Dr. Colleen McMahon and Dr. Ronald Prindle operate on the principle of “if the perfect textbook does not exist, write it.”
Both being speech and communications professors, they undertook the task of writing 184 pages of Speech Writing and
Delivery for Public Relations in only three months.
Dr. Colleen McMahon
McMahon, after the update of the Public Relations curriculum and inclusion of a course by the same name, “Speech Writing and Delivery for Public Relations,” found that there was no “textbook that encompassed what we wanted it to encompass.”
The problem was not the absence of PR and Speech textbooks, but the absence of combined Public Relations, speech writing and delivery textbooks – not only regarding writing personal speeches, but writing speeches for other people and coaching clients on how to look and sound good.
Prindle and McMahon pitched the idea to Kendall-Hunt Publishers and by late August of 2014, the contract was secured. What followed was three months of writing on both the author’s parts, collaboration, discussion, editing with the invaluable help of Professor Susan English, and graphic design on Microsoft Word Processor.
McMahon says, “We devoted our Fridays and a lot of weekends to writing chapters. We kept each other motivated. [The book] is very practical, very user-friendly, with lots of current PR examples at the end of every
chapter.”
The textbook includes tear-out pages of along with a “Coach’s Corner”, which is comprised of the practical applications of coaching someone through the writing and delivery process.
As McMahon says, “[Coaching] is an important element that happens that people don’t realize.” in their textbook’s completion months ahead of schedule.
McMahon and Prindle’s efficiency resulted in their textbook’s completion months ahead of schedule.
Dr. Ron Prindle
Prindle says, “We completed our book well ahead of our deadline – it was ready in January.”
And although the book came together quickly, McMahon comments, “We feel that we’ve been writing this book for a long time, throughout our careers.”
McMahon will be using the book in two sections of Speech Writing and Delivery for Public Relations next semester, but finds that she is already using parts of the book in her current classes.
“It’s been a real treat for me,” she says. If the book is a success, which the professors are anticipating, they are prepared to continue updating Speech Writing and Delivery for Public Relations in the coming years.