Speech Craft Exam

Rhetoric

The study of the ways in which speaking and writing influence people to do or think what they otherwise would not do or think

Feedback

Verbal or nonverbal responses to a speaker that indicate an understanding or misunderstanding of a message

Facts

Verifiable truths, or information that is independent of opinion

Verbal fillers

Vocalized pauses in which a speaker inserts sounds such as "uh"

Speech situation

Both the exigency or reason for giving the speech as well as those things that constrain what can be said; primary characteristic is the reason and purpose of the speech; secondary characteristics include space and place of the speech, as well as audience characteristics

Deductive reasoning

Making inferences or coming to conclusions based on a general principle or law; reasoning from general to specific

Inductive reasoning

Making inferences or conclusions about a general principle or law based on particulars or specifics; reasoning from specific to general

Opposing the straw man

Oversimplifying the oppositions argument; picking oppositions weakest point to refute or claiming opponent argues something he or she didn't

Presentation software

Programs that allow speakers to present visuals

Paraphrase

Summarizing the ideas or remarks of others without directly quoting them

Appeal

A request made to another person with the intent of influencing him or her

Argument

A claim or series of claims supported by evidence through reasoning

Virtual group

A collection of people brought together to work on a common task through long distance technologies

Groupthink

A common, often unconscious tendency to avoid conflict in a group, usually by failing to challenge ideas or decisions

Truth

A fact or belief that is widely accepted by a given community or group of people

Keynote address

A featured speech at a convention, meeting, or political gathering that is designed to highlight the tone and purpose of the gathering; sometimes advance a collective goal or agenda

Solidarity

A feeling of agreement or unity in a community about a belief, cause, event, or proposed action

Vocation

A feeling of dedication toward one's occupation

Extemporaneous speaking

A form of public speaking that appears to require little or or no preparation

Mediascape

A general context of communication enabled or created by media technologies

Techne

A habit of mind and body that is cultivated to make something; a craft

Genre

A label for a widely recognized form of a given culture

Screencast

A live or recorded broadcast of a speaker's computer desktop to others online

Slippery slope fallacy

A logical fallacy that assumes once an action begins it will lead, undeterred, to an eventual and inevitable conclusion

Paradigm

A pattern or model for something; the standards of judgement you provide to an audience to evaluate something; paradigms reference the coordinates of a judgment or value

Disposition

A person's mental and physical orientation toward the world and others; audiences perceive disposition through your style

Behavioral interview

A popular fork of interviewing that asks candidates questions about past behavior to predict future work-related outcomes

Bias

A preference for something that benefits you or others unequally

Online presentation

A prepared speech, podcast, or video that is broadcast on a computing device

Jeremiad

A prophetic speech of woe and moral or spiritual shortcoming; admonish communities to repent or change their ways to avoid doom

Selective exposure

A psychological theory suggesting that people prefer information that supports their views and avoid information that does not

Argument

A reasoned claim, or series of claims, supported by evidence

Civil disobedience

A refusal to comply with the norms, demands, or laws of a group or government for the purpose of social change

Webinar

A seminar with three or more people conducted over the Internet using software created for this purpose

Attitude

A set of beliefs that cluster around a common object and predispose behavior

Specific purpose statement

A single sentence that explains the specific topic and goal of your presentation; not explicitly said in speech

Thesis statement

A single sentence that expresses the topic and purpose of a speech; explicitly said in speech

Extemporaneous delivery

A speech that is delivered with few notes or that seems to be delivered with little or no preparation

Active listening

A technique of observing and responding to a speaker's verbal and nonverbal messages with the goal of mutual understanding

Coalition

A temporary group of people for the purpose of collective social or political advocacy

Narration

A verbal account of an event or series of events

Concept map

A visual representation of the relationships between different concepts, usually depicted with arrows and lines

Social-oriented roles

Adopted by members of a group to help moderate the mood and feelings of participants

Task-oriented roles

Adopted by members to help meet the goals of the group

Ad populum

An appeal to popular feelings or commonly held emotions about a claim or assertion not supported by evidence; "four out of five dentists would recommend"

Syllogism

An argument that consists of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion drawn from those premises

Enthymeme

An argument that leaves a part unsaid or unstated

Fallacy

An error in reasoning; can make an argument invalid

Belief

An idea about reality

Non Sequitur fallacy

An inference that does not follow logically from a previous statement

Commencement speech

An inspirational speech delivered to graduation students at an educational institution, such as a university

Screening interview

An interview in which an employer attempts to reduce a large number of job applicants to a smaller and more manageable number

Selection interview

An interview in which an employer seeks personal contact, either through videoconferencing or in person, with a potential employee

Stereotype

An over-generalization about a person or group based on assumed characteristics

General speech purpose

Answers the question "why" with regard to the topic, audience, and occasion

Prop

Any physical object that helps you illustrate a point in your speech

Noise

Anything that distorts or distracts from a message on the context of communication; internal or external

Ad baculum

Appeal to force, fear, or power to prove an argument

Ad misericordiam

Appeal to pity

Informative speaking

Attempts to introduce or impart new knowledge and information to audiences

Amorphous audience

Audience that you know exists but whose size and demographic information are unknown

Contemporary speech genres

Celebratory- speaking to celebrate a community Informative- speaking to inform Persuasive- speaking to induce change (absorbed forensic/judicial genre)

Types of claims

Claim of fact, claim of value (something is good or bad), and claim of policy

Asynchronous communication

Communication that is either written or prerecorded before it reaches an audience

Synchronous communication

Communication that occurs in real time

Enumeration

Composing transitions for oral delivery and the creation of mental signposts, which are verbal indications of the direction the speech will take; many terms and phrases are handy for this purpose, ex: "first," "second," "next," etc.

Contextual reasoning

Concerns thinking about the kinds of support you can use for a speech given its contextual demands and constraints

Vivid language

Concerns words that are sensuous and evocative

Ancient Greek speech genres

Epideictic- speaking to celebrate a community Forensic- speaking about guilt or innocence Deliberative- speaking to induce change

Internet research check-list

Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness, and Support (CARS)

High-context cultures

Cultures that rely heavily on nonverbal and subtle situational cues in communication

Low-context cultures

Cultures that rely heavily on words to convey meaning in communication

Values

Deeply held core beliefs

Examples

Descriptive representations used to illustrate claims

Aristotle's rhetoric triangle

Ethos, logos, and pathos

Internal previews

Detailed form of transition that reviews main points to come

Internal summaries

Detailed form of transition that summarizes points that have been said

Formal audience analysis

Employing various tools and methods for gathering information about people

Rally speech

Enthusiastic oration designed to inspire and motivate a community, delivered at an event for a social or political cause

Reasoning/warrant

Explanation of why or how the evidence/data supports the claim; the underlying assumption that connects the evidence to the claim

Stories

Extended examples that follow a familiar pattern that includes a beginning, a middle, and an end

Misinformation

False, inaccurate, or misleading information

Tropes

Figures of speech; popular tropes include metaphors, similes, and irony

Description

Gives audience a mental sense of an event, process, or object evoking sights, sounds, and smells

Amorphous/unknown audiences

Groups of individuals who are brought together by a given message who may or may not share common characteristics

Expertise

Having knowledge or skills particular to a given field; in public speaking, closely associated to credibility

Historical arrangement

How a given object or event occurred in documented fact

Audience disposition

How the audience feels about you, your topic, and the occasion for which you're speaking

Visualization

Imagining the outcome of a possible course of action or behavior

Ad hominem

In an argument, this is an attack on the person rather than on the opponent's ideas. It comes from the Latin meaning "against the man."

Coercion

Influencing someone to do or think something by threats, unwarranted emotion, or force, which includes distorting, hiding, or preventing conscious choices

Opinions

Judgements that may or may not depend on facts or knowledge

Checklist for online presentations

Lighting, color on screen, composition/centering, and sound

Statistics

Numerical facts or measurements about a large group or collection

Informative speech types

Objects, people, events, processes, concepts, or issues

Bandwagon fallacy

Reasoning that suggests that because everyone else believes something or is doing something, then it must be valid or correct

Social movement

Refers to a group of like-minded individuals who promote a particular cause, politics, or ideology

Communication apprehension

Refers to the anxiety or fear experienced by communications

Social norms

Rules that govern what is normal in a given culture

Narrative arrangement

Sequences in a speech like a story, moving from the beginning to the end

Leader

Someone designated or who emerges to guide and moderate discussion

Civility

Speech or behavior that is seen as polite, courteous, or appropriate to a given social or public situation

Motivational speaking

Speeches that are primarily intended to inspire an audience to feel something about their community

Reasoning

The ability to make an inference or a judgment based on evidence

Response-ability

The ability to respond to others, which is the foundation of listening and speaking

Malapropism

The accidental confusion of ideas or similar-sounding words; Freudian slip

Form

The activation and satisfaction of expectations in audiences

Psychological audience analysis

The anticipation of audience feelings and an attempt to marshal those feelings in order to change beliefs, attitudes, values, or behavior

Consciousness raising

The attempt to make others more aware of cultural and political problems and challenges

Speech anxiety

The communication apprehension specific to speech making

Lecture

The context of celebratory speaking- a speech of blame or admonishment The context of informative speaking- an educational speech

Communication

The coordination of behavior using symbols

Brainstorming

The creative process of developing ideas and solutions to problems

Social agitation

The deliberate violation of widely accepted or sanctioned norms of a social or political culture

Publicity

The distribution and circulation of information or a message for promotional purposes

Tone

The emotional quality or character of human expression; feelings of the speaker as they are expressed in delivery

Informal logic

The study of how people argue on an everyday basis by leaving some things unstated

Supporting material

The facts, statistics, testimony, examples, and stories that bolster your claims

Connotation

The feelings one associates with something

Misunderstanding

The inability of one or more communicators to apprehend meanings, feelings, or identities, and to coordinate their behaviors

Color vision deficiency

The inability to see certain colors or to distinguish particular colors

Conflict

The inevitable disagreement groups encounter when working on a task together; conflict is positive when it is depersonalized and focused on problem solving

Small group communication

The interaction among three or more people who self-identify as a group

Tonework

The labor of the speaker to craft, control, or change the expression of feeling in public speaking

Denotation

The literal and primary meaning of something

Civic engagement

The manner in which citizens participate in the political or social processes and governance of a given community

Vocalics

The study of the nonverbal character and expressiveness of the human voice

Speech

The meeting place of the body and language, typically understood as meaningful, vocal expression

Gesture

The movement of the head, hands, or arms to communicate an idea or feeling

Either-or fallacy

The oversimplification of an issue into a choice between only two outcomes or possibilities

Listening

The process of actively making meaning of messages

Invention

The process of discovering materials and arguments for a speech

Persuasion

The process of influencing others to do, think, or believe something through speaking and writing

Audience analysis

The process of studying an audience before, during, and after a speech

Demography

The study of the statistical characteristics of a given population

Alliteration

The recurrence of the same sound in a series of words

Plagiarism

The representation of someone else's words or ideas as your own; plagiarism is intellectual theft

Testimony

The shading of an individual's viewpoints, perspectives, or opinions

Identification

The shared sense of identity between of among two or more people, usually in reference to a common thing, experience, or event

Jargon

The specialized or peculiar language of a particular community or group

Logic

The structure of reasoning

Feedback

The unpleasant sound created when an audio input is too close to an output

Sound reinforcement

The use of microphones, sound processors, and amplifiers to enhance the quality of volume of sounds

Impression management

The way in which a person navigates his or her self-presentation in body and language

Style

The way in which a person presents himself or herself to others

Informal audience analysis

The way in which a speaker gathers information about his or her audience in an unsystematic way

Voice projection

The way in which speakers use the strength of their voice to control volume and express confidence in a speaking situation

Selective listening

The ways in which a person attends to some auditory information (speech or sound), ignoring other information

Selective perception

The ways in which people attend to the things they like, ignoring things that they do not

Violence

Using physical or psychological force to injure, harm, or alter something or someone in order to cause or stop change

Red-Herring fallacy

When a speaker introduces an irrelevant issue or piece of evidence to divert attention from the subject of the speech

Direct quotations

Word-for-word references to what someone else has said