speech chapter 1

Diana received a comment from her public speaking professor, who said, "You need to work on your monotone presentation style. The audience will not remain attentive to you otherwise and will rate you low in speaker credibility if you do not deliver more powerfully." How can Diana improve her speech delivery?

Change her pitch throughout the presentation.

Mr. Johnson is teaching his eighth-grade English class, and asks his student, Marlene, to define a prepositional phrase. Marlene does not know the answer to his question and says, "I am sorry, Mr. Johnson. I don't know." Mr. Johnson replies, "Let's see if we can find someone who is not utterly useless to answer." What element of ethical communication did Mr. Johnson violate?

Ethical communicators demonstrate respect.

Wendell is a business major and wants to learn about how to inspire employees to work harder. He watches a movie clip that shows the boss of an investment firm delivering a pep talk to all the salespeople. What communication context does the movie clip represent?

Mass communication

Paulette is delivering an update to the board of directors at her company at a monthly board meeting. While she is speaking, Paulette notices that three of the four board members are looking at their phones and not paying attention to anything she says. The fourth board member is looking at Paulette and smiles when she makes eye contact with them. What is this board member doing that makes them an effective audience member?

Providing nonverbal feedback

Naomi is a first-year law student, and she is taking a class on the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. During the lecture, the professor says that public speaking is the most powerful form of liberal arts in the world and must be used effectively and ethically. Why is public speaking considered a liberal art?

Public speaking knowledge and skills are fundamental to participating effectively in society regardless of your major or profession.

Robert is researching online for his final presentation on space exploration. He finds the perfect quote for his speech online. It is written by an essayist on their blog site, and he copies and pastes it into his outline. On the day of his speech, Robert uses the quote in his speech. What mistake does Robert commit?

Robert engages in in cyberplagiarism.

Gloria, a flight attendant who came back to finish her college degree after 20 years in aviation, is planning to give an informative speech on commercial airline safety. She decides to deliver a technical presentation on how evacuation slides work on airplanes. Although she is excited about the topic, knows a lot about it, and believes she is addressing an important issue, how does Gloria fail to accurately consider the rhetorical situation surrounding her speech?

She does not consider the intended audience.

Art, Britt, and Camille are working on a presentation for their political science course. The three of them are doing most of the work together and have a weekly meeting to make sure all three of them are on track to complete the presentation by the due date. What type of communication are Art and Camille engaged in when they are working together with Britt?

Small group communication

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Celeste and her family had to change a lot of their daily routines to stay safe. After the pandemic was over, Celeste was able to return to in-person work at her part-time job, to ordering her groceries for pickup at the grocery store, and to attending services at her local church. Celeste also had the chance to return to in-person classes at her university, but she chose to register for virtual classes that did not require her to come to campus. How are all of Celeste's choices related to the digital age?

They demonstrate the way technology continues to be integrated more fully in life.

Which of the following situations is not an example of plagiarism?

Using a direct quote from a famous speech and telling the audience who the original speaker was

Muhammad is putting the finishing touches on his final speech for his public speaking class. He has chosen to do a special occasion speech in which he will deliver a mock introduction of Arnold Schwarzenegger, a famous actor and politician. He thinks he is about done, but he checks the spelling and pronunciation of Schwarzenegger to make sure he is saying it correctly. What structure concern is Muhammad addressing by checking the pronunciation of Schwarzenegger?

accurate language

Robert, a candidate for the county's board of supervisors, gave his final campaign speech to a large crowd at a public park the day before the election. He told the audience that he would be a voice for the people, he expanded on how he would meet his campaign promises, and he thanked everyone for taking the time to attend his speech. What best practice did Robert's speech lack?

action

Penelope's abuelo (Spanish for grandfather) passed away last week, and her mother has asked her to prepare and deliver a eulogy at his funeral this coming Friday. Penelope is concerned that she will not be able to balance the good memories she has of her abuelo with the sadness she feels about his passing, and she worries that the speech will be received poorly by people attending the funeral. What speech component is concerning Penelope?

content

Ignacio is a communication professor who is teaching an advanced public speaking class this semester. During his speech on effective public speaking, Ignacio tells his students that the most important thing they can do is to present themselves as a knowledgeable, trustworthy speaker. What effective speech component is Ignacio focusing on in his lecture?

ethos

Joanne was attending a conference on climate change, and after the keynote speaker finished their presentation, Joanne felt very concerned about the proliferation of greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles with internal combustion engines. She decided she was going to buy an electric vehicle to help cut down on greenhouse gases. What speech element did the keynote speaker likely focus on in their presentation?

exigence

Trevor and Sophie are roommates who have lived together for six months. Sophie noticed that Trevor has been taking her food out of the fridge, so she asks him if they can discuss new rules for labeling food that each of them buys for their own use. During the conversation, Trevor nods at Sophie and apologizes for taking her food, but he keeps looking at his phone throughout their conversation. In what way is Trevor not effectively communicating with Sophie?

external interference

Interpersonal communication occurs between a group of three or more people about a specific topic.

false

The technology explosion we have witnessed since the dawn of the 21st century does not directly or indirectly influence what and how we communicate.

false

When Aristotle said "the audience is the end and object of the speech," he meant that what matters most is if the audience likes you personally.

false

Jennifer is walking to class when she sees a man standing in the university quad holding a sign that reads, "Myocardial infarction kills 2,000 people a day. Come find out your risk factors." How does public speaking empower the man holding the sign?

he is persuading others

Misti, a member of the state's House of Representatives, gave a speech condemning drunk driving and advocating for harsher penalties. That night, Misti was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and causing an accident that resulted in injury to another person. What element of ethical communication did Misti violate?

integrity

Irina is watching her favorite television show when she sees a commercial showing an adult woman and her mother talking to one another about life insurance. What communication context does the commercial demonstrate?

interpersonal communication

Manuela is speaking at her mother's 60th raised to the th powerbirthday party. She tells the partygoers that her mother deserves to be celebrated because she has always been there for everyone in the family and has put others before herself always. Everyone at the party can tell how much Manuela loves her mother based on her words. What speech component is Manuela highlighting in her birthday speech?

pathos

Irina struggled to pay attention to Chad's speech because she was nervous about an upcoming job interview. Irina wanted to listen to Chad, but she had so many thoughts running around in her head that she couldn't focus on anything he said. What kind of noise was Irina experiencing?

psychological noise

Jonas, Eunice, and Samantha are cofounders of CyberTech Systems, a new robotics manufacturing company. They have been invited to deliver the opening address at an annual space exploration convention. The three of them co-deliver the speech and are on stage together the whole time. What communication context does their speech exemplify?

public communication

Devonte was recently appointed as president of a state university. He and his chief of staff are working on his inaugural speech, and Devonte wants to make sure he does a good job so the students, faculty, staff, and others attending his inauguration will be convinced that he is the right person to lead the university forward. With which element of the rhetorical situation is Devonte primarily concerned?

the audience

Connie, a paleontologist who specializes in finding dinosaur fossils, was invited to present a TED Talk on how to preserve a fossilized dinosaur for public display. She worries that she will not be able to hold the audience's attention for the maximum 15 minutes she is required to speak. On which macrostructural element of her speech should Connie focus to address her fears?

the introduction

Gabriel asked his partner, Johan, to help him prepare for his upcoming persuasive speech in his public speaking class. After listening to the speech, Johan told Gabriel that he really liked the main points in his speech, but he felt like Gabriel moved from each point so abruptly that he had trouble following him at times. On what speech element should Gabriel focus to improve his speech?

transitions

Decoding occurs when audience members interpret what the speaker says.

true

Good speakers should be able to tailor their messages to meet the audience's needs, interests, and expectations.

true