Bundle: Duck: The Basics of Communication, 2e +Speechplanner

Steve Duck, The Basics of Communication: A Relational Perspective, Second Edition
The Basics of Communication offers an engaging look at the inseparable connection between relationships and communication. Steve Duck and David T. McMahan combine theory and application to introduce students to fundamental communication concepts. Their book also provides practical instruction on communicating interpersonally, in groups, in interviews and on making effective presentations. The authors encourage students to think critically, to link communication theory to their own experiences, and to improve their communication skills in the process.


SpeechPlanner is an interactive, web-based tool that guides you through the process of planning and preparing your speech, one step at a time. Featuring practical tips, strategies, and useful examples designed to explain and illustrate every stage of the speech-making process, this valuable planner makes it simple and easy to create highly effective, successful speeches anywhere, any time.

How much does SpeechPlanner cost?
SpeechPlanner can be bundled with any SAGE text for FREE! Click on the Packages tab above to see some of our most popular textbook bundles. It is also available for individual purchase by clicking the Buy Item Now button above. These access codes are also sold in college bookstores and via online retailers.

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About the Author :
Steve Duck taught in the United Kingdom before taking up the Daniel and Amy Starch Distinguished Research Chair in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Iowa. He has been a professor of communication studies, an adjunct professor of psychology, and a former Dean's Administrative Fellow and is now Chair of the Rhetoric Department. He has taught interpersonal communication courses, mostly on relationships but also on nonverbal communication, communication in everyday life, construction of identity, communication theory, organizational leadership, and procedures and practices for leaders. More recently, he has taught composition, speaking, and rhetoric, especially for STEM students. By training an interdisciplinary thinker, Steve has focused on the development and decline of relationships, although he has also done research on the dynamics of television production techniques and persuasive messages in health contexts. Steve has written or edited 60 books on relationships and other matters and was the founder and, for the first 15 years, the editor of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. His book Meaningful Relationships: Talking, Sense, and Relating won the G. R. Miller Book Award from the Interpersonal Communication Division of the National Communication Association. Steve cofounded a series of international conferences on personal relationships. He won the University of Iowa's first Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award in 2001 and the National Communication Association's Robert J. Kibler Memorial Award in 2004 for "dedication to excellence, commitment to the profession, concern for others, vision of what could be, acceptance of diversity, and forthrightness." He was the 2010 recipient of the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Helen Kechriotis Nelson Teaching Award for a lifetime of excellence in teaching, and in the same year was elected one of the National Communication Association's Distinguished Scholars. He received the NCA's 2019 Mark L. Knapp Award in Interpersonal Communication for career contributions to the study of interpersonal communication. He hopes to make it to the Iowa State Fair one day.