Principals of Public Speaking

Which speech purpose statement is not too vague or general?

"Washing hands kills germs", "washing hands is important", and "washing hands frquently" are too vague or general to be sound speech topics.

The "ABC" sequence of CPR resuscitation (airway, breathing, compression) is an example of what type of memory trick?

A mnemonic device is a trick to aid in easily remembering a piece of information.

What type of speech connective indicates where the speaker is during the speech, as well as focuses attention on key ideas the speaker is trying to convey?

A signpost indicates where the speaker is during the speech and focuses attention on key ideas.

To develop an effective counter-argument, what steps should be followed?

Developing an effective counter-argument requires four steps: listening and note-taking, deciding whether to respond, organizing a response, and maintaining an intellectual level of credibility.

What are the two types of speech anxiety?

State apprehension is anxiety felt in certain settings or situations. Trait apprehension is anxiety felt facing any communication situation.

Regarding the centrality of speech, who argued many years ago that the biological roots of all cultures can be found by looking at speech and communications?

Stephen Colbert and Walter Ong are contemporary figures, and Susan B. Anthony historically suffered public censure for her speeches. Edward Hall stated almost fifty years ago that cultural roots were found in speech.

Establishing good will, beginning with areas of agreement, and offering principles of judgement are ways to accomplish what difficult task?

Successfully dealing with hostile audiences requires a speaker to establish good will, begin on common ground, and offer a pre-determined set of principles with which to evaluate ideas.

In a speech to the rotary club of a small southern town, a European Nobel-prize winning scientist makes a joke comparing atomic elementary particles to the castles of his hometown in Romania. The joke earns confused looks from his audience. What error in judgment did the speaker make?

By assuming that his audience had background about atomic elementary particles or the castles in Romania, the speaker overestimated his audience's base of knowledge.

What types of exercises are helpful to a speaker in improving vocal control?

Exercises to improve vocal control are breath control, pitch control, and articulatory control.

What three things are considered when evaluating the effectiveness of an argument?

In evaluating an argument, it is important to consider whether the speaker's points were valid, truthful, and ethical.

Illustrating your speech with examples of friends who have successfully lost weight using a specific diet aid is offering what type of supporting evidence?

Others' experiences are examples of qualitative evidence.

What type of language construct is the following an example of? "I live on the planet Earth. I live in the Northern Hemisphere. I live in the United States."

Parallelism is the similar arrangement of words or phrases.

Which philosopher was of the opinion that, ideally, all speech should be honest and focused toward the betterment of a society?

Plato was a Greek philosopher who believed in the honesty and positive society focus of public speech.

What are three major types of evidentiary materials used to support a speaker's main points?

Testimony, examples, and statistics are three types of supporting materials used in a speech.

Creating clear and solid connections between different parts of a speech in order to ensure a sound flow of the speaker's points is called what?

The associative coherence of a speech refers to the clear, solid, and cohesive connections between the different parts of the speech.

What is the difference between the denotative meaning and connotative meaning of a word?

The denotative meaning of a word is its' literal definition while the connotative meaning is the suggested or associated meaning.

A speech about common methods of medical equipment sterilization that ends with the introduction of a newly-developed method of sterilization is delivered in which type of audience-centered pattern of organization?

The familiarity-acceptance order pattern of organization begins with information known to the audience and concludes with new information related to the topic.

What are the two types of bibliographic formats used to cite resources used for a presentation?

The two types of bibliographic formatting methods are called MLA and APA.