Studies indicate that there is a general lack of availability and use of women's speeches in college speech curricula. By incorporating more women's speeches as models, instructors of the basic course in speech can present a more complete picture of American public speaking while also encouraging women in these classes to feel less muted in their own lives. Recent speeches by such women as Barbara Bush, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Sarah Brady, Rosa Parks, and Maggie Kuhn represent many of the skills, issues, and areas of content likely to be discussed in a basic public speaking course. Some women leaders, including Barbara Jordan and Ann Richards, have written in detail about their preparation of important speeches, thus offering models of process as well as confirmation of the hard work and second thoughts characteristic of speech preparation. Finally, students and teachers alike should be open to re-estimations and re-evaluations of women writers and speakers. As Tillie Olsen has said, "Not to have an audience is a kind of death." (HB)