CH. 9-15 Communications

majority rule

A decision-making process that follows the will of the majority.

purpose statement

A declaration of the specific goal for a speech.

pathos

Listeners' emotions.

Neutralize Hostility

Many people find it difficult to listen to—let alone to be persuaded by—someone toward whom they feel hostility. If a portion of an audience already is disapproving of a speaker, his or her ideas, or the occasion on which the person is speaking, it is challenging to convey the message effectively. Many speakers Page 411are so uncomfortable with such situations that they ignore the hostility, hoping their message will be enough to persuade their listeners. Skilled persuasive speakers, however, acknowledge the listeners' negative feelings and then identify points on which they and their listeners agree.

impromptu speech

speech delivered with little or no preparation.

People

Finally, you can use people—including yourself—as presentation aids. Suppose your speech is about the Chinese martial art of tai chi. You might choose to show your audience some of the fundamental movements of tai chi by either performing them yourself or having someone else perform them. Similarly, if you are speaking about the procedure for measuring blood pressure, you might perform a blood pressure test on someone to demonstrate the technique. In both cases, using a person as a presentation aid is more engaging than showing your audience photographs or video recordings, because your demonstration is live.

beliefs

Perception about what is true or false, accurate or inaccurate.

bibliography

A list of the sources used in preparing a speech.

database

An electronic storehouse of specific information that people can search

Finding supporting material is not difficult. However, as you will see in this section, to use it effectively you will need to

Identify places in your speech outline where you need support. Determine the type of support you require. Evaluate the quality of supporting material. Avoid plagiarism.

logos

Listeners' ability to reason.

Fluency

The smoothness of a speaker's delivery. Speeches that are fluent have an uninterrupted flow of words and phrases. There is a smooth rhythm to the delivery, without awkward pauses or false starts. In contrast, disfluent speeches are characterized by the use of Page 362filler words, such as "um" and "uh," and by the unnecessary repetition of words. Researchers have known for some time that people who speak with fluency are perceived as more effective communicators than people who do not

space pattern

A pattern of organizing the main points of a speech according to areas.

resources

Assets that enable a group to be productive.

enthymeme

A syllogism in which one of the premises is already so widely known and accepted that it is omitted.

survey

A method of collecting data by asking people directly about their experiences.

subjective

Biased toward a specific conclusion.

audience analysis

Carefully considering the characteristics of one's listeners when preparing a speech.

Establish Your Topic's Relevance to Listeners

In other instances, it's necessary to tell your listeners why they should care about your topic. Even if your audience doesn't have direct experience with the topic of your speech, you can often make it relevant by asking your listeners to imagine themselves in a hypothetical situation. Notice how the following introduction accomplishes that goal:

Select a Captivating Topic

Issues: According to Allen and McKerrow, issues are problems or points of controversy about which people desire resolution. You could choose to speak on a contemporary issue facing the United States, such as unemployment, immigration, or the war on terror. You might also select an issue that has been controversial for some time, such as affirmative action or sex education in public schools. When you focus your informative speech on an issue, your purpose isn't to persuade your listeners to adopt any particular point of view but rather to give them the facts necessary to form their own opinions. Events: Events are occurrences that are noteworthy for the meanings they represent. You may choose to speak about an event that was publicly experienced, such as last year's NCAA basketball Final Four or the death of actor Robin Williams. You might also elect to speak about a significant event in your personal life, such as a visit to a foreign country or a religious conversion. In each instance, you can educate your audience about the event and communicate the significant meaning it has, either for your listeners or for you. Places: Cable television's Travel Channel is popular because it informs viewers about interesting and exotic places. You can do the same by focusing your speech on a place you find significant or intriguing. It might be a place you have personally visited, or it could be a locale where daily life is substantially different than it is for your listeners, such as Cuba, Iceland, or Yemen. You can even focus on a place in a specific historical period, such as China during the Shang Dynasty or Moscow before the breakup of the former Soviet Union. Objects: Allen and McKerrow have categorized as objects any entities that are nonhuman, including living or animate objects, such as the California giant Page 380redwoods and the critically endangered Sumatran Tiger, and inanimate objects, such as the guillotine and the Empire State Building. Effective speeches about an object often educate listeners about the object's evolution and development or its significance in history, culture, politics, or ecology. Concepts: Whereas objects are tangible items, concepts are abstract ideas. Oppression, compassion, integrity, bias, and forgiveness are all examples of concepts because each is a notion or an idea rather than a concrete object. Some powerful speeches have focused on concepts that were significant to their audiences. In January 2016, for instance, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau delivered a speech describing the importance of diversity for social and economic development. Diversity isn't an object that can be seen or felt; it's a complex idea and one that affects millions of lives as a social concept. Processes: As we saw earlier in the chapter, many informative speeches describe or demonstrate a process, a series of actions that culminates in a specific result. For instance, you might focus on a natural process, such as how coal becomes diamond or how a canyon forms from water erosion. Or you might choose a human-created process, such as the design of currency or the functions of a CT scanner. You can also use your informative speech to teach your listeners a process, such as how to tie a bowline knot or crop a digital photo. Policies: Finally, informative speeches can focus on policies, that is, programs that aim to guide future decision making or to achieve some goal. For instance, you might inform your listeners about policies that existed in the past but were overturned, such as school segregation in the United States and apartheid in South Africa. You might also speak on current policies, such as those that regulate interrogation tactics in the military. Some humorous informative speeches focus on bizarre policies and laws, such as the New Jersey prohibition against frowning at police officers and the Nevada law against riding a camel on public highways.

plagiarism

Knowingly using information from another source without giving proper credit to that source.

public speaking anxiety

Nervousness or fear brought on by performing in front of an audience.

etymology

The origin or history of a word.

You'll want to find the best possible supporting material, and that means checking carefully for three particular characteristics:

credibility, objectivity, and currency

Talking over people's heads

means assuming they have information or an understanding they don't actually have.

it's equally helpful to consider the context of your speaking engagement. To do so, you need to think about several issues:

the purpose of your audience, its size, the time available for your speech, the demands competing for your listeners' attention, and your audience's existing knowledge about your topic.

thesis statement

A one-sentence version of the message in a speech.

vested interest

An inherent motivation to pay attention.

antonyms

Words that have opposite meanings.

anxiety

A psychological state of worry and unease.

assimilation phase

Phase of group socialization in which members decide to accept the group's culture and the group acquires its own identity.

keyword

abbreviate each of your main points and subpoints into...—a word or short phrase that will help you to remember it.

Small Groups Have Distinctive Communication Practices

Central to accomplishing any group's mission is the practice of communication.20 Can you imagine any small group that could meet its goals if its members couldn't communicate with one another? They wouldn't be able to share ideas, encourage one another, make collective decisions, assign individual tasks, or stay informed about what other members are doing. Researchers have discovered four specific types of communication that characterize small groups.21 The first type, problem-solving communication,focuses on the details of how a small group can accomplish its tasks. Role communication, the second type, relates to the formal and informal roles each member plays within the group. Page 240Consciousness-raising communication, the third type, strengthens the group's identity and the morale of its members. Finally, encounter communication describes the interpersonal interactions among group members.

psychosocial traits

Characteristics of one's personality and ways of relating to others. Many effective leaders share particular psychosocial traits, which are characteristics of their personality and ways of relating to others. Like physical traits, psychosocial traits are relatively enduring and not easily changed, although experience and education can help leaders hone their useful traits. Much of the research has focused on three particular traits: self-esteem, self-monitoring, and outgoingness.

Strive for Simplicity

Choose or create presentation aids that are as simple and straightforward as possible so your listeners will pay attention to their content instead of their form. For example, develop slides that are clean and uncluttered. Stay away from sound effects, fancy slide transitions, and pictures or photographs that are irrelevant to the content of the slide. As you'll discover in "Fact or Fiction?" distracting features can reduce your listeners' ability to learn.

We Influence Actions with Propositions of Policy

Closely tied to propositions of value are propositions of policy, claims about what we should do. Speakers offer propositions of policy to suggest a specific course of action for listeners to follow or to support. Some examples of propositions of policy are The federal government should ban the use of human stem cells in medical research. Hate crimes against ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities should be capital offenses. Everyone should eat only locally grown, organic foods whenever possible.

build rapport

Create the perception that listeners and the speaker see things similarly.

Time Orientation Affects Decision Making

Cultures differ with respect to their norms and expectations concerning the use of time. Monochronic cultures view time as a tangible commodity. As a result, people in monochronic cultures, such as the United States, enjoy "saving" time and try to avoid "wasting" it. In contrast, polychronic cultures, including Japan and South Korea, conceive of time as more fluid. People don't prioritize efficiency and punctuality to the same extent that people do in monochronic cultures. Instead, they attach greater value to the quality of their lives and their relationships with others. A group's preferred decision-making method may depend on whether its culture is monochronic or polychronic. Groups from monochronic cultures may opt for majority rule, minority rule, or authority rule because those methods often use time efficiently. However, groups from polychronic cultures, which have less incentive to make decisions quickly, may be more likely to try achieving unanimous consensus if they believe that method will produce a better decision.

Visual Elements Affect Delivery

Humans have a strong tendency to evaluate a situation—including a speech—according to what they see. Visual cues are thus important elements of effective speech delivery. This section describes how you can use facial expression, eye contact, posture and body position, gestures, and personal appearance to your advantage. Eye Contact Posture and Body Position Gestures Personal Appearance Vocal Elements Affect Delivery

Keep It Short

In most instances, you will have a specific time slot for your informative speech. Your time frame will limit the amount of material you can effectively discuss in your presentation, so make sure you include only as much information as you can reasonably cover.

avatars

Graphic representations of people.

The Bottom Line: Credibility Matters

In the business world, a company's credibility often directly affects its profits. Corporations therefore go to great lengths to establish and maintain their credibility.

We Join Small Groups Because We Need to Belong

Humans are highly social beings. We don't just want to belong to social networks; we need to. Friendships and families can meet many of our social needs, but small groups can also give us a sense of social belonging. Especially in situations when we feel out of place or unsure of ourselves—such as you might if you were new to a school and didn't have many friends—finding a group to belong to and identify with (such as a club, a fraternity or sorority, or a church group) can be comforting.

Consequently, effective speakers must take into account

the cultural makeup of their audiences and speak in culturally sensitive ways.

Tell a joke.

Opening your speech with a joke can be a particularly effective way to capture your listeners' attention, put them at ease, and generate positive feelings about you. Always make certain that your humor is appropriate for your audience and for the occasion and that it won't be interpreted as offensive.

Incorporate technology.

Regardless of what you say in your introduction, you can use various forms of technology to generate listener interest. As you present a quotation or cite an opinion, for instance, show a photo of the person you're referencing. If you're telling a suspenseful story, play suspenseful music in the background.

EXERCISING POWER

Regardless of which styles of leadership they enact, leaders rely on the exercise of power to achieve their goals. Power is the ability to influence or control people or events.34 Being an effective leader requires having some form of power.

Relate Yourself to Your Topic

Relating yourself to your topic is advantageous for two reasons. First, it establishes for your audience that you have the credibility to speak with authority about the topic. If you have training, personal experience, or a vested interest in what you're discussing, you are likely to be knowledgeable about it. Explaining your connection to the topic establishes you as a qualified speaker whose words can be trusted. The second advantage is that your listeners will care more about the topic if they believe it matters personally to you than if they do not. You may know from your own experience that it is Page 382difficult to get excited about a speech when not even the speaker seems to care about the topic. In contrast, when you make clear to your listeners that you are enthusiastic about or deeply invested in the topic of the speech, they are more likely to care about what you have to say.

Facial Expression

Research indicates that two aspects of your facial expression are particularly important for an effective speech. The first is that your facial expressions should match the tone of your words. When your words are serious, your facial expression should be serious as well. You should smile when telling positive stories and express concern when telling troubling stories.

Repeat Key Points

Research shows that repetition of critical points will help your listeners to remember more of what you say.7 Take advantage of that fact by repeating your most important points during your speech. To use repetition effectively, however, repeat only the important points, not trivial ones, and do not repeat them so many times that your audience tunes out

Explaining

Revealing why something occurred or how something works. For example, you might explain how Larry Page and Sergey Brin, then Ph.D. students at Stanford University, developed the search engine Google. You could also explain how cancer cells spread through the body or why people in Great Britain drive on the left side of the road.

Startle your listeners.

Saying or doing something unexpected can be an effective way to capture the attention of your audience. Begin your speech by singing, for example, or by speaking in a foreign language. People tend to pay attention to what is unusual, so if you start your presentation in an unexpected way, your listeners are likely to take note.

Relate Your Topic to Your Audience

Seeing that you know and care about your topic will matter to your listeners. What will matter to them even more, however, is seeing why theyshould know and care about it. To frame an informative speech effectively, you must therefore make clear how the topic is relevant to your audience.

Vocal Elements Affect Delivery

Several elements of the voice influence how people understand and evaluate what the speaker says. Here we'll examine the importance of rate, volume, pitch, articulation, and fluency as vocal elements of effective speech delivery.

Demonstrating

Showing how to do something by doing it as it is explained.

signposts

Single words and phrases that distinguish one point in a presentation from another and help listeners follow the speaker's path.

Socialize New Members Constructively

Socialize New Members Constructively Becoming part of a small group requires more than signing your name to a membership roster. New members must also be socialized into the group. They must be informed about the group's expectations, roles, ways of working, and culture. New members who are not properly socialized may feel unwelcome or unenthusiastic about having joined the group. They may also unintentionally disrupt activities because they aren't aware of the group's norms and expectations. Part of communicating competently in small groups, therefore, is helping to socialize new members.

Adding New Members to a Group

When new members join a group, it is important to welcome them. Four behaviors in particular help to socialize new members positively and constructively: Recruit good members. Seek out potential members who will contribute to the group's mission. Be on the lookout for individuals who fit the group's personality, and encourage them to consider joining. Create a group orientation. Spend time with new members and teach them about the group's history, norms, expectations, and procedures. Knowing about these aspects of the group will aid them in being positive contributors.53 Page 254Include new members in activities. Ensure that new members are included in group functions and activities. If, for example, the work team meets every Wednesday morning for breakfast, invite the new members. They will feel welcomed and encouraged to participate when they are included. Be a mentor. An experienced group member can be a mentor for a new member.54 A mentor is someone who serves as a trusted friend, counselor, or teacher for another person. Even if new members are properly initiated when they first join a group, they may benefit from having a seasoned mentor. How good are you at mentoring?

synonyms

Words that have the same meaning.

Periodicals

are materials that are published on a regular basis, such as magazines, newspapers, and scientific journals.

When you're building a speech, a good outline serves the same purpose:

it reflects your speech's design and helps you decide what materials you'll need.

Incremental theft

means failing to give credit for small portions of your speech—such as a phrase or paragraph—that you did not write.

Small Groups Include Individual Roles

Most small groups have one or more collective goals or purposes. Tennis teams exist to compete with other teams in tennis matches. Jazz bands exist to create and perform music. In each case, everyone is expected to work together toward the group's collective mission, but that doesn't mean everyone contributes in the same way. Rather, individual members of the group often take on specific roles, patterns of behavior that define a person's function within a group or a larger organization. Some roles in small groups are formal roles, meaning they are specifically assigned to people to help the group to fulfill its mission. On a tennis team, for instance, one person usually plays the role of captain, the individual in charge of organizing team meetings and boosting players' morale. Because they are specifically assigned, formal roles usually receive official recognition both inside and outside the group. For example, all the players on a team know who the captain is because someone selected him or her and officially bestowed that title. Other roles are better described as informal roles, meaning they are not formally assigned and anyone in the group can choose to take them on.14 Unlike formal roles, which often ensure that important group assignments get fulfilled, informal roles more frequently relate to how well or poorly the group functions while carrying out its mission, and members take on whichever one fits their personality. In a jazz band, for instance, one member might play the role of humorist, always making funny observations to lighten the mood. Another might enact the role of mediator, helping members to find common ground when conflicts arise. A third might play the Page 239nurturer, attending to everyone else's emotional and physical needs. An individual member might have more than one informal role, and a given informal role might be fulfilled by more than one member at a time. Because formal roles are assigned and officially recognized, it's tempting to conclude that they're more important to a group's success than informal roles. That's not always the case, however. Although a team captain can keep a group organized and on task, members who enact helpful informal roles might make equally important contributions to a satisfying and productive group atmosphere.15 Formal and informal roles can therefore complement each other, together creating a positive small group experience.

Remember the Goal

No matter what type of presentation aids you choose, remember they are meant to aid your speech. They should never themselves become your focus. Instead, they should be like accessories, embellishing your delivery but not overpowering it. Your listeners' primary focus should be on you and what you have to say.

topic pattern

A pattern of organizing the main points of a speech to represent different categories. Arranging points by topic

Actions

A behavior someone undertakes.

hasty generalization

A broad claim that is based on insufficient evidence. Hasty generalization: A hasty generalization is a broad claim based on insufficient evidence, usually one or two isolated examples. Suppose you were to claim in your speech that it is unsafe to travel in Turkey. To support your claim, you tell of having had your passport stolen from your hotel room during your study-abroad experience in Turkey last year. Your argument is a hasty generalization because your evidence is limited to one incident in one hotel.

propositions of policy

A claim about what should be done.

Bandwagon appeal

A claim that a listener should accept an argument because of how many other people have already accepted it. Bandwagon appeal: Bandwagon appeal suggests that a listener should accept an argument because many other people have. Think about the assertion "Over 15 million people buy Vetris motor oil each month, and you should too—15 million satisfied customers can't be wrong!" The implication is that if an argument (such as to use a particular brand) is popular, it therefore has merit. That may well be true—good products are often popular because they are good—but it isn't necessarily true. Can 15 million people be wrong? Absolutely—so the popularity of an argument is no guarantee of its merit.

a proposition of fact

A claim that a particular argument is supported by the best available evidence and should therefore be taken as factual.

propositions of value

A claim that evaluates the worth of a person, an object, or an idea.

appeal to false authority

A claim that uses as evidence the testimony of someone who is not an expert on the topic. Appeal to false authority: An appeal to false authority uses as evidence the testimony of someone who is not an expert on a given topic. In a persuasive speech about the benefits of a vegan diet, for instance, a student might say "According to an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, a vegan diet is the healthiest way to eat." The problem is that although DeGeneres is a vegan, she is not a physician, nutritionist, or medical scientist. Therefore, despite her high public profile, she is unqualified to comment with authority on the health benefits of veganism or any other diet.

synergy

A collaboration that produces more than the sum of its parts.

small group

A collection of people working interdependently to accomplish a task; small groups typically include 3 to 20 members. Small groups are distinguished by their size. Small groups are interdependent. Small groups are cohesive. Small groups enforce rules and norms. Small groups include individual roles. Small groups have their own identities. Small groups have distinctive communication practices. Small groups often interact online. The size of a small group matters because most of us communicate differently in larger and smaller collections of people. When we interact with only one other person, we are engaged in interpersonal rather than small group communication. Interpersonal communication usually focuses on the development and maintenance of a personal relationship, whereas small group communication is concerned with the performance of tasks. When we interact with larger groups of people, our communication can become impersonal because we may not know the other group members very well.Indeed, if the group is too large, we might feel as though our input won't be heard. However, interpersonal communication and large group communication each have their functions. A small group's size depends on its purposes. If the small group is a barbershop quartet, it needs exactly four people. If it's a jury, it will usually have 12 members plus a couple of alternates. Focus groups, committees, support groups, sports teams, and other small groups vary in size according to the tasks they have to accomplish. If there are too few members, the group may not have sufficient help to complete its goals. Likewise, if there are too many members, scheduling and coordinating the group's activities can be cumbersome. For those reasons, each small group must evaluate for itself what the best number of members will be.6

minority rule

A decision-making process in which a small number of members makes a decision on behalf of the group.

authority rule

A decision-making process in which the leader of the group makes the decisions.

Communicate with Charisma

A final component of credibility is charisma, which is a speaker's enthusiasm. As you know, it's much easier to listen to—and be persuaded by—someone who speaks dynamically and energetically than by someone who seems bored by his or her own words. So, when you're giving a persuasive speech, approach your topic and your audience with enthusiasm. Smile! Use gestures and vary your tone of voice to keep your presentation interesting. Look at your audience and use facial expressions that reflect the mood of your message. Bringing energy and excitement to your presentation will encourage your listeners to pay attention and make them receptive to your words.

Leaders Exercise Informational Power

A final form of power is informational power, power that stems from the ability to control access to information. Many socialist and communist governments exercise informational power over their populations, for example, by controlling all the media in their countries. Citizens in those societies are exposed only to news their governments want them to know, and thus they become dependent on their government leaders for information.

Personal Appearance

A final visual element of an effective delivery is personal appearance—clothing, accessories, and grooming. As a general rule, your appearance should be appropriate for your audience and for the occasion on which you're speaking. Select clothing that will match the formality of—or will be slightly more formal than—the clothes your listeners will be wearing. The more your personal appearance reflects theirs, the more your listeners will perceive you as similar to them, and that perception enhances your credibility.52 In contrast, dressing far more formally or far less formally than your listeners will lead your audience to see you as more of an outsider. Jewelry and accessories should complement your clothing but not attract attention. Long, flashy earrings or multiple bracelets that clang together whenever you move your arm will distract your audience.

reward power

A form of power based on the leader's ability to reward another for doing what the leader says.

legitimate power

A form of power in which leaders' status or position gives them the right to make requests with which others must comply.

coercive power

A form of power that comes from the ability to punish.

referent power

A form of power that derives from attraction to the leader.

expert power

A form of power that stems from having expertise in a particular area.

informational power

A form of power that stems from the ability to control access to information.

inductive reasoning

A form of reasoning in which one considers evidence and then draws general conclusions from it.

deductive reasoning

A form of reasoning in which one starts with a general conclusion and then uses it to explain specific individual cases.

Poll the Audience

A good way to gauge your listeners' opinions or experiences is to take an informal poll related to your topic. You might say "Raise your hand if you've ever known anyone who has suffered from asthma." If you're speaking in a room with a classroom response system—commonly known as clicker technology—your audience can respond to your questions anonymously.

Groups Generate Ideas through Various Methods

A human resources committee may need to decide how to advertise the three new positions it must fill. A musical group may need to choose a repertoire of songs to perform for an upcoming concert series. In both cases, generating a list of possible options is an Page 262important first step in the decision-making process. Here we'll examine three of the most common methods groups use to generate ideas: brainstorming, the nominal group technique, and ideawriting.

democratic style

A leadership style in which every member of a group has the right to participate in decision making.

laissez-faire style

A leadership style in which leaders offer minimal supervision.

autocratic style

A leadership style in which leaders see themselves as having both the authority and the responsibility to take action on a group's behalf.

logical fallacy

A line of reasoning that, even if it makes sense, does not genuinely support a speaker's point.

Avoiding Logical Fallacies

A logical fallacy is a line of reasoning that, even if it makes sense, doesn't genuinely support a speaker's point. Competent speakers avoid logical fallacies because they offer invalid or incomplete evidence for claims. Instead, good speakers focus on providing valid logical arguments and evidence to support their points. Some logical fallacies are easy to spot; others are subtle and more difficult to identify. The most common fallacies are these: Ad hominem fallacy: A common but illogical way to counter arguments is to criticize the person who makes them—for instance, "I wouldn't believe anything Senator Rodgers says about fiscal responsibility; the man's an idiot." That line of reasoning, called an ad hominem fallacy,implies that if a person has shortcomings, his or her arguments must therefore be deficient. That implication is a fallacy, however. Consider that, in our example, even if the speaker doesn't respect Senator Rodgers, the senator's arguments about fiscal responsibility aren't necessarily wrong. To show they are, the speaker must attack the arguments themselves. Slippery slope: A slippery slope fallacy—also called a reduction to the absurd—unfairly tries to shoot down an argument by taking it to such an extreme that it appears ludicrous. An activist advocating a ban on same-sex marriage might state: "If we allow gay marriage, pretty soon we'll be allowing people to marry animals." Such a method tries to persuade people not to adopt an argument by extending it to a ridiculous and undesirable extreme. Page 407Either/or fallacy: An either/or fallacy identifies two alternatives and falsely suggests that if we reject one, we must accept the other. Take the statement, "Either we make condoms available in public schools or we prepare for an epidemic of sexually transmitted infections among our teenagers." That statement argues for providing condoms by identifying an epidemic of infections as the only possible alternative. The reasoning is invalid—a fallacy—because it ignores the possibility that there may be other ways to keep sexually active adolescents infection-free.

time pattern

A pattern of organizing the main points of a speech in chronological order. Arranging points by time:

problem-solution pattern

A pattern of organizing the main points of a speech so that they describe a problem and then offer solutions for it.

cause-and-effect pattern

A pattern of organizing the main points of a speech so that they describe the causes of an event and then identify its consequences.

Accent Your Character

A person's character is his or her degree of honesty. People who appear honest are more credible than those who appear dishonest because we can have greater confidence that what honest individuals say is accurate and true. In jury trials, for example, lawyers frequently cast doubt on the testimony of their opponents' witnesses by questioning their character. If an attorney can establish that an opposing witness has been caught lying in the past, that history makes the witness appear to be of questionable character and can cause the jury to doubt his or her testimony. Good persuasive speakers establish their character by incorporating stories and anecdotes about themselves that demonstrate their honesty. In addition, speakers who enact high-immediacy behaviors—such as standing close to others, leaning forward, using eye contact, and maintaining an open posture—are judged to be of more positive character than speakers who do not enact those behaviors.

fight-or-flight response

A reaction that helps prepare the body either to confront or to avoid a stressor.

rule of parallel structure

A rule of speech organization specifying that all points and subpoints in an outline should have the same grammatical structure.

rule of division

A rule of speech organization specifying that if a point is divided into subpoints, it must have at least two subpoints. if a point has one subpoint, it must have at least one more. The reason is that if there is only one subpoint, it communicates the same amount of information as the main point.

rule of subordination

A rule of speech organization specifying that some concepts in the speech are more important than others.

Presentation Aids Improve Learning

A second benefit of using presentation aids is that the audience will learn more from the speech. One reason is that they are paying closer attention, as we just considered. Another is that most people learn better when more than one of their senses is engaged. If the speaker incorporates materials that activate the listeners' sense of sight, hearing, touch, or smell, then listeners will learn more from the presentation than if they are only listening to the speaker's words.

slideshow

A selection of images and text created in a presentation software and projected on a screen for the audience to see.

groupthink

A situation in which group members seek unanimous agreement despite their individual doubts.

ethos

A speaker's respectability, trustworthiness, and moral character.

memorized speech

A speech composed word for word and then delivered from memory. Memorizing their words allows people to speak without having to handle a script or set of notes Like all forms of delivery, memorized speeches have some drawbacks. One is that, like scripted speeches, they take a good deal of time and energy to prepare. Not only must you write the speech itself, you must also commit it to memory—a possibly burdensome task, especially if it is relatively long. Another drawback of memorized speeches is that they can come across as excessively prepared and overly formal. As a result, they may not sound as sincere as impromptu or extemporaneous speeches often do. You can overcome that disadvantage by rehearsing to make your speech seemas though you are presenting it for the first time. A third disadvantage of giving a memorized speech is that a speaker's memory can fail. Many people have had the experience of practicing a speech so many times that they can practically recite it in their sleep, only to forget the words in the middle of their delivery. If you ever encounter that problem, the best way to recover is to improvise. Consider what you were saying right before your memory failed and then speak extemporaneously about it. Improvising for even a few moments may jog your memory, allowing you to resume your memorized speech without anyone's noticing that you temporarily forgot your words.

scripted speech

A speech composed word for word on a manuscript and then read aloud exactly as it is written. Scripted speeches are particularly common in situations when the exact wording of the speech is crucial or when the speech must fit within a predetermined time frame.

extemporaneous speech

A speech that is carefully prepared to sound as though it is being delivered spontaneously.

brainstorming

An idea-generating process in which group members offer whatever ideas they wish before any are debated.

Recognize Barriers to Effective Listening in Groups

A starting point for honing your listening skills is to acknowledge factors that might be inhibiting your ability to listen attentively. Barriers to effective listening that are common in many groups include these: Noise: Noise is anything in the physical environment (such as sound) or in your individual experience (such as hunger) that distracts you from listening effectively. Try to identify what is causing the noise and do what you can to reduce its effect. Boredom: When you're bored, effective listening becomes difficult because your mind wanders. If you find that boredom is preventing you from listening effectively, suggest to the group that members take a break and come back to the discussion later. If a break isn't possible, try to identify some aspect of what's being said that you find interesting, and focus on that. Doing so may help you overcome your boredom and allow you to listen more actively. Page 283Information overload: Many of us have difficulty listening effectively when we feel we're being bombarded with information. If a member of your group is overloading you with information, politely suggest that he or she identify the most critical pieces of information and focus specifically on those. Rebuttal tendency: We saw in the listening chapter that the rebuttal tendency is the propensity to debate a speaker's point and formulate your reply while the person is still speaking. The rebuttal impulse can be a particularly common barrier to effective listening in groups that evaluate or analyze—such as juries, focus groups, and advisory boards—because members of such groups may disagree on the merits of the various ideas they're discussing. If you notice the rebuttal tendency in yourself, remember to listen to everything a speaker says before you formulate your response.

preview transition

A statement alerting listeners that a speaker is about to shift to a new topic.

false-cause fallacy

A statement asserting that if an event occurs before some outcome, the event therefore caused that outcome.

main point

A statement expressing a specific idea or theme related to the speech topic. Main Points Should Be Distinct Main Points Should Be Equally Important Main Points Can Be Organized in Various Patterns

verbal footnote

A statement giving credit for quoted words in a speech to their original source.

slippery slope fallacy

A statement that attacks an argument by taking it to such an extreme that it appears ludicrous.

ad hominem fallacy

A statement that attempts to counter an argument by criticizing the person who made it.

summary transition

A statement that briefly reminds listeners of points a speaker has already made.

transition

A statement that connects one point in a speech to the next. Some transitions are full statements that provide previews and internal summaries of the material. Other transitions are single words or phrases, called "signposts," that help to distinguish one point from another. Finally, many nonverbal behaviors can signal transitions.

either/or fallacy

A statement that identifies two alternatives and falsely suggests that if one is rejected, the other must be accepted.

straw man fallacy

A statement that refutes a claim that was never made. Straw man fallacy: A speaker uses a straw man fallacy when he or she refutes a claim that was never made. Let's say the governor of your state proposes to reduce the drinking age in your state to 19 for beer and wine. A legislator responds in a televised interview by saying "Our governor thinks kids should be able to sit in bars drinking martinis! I doubt most parents in this state want to see children getting hammered with hard liquor after school." In that instance, the legislator is trying to refute an argument that the governor hasn't made. After all, the governor's proposal is about 19-year-olds, not children, and about beer and wine, not hard liquor.

red herring fallacy

A statement that responds to an argument by introducing an irrelevant detail to divert attention from the point of the argument. Red herring fallacy: When people are unable to respond legitimately to an argument, they sometimes introduce an irrelevant detail—thus committing what is known as the red herring fallacy—to divert attention from the point of the argument. Suppose you hear someone say "We shouldn't prosecute people for prostitution when there are so many more dangerous crimes going on." Prostitution is still illegal even if other crimes are more dangerous, so the danger of other crimes is irrelevant to the claim that prostitutes and their customers shouldn't be prosecuted.

interview

A structured conversation in which one person poses questions to which another person responds.

working outline

A structured set of all the points and subpoints in a speech. Title Purpose statement Thesis statement Introduction Main points and subpoints comprising the body of the speech Conclusion Bibliography of sources

accommodating style

A style for managing conflict that represents a high concern for the other party but a low concern for the self.

collaborating style

A style for managing conflict that represents a high concern for the self and for the other.

competing style

A style for managing conflict that represents a high concern for the self but a low concern for the other party.

avoiding style,

A style for managing conflict that represents a low concern for both the self and the other party.

compromising style

A style for managing conflict that represents a moderate concern for everyone's needs and desires.

comparative advantage method

A way of organizing a persuasive speech in which the speaker explains why his or her point of view is superior to others on the same topic. On occasion, you may find yourself speaking to people who already agree that a problem exists—they just can't agree on the best way to solve it. In that situation, it's often best to use the comparative advantage method, in which you explain why your point of view is superior to others on the same topic.

Groups Can Brainstorm

A technique popularized in the 1950s to stimulate creative decision making,2 brainstorming allows group members to freely offer any ideas they wish and create a list of all the proposed ideas before any are evaluated. The concept behind brainstorming is that if people feel free to think in unorthodox ways without fear of being ridiculed, they may generate better and more creative ideas. To brainstorm productively, groups should agree to some ground rules that are clearly communicated to group members before the brainstorming session begins. That way, everyone knows what to expect. Those rules could include Be creative: Encourage all ideas, even ones that seem unusual or outrageous. Ideas may have merit even if they sound unworkable or crazy at first. Urge everyone to contribute: Don't allow one or two group members to run the show. Make sure everyone gets a chance to add ideas to the list. Allow piggybacking: Encourage group members to "piggyback" on one another's ideas by adding to what each other has said.

Pose a Hypothetical Situation

A technique similar to polling your audience is to ask your listeners to consider a hypothetical situation. For example: "Imagine you're driving late at night along a back road, hit a patch of ice, and end up in a ditch with no way to get out. You're alone, the temperature is below freezing, and there's no cell phone coverage where you are. What would you do?" Asking listeners to picture themselves in such a situation can spark their interest in your speech. The difference between that technique and polling your audience is that you are not asking your listeners to respond.

We Join Small Groups to Improve Our Effectiveness

A third reason people join small groups is to improve their skills or to become more effective at some task.40 Contestants on the NBC series The Biggest Loser Page 247form small groups led by personal trainers who help them to lose weight. The members of each group work out together, offer mutual encouragement, and hold one another accountable for maintaining their diet and exercise regimens. Participating in their small groups often makes contestants much more effective at losing weight than they could be alone. In fact, many individuals trying to lose weight seek support and encouragement from small groups because they believe it will help them. Will it? Check out the "Fact or Fiction?" box to find out.

Logos

A third way to persuade people is to appeal to their sense of reason. If a particular belief, opinion, or behavior makes good sense, then people will be inclined to adopt it if they have the capacity to do so. As we saw in the preceding example, appealing to reason doesn't always work, particularly if some other force—such as an addiction—influences a person's behavior. When people are free to choose their beliefs, opinions, and behaviors, however, they are frequently persuaded by a solidly logical argument. Aristotle used the term logos to refer to listeners' ability to reason. To reason means to make judgments about the world based on evidence rather than emotion or intuition. When we appeal to logos, we provide our listeners with certain evidence, hoping they will arrive at the same conclusion we have reached. People can engage in the reasoning process in two ways: inductively and deductively. Inductive Reasoning In inductive reasoning, we first consider the specific evidence and then draw general conclusions from it. As the evidence changes or as new evidence becomes available, we modify our conclusions accordingly.

syllogism

A three-line argument consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion.

Avoiding

A very different approach to conflict is the avoiding style, which demonstrates low concern for both the self and the other party. Adopting this style means ignoring the conflict and hoping it will go away on its own. Some people choose avoidance because they are uncomfortable engaging in conflict. Others choose it because they don't care enough about the outcome of the conflict to bother. Avoiding conflict isn't always the wrong choice; many people in groups opt to ignore or avoid certain points of contention among themselves to maintain harmony.46 When avoidance becomes a group's primary way of managing conflict, however, it often leaves important matters unresolved. In this situation, the result can be dissatisfying relationships within the group

Monroe's motivated sequence

A way of organizing a persuasive speech consisting of appeals to attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and then action. A final way of organizing a persuasive speech is with Monroe's motivated sequence, a problem-oriented structure for persuasive arguments. The sequence, developed by former Purdue University professor Alan Monroe, has proved to be particularly effective at motivating listeners to adopt a specific action, such as buying a product or giving money to a charity. Let's say you must give a speech persuading people to donate blood. Monroe's motivated sequence has five stages you address in order: Attention: The attention stage arouses people's interest and sparks their desire to listen, often by making the topic personally relevant to them. Your message at the attention stage is: Please listen! Example Imagine you're badly injured in a head-on car crash, and you're quickly losing blood. After you arrive by ambulance at the emergency room, the doctor says you need an immediate blood transfusion to save your life. The only problem is, they don't have enough blood to give you. Need: Once you've aroused your listeners' attention, your next priority is to identify the need or problem that requires their action. Your message at the need stage is: Something must be done. Example In the past few years, community blood drives have been less and less successful at collecting enough blood to meet our area's medical needs. Our supply of healthy, usable blood is drying up fast. Satisfaction: After you've established the problem at the need stage, you use the satisfaction stage to propose your solution. Your message at the satisfaction stage is: This is what should be done. Example We need an association of healthy, committed volunteers who will donate blood on a regular basis and will encourage their friends, relatives, coworkers, and acquaintances to do the same. That will ensure an ongoing supply of blood to meet our needs. Visualization: At the visualization stage, you ask your audience to imagine how much better their situation will be if they do what you're proposing. Your message at this stage is: Consider the benefits. Example With a continuous supply of blood on hand, our area hospitals will be well equipped to respond to a wide range of medical situations, ensuring the health and welfare of the people in our community. Action: Finally, at the action stage, you tell your listeners what you want them to do. Your request could be that they change their opinions or their beliefs, but often it's that they change their actions. Your message at the action stage is: Act now!

refutational approach

A way of organizing a persuasive speech in which the speaker begins by presenting the main arguments against his or her position and then immediately refutes those arguments. A problem-solving pattern can work well when your audience is open-minded about the problem and solution you describe. Sometimes, however, your audience may be predisposed toward a certain position you plan to refute. Let's say, for instance, that you're speaking in favor of capital punishment, and you already know some of your listeners oppose it. In this instance, you might use a refutational approach, whereby you begin by presenting the main arguments against your position and then immediately refute them.

problem-solving pattern

A way of organizing a pervasive speech in which the speaker establishes the existence of a problem and then proposes a solution to it. One way to organize a persuasive speech is to use a problem-solving pattern, in which you establish the existence of a problem and then propose a solution to it. The problem-solving approach requires you persuade your listeners on two separate points. First, you must show that the problem exists and is serious enough to warrant intervention. Second, you must establish that your proposed solution is possible and practical and will be effective at reducing or eliminating the problem.

general search engine

A website on which one can search for other websites containing information on a specified topic.

research search engine

A website on which one can search for research published in books, academic journals, and other periodicals.

questionnaire

A written instrument containing questions for people to answer.

Small Groups Provide Resources

Accomplishing almost any task requires the availability of resources, or assets that enable us to be productive. Some resources are tangible, such as money, space, materials, and equipment. Others are intangible, such as time, information, talent, and expertise. Each of us has different resources at our disposal. When we come together with people in a small group, we gain access to the resources of others

You can improve your articulation by avoiding five common articulation problems:

Addition is caused by adding unnecessary sounds to words. For example, a person might say "real-ah-tor" instead of "realtor" or "bolth" instead of "both." Deletion occurs when a speaker omits part of a word sound, usually at the beginning or end of the word. Someone may say "frigerator" instead of "refrigerator," or "goin" instead of "going." Transposition means reversing two sounds within a word. Examples include saying "hunderd" instead of "hundred" and "perfessor" instead of "professor." Substitution is caused by replacing one part of a word with an incorrect sound. A person might say "Sundee" instead of "Sunday" or "wit" instead of "with." Slurring occurs when a speaker combines two or more words into one. "Going to" becomes "gonna" and "sort of" becomes "sorta." Articulation errors such as these aren't necessarily problematic when they occur in face-to-face conversations.

Objects

Almost any physical object can be an effective presentation aid if it is relevant to your topic and if it can be incorporated easily and safely. If your speech is about Mexican cooking techniques, you might bring in a molcajete—the traditional stone mortar and pestle that is used to grind spices—to use as a visual aid. If you're speaking about French fashion, you could bring several different pairs of high-heeled shoes to demonstrate the French influence on women's footwear. If it isn't feasible to bring the actual object you want to show your listeners, you may be able to bring a model, which is a representation of the object. Suppose you're explaining how the human brain is divided into four different lobes. You probably won't have an actual brain to use as a visual aid, but you can bring a plastic model. In this instance, a model could be particularly effective because you might be able to pull apart its various components to show your listeners where the different lobes of the brain are located.

Identify something familiar.

An excellent way to establish rapport with your listeners is to refer to something with which they are familiar. If you're speaking in a very small community, for example, you might start by saying "As I was driving in this morning, I was a little unsure of my directions, which simply said to 'turn left after the big red house.' Once I got to town, though, it made perfect sense!" By noting something with which your audience is familiar—in this case, the smallness of the town—you make a personal connection with your listeners.

Some Persuasive Speeches Include More Than One Type of Proposition

Although each type of proposition can be persuasive on its own, many persuasive speeches integrate two or even all three types to support their message. Let's say, for instance, that you wanted to advocate expanding Page 404affirmative action laws that help members of minority groups to get jobs. You might begin your speech with a proposition of value, such as "Diversity in the workplace is important," and persuade your listeners to adopt that opinion. Next, you might introduce a proposition of fact, such as "Affirmative action laws have increased workplace diversity by 27 percent in the past three decades," and provide the evidence for your listeners to believe that factual claim. Finally, you might assert a proposition of policy, such as "The U.S. government should expand affirmative action laws to increase workplace diversity even further," and use your earlier claims about values and facts to persuade listeners to support that action. In this speech, each new proposition you introduce is supported by the propositions that preceded it, and the result can add up to a powerfully persuasive argument.

Presentation Aids Can Enhance Your Speech

Although presentation aids take time and energy to prepare, research shows that using them properly can dramatically enhance a presentation. They work by improving at least three audience responses—attention, learning, and recall.

Cultural Norms Affect Preferred Delivery Styles

Although the visual and vocal elements just described often accompany speech performances that are considered effective in U.S. culture, speakers with other cultural backgrounds may prefer different delivery styles.63 For example, many Asian cultures teach students to behave modestly and quietly, especially around adults such as their teachers, which can make delivering a speech in a classroom setting especially uncomfortable for Asian American students. Similarly, whereas U.S. audiences generally appreciate speeches that are organized linearly—so that each topic flows logically into the next—norms in some Asian cultures value more circular presentations in which the speaker comes back to the same point multiple times. Cultural norms can affect the content of a speech as well as its delivery. Many in the United States enjoy speeches that identify a problem and then persuade listeners to adopt a particular solution to it. Political speeches often take that form, for instance. Some Arab cultures, however, regard problems as "severe twists of fate that cannot be solved," making speakers from those cultures less likely to adopt the problem-solving model common among many U.S. speakers.

We Join Small Groups Because We Feel Pressure to Join

Although we often join small groups by choice, we sometimes join because we feel pressured into doing so. Perhaps you've been enrolled in college courses that required you to participate in a group project. In such cases, your group participation wasn't voluntary. Similarly, if many of your friends at work are joining a small group to support a certain political candidate, you might feel pressured to do the same, even if that wouldn't have been your choice.

Speaking notes

An abbreviated version of a formal speech outline; also known as speaking outline.

speaking outline

An abbreviated version of a formal speech outline; see alsospeaking notes.

persuasion

An attempt to motivate others, through communication, to adopt or to maintain a specific manner of thinking or doing. Some persuasion—including national advertising campaigns and Patricia Arquette's speech in front of a television audience of millions—occurs on a broad scale and seeks to motivate large numbers of people at once. Other persuasion—including the types most of us undertake in our daily interactions—occurs one-on-one or with small groups, such as a family or a work staff. In this section, we'll see that persuasion can influence beliefs, opinions, and actions. We'll also discover that good persuasive speakers support their arguments with appeals to integrity, emotion, and reason.

receptive audience

An audience composed of people who already accept and agree with all or most of what a speaker plans to say. A receptive audience is composed of people who already accept and agree with all or most of what you plan to say. We sometimes use the phrase "preaching to the choir" to describe speaking to a receptive audience. When you have such an audience, your persuasive task is relatively easy because your listeners are likely to respond favorably to whatever you say.

hostile audience

An audience in which listeners are predisposed to disagree with the speaker. The most difficult group to persuade is a hostile audience, whose members are predisposed to disagree with you. Their hostile disposition may reflect that they Page 410already have a viewpoint on the issue that conflicts with yours, or it may be that they dislike you personally. Whatever the reason, hostile audiences are challenging because they are against you even before you start speaking. Good persuasive speakers can neutralize hostility, however, as we will see later.

neutral audience

An audience lacking strong feelings for or against the topic of a speech. A neutral audience doesn't have strong feelings for or against the topic of your speech. Perhaps such listeners don't know enough about your topic to have formed a strong opinion on it, or maybe they don't care enough about your topic—or see enough of a personal connection to themselves—to bother forming a strong opinion. When speaking to a neutral audience, you should thus inform listeners about what your topic is and why it should matter to them. Once you make it relevant to them, you'll find it easier to persuade them to adopt your viewpoint on the topic.

graphic slide

An electronic display of information in a visually compelling format.

text slide

An electronic display of text used to accompany a speech. Perhaps some of your instructors use text slides created in presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, Google Slides, or Prezi to convey course material in the classroom. Text slides often take the form of bulleted lists of words or phrases that are relevant to the presenter's topic.

ideawriting,

An idea generating process in which members independently list their own ideas and then systematically evaluate one another's ideas before they are considered by the group.

nominal group technique (NGT)

An idea-generating process in which group members generate their initial ideas silently and independently and then combine them and consider them as a group.

Small Groups Often Interact Online

An increasing number of small groups interact either primarily or exclusively online.22 Some do so because their members are located in different cities or countries, so face-to-face communication is impractical.23 Other groups interact online because computer-mediated communication can be more efficient than face-to-face conversation. Technologies such as e-mail, instant messaging, message boards, group texting, and videoconferencing allow group members to send and respond to messages whenever—and wherever—they choose. Nonetheless, online groups pose challenges. Compared to people in face-to-face groups, individuals who interact with other group members online report being less committed to the group and less happy while working with it. Small group researchers Stefanie Johnson, Kenneth Bettenhausen, and Ellie Gibbons found negative outcomes are particularly likely in groups that interact via computer-mediated communication more than 90 percent of the time.24 Other research has found that regardless of their culture, people feel less confident in their ability to be productive in virtual groups compared to face-to-face group

As you'll see in this section, an organized presentation has several features:

An introduction that previews the information to be presented A body composed of specific main points Transitions that connect the main points to one another A conclusion that summarizes the main points

Handouts

Another type of non-electronic presentation aid is a handout. Most handouts are copies of written material that listeners keep after the speech is over. They can be especially effective when you want your listeners to have more information than you can reasonably address during your presentation. When incorporating a handout, make certain to bring enough copies for everyone in the audience. If you need your listeners to see your handout while you're speaking, distribute it at the beginning of your speech. If not, distribute it at the end so it doesn't distract your listeners' attention while you're speaking.

Examples:

Another way to help your audience understand a concept is to give examples of it. Suppose you're giving an informative speech about conspiracy theories. Even if your listeners understand in principle what a conspiracy theory is, they may benefit from hearing specific examples, which might include the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001.

presentation aids

Anything used in conjunction with a speech or presentation to stimulate listeners' senses.

Leaders Exercise Reward Power

As its name implies, reward power operates when a leader has the ability to reward another for doing what the leader says. The supervisor of your work team has power over you, for instance, because she pays you and can promote you for following her instructions. In this case, your pay and the possibility of advancement are the rewards. If your supervisor loses the ability to pay or promote you (say, if your company goes bankrupt or she leaves her job), she also loses her power over you.

Some Leaders Are Autocratic

As the organizer of his calculus study group, Adya believes it's his responsibility to make decisions on behalf of his group. He sets the schedule for group meetings and decides where each one will be held. Whenever the group gets together, Adya takes charge and controls how the study session proceeds. Adya is enacting an autocratic style of leadership.31 That is, he sees himself as having both the authority and the responsibility to take action on his group's behalf. When decisions need to be made, he makes them, usually without asking others in the group what they want. When tasks need to be done, he assigns them to individuals in the group instead of soliciting volunteers. Unlike Taylor, Adya considers himself to be the most important member of his group.

Types of Persuasive Propositions

As we saw in the chapter on organizing and finding support for your speech, preparing a speech includes drafting a thesis statement, a one-sentence version of your message. In persuasive speaking we sometimes call the thesis statement a proposition because we are proposing something we want our audience to accept. Recall that some persuasive messages influence beliefs, others influence opinions, and others influence actions. As we'll see next, we use different types of propositions to achieve these different persuasive goals.

Power Resides in Relationships, Not in People

As we saw in the last section, people wield many forms of power in many different situations. Because some people seem to have more power than others, we might think of them as being powerful people, as though their power resides within them. In truth, however, power doesn't exist within people—it exists within relationships. As we'll see in this section, we have power only over particular people and only when our power is recognized. In other words, power is an inherently social experience.

Adapt to Your Audience

As we've discussed in earlier chapters, it's always important to know who your listeners are and adapt to their needs. Accommodating listeners' needs is useful when you give an informative speech because it helps to ensure that you present information your listeners can understand and don't already know. It is equally important when you are speaking persuasively, because it gives your message the best chance for acceptance. Adapting to your audience requires identifying its general disposition and neutralizing hostility when you encounter it.

When you're in that situation, you can identify appropriate topics by following four steps:

Brainstorm to identify potential topics. Identify topics that are right for you. Identify topics that are right for your audience. Identify topics that are right for the occasion.

Some Small Groups Promote Social Networking

At one point or another, many of us have joined small groups simply to meet other people. Groups with this purpose, known as social networking groups, allow people to meet, communicate, and get to know each other.35 On the day she moved into her new residence hall, for instance, Lindsay and her fellow residents were divided into groups of 10 and given time to get to know one another. Taking part in that type of social networking group ensured that Lindsay knew at least 9 other people when she began the year in her new campus home. Although social networking groups sometimes meet in person, as in Lindsay's case, they are particularly common on the Internet. For instance, chat rooms allow people to communicate online in real time, via text or web cams. Chat rooms often focus on a particular shared interest (such as pop culture or video gaming) or appeal to a specific demographic (such as single fathers or women over 40). Their primary purpose, however, is typically to allow people to communicate and to get to know one another.36 Social networking websites, such as Meetup, Facebook, and Goodreads also allow users to interact with others in groups. Page 245Like chat rooms, many of these groups are organized to appeal to a specific population, such as fans of a certain celebrity or alumni of a particular high school. Although some groups and chat rooms can get quite large—growing to several hundred members—they often include only small numbers of people interacting at a given time

Invite Questions

At the end of some informative speeches, presenters involve listeners by inviting and responding to their questions. If you have the time and wish to use that technique, it's often helpful to tell your audience early in your speech that you'll be taking questions at the end. That way, you encourage listeners to think of questions as you speak. During a question-and-answer period, be mindful of the time allotted so you don't run over.

Avoid Groupthink

Avoiding groupthink is therefore an important aspect of communicating competently in groups.54 Group members can take several specific steps to prevent groupthink from occurring: Be aware of the potential for groupthink. Teach others in the group about what groupthink is, why it is so problematic, and what its warning signs are. If you detect any of the warning signs, speak up and remind others how important it is to avoid groupthink. Make sure the group has sufficient time to make decisions. Groupthink can occur when members feel pressured to arrive at a decision quickly. If your group is making an important decision, remind members to allow sufficient time for discussion. If the process feels rushed, say "It might be better to put off making this decision until we have more time." Encourage dissenting viewpoints. When it appears that most members have the same position on an issue, ask, "What are some alternate ideas?" Encourage members to play devil's advocate by questioning the merits of one another's positions. Remind the group to examine each idea critically and not accept any at face value. Page 282Seek input from outside the group. Suggest that group members consult with people outside the group who might offer useful input on the group's decision. Look up relevant research and bring it to the group's attention. Give important decisions a second chance. Even after the group has made its decision, recommend that members meet once more to reconsider it.Encourage members to express any doubts or second thoughts they have about the decision. Listen to all arguments, whether they are for the decision or against it. Then ask the group to vote on its decision again.

objective

Based on facts rather than opinions.

To develop a strong thesis statement, follow these guidelines:

Be concrete. Good thesis statements should be concrete, not vague or abstract. For an informative speech about the massive earthquake that hit Nepal in 2015, a concrete thesis statement is "A magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck the small nation of Nepal in April 2015, killing nearly 9,000 people." In contrast, the thesis statement "A massive earthquake hit" is vague, because it doesn't specify where the earthquake was, how many deaths it caused, or when. Make a statement. Frame your thesis statement as a sentence rather than a question. In a persuasive speech calling on listeners to focus more attention on religious persecution in Nigeria, the thesis statement "Twelve thousand Nigerians have been killed in a decade of violence between Christians and Muslims" works well because it declares the point of your speech. In comparison, a question—such as "What religious persecution is occurring in Nigeria?"—doesn't indicate the point you plan to make, only the topic you intend to discuss. Treat your thesis statement as a work in progress. During the process of preparing a speech, it's best to remain flexible with your thesis statement. As we'll see, creating a draft of your thesis statement will help you organize your outline and your research. Remain open, however, to revising your thesis statement as you work. During your research, for instance, you may uncover details that warrant tweaking or even re-writing your thesis statement, so good public speakers stay open to that possibility. Tell the truth. Good speakers communicate ethically with their listeners. To speak ethically, you must be sure you believe in the truth of your thesis statement, so that you don't knowingly mislead your audience. Drafting an ethical thesis statement doesn't just mean avoiding claims you know to be false. It also means ensuring that you don't exaggerate your claims beyond what your supporting evidence warrants. To do so risks deceiving your listeners, a topic explored in

To develop a strong purpose statement, follow these guidelines:

Be specific. A purpose statement such as "Teach my audience about the weather" is vague, because the weather has so many facets. Thus, that statement won't help you to determine the content of your speech as effectively as a sharper, more specific purpose statement, such as "Teach my audience how tornadoes form." Be declarative. Write your purpose statement as a directive, such as "Explain the process of creating a Twitter account." Simply posing a question, such as "How does someone create a Twitter account?" doesn't indicate as clearly what you plan to accomplish in your speech. Be concise. Focus your purpose statement on one specific goal for your speech. A statement such as "Persuade my listeners that government should provide universal health care and that the free market economy hurts working families" is too broad because it expresses more than one distinct purpose. Limiting your purpose statement to one goal will help you to organize your speech effectively.

Manage Conflict Constructively

Because the members of a group are interdependent, they are bound to experience conflict from time to time. Recall that conflict occurs when two or more interdependent parties enact a struggle over goals they perceive to be incompatible. Especially when groups are faced with making decisions, conflict can arise because of perceived differences in the goals of individual members. Conflict is not necessarily problematic. In fact, it can motivate groups to make more creative decisions than they otherwise might. What matters is the way groups manage conflict when it arises. According to researchers Robert Blake and Jane Mouton, our options for dealing with conflict are based on two underlying dimensions: our concern for our own needs and desires, and our concern for the other party's needs and desires.43 When plotted on a graph (Figure 1), these dimensions give rise to five major strategies for engaging in conflict: competing, avoiding, accommodating, compromising, and collaborating. These strategies are behaviors rather than personality types, so we can learn to use any of Page 278them. Some may seem more appropriate or more desirable than others. As we examine them, however, consider that each may be best under certain circumstances.

Internet research, library research, personal observations, and surveys can all yield quality supporting material for your presentation.

Because these sources differ in the information they provide, however, it's often to your advantage to use more than one when you're preparing a speech.

Identify Your Audience's Disposition

Before presenting a persuasive speech you should know how your audience is likely to react. Some audiences will be Page 409receptive to your message, others will be neutral, and still others will be hostile. Connecting with each type of audience requires a different presentational style:

Have a Backup Plan

Before using any presentation aid, it's thus crucial to think through everything that might go wrong and to have a backup plan. Bring a laptop computer or tablet containing your slideshow in case you forget your USB drive or the room's wifi fails. Copy your handouts a day or two before your speech. Learn the tai chi moves well enough to demonstrate them yourself if you have to. Being prepared to respond to such contingencies will help your speech to succeed under any circumstances.

Pose a question.

Beginning your speech with a question is a great way to get your audience thinking about your topic. You could ask something you want listeners to answer, such as "By show of hands, how many of you have ever been called for jury duty?" You can also pose a rhetorical question, one you want your listeners to think Page 322about but not respond to—for instance: "Why do you suppose you can't tickle yourself?"

Small Groups Require Sacrifices

Belonging to a small group sometimes requires making sacrifices for the benefit of the group. Let's say you're on a committee at work that is charged with selecting a new marketing slogan. Your deadline is fast approaching, so the group decides to hold a meeting on Sunday afternoon, a time you usually spend with your family. As a result, you may have to sacrifice your family time for the sake of the group's mission. Besides sacrificing time, group members sometimes find they have to do more work than their fellow members to make sure tasks get completed. The reason is that some group members may engage in social loafing, meaning they contribute less to the group than the average member, which is particularly easy as the group grows in size.48 Perhaps you've been in small groups at school in which one or two people did the bulk of the work and others hardly did any. If so, you know that can be a frustrating experience for those who take responsibility for the group's productivity.49 In effect, members who do more than their share of work are sacrificing their time and effort so the group can accomplish its goals. Table 2 presents some strategies for reducing social loafing in small groups.

Traits

Defining characteristics of a person that are often relatively enduring and not easily changeable.

narration

Describing a series of events in sequence. the second form of description common in informative speeches is narration, with which you describe a series of events in sequence. You can think of narration as storytelling. In an informative speech about the field of veterinary medicine, for instance, you could describe what your aunt went through to become a veterinarian or tell a story about your first visit to an animal hospital.

representation

Describing something in terms of its physical or psychological attributes. Two forms of description are common in informative speeches. With the first, representation, you describe something in terms of its physical or psychological attributes. You could represent the Great Wall of China by telling your audience what it looks like or what kind of awe it inspires when people see it. When you describe by representation, you are helping your listeners to imagine their physical or emotional experiences if they were to encounter what you are describing.

visualization

Developing a mental image, such as an image of oneself giving a successful performance. developing a particular mental image of winning or giving a successful performance.39 Practice visualization by closing your eyes and imagining yourself delivering an expert speech.

Cultural Context Affects Decision Making

Diversity in the cultural and social characteristics of its members also can influence the decision-making method a group prefers. These characteristics include individualism, power distance, and time orientation. We examined them in the communication and culture chapter; now let's see how they can affect group decision making.

Establish Your Credibility

Earlier in this chapter, we considered the value of appealing to ethos, which is the integrity, trustworthiness, and goodness of the speaker. Knowing that ethos is important, good persuasive speakers work to establish credibility with their audiences. Credibility means believability—if you're credible, people will believe what you have to say. If you have a good deal of credibility, audiences will take your words seriously and be open to new ideas. If your credibility is low, however, you will find it hard to persuade, even if your evidence is strong. Establishing credibility is thus vital for persuasive speakers. Researchers believe credibility has three different components: competence, character, and charisma.

LEADERSHIP AND DECISION-MAKING SKILLS

Effective leadership and decision making are not always easy to achieve or sustain. Many factors can inhibit the ability of leaders and groups to function at their best. The more we understand about leadership and decision-making skills, the better equipped we are to contribute positively to the groups to which we belong. As we'll see in this section, three particular skills that are useful for groups and their leaders are their ability to Manage conflict constructively Avoid groupthink Listen carefully

Eye Contact

Effective speakers know that maintaining eye contact with their listeners is extremely important.46 Imagine carrying on a face-to-face conversation with someone who never looks you in the eye. You would likely get the impression that the person isn't interested in you or perhaps that he or she isn't being honest with you. Your listeners will probably form the same impressions of you if you don't look them in the eye while speaking.47 Of course, it's not necessary to stare at your listeners. Rather, you should make eye contact with one person in your audience, hold it for a moment, and then make eye contact with another audience member. Focus on one section of the audience at a time. Look at people in the front row for a minute or two and then direct your eye Page 358contact to those in the back corner or in the middle of the group. Try to make eye contact with each person at least once during your speech. When you look your listeners in the eye, you come across as confident and believable even if you feel nervous.

opinions

Evaluation about what is good and bad.

HONING YOUR INFORMATIVE-SPEAKING SKILLS

Even if you have chosen a compelling topic and successfully framed it for your audience, you must still deliver your speech in a way that will draw—and hold—your listeners' attention. In this section, we'll explore several strategies for delivering an informative speech effectively, including creating information hunger, being organized, making learning easy, involving your audience, and being ethical.

Stay Positive

Finally, approach the delivery of your speech with a positive, optimistic attitude. Tell yourself that you can—and will—succeed. This positive self-talk can be difficult, particularly if you're very nervous or if you have had negative experiences with previous performances. Staying as positive as you can is important for two reasons, however. First, positive thoughts and emotions help to relieve the negative physical effects of stress.43 Therefore, you'll approach your speech in a more relaxed manner than you otherwise would. Second, recall from the chapter on perceiving that negative thoughts can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy, causing you to have a poor performance simply because you expect that you will. Approaching your speech with an optimistic attitude, in contrast, can encourage the behaviors that will help you to succeed.

Be Ethical

Finally, treat your listeners ethically. In the context of an informative speech, one of the most important requirements of ethical behavior is truthfulness. Because your purpose is to impart information to your audience, you have a responsibility as an ethical speaker to ensure that your information is true and accurate. Specifically, you should: Use information only from reputable sources. Scientific journals and major newspapers are more reputable sources than tabloids and Wikipedia pages, for instance, because Page 387information in journals and large mainstream newspapers is checked for accuracy before being published. Understand the information you're reporting. If you're unsure how to interpret the meaning of a report or a statistic, ask an instructor for help. If you don't, you risk drawing conclusions from your information that are unwarranted. Incorporate verbal footnotes. When you use information in your speech from another source, identify that source while you're speaking. For example, you might say: "According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupational therapy is one of the fastest-growing professions." Be clear about when you're speculating. Many sources of information allow us to infer ideas or speculate about possibilities, and it is fine to include those inferences or speculations in an informative speech as long as you make it clear that they aren't facts. Ethical speakers also avoid using offensive language, exposing their audience to sensitive sights and sounds, and engaging in behaviors that would make their listeners uncomfortable—unless they have specifically warned their listeners in advance.

Some Small Groups Help Us to Learn

Finally, we join some small groups because they help us to learn. You may have taken part in study groups, which usually include a small number of students who help one another to understand the material and prepare for the exams in a specific course. Workshops and Bible studies are also small groups that help us to learn. Participating in learning groups enhances critical thinking skills, such as the ability to analyze and evaluate ideas,39 and lets us contribute our own understanding of the material for the benefit of others as well as take advantage of what others can teach us. Similarly, participating in a wine tasting group, a quilting circle, or a computer coding club can help us learn specific skills relevant to those interests. As we've seen, small groups can enact several different functions, including accomplishing discrete tasks, evaluating and advising, creating, providing service and support, promoting social networking, competing, and helping us to learn. These functions are not mutually exclusive; many groups focus on more than one of them at once. A nonprofit organization might form a committee to evaluate its public relations efforts, for instance, but the committee might also create new ideas, implement those ideas in the form of a new public relations campaign, and provide an opportunity for social networking among its members. A support group might provide encouragement for people suffering from arthritis, but in the process its members might learn more about their condition and the options available for treatment. As these examples illustrate, participating in small groups often helps people in many different ways.

FUNCTIONS OF SMALL GROUPS

Focus on discrete tasks. Evaluate and advise. Create art and ideas. Provide service and support. Promote social networking. Compete. Help us to learn.

Groups Can Use the Nominal Group Technique

For some group members, brainstorming can be intimidating. The nominal group technique (NGT) calls for group members to generate their initial ideas silently and independently, which can be more comfortable for those in the group who are shy. NGT then encourages group members to combine their ideas and consider them as a group.5 Like brainstorming, NGT begins with the identification of a question to be answered or a problem to be solved. Instead of contributing their initial ideas aloud in front of the group, however, members each make a list of ideas on their own, working silently. Afterward, a group facilitator asks each member to read his or her ideas aloud, one at a time, while the facilitator writes them on a master list. The facilitator can also collect the ideas and compile the master list on his or her own so no one knows who came up with each idea

Leaders Exercise Referent Power

French and Raven used the term referent power to refer to the power of attraction, the idea being that we tend to comply with requests made by people we like, admire, or find attractive in some way. It's human nature to desire their approval. In contrast, gaining the approval of people we don't like or admire is usually not a high priority. In a volunteer group, for instance, you might work harder for a group leader you like than for one you dislike.

If defining a word or concept will help you to inform your listeners, you can choose from several methods:

Identify the denotative meaning. You may recall from the chapter on how we use language that a term's denotative meaning is its dictionary definition. In a speech about global warming, for instance, you could define greenhouse gases as "atmospheric gases that absorb and emit radiation." If you choose this method, bear in mind that many words have more than one definition in the dictionary, so you would want to select the most appropriate definition to focus on. Explain the connotative meaning. A term's connotative meaning is its socially or culturally implied meaning. One connotative meaning of the word home, for example, is "a place where you feel safe and secure." Provide the etymology. The etymology of a term is its origin or history. In a speech about affectionate communication, you could explain that the word affection derives from the Latin word affectio, meaning "an emotion of the mind." Give synonyms or antonyms. You can define a word by identifying synonyms, words that have the same meaning as your word, or antonyms, words that have the opposite meaning. Synonyms for the term normal include usual, ordinary, and typical, whereas antonyms include abnormal, irregular, and odd. Define by example. You may help your audience to understand a concept by providing examples that illustrate its meaning. In a speech about the immune system, you might define the term pathogen by giving examples of types of pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Use compare-and-contrast definitions. You can discuss similarities and differences between two or more definitions of a term. To some people, the definition of family is limited to legal and biological relationships; to others, it includes anyone to whom they feel emotionally close. If you were speaking about the concept of family, you could compare and contrast those two definitions of the term.

Practice with Your Presentation Aids

If you will be incorporating presentation aids when you deliver your speech, be sure to use them when you rehearse. Practice advancing from slide to slide in your multimedia presentation—manually or with a remote control—so you can do so effortlessly during your speech. Perhaps you must set up or uncover your presentation aid during your speech instead of beforehand. If so, rehearse those moves so you can continue speaking while doing the necessary Page 368tasks. That way, you will avoid disrupting the flow of your speech with long, awkward pauses. As mentioned above, it is also helpful to practice speaking in the direction of your listeners, instead of facing your slideshow while you talk. Rehearsing with your slideshow is also a good way to ensure you don't have too many slides for your allotted time.

Small Groups Can Be Difficult to Coordinate

If you've ever been in charge of coordinating a group's meetings or activities, you know how challenging that task can be. Even in groups with only three or four members, finding Page 253dates and times to meet that fit everyone's schedule can be difficult. That challenge is even more pronounced in groups with 15 or more members. Electronic communication tools, such as scheduling apps and integrated e-mail and calendar platforms, can facilitate the coordination of people's schedules. Some groups may even find it necessary to divide their work, assigning specific tasks to pairs of people who can more easily coordinate their schedules rather than trying to get the entire group together.

Ask for Volunteers

If your lesson is too complex for everyone in the audience to participate in it, ask for one or more volunteers with whom you can demonstrate it for the rest of the listeners. In a speech about self-defense, you could ask for a volunteer on whom to demonstrate ways of fending off an attacker.

Deductive Reasoning

In deductive reasoning, we start with a general conclusion and then use it to explain specific individual cases. Deductive claims often make use of a syllogism, a three-line argument consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. In a valid syllogism, if both the major and minor premises are true, then the conclusion logically must be true. A second way we can reason deductively is with an enthymeme. An enthymeme is a syllogism in which one of the premises is already so widely known and accepted that it isn't mentioned.8 Consider the now-famous statement made by seventeenth-century French philosopher René Descartes: I think, therefore I am. If we were to state his argument in the form of a syllogism, it would look like this:

Power Requires Recognition

In groups and organizations, powerful people have only the power their followers recognize in them. A charismatic religious leader may exercise referent power over her followers, but she does not have that power over others who don't share her followers' desire to please her and gain her approval. Recognizing that someone has power does not necessarily mean we give our consent to be governed. If a police officer stops you while you're driving, for instance, you would likely recognize the power he has over you even if you don't want to be subject to that power. In other words, we don't always enjoy having others tell us what to do, even though we may still recognize their right to do so. We can therefore say that a person can have power over others only if others recognize that power.

Small Groups Experience Synergy

In many small groups, members can accomplish more by working together than they could by working individually. When they do, researchers say they are experiencing synergy, a collaboration that produces more than the sum of its parts. For example, when The Avengers assemble, they form a small group with a diverse set of unique resources. Those resources are more powerful together than they would be if each team member worked separately—that's the meaning of synergy.

ADVANTAGES AND CHALLENGES OF SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION

In the fantastic world of Marvel comics and films, an elite team of super heroes called The Avengers joins together to protect the planet from all threats. Although the entire team is committed to the mission and is protective of one another, the different personalities, competing egos, and unique powers of each team member can prompt conflict and cause them to wear on one another's nerves. The Avengers might not be real, but the communication challenges they face within their small group are. In this section, we explore some of the benefits we can accrue and some of the tribulations we can encounter when participating in a small group.

Leaders Exercise Many Forms of Power

In their now classic studies, social psychologists John French and Bertram Raven determined that the reason why a leader is followed constitutes the form of power that leader has. French and Raven proposed that power comes in six specific forms: reward, coercive, referent, legitimate, expert, and informational.35 As we take a close look at these forms, keep in mind that they aren't mutually exclusive. Rather, one person may exercise multiple forms of power in different situations or even within the same situation.

Invite Direct Participation

In this method, you ask your listeners to perform some action that helps them understand your topic. In an informative speech about relaxation techniques, you might instruct your listeners to close their eyes, let their facial muscles go slack, and breathe slowly and deeply, to help them grasp how the techniques work.

Vocal inflection:

Inflection refers to variation in the pitch and volume of your voice. You can increase your volume and pitch to emphasize that a specific point is very important. As you prepare to transition between points, let your volume and pitch drop as you conclude one point and then rise again as you begin the next point.

Some Groups Decide by Majority Rule

Instead of choosing a marketing slogan by unanimous consensus, your team might reach its decision by majority rule, a decision-making process that follows the will of the majority. If someone says, "Let's take a vote" when a group decision is looming, he or she is probably recommending majority rule. To select among your marketing slogans, therefore, each member of your team might cast a vote for one of the slogans. The slogan receiving the fewest votes will be discarded, and each member will then vote for one of the remaining two. The slogan that now receives more votes has been chosen by majority rule.

Several behaviors can help you to build rapport with your audience:

Interact with listeners before your speech. Particularly when you're speaking to people you don't know well, spend time talking to them—and listening to them—before your speech. Not only will you get information about who your listeners are and what they're thinking; you will also signal to your audience that you care about them. Maintain eye contact while you speak. According to research, most people believe a lack of eye contact indicates the speaker is being deceptive.13 If you don't look at your audience while you speak, you're likely to come across as untrustworthy—an undesirable effect when you're trying to persuade. Practice establishing and maintaining eye contact with each person in your audience for three to four seconds at a time. Open with a story. Because everyone loves a good story, an excellent way to build rapport with your audience is to open with one. Stories are especially effective when they include information to which your audience can relate. If you live in a cold climate but are speaking in a hot one, for instance, you could describe your experience of dealing with the heat, because your listeners will be able to relate to it themselves. Use humor when appropriate. It's difficult not to like people who make us laugh. Therefore, a particularly effective way to establish rapport is to use humor in your presentation. Humor can consist of short jokes or one-liners and can also be reflected in the stories you tell. Incorporating humor can help your listeners to relax and enjoy your presentation—and be receptive to your message. When considering the use of humor, however, think carefully about what your audience is likely to find funny and in good taste. It is best to stay away from jokes that risk offending listeners and that your audience may not understand or appreciate.

Keep It Simple

It might seem obvious that your listeners must understand what you're saying before they can learn from it, but many speakers forget that crucial consideration. A common mistake for informative speakers is to use technical language or jargon that most people in their audience will not understand. A better Page 385approach—particularly if you're unsure whether certain words will be familiar to your listeners—is to use plain, simple language that everyone will understand.

HONING YOUR PERSUASIVE-SPEAKING SKILLS

Just as an exceptional salesperson can sell almost anything to almost anyone, an outstanding persuasive speaker has the skills to persuade even the most resistant audiences. In this section, we'll explore several strategies for delivering a persuasive speech effectively, including adapting to your audience, building rapport, and establishing your credibility.

Build Rapport with Your Listeners

Knowing your audience will also help you to build rapport with your listeners. To build rapport is to create the perception that your listeners and you see things similarly. It establishes trust and encourages audience members to listen even if they disagree with you.

Speakers can establish ethos with listeners by displaying these specific qualities:

Knowledge, experience, and wisdom with respect to the topic: Does the speaker have adequate expertise with the issue to be persuasive? The individual appealing for your donations to Nepal could establish knowledge, experience, and wisdom by describing his extensive experience working in Nepal and his many professional connections in Kathmandu, its capital. Integrity and virtue: Is the speaker honest and trustworthy, or do you have reason to doubt his or her integrity? The fundraiser for Nepal could establish integrity and virtue by mentioning his moral standards and his intolerance for individuals who cheat or steal.5 Goodwill toward the audience: Does the speaker care about the welfare of listeners, or is he or she only trying to use them? The speaker asking for donations could establish goodwill by acknowledging his audience's concerns about giving money and addressing them to his listeners' satisfaction.

Some Small Groups Create Art and Ideas

Like Coldplay, many small groups exist primarily to create forms of art. A string quartet, a sculpting class, and the cast of Saturday Night Live are all small groups that produce artistic expressions. Other groups are charged with creating ideas instead of art. Many companies and organizations, for instance, use brainstorming groups, small groups of people assembled to generate innovative ways of thinking. When a county hospital needed a more efficient way of processing patients in the emergency room, it brought together a small group of nurses, medical technicians, paramedics, and volunteers to compile a list of suggestions. After listening to one another's experiences and concerns, the members of the brainstorming group were able to generate ideas for improving efficiency that hospital administrators had not previously considered.

Make It Fun

Like repetition, humor can also enhance your presentation and increase your listeners' retention if you use it appropriately. Humor in informative presentations promotes relaxation that allows listeners to understand and assimilate the information.9 Remember to consider who your listeners are and what they are likely to find funny. Humor that is distasteful, obscene, or disrespectful of others is never appropriate in an informative speech unless the humor itself is the topic.

Presentation Aids Improve Recall

Listeners will also remember more of what is said if the speaker incorporates presentation aids. One study compared listeners' recall of material from a speech that included visual aids to recall from one that did not. Three hours after the speech, audience members recalled 85 percent of the content if visual aids were used but only 70 percent if no visual aids were used. The difference was even more striking three days later, when listeners exposed to visual aids still remembered 65 percent of the content, compared to only 10 percent for listeners who did not have the benefit of visual aids

Practice Listening

Listening is a skill, not an innate ability. Thus, you can hone your ability to listen through practice. Perhaps you're unsure about how you can practicelistening. If so, remember that people listen with various goals in mind. As we considered in the listening chapter, people sometimes engage in informational listening, which is listening to learn. At other times, they engage in critical listening, which is listening to evaluate and analyze what they hear. Individuals also engage in empathic listening, when the goal is to experience what another person is thinking or feeling. These goals are quite different from one another. You can therefore practice your listening skills by paying attention to the specific listening goals that are most useful to you in a given situation.

Contribute to a Constructive Group Environment

Maintaining positive relationships within a group is easiest if an optimistic, constructive attitude prevails. When group members believe they have the resources to achieve their tasks and deal successfully with challenges, they feel better about themselves and others. Here are a few tips to help you to contribute to a constructive group environment: Celebrate success. When someone in the group receives good news or achieves success in a task, ask that person if you can share the news with the group. Many people are uncomfortable telling others of their own good fortune for fear they will be seen as bragging, but they appreciate when others relate their good news for them. That way, everyone can celebrate members' successes. Take advantage of diversity. Especially when they communicate electronically, groups can find it difficult to ensure that everyone's input is heard when a Page 256decision must be made. By actively seeking and considering divergent opinions, online groups can make decisions that better reflect their members' needs.56 Defuse stress. It's normal for groups to experience stress from time to time. When interactions among group members become tense, try to defuse the stress. Suggest a group outing, such as going on a hike or taking in a movie. Use humor to reduce tensions and help people relax. When group members feel less stressed, they will likely get along better and be more productive. Respect others. In almost any group, there are people whose perspectives are at odds. Creating a positive group environment doesn't mean everyone has to agree or individuals have to give up their own viewpoints. Rather, group members show respect for others by listening to different perspectives. Acknowledge the positive aspects of others' ideas and then present your own. When group members treat one another respectfully, their diversity can benefit them by helping them to consider all the possibilities in a given situation

Leaving a Group: The Exit Phase

Membership in most small groups has a life span. Individual members may leave voluntarily or involuntarily in the final stage of socialization, the exit phase. For instance, you might grow dissatisfied with the advisory board you're on at work after its new leader changes the group's mission significantly, so you may choose to leave it voluntarily. If instead you were to be laid off from your job, you would have to leave the advisory board whether you wanted to or not.

Four Ways to Organize a Persuasive Message

Problem-Solving Pattern Refutational Approach Comparative Advantage Method Monroe's Motivated Sequence

Pathos

Many compelling persuasive appeals are memorable and effective because they stir people's emotions. Although it's helpful for a speaker to convince listeners of his or her integrity, it's often much more powerful if the speaker can generate a strong emotional reaction from the audience. The reason is that when people are emotionally aroused, their receptivity to new ideas is enhanced. Aristotle used the term pathos to refer to listeners' emotions, and he understood that emotion can be a significant persuasive tool. Although stirring virtually any emotion can be persuasive, emotional appeals often focus on generating negative emotions such as fear, guilt, disgust, anger, and sadness.7 The reason is that we generally dislike experiencing such emotions, so we are motivated to respond to the persuasive appeal as a way of reducing them. Table 2 presents examples of emotional appeals that might be used in a campaign to encourage people to quit smoking.

Involve the Audience

Many of us learn better when we're somehow engaged in the lesson than when we're passively receiving it. Skillful informative speakers use several techniques to involve listeners in their presentations.

Ethos

Many people, although inclined to help the victims of natural disasters, would want to know more about the speaker before they decided whether to give him their money. The reason is that a speaker who's respectable and trustworthy is generally more persuasive than one who isn't.3 Aristotle recognized that, to be persuaded, people needed to have positive regard for the person whose message they were considering. He used the term ethos to refer to a speaker's respectability, trustworthiness, and moral character

Some Small Groups Compete

Many small groups are organized to take part in team competitions. For instance, colleges and universities around the United States sponsor groups of 8 to 12 students who compete in Quiz Bowl.38 Quiz Bowl is an academic competition in which students respond to questions posed by a moderator about a wide range of subjects. The team that correctly answers the most questions in the shortest time wins the match, so members of a Quiz Bowl team must work interdependently to accomplish their mission

Some Small Groups Provide Service and Support

Many small groups focus on providing community service to those who need it. For instance, local chapters of Kiwanis International serve their local communities through such activities as building playgrounds, running food drives, and raising money for pediatric medical research. Other small groups provide social and emotional support for people dealing with difficult circumstances. Some support groups aid those battling health concerns, such as diabetes, alcoholism, depression, and acne. Others help people to cope with the prejudice and discrimination they experience because they are mentally or physically disabled or sexual minorities. People in support groups often benefit by communicating with others whose circumstances are similar to theirs.32 A woman addicted to gambling, for instance, may feel the only people who understand her are others battling the same addiction. Listening to others' stories in a support group may help the individual feel less alone and better able to control the problem behavior. Research has shown, in fact, that taking part in support groups for health conditions can improve physical and mental health.33 Although some support groups meet in person, many now meet online, providing emotional encouragement and support to members worldwide

Present a quotation.

Many speakers capture attention with a well-phrased quotation relevant to their topic—for instance: "As former U.S. senator Elizabeth Dole once said, 'Power is a positive force if it is used for positive purposes.'5 Today, I'd like to discuss some of the many ways we can use power to improve the lives of others."

Narratives:

Many speakers use narratives—such as personal stories or testimonies—to support their claims. When speaking about something that is personally relevant to you, you may also elect to share a story or testimony of your own. Narratives can be especially compelling for listeners because they often make a topic feel personal in a way that examples or statistics do not.

Some Leaders Are Laissez-Faire

Meghan has just been promoted to lieutenant in charge of eight patrol officers in her police precinct. Her philosophy is that patrol officers should work independently, with little direction or personal involvement from her. She rarely interacts with her officers, and she gives them little feedback on their job performance. When she is forced to oversee decisions or mediate Page 273conflicts, she involves herself only as long as is necessary. Afterward, she resumes her general lack of engagement in the operations of her division. All these characteristics reflect Meghan's laissez-faire styleof leadership.32 It's not that she doesn't care about her patrol officers; she simply thinks they function at their best with minimal supervision. Thus, unlike Taylor and Adya, Meghan often sees herself as the person who is least important to the success of her group.

Accepting a Group's Culture: The Assimilation Phase

Once the expectations for a group's culture are known, individual members must decide whether to accept them. If they do, they enter the assimilation phase. It's at this stage of socialization that the group acquires its own identity. Members begin to identify with the group and to think of themselves not as "you and I" but as "we."

Presentation Aids Improve Attention

One benefit of using presentation aids is that the audience will pay more attention.65 Most listeners can think much faster than you can talk, so if all they have to attend to are your words, their minds will likely wander. Incorporating one or more presentation aids will better hold your listeners' attention.

Power Is Relative

One characteristic of power is that it is relative, meaning that people have power only in relation to other people. No person has absolute power. Regardless of what forms of power we possess, each of us exercises power only over particular people in particular situations. Your manager may have some power over you, but that doesn't mean she also has power over your friends and neighbors. She is powerful only relative to the people who work for her. We often acknowledge the relative nature of power when people overstep their boundaries by attempting to exert power they don't have, as when a child rejects direction from an older sibling with the response "You're not the boss of me!" Similarly, Page 277adults may feel defensive when they receive direction from people who have no reward, coercive, referent, legitimate, expert, or informational power over them

Groups Can Ideawrite

One disadvantage of brainstorming and the nominal group technique is that their collaborative nature can make some group members intimidated about offering their own ideas or critiquing the ideas of others. A third method for generating ideas, called ideawriting, encourages members to propose and evaluate ideas more independently, which can help each idea receive proper consideration.8 Like brainstorming and NGT, ideawriting starts with the description of a specific question to be answered or problem to be solved. The ideawriting process then proceeds in four steps. In the first step, each member creates a list of three to four ideas including the reasons each idea has merit. Members put their individual lists in a pile. In the second step, each member chooses a list from the pile that is not his or hers. Working alone, members read all the ideas and reasons shown on the list they select and add their own comments about the strengths and weaknesses of each idea. When they're done, they return the list to the pile, select another list, and do the same. The second step continues until every member has read and commented on every other member's ideas. In the third step, members retrieve the list of ideas they originally created, which now contains written comments from everyone else in the group. Each member reads and responds in writing to the comments made about his or her ideas, which allows everyone to react to feedback and potential criticism of their ideas in a nonthreatening way. Finally, in the fourth step, group members come together to create a master list of ideas they think are worthy of additional discussion. They then work toward selecting the best idea, as they would in brainstorming and NGT.

Some Small Groups Focus on Discrete Tasks

One function of some groups is to accomplish specific assigned tasks. Following allegations that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had discriminated against conservative organizations applying for tax-exempt status, for instance, the bipartisan U.S. Senate Finance Committee came together to investigate IRS practices. In 2015, the group completed its assigned task by releasing a written report criticizing the IRS for discriminatory practices and recommending several specific changes in IRS policy and operations

Some Leaders Are Democratic

One of the underlying principles of a democracy is that every citizen has the right to participate in decision making. Group leaders who enact a democratic style reflect that principle in their leadership.

Some Groups Decide by Unanimous Consensus

One option for making a decision is to try to get everyone to agree about which slogan is best. Once you begin discussion, for instance, you might find that all the members of your team prefer the first marketing slogan to the other two. If everyone in the group prefers the same slogan, then the group has unanimous consensus, which is uncontested support for a decision. In some instances, unanimous consensus is the only option for group decision making. A jury hearing a criminal case, for example, must arrive at a unanimous verdict about the defendant's innocence or guilt. Verdicts on which not all jurors agree are considered invalid. Even if it isn't required, however, unanimous consensus can be advantageous because group members are likely to support more enthusiastically a decision on which they all agree.

Rate

One vocal factor in effective delivery is your speech rate, or the speed at which you speak. In normal conversation, most U.S. adults speak approximately 150 words per minute.53 Studies find, though, that speaking at a faster rate makes a speaker seem more persuasive54 and more credible.55 The explanation may be that speakers who talk at a fast rate appear to be in command of what they're saying, whereas slower speakers sound less sure of themselves.

Leaders Often Share Specific Traits

One way to understand leadership is to look at some common traits of leaders. Traits are distinguishing personal characteristics that are often relatively enduring and not easily changeable. Each of us has certain physical traits, such as our eye color, sex, and height. We also have psychosocial traits, such as our self-esteem, temperament, and level of anxiety when faced with a communication task. Physical traits tend to be more enduring than psychosocial traits.

Some Persuasion Affects Actions

Our beliefs and opinions are what we think, but our actions are what we do. Actions are the behaviors we undertake, and many persuasive messages attempt to influence them.

Some Persuasion Affects Beliefs

Our beliefs are perceptions about what is true or false, accurate or inaccurate. When others attempt to persuade us to believe something, they are trying to convince us that their words are a valid reflection of reality.

Communicating in Small Groups Has Advantages

Participating in small groups confers some specific benefits. In this section, we examine three: small groups provide resources, they experience synergy, and they expose us to diversity.

Note the occasion.

Particularly if you are speaking to give honor to a person, place, or event, you can generate attention by noting the importance of the occasion—or instance: "We have come together in this beautiful place on this most joyous of days to honor the 50th wedding anniversary of two very special people."

Refer to Individual Listeners

Particularly if your audience is small, an excellent way to connect to your listeners is to refer to them individually during your speech when appropriate. For instance, "Last week we heard Tariq describe his life-changing experience of visiting Mecca. Today, I'd like to tell you about the two major denominations of Islam: the Sunni and the Shi'a." Even though you're referring only to one specific listener, the technique connects all your listeners to you and to your presentation.

Leaders Exercise Legitimate Power

People exercise legitimate power when their status or position gives them the right to make requests with which others must comply. When the president of the United States meets with the cabinet, for instance, members of that group follow the president's directives because the president is in a position of legitimate authority.

Demonstrate Your Competence

People have competence when they have the required skills, knowledge, and organization to perform a task well. Think back to the first day of this class. What impressions did you have of your instructor? Did he or she seem knowledgeable, organized, well prepared, and professional? If so, those characteristics probably gave you confidence in what your instructor had to say. In comparison, when you've had instructors who appeared ignorant, disorganized, unprepared, and unprofessional, you probably lacked confidence in their abilities.

Individualism Affects Decision Making

People in individualistic cultures are taught that their primary responsibility is to themselves. Competition, self-reliance, and individual achievement are valued in highly individualistic cultures. In contrast, people in collectivistic cultures believe their primary responsibility is to their families, their communities, and their employers. Collectivistic cultures value collaboration, harmony, and solidarity rather than competition and individual achievement

Create Information Hunger

Perhaps you've had the experience of taking a high school or college course that you thought would be boring, only to be surprised by how interesting the instructor made the material. The instructor inspired your interest by creating information hunger, the desire to learn. As an informative speaker, you can do the same with your listeners by sparking their curiosity and giving them reason to want the information you have. In short, you can show your listeners "what's in it for them" if they pay attention to your speech.

anticipatory phase

Phase of group socialization in which people decide to join a group and make judgments about what they expect from that group and its members. When we first decide to join a group, we make judgments about what we expect from that group and its members. The process of forming those judgments is called the anticipatory phase. Some of our judgments might be based on the beliefs, attitudes, and expectations we formed from previous experiences with small groups. Others may be influenced by what we've heard about the particular group's objectives or traditions.

antecedent phase

Phase of group socialization in which people develop certain beliefs, attitudes, and expectations about a group.

exit phase

Phase of group socialization in which people leave a group.

encounter phase

Phase of group socialization in which the group meets for the first time.

Imagine that you're preparing a speech about food. Let's look at some examples of how you might connect that topic to each of the five needs

Physical needs: Teach listeners to cook a meal that is healthy and flavorful. Relational needs: Discuss the importance of cooking rituals—such as preparing a Thanksgiving dinner—in maintaining family relationships. Identity needs: Explain how individuals with an eating disorder view their consumption of food as a central component of their identity. Spiritual needs: Explore various real and symbolic uses and meanings of food and drink in religious ceremonies, such as Christian communion. Instrumental needs: Teach your listeners how to find the best deals on food staples, such as fresh fruit, vegetables, and milk.

Each Leadership Style Has Its Strengths

Preferences aside, each style of leadership is best under certain circumstances. When it's important that everyone in a group believes that he or she has an equal voice in decision making, the democratic style of leadership is the most likely to accomplish that goal.33 Even if everyone doesn't agree with the group's decision, the democratic style helps ensure that no one feels neglected or unimportant.

defining

Providing the meaning of a word or concept. Let's say you want to educate your listeners about the credit industry. You might focus part of your speech on defining the term FICO score, a widely used personal credit score calculated by the Fair Isaac Corporation. An individual's FICO score strongly influences his or her ability to obtain credit, so knowing what a FICO score is can help your audience to understand how the credit industry works.

Cite an opinion.

Provocative opinions from well-known people can also get your listeners' attention—for example: "World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking once warned scientists that making contact with aliens would be disastrous for the human race. In this speech, I'll be exploring some of the reasons he may be exactly right."

persuasive speaking

Public speech that aims to influence listeners' beliefs, attitudes, and actions.

informative speaking

Publicly addressing others to increase their knowledge, understanding, or skills. publicly addressing others to increase their knowledge, understanding, or skills—in several different ways. The techniques available to us include defining, describing, explaining, and demonstrating. The method or methods we choose depend on our speech topic and audience.

Quotations:

Quotations from people who are recognized experts on your topic can serve as valuable supporting material. As with definitions and statistics, it is critical to identify the source of the quotation and his or her qualifications for speaking on that topic.

Help to Build Group Cohesion

Recall from earlier in this chapter that group cohesion is the extent to which everyone in the group works together toward a common goal. Cohesive groups are more productive and have happier, more satisfied members than groups lacking cohesion.57 Contributing to group cohesion is therefore an important way to build positive group relationships. You can promote cohesion in the groups to which you belong in the following ways: Emphasize collective goals. Encourage the group to identify its shared goals clearly. Some goals will be broad, such as "Support economic development in the community." Page 257Others will be specific, such as "Plan a rally for next Thursday evening." Whatever the group's goals, cohesion suffers when members lose sight of their collective purpose. Take opportunities to remind others in the group of the common goals. When members concentrate on their shared objectives, group cohesiveness often increases. Keep track of progress. When a goal takes longer to achieve than a group planned, or when members encounter unanticipated problems along the way, those who are working toward a common goal can get discouraged. You can help by acknowledging your group's progress so far. Stress what members have already accomplished, not what they haven't yet achieved. When they are raising funds, for instance, some groups create a large drawing of a thermometer, which they post in a visible place and fill in with color to indicate how much money they have collected. When group members pay attention to what they have achieved, they may focus more on their collective goals than on the challenges of meeting those goals. Remind others of their value to the group. Almost everyone has a need to belong and appreciates feeling valued. Therefore, another way you can contribute to group cohesion is to point out the reasons you value others in the group. Some reasons might directly relate to the group's task; for instance, you might value one member because of her skill at generating publicity or her knack for organizing efficient workspaces. More generally, you might value a member's empathy or sense of humor. In either case, people are often more committed to groups or causes if they feel valued than if they don't, so reminding people of the ways in which you appreciate them can increase the cohesiveness of the group.

Power Distance Affects Decision Making

Recall that cultures vary in how they expect power to be distributed within a society. In high-power-distance cultures, certain groups of people have great power and the average citizen has much less. In low-power-distance cultures, people value equality and believe no one person or group should have excessive power over others. A culture's power distance can influence how groups within that culture arrive at decisions. Groups in high-power-distance cultures may be particularly deferential to authority, for instance. Consequently, they may prefer to make decisions by authority rule or by following expert opinion. In contrast, groups in low-power-distance cultures are more likely to prefer majority rule as a decision-making method, given that majority rule treats everyone's vote as equal to everyone else's.

expert opinion

Recommendations of individuals who have expertise in a particular area that are sometimes the basis of a group's decision-making process.

Some Groups Decide by Expert Opinion

Some groups include people whose training or experience makes them experts on the type of decision the groups are making. Such groups may reach their decisions by deferring to expert opinion, or the recommendations of individuals with expertise in a particular area. Let's assume your Star Bank team includes someone with a master's degree in marketing. Because of that person's expertise, your team might ask his or her advice on which marketing slogan to adopt, instead of taking a vote or trying to achieve unanimous consensus.

Low-Tech Presentation Aids

Some of the most engaging presentation aids are decidedly low tech. As we explore in this section, you can make presentation aids from objects, flavors, textures, odors, handouts, and even people.

Establish Listeners' Vested Interest in Your Topic

Some topics will be easy to relate to your listeners' current experiences. Suppose you are speaking to a group of college-bound high school students about strategies for getting financial aid. That topic will matter to your listeners because many of them will require financial assistance to get a college education. They therefore have a vested interest in your topic—an inherent motivation to pay attention to it—and you need only point that out to relate it to them successfully.

Start with What's Familiar

Start with What's Familiar Many of us feel uneasy when we're asked to learn a new skill or understand new information. To reduce that anxiety among your listeners, begin your informative speech by describing something that is familiar to them. Then discuss how that familiar concept is related to the new information or skill you intend to describe. For instance, being "psychologically flooded" means experiencing thoughts and feelings so intense that you become unable to continue interacting with others. To describe that phenomenon, you might begin by reminding your listeners what happens to a car engine when it gets flooded. As most drivers know, a flooded engine won't start. You can then make comparisons between that familiar concept and the new knowledge you wish to impart.

Statistics:

Statistics are numbers—usually identified through research—that you can use to support your claims

Be Ethical

Stay away from any presentation aid that might harm your audience physically or emotionally. In that category are horrifying or disgusting photographs, audio or video recordings with profane or offensive language, and objects that produce dangerously loud sounds or noxious fumes.Using those sorts of presentation aids is unethical, because it places your listeners in danger of being hurt, either physically or emotionally. If you must use a potentially harmful aid in your speech, explicitly warn your audience about it at the beginning of your presentation and again right before you introduce it. For instance, if you're speaking about open-heart surgery and feel you should include a photograph of the surgical procedure, tell your listeners beforehand that your presentation includes graphic depictions of surgery, so they have the option to look away. In addition, give credit to the source of any information you present. When you prepare a slide with data that you did not generate yourself, include the source of the data on the slide. Doing so is an important way to avoid plagiarism

SELECTING AND FRAMING THE TOPIC

Students who compete in speech and debate know the importance of choosing a compelling topic and framing it appropriately for their listeners. They put their speaking skills on the line in every tournament, so they can't afford to bore their audiences.

Be Organized

Studies confirm what you probably already know: We learn better from presentations that are well organized.4 That may be so because most of us process information best in a limited number of segments at a time; thus, a speech that presents easily identified "chunks" of information in a coherent order is easiest for listeners to follow.5 Just appearing organized, in fact, is enough to boost your listeners' retention of what you say—that's how powerful organization is.6 Creating a well-organized informative speech is easy. Recall the different components of a speech—introduction, body, conclusion, and transitions—and the role each component plays in making your presentation coherent. As you prepare your informative speech, work on each component individually to ensure that it is serving its necessary functions. If each component does its job, your speech will have a logical, organized structure, and you will be poised for success.

Some Groups Decide by Authority Rule

Suppose that instead of building unanimous consensus, taking a vote, assigning the decision to a minority, or consulting an expert, your team at Star Bank leaves the choice of a slogan to the team leader. That approach is an example of authority rule, a process by which the leader of the group makes the decisions. Authority rule is a common method Page 267of decision making in some groups. In a class or workshop, for instance, a teacher usually makes decisions about the group's activities, and others adapt to those decisions. In a group of firefighters responding to a blaze, the senior commander makes the decisions and issues the orders.

CREATING A PERSUASIVE MESSAGE

Suppose you had the opportunity to persuade citizens to vote one way or the other on the legality of doctor-assisted suicide. Your success would rely not only on the strength of your convictions but also on your ability to communicate them in a compelling way. In this section, we'll consider the types of persuasive propositions you can employ, the options you have for organizing your persuasive message, and the logical fallacies you should avoid.

Communicating in Small Groups Poses Challenges

Taking part in small groups can be extremely rewarding, but it isn't always easy. At least three challenges are common to small groups: they require sacrifices, they can experience conflict, and they can be difficult to coordinate.

Multimedia Presentation Aids

Technology provides a wealth of opportunities for creating interesting and memorable computer-mediated presentation aids. Presentation software programs allow speakers to integrate many different kinds of presentation aids into a unified display. In this section, we'll look at the use of text slides, graphic slides, video, and audio.

Video and Audio

Text and graphic slides are excellent options for displaying information, but there may be occasions when you want your audience to listen to or see an audio or a video recording. Perhaps you've been in classes, for example, in which the instructor had you watch part of a movie or listen to a musical recording. You may choose to use audio or video recordings Page 366in a speech as well, when they will aid your presentation. If your speech were about the career of music legend David Bowie (who died in January 2016), you might have your audience listen to one of his many hit songs or watch one of his most popular music videos. You can play audio or video directly from a media player, such as an iPod or DVD player, or you can embed it in a multimedia presentation.

proposition

That which a persuasive speech attempts to convince an audience to accept.

Power

The ability to influence or control people or events.

Accommodating

The accommodating style is the opposite of competing and reflects a high concern for the other party but a low concern for the self. The goal of accommodating is to sacrifice so the other party wins. People in a group sometimes accommodate to keep the peace, which may work well in the short term. In the long run, however, continually accommodating the other party can lead to resentment.

physical traits

The body's physical attributes. The body's attributes are referred to as its physical traits. Three physical traits in particular can influence who is likely to become leaders and how effective they are perceived to be. One such trait is sex. Some studies have reported that people perceive women less favorably than men as potential leaders and that they evaluate the work of female leaders less positively than the work of male leaders.11 These findings don't mean that men actually are more effective leaders, only that they are sometimes perceived to be. Other research has found that people in groups express more negative nonverbal reactions, such as facial expressions and gestures, toward female leaders than male leaders,12 particularly when female leaders enact stereotypically masculine behaviors such as dominance and aggression.13 Other studies have not found that difference.14 Although people may respond to male and female leaders differently, they appear to judge female and male leaders as being equally competent.15 A second physical trait that can affect leadership is height.16 In Western cultures, people often associate height with dominance, competence, and power.17 It therefore may not surprise you to learn that taller people are more likely than shorter people to be nominated or elected to leadership positions.18 For example, 29 of the 44 U.S. presidents have been taller than the average U.S. adult man, and since 1990, the taller candidate for president has won the popular vote 66 percent of the time.19 Perhaps because the average adult man is taller than the average adult woman, however, height is a stronger predictor of leadership success for men than it is for women Regardless of whether they appear masculine or feminine, however, leaders are more likely to be physically attractive than unattractive.23 As you might know from your own experience, people associate physical attractiveness with a range of positive qualities, including intelligence, honesty, and competence. It should therefore come as no surprise that physically attractive people are perceived to be better leaders than less attractive individuals. It's worth repeating that although sex, height, and physical appearance are related to leadership, none of those traits determines who will be a good leader and who will not. Leadership is a skill you can develop and nurture over time, regardless of your physical traits.

Stress

The body's reaction to any type of perceived threat.

Pauses:

The brief silence of a pause is an effective way to signal that you have finished your current point and are about to start the next one. You can also pause for effect, such as after you've made a very important statement that you want your listeners to think about before you move on.

information hunger

The desire to learn.

Joining a Group: The Encounter Phase

The encounter phase occurs the first time we meet with others as a group. For some groups, that meeting will occur face-to-face. For others, it may occur in electronically mediated formats, such as teleconferencing, or in virtual reality, by which the group interacts online. At least three important tasks are typically addressed during the encounter phase. First, groups often use their initial meeting to establish their mission and define their goals. A committee might identify its specific tasks, whereas a support group might discuss its members' needs. Second, groups often assign roles and responsibilities during the encounter phase, such as leader or record keeper for the group. Finally, groups may use the encounter phase to remind members of expectations for their behavior. Those expectations form part of the group's culture, and they often take the form of statements such as "Everyone in this group is expected to do his or her fair share of the work" and "In this group, no one is more important than anyone else."

We Join Small Groups for Protection

The expression "There's safety in numbers" suggests we are better protected against threats or problems when we're part of a group than when we're alone. The reason is that group members can take care of one another, and those who are stronger can protect those who are weaker. We can also gain social or emotional protection from groups. Many people battling addictions to alcohol, drugs, or gambling, for instance, gain emotional sustenance from others experiencing the same trials by participating in a recovery group. Members of such groups are routinely assigned a sponsor to whom they are accountable for their behavior. When they feel the urge to gamble or use alcohol or drugs, they can call on their sponsor for the support necessary to resist those behaviors.

Leaders Exercise Coercive Power

The opposite of reward power is coercive power, or power that comes from the ability to punish. When you go to court, for example, the judge has power over you because he or she can punish you with fines or imprisonment for not doing what you must. Throughout history, dictators have exercised coercive power over their populations by ordering imprisonment or even death for those who don't follow their orders.

Small Groups Expose Us to Diversity

The expression, "Two heads are better than one" reflects the idea that getting input from others can help us to make better, more informed decisions than we would make on our own. The reason is that each person brings a different set of ideas, experiences, insights, and values to bear on the choice. Listening to the perspectives of other people often makes us consider aspects of a decision that hadn't occurred to us before. Thus, one important advantage of participating in a small group is exposure to ways of thinking that are different from our own.47 Suppose two "juries" were to hear the same fictitious criminal case in a law school's mock trial exercise. Jury A is composed of 12 people with highly diverse work experience, cultural background, educational level, and socioeconomic status. Jury B consists of 12 people with highly similar characteristics. After hearing the case, Jury B quickly arrives at a unanimous verdict. Because the members of this jury are so similar, they paid attention to the same pieces of evidence, were persuaded by the same arguments, and brought similar biases and prejudices to bear on their decision. In contrast, Jury A takes much longer to arrive at a unanimous verdict. Because of their diversity, the members each paid attention to different aspects of the case. Whereas some found the physical evidence persuasive, others listened more carefully to the eyewitness accounts or watched the defendant's facial expressions while testimony was being presented. When it came time to reach a verdict, the members of Jury A drew from a much more diverse set of ideas, arguments, and biases. Even though arriving at a unanimous decision was a long and difficult process for this group, its verdict was better informed because it was fully considered from many different points of view. Although working in diverse groups can present challenges, it can also help us to think in more open-minded ways—and thereby to come to better decisions.

Articulation

The extent to which a speaker pronounces words clearly.

Credibility

The extent to which others perceive us to be competent and trustworthy.

Leaders Exercise Expert Power

The fifth form of power on French and Raven's list is expert power, power that stems from having expertise in a particular area. In a chamber orchestra, for instance, the musicians follow the instructions of the conductor Page 276because he or she has the musical expertise to make the orchestra sound as good as possible. In many cases, we perceive that it is in our best interests to comply with the directions of experts, because their experience or training gives them specialized knowledge we lack.

Before You Join: The Antecedent Phase

The first phase of socialization begins before we even enter a new group, when we develop certain beliefs, attitudes, and expectations about it in the antecedent phase

cohesion

The force by which the members of a group work together in the service of a common goal. If you've ever studied music, you know that a song's melody is its primary tune and that other pitches are added to the melody to create harmonies. Most melodies aren't quite as beautiful without harmonies, and most harmonies are incomplete without the melodies. When melodies and harmonies work together, though, they can produce something truly special. The same principle applies in small groups. To be effective, small groups must have cohesion, which means the members work together—as melodies and harmonies do—in the service of a common goal.8 Cohesion takes interdependence a step further: Groups are interdependent if the members all influence one another, but they are cohesive only if the members work together toward the same goal. Two types of cohesion are particularly important for small groups. The first is what researchers call task cohesion, the extent to which everyone in the group is working together toward the same objectives.10 Task cohesion is high when all the group members know their specific tasks and follow through on them. When only some members do so while others neglect their responsibilities, then task cohesion is low. If you've taken part in small groups in which only a few members did the majority of the work, you know that being in such groups is often unsatisfying. The second important type of cohesion is social cohesion, which refers to the level of positive regard group members have for one another.11 In groups with high social cohesion, the members generally get along well and maintain positive relationships among themselves. They trust and listen to one another, they adapt their communication behaviors to one another, and they respect one another's opinions even when they disagree. In contrast, members of groups with low social cohesion are often distrustful of the other members. They disregard one another's opinions and don't seem to care much about one another. In some groups, low social cohesion causes members to argue frequently; in others, it causes them to ignore one another. Not surprisingly, most people are more satisfied participating in groups with high social cohesion than in those with low social cohesion.12 When members act contrarily to a group's goals, the group can become dysfunctional and counterproductive. Take a closer look at group dysfunction in Nearly every small group has both rules and norms that its members are expected to follow.

specific purpose

The main goal for a speech or oral presentation.

thesis

The main message of a speech or oral presentation.

Finding the Best Decision-Making Method

The method of making decisions that is best depends on several factors that vary from decision to decision. One factor is the importance of the decision itself. Relatively unimportant decisions may be best made by authority or minority rule because those methods are efficient. More important decisions—those that will affect many people or require a great deal of money to implement—might be better made by unanimous consensus, majority rule, or expert opinion, because those methods often entail a closer, more critical consideration of the options. A second factor in determining the right decision-making method is whether the decision requires expert knowledge. Expert opinion is often the most effective method of making decisions that require specialized knowledge not shared by everyone in the group. Authority rule can also be effective in such situations if the leader has authority because of his or her expertise, as, for example, a fire commander usually does. A third factor influencing the choice of decision-making method is how quickly the decision must be made. Authority rule is often the fastest way of making decisions, whereas building unanimous consensus is frequently the most time-intensive. When selecting its method of decision making, a group might consider the time constraints on the decision. Page 268

desensitization

The process of confronting frightening situations directly, to reduce the stress they cause. and it can significantly reduce the anxiety individuals experience about all sorts of fears, including public speaking.41 The more you practice speaking in front of people, the less frightening public speaking will become, because over time you will become desensitized to it.

Some Small Groups Evaluate and Advise

The purpose of some small groups is to discuss and evaluate particular issues and give advice on how they should be addressed. The president of the United States, for instance, appoints a cabinet of 15 individuals who head major governmental agencies, such as the departments of State, Justice, Defense, Homeland Security, Education, and Commerce. The cabinet meets regularly to advise the president on issues related to domestic and foreign policy.27 Although its individual members change, the cabinet Page 243has been a permanent group since the presidency of George Washington in the late eighteenth century. Other small groups evaluate and advise on an as-needed basis. To evaluate the merits of a new product and how best to market it, for instance, many companies turn to focus groups.28 Focus groups are usually composed of 6 to 10 typical consumers who may use and provide their feedback on a new product before it is available to the public. They may also give input on the new product's name or packaging. Other small groups that evaluate and advise are an award selection committee, an advisory board, and an employee performance evaluation committee.

memorable moment

The second goal for your conclusion is something your listeners will remember about the speech even if they no longer recall all your specific points.

interdependence

The state in which what happens to one person affects everyone else in the relationship. According to systems theory, members of a small group also demonstrate interdependence in the sense that each one affects and is affected by every other member in some way.7 Whenever the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched a mission into space, Page 236for instance, a group of 16 flight controllers monitored every aspect. Each individual controller oversaw specific dimensions, such as communication with the crew, deployment and retrieval of the spacecraft's payload, flight navigation, electrical generation, and the execution of spacewalks. To ensure the success of the mission and the safety of the crew, the flight controllers had to work interdependently. Although each person's responsibilities were different, everyone's actions influenced, and were influenced by, everyone else's. For instance, communication with the crew was impaired if electrical generation malfunctioned. Spacewalks were safe only if the flight navigation was accurate. In this interdependent group of flight controllers, the members had to communicate to understand how their behaviors and decisions affected the others. Interdependence doesn't necessarily mean that each member's influence on all other members is always positive. Perhaps you can recall attending small group gatherings in which two or three people expressed a disagreement that soon escalated into a full-scale argument within the group. In that instance, group members were influencing one another in a negative way by letting a conflict get out of hand. They were still demonstrating interdependence, however, because the moods and behaviors of some members affected, and were affected by, those of others.

social loafing

The tendency of some members of a group to contribute less to the group than the average member does, particularly as the group grows in size.

copyright infringement

The use of materials that are protected by copyright—such as photos or works of art—without gaining permission or giving proper recognition to their source.

anticipatory anxiety

The worry people feel when looking ahead to a speech.

Three Forms of Rhetorical Proof

These proofs are appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos.

Leaders Enact Distinct Styles

Think about the leaders of groups to which you've belonged. How would you describe their leadership styles? Regardless of his or her physical or psychosocial traits, chances are each leader had a specific way of enacting leadership responsibilities. Many years ago, a team of social psychologists determined that most leaders enact one of three distinct styles in the way they lead others—democratic, autocratic, and laissez-faire. Let's take a quick look at each.

Consider the Context

Think about which presentation aids will work best for your audience, the layout of the room, and the resources available to you. Pay particular attention to these factors: The size and arrangement of the room: Make sure everyone will be able to see, hear, touch, taste, or smell the presentation aids you plan to use. If you're creating a slideshow presentation, use a font large enough for everyone to read comfortably. Before your speech, try your presentation aids in the space where you'll be speaking and confirm that every listener will be able to take advantage of them. The time available for the speech: Be certain you'll have adequate time to set up and use your presentation aids effectively. If you will running a slideshow from the computer in the presentation room, try to load your slideshow onto that computer before your speech so you need only to open the document when you are ready to speak. Also be sure you don't have too many slides to get through in the time allotted for your speech. You don't want to have to rush through or skip slides to stay within your time limit. This is an excellent reason to rehearse your speech with your visual aids, as discussed below. The resources available: Determine beforehand that you will have everything you need to make your presentation aids work. If you're bringing an Page 367object that requires electric power, make certain there is an accessible outlet and that you have a long enough power cord to reach it. If you plan to use a multimedia presentation, ensure ahead of time that the necessary equipment—such as a projector and screen—is all available. Particularly when you're speaking in an unfamiliar room, don't take anything for granted. Rather, double-check to be sure you will have everything you need.

We Are Socialized into Small Groups

Think back to your first day of college. You can likely remember the anticipation, some uncertainty about your courses, and the excitement about being part of a campus community. You probably found these feelings faded as you learned what to expect and became accustomed to your college routine.The process by which you gained greater certainty about the college experience is called socialization, and the same occurs when you join a small group. Researchers believe we are socialized into small groups in five phases—the antecedent phase, the anticipatory phase, the encounter phase, the assimilation phase, and the exit phase

Accept Public Speaking Anxiety as a Normal Response

Thus, rather than trying to eliminate it, accept it as a normal part of the performance experience. In fact, speaking anxiety can even help you to perform better than you would if you didn't feel nervous.

reason

To make judgments about the world based on evidence rather than emotion or intuition.

unanimous consensus

Uncontested support for a decision—sometimes the only option in a group's decision-making process.

Body movement:

Unless you are standing behind a podium during your speech, use the available space to move around during your presentation. You can highlight transitions from one point to the next nonverbally by changing where you are standing as you discuss each point.

Currency

Using recent supporting material is particularly important when you're speaking about issues that change continually, such as technology and world politics. As you search for appropriate supporting material, remember that credibility, objectivity, and currency are all important, but they are not necessarily equally important. When preparing a speech on Roman history, for instance, you may find the credibility of your sources to be more important than their currency, because the facts about Roman history don't change as rapidly as the facts about computer-mediated communication. If you're speaking about the safety of a new treatment for muscle pain, then the objectivity of your supporting material may be paramount, to ensure that the facts you present are as unbiased as possible. You should always consider the credibility, objectivity, and currency of potential supporting material, but you'll want to think about which of those properties are most important for your particular topic.

Describing

Using words to depict or portray a person, a place, an object, or an experience.

Volume

Vocal volume is the loudness or softness of the voice. The appropriate volume for your speech depends on several factors, such as the size of your audience, the size of the room in which you're speaking, and whether you're using a microphone. Page 361Just as you would in a face-to-face conversation, you want to ensure that you are speaking loudly enough for your listeners to hear you but not so loudly as to make them uncomfortable. In general, you will speak more loudly if you have a large audience than a small one, but only if you aren't using a microphone. Because a microphone amplifies the volume of your voice, you need only speak at a normal conversational volume to be heard. If you know you'll be using a microphone for an upcoming speech, it is useful to practice your speech with a microphone if you're able to do so. Effective speakers also vary their volume during their speech to create certain effects. They may speak more loudly when making particular points to express enthusiasm or conviction about those points. At other times, they may speak softly to create a serious tone or to encourage the audience to pay close attention. Varying your vocal volume will add variety to your speech and help to keep your listeners engaged in it.

Their work indicates that public speaking anxiety—as well as other forms of stage fright—affects behavior in at least five separate domains:

Voice: Public speaking anxiety often causes the voice to quiver or sound tense—or to sound higher than normal. Mouth and throat: People experiencing public speaking anxiety often swallow and clear their throat more frequently than normal. Facial expression: Muscle tension in the face causes a general lack of expression and eye contact. It can also make the face twitch slightly. General movement: Public speaking anxiety frequently causes people to fidget or engage in random movement. It can also cause them to pace, sway, or shuffle their feet. Verbal behavior: People experiencing public speaking anxiety often stutter more than usual. They also increase their use of filler words, such as "um" or "uh," and they are more likely to forget what they want to say.

Make It Easy to Listen

We've all encountered speakers who seem oblivious to their listeners' needs and desires—for example, presenters who talk too long or use unfamiliar technical jargon. It is difficult to pay attention to such speakers or to care about what they're saying. To avoid that reaction from your own audience, make it easy for them to listen to you by keeping your message short, using clear language, starting with familiar concepts, repeating your key points, and sprinkling in humor when it's appropriate.

Small Groups Have Their Own Identities

When two people get married or enter a committed relationship, it's often as if their relationship takes on a life of its own. They may say to each other: "There used to be you and me, but now there's you, me, and us." That sentiment reflects the idea that the relationship has become an entity unto itself, one with its own identity. Many small groups have the same experience: once people come together to form a small group, the group takes on its own identity. When that happens, people begin referring to "the group" as well as to individual members, and they start to think about the group's needs and desires, reflecting the idea that the group has become an entity of its own. One reason group identities are important is that they set boundaries around a group's membership by defining who belongs and who does not. Some groups establish and maintain their boundaries in elaborate ways. For instance, members of the Freemasons, an international fraternal organization, are thought to use secret knocks, hand signals, passwords, and other covert signs to differentiate true members from individuals posing as members.16These rituals enhance communication within individual chapters of the group, and create a shared identity among members around the world. Likewise, individual fraternities and sororities often put new pledges through highly involved initiation rituals, during which they may teach them secret handshakes or code words by which they can signify their membership.17 Similarly, many gangs require new members to get specific tattoos to signify their affiliation with and allegiance to the gang Other groups establish and maintain their boundaries in less dramatic ways. For example, the Red Hat Society is a social organization for women over 50 whose members wear red hats and purple clothing whenever they meet in small groups.19 Their attire therefore serves as a marker of membership, distinguishing those who belong to the group from those who do not. In the same vein, Alcoholics Anonymous members attending individual small group meetings recite the "serenity prayer," which symbolizes their inclusion in the group. Membership cards, lapel pins, member jackets, and similar tokens also signify who belongs to a group and who does not. In each of these ways, groups express and reinforce their identity both to those in the group and to outsiders.

We Influence Beliefs with Propositions of Fact

When we ask people to believe a statement, we are also asserting that the statement is true. To achieve our persuasive goal, we use a proposition of fact, a claim that a particular argument is supported by the best available evidence and should therefore be taken as factual. Some examples of propositions of fact are Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. Flying is the safest mode of transportation. Solar power alone is not capable of meeting the energy demand in the United States.

Listen Carefully

When we interact with others, our ability to communicate effectively relies heavily on how well we listen. That observation is especially true when we interact within groups, a setting where multiple ideas or positions are often discussed at the same time. One way to become a better group communicator is to build listening competence. Particularly useful strategies are knowing how to recognize barriers to effective listening and practicing listening skills.

What It Means to Persuade

When we try to motivate people to adopt a specific manner of thinking or doing, we usually have one of three concrete goals in mind: To persuade them to believe that a claim we're making is true. To convince them to share our opinion on a particular issue. To get them to do something.

Objectivity

When you are evaluating the potential usefulness of supporting material, consider how objective the source is. A source is objective to the extent that it presents information in an unbiased fashion. In contrast, sources are subjective when they offer information in a manner that supports only their favored position on an issue. That distinction matters because many people will consider data from subjective sources to be untrustworthy. When you are evaluating a source's objectivity, consider the extent to which that source has a political or financial interest in the content of the message. A report on Page 339the effectiveness of childproof locks is likely to be more objective if issued by a government agency than by a manufacturer of childproof locks. The reason is that the latter group has a financial interest in reporting that the locks are effective, whereas the former group may not lean toward any particular outcome. Likewise, the report would be less objective if it were funded, or otherwise facilitated, by someone with a political or financial interest in the outcome.

When the New Member Is You

When you join a new group, you can aid your own process of socialization by following four steps: Embrace the group's culture. If you've made the effort to join a small group, you probably already support that group's goals, norms, values, and behaviors. Thus, part of socializing yourself into a new group is communicating in ways that reflect the group's culture. Acquire appropriate skills. If you are to become an active member of a group, you'll need to develop the skills to carry out your role and responsibilities. If you've joined a community outreach group, for instance, you may need to brush up on your conversational skills so you can interact with the public. Think about the skills you'll need to contribute to the group's mission, and look for ways to acquire or improve them.

Definitions:

When your speech focuses on a concept that may be unfamiliar to your audience—or one that can have multiple meanings—you can support your use of that concept by defining it explicitly

Small Groups Can Experience Conflict

Whenever small groups have to make decisions, they are likely to experience some measure of conflict. As we Page 252considered in the chapter on communicating in intimate relationships, conflict arises when two or more parties perceive that their goals are incompatible and their resources are limited. This situation is probable in many group decision-making contexts. Because you have a finite amount of money to spend, your group has to choose just one gift, and because different people prefer different outcomes, members may experience conflict in the process of making a decision. As we saw in the chapter on intimate relationships, conflict is a normal part of human communication, and it isn't necessarily problematic. What matters is how groups handle conflict when it arises. If it is managed inappropriately, conflict can be a destructive force in a group, leading to resentment and hurt feelings and a general lack of productivity for the group. If managed constructively, however, it can lead groups to make more informed and more creative decisions than they otherwise would. We'll examine strategies for managing group conflict appropriately in the chapter on decision making and leadership in groups

Some Persuasion Affects Opinions

Whereas our beliefs are our perceptions of what's true and false, our opinions are our evaluations about what's good and bad. Opinions reflect what we think should be, not necessarily what is. When people use persuasion to influence our opinions, they want us to evaluate something in the same way they do.

We Influence Opinions with Propositions of Value

Whereas propositions of fact are statements about what is objectively true, propositions of value are claims that evaluate the worth of a person, an object, or an idea. When we assert propositions of value, our persuasive goal isn't to make someone believe us—it's to make someone agree withus. Some examples of propositions of value are Fathers are just as important as mothers. Animal cloning is immoral. Our country is right to do anything it can to protect its citizens. Notice that all three statements make claims, but they are not claims about facts. Rather, they are judgments that reflect the speaker's opinions about what is important, moral, and right. Unlike facts, opinions are never true or false in an absolute sense—they are only correct or incorrect in the minds of the people who discuss them. Therefore, we can't prove an opinion in the way we prove a factual claim. We might use facts to establish a basis for advocating a specific opinion—for instance, we may quote evidence about threats of terrorism and the safety of U.S. citizens—but the facts themselves will never settle the issue. One person might interpret that evidence as justifying our nation's right to defend itself against its enemies. Another person might interpret the same evidence as proof of our failed foreign policy and the need for greater diplomacy. Who is right? That's a matter of opinion.

Posture and Body Position

Whether you're sitting or standing during your speech, it's important to adopt a posture that is relaxed but confident. Slouching or hanging your head will make you appear uninterested in what you're saying. Instead, keep your back straight, your shoulders square, and your head up. That posture makes you appear strong, composed, and in control.

Flavors, Textures, and Odors

You can also use presentation aids to appeal to your listeners' senses of taste, touch, and smell. For example, a speech about citrus fruit might incorporate slices of orange, lemon, tangerine, and grapefruit that your audience can sample. A presentation about interior design might use swatches of different types of carpeting that your listeners can feel. If you're speaking about men's cologne, you might bring fragrance samples for your audience to smell. When your topic relates to something that is tasted, touched, or smelled, using those types of presentation aids can be a particularly effective way of demonstrating your speech points.

Focus Your Nervous Energy

You can train yourself to focus your nervous energy on the goal of giving the best speech possible rather than letting it distract you. Just as many athletes try to get psyched up before a game so they have more energy to channel toward their performance, so, too, can you use your nervousness to energize your speech.

Gestures:

You can use hand movements to punctuate your speech. If you intend to present three main points in the body of your presentation, you might signal the start of your first, second, and third points by holding up Page 328one, two, or three fingers, respectively. If you're comparing two arguments, you might hold out your right hand and say "on the one hand ..." and then hold out your left as you say "on the other hand ..."

Maintain Positive Group Relationships

Your experiences in almost any small group will be more productive and meaningful if you develop and maintain positive relationships within the group. That doesn't necessarily mean you have to become a friend with every member. Indeed, you can establish positive relationships in two other specific ways: by contributing to the creation of a constructive group environment and by helping to build group cohesion.

eulogy

a speech made to honor the memory of people after their death. We use eulogies and many other types of presentations to give honor to people, places, or significant points in history.

when preparing a speech, you should consider and address the ________ demands for you r audiences attention

competing

Gestures

gestures are movements of the hands, arms, or head that express meaning. Most of us gesture naturally as we converse with other people, and the use of gestures also enhances the effectiveness of a speech. Three factors are particularly important when gesturing during a speech. First, gestures should look spontaneous rather than planned. Spontaneous gestures naturally follow what you are saying and thus appear well connected to your verbal message. Planned gestures, in contrast, appear contrived and insincere. Perhaps the best way to keep your gestures from looking planned is not to plan them but to let them arise naturally from the words you're speaking. Even if you do rehearse your gestures, follow the advice in the chapter on organizing and finding support for your speech by rehearsing them until they look and feel natural. A second key factor is that gestures should be appropriate in number. Some speakers, especially when they're anxious, gesture almost constantly because the motion helps them to get rid of excess Page 359nervous energy. If you've ever listened to such a speaker, however, you know that using too many gestures can distract an audience and make it difficult for listeners to concentrate on the speaker's words. While some speakers show nervousness by overdoing gestures, others become physically tense and barely gesture at all. As a result, they appear stiff and rigid. Effective speakers, then, use a moderate number of gestures—not too many, not too few. Finally, gestures should be appropriate in size for your proximity to the audience. If your listeners are relatively close to you, as in a conference room or a small classroom, you should use gestures similar to those you would use in face-to-face conversations. The same is true if you are speaking to your audience via a webcam; you'll want to keep your gestures somewhat small so they are easily captured by the camera. If you are farther away from your listeners, as in an auditorium, using larger, more dramatic gestures is appropriate so that your audience can see them.

credibility

if it is believable and trustworthy. Using credible supporting material helps you to make the points in your speech convincingly. To be credible, supporting material must come from a trustworthy source. A source is convincing if its experience, training, and expertise give its claims more authority than the claims of others. Besides coming from an appropriate source, credible supporting material often also includes statistics that enumerate an effect. Statistics are simply numbers that you can use to help make a point more informatively.

four basic styles of delivery:

impromptu, extemporaneous, scripted, and memorized.

Vocal Pitch

is a measure of how high or how low the voice is. Every voice has a range of pitches that it typically produces. Some voices have a naturally high pitch, others have a medium pitch, and still others have a deep, low pitch. When speakers are nervous, however, their vocal pitch becomes higher than normal. As a result, high-pitched speech often makes the speaker sound nervous and unsure, whereas a deeper pitch may convey greater confidence. If you focus on relaxing while you speak, your voice may also relax, allowing you to speak at a deeper pitch. Perhaps more important than pitch itself is the variation in pitch you use while speaking. Speakers who vary their pitch sound energetic and dynamic and are judged by others as friendly56 and caring

One strategy for making your speech memorable

is to end it with humor. If the concluding lines of your presentation make the audience laugh, your listeners are likely to remember your speech—and remember it positively. Another option for creating a Page 329memorable conclusion is to surprise your audience.

Global theft

means stealing your entire speech from another source and presenting it as if it were your own. You would commit global theft if you downloaded a persuasive speech from the Internet and passed it off as your own, for instance. Similarly, if a friend allowed you to use an informative speech he wrote for another class as your own, that would also constitute global theft because you are representing the words as yours rather than his.

Talking down

means telling people what they already know as if they didn't already know it

Patchwork theft

occurs when you copy words from multiple sources and put them together to compose your speech. Suppose you took large sections of your introduction from a magazine article, portions of your main points from a website, and the bulk of your conclusion from a television show. Even though you compiled those sources and wrote portions of your speech to tie them together, you would still be committing plagiarism because you are passing off someone else's words as your own. Similarly, if you download images from the Internet and include them in your presentation slides, even though the Page 341images are protected by copyright, you are also committing patchwork intellectual theft.

Your conclusion should accomplish two main tasks:

reinforce your central message and create a memorable moment for your listeners. The Conclusion Reinforces Your Central Message The Conclusion Creates a Memorable Moment

We Join Small Groups for Many Reasons

thinking back on your own small group experiences, you'll likely realize that you joined different groups for different reasons. Perhaps you joined some enthusiastically, primarily for social reasons, whereas you might have taken part in others because you felt compelled to. People join because they need to belong, because groups provide protection, because group membership can improve their performance, and because they feel pressure to join.

Some Groups Decide by Minority Rule

third form of decision making is minority rule, a process in which a small number of members makes a decision on behalf of the group. Decision makers often use minority rule for the sake of efficiency.

demographic characteristics

which include their age and facility with computer-mediated communication, sex and sexual orientation, culture, socioeconomic status, physical and mental characteristics, and political orientation.