Chapter 5 Public Speaking

Why is audience analysis important in the research strategy?

A careful audience analysis gives you information about who they are, what they know, and what they value. Understanding your audience helps you develop specific questions that can be answered as you follow your search strategy.

What steps are involved in a research strategy?

Analyze the Audience, Assess your Knowledge/Skill, Search Print and Online Resources, and Interview.

What guidelines does the book offer for using statistics in a speech?

Be precise, avoid using too many statistics, cite your sources, use visuals aids to express statistics.

What kinds of specific library resources are available?

Books, General Reference Materials, Biographical Sources, Magazines, Newspapers, and Journals, Government Documents.

What is the difference between brief and extended examples? Real and hypothetical examples?

Brief examples are short illustrations that clarify a general statement. Extended examples are longer and richer in detail than brief examples. They are used most effectively to build images and to create a lasting impression on the audience. Sometimes the best examples are real and come from your personal experience. By revealing parts of your life that relate to your speech topic, you provide convincing evidence and, at the same time, potentially create a powerful bond between you and your audience. Hypothetical examples are useful when you want to exaggerate a point or when you cannot find a factual illustration for your speech. To be effective, they must be tied in some way to the point you are trying to illustrate.

What guidelines does the book offer for using facts in a speech?

Carefully determine how many facts to use, define terms when they are introduced, make sure your meanings are clear.

Why is it important to cite the sources of information in your speech?

Citing or documenting the sources used in your research serves two purposes. First, it gives proper credit to the authors of the materials used. Second, it allows those who are reading your work to duplicate your research and locate the sources that you have listed as references.

In online searches, what is the difference between databases and other websites?

Consider using online databases such as ProQuest, InfoTrac, and EBSCO. According to InfoTrac College Edition's website, more than 20 million scholarly and popular articles from nearly 6,000 sources are available to you. The advantage of using this resource is that you can access cross-disciplinary, reliable, full-length articles.

If you're interviewing someone, what guidelines should you follow?

Contact the person well in advance, prepare questions in advance, develop questions in a logical order, stay within the agreed time frame.

Can you identify the difference between correct and incorrect source citations?

Correct Source Citations: In their 2016 book on intercultural communication, researchers Samovar, Porter, and McDaniel argue that travel has extended our sources of diversity because we can now be exposed "to cultural idiosyncrasies in the perception of time and space, the treatment of women and the elderly, the ways and means of conducting business, and even the discovery and meaning of truth." Incorrect Source Citation: Researchers on intercultural communication argue international travel exposes us to many more aspects of culture than it used to, including observing how people treat women and the elderly, and how they conduct business.

Can you give an example of a database in the MSU library?

EBSCOhost.

How much of your research needs to be cited in your speech?

Essentially, all research used in your speech needs to be cited. Otherwise, you have committed an act of plagiarism.

What are analogies?

Establishes common links between similar and not-so-similar concepts.

Why are examples helpful to use in a speech?

Examples are brief or extended, examples are real or hypothetical, examples can be in narrative form.

What are the types of testimony (experience, opinion, and short quotation)?

Experience may be the most credible choice in some cases because someone was "on the scene." It is possible to use your own testimony when you are an expert. In some circumstances, the opinion of a recognized authority may provide the credibility needed to strengthen your argument or prove a point. A short quotation is a form of testimony, but its purpose is often different. Frequently, short quotations are used to set the tone of a speech, to provide humor, or to make important points more memorable.

Can you explain/recognize the difference between fact and opinion?

Facts are verifiable and irrefutable pieces of evidence. Opinions are points of view that may or may not be supported in fact. Too often, speakers confuse fact and opinion when adding supporting material to a speech. For example, while it is a fact that Leonardo DiCaprio won the 2016 Academy Award for Best Actor, it is opinion to state that he is the best actor in Hollywood.

What purposes do facts serve?

Facts clarify your main point, facts indicate your knowledge of the subject, and facts define.

What's the difference between a figurative and literal analogy? Can you provide examples of each?

Figurative analogies draw comparisons between things that are distinctly different in an attempt to clarify a concept or persuade. Biology professor and world-renowned environmentalist Paul Ehrlich uses an analogy of a globe holding and draining water to explain the problem of the world population explosion. A literal analogy compares like things from similar classes, such as a game of professional football with a game of college football.

What is a research strategy important?

For any speaking engagement, among other things, you need to know the length of the speech, the audience you'll speak before, the audience's expectations in terms of topic/content, and the most effective types of supporting material for that audience. The best-delivered speech will fall short if it is too long, poorly developed, and insufficiently supported.

In what ways can statistics be misleading?

For example, if one were to examine the National League of Baseball (NLB) salaries for 2010, one would find the highest salary went to Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees. He earned $33,000,000. However, the average, or mean, salary for the New York Yankees was $8,253,335, and both the mean and median salaries were $5,500,000. The lowest salary was just over $400,000 (usatoday.com/ sports data/baseball). In this case, simply discussing these three statistical measures is not helpful, unless you want to make the point that salaries are not consistent. It might make more sense to discuss the range of salaries or look at a particular group of players' salaries. When using statistics in your speech, it is important to understand what they mean.

What is the role of research in a speech?

Research provides the foundation for your speech. It enhances knowledge you may already have by giving you the tools to expand your thesis statement into a full-length presentation.

What is "testimony" in a public speaking context?

In public speaking, testimony has nothing to do with the law, but it has everything to do with credibility. When you cite the words of others, either directly or through paraphrasing, you are attempting, in effect, to strengthen your position by telling your audience that people with special knowledge support your position or take your side. Testimony can cite either experience or opinion. Also, short quotations are an effective way to provide testimony.

When must you cite a source?

In summary, remember that you do not need to cite sources when you are reporting your own original ideas or discussing ideas that are commonly held. You must cite sources when you are quoting directly or paraphrasing (restating or summarizing a source's ideas in your own words). You must also cite the source of an illustration, diagram, or graph.

What is a narrative, and how does it relate to examples?

Narratives are stories within a speech; anecdotes that create visual images in listeners' minds. In many ways, they take extended examples a step further by involving listeners in a tale that captures attention and makes a point—a story connected to the speaker's core idea. Many listeners love a good story, and when the speech is over, the narrative is what they remember.

What is the difference between primary and secondary sources?

Primary sources are firsthand accounts such as diaries, journals, and letters, as well as statistics, speeches, and interviews. They are records of events as they are first described. Secondary sources generally provide an analysis, an explanation, or a restatement of a primary source.

What criteria should be used to evaluate web sites in general?

Seek information from competent, qualified sources and avoid information from uninformed individuals with little or no credentials. Authority, Accuracy, Objectivity, Coverage, Currency.

What are the five functions of support?

Support is Specific, Support helps to Clarify Ideas, Support Adds Weight, Support is Appropriate to your Audience, Support Creates Interest.

Why is support material important in a speech?

Supporting material gives substance to your assertions.

What does the "supporting materials" mean?

Supporting material is the information used in a way to make your case.

What are statistics?

The collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of information in numerical form.

How might testimony be used unethically?

To be effective, however, testimony needs to be used in its proper context. Purposefully distorting testimony to suit the needs of your speech is misleading and unethical. Be honest to your source as well as your audience.

What guidelines does the book suggest for using analogies?

Use analogies to build the power of your argument, be certain the analogy is clear, and avoid using too many analogies.

What guidelines does the book suggest for using examples?

Use examples frequently, use only the amount of detail necessary, and use examples to explain new concepts.

What guidelines does the book suggest for using testimony?

Use only recognizable or credible testimony and quotations, choose unbiased experts, identify the source, and develop techniques to signal the beginning and ending of each quotation.

What is fact?

Verifiable and irrefutable pieces of information.