Public Speaking: Chapter 8 - Supporting Your Ideas

Tips for using examples

1. use examples to clarify your ideas 2. use examples to reinforce your ideas 3. use examples to personalize your ideas 4. make your examples vivid and richly textured 5. practice delivery to enhance your extended examples

Understanding statistics

1. are the statistics representative? 2. are statistical measures used correctly? (mean, median, and mode) 3. are the statistics from a reliable source?

Tips for using testimony

1. quote or paraphrase accurately 2. use testimony from qualified sources 3. use testimony from unbiased sources 4. identify the people you quote or paraphrase

Tips for using statistics

1. use statistics to quantify your ideas 2. use statistics sparingly 3. identify the sources of your statistics 4. explain your statistics 5. round off complicated statistics 6. use visual aids to clarify statistical trends

Example

specific case used to illustrate or represent a group of people, ideas, conditions, experiences, or the like

Direct quotation

testimony that is presented word for word

Hypothetical example

that describes an imaginary or fictitious situation

Paraphrase

to restate or summarize a source's ideas in one's own words

Supporting materials

used to support a speaker's ideas. three major kinds of supporting materials are examples, statistics, and testimony

Brief example

specific case referred to in passing to illustrate a point

Extended example

a story, narrative, or anecdote developed at some length to illustrate a point

Peer testimony

from ordinary people with firsthand experience or insight on a topic

Expert testimony

from people who are recognized experts in their fields

Citing sources orally

identify some of the following: -book, magazine, newspaper, or web document -author or sponsoring organization of document -author's qualifications with regard to topic -date on which document was published, posted, or updated

Statistics

numerical data

Testimony

quotations or paraphrases used to support a point

Quoting versus paraphrasing

quotations when they are brief, convey your meaning better than you can, and are eloquent/witty/compelling. paraphrase when wording is obscure/cumbersome and longer than two or three sentences.

Quoting out of context

quoting a statement in such a way as to distort its meaning by removing the statement from the words and phrases surrounding it