Speech Exam #2

3 goals of research

To develop your own expertise on the topic; to find the evidence that will support your topic; to make your ideas clear, understandable, and pertinent to your audience

forgetting curve

a curve that displays the rate at which something learned is forgotten over

reinforcement

a response by a speaker that rewards the listener to strengthen the listener's positive attitude toward the speech

Stating the importance of your topic

alerts the audience to the significance of your topic before actually stating what the topic is

Anecdote

allows you to develop an example in greater detail; these extended, engaging stories illustrate your point and help the audience relate to the issues

Telling a story

an extended illustration or example that is cast in narrative form; power lies in narrative form

3 basic elements of transitions

an internal summary of what has been completed; a link to what is coming next; an internal preview of the new idea

Reporting

answers who, what, where, when, why, how

Spatial

arranges main ideas according to place or position

Hypothetical example

ask listeners to imagine themselves in a particular situation; helps audience further understand your topic

Opinion testimony

beliefs formed from experience and judgment; asking the audience to accept that conclusion because of the person's expertise, judgment, or knowledge

4 types of examples

brief example, hypothetical example, anecdote, case study

complete sentences

by doing this rather than just highlighting general topics, you force yourself to specify exactly what claims you want to make

Cause-effect

can focus on either first; the choice between these two arrangements would be governed by which topics you wanted to present first and last

Logically dependent ideas

cannot stand on its own but requires that another claim or statements be true

Referring to the speech situation

ceremonial occasions - weddings, commencements, speeches of welcome or farewell; often introduced effectively by an explicit reference to the occasion

5 types of visual aids

charts, graphs, representations, objects and models, people

5 ways to prepare and use visual aids

choose your idea; design your visual aid; avoid distraction; do not obstruct the audience's view; speak to the audience, not to the visual aid

7 organizational patterns

chronological, spatial, categorical (topical), cause-effect, problem-solution, comparison-contrast, residues

Defining

clarifies a term of concept that is vague or troublesome

Discreteness (outline)

combines themes that would be clearer for your audience if they were developed one at a time

Links

connections from one idea to the next; some are subtle while others are explicit

Experiments

controlled tests of the effect of one thing on another; conducted by comparing situations that are essentially similar except for the factor being tested

Purpose of transitions

create the sense of movement

2 ways to plan your strategy

define your specific purpose; inform your audience

5 informative strategies

defining, reporting, describing, demonstrating, comparing

Comparison and Contrast

demonstrating its similarities and differences from other topics with which the audience is likely to be familiar

Logically independent ideas

does not require the truth of any other claim or statement as a condition for its own truth

Brief example

don't describe these in detail; they are important to your speech when used together to support your claim

Identifying with your audience

draw on something that you and the audience share - a common experience, common acquaintances, common values, or common goals.

Using an analogy

draws attention to the similarities or differences between two objects, events, or situations

Internal Summaries

draws together the central points that were discussed within the body of the speech or even within the discussion of one main idea, serving both to aid memory and to signal closure to those points

Categorical (Topical)

each main idea identified in analyzing your topic becomes a major division of the speech; no required order

Discreteness

each main idea should be separate from the others; ideas should not mix with one another

2 types of testimonies

factual testimony and opinion testimony

Internal preview

helps prepare the audience to follow along every time you introduce a new main idea

Simplicity

ideas should be stated simply

coordination

ideas with the same level of importance should be designated with the same symbol series

10 types of introductions

identifying with your audience; referring to the speech situation; stating your purpose; stating the importance of your topic; citing statistics, making claims; telling a story; using an analogy; asking a rhetorical question; quoting someone; using humor

Surveys and polls

infer the attitudes of people as a whole from the attitudes reported by a sample of the population, as long as the sample of representative of the whole

Testimony

information or an opinion that is expressed by someone other than the speaker

Parallel Structure

main ideas should be stated in a similar fashion when possible; sentences should have the same grammatical structure and should be of approximately the same length

Balance

main ideas should not be loaded towards one particular aspect of the subject

Completeness

main ideas taken together should present a complete view of the subject, omitting nothing of major importance

4 benefits of visual aids

make the speech more interesting; enhance the speaker's credibility; improve comprehension and retention; advance your argument in the speech

Describing

paints a mental picture

7 types of supporting materials

personal experience, common knowledge, direct observation, examples, documents, statistics, testimonies

Factual testimony

pieces of information that can be proved true or false; by quoting these, you are implying that you cannot verify the information yourself but are willing to accept it because you think the source is credible

Informative strategies

presume that a principal goal of the speech is to share the ideas with the audiences

Documents

primary sources that can establish a claim directly, without the need for opinion or speculation; a person's will is an example of this; can be a solid form of evidence if your audience regards them as trustworthy

3 ways to clarify your informative goal

provide new information on perspective, agenda setting, creating positive or negative feeling

Statement of topic, general purpose, specific purpose, and thesis

should be displayed above the outline; by keeping them in view, you can check the emerging plan against the goals it is designed to achieve

Oral citations

should provide enough citation to enable an audience member to evaluate the information and find it, should he or she choose

Rates of change

show what is happening and can help an audience compare the situation to a known benchmark

3 purposes of the conclusion

signal that the end is coming; summarize the main ideas; make a final appeal to the audience

Types of statistics

simple enumeration, surveys and polls, rates of change, experiments

6 characteristics of main ideas

simplicity, discreteness, parallel structure, balance, coherence, completeness

asking a rhetorical question

something that you do not expect listeners to answer

5 ways to outline the body of the speech

statement of topic, general purpose, specific purpose, and thesis; complete sentences; subordination; coordination; discreteness

Personal Experience

support your ideas on the basis of your own experience; it gains credibility and audience attention

subordination

supporting materials for a given idea should be outlined as indented under that idea

Statistics

supporting materials presented in quantitative form; numbers that record the extent of something or the frequency with which something occurs

Case Study

supports a general claim by zeroing in on one particular case and discussing it in detail

Main ideas

the claims that address the issues in your thesis statement, and they are the major divisions of the speech

Simple Enumeration

the most basic form of a statistic; can be difficult to interpret without more knowledge of the context

Chronological

the passage of time is the organizing principle in this pattern

Organization

the selection of ideas and materials and their arrangement into a discernible and effective pattern; helps the audience recall, use active listening, and have personal satisfaction

Coherence

the separate main ideas have a clear relationship and hang together to make listeners see why they appear in the same speech

Common knowledge

the understandings, beliefs, and values that members of a society or culture generally share; can be called "common sense"; often expressed in the form of maxims such as: "what happens here, stays here", "if you want something done right, do it yourself."; has the status of presumption - that is we consider it to be right until we are shown otherwise

4 purposes of the introduction

to gain the attention and interest of your audience; to influence the audience to view you and your topic favorably; to clarify the purpose or thesis of your speech; to preview the development of your topic

Stating your purpose

usually helps to clarify the point when an audience is captive or is known to already to be favorably disposed to your ideas

Problem-solution

variation of the cause-effect pattern; focuses on one first and then the answer to it

Encouraging retention

want the audience to retain the information in the speech

Agenda setting

wants to create awareness of a subject that listeners did not know about or think about before, thus putting it on the agenda of topics that warrant their concern

Citing statistics, making claims

works best when accurate but not well known - when there is a gap between what listeners think they know and what is actually the case

Direct Observation

you can support your claim on the basis of these simple things; not just a recollection of personal experience, can be verified by others

Examples

you make a general statement more meaningful by illustrating a specific instance of it