Public Speaking Midterm Exam

Which of the following is included in your textbook as a guideline for effective online speaking?

- Control the visual environment - Adapt your nonverbal communication - Adjust your pacing

When organizing your introductory speech, you should divide it into what three sections?

- Introduction - Body - Conclusion

Two steps for developing your introductory speech

- Preparing your speech - Delivering your speech

What steps should you take when rehearsing your first speech?

- Rehearse your speech out loud - ask someone to listen and give back constructive feedback - Time your speech to make sure it's in the time liit

Possible sources of interference in online speeches include

- Someone entering the room where the audience is located - Bandwidth congestion on the audience's computers - Updates arriving on your computer during the speech

What five elements of speech delivery are discussed to presenting your first speech?

- Starting your speech - Gestures - Eye contact - Voice - Dealing with nerves

Controlling the visual environment of an online speech includes

- choosing a setting that is free of noise and clutter. - checking the location of your webcam. - taking your personal appearance seriously.

When gauging your audience's disposition toward the speech topic, you should take into account their

- interest in the topic. - knowledge about the topic. - attitude toward the topic.

What does critical thinking include?

- seeing the relationships among ideas - Judging the credibility of statements - Assessing the soundness of evidence

What is likely to help you deal with nervousness in your speeches?

-Visualize yourself giving a strong speech - Focus on communicating rather than on being nervous - Be thoroughly prepared for each speech.

If you were giving an informative speech on the subject of troglodytes, you would probably include a ____________ in your introduction. 1. definition 2. startling statement 3. personal story 4. narrative

1. definition

One of the advantages of using the extemporaneous method of delivery is that it 1. ensures a precise choice of words. 2. encourages conversational quality. 3. requires only limited preparation. 4. allows for better articulation.

2. encourages conversational quality.

As your textbook explains, even when you use other interest-arousing lures in a speech introduction, you should always ____________. 1. startle the audience 2. ask the audience a question 3. relate the topic to the audience 4. begin with a quotation

3. relate the topic to the audience

When practicing your speech delivery, you should do all the following except 1. record the speech to see how you sound. 2. include delivery cues on your speaking outline. 3. try to learn your speech word for word. 4. practice in front of friends or family.

3. try to learn your speech word for word.

In which of the following situations will the personal appearance of the speaker have an impact on the audience's perception of the speaker? 1. a police officer presenting an educational talk 2. a concerned citizen being interviewed on the news 3. a lawyer addressing a jury 4. All answers are correct.

4. All answers are correct.

When you end your speech, you should 1. maintain eye contact for a few moments after you stop talking. 2. collect your notes and any visual aids you may have used. 3. maintain a cool, collected demeanor as you return to your seat. 4. All answers are correct.

4. All answers are correct.

_______is a method of generating ideas for speech topics by free association of words and ideas.

Brainstorming

The ____________ is a one-sentence statement that sums up or encapsulates the main points of a speech.

Central idea

_____________is a variety of a language distinguished by variations of accent, grammar, or vocabulary.

Dialect

A ____________ ending is a type of speech conclusion that generates emotional appeal by fading step by step to a dramatic final statement.

Dissolve

According to your textbook, the tendency of people to be concerned above all with their own values, beliefs, and well-being is called ____

Egocentrism

______is the belief that one's own group or culture is superior to all other groups or cultures.

Ethnocentrism

According to your textbook, online speakers should avoid using visual aids. T/F?

False

Adapting your message to the needs of a particular audience means that you must inevitably compromise your beliefs. T/F?

False

Although the specific purpose statement for a speech should not be phrased as a question, it is acceptable to phrase the central idea as a question. T/F?

False

Audience analysis is less important for online speeches than for speeches delivered to an audience that is physically present. T/F?

False

Because of the dynamic nature of the online environment, speakers can rest assured that the audience will pay close attention to their online speech. T/F?

False

In an online speech you have essentially the same relationship with your audience as in an in-person speech. T/F?

False

Listeners usually realize how tense a speaker is. T/F

False

Most successful speakers do not experience stage fright. T/F

False

One key to successful speaking is determining which audiences are worthy of your best efforts to communicate your ideas. T/F?

False

Taking account of your listeners' racial, ethnic, or cultural background is an important factor in situational audience analysis. T/F?

False

The best rate for effective public speaking is 110 words per minute. T/F?

False

The central idea of a speech is usually formulated before the specific purpose. T/F?

False

The primary rule of using gestures in a speech is to gesture frequently and emphatically so that listeners notice what you are doing. T/F?

False

When giving an online presentation, you should speak with your back to a window so there will be plenty of light. T/F?

False

When giving an online speech, you should talk directly into the computer monitor because that is where the webcam is located. T/F?

False

When you give a real-time online speech, you should position the webcam so it is tilted up at your face. T/F?

False

The messages, usually nonverbal, sent from a listener to a speaker are called ______

Feedback

The knowledge, experience, goals, values, and attitudes through which each listener filters a message make up the listener's ______.

Frame of reference

______________ are discussed in your textbook as elements of the visual environment for online speeches.

Framing, eye contact, and lighting

___________ are changes in the pitch or tone of a speaker's voice.

Inflections

According to your textbook, ______ is anything that impedes the communication of a message.

Interference

Identify the flaw in the following specific purpose statement: "To persuade my audience that our state legislature should protect Internet privacy and increase spending for education."

It contains two unrelated ideas.

Identify the flaw in the following specific purpose statement: "Why should the university raise tuition?"

It's expressed as a question.

Identify the flaw in the following central idea for a speech: "Something should be done about rising sea levels."

It's too vague.

When accuracy is essential and a speech must be delivered word for word, ____________ delivery is most appropriate.

Manuscript

Speakers who lack vocal variety are said to speak in a ___________.

Monotone

__________is based on a person's use of voice and body rather than on the use of words.

Nonverbal communication

As Mark Twain noted, "The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed ____________."

Pause

____________ is the lowness or highness of the speaker's voice.

Pitch

______ is controlled nervousness that helps energize a speaker for his or her presentation.

Positive nervousness

The two major kinds of speeches discussed in the chapter are ___________ online speeches and __________ online speeches.

Recorded, real-time

The ____________ is what a speaker wants the audience to remember after it has forgotten everything else in a speech.

Residual message

Questions that require responses at fixed intervals along a scale of answers are called ___________ questions.

Scale

What should public speakers do to avoid ethnocentrism?

Show respect for the cultures of the people they address.

What is the central idea of a speech with the following main points? I. Isabel Baumfree was born into slavery in the state of New York during the 1790s. II. After undergoing a conversion experience and changing her name to Sojourner Truth, she began preaching during the 1840s. III. Over the next few decades, she became a celebrated speaker for various reform causes.

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery, underwent a conversion experience, and became a speaker for various reform causes.

"To persuade my audience that the U.S. space program provides many important benefits to people here on earth" is an example of a(n)

Specific purpose statement

The ____________ is a single infinitive phrase that states precisely what a speaker hopes to accomplish in her or his speech.

Specific purpose statement

____ is anxiety over the prospect of giving a speech in front of an audience.

Stage Fright

What method of delivery does chapter 4 recommend for your introductory speech?

The extemporaneous method

As a general rule, the larger your audience is, the more formal your speech presentation should be.

True

Avoiding ethnocentrism is important for listeners as well as for speakers. T/F

True

Because each person has a different frame of reference, the meaning of a message will never be exactly the same to a listener as to a speaker. T/F

True

Because people have different frames of reference, a public speaker must take care to adapt her or his message to the particular audience being addressed. T/F?

True

Conversational quality" refers to speech delivery that sounds spontaneous no matter how many times it has been rehearsed. T/F?

True

Even though the Internet is often informal, you should dress as professionally for an online speech as for an in-person one. T/F?

True

Good delivery does not call attention to itself. T/F?

True

It is normal—even desirable—to be nervous at the start of a speech. T/F?

True

One of the challenges facing real-time online speakers is that they must learn a software program designed for such speeches—and be able to operate it flawlessly during the speech. T/F?

True

Presenting a speech online is more challenging and time-consuming than delivering an in-person speech. T/F?

True

Public speaking and ordinary conversation are similar in that both involve adapting to listener feedback. T/F

True

Public speaking has been taught and studied for thousands of years. T/F

True

Research shows that speakers in the United States who fail to establish eye contact may be seen by listeners as insincere or even dishonest. T/F?

True

Speechmaking becomes more complex as cultural diversity increases. T/F

True

The central idea for a speech should be stated as a full sentence. T/F?

True

You should usually work out the exact wording of the introduction after you have finished preparing the body of your speech. T/F

True

The __________Blank refers to the onscreen elements seen by the audience during an online speech.

Visual environment

____ is mental imaging in which a speaker vividly pictures himself or herself giving a successful presentation.

Visualization

Changes in a speaker's rate, pitch, and volume are referred to as

Vocal variety

What recommendations are a way to help you deal with nervousness in your speeches?

Work especially hard on your speech introduction.

Sloppy ____________ is the failure to form particular speech sounds crisply and distinctly.

articulation

Audience-centeredness involves keeping your audience foremost in mind

at every step of speech preparation and presentation.

Mayor Kathleen Baldwin has been asked to address the Wakefield Community Association about the issue of constructing a swimming pool in the neighborhood. The most important factor Baldwin should consider when analyzing her audience is probably its

attitude toward the topic

A(n) ____________ speech is a carefully prepared and rehearsed speech that is presented from a brief set of notes.

extemporaneous

While listening to a speech about gun control, Scott thought back to his experiences as an intern with the police department and decided that the speaker was knowledgeable about the subject. What was Scott doing?

filtering the message through his frame of reference

"Do you think gun control is a workable solution to the problem of violence in U.S. schools?" is an example of a(n) ____________ question.

fixed-alternative

The primary purpose of speechmaking is to

gain a desired response from listeners.

A(n) ____________ speech is delivered with little or no immediate preparation.

impromptu

When your general purpose is to ____________, you act as a teacher or lecturer.

inform

Dr. Kristin Lutz is preparing an informative talk about the genetic relationship between twins for a group of expectant parents. The most important factor Dr. Lutz should consider when analyzing her audience is probably its

knowledge of the topic

As your textbook explains, upon reaching the lectern to start a speech, you should

make eye contact with your listeners.

Which of the following statements about online speeches is true? 1. Eye contact is less important than for in-person speeches. 2. You should speak more slowly than for an in-person presentation. 3. You should rehearse only a couple times so your delivery will be fresh on speech day. 4. None of the above

none of the above

When you want to change or structure the attitudes of your audience, your general purpose is to ____________.

persuade

Violating the accepted standard of sound and rhythm for words in a given language is an error in ____________.

pronunciation

A ___________ online speech is created for an audience that will view it online as it is being delivered, often using software designed specifically for that purpose.

real-time

A __________ online speech may be viewed initially by an in-person audience, but it is designed ultimately to be uploaded for viewing on the Internet—as, for example, in a TED Talk.

recorded

According to your textbook, what is a factor in situational audience analysis?

the size of the audience

For real-time online speeches, you should usually sit

two to four feet from the camera, so the audience can see you from the chest up.