Week 3: Chapter 8 - Supporting Your Ideas

Tansie was preparing a speech about the value of final exams for high school seniors. To gather some statistics, she asked 10 friends in the junior class for their opinion. Six were against final exams, and four supported them. For which three reasons are Tansie's statistics not usable?

She only spoke with juniors, which is not representative of the student body. She only spoke with friends, which is not representative of the student body. She only asked 10 people, which is not a large enough sample.

Because numbers can be interpreted in many ways, what should a speaker avoid when including numbers in a speech?

biased sources

Statistics are similar to Blank______ in that they are often cited in passing to clarify or strengthen a speaker's point. Multiple choice question.

brief examples

What are the three basic kinds of examples used as support for a speech?

brief examples hypothetical examples extended examples

When you are presenting your speech to an audience and are using testimony, statistics, or examples, it is important to remember to:

cite your sources orally.

What term refers to a real-life case used to illustrate or represent a group of people, ideas, conditions, experiences, or the like?

example

Certain types of examples can personalize your ideas by adding Blank______ interest to them.

human

Which two questions should be on a checklist about using examples in a speech?

Do I use examples to explain my ideas? Do I use examples to personalize my ideas?

True or false: It is generally better to use statistics from a company or an organization that has a vested interest in the figures.

False

True or false: Statistics cannot be distorted or manipulated.

False

Josh was preparing a speech about home real estate and wanted to give an idea how home prices had fallen in all seven recognized neighborhoods in his city. He found that the rounded percentage decreases were 3, 3, 5, 6, 7, 7, and 19. Why would using the mean, or average, decrease be misleading?

The last value would skew the result.

In statistics, what is the mean?

average value of a group of numbers

The mean, the median, and the are basic statistical measures that determine characteristics of a given group of numbers.

mode

When an example gives a human face or perspective to an abstract idea, it is said to Blank______ the idea.

personalize

When using statistics in a speech, a speaker should ensure which of the following?

that the statistics are representative of what they claim to measure

Clive says in his speech, "According to Suzanne Smofield, 93 percent of chemo patients who ingested some form of medical marijuana found relief from nausea." What two elements should have been included in his oral citation? Multiple select question.

the date the information was published the source of the information (book, magazine, newspaper, etc.)

Speeches without examples generally come off as having which two characteristics?

vague impersonal