PUBLIC SPEAKING MIDTERM

What are the functions of presentational aids in a speech?

They can satisfy an ever-escalating thirst for information and entertainment. They promise to enhance, or hinder, our presentations.

What are the four main components of a planning outline?

Parallelism, coordination, subordination, division.

What is signposting?

"First, second, third, fourth..." "One, two, three, four..."

What are the guidelines for constructing speaker's notes?

-Avoid overloading your outline -Include only necessary information -Reduce your sentences to key phrases -Include transitions, but in an abbreviated form -Notes must be legible

What are the ways speakers can create a speaker-audience connection? Be prepared to give examples of each.

-Get to the point quickly -Have confidence : they want to hear your speech -Be of the people, not above the people -Use humor -Get personal -Encourage participation -Examine other situational characteristics -Learn as you go

What are the requirements for a planning outline?

-Name -Specific purpose -Thesis statement -Title of speech -Introduction with roman numerals labeling capture attention and focus on topic, set tone and establish credibility, preview main points. -Body with main points labeled with roman numerals and subordinate points labeled with letters and subpoints labeled with numbers. -Conclusion with roman numerals labeling summary of main points, relate to audience, and provide closure/final thought. -References.

What are the 10 key demographics speakers should consider? How can each be used in creating a speech?

1) Age 2) Gender 3) Race 4) Ethnicity 5) Education/knowledge 6) Group affiliation 7) Occupational group 8) Socioeconomic status 9) Religious background 10) Political affiliation

What kinds of criteria are important when making and using computer-generated images?

1) Choose a presentational aid that fits your purpose, the occasion, and your audience. 2) Emphasize only relevant points 3) Implement the "Rule of six" (use no more than six words per line, and no more than six lines per slide) 4) Select appropriate design features 5) Avoid allowing your presentational aid to upstage you. 6) Preview and practice

What types of overall principles should the speaker consider when using the presentational aids?

1) Do not let your presentational aid distract your audience 2) Be aware of timing and pauses 3) Make sure the equipment is working, but be prepared for failure 4) Use muliimedia presentations only with careful planning and practice

What are the stages of the physiological symptoms of apprehension?

1) Fear of criticism or being judged negatively 2) Fear of forgetting 3) Fear of embarrassment or humiliation 4) Fear of failure 5) Fear of the unknown 6) Fear of bad (emotional) past experiences

What are the three general purposes for speeches? Be able to give an example of each.

1) General purpose -to inform -to persuade -to entertain/inspire

What are the eight steps to fine-tuning your listening skills?

1) Get ready to listen 2) Minimize personal barriers to listening 3) Leave distractions behind 4) Do not rush to judgment 5) Listen first for content, second for delivery 6) Become an effective note taker 7) Be an active listener 8) Provide feedback

What are the three purposes of an introduction?

1) Grab the attention of the audience 2) Establish credibility 3) Preview main points

Why is it important to study public speaking? (7 reasons)

1) It is a valuable activity 2) It influences success in college 3) Teaches critical thinking skills 4) Public speaking skills influence career and community success 5) Public speaking skills are key to leadership 6) Public speaking skills complement technology 7) It is part of our democratic tradition

What are the criteria for evaluating speeches?

1) Organization 2) Research/supporting material 3) Analysis 4) Language 5) Verbal and nonverbal delivery

What are the three purposes of a conclusion?

1) Recap the main points 2) Reinforce the message 3) Provide closure

What are the five steps of preparing to speak? Why is each of these steps important, and how do they contribute to the overall success of a speech? Be able to give examples of how these steps might be accomplished successfully and/or unsuccessfully.

1) Select and narrow an audience-centered topic. 2) Develop content through research and sound support. 3) Draft the introduction, body, and conclusion. 4) Develop the language of the speech with care. 5) Practice!

What are the four steps for selecting main points?

1) Select the main points 2) Support the main points 3) Choose the best organizational pattern 4) Create unity throughout the speech

Describe the eight elements of the communication process as explained on pages 12 through 20 of the text, and be able to explain the process and give examples of each

1) Sender/Receiver: Your image makes a statement. The speaker and the audience both have needs. 2) Receiver/Sender: It is critical to plan every speech with your audience in mind. Both the speaker and members of the audience share the responsibility of achieving mutual understanding. 3) Message: The essence of the message lies not only in what the speaker intends, but also in the meaning ascribed to the message by the listeners. A fundamental task of the speaker's message is to maximize understanding. 4) Channel: The medium through which the message is sent (radio, TV, face-to-face, internet, recordings, text messages). 5) Feedback: The message the audience sends back to the speaker. Immediate feedback is the audience responses as the speech is performed. Delayed feedback is the audience response after the speech is performed. 6) Noise: Anything that interferes with the communication process. Physical noise would be a cell phone going off, thunder, people talking in class. Physiological noise would be hearing loss or poor vision. Psychological noise exists in an individual's mind ("I wonder what I'm going to have for dinner tonight"). And semantic noise is the disconnect between the speaker's words and the listener's interpretation. 7) Occasion: Time, place, event and traditions that define the moment. 8) Cultural Context: Culture is defined in terms of norms, the rules people follow in their relationships with one another; values, the feelings people share about what is right or wrong, good or bad, desirable or undesirable; customs accepted by the community of institutional practices and expressions; institutions; and language. Culture often determines the common ground between speaker and audience.

What are the four stages of listening?

1) Sensing 2) Interpreting 3) Evaluating 4) Reacting/responding

What are the reasons audiences stop listening, and how does Table 4.1 illustrate these? Can you provide examples of your own?

1) When our attention drifts 2) When we are distracted 3) When we have preconceived notions 4) When we disagree 5) When we are prejudiced or inflexible 6) When we are faced with abstractions and form our own opinions

What are the main goals of informative speaking?

1) be accurate 2) objective 3) clear 4) meaningful 5) memorable

What are the nine main strategies for reducing public speaking apprehension? Why are these effective approaches to reducing apprehension?

1) complete a public speaking course 2) focus on your audience, not yourself 3) reframe your message 4) prepare 5) take several deep breaths 6) realize that you may be your own worst critic 7) gain skill and confidence by choosing to speak 8) visualize your success as a speaker 9) release tension through assertive and animated delivery

What are the various ways a speaker can access audience information?

A questionnaire, observing, interviewing.

What are the main types of presentational aids? Be able to identify them and give examples of when they might be used with a speech?

Actual objects, 3D models, 2D models, technology based aids.

What are the advantages of using presentational aids in your speech? What are the disadvantages?

Advantages: Available, engaging, persuasive, entertaining, memorable, increase clarity, make abstract ideas concrete, help organize ideas. Disadvantages: Access, impersonal, time consuming, death by powerpoint, potential for reductionism.

What are the ethical issues speakers should be concerned with when giving an informative speech?

Always rely on credible sources. Avoid being vague, sketchy or considerably abstract in any way possible.

What is communication apprehension?

Anxiety of public speaking.

What are the options for sharing technology-based presentational aids?

Audiotape, CD, iPod, video, DVD, online media sharing cites.

What are some guidelines for writing survey questions?

Avoid leading questions. Try not to lead people to the response you desire through the wording of your question. Ask everyone the same questions. Be aware of time constraints.

What does it mean to be a culturally sensitive speaker, and why is this important to accomplishing a speaker's goal?

Avoiding stereotyping and avoiding making comments about the audience or audience members that may be offensive.

Why is it important to have the introduction planned and well-rehearsed?

Because that's the part of your speech when you're going to be the most nervous and the introduction is the part you are most likely going to forget.

What are beliefs, values, and attitudes, and how does each affect how an audience member receives a speech?

Beliefs: Represent a mental and emotional acceptance of information. They are judgments about the truth or the probability that a statement is correct. Values: Socially shared ideas about what is good, right, and desirable; deep-seated abstract judgments about what is important to us. Attitudes: Predispositions to act in a particular way that influences our response to objects, events, and situations.

Know the following organizational patterns and be able to provide examples: chronological (past-present-future, step-by-step), spatial, cause and effect, problem-solution, topical.

Chronological: A relationship in time. Spatial: The sequence of ideas from one physical point to another. Problem/solution: Presenting the audience with a problem and examining solutions. Cause/Effect: Why something happened and possible consequences of the action. Past-Present-Future: Providing perspective for a topic or issue that has relevant history and future direction or potential. Step-by-step: Describe the steps in a process (demonstration speech: how to make traditional chex mix). Topical: The most frequently used. It is tied to the unique needs of your topic. (Ex: The school supplies preschoolers think are necessary to survive at school, the behavior of youngsters at school when they do not get their own way, children's stories of their lives at home, the reasons children believe their parents send them to school).

What is the role of a supportive and positive environment in helping speakers control public speaking apprehension?

Complete a public speaking course.

When does apprehension peak?

Confrontational stage.

What are the guidelines for effective informative speeches? What role does the audience play in these guidelines?

Consider your audience's needs and goals consider your audience's knowledge level capture attention and interest immediately sustain audience attention and interest by being creative, vivid, and enthusiastic cite your oral sources accurately signpost main ideas relate the new with the familiar use repetition offer interesting visuals consider how to respond to audience questions and distractions

How do listeners try to reduce dissonance?

Convince yourself that the speaker's message has nothing to do with you.

What are the two main types of audience analysis?

Demographics: Age, gender, race, ethnicity Psychographics: Behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, values

What organizational patterns are best for informative speaking? Be ready to give examples.

Descriptive speeches are often arranged in spatial, topical, and chronological patterns Speeches of demonstration often use spatial, chronological, and cause-and-effect or problem-solution patterns Speeches of explanation are frequently arranged chronologically, or topically, or according to cause-and-effect or problem-solution.

What makes a topic relevant?

Do not assume that any topic is relevant. Get to know your audience and choose a topic that they would enjoy hearing about and not topics that have been used so often that there is not much left to say about them.

What is a subpoint, and what is its purpose in an outline?

Each point underneath the main point is called a subpoint. Subpoints are an extension of the point it supports. It just extends the information regarding the main point.

What are the pillars of public affairs at MSU?

Ethical leadership Cultural competence Community engagement

What is a speech critique?

Evaluating and giving feedback of what you thought as a critic.

What types of questions are most helpful to public speakers, and what are some examples of each?

Fixed-alternative questions: Limit responses to several choices, yielding valuable information about such demographic factors as age, education, and income. Scale questions: A type of fixed-alternative question that asks people to respond to questions set up along a continuum. Open-ended questions: Audience members can respond however they wish.

Why is it important to organize a speech?

If you spend time organizing your ideas, you will discover where you have deficiencies in research, where you have too much information, or where you haven't made appropriate connections from one point to the next.

How can speakers adapt to the audience's level of knowledge and use language for specific effect?

If you use unfamiliar terms in your speech, you should define them to keep the message clear. And choose effective language for communicating your ideas. (paint memorable word pictures)

What is the difference between the strongest point pattern and the equality pattern?

In the strongest point pattern you present your strongest point first have the primacy effect in mind (when the audience remembers the first main points and not the last) and the equality pattern is spending equal time on each and every point.

What is the role of observing and interviewing in learning about an audience?

Informally following up with your listeners and getting their personal experience and opinion on your topic from your speech.

What is supporting material?

Information gathered to strengthen each main point.

How do informative, persuasive, and entertainment speaking differ? How do these differences manifest themselves in a specific purpose?

Informative: your intent is to enlighten your audience---to increase understanding or awareness and, perhaps, to create a new perspective. Persuasive: your intent is to influence your audience to agree with your point of view---to change attitudes or beliefs or to bring about a specific, desired action. Entertain: when you deliver a speech as part of some special occasion, your intent is to entertain, commemorate, inspire, or amuse your listeners.

Why is an audience's interest level important?

Interest level often determines audience response. We tend to pay attention to things that are timely and that we know will affect us.

What are the differences between the introduction, body, and conclusion of a speech?

Introduction: Supports the body of your speech and should capture your audience's attention and indicate your intent. Body: Includes your main points and supporting material that reinforces your specific purpose and thesis statement. Conclusion: Supports the body of your speech, reinforces your message, and brings your speech to a close.

Why is listening important to public speaking?

It is the attending, receiving, interpreting and responding to messages presented aurally.

What are the special considerations that must be taken into account for technology-mediated communication (cameras, radio, Skype, etc.)?

Keep your posture erect, do not forget to gesture naturally, be sincere and conversational.

What role does communication play in public affairs?

Leadership in any shape or form involves communicating with others and stepping up. Respecting and understanding others culture's involves communication. And engaging in the community will also require communication with others in the community.

What is the difference between hearing and listening?

Listening involves receiving, interpreting and responding to messages and hearing is the physical ability to receive sounds.

How many main points should a speech have? Why?

No fewer than two and not more than five main points.

What are the options for displaying 2D presentational aids, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of these?

Photographs, diagrams, drawings, maps, tables, graphs. Photos must be large enough for your audience to see. Prepare sketches in advance. Too much detail will frustrate your audience as they strain to see the tiniest parts and labels which leads to audience members to stop listening. They can clarify and simplify.

What are the differences between the physical, psychological, and behavioral manifestations of communication apprehension?

Physical: rapid pulse, dry mouth, increased sweating, shallow breathing, etc. Behavioral: Observed by the audience (pauses in your speech, talking fast, the shaking in your voice) Psychological: Thinking about communicating (nervous)

What kind of language is preferred in speeches? Why?

Plain English. Stay away from slang/jargon and more towards words your audience can interpret.

What are the differences between a planning outline and the speaker's notes?

Planning outline: It is also known as the full-content outline, includes most of the information you will present in your speech. Speaker's notes: They function as a reminder of what you plan to say and the order in which you plan to say it. Speaker's notes are a condensed format of a planning outline.

What is the role of rehearsal in an effective speech?

Practicing reduces such surprises during your speech and, of course, demonstrates to your audience that you are prepared. It builds confidence and reduces your nervousness.

Why is it important to relate the new with the familiar?

References to the familiar help listeners assimilate new information.

What does it mean to be audience-centered, and why is this important?

Showing your audience you understand their needs and want to help them achieve their goals.

What are the main types of informative speaking?

Speech of description: helps an audience understand what something is Speech of explanation: helps an audience understand why something is so Speech of demonstration: when the focus is on how something is done

What is the difference between terminal and instrumental values?

Terminal: Those we would like to achieve within our lifetime. Instrumental: Help us achieve the terminal values, such as intellect, ambition, self-control, responsibility, and independence.

What is ethnocentrism, and how can a speaker avoid ethnocentrism in speeches?

The belief that one's own culture is superior to other cultures. Examine your language usage, examples, stories, and illustrations before presenting a speech to avoid this.

What is a thesis statement's role in a speech? Be able to create a thesis statement.

The central message you want listeners to take with them. Summarization of your main idea. Ex: Studying abroad can be a life-changing experience because students gain knowledge in an academic area, face the unfamiliar, and interact with individuals from a different culture.

What should the thesis statement identify?

The core idea; identifies the main ideas of your speech.

How do the general purpose and the specific purpose differ? Be able to write a specific purpose.

The general purpose is the type of speech you are giving. The specific purpose is what the speech will be covering and who the intended audience will be.

What is cognitive dissonance, and how does dissonance affect a listener?

The tendency to agree with ideas that fit our value system and disagree with those ideas that conflict with our value system. It can cause biases to be heard.

What are stereotypes, and why are they unethical?

They are offensive. Avoid generalizations related to race, ethnicity, or nationality, even if these groups are not present in your audience.

What does it mean to be an audience-centered speaker, and how can a speaker learn to understand the audience? How can a speaker balance the desire to speak about something familiar with the need to speak on a topic that listeners want to hear more about?

To be an audience-centered speaker, you are able to present and communicate your message to others in the clearest, most convincing way. You can analyze and adapt to the audience. You think of the best way to keep the attention and provide support that is best suited to them. You should find out the following... -What does the audience know about me? -What does the audience know about my topic? -What are the audience's views on my topic and purpose? -How do audience members define themselves as an audience? -How do the setting and occasion influence my audience? -What other factors might affect how the audience responds?

Why are the criteria for critiquing speeches important outside of the classroom?

To keep in mind that criteria is applied each time someone in an audience thinks about a speech, what it means, and what its value may be.

What are the two types of connections, and why are they important to creating unity in a speech? Be able to provide an example of each.

Transitions: Verbal bridges between ideas, words, phrases, or sentences that tell your audience how ideas relate. Internal previews: Extended transitions that tell the audience, in general terms, what you will say next.

How might the speaking assignment influence a speaker's decisions in creating a speech?

Understanding what is expected of you is the place to begin. Knowing the guidelines for the assignment influences a speaker's decisions while creating a speech.

What are a few types of supporting materials?

Use facts, provide statistics, illustrate using examples.

What is plagiarism, and why is it unethical? What are some examples of plagiarism?

Using another's work, words, or ideas without adequate acknowledgment.

How formal are speeches, as opposed to writing?

When you speak it should sound more conversational rather than so formal that your audience doesn't understand the words you're using.

Why is repetition so important in formative speaking?

You help your listeners by reinforcing your main points through summaries and paraphrasing.

What criteria should a speaker consider in determining what kind of presentational aids to use?

Your decision to include an aid should be based on the extent to which it enhances your audience's interest and understanding. The type of aid you choose should relate directly to the specific purpose of your speech and information you intend to convey.