College Speech Study Guide

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

Brainstorming

According to your textbook, what is the ethical reason to avoid racist, sexist, and other kinds of abusive language?

Contrary to what some people claim, avoiding racist, sexist, and other kinds of abusive language is not simply a matter of "political correctness." Such language is ethically suspect because it devalues the people in question and stereotypes them in ways that assume the innate superiority of one group over the other.

____________ is listening to provide emotional support for a speaker.

Empathetic listening

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

Ethnocentrism

Because the brain can process many more words per minute than we talk, this spare "brain time" makes listening easier. True or false?

False

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. Scott was

Filtering the message through his frame of reference

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

Persuade

If you present another person's language or ideas as your own, you are guilty of ____________.

Plagarism

Critical thinking includes

Seeing the relationships among ideas, judging the credibility of statements, assessing the soundness of evidence

Avoiding ethnocentrism means that public speakers should

Show respect for the cultures of the people they address

"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

Avoiding ethnocentrism is important for listeners as well as for speakers. True or false?

True

It is normal--even desirable--to be nervous at the start of a speech. True or false?

True

Listening and critical thinking are so closely allied that training in listening is also training in how to think. True or false?

True

People spend more time listening than doing any other communicative activity. True or false?

True

Public speaking has been taught and studied for thousands of years. True or false?

True

Which of the following 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

Which of the following does your textbook recommend as a way to help you deal with nervousness in your speeches?

Work especially hard on your speech introduction

In public speaking, sound ethical decisions involve weighing a potential course of action against

A set of ethnical standards or guidelines

__________ listeners give their undivided attention to the speaker in a genuine effort to understand her or his point of view.

Active

istening for pleasure or enjoyment is called ____________ listening.

Appreciative listening

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

Central idea

When preparing his speech, Chad, a physiology major, checked out two books on the principles of neuromuscular therapy and paraphrased their ideas. Because he expressed the information in his own words, Chad decided not to cite his sources. Was he guilty of plagiarism? Explain.

Chad was guilty of incremental plagiarism because he failed to give credit for particular parts of his speech that were borrowed from other people.

Listening to understand the message of a speaker is called ____________ listening.

Comprehensive listening

The two kinds of listening most closely tied to critical thinking are

Comprehensive listening and critical listening

Ian is attending a union meeting in which the union president is discussing the company's plan to decrease wages in exchange for an increase in vacation time. As Ian listens, he is trying to determine whether or not to vote for the plan. According to your textbook, Ian is engaged in ____________ listening.

Critical

Listening to evaluate a message for purposes of accepting or rejecting it is called

Critical listening

What are five questions you should ask about your specific purpose statement when you are preparing a speech?

Does my purpose statement meet the assignment? Can I accomplish my purpose in the time allotted? Is the purpose relevant to my audience? Is the purpose too trivial for my audience? Is the purpose too technical for my audience?

t a coffee shop on campus, Rachel listens to her friend Shanti discuss his feelings about his mother's recent death. According to your textbook, Rachel is engaged in ____________ listening.

Empathetic

Because speechmaking is a form of power, it carries with it heavy ____________ responsibilities.

Ethical

____________ is the branch of philosophy that deals with issues of right and wrong in human affairs.

Ethnics

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. True or false?

False

Because listeners recognize that public speakers are promoting their self-interest, it is acceptable for speakers to alter evidence. True or false?

False

Hearing and listening are identical. True or false?

False

It is only necessary for a speaker to identify his or her source when quoting verbatim rather than when paraphrasing. True or false?

False

Most successful speakers do not experience stage fright. True or false?

False

Protecting a speaker's freedom to express his or her ideas implies agreement with those ideas. True or false?

False

Skilled listeners try to remember a speaker's every word. True or false?

False

The central idea of a speech is usually formulated before the specific purpose. True or false?

False

The larger the audience becomes, the greater is the ethical responsibility of the speaker to be fully prepared. True or false?

False

To improve your listening, you should think of listening as a passive process. True or false?

False

Your textbook recommends taking word-for-word notes as a way to improve your listening skills. True or false?

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

Gabrielle, a physiology major, waited until the last minute to begin preparing her persuasive speech. When her friend Ken learned that she was panicking over the assignment, he gave her the outline of a speech he had delivered in class the previous semester. Gabrielle used the speech and presented it as her own.

Gabrielle is guilty of global plagiarism because she took a speech entirely from a single source and passed it off as her own.

Supply the general purpose, specific purpose, and central idea for a speech with the following main points: 1. The first step in buying a house is seeing a loan officer. 2. The second step in buying a house is deciding what features you want. 3. The third step in buying a house is looking at houses that are for sale. 4. The fourth step in buying a house is making an offer

General Purpose: To inform Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the four major steps in buying a house. Central Idea: The four major steps in buying a house are seeing a loan officer, deciding what features you want, looking at houses, and making an offer."

Supply the general purpose, specific purpose, and main points for a speech with the following central idea: The Chinese meal known as dim sum features three kinds of food: steamed, deep-fried, and baked.

General Purpose: To inform Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the three major kinds of food served at dim sum. Main Points: I. One type of food served at dim sum is steamed. II. A second type of food served at dim sum is deep-fried. III. A third type of food served at dim sum is baked.

Even if your speech as a whole is ethical, you can still be guilty of ____________ plagiarism if you fail to give credit for quotations, paraphrases, and other specific parts of the speech that are borrowed from other people.

Incremental

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

Inform

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 Congress should ban smoking in public places 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 global warming."

It's too vague

What violates the speaker's ethical obligation to be honest in what she or he says?

Juggling statistics, quoting out of context, citing unusual cases as typical examples

What are the three ethical obligations of listeners discussed in your textbook?

Listen courteously and attentively, avoid prejudging the speaker, maintain the free and open expression of ideas.

State the five guidelines for ethical speaking discussed in your textbook.

Make sure your goals are ethically sound, be fully prepared for each speech, be honest in what you say, avoid name-calling and other forms of abusive language, put ethical principles into practice.

____________ is the use of language to defame, demean, or degrade individuals or groups.

Name-calling

What are the four causes of poor listening discussed in your textbook?

Not concentrating, listening too hard, jumping to conclusions and focusing on delivery and physical appearance

What are the four major similarities between conversation and public speaking discussed in your textbook?

Organizing your thoughts logically, tailoring your message to your audience, telling a story for maximum impact, adapting to listener feedback

When a speaker _____________, she restates or summarizes an author's ideas in her own words.

Paraphrases

According to your textbook, stealing ideas or language from two or three sources and passing them off as one's own is called

Patchwork plagarism

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

Positive nervousness

What are the three primary differences between conversation and public speaking?

Public speaking is more highly structured, requires more formal language, and requires a different method of delivery

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

Residual message

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.

List the seven elements of the speech communication process discussed in your textbook.

Speaker, message, channel, listener, feedback, interference, situation

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

The first step to improving your listening skills is to

Taking listening seriously

Rewrite the following statement to conform to the criteria in your textbook for effective specific purpose statements.Do you know the meaning behind the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur?

To inform my audience of the meaning behind the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

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. True or falase?

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. True or false?

True

Even though there can be gray areas when it comes to assessing a speaker's goals, it is still necessary to ask ethical questions about those goals. True or false?

True

Public speaking and ordinary conversation are similar in that both involve adapting to listener feedback. True or false?

True

Speechmaking becomes more complex as cultural diversity increases. True or false?

True

The central idea for a speech should be stated as a full sentence. True or false?

True

When business managers are asked to rank-order the communication skills most crucial to their jobs, they usually rank listening number one. True or false?

True

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

Visualization

What are the four methods of brainstorming for a speech topic discussed in your textbook?

personal inventory, clustering, reference search, internet search