Chapter 8: Supporting Your Ideas

Use testimony from Unbiased sources

use testimony from credible, objective authorities

Quote/Paraphrase accurately quoting correctly

(3 things) - make sure you don't misquote, - making sure you don't violate the meaning of statements you paraphrase, - make sure you do not quote out of context

Tips for Using Examples

- Use examples to clarify your ideas - Use examples to reinforce your idea - Use examples to personalize your ideas - Make your examples vivid and richly textured - Practice delivery to enhance your extended examples

Use Visual Aids to clarify statistical trends

- it makes that stats easier to understand

why use stats?

- stats are often cited in passing to clarify or strengthen a speaker's points - stats can be used in combo to show the magnitude or seriousness of an issue - creating an overall impact with numbers

Explain your stats

- stats need to be interpreted and related to your listeners - explaining what the stats mean when you deal with large numbers because they are hard to visualize - relate the statistics to your audience

What we need to identify while orally citing

- the book, magazine newspaper, or Web you are citing - author or organization of the document - author's qualification with regard to the topic - the date on which the document was published, posted, or updated

Use Stats to Quantify Your Ideas

- the main reason for stats is to give our ideas numerical precision - helps show that it is typical - using stats rather than examples can make the audience more engaged and interested

Use examples to personalize your ideas

-adding human interest to speech, personal example -the abstract is more meaningful

Citing sources Orally

-bilibography - what you include depends on your topic, audience, the kind of supporting material you are using, and the claim you are making (don't have to use according to )

how might speakers use these different measures

-they might use the mean to show than high amount of $ that anchors use rather than using the median -they might use the median to show the low amount of money ---either would be correct but not really honest

why use examples?

-used examples to get the audience involved -use vivid and concrete examples to have an impact -ideas become more specific, personal, and lively

Are statistical measures used correctly?

All the measures (mean/median/mode) have the goal to indicate what is typical or characteristic of a certain group of numbers

Tips for Using Testimony

Quote/Paraphrase accurately Use testimony from qualified sources Use testimony from Unbiased sources Identify the people you quote/paraphrase

Tips for Using Stats

Use Stats to Quantify Your Ideas Use Stats Sparingly Identify sources of your stats Explain your stats Round of complicated Stats Use Visual Aids to clarify statistical trends

brief examples

a specific case referred to in passing to illustrate a point (specific instances) - another way to use? pile examples on top of the other

example

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

extended example

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

hypothetical example

an example that describes an imaginary situation or fictitious situation -"imagine this ..." -realistic scene that is able to connect with the audience and gets them involved -when using hypothetical examples support it with stats and testimony

Are the statistics from a Reliable Source?

as speakers we must become aware of the possible biases because stats can be interpreted in many ways and put in many uses; go for objective nonpartisan sources

Use examples to clarify your ideas

examples can clarify unfamiliar or complex ideas put abstract ideas into concrete terms ex. bridge with wires VS Golden Gate Bridge

Use testimony from qualified sources

if you use testimony from sources qualified on the subject at hand

Identify the people you quote/paraphrase

make sure to give credit

Use Stats Sparingly

make sure to use stats appropriately and make ti easy for audience to grasp; not torrent with numbers

Use examples to reinforce your idea

making the example an representative one (everyone understands/relates)

What are good speeches composed of?

need strong supporting materials to bolster the speaker's point of view; sharp, specific, and credible -cannot be vague or generalizations

Are the stats representative?

not always that is why we want to make sure that stats are representative of what they claim to measure

Identify sources of your stats

numbers can be manipulated

Understanding statistics

numbers don't lie strictly speaking but they can be distorted and manipulated; it depends on what you are measuring ex. tiger goes at 70mph VS antelope going at 61 mph --- antelope is for endurance and tiger is for short sprints ex. presidents salary = it differs because money then was not like worth like it is today

Statistics

numerical data

Testimony

quotations or paraphrases used to support a point; having special knowledge and experience - expert and peer testimony

quoting out of context

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

Make your examples vivid and richly textured

richly type examples supply everyday details that bring the example to life; the more vivid the example the more effective impact it will have

Round of complicated Stats

rounding numbers are easier to understand

peer testimony

testimony from ordinary people with firsthand experience or insight on a topic; gives more personal viewpoints on issues that can be gained from an expert testimony

expert testimony

testimony from people who are recognized experts on their fields -shows that your position is supported by people who are knowledgeable

Quoting VS Paraphrasing direct quoting

testimony that is presented word for word - Standard Rule: should be used when they are brief, when they convey meaning better than you can, and when they are witty/compelling/eloquent

mean

the average value of a groups of numbers

supporting materials

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

median

the middle number in a group of numbers arranged from highest to lowest

mode

the number that occurs most frequently in a group of numbers

Practice delivery to enhance your extended examples

think of yourself as a story teller, adjust voice for effect, hold eye contact, don't rely on the notes

paraphrase

to restate or summarize a source's ideas in one's own words - Paraphrasing is better when (1) when the wording of the quotation is obscure or cumbersome (2) when the quotation is longer than two to three sentences