COM 231 Exam
roast
A humorous tribute to a person, one in which a series of speakers jokingly poke fun at the individual being honored.
warrant by analogy
A means of justifying a claim by comparing two similar cases and implying that what is true for one case is true in the other.
warrant by cause
A means of justifying a claim on the basis of providing a cause-effect relationship as proof of the claim.
peripheral processing
A mode of processing a persuasive message that does not consider the quality of the speaker's message but is influenced by such noncontent issues as the speaker's appearance or reputation, certain slogans or one-liners, or obvious attempts to manipulate emotions; described in the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion. Peripheral processing of messages occurs when people lack the motivation or the ability to pay close attention to the issues.
public forum
Any space (physical or virtual) in which people gather to voice their ideas about public issues.
power distance
As developed by Geert Hofstede, a measure of the extent to which a culture values social equality versus tradition and authority.
voluntary audience
As opposed to a captive audience, an audience whose members have chosen to attend the speech event.
coordinate points
Ideas that are given the same weight in an outline and are aligned with one another; thus, Main Point II is coordinate with Main Point I.
agora
In ancient Greece, a public square or marketplace.
forensic oratory
In ancient Greece, speech addressing legal matters, such as the settlement of disputes.
deliberative oratory
In ancient Greece, speech addressing legislative or political policy issues.
epideitic oratory
In ancient Greece, speech addressing special occasions, such as celebrations and funerals.
forum
In ancient Rome, a public space in which people gathered to deliberate about the issues of the day.
oratory
In classical terms, the art of public speaking.
gender-neutral language
Language that avoids the use of third-person generic masculine pronouns (his, he) in favor of inclusive pronouns such as his or her, he or she, we, ours, you, your, or other gender-neutral terms.
hackneyed language
Language that is poorly crafted and lacking in freshness.
psychographics
The study and analysis of audience members' attitudes, beliefs, and values as they relate to the topic under investigation.
oral style
The use of language that is simpler, more repetitious, more rhythmic, and more interactive than written language; effective speeches use oral style.
delivery
The vocal and nonverbal behavior that a speaker uses in a public speech; one of the five canons of rhetoric.
target audience
Those individuals within the broader audience who are most likely to be influenced in the direction the speaker seeks.
rhetorical situation
The circumstances that call for a public response and for the speech itself; in broad terms, consideration of the audience, occasion, and overall speech situation when planning a speech.
generational identity
The collective cultural identity of a generation or a cohort.
uncertainty avoidance
The extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguity.
malapropism
The inadvertent use of a word or phrase in place of one that sounds like it.
coordination and subordination
The logical placement of ideas relative to their importance to one another. Ideas that are coordinate are given equal weight. An idea that is subordinate to another is given relatively less weight.
channel
The medium through which the speaker sends a message (e.g., sound waves, air waves, and electronic transmission).
shared meaning
The mutual understanding of a message between speaker and audience.
rhetoric
The practice of oratory, or public speaking. More broadly, the term has multiple meanings, all of which relate to an aspect of human communication.
decoding
The process of interpreting a message.
encoding
The process of organizing a message, choosing words and sentence structure, and verbalizing the message.
code-switching
The selective use of casual language, dialect, a second language, or even slang within a speech.
dialogic communication
The sharing of ideas and open discussion through civil discourse.
style
The specific word choices and rhetorical devices (techniques of language) speakers use to express their ideas and achieve their speech purpose.
arrangement
The strategic process of deciding how to order speech points into a coherent and convincing pattern for your topic and audience.
faulty analogy
An inaccurate or misleading comparison suggesting that because two things are similar in some ways, they are necessarily similar in others.
supporting material
Examples, narratives, testimony, facts, and statistics that support the speech thesis and form the speech.
source qualifier
A brief description of the source's qualifications to address the topic (e.g., "Pulitzer-Prize-winning author," "researcher at the Mayo Clinic").
claim of value
A claim that addresses issues of judgment.
claim of policy
A claim that recommends that a specific course of action be taken, or approved, by an audience.
hierarchy of needs
A classic model of human action developed by Abraham Maslow built on the principle that people are motivated to act on the basis of needs.
canons of rhetoric
A classical approach to speechmaking in which the speaker divides a speech into five parts: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery.
fixed alternative question
A closed-ended question that contains a limited choice of answers, such as "Yes," "No," or "Sometimes."
scale question
A closed-ended question that measures the respondent's level of agreement or disagreement with specific issues.
socioeconomic status (SES)
A cluster of demographic characteristics of audience members, including income, occupation, and education.
co-culture
A community of people whose perceptions and beliefs differ significantly from those of other groups within the larger culture.
mixed metaphor
A comparison that inappropriately juxtaposes two unlike images or expressions, often clichéd, such as "He went off the deep end like a bull in a china shop."
individualistic culture
A culture that tends to emphasize personal identity and the needs of the individual rather than those of the group, upholding such values as individual achievement and decision making.
collectivist culture
A culture that tends to emphasize the needs and desires of the larger group rather than those of the individual.
speaking outline
A delivery outline to be used when practicing and actually presenting a speech.
identification
A feeling of commonality with another; when appropriate, effective speakers attempt to foster a sense of identification between themselves and audience members.
motivated sequence pattern of arragement
A five-step process of persuasion developed by Alan Monroe.
organizational pattern
A form of arrangement used to structure the main points, transitions, and subordinate points of a speech to obtain the speaker's intended purpose. Seven common organizational patterns described in this text are topical, causal (cause-effect), chronological, spatial, problem-solution, narrative, and circular, plus three forms applicable specifically to persuasive speechs: Monroe's Motivated Sequence, refutational, and comparative advantage.
central processing
A mode of processing a persuasive message that involves thinking critically about the contents of the message and the strength and quality of the speaker's arguments; described in the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion. People who seriously consider what the speaker's message means to them are most likely to experience a relatively enduring change in thinking.
elaboration likelihood model of persuasion (ELM)
A model of persuasion that states that people process persuasive messages by one of two routes — either central processing or peripheral processing — depending on their degree of involvement in the message.
active listening
A multistep, focused, and purposeful process of gathering and evaluating information.
topical pattern of arrangement
A pattern of organizing main points as subtopics or categories of the speech topic; of all organizational patterns, this one offers the most freedom to order speech points as desired.
spatial pattern of arrangement
A pattern of organizing main points in order of their physical proximity or direction relative to each other; it is used when the purpose of a speech is to describe or explain the physical arrangement of a place, a scene, or an object.
causal pattern of arrangement (cause-effect)
A pattern of organizing speech points in order, first of causes and then of effects or vice versa; it is used when the cause-effect relationship is well established.
refutation pattern of arragement
A pattern of organizing speech points in which each main point addresses and then refutes (disproves) an opposing claim to the speaker's position.
comparative advantage pattern of arrangement
A pattern of organizing speech points so that the speaker's viewpoint or proposal is shown to be superior to one or more alternative viewpoints or proposals.
narrative pattern of arrangement
A pattern of organizing speech points so that the speech unfolds as a story, with characters, plot, setting, and vivid imagery. In practice, this pattern often is combined with other organizational patterns.
problem-cause-solution pattern of arrangement
A pattern of organizing speech points so that they demonstrate (1) the nature of the problem, (2) reasons for the problem, (3) unsatisfactory solutions, and (4) proposed solutions.
problem-solution pattern of arrangement
A pattern of organizing speech points so that they demonstrate the nature and significance of a problem first, and then provide justification for a proposed solution.
trait anxiety
A person's general baseline level of anxiety. People with high trait anxiety are naturally anxious much of the time, whereas people with low trait anxiety will usually experience nervousness only in novel situations.
defensive listening
A poor listening behavior in which the listener reacts defensively to a speaker's message.
working outline
A preparation or rough outline, often using full sentences, in which the speaker firms up and organizes speech points and incorporates supporting material to support them.
selective perception
A psychological principle that posits that listeners pay attention selectively to certain messages and ignore others.
speech of introduction
A special occasion short speech defined by two goals: to prepare or "warm up" audience members for the main speaker and to motivate them to listen to what that speaker has to say.
speech of acceptance
A special occasion speech made in response to receiving an award. Its purpose is to express gratitude for the honor bestowed on the speaker.
speech of presentation
A special occasion speech whose purpose is twofold: to communicate the meaning of an award and to explain why the recipient is receiving it.
logical fallacy
A statement that is either false or erroneous or is based on an invalid or deceptive line of reasoning
expectancy values theory
A theory of persuasion developed by Icek Aizen and Martin Fishbein positing that audience members act according to the perceived costs and benefits ("value") associated with a particular action; useful when developing a persuasive speech targeting behavior.
speculative claim
A type of claim of fact that addresses questions for which answers are not yet available.
authoritative warrant
A warrant that appeals to the credibility (ethos) that the audience assigns to the source of the evidence.
substantive warrant
A warrant that relies on factual evidence to link a claim to evidence.
motivational warrant
A warrant that uses the needs, desires, emotions, and values of audience members as the basis for accepting evidence in support of a claim.
captive audience
An audience required to attend the speech event.
reportage
An account of the who, what, where, when, and why of the facts.
audience-centered perspective
An approach to speech preparation in which each phase of the speech preparation process — from selection and treatment of the speech topic to making decisions about organization, language, and method of delivery — is geared toward communicating a meaningful message to the audience.
one sided message
An argument in which the speaker does not acknowledge opposing views
two sided message
An argument in which the speaker mentions opposing points of view and sometimes refutes them
claim of fact
An argument that focuses on whether something is or is not true or whether something will or will not happen.
dyadic communication
Communication between two people, as in a conversation.
small group communication
Communication involving a small number of people who can see and speak directly with one another, as in a business meeting.
mass communication
Communication that occurs between a speaker and a large audience of unknown people. The receivers of the message are not present with the speaker, or they are part of such an immense crowd that there can be little or no interaction between speaker and listeners. Television, radio news broadcasts, and mass rallies are examples of mass communication.
illusion of transparency
Experience in which a speaker thinks his or her anxiety is more noticeable than it is.
definition by symptom
Defining something by comparing it with another term that has an equivalent meaning. For example: A friend is a comrade or a buddy.
operational definition
Defining something by describing what it does
definition by negation
Defining something by explaining what it is not.
definition by etymology
Defining something by providing an account of a word's history.
definition by example
Defining something by providing an example of it.
audience segmentation
Dividing a general audience into smaller groups, called target audiences, with similar characteristics, wants, and needs.
presentation aids
Objects, models, pictures, graphs, charts, video, audio, or multimedia, used alone or in combination to illustrate speech points.
low-uncertainty avoidance culture
One of five "value dimensions" or major cultural patterns that are significant across all cultures to varying degrees; identified by Geert Hofstede.
high-uncertainty avoidance culture
One of five "value dimensions," or major cultural patterns, that are significant across all cultures to varying degrees; identified by Geert Hofstede.
memory
One of five parts of the classical canons of rhetoric; refers to the practice of the speech until it can be artfully delivered.
persons with disabilities (PWD)
Persons whose physical or mental impairments substantially limit their major life activities; sensitivity to PWD is important for the public speaker.
