a time.”

Ward found this inductive method of teaching reduced students’ anxiety while improving their retention of each skill. For that reason, he saw that teaching inductively was a better fit for students who were often the first in their families to attend college. Being new to the college experience, they could struggle with readiness.

“I also noticed that other textbooks started with abstract principles of public speaking,” Ward said. “But when students are brand new to college and dread public speaking, the time to hit them with abstractions isn’t in the first weeks of the course.”

Instead, “Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach” begins with hands-on speaking exercises as students learn to give a one-minute speech introduction and a one-minute conclusion.

“These are short and easy to master,” Ward said, “but they give students an initial experience of success that encourages them and reduces their anxiety.”

Ward’s textbook also incorporates the power of small group learning, as students are put into small groups that they keep all semester.

“This gives each student a small group of familiar faces who sit together in class,” Ward said. “They encourage and help each other, which reduces anxiety, but they also hold each other accountable. Especially among first-year students, I found that group members often become friends and socialize outside of class.”

Finally, the book’s teaching strategies include the use of grading rubrics. Ward designed one-page rubrics with check-off boxes that precisely but simply spell out what students must do and in what sequence.

“Having an easy-to-use checklist further reduces students’ anxiety and allows instructors to give faster scoring and feedback,” Ward said. “Also, using the same rubric for every assigned speech gives instructors a baseline for their teaching, which is then reinforced by repetition.”

“Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach” is available from FlatWorld, publisher of more than 145 college textbooks across more than 20 academic disciplines. The book is used at A&M-Victoria for the first-year core course in public speaking, which is required of all students, and for the third-year course in professional speaking.

“Learning the components of an effective oral presentation is a vital skill for students’ careers and personal lives,” Ward said. “These skills have enriched my own life and career, and so I’m passionate about giving students a toolkit they can use to hone their speaking skills in college and after graduation.”