THE PRINCETON REVIEW: SPEAK SMART

There are some valuable, if elementary, ideas in this public-speaking guide: Preparation, organization, knowing your audience, using visual aids, controlling body language--all of it good advice, read by a couple of perky speakers. But the program is ruined by silly skits that include cartoon-like impersonations of foreign-accented people and banter between the male and female narrators that involves sexual innuendo and references to bodily functions. Humor in a learning audio is risky to begin with unless it's totally genuine and well done. But when it's tasteless and politically incorrect, it's woefully out of place in a teaching audio intended for a serious audience. T.W. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 01]