Principles of Public Speaking [21 ed.] 1032540524, 9781032540528

Citation preview

Principles of Public Speaking

Now in its 21st edition, this introductory public speaking textbook encourages the reader to see public speaking as a way to build community in today’s diverse world. Within a framework that emphasizes speaker responsibility, listening, and cultural awareness, this classic book uses examples from college, the workplace, and political and social communication to make the study of public speaking relevant, contemporary, and exciting. Balancing skills and theory, new author Dakota Horn provides expanded coverage of speaking anxiety and understanding and delivering digital presentations along with two new chapters on culture and diversity and diversifying speeches. Each chapter also contains in-class applied activities to support students’ learning. This textbook is ideal for general courses on public speaking as well as specialized programs in business, management, political communication, and public affairs. An Instructor’s Manual featuring discussion questions and guides, exercises, quiz questions, and suggestions and resources for syllabus design as well as PowerPoint slides is available at https://www​.routledge​.com​/9781032537634 Dakota Horn is the Director of the Oral Communication Program and the Presentation Assistance Center at Bradley University, USA.



Principles of Public Speaking Twenty-First Edition

DAKOTA HORN



Designed cover image: MicroStockHub / © Getty Images Twenty-first edition published 2024 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2024 Dakota Horn The right of Dakota Horn to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Twentieth edition published by Routledge 2020 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Horn, Dakota, author. Title: Principles of public speaking / Dakota Horn. Description: 21st edition. | New York, NY : Routledge, 2024. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2023046885 (print) | LCCN 2023046886 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032540528 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032537634 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003414926 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032723082 (ebook other) Subjects: LCSH: Public speaking. Classification: LCC PN4129.15 .G47 2024 (print) | LCC PN4129.15 (ebook) | DDC 808.5/1--dc23/eng/20231024 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023046885 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023046886 ISBN: 9781032540528 (hbk) ISBN: 9781032537634 (pbk) ISBN: 9781003414926 (ebk) ISBN: 9781032723082 (eBook+) DOI: 10.4324/9781003414926 Typeset in Berkeley Oldstyle by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India Access the Support Material: www​.routledge​.com/​9781032537634

Contents

Preview of Chapter Structure vii Preface x CHAPTER 1

THE NEED FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING

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CHAPTER 2

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

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CHAPTER 3

SPEECH ANXIETY

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CHAPTER 4 UNDERSTANDING

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CHAPTER 5

AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

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CHAPTER 6

FINDING AND USING SUPPORTING MATERIALS

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CHAPTER 7

GENERATING IDEAS

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CHAPTER 8

ORGANIZING AND OUTLINING

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CHAPTER 9

INTRODUCTIONS, CONCLUSIONS, AND TRANSITIONS

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CHAPTER 10 LANGUAGE

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CHAPTER 11

DELIVERY AND PRACTICE

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CHAPTER 12

VISUAL MEDIA

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CHAPTER 13

SPEECHES TO INFORM

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CHAPTER 14

SPEECHES TO PERSUADE

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CHAPTER 15

DIVERSIFYING SPEECHES

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Index 231



Preview of Chapter Structure

The Principles of Public Speaking textbook should be an enjoyable read that allows you to explore your current public speaking abilities and equip you with new techniques and reinforce your strengths. Each chapter is structured similarly.

THINKING ABOUT MINDFULNESS Each chapter will start with a mindfulness exercise to get you in the right mindset. Many of us deal with speech anxiety and communication apprehension. Before we learn about the content that helps, we should be grounded and focused on improving ourselves. We hope you find benefit in thinking about your mindfulness in each chapter.

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS Each chapter has a Transferable Skill callout. These take common concerns or issues students see in the content and demonstrate how those skills transfer to a skill desired in the workplace. These concerns are collected and addressed by previous students.

SHORT CONTENT The text content is brief and to the point. Let’s then take that extra time to write good speeches.



viiiPreview of Ch a pt er S t ruct ure

INFOGRAPHIC Each chapter starts with a brief highlight of the five key elements you should take from the chapter. This summarizes the main takeaways before you even start reading. How fun!

APPLICATION Each chapter has a brief activity or application to keep you on track to get the best out of your speech design process. They build on themselves as they go from chapter to chapter.

VISUALIZATION Where needed, each chapter has one or more rough artwork or visualizations created by the author to help explain the content. The intent is to show a simple visual of what the content means.

Preface

WHAT’S NEW? This book should be an enjoyable read that allows you to explore your current public speaking abilities, equips you with new techniques and reinforces your strengths. Some of the new additions to this text include opportunities to Think About Mindfulness with each chapter starting with a mindfulness exercise to get you in the right mindset. Many of us deal with speech anxiety and communication apprehension. We should be grounded and focused on improving ourselves before reading new content. We hope you find benefit in thinking about your mindfulness in each chapter. Public speaking is one of the most Transferable Skills someone can learn. Each chapter has a direct application of how the chapter content can be transferred to all walks of life. The chapters take common concerns or issues students see in the content and demonstrate how those skills transfer to a skill desired in the workplace. Reading textbooks can sometimes be a daunting task. This new edition includes a chapter introduction Infographics and Visualizations throughout to highlight five key elements you should take from the chapter before you read. This summarizes the main takeaways before you even start reading. Each chapter also has one or more rough artwork or visualizations created by the author to help explain the content. The intent is to show a simple visual of what the content means.

APPLICATION Each chapter has a brief activity or application to keep you on track to get the best out of your speech design process. With the abundance of resources available at the click of a button and the numerous textbooks that say the same thing, this edition finds a way to make the content stand out. This text brings a more



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modernized interpretation of how to detail public speaking skills and connect that with students. Public speaking textbooks often sound repetitive. It is time for one that stands out and takes the successes of the others such as a foundational approach to skills then incorporates practical application, and also asks “But why?” This edition revises and updates terminology to be more diverse, relevant, and specific to student needs. This book does as the title suggests, sets up the principles for what public speaking can be. The book explores the principles through modern application of how these theoretical components happen in real-life situations. This book stands out from other public speaking textbooks with its updated terminology, reconsideration of what it means to deliver a public speech, and an approach to make public speaking relevant to every reader’s professional and academic career.

ABOUT THE NEW AUTHOR Dr. Dakota Horn is the Director of the Oral Communication Program at Bradley University. He is the Director of the Presentation Assistance Center and program coordinator of the Instructional Design certificate program through the Office of Continuing Education. He also acts as the general education program assessment coordinator. He holds a doctoral degree in Teaching and Learning, specializing in instructional communication and design. His research interests focus on how best to create and deliver instructional messages, how to facilitate the most effective introductory communication course, and how to help students approach speech anxiety. Before joining Bradley University, he worked in government, with a Fortune 100 company, and with K-12 schools on curriculum and policy. Dakota has focused much of his research on instructional communication, general education, and accessibility in education. We would like to thank Kathleen German for her contribution to Principles of Public Speaking over the past 13 editions.

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Enter With Mindfulness 1. Before you enter a room, a new space, or even a new book, take a second to think about things. 2. Before reading each chapter of this book, pause and take one breath, be aware of the differences you might feel in each new space you enter. 3. When you leave that space, reflect on how you feel different.

The Need for Public Speaking

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The Need for Public Speaking

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CHAPTER OUTLINE Studying Public Speaking Orality in Public Life Basic Elements in the Speech-Making Process Ethical Responsibilities for Speakers Why Public Speaking? Your Responsibility Assessing Your Progress

DOI: 10.4324/9781003414926-1

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FIGURE 1.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

The speech classroom gives you a unique opportunity to practice your speaking skills on a live audience, get feedback from listeners, and become a more critical consumer of oral messages and a more expert critic of speech-making in general.​ Oral culture is dominated by public communication that is integrative, redundant, concrete, and situational. Speaking is a transaction involving a speaker, listeners, feedback, and a message within a context. Listeners judge speakers based on their perceptions of the speakers’ good sense, goodwill, and good morals. In turn, speakers must learn to work within listeners’ moral frames if they’re to succeed. Maybe you’ve been wondering, “Why should I work on communication? Why am I taking public speaking?” You’ve been communicating for most of your life already. You’ve probably been successful—you’ve gotten this far, after all—but you can do better. Like training for a sport or mastering a musical instrument, you can improve your communication skills with expert coaching and practice. The purpose of this book is to guide you as you learn how to maximize your speaking skills, convey your ideas to others, and contribute to civil public discourse.

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STUDYING PUBLIC SPEAKING First, public speaking is much more than just the oral rhetoric practiced thousands of years ago. This book talks about public speaking, taking ideas, and translating them to a targeted audience in real-time for the opportunity for feedback. Transferable Skill. Whether using your vocal chords, sign language, visuals, or even recorded presentations, public speaking is a transferable skill. The fundamentals of Public Speaking include that it: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Has a message intended for a target audience Has detailed organization to help an audience understand Has a specific purpose Has a variety of communication tactics depending on the person’s ability and strengths.

When studying public speaking, you’ll have the opportunity to engage other individuals while you strengthen your communication skills. Together, you can encourage each other and grow as public speakers. At first, the prospect of speaking in public might seem scary, and you’ll probably make a few mistakes. That’s natural, too. With the support of your classmates and your instructor, you’ll learn how to channel your natural feelings of anxiety in positive directions so you appear poised and confident. Here are some good reasons for studying and working on public speaking:

• Your speech classroom is a laboratory: an ideal place for developing new skills. Tell a story in the conclusion, use visual aids to help illuminate the message, or deliver a speech from in front of, rather than behind, a lectern. Your speech classroom is a comparatively safe environment for experimentation. • Take advantage of classroom practice to improve your speaking skills. Practicing public speaking is every bit as important as practicing musical instruments, practicing for any sport, or practicing for job interviews. You can’t just read about speaking and then do it well. Just like any other skill, speaking improves through the process of practice: in the privacy of your own room, in front of friends who are willing to humor you, in other classes, and of course, in your speech classroom. To improve your skills, get feedback wherever you can. • Work on your critical listening skills as well. In your lifetime, you’ll be exposed to thousands upon thousands of public messages in the form of speeches, classroom pitches, television ads, and social media. Practice in

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listening—trying to accurately comprehend and fairly evaluate what others say publicly—hones skills that are equally as important as speaking skills. • Learn to evaluate the speeches of others. You can use this book as a tool for analyzing speeches you hear in person, access electronically, or find in print. As you critically review the speeches of others, you’ll begin to notice techniques that work and others that fail. You can adapt strategies that have succeeded for other speakers. Ultimately, by practicing, listening, and evaluating other speakers, you will develop and refine the skills that will make you a more productive and successful member of society. The study of human speech is a record of eloquent expressions of the human spirit. The greatest examples of public speaking endure well past the time and place they were given. Yes, things have changed drastically over the past several thousand years. However, audiences still find power in well-crafted speeches and arguments. Public speaking is about more than you and your problems. In times of crisis and public doubt, it is about the human condition. You take courses in public speaking to improve your self-confidence and sense of personal empowerment, of course, but also so that you can contribute to society. We begin by looking at the role of orality in life.

ORALITY IN PUBLIC LIFE So, then, you might ask, “Why all the stress on public speaking, on oral communication?” You can write a letter or email, or call or text someone on your phone. You can participate in group chat with other people who have the same interests that you do, bring up a podcast, or even email your congressional representative. So why do presidents still give televised speeches, teachers still offer classroom lectures, business teams still make oral presentations, and lawyers still make opening and closing courtroom speeches? There’s something essentially, engagingly, powerfully human about speaking publicly to others. That’s it, period. As far back as we can trace the history, human beings have built their relationships with others—from parents to politicians—through face-to-face talk. As you speak, your movements, vocal tones of sadness or excitement, bodily tensions, and facial displays are directly accessible to those who watch and listen. What makes face-to-face, oral communication so important to groups? Media theorist Walter Ong has identified a series of characteristics of orality. These characteristics are shared by people who participate together in communication.

• Speech tends to be integrative. Speech integrates members of a society by identifying the values that people share. Speeches assemble groups who come together for common purposes. A group’s traditional beliefs and values are usually reflected in public oral language.

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• Speech tends to be redundant. You often employ repetition, saying the same thing in more than one way to help people keep up with the flow of the conversation. • Speech tends to be concrete. References to particular places, events, and people help listeners visualize ideas. Speech is immediate, personal, and participatory—and therein lies its power. • Speech is situational. It occurs in the here and now. At its best, a public speech deals with issues that arise in the daily lives of listeners. So oral culture tends to be dominated publicly by speech communication that is integrative, redundant, concrete, and situational. All of these characteristics suggest that public speaking is a dynamic process.

BASIC ELEMENTS IN THE SPEECH-MAKING PROCESS Communication can be broken down into three definable models of communication: linear, relational/interactional, and transactional. This is not an exhaustive list of communication models, but they can be summarized in this fashion. Understanding the various models and their elements helps us understand the potential areas for improvement. Be critical of what the function of a communication model tells us about our own personal communication.

Linear Model Linear communication takes into account the rhetorical distribution of a message. This model of communication treats communication as a one-way sending of a message. There is one sender and one receiver. This model of communication finds its roots in mathematics and physics research. When speaking of linear communication, it was the basis of transmission of a signal that gives commands to most likely a computer or a radio transmission. Human communication is much more complex. For example, a message posted on a community bulletin board may or may not be received by any receiver. The message was transmitted, and communication had been accomplished. This is where this model stops in the explanation of how communication occurs. At that explanation, most individuals would take issue with the idea that communication is only sent in one direction. So that leads us to the next model.

Relational/Interactional Model The second iteration of communication models rejected the idea of a one-way transmission and decoding of messages. The next step was to add feedback as a key element in understanding how people made sense of messages. The word

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communication comes from the Latin communis, which means common. The next models of communication focused on the commonness created in messages. Feedback was a crucial element in telling the transmitter how the messages were being received. These models consider the initial message but show a two-way back-and-forth exchange to help adjust and correct the messages being encoded and decoded. This makes more sense if you think about how we send and receive messages. But there seem to be more intricacies. This leads us to the next model.

Transactional Model Communication models evolved over time from a mathematical transmission to receiving feedback to examine the process as a complex and dynamic system of communication features. The transactional model of communication clarifies communication as a process of shared messages and understandings between two or more individuals. More specifically, people encode and decode initial transmission messages in a constant process affected by various other elements. Then feedback occurs simultaneously allowing for changes in the message. Interference creates boundaries and obstacles for successful decoding. Communication is a transactional process involving the cognitive sorting, selecting, and sending of symbols in such a way as to help a listener elicit from their own mind a meaning or response similar to that intended by the communicator. So, we can see public speaking is an interactive process. That is, it is a transaction or exchange among people in public settings. Five basic elements of speaking work together to create the speech process: a speaker, a message, a listener, feedback, and the context (see Figure 1.2). Let’s consider each of these elements. The speaker is the source of the message. As the primary communicator in the public speaking situation, the speaker brings an individual perspective,

FIGURE 1.2 PUBLIC SPEAKING IS AN INTERACTIVE PROCESS

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identity, and experience to the communication transaction. But keep in mind that they will be doing multiple tasks simultaneously. The message comprises both the factual content of the speech and the speaker’s attitudes and values on the topic. The message is transmitted by selecting words and ideas, and then arranging them in a particular pattern. The word choice, the repetition of information, the scaffolding of directions, the elimination of jargon, are a large majority of how you craft a message. There is no question that message creation can be the basis of a considerable number of misunderstandings. Other examples include speaking in a step-bystep manner, using appropriate pace, presenting logically, explaining content, allowing time to process, and various other examples provided above in the rhetorical message creation part of the literature review. The process of message creation is first accomplished by using rhetorical strategies that encourage understanding. The listener (someone who receives and interprets your message) is also a partner in the speech transaction. You may think of public speaking as communication flowing in only one direction, from speaker to listener, but that is not an entirely accurate picture. Listeners bring prior knowledge, attitudes, and interests to the speech situation. They also provide verbal and nonverbal feedback, such as frowns, laughter, yawns, or questions. Feedback refers to messages your listeners send to you before, during, and after your speech. Audiences and speakers engage in a socialization process that involves audience members participating in behaviors that reduce uncertainty and allow the audience to gain understanding. From a transmission point, feedback is a signal that bounces off the receiver and allows the sender to correct or refine the signal. Communication not only involves how a sender puts together a rhetorical message transmission but also how to allow for feedback and respond to that feedback. Speakers and listeners engage each other in a context. Some parts of the communication context are obvious, such as the physical setting in which the speech takes place. Other elements, however, are more subtle. The context of the speech also includes the social expectations and cultural rules that come into play when speakers and listeners interact. Often, notions and ideas are formulated at the onset of a communication relationship. However, those relationships change the environment in which the message is received. For example, a teacher on the first day of class and on the last day of class has a different relational context. The teacher on the last day of class has less burden in establishing a clear rhetorical message because the relationship with students has developed over time to better understand the delivery, content, and processes of the message creator (teacher). Even on something used for assessment of knowledge, the first test in a class is the hardest test because the students don’t know the preference of the teacher, the word choice, the types of questions, how to prepare, the

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focus of the exam. After the exam, the relational context in terms of clarity in teacher/student understanding has developed. The relational aspect could easily be included with people. How they each create meaning in the relationship and grow the relationship can be a determining factor. The context of instruction such as the environment bleeds into the channel as well. Considering what might be happening in their lives is another consideration. Keep in mind, that this is a brief primer on how the elements of the transactional model might be explained. Communication not only involves how a sender puts together a rhetorical message transmission but also how they maximize relational environments to encourage clarity.

Interference Barriers to communication can come in many forms. Receivers of messages are exposed to a great deal of signals in one environment and those signals can be combined, eliminated, emphasized, and create a new meaning. It is shortsighted to believe communication is accomplished with just the rhetorical devices determined in previous research. Communication can be affected by a number of things that can be out of the control of the sender of any message. Any communication model must examine the extent to which messages are interfered with. Interference can take place in three specific forms: physical, psychological, or semantic. Physical noise is the actual noise that can be heard and might overtake the message being heard or seen. Barriers that inhibit the ability to process the message include small print on a projection screen, the sound of loud cars, or people talking next to you. Psychological interference deals with cognitive or mental interference that might include one’s bias, closed-mindedness to the conversation, or psychological factors unrelated to the speaker or message, such as hunger, boredom, or lack of focus. Semantic interference deals with the speaker and listeners assigning different meanings to the message. Examples include jargon, inside jokes, and cultural differences of the assigned meaning from those involved in the communication exchange. Communication not only involves how a sender puts together a rhetorical message transmission but also how they eliminate and minimize interference.

Understanding Communication Models Understanding the basic functions of the communication model gives an opportunity to understand how the basic elements function in the communication process. Consider a professor teaching an introductory class in social work. As a speaker, that instructor must convey a sense of professionalism (he or she knows the subject matter and participates regularly in professional activities as either a caseworker in the field or a scholar at conventions) and pedagogical expertise (he

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or she knows how to explain complex ideas to people who are encountering them for the first time). If the lectures or discussions (the messages) are constructed clearly with factual information, a careful listener can take clear notes. As that last point suggests, the listener—say, you—does have an important role here. You engage in a reciprocal relationship, providing feedback by asking questions in class, responding to exam questions, and completing a course evaluation form— just as the professor agrees to read and fairly evaluate your class work. All of these elements interact to make the communication process happen. Be mindful of how each one influences the other. If you struggle with listening, how can you be more focused in your listening? If you struggle with crafting a message, how can you work on those skills? Think about how you can continually improve.

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES FOR SPEAKERS Because public speaking is an interactive process, you have certain responsibilities to your listeners—and they to you. Each time you speak publicly, you are contributing to a process of community building and affecting the lives of others. The act of speaking therefore always involves making ethical choices; that is the matter of ethos (see Figure 1.3). Human beings have been intrigued by the process of communicating with others for thousands of years. The Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle identified three key factors that a speaker can control to influence others. He argued that logos (or the ability to develop logical claims with supporting evidence), ethos (or

Figure 1.3  ETHOS, PATHOS, LOGOS

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the credibility generated by the speaker), and pathos (or the emotion the speaker can stimulate in listeners) were the primary factors for influencing listeners. These three factors are still important for public speakers today. Figure 1.3 displays their relationships. The English word ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos. Ethos for the Ancient Greeks was an orientation to life that individuals shared with their community. The speaker was inextricably bound to others through reputation or credibility. To Aristotle, a speaker demonstrated ethos by sharing a bond with others in the community through good sense, goodwill, and good morals.

• Good sense: to demonstrate to others that one is talking from a position of experience and knowledge;

• Goodwill: to communicate an attitude of caring about oneself and, more importantly, about the audience members, their needs, their status, and their future; • Good morals: to speak in the language of the beliefs and values of the listeners; to share their visions, their fears, and their hopes. You will have an opportunity to engage on a level with the audience that social media does not allow. Emotions are such a powerful tool and you get to be in the room with an individual and share stories and engage with their reaction. Capturing the moment can be done with public speaking.

The Moral Bases of Public Decision Making The idea of public morality or civility therefore encompasses ethical commitments to community standards. To act in accordance with community beliefs and values, however, is to work within moral frames. 1 To be successful, you must find some moral frame you share with your listeners. You often speak to people whose backgrounds differ from yours, and who hold different values and beliefs. How can you convince people who hold values that are in conflict with yours to do anything? Find a higher value, a higher appeal, that will transcend your differences. 2 To find a shared moral frame, you must be true to what you believe. You should always be looking for moral frames that you share with your listeners—not ones that only they accept, but also ones from which you both work. Then you’ll be both true to yourself and relevant to your audience. The moral bases for public speaking therefore are not merely ethical or religious tenets, but they provide the foundation for human bonds. In a world as diverse and multicultural as ours, the search for workable moral frames will become one of your most important tasks as a public speaker. When you recognize the right

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of others to speak, listen to them with genuine intent to understand, and respect their participation in our democracy, you are practicing public civility.

WHY PUBLIC SPEAKING? Ultimately, it comes down to the questions, why do I need to study public speaking? What will I learn and how can I use this in the future? Studying public speaking remains highly relevant and valuable in today’s world for several reasons. Please consider these as you read the material in this book and reflect on what you can improve on as a speaker.

• Communication Skills: Public speaking helps individuals develop essential communication skills, including clarity, articulation, and effective message delivery. These skills are crucial in various personal and professional contexts, such as job interviews, meetings, and everyday conversations. We see this as the ultimate transferable skill. Those that can be reflective on the process of how they put together words, arguments, information, and a successful delivery are successful in employment. • Career Advancement: Effective public speaking can significantly enhance career prospects. The ability to convey ideas persuasively and confidently can lead to better job opportunities, promotions, and increased influence within an organization. Practicing and improving this skill helps you stand out as a unique employee, citizen, member of a community, and much more. • Leadership Development: Public speaking is a fundamental skill for leaders. Whether you’re leading a team, a project, or an organization, the ability to inspire, motivate, and guide others through effective communication is essential for successful leadership. Leaders feel confident and in control of what they talk about and when. Public speaking skills are at the center of that ability. • Advocacy and Activism: Public speaking is a powerful tool for advocating for causes and promoting social change. Activists, politicians, and community leaders rely on public speaking to raise awareness, mobilize support, and drive positive change. We are entering a time when advocating for important causes is crucial to the survival of programs, communities, and beliefs. Working through your communication skills will help you to be at the center of these conversations. • Personal Growth: Overcoming the fear of public speaking can boost selfconfidence and personal growth. It challenges you to confront your fears, improve self-esteem, and become more comfortable expressing yourself in front of others. Working through anxiety and apprehension is a normal part of the public speaking process. Accepting that it is a potential area for improvement is important. Accepting your abilities to practice those skills takes practice and time.

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• Influence and Persuasion: Public speaking is a key vehicle for influencing and persuading others. Whether you’re trying to convince an audience, persuade potential clients, or win over investors, the ability to make a compelling case is essential. Persuasion is a good thing. Being able to persuade ethically, effectively, and efficiently is a valuable skill to have. • Networking: Public speaking engagements offer opportunities to connect with a diverse range of people and build valuable relationships. These connections can lead to collaborations, partnerships, and new opportunities. Don’t allow your fear of public speaking or your indifference toward the skill to get in the way of the ability to accomplish these important things. • Problem Solving: Public speaking often involves addressing complex issues and problem solving in real-time, which can improve your ability to think on your feet and respond to unexpected challenges. • Bridging Cultural and Language Barriers: In an increasingly globalized world, effective public speaking can help bridge cultural and language barriers, allowing for more effective communication and collaboration across diverse audiences. • Civic Engagement: Public speaking skills enable individuals to actively participate in civic life, whether by speaking at community meetings, participating in debates, or engaging in discussions about important societal issues. • Personal Branding: Effective public speakers can develop a strong personal brand, which can be advantageous in various aspects of life, including building a positive reputation, attracting opportunities, and achieving personal goals. There is an endless list of skills that public speaking opens the door to. Public speaking is valuable in your career, education, social life, and more. Public speaking remains a valuable skill in today’s world, offering benefits for personal development, career advancement, leadership, and societal engagement. Before we begin our journey through the book, I want to share with you five comments heard on countless occasions related to public speaking courses or workshops. I want to address why they should be thought of from a different angle as we begin this journey. Transferable Skill. “I won’t have to use public speaking in my job.” This may be true. But there is no guarantee that you will not be asked at a crucial moment to provide a detailed presentation. This book is about finding the most fundamental tools to put in your tool belt when you are put on the spot. The critical tools used to create and analyze a speech transfer those skills to many other aspects. Think about your oral communication process. It transfers to much more than just a speech. “I’m not good at it. Someone else can do it for me.” Fair. This is a skill, not a talent. You can work on your particular skill set and improve it. Find ways

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to make yourself stand out a bit. Try to flip the mindset to be a positive opportunity for something that you can work on and an opportunity for you to stand out. There is not one skill that we start out as good at. It takes time, practice, and effort. “I can communicate via electronic means.” True. Everyone can. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a skill set that is starting to become a lost art? Yes, we can all communicate in a variety of different ways whether it be through sign language, oral communication. “I’ve been communicating my entire life.” I don’t disagree. Think about how much of a privilege it is to sit with others and think about the communication you are using. Reflect on that and continue to work on it. “Public Speaking makes me incredibly nervous.” An opportunity. As simple as that. I work with individuals with anxiety that stops them from being able to walk into a room, make a phone call, and interact with others. Finding ways to explore those issues and find ways to minimize, not eliminate that anxiety is the goal. Some anxiety is good. It shows you care. Let’s explore how this all works together for you.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITY Public Speaking is an amazing tool if used properly. It can also be a powerful weapon if used in the wrong way. Let’s take this journey together. Some who read this book are experts and well-trained. Some are novices and hate the idea of giving a speech. Wherever you are on the spectrum of comfort and expertise, revisiting this basic but valuable skill is incredibly important.

ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. The speech classroom gives you a unique opportunity to practice your speaking skills on a live audience, get feedback from listeners, and become a more critical consumer of oral messages and a more expert critic of speech-making in general. 2. Oral culture is dominated by public communication that is integrative, redundant, concrete, and situational. 3. Speaking is a transaction involving a speaker, listeners, feedback, and a message within a context. 4. Listeners attribute ethos, or credibility, to speakers based on their perceptions of the speakers’ good sense, goodwill, and good morals. In turn, speakers must learn to work within listeners’ moral frames if they’re to succeed. 5. You need to find the value in your public speaking work. This needs to be personal to your own goals.

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Key Terms civility context ethics ethos feedback

human speech interactive process listener message moral frames

orality public speaking speaker

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Reward Yourself for Not Being Obligated 1. Many of us have trouble saying no. 2. When you say no to something, put it on your calendar saying “said no to this”. 3. Then when you get that calendar alert reminding you that you could have been obligated to do this, but instead you are spending time for yourself, celebrate your decision. 4. Reward yourself by acknowledging that you valued your time effectively.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE Understanding Diversity and Culture Enhancing Interpersonal Communication Cultural Sensitivity Overcoming Communication Challenges What Does this Mean for Public Speaking? Recognizing and Valuing Diversity in Public Speaking Assessing Your Progress

DOI: 10.4324/9781003414926-2

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FIGURE 2.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

The amazing part of communication is that everyone comes into a communication exchange with a wide variety of experiences, knowledge, and perspectives.​ When we attempt to identify an audience, no audience member is identical. We attempt to categorize them and understand that certain individuals have similar dispositions. This can sometimes be true. It is best to understand that there is a complex approach to understanding how diversity, culture, and the intersection of identities, experiences, and beliefs work. This chapter is a very brief overview of considerations to make before engaging in a communication exchange. There is no particular determining factor of how we define ourselves as communicators. Think about your next-door neighbor that you have been friends with your entire life. There is a high likelihood that many of the factors that affect who you are would be similar. You live in a similar house, your parents likely had similar paying jobs, you were exposed to similar school systems, and you participated in similar community events and clubs. Their health problems, different grades in school, exposure to more travel, family situation changing over time, and a wide variety of factors changes how they see the world.

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SPEAKING OF ... SKILLS

Understanding How Artificial Intelligence Can Contribute to Stereotypes Many of us go to the internet, artificial intelligence models, and computer-generated databases to find answers. However, many AI models can contribute to stereotypes and bias in several ways. It is important to be aware of this and reflect on how you can potentially overcome these issues. •

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AI is trained on a dataset of text from the internet from a certain point of time, which can contain biased and stereotypical language. If the training data reflects societal biases, the model can learn and propagate those biases. This is not unique to ChatGPT; it’s a challenge with any AI model trained on humangenerated data. Your role is to dive deeper and find additional sources to examine how the language was created. It is important to understand that the worldview of certain groups and individuals might be unintentionally omitted. AI may generate biased or stereotypical responses when provided with input that contains stereotypes or biases. It can inadvertently amplify and reinforce existing biases in the data it was trained on. So, the interaction between what you think you know when you make a search, ask a question, or look for particular information can be amplified and reinforced by artificial intelligence. Your goal would be to ask different questions from different worldviews and do extensive research outside of your own worldview. AI does not have common sense reasoning or a comprehensive understanding of societal norms and values. As a result, it might provide responses that seem biased or offensive to humans without intending to do so. Our role as humans is to interpret and reflect on why the answers appear that way. Some argue that humans are built like artificial intelligence models in which we pull from our own dataset to choose our language and reactions to things. When using AI platforms, you must be reflective on how AI acts similarly to humans in terms of having biases. AI models may not have adequate representation of underrepresented groups in their training data, leading to potential biases against those groups. You must be aware of this and think about how that can influence inputs and outputs.

Not all of us go directly to these sources. But often, we see the ease of use to answer questions that we might not have an answer to. Be cautious, critical, and ethical in how you could potentially use AI to interact with the diverse world.

In short, even those on paper who seem similar do not necessarily have all the elements identical one hundred percent of the time. It just does not happen. And vice

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versa, those who on paper could appear different could have more in common and have a similar worldview. A worldview is a comprehensive framework or set of beliefs through which an individual or a group interprets and understands the world. It serves as a lens or perspective through which people perceive reality, make sense of their experiences, and form their opinions about various aspects of life. Worldviews are not limited to one’s beliefs and values: they encompass broader philosophical, cultural, social, and ideological perspectives. How does the person you engage with see the world?

UNDERSTANDING DIVERSITY AND CULTURE Diversity is the recognition and appreciation of the multitude of human differences that exist within society. These differences include but are not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and physical abilities. Each individual possesses a unique combination of these factors, which significantly influences their identity and communication style. Acknowledging and embracing diversity means valuing these differences and promoting inclusivity in communication. We don’t understand every perspective and viewpoint that every person we interact with has. Understanding and reflecting on this is a very important step in creating your message. Culture is the shared set of beliefs, values, customs, traditions, and behaviors that exist within a particular group. It is transmitted from one generation to another, shaping individuals’ communication patterns, nonverbal cues, and perception of appropriate behaviors in different contexts. Culture can be national, regional, ethnic, or organizational, and it plays a fundamental role in shaping how individuals communicate and interpret messages. The concepts of diversity and culture are complex. Bridging cultural differences takes work and understanding because of the wide variety of perspectives. Cultural diversity can lead to misunderstandings, conflicts, and hostilities. Effective communication acts as a bridge, promoting understanding and cooperation among individuals with different backgrounds, beliefs, and values. This can be on an interpersonal level to differences between nations, organizations, and groups of people. Being able to navigate those complex issues in an individual speech, personal communication, and group exchange is the foundation of success. Just like learning about different pieces of information, learning about culture and diversity is a knowledge-acquisition process as well. Cultural intelligence is the ability to understand, appreciate, and adapt to different cultural perspectives. Improving your cultural intelligence is essential in today’s interconnected world where people from diverse backgrounds interact regularly. It helps you develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of different cultures,

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leading to better communication, empathy, and relationships. Here are some suggestions to enhance your cultural intelligence.

• Develop an open mindset―Be open to new ideas, perspectives, and ways of doing things. Avoid making assumptions or judgments based on your own cultural background. • Engage in intercultural experiences―Interact with people from different cultural backgrounds. Attend cultural events, join multicultural clubs, and participate in international exchange programs. • Learn a new language―Language is a powerful tool for understanding a culture. Learning a new language can help you communicate better with people from that culture and gain deeper insights into their way of thinking. • Be aware of your cultural biases―Reflect on your own cultural biases and prejudices. Recognizing them is the first step to overcoming them and being more culturally sensitive. • Develop empathy―Put yourself in others’ shoes and try to understand their feelings and experiences. Empathy can bridge cultural gaps and foster meaningful connections. • Avoid stereotypes―Avoid generalizing or assuming that everyone from a particular culture behaves or thinks the same way. Each individual is unique, and cultures are diverse and evolving. • Adapt your communication style―Be mindful of your communication style when interacting with people from different cultures. Use clear language, avoid slang or idioms, and be sensitive to non-verbal cues. • Travel and immerse yourself―Traveling to different countries and immersing yourself in their culture is an excellent way to broaden your cultural intelligence. Experiencing daily life and customs firsthand can be eye-opening. • Stay curious and keep learning―Cultural intelligence is a continuous learning process. Stay curious and open-minded, and continually seek opportunities to expand your knowledge and understanding of different cultures. By actively working on these suggestions, you can improve your cultural intelligence and become a more culturally competent and effective communicator. Remember, cultural intelligence is not about being an expert in every culture but rather being respectful, empathetic, and open to learning from others.

ENHANCING INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION Transferable Skill. As mentioned earlier, many of us take shortcuts to define individuals based on preconceived understandings and upheld stereotypes. Breaking

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stereotypes is a difficult process but can be attained with work and effort to accomplish those things. Actively participating in the foundations of diversity and culture helps challenge stereotypes by highlighting the uniqueness of each individual. Stereotypes are generalized assumptions about certain groups, and they can lead to misunderstanding and prejudice. Effective communication involves actively questioning and overcoming these stereotypes, allowing individuals to be seen and understood for their traits and experiences. Cultural diversity encourages the development of empathy and perspectivetaking skills. Empathy involves putting oneself in another person’s shoes, while perspective-taking is the ability to understand and appreciate someone else’s viewpoint. These qualities are vital in effective communication as they enable individuals to recognize and understand the feelings and thoughts of others, leading to more compassionate and constructive interactions.

CULTURAL SENSITIVITY Understanding the complexity of how each individual communicates is a valued skill to have. It does not come easily. We live in a world with ever-changing and expanding expectations of how we interact. Globalization and cross-cultural communication have made cultural sensitivity an essential skill in the world. Companies operate in international markets, engage in partnerships with foreign organizations, and have diverse teams comprising individuals from various cultural backgrounds. You meet individuals from different communities, backgrounds, and experiences within your classes. How do you go into a communication exchange with a more fine-tuned approach? SPEAKING OF … SKILLS Improving cultural sensitivity is an important aspect of promoting understanding and inclusivity. Here are five easy steps you can take to enhance your cultural sensitivity. •

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Educate Yourself: Take the time to learn about different cultures, traditions, customs, and histories. Read books, watch documentaries, and explore online resources to gain a better understanding of the diversity that exists in the world. This will help you recognize and appreciate the nuances of various cultures. Listen and Ask Questions: Engage in open and respectful conversations with people from different cultural backgrounds. Listen actively to their experiences and perspectives, and ask questions to deepen your understanding. Avoid making assumptions and be genuinely interested in learning about their unique beliefs and practices. Challenge Stereotypes: Be conscious of your own biases and stereotypes, and make an effort to challenge and overcome them. Recognize that individuals

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within a culture are diverse and may not conform to stereotypes. Approach each person as an individual rather than making broad generalizations. Respect Differences: Show respect for cultural differences by being openminded and non-judgmental. Be aware that what may be considered normal in one culture might be different in another. Avoid imposing your cultural norms and be sensitive to the preferences and needs of others. Participate and Engage: Attend cultural events, festivals, workshops, and gatherings within your community to gain firsthand exposure to different cultures. Engage in cross-cultural experiences to broaden your perspective and develop meaningful connections with people from diverse backgrounds.

Remember, cultural sensitivity is an ongoing journey that requires continuous selfreflection, learning, and growth. By taking these steps, you can contribute to a more inclusive society.

Cultural sensitivity is crucial in these interactions as it helps bridge cultural gaps, builds trust, and fosters successful collaborations. Understanding cultural norms and etiquette and respecting these cultural nuances are vital to establishing positive business relationships and achieving successful conversations. For instance, some cultures place greater emphasis on formal greetings and hierarchical communication, while others prefer a more casual and informal approach. It is important to take a moment when something said or done does not immediately align with your worldview. Do not jump to conclusions that a person does not like you, does not respect you, or has an issue with what you are saying. Sometimes what is said, how it is said, and the intricacies of how we communicate can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. Be ready to be reactive to those variations. Transferable Skill. Embracing diversity in the workplace brings together individuals with different perspectives, skills, and experiences. Such diversity fosters creativity, innovation, and problem-solving capabilities within organizations. Effective communication in a diverse workplace requires openness, active listening, and mutual respect for each team member’s cultural background. This is a truly valued skill. Effective cross-cultural communication helps you in today’s globalized workplace; understanding and respecting different cultures fosters effective communication, reducing misunderstandings and conflicts among diverse teams. Understanding these basic ideas can help with enhanced customer relations and enables employees to connect better with a diverse customer base, understand their needs, and provide more personalized service, ultimately benefiting the business. Cultural awareness contributes to diverse teams’ ability to generate innovative solutions and creates an inclusive workplace where employees feel valued and engaged. Learning about different cultures enhances adaptability and equips employees to navigate conflicts in a manner that respects

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diverse perspectives, promoting harmony and flexibility. Cultural knowledge is essential for expanding into new markets, complying with diversity-related regulations, and aligning business strategies with cultural nuances, ensuring a competitive edge.

OVERCOMING COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES Communication is full of barriers and obstacles you will overcome. Just as we talk about later in the language chapter, you will experience barriers based on the understanding. Trying to explain to a three-year-old “Why do people have to go to work?” is complicated because of their limited understanding of the world. Think about how complexity, abstract concepts, and things that have not been experienced would need to be understood before other things could be processed. We do not all come into the conversation with the same understanding. To further complicate the issue is how individuals speak different spoken languages, sign language, dialects, and regionally associated terms. We have so many different things that affect how we process language. Language differences can be a significant barrier to effective communication, especially in multicultural environments. We go into conversations expecting individuals to communicate and connect with the things we know and use in our communication processes. We have an unconscious bias in our communication exchanges. Unconscious biases refer to attitudes, stereotypes, or prejudices that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions unconsciously or automatically. These biases are often formed through socialization, personal experiences, and cultural influences, and they can affect how we perceive and interact with others, even when we're not consciously aware of them. Unconscious biases can lead to unintentional discrimination and unfair treatment, based on factors such as race, gender, age, appearance, or other characteristics. They can influence various aspects of our lives, including hiring decisions, interactions with colleagues, healthcare practices, educational opportunities, and more. It’s important to recognize and address unconscious biases, as they can create inequalities and hinder efforts to create inclusive and diverse environments. Education, awareness, and conscious efforts can help to challenge these biases and mitigate their negative effects, and promote fair treatment and understanding among individuals and groups. These biases may affect how we perceive and interpret messages, leading to misunderstandings and conflicts. We must reflect on how we understand and react. We need to create awareness of unconscious bias, promote diversity training, and cultivate inclusive environments to help overcome the barriers for ourselves and others. Trying to find ways to actively improve on your approach to diversity is a conscientious effort to participate in active listening and respect. Active listening is a fundamental skill in effective communication, regardless of cultural background.

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It involves fully engaging with others’ perspectives, paying attention, and seeking clarification when necessary. Respect for diversity and cultural differences is central to active listening, as it ensures that all voices are heard and valued.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING? Public speaking is a powerful tool for conveying ideas, influencing opinions, and inspiring change. In an increasingly diverse and interconnected world, speakers must address diversity and culture effectively. This chapter explores the significance of cultural competence in public speaking and provides strategies for embracing diversity while communicating with diverse audiences. By understanding and respecting different cultures, speakers can build stronger connections, foster inclusivity, and deliver impactful speeches that resonate with a broad range of individuals. Public speaking has evolved alongside societal changes, embracing the increasing diversity in audience composition. Effective speakers recognize the importance of connecting with diverse audiences and tailoring their messages to resonate with various cultural perspectives. Addressing diversity and culture in public speaking offers numerous benefits, including enhanced audience engagement, increased credibility, and broader appeal. By understanding and respecting diverse perspectives, speakers can build trust and create a positive impact on a broader range of individuals. Understanding that not every individual has the same background and expertise is incredibly important. Intersectionality and cultural competence are two terms to help us understand how we can address this need in public speaking. Intersectionality acknowledges the interconnectedness of various aspects of an individual’s identity, such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status, which can create unique experiences and challenges. Remember, at the beginning of the chapter, we explored how we are not defined by one particular grouping or category. This helps us start to process what it means to belong and identify in an extensive list of different identities. Understanding how intersectionality works is incredibly important for connecting with a diverse audience. Cultural competence involves understanding and valuing cultural differences, allowing speakers to navigate diverse contexts with sensitivity and respect. Cultural competence refers to the ability to effectively interact with individuals from different cultural backgrounds. It involves acquiring knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable speakers to engage respectfully, ethically, and empathetically with diverse audiences. This competence is vital in public speaking because it allows speakers to create inclusive environments, bridge cultural divides, and adapt their messages

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to diverse audiences. It demonstrates a speaker’s commitment to valuing and appreciating the cultural diversity of their listeners. Having empathy and understanding different perspectives in public speaking are essential elements of cultural competence. Speakers must put themselves in the shoes of their audience members to understand their perspectives and emotions, leading to more effective and meaningful communication.

SPEAKING OF ... SKILLS Understanding culture and diversity in public speaking is crucial for effective communication in today’s interconnected and multicultural world. Here are five benefits of incorporating cultural awareness into your public speaking. •

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Enhanced Connection and Relatability: Demonstrating an understanding of diverse cultures and perspectives allows you to connect more deeply with your audience. People are more likely to engage and relate to a speaker who acknowledges and respects their cultural background, values, and experiences. Increased Audience Engagement: Tailoring your message to the cultural backgrounds and sensitivities of your audience can lead to higher engagement levels. When people feel that the speaker respects and acknowledges their culture, they are more likely to pay attention, ask questions, and participate actively in the discussion. Reduced Misunderstandings and Offense: Cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings or even offense if not addressed appropriately. Being culturally aware helps you avoid unintentional insensitivity, offensive language, or gestures that could alienate or upset certain segments of your audience. Expanded Reach and Influence: A culturally sensitive approach to public speaking enables you to connect with a wider range of audiences, including those from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and regions. This expanded reach can enhance your influence and impact as a speaker. Enhanced Credibility and Trust: When you demonstrate cultural competence and inclusivity in your public speaking, you build credibility and trust among diverse audiences. They are more likely to view you as a knowledgeable, respectful, and open-minded speaker, which can lead to stronger connections and positive word-of-mouth recommendations.

Incorporating cultural understanding and diversity into your public speaking not only enriches your communication skills but also promotes a more inclusive and harmonious society by fostering mutual respect and understanding among different cultural groups.

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RECOGNIZING AND VALUING DIVERSITY IN PUBLIC SPEAKING Recognizing the value of diversity in public speaking allows speakers to tap into the collective wisdom and experiences of their audience members. Diverse perspectives enrich discussions and encourage innovative thinking. It is not an easy task to identify the diversity you are exposed to. Being able to navigate the complexity of diversity is a valued skill. Speakers should be attentive to the multifaceted nature of diversity, understanding that it extends beyond visible characteristics to encompass various beliefs, experiences, and cultural practices. Individuals who appreciate and celebrate diversity help create an inclusive atmosphere where individuals feel acknowledged, respected, and valued. Speakers can use their platform to highlight the contributions of different cultures and foster a sense of unity among diverse audiences. Attempting to create an inclusive speaking environment plays a critical role in connecting with your audience and expanding your message to a wider range of individuals. This includes using inclusive language, actively inviting diverse perspectives, and setting ground rules that promote respect and openness during discussions. Understanding intersectionality and recognizing overlapping identities helps speakers recognize that individuals may belong to multiple groups simultaneously, experiencing unique challenges that arise from the intersection of these identities. Addressing intersectionality in public speaking demonstrates a speaker’s commitment to inclusivity. Misunderstandings in cross-cultural communication can occur due to language barriers, nonverbal misinterpretations, or differing communication styles. Speakers can overcome these challenges by engaging in active listening, asking clarifying questions, and seeking feedback from the audience. Diversity and culture play a crucial role in shaping communication. Understanding and embracing these differences enhances interpersonal relationships, promotes successful business interactions, and facilitates global cooperation. By valuing and respecting diverse perspectives, we can build a more inclusive and interconnected world where effective communication fosters understanding and collaboration across cultures and communities. Cultivating cultural sensitivity is essential for individuals, organizations, and societies to harness the power of diversity and build bridges of communication that transcend borders and unite humanity.

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ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Understanding the variety of worldviews that your audience holds is a valuable skill. 2. Diversity and culture are complex but are important to help bring new perspectives to our communication exchanges. 3. Cultural competence and sensitivity allow you to actively listen to and respect the number of differences in our society. 4. Overcoming communication challenges and your unconscious biases takes time and active reflection. 5. Addressing the intersectionality of your audience member’s perspectives makes you a more engaging and understanding speaker.

Key Terms active listening culture cultural intelligence cultural sensitivity

diversity intersectionality language differences stereotypes

unconscious bias worldview

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Challenge Your Reticular Activator 1. The Reticular Activator is a bundle of nerves that helps filter between the conscious and subconscious mind. It allows what is important and of interest to the conscious mind into its awareness. 2. The Reticular Activator’s job is to keep you aware of anything out of the ordinary. 3. Find some things that you do regularly and find a way to do them differently. 4. Organize the Apps on your phone differently so you have to think before you go and find them with muscle memory. 5. Read this chapter backward by each heading and break the mold of how you “typically” read. 6. In short, find ways to make the ordinary less ordinary so you can become more aware of what you are doing and how.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE What Causes Speaking Apprehension? Factors that Influence Apprehension Suggestions for Coping with Anxiety Planning Ahead Wellbeing Not a “One Size Fits All” Approach Assessing Your Progress

DOI: 10.4324/9781003414926-3

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FIGURE 3.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

Speaking anxiety, commonly called stage fright, is based on a physiological response to the perception of danger. ​Two types of anxiety have been identified: (1) trait anxiety occurs as a general level of anxiety in any communication situation, and (2) state anxiety refers to anxiety in particular situations or settings. Several factors influence general apprehension including unrealistic goals, physical stressors, and cyclical anxiety. Among the things that can lessen anxiety are speaking as part of a team or panel, speaking to listeners who are perceived to be less qualified than you, and speaking in familiar surroundings. There are several steps that you can take before, during, and after you speak to manage your level of anxiety. New speaking contexts, such as online speaking, introduce new challenges to overcome. For example, Hongmei couldn’t believe it. She’d picked a great topic, completed her research, and developed her speech from it. Then, she’d practiced her speech for several days. She’d done everything her instructor advised, but she still felt anxious when she gave the speech. Her mouth was dry, her hands trembled, and she felt faint. She managed to get through the speech and her classmates applauded as she sat down, but she was surprised that she had felt so uncomfortable. Why did she feel so nervous?

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You might be surprised to learn that Hongmei’s experience is typical. Human beings are physiologically wired to respond to anything perceived as a threat with a burst of adrenaline that prepares us to fight or flee. It’s this “fight or flight” response that has preserved the human race through hundreds of years of dangerous situations. Your classroom may not be as dangerous as an actual threat, but your body still responds as though it were facing a danger. This explains why the fear of public speaking ranks in the top ten—like the fear of flying or even the fear of snakes. While we can’t do anything about your fears of flying or snakes, we can help you to understand the causes of speech anxiety and to develop strategies to cope with it. Like Hongmei, you may still feel some anxiety, but you can prepare for it and use it to your advantage. First, let’s examine what we know about speech anxiety or what you probably call “stage fright”. Then we’ll offer some strategies for coping with it.

WHAT CAUSES SPEAKING APPREHENSION? Many speakers experience anxiety and most learn to cope with it. Speaking anxiety is incredibly common. For many, it represents simply a fear of public speaking—also known as glossophobia. It drives some people to therapists and most of us laugh uncomfortably when comedians like Jerry Seinfeld tell us, “This means, to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” Speaking anxiety is surprisingly common among those whose words are memorable, like Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt, or whose public performances have entertained us, like Beyonce or Adele. One of the greatest speakers in the history of the English language, Winston Churchill, whose words inspired millions during the darkest days of World War II, would get physically ill before his major speeches in Parliament. Despite their fears, their words and songs are remembered. They overcame their fears to help others, leaving a legacy that endures, in some cases, well beyond their lifetimes. The “fight or flight” phenomenon is physiological. It is rooted in the body’s adrenaline response to fear and, since your body treats fear as a threat to survival, it trumps everything, even rational thought. That’s why it’s so hard to simply tell yourself not to let your fear get the better of you. Mental and physical responses to perceived threats are intertwined. When we interpret something as threatening, our body prepares to cope by releasing extra adrenaline into the bloodstream (see Figure 3.2). This adrenaline gives us the added energy to confront the danger or flee from it. The physiological process is the same whether you’re dealing with an immediate threat like a carjacking, a new experience like bungee jumping, or the potential for personal embarrassment like a karaoke solo. While these are very different scenarios, your physical response is similar. Extra adrenaline enters your bloodstream and your body is energized: your muscles twitch in anticipation of flight, your breathing becomes more rapid to prepare for physical exertion, and

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FIGURE 3.2 THE CHEMISTRY OF ANXIETY When a threat is perceived by the brain, the adrenal glands release the hormone adrenaline. This hormone prepares the body to fight or flee by increasing heart rate, breathing rate, and muscle tension. For a public speaker, this physical tension is often interpreted as stage fright. Sometimes, more adrenaline is released.

Adrenaline stimulates a physical response

Perception of threat

Adrenal glands release adrenaline

the heightened physical tension generates extra perspiration. Our interpretation of these physical symptoms can vary wildly. We might translate our physical reaction as cold fear, anticipation, exhilaration, or a wide variety of other feelings. You can cope with the anxiety that accompanies public speaking by understanding the physiological process that pumps extra adrenaline into your system during the speaking process. So, it’s a mistake to think you’ve “conquered” your fear. It’s something like breaking a habit. You overcome it each time you speak, but it’s always there, lurking in the background because you can’t simply delete those neural pathways. In time, you can weaken their power to trigger your body’s fight-or-flight response by learning to control your physical responses and redirect your anxiety into positive performance energy, but you should expect to feel anxious occasionally even when you become a seasoned speaker.

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FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE APPREHENSION Some factors generally predict speaking apprehension. Keep in mind that these factors broadly apply to large groups of people, so you shouldn’t use them to predict your level of apprehension. To estimate your level of communication apprehension, go online to take the Perceived Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA). For some people, any communication situation can generate high levels of anxiety. Their anxiety is associated with a general state of high arousal that is a persistent part of their personality. This is trait anxiety. However, for most of us, anxiety is triggered by specific situations such as public speaking. This kind of state anxiety is limited to these situations. Physical stressors can also influence the extent and manifestation of anxiety. Lack of sleep, general anxiety from other causes in your life, the effects of some medications: all of these can affect the amount of anxiety you experience. This explains why you might report different amounts of anxiety at different times in your life. Cramming for final exams, staying up all night with a new baby, anticipating a negative IRS audit, grieving for a loss: all of these situations take a physical toll on us. Sometimes, you can avoid these stressors but occasionally, you cannot. Try to get plenty of sleep. If you can’t control such stressful events in your life, expect that your experience of anxiety might be higher. Be prepared for it. Develop coping strategies to help. In addition to the changing levels of anxiety in our daily lives, people record fluctuating levels of anxiety during a single speaking performance. As new bursts of adrenaline are released into your bloodstream, you may feel renewed anxiety followed by periods of greater calm as your body regains composure. Often, when you first approach the podium and deliver your opening remarks, you’ll experience greater anxiety. Once you realize that you’re doing well, you’ll begin to regain your sense of wellbeing. At one or more times during your speech, you may experience renewed anxiety: for example, if your notecards are out of order, if you drop your visual aid, or if the nonverbal response of an audience member seems disapproving. As you recover from each setback, your confidence will return. We also know from research that several situations can lessen overall speaking anxiety. For example, if you are part of a team or panel of speakers, your anxiety is often reduced. The support of others who will speak with you helps individual speakers who are part of the team. Speaking in familiar surroundings to people you know well will also encourage you to relax. If you check out the room in which you’ll be speaking or practice delivering your speech there, you’ll also probably reduce your uncertainty levels. This will help you cope with your anxiety. You may find that other factors help you to control your level of anxiety. If your hair or clothing looks particularly attractive, you may feel more confident as

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you speak. It has been demonstrated that using a visual aid directs attention away from you and this reduction of eye contact helps you to relax. As you analyze your physiological reaction to public speaking, you’ll discover what helps you to cope with anxiety. Next, we’ll provide some suggestions that work well for most speakers.

SUGGESTIONS FOR COPING WITH ANXIETY As you prepare for your speech, you can reduce your anxiety by practicing a few steps before you speak, during your speech, and after you speak. Before you begin your speech, consider these steps to help you control your anxiety.

• Most importantly, develop realistic expectations. You’re probably not going to be a world-class orator in your first speech. That’s okay. You’ll get better with practice. Give yourself time to develop as a speaker. • Visualize the room, your audience, and yourself delivering the speech. You might even visualize moments when you forget your wording or stumble over something. It happens to everyone and it may happen to you, so if you practice recovering from this situation, it will go much more smoothly when it happens. • As you practice, keep going, even if your words are different in each practice session. Continuing through to the end will train you to finish. If you stop and restart, you’re training yourself to do that during a speech. In reality, speakers don’t restart even if their wording isn’t perfect. So, learn to expect some imperfect phrasing, an unexpected pause as you gather your thoughts or a few “ahs”. You’ll sound more spontaneous and natural than if your speech is memorized verbatim. And practice your speech until you’re bored with it. That way you’ll know you’re ready for anything. • Spend extra time rehearsing your introduction. The first seconds of a speech are often the most unnerving for speakers. If you are confident at the beginning of your speech, you’ll begin to relax more quickly. As you become a more experienced speaker, you might have several different options for beginning your speech and choosing the one that is most appropriate for the situation. • Don’t forget the conclusion of your speech. Instead of trailing off, rehearse your conclusion so you leave your listeners with a positive impression. • A few minutes before your speech, redirect some of your nervous energy. If you’re waiting in a hallway, you can walk around, and if you’re seated, there are several exercises you can do that are usually unobtrusive. First, you can focus on your breathing. Do this easy exercise: breathe in

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and count to five, then exhale while counting to five. Repeat this breathing process at least ten times. It will help you to control the physical responses to adrenaline release and it will give you the oxygen you need to speak. Surprisingly, many people caught in unexpected situations forget to breathe. This adds to their physical stress. If you’re seated at a desk or table, you can press the palms of your hands against the desk or table edge in front of you. If you don’t have a desk, then clasp your hands and press them together. Press firmly for 30 seconds, then release. Repeat this motion until you’re called to speak. Each of these actions redirects some of your energy into physical action. Pressing the edge of a hard object or pressing your hands together may also help tighten the diaphragm muscles that help you breathe. Be yourself in your speech preparation to help minimize speech anxiety. Many of us have dealt with a variety of different things in the past that made us think public speaking was supposed to be done a “certain way”. Here are some things to reconsider how you learned about public speaking.

• Dress: For some reason, public speaking teaching has often put an emphasis on formal expectations of how we dress for a presentation. Traditional clothing expectations often favor certain gender norms and cultural backgrounds. By reevaluating these expectations, you can create a more comfortable environment. Dress for what fits the occasion, fits your personal comfort level, and ultimately helps you. We all have expectations of what might be right. But for your speaking anxiety wear what you need to wear to be your best. • Right Way to Speak: There isn’t one way. The only right way is your right way. There are an endless number of ways to give a speech and you should not strive for one particular way. Prepare with what you are comfortable with. • Negative Feedback: Receiving harsh criticism or negative feedback on a previous speech or presentation can create a fear of judgment and increase anxiety about future speaking engagements. Think about how many individuals in the world can possibly give you feedback. There will be those who struggle to give good feedback, use the wrong words, or overemphasize a particular element. Be mindful that giving feedback is a difficult process and most will be very receptive to what you have to say. • Public Speaking Failures: Past experiences of stumbling over words, forgetting what to say, or experiencing technical difficulties during a speech can lead to heightened anxiety in future speaking situations. All of these allow you to be seen as human. Having some inconsistencies and some elements of the speech that show imperfection allows the audience to connect with you. It is ok to be imperfect in a speech. Audiences expect that.

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• Comparisons to Others:

Constantly comparing yourself to skilled or charismatic speakers and feeling inadequate in comparison can increase speech anxiety. You are the only one to compare against. Find ways to take what others do well and incorporate it into your own speaking style.

During your speech, you can also work to control your excess energy.

• Write “BREATHE DEEPLY” on your notecards. This reminds you to continue to take in enough oxygen to relax your body. Use specific physical directions on your notecards, rather than generic reminders to relax. • Monitor your negative thoughts. Many speakers don’t give themselves enough positive reinforcement. So, instead of thinking “That wasn’t how I rehearsed it”, think “I’m doing fine”. Your listeners don’t know how you planned your speech, so they can’t compare. As far as they’re concerned, your speech is exactly how you’d planned to deliver it. And listeners can’t know that there are butterflies in your stomach or you’re feeling lightheaded. Most listeners judge speakers as less anxious than the speakers rate themselves because listeners can’t perceive the speaker’s internal feelings. Your listeners probably won’t even guess that you’re nervous. • Don’t second guess your listeners. If one person looks distracted or pained, it likely has nothing to do with your speech. Don’t automatically assume that you can tell what they’re thinking or that you’ve caused their response. They may not be feeling well or they may have just realized that they left their car unlocked. You don’t know what someone is thinking, so don’t guess. • Think about talking to individuals. It’s great if you have friends in the audience; you can talk to them. But even if you don’t know anyone, pick out a few audience members to address. It works best if you find someone in front, someone in the middle, and someone in the back of the group. Make sure that you don’t leave out those people on the edges of the audience. Some speakers pick out individuals in a zig-zag or X pattern and speak to these people. It gives you a focus, develops the feeling of a conversation, and varies your eye contact across the audience. It’s much better than the old advice to imagine listeners naked, which doesn’t help at all. Following your speech, you should assess your performance and establish goals for your next speech. This is especially important because your perception of your speaking performance will affect the next time you speak.

• Give yourself credit for coping with your anxiety practically. You made it through your speech and probably learned a few things about how your body reacts under stress. You’ll be much better able to predict what will happen the next time you speak.

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• Assess your performance realistically. Few speeches are perfect. Take time to notice the things that you did well. Your instructor and classmates can help you do this. Remember that they’re rooting for you. They want you to succeed. • Write down a minimum of five specific things that you did well. This exercise will help you find genuinely positive things instead of letting your brain focus on all of the negatives. Many of us tend to be our own worst critics. Practice positive reinforcement. As a group, your class can practice this process by identifying all of the positive things about your speech. • Target one or two things that you can improve. Becoming a polished speaker is a gradual process, so don’t expect to do everything perfectly. Give yourself a break and focus on a few things to improve in every speaking situation. By doing this, you’ll make your expectations more realistic and, in turn, reduce your performance anxiety. • Think of anxiety as an advantage rather than a barrier to good speaking. As you become a more experienced speaker, you’ll probably discover that your anxiety can be managed. Most speakers expect an extra burst of adrenaline just before they approach the podium. The result is extra energy that adds enthusiasm to the speech. Transferable Skill. Acknowledging that speech anxiety is something you are dealing with is ok. People will be receptive to working with someone who can admit they have something to work on. Rather than it being a deficit, it is an opportunity to improve.

PLANNING AHEAD Your public speaking classroom is a perfect place to learn how to control your speech apprehension. You will likely find that you will become more comfortable talking to your classmates and more competent as a speaker. There are general things to remember about anxiety when you speak in contexts outside your classroom. Many other kinds of performance also induce anxiety. Very different contexts can generate responses similar to the experience of public speakers. Athletes, for example, often experience anxiety as they prepare for competition. Many Olympic athletes train their minds for the pressure of the performance through visualization exercises as thoroughly as they train physically for their sport. Musicians must also find ways to cope with being on stage and actors must condition themselves to perform in front of a camera so that distractions don’t interfere with their performances. Television personalities like comedians and talk show hosts must learn to channel their nerves into useful energy. Undoubtedly, in the future, you’ll find yourself in a performance situation like this.

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As more and more of the content of our daily lives moves online, we need to adjust to online performance. Consider how technology changes the relationship of speaker to listener. Some anxiety may be lessened if you cannot see your immediate audience such as in an online class or a podcast. But if there is a transmission delay as sometimes occurs with software programs like Zoom, you may feel temporary twinges of uncertainty. In many cases, it’s difficult to ascertain immediate audience responses. The artificial nature of the screen blocks out or mutes some kinds of feedback so that we may have less information for our response. Some technology requires a great deal of practice to coordinate such as presenting a demonstration online with visual aids like posters or YouTube clips. While your public speaking experiences in the classroom have provided you with valuable skills in creating effective messages, you’ll need to adapt these lessons to new contexts. Our world is constantly changing and, as effective speakers, we must adapt to those changes.

WELLBEING Before you even learn about public speaking or try to give a speech, it is helpful to be in a good mindset. Anxiety is a part of life. For some, it is worse than for others. When reading this chapter think about yourself and think about others. You may not be in the same situation as others. How do you take care of yourself? How do you get in a consistent positive mindset? Who can you go to when you need help? Anxiety is a common issue but it is important to note that it comes in a variety of forms. Some experience mild anxiety when faced with a stressful situation. Some have diagnosed anxiety disorders, with 1 in 3 adults having a disorder at some point in their life according to the National Institute of Mental Health. How each individual faces anxiety is different. Different tactics to help minimize the effects of anxiety have different effects. Anxiety is different. An instructor who teaches public speaking always begins their class with a story about how they do not face public speaking anxiety anymore. They have always felt comfortable with being in front of a group of people with a microphone and a stage. However, they can connect with the feeling of anxiety. They share the story about how they are anxious about going to the local supermarket. They worry about the lack of rules to the road for the carts in the aisles, feeling like they are being judged for the purchase they are making, worrying that they stand in front of a particular product for too long, the awkward exchange with the cashier, that they buy the wrong product, and many other social anxieties. This instructor then tells their students that one time they sat in their car for nearly ten minutes and eventually drove away without going in. It is a real occurrence that invades a large portion of our daily activities.

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Going to the supermaket is something this instructor can do. They have done it in the past but for one day it became overwhelming. This might be something that happens randomly or with a particular catalyst. Be prepared with techniques and strategies to navigate these difficult situations.

NOT A “ONE SIZE FITS ALL” APPROACH One final thought about speech anxiety is that it is incredibly complicated. 1. Take inventory of how you have worked in the past. 2. Experiment with new methods to minimize (not eliminate) the effects of speech anxiety. 3. Find a personalized approach for you. 4. Don’t be frustrated that it is not an overnight solution. Exploring speech anxiety is difficult. Even this chapter is just an overview of some ideas. Be kind to yourself as you evaluate your needs and approach to working with speech anxiety. Keep trying and you will be able to build skills to work with speech anxiety.

ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Speaking anxiety, commonly called stage fright, is based on a physiological response to the perception of danger. 2. Two types of anxiety have been identified: (1) trait anxiety occurs as a general level of anxiety in any communication situation; and (2) state anxiety refers to anxiety in particular situations or settings. 3. Several factors influence general apprehension including unrealistic goals, physical stressors, and cyclical anxiety. 4. There are a number of steps that you can take before, during, and after you speak to manage your level of anxiety. Find what works for you! 5. New speaking contexts, such as online speaking, introduce new challenges to overcome.

Key Terms glossophobia stage fright

state anxiety trait anxiety

wellbeing

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Stop To Listen 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

A few times a day make an intentional effort to stop and listen. What do you hear? How do you make sense of it? What will you remember from that? Overall, think about what is happening when you listen. We often don’t take the time to think about the process of listening and this helps ground us.

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Understanding

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CHAPTER OUTLINE Hearing and Listening Barriers to Good Listening Practical Listening Techniques Developing Skills for Critical Listening Assessing Your Progress

DOI: 10.4324/9781003414926-4

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FIGURE 4.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

This chapter covers more than just the process of listening. It asks you to think about how you go about understanding. ​ In your daily life, you spend more time listening than you do reading, writing, or speaking. You might assume that you’re a good listener from all of that practice, but you would be surprised to discover how easy it is to miss something important. The fact is, you’ve probably never had any training in listening, especially for situations such as class lectures, meetings, Zoom calls, and a variety of situations in which you’re expected to acquire detailed knowledge primarily through listening. Conversations, classroom lectures, group meetings, and electronic media expose you to an amazing amount of information every day. If you are to make the best use of all of that information, you must hone your listening skills. Both the speaker and listener are active partners in the communication process. As a speaker, you reach out to your audience, and as a listener, you respond. Listening is a crucial part of the communication process. After a more detailed introduction to the process of listening, this chapter will focus on practical listening techniques that you can use in almost any situation. We’ll finish by suggesting how you can put new listening skills to work in your daily life.

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Table 4.1 THREE CONSIDERATIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION Have an objective for every communication exchange

Review what was said

Minimize distractions

1. What is my goal for this communication exchange? 2. How will I check my understanding? 3. What does the speaker want me to know? 4. Why am I listening to this? 5. What is the value for me? 1. What have I learned? 2. How will I use this? 3. Who told me this? 4. Can I verify this with someone or something else? 5. How can I say it in my own words? 1. What are my main distractions? 2. How will I minimize distractions? 3. How can I dedicate listening to the subject and individual communicating? 4. How can I organize thoughts while listening? 5. How can I show the speaker that I am fully invested in their ideas?

Whether we want to admit it or not, we have become extremely passive consumers of information. How many times have you been scrolling through your phone and not realizing that you have been doing it for 30 minutes and can remember very little of what you heard and saw? We have gone up to someone at an event and introduced ourselves. We came back to talk with them and already forgot their name. You had one job! We have been listening to a speech and then everyone starts clapping around us, so we feel obligated to clap but we have no idea what was said. Listening is hard. Transferable Skill. We need to start thinking about how we go about understanding. Table 4.1 gives a brief overview of the three steps to consider and some questions to ask yourself to accomplish this before you go into the communication exchange. We will talk about the RRA process later to help emphasize this process. Critically examining information and understanding that information is difficult. We must take time and effort to make sure we do it appropriately.

HEARING AND LISTENING Hearing is the first step in the listening process. To listen to a message, you first must hear it. Hearing is the physiological process of receiving sound waves. Sound waves travel through the air and set up vibrations on the eardrum; in turn, these vibrations are transmitted to the brain through a system of nerves. Hearing is affected by the laws of physics and the neurophysiology of the body. Any number

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of factors can interfere with hearing: distracting noises, sounds that are too soft, or hearing loss. Some of these conditions can be improved. The speaker can change speaking volume, and audience members can move to better seats to facilitate hearing. Your message must be heard so that your listeners can provide feedback. Listening, on the other hand, involves thinking. It is the second step in the listening process. It begins after the nerve impulses that originated as sound waves have been received in the brain. This process of interpretation—assigning meaning to neural impulses and evaluating them—constitutes listening. Listening is the thinking process that creates meaning from sound. Think about the first time you heard a foreign language. You could hear the words but didn’t understand their meaning. You couldn’t make sense of what you heard. That’s the difference between hearing and listening. When you understand the meaning of sounds, you are listening.

BARRIERS TO GOOD LISTENING Listening is easy to define but hard to practice. Over the years, you’ve probably developed some habits that prevent good listening. You’ll have to recognize and remove them to become a better listener. At one time or another, most of us experience these five barriers to good listening: 1 Passive listening. Many of us are just plain lazy listeners, tuning in and out as our attention dictates. As a result, we often miss important facts and ideas. 2 Drifting thoughts. You can comprehend many more words per minute than someone can utter. You probably can process about 400 words per minute, while most speakers produce only about 125 to 175 words per minute. As a result, you may fill the time lag with other thoughts. Your internal perceptual field is the world of your thoughts. While someone is speaking, you may be remembering a television show you saw last night, planning the menu for supper, or thinking about a topic for your next term paper. These drifting thoughts interfere with good listening. 3 Physical distractions. Sometimes your attention is diverted by elements outside your own thoughts. Your external perceptual field is those things in your physical environment that can distract you, such as the buzz of overhead lights, the sun’s glare off your teacher’s glasses, or an ambulance siren outside. If your attention is sidetracked by physical interference, you will hear and process only part of a spoken message. 4 Trigger words. We often bring our emotions into the speech setting. Memories of past events or strong feelings can be triggered by a word or a reference. Many people spend time mentally debating with speakers and remain stuck on one idea while the speaker moves ahead to others. These

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can be powerful such as stirring up a memory of something traumatic. Or as simple as reminding you of something you had forgotten, like you forgetting to schedule your doctor’s appointment. 5 Self-fulfilling prophecies. Preset ideas can prevent good listening. If you’ve heard that Professor Rogers is a dull lecturer, you probably enter the class expecting to be bored. Sometimes previous encounters with a speaker can color your expectations. Like most people, you may experience these barriers to good listening. It is important to become a better participant in the communication transaction by practicing good listening habits. Following are some suggestions to help you develop your listening skills.

PRACTICAL LISTENING TECHNIQUES Hearing is a natural physiological process for most people, but listening is another matter. You’ve got to work hard to listen well. The good news, though, is that you can train yourself to listen better. You can begin to practice better listening habits in your public speaking class in three ways: (1) determine your purposes for listening, (2) develop techniques that help you comprehend messages, and (3) design questions that help you evaluate speeches. It is also important to understand that not every individual can participate in the physical process of listening. However, understanding can be accomplished if we realize that helping distribute information in a variety of ways such as being aware of those with issues hearing, seeing, and processing information might need variations. This is just a good practice to begin considering to be as inclusive as possible.

Know Your Purposes To be a good listener, you must figure out why you’re listening. This is not as obvious as it seems, because if you think about it, you engage in many different kinds of listening. On any given day, you may listen intently to your instructors to learn new concepts, you may listen to your favorite music to relax, and you may listen attentively to a car salesperson outline the essential features of the dealer’s guarantee. There are five widely accepted types of listening: (1) appreciative, (2) discriminative, (3) empathic, (4) comprehension, and (5) critical. 1. Appreciative listening focuses on something other than the verbal content of the primary message. Some listeners enjoy seeing a famous speaker. Others relish a good speech, a classic movie, or a brilliant performance. On these occasions, you listen primarily to entertain yourself. You listen for enjoyment.

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2. Discriminative listening requires listeners to conclude the way a message is presented rather than from the message itself. In discriminative listening, people seek to understand the meaning behind the message. You’re interested in what the speaker thinks, believes, or feels. You’re engaging in discriminative listening when you conclude how angry your parents are with you, based not on what they say but on how they say it. 3. Empathic or therapeutic listening is intended to provide emotional support for the speaker. Although it is more typical of interpersonal than public communication, empathic listening does occur in public speaking situations. For example, when you hear an athlete apologize for unprofessional behavior or a classmate reveal a personal problem to illustrate a speech, you’re engaging in empathic or therapeutic listening. As a responsive audience member in your public speaking class, you are supporting other classmates when they speak. 4. Listening for comprehension occurs when you want to gain additional information or insights from the speaker. You are probably most familiar with this form of listening because you’ve relied heavily on it for your education. When you listen to a podcast, a classroom lecture on the principal strategies in an advertising campaign, or an elections official explaining new registration procedures, you’re listening to understand: to comprehend information, ideas, and processes. 5. Critical listening is the most difficult kind of listening because it requires that you interpret and evaluate the message. It demands that you go beyond understanding the message to interpreting it and evaluating its strengths and weaknesses. As a careful consumer, you’ll also use critical listening to evaluate television commercials, political campaign promises, advice from talk show guests, or arguments offered by salespeople. When you are listening critically, you decide whether to accept or reject ideas and whether to act on the message. You may have many different purposes for listening, and that’s why the first question you should ask yourself is “What’s my purpose in listening?” Do you expect to gain information and insight to make a decision? Or are you listening to enjoy yourself, to understand the feelings of another human being, to assess someone’s state of mind, or to test ideas? Knowing why you’re listening will help you listen more efficiently and effectively. In the rest of this chapter, we’ll focus on listening for comprehension and critical listening, because those are the kinds of listening you use primarily in a public speaking situation.

Understanding Understanding is difficult to do. Fully comprehending what’s being said requires that you understand the three essential aspects of speech content: (1) ideas, (2)

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structure, and (3) supporting materials. You’ve got to understand what ideas you’re being asked to accept, how these ideas are related to each other, and what facts and opinions underlie them. Asking three questions will help you comprehend a message. 1. What are the main ideas of the speech? Determine the central idea of the speech, and look for the statements that help develop it. These main ideas should serve as the foundation on which the speaker builds the speech. The next time you watch a social media ad for a new product, think about a few things. Are you encouraged to do it because of its appeal, the influencer’s reputation, or the popularity? Before you decide to buy a new brand, you ought to know something about its characteristics. Now transfer this listening behavior to a speech. Always know what ideas you’re being sold. 2. How are the main ideas arranged? Once you’ve identified the main ideas, you should figure out the relationships among them. In other words, identify the structure of the ideas and then examine it. If a speaker is explaining immigration policy, which ideas are highlighted? Does the explanation seem reasonable? Whose perspective is included? What point of view is left out? Does the speaker express a preference for one point of view over another? 3. What kinds of materials support the main ideas? Consider the timeliness, quality, and content of the supporting materials. Are facts and opinions derived from sources too old to be relevant to current problems? Is the speaker quoting recognized authorities on the subject? Ask yourself whether the materials clarify, amplify, and strengthen the main ideas of the speech. SPEAKING OF … SKILLS One of the easiest ways to practice your listening skills is to work on note-taking. As you become a better note-taker, you’ll also become a better listener. Here are some tips for improving your note-taking skills. •

•

Get organized. Develop a note-taking system, such as a loose-leaf notebook or word-processing document on your laptop, so that you can add, rearrange, or remove notes. Use separate notebooks or word-processing documents for different subjects to avoid confusion. Some research shows that handwritten notes help you retain information better than typing because it creates stronger neural connections in your brain. Review your notes regularly. This will prepare you to ask questions while the lecture or readings are still fresh in your mind, and it will help keep you oriented to the class. Research shows that students who review their notes regularly earn higher grades.

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•

•

•

•

Leave a two- to three-inch blank margin when taking notes. Later, you can add facts, clarification, reactions, and other alterations after comparing your notes with other students or after doing related reading. Such critical commentary is an important stage in merging the material in the notes with your own thoughts. Write more. Making a conscious effort to record more ideas and more words from a speech or lecture will help you remember the important ideas, structure, and supporting evidence. Research shows that most students don’t take enough notes. The problem is compounded with long messages; students take even fewer notes. Develop a note-taking scheme. Consider using abbreviations, such as the ampersand (&) for “and,” btwn and w/o for “between” and “without,” or specialized notations like mgt and acctg for “management” and “accounting.” Colorcode your notes or use highlighting to remind yourself of the key ideas. Pay attention to nonverbal cues. If your instructor writes something on the chalkboard, copy it. If your instructor seems especially enthusiastic about an idea, make a note of it.

By taking these steps, you can become an active listener who is engaged in two-way communication. Source: Kenneth A. Kiewra, “Note Taking and Review: The Research and Its Implications,” Instructional Science, 16 (1987): 233–249.

RRA Technique In other words, to comprehend the content, make sure you know what ideas, relationships, and evidence you’re being asked to accept. To be an active listener, you should constantly employ the RRA technique: review, relate, and anticipate. Review what the speaker has said in your own words. Mentally summarize key ideas each time the speaker initiates a new topic for consideration. Relate the message to what you already know. Consider how you could use the information in the future. Anticipate what the speaker might say next. Use this anticipation to focus on the content of the message. By reviewing, relating, and anticipating, you can keep your attention centered on the message. Using the RRA technique keeps you actively engaged in the listening process. There are lots of opportunities to use the RRA technique; begin by practicing it as you listen to your instructors and classmates.

Critical Listening and Thinking Critical thinking is key to listening well. Critical thinking is the process of consciously examining the content and logic of messages to determine their credibility and rationality. Critical thinkers scrutinize ideas before they accept them.

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They assess the quality of ideas, judging their merits and faults. Critical thinking is an important feature of the communication process and is vital to good listening. Once you’ve figured out why you’re listening, how the ideas are arranged, and what supporting materials are being presented, you’re in a position to think critically. After all, you are the one who must decide whether the speaker’s ideas are worth accepting. The following questions about the situation, the speaker, and the message will help you listen critically.

• How is the situation affecting my reception of this speech? What is the reason for the speech? Is the speaker expected to deal with particular themes or subjects? How does this speech occasion affect my judgment? Speeches in classes, basketball arenas, and rotary clubs are very different from one another, and you must adjust your evaluation criteria to each situation. • How is the physical/emotional environment affecting the speaker and my listening? Is the room too hot or too cold? Too big or claustrophobic? What other distractions exist? The physical environment can have an important impact on your listening. In uncomfortable environments, you might have to compensate by leaning forward, moving up, or concentrating more closely. • What do I know about the speaker? The reputation of this person may influence you, so think about it. Are you being unduly deferential or hypercritical of the speaker just because of his or her reputation? Do you think the speaker will be fair and honest because he or she represents your interests or is similar to you? Don’t let your assumptions about the speaker get in the way of critical listening. • How believable is the speaker? Are there things about the speaker’s actions, demeanor, and words that seem either pleasing or suspicious? Does the speaker use adequate and compelling supporting material to reinforce the message? Try to figure out why you’re reacting positively or negatively, and then ask yourself whether it’s reasonable for you to believe this speaker. • Is the speaker adequately prepared? Imprecise remarks, repetitions, vague or missing numbers, and lack of solid evidence may be signs of a poorly prepared speaker. For example, a speaker who talks about global warming should discuss, among other things, international agreements to curb fossil fuel emissions. If the speaker doesn’t discuss this, you’ll know that he or she hasn’t gotten very far into the topic. Similarly, if the speaker can’t clearly explain the causes and effects of global warming, you should question the reliability of other information in the speech. • What’s the speaker’s attitude toward the audience? How is the audience being treated: cordially or condescendingly, as individuals or as a

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general group, as inferiors or as equals? Answering these questions will help you not only to assess your experience but also to form some questions for the speaker after the speech. • How credible are the ideas being presented? You must assess a speaker’s ideas critically, a point we’ve been stressing throughout this chapter. Just one warning: you could be mistaken yourself, so don’t automatically dismiss new ideas. Listen more carefully to ideas that are new and different or that seem strange. Make sure that you understand them and that they’re well supported with credible evidence. • Are the ideas well structured? Are important concepts missing? For example, anyone who talks about the branches of the federal government but then ignores the Supreme Court has an incomplete set of ideas. Are logical links apparent? The comparisons must be fair, the cause-and-effect links clear and logical, and the proposals for correcting social wrongs practical. Structural relationships between ideas give them coherence. • Is sufficient evidence offered? The world is filled with faulty reasoning and flawed evidence. Bad reasoning and a refusal to test the available evidence can lead to mistaken conclusions. Listen for evidence, and write down the key parts of that evidence so you can consider if it’s good enough to use as a basis for changing your mind. Be demanding; adopt a “show me” attitude. Insist on adequate evidence and logical reasons when a speaker asks you to make crucial decisions. You might not ask all of these questions every time you hear a speech, because your listening purposes vary considerably from occasion to occasion. However, you will want to ask most of these critical listening questions before you make important decisions, such as whom to vote for, and whether to take the job offer or make a major purchase. You can begin to practice critical listening in your classes right away. SPEAKING OF … SKILLS

Using Artificial Intelligence Ethically to Help with Listening Skills Using artificial intelligence programs to improve your listening skills can be a helpful and engaging way to enhance your ability to understand spoken language. Here are some steps you can take to achieve this. Activate the “Text-to-Speech” (TTS) Feature via your internet browser, computer, or AI platform. This will allow you to convert text-based responses into spoken words. You can then listen to the responses instead of just reading them.

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Engage in Conversations with ChatGPT or Bard on various topics. You can ask questions, seek advice, or discuss subjects of interest. The goal is to have a backand-forth exchange with the model. Focus on Active Listening. Practice active listening by paying full attention to what the program is saying. Try to formulate understanding of what is being said, and avoid formulating your response while it’s speaking. This will help you concentrate on comprehending the content. Adjust the Speaking Speed. Some TTS systems allow you to adjust the speaking speed. Start at a slower pace, especially if you’re new to this exercise, and gradually increase the speed as you become more comfortable. Repeat and Recap. After the TTS responds to your input, try to repeat or summarize what it said in your own words. This reinforces your understanding and retention of the information. Transcribe and Analyze. Transcribe the spoken responses, if possible. You can do this manually or use speech recognition software. Analyze the transcriptions for any parts you had difficulty understanding and work on those areas. Remember that improving listening skills takes time and patience. Be consistent in your practice, and over time, you should see significant improvements in your ability to understand spoken language. Interacting with an artificial intelligence program or text-to-speech mechanism is an opportunity to practice listening skills. It will not replicate listening to a human being speaking. But it will help with some skills and also help you appreciate the true speaking process.

DEVELOPING SKILLS FOR CRITICAL LISTENING Your speech classroom is set up to teach skills that you can use for the rest of your life. Listening is one of the skills you’ll need to survive in your career, your community, and your social life. Transferable Skill. You’ll have to listen to understand your employer’s explanation of a new accounting system, make reasonable decisions between two political candidates who offer different views of health care reform, and follow a neighbor’s instructions as she tells you how to rewire a light fixture. The ability to listen can help you make money, be a good citizen, and keep you from frying your fingers on a 110-volt circuit! Your classes are excellent settings for practicing new listening skills and refining old ones. Review your purposes for listening, and practice the RRA technique as you listen to your instructors and classmates. We also suggest that you improve your listening in the following ways:

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• Practice critiquing the speeches of your classmates. You can begin to practice good listening habits immediately. Refine your note-taking techniques. Ask questions of class speakers. Take part in post-speech discussions. • Listen critically in your other classes. You’re surrounded by public communication worth analyzing when you’re learning. You can easily spot effective and ineffective speech techniques in your classes. • Listen critically to speakers outside of class. Attend public lectures, city council meetings, rallies, or political caucuses. You’ll be amazed by the range of talent, techniques, and styles exhibited in your community. • Examine the supporting materials, arguments, and language used in newspapers and magazines. Refine your critical listening skills by practicing critical reading. Together, they represent applications of the skills of critical thinking you need to survive in this world. You will become a vital participant in the communication process when you actively listen to and read others’ messages.

ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Both the speaker and the listener are critical participants in the communication transaction. 2. Hearing is a physiological process; listening is a psychological process by which people seek to comprehend and evaluate sounds. 3. There are five purposes for listening: appreciative listening, discriminative listening, empathic or therapeutic listening, listening for comprehension, and critical listening. 4. To improve your listening skills, sort out the essential aspects of speech content: ideas, structure, and supporting materials. 5. The RRA technique—review, relate, and anticipate—can help you listen more efficiently. To improve your speech evaluation skills, practice assessing the situation, the speaker, and the message.

Key Terms appreciative listening critical listening

empathic or therapeutic listening

internal perceptual field listening

critical thinking discriminative listening

external perceptual field hearing

listening for comprehension RRA technique

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Practice Pre-Care 1. What can you do today to prepare for what’s ahead? 2. Carve out time for alone time or time to spend doing something you want. Make sure to schedule it on your calendar. 3. Try to reduce and avoid activities that do not seem delightful to you. But, have ways to cope with those which are not enjoyable when you have to do them. 4. Prepare for the effects of a long day of travel, a busy week, or a stressful experience with exactly what you will do when you return home to take care of yourself.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE Analyzing Your Audience Before a Speech Analyzing Your Audience Psychologically Assessing Your Progress

DOI: 10.4324/9781003414926-5

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FIGURE 5.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

A brief disclaimer about audience analysis. ​Often, it can be seen as stereotyping and categorizing people based on a limited group. The goal of this chapter is to view the complex makeup of each individual and audience member. Every person’s lived experience, knowledge, and various aspects of life make them unique and unlike anyone else. Just because you have lots of similarities with your neighbor, doesn’t mean you have the same views and ideas. Be mindful of how using the particular elements of each individual potentially contributes to how they see the world, your ideas, and your speech. Tailoring speeches to audiences involves managing both content and relationships. The primary goal of audience analysis is to discover your listeners’ demographic and psychological characteristics that are relevant to your speech purposes and ideas. Demographic analysis is the study of audience characteristics, such as age, gender, education, group membership, and cultural and ethnic background. Psychological profiling seeks to identify the beliefs, attitudes, and values of audience members that are relevant to your relationships with them and to your subject matter. Beliefs are convictions about what is true or false. Attitudes are tendencies to respond positively or negatively to people, objects, or ideas. Values are basic concepts that organize one’s orientation to life. The better you understand aspects of listeners’ identities relevant to your goals, specific

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purposes, appeals, and credibility, the more relevant audience analysis will be to your success as a speaker. Every time a salesperson plans to call on a client, a lawyer prepares to address a jury, a teacher organizes a lecture, and you get ready to give a speech, social identities come into play. Successful salespeople, lawyers, teachers, and speakers know that effective public speaking, of course, is about informing, entertaining, or persuading listeners. But because public speaking, as we noted earlier, is an interactive process, it is about more than passing on materials orally to others. You as a speaker assume a set of social roles, and so do listeners. You improve your chances of getting the desired response by tailoring your communication to your listeners—whether a client, a jury, or your classmates. Tailoring speeches to audiences involves managing both content and relationships. So, you must begin with audience analysis. The core of audience analysis focuses on aspects of social identities and the process of identification. An identity is the set of meanings that define who one is when one is an occupant of a particular role in society, a member of a particular group, or one claims particular characteristics to identify as a unique person. (These often take on different meanings for different people.) Understanding human identity is the first step toward realizing who is listening to us when we speak. Because of the richness and diversity of the world population, you can’t assume that everyone thinks and acts exactly as you do. Think about your listeners as you select your speech topic, establish your purpose, and narrow your subject. Each of the remaining steps in speech preparation— selecting supporting materials, arranging the sequence of ideas, and developing introductions and conclusions—also demands analysis of your listeners. You can’t address your speech to each person individually, but you can identify common features among your listeners. Think about your topic, purpose, and resources available to you from their perspectives. In class, all are students, but perhaps some are younger and older, in-state and out-of-state, liberal and conservative, rich and poor. And the idea of there being a dichotomous choice that you are either this or that complicates it even further. There are endless places to land on different categorization spectrums. What dimensions of your listeners’ social identities affect the ways that they think about you and about what you’re advocating? This chapter discusses the demographic and psychological features of listeners, how to find out about your audience, and how to use what you learn to select materials, and organize and word the speech to manage the interactive process of speaking. We first turn to demographic analysis.

ANALYZING YOUR AUDIENCE BEFORE A SPEECH Demographic analysis is the study of observable characteristics in groups of people. In any audience, you will notice traits that group members share. You

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should determine your listeners’ general age, gender, education, group membership, and cultural and ethnic background. Let’s examine each of these factors individually. Please keep in mind that belonging to particular groups does not necessarily mean they hold the same beliefs and convictions. Some of these demographic differences change how they see the world, their lived experiences, etc.

Age Are your listeners primarily young, middle-aged, or older? Does one age group seem to dominate a mixed audience? Is there a special relationship between age groups—parents and their children, for instance? Are your listeners your peers, or are they much younger or older? Variations in age are, of course, variations in life experiences and world experiences. You may not remember George Bush’s presidency, but others might. Life experiences factor into reactions to your speeches. One’s lived experience is the element of what one has personally experienced that influences one’s own perception of knowledge. Watch how nursery school teachers adapt to their young listeners or risk chaos. They simplify their vocabulary and shorten their sentences. If you’ve ever read a story to a child, you know that you can command their attention through animation. If you talk like a wizard or a teapot or a mouse, you can see children’s eyes widen. The point is this: even if your listeners are very different from you, you can still engage them by recognizing what captures their attention. In this way, you are using audience analysis to make your message more effective. You must understand how your preconceived notions about age might determine how you address audience members. Acknowledging this element, allows you to see the potential similarities and differences of what has been experienced due to the amount of time exposed to different things. Age does not define a person; it just gives you a chance to categorize how they potentially view the world. An audience of individuals under the legal drinking age would have a different lived experience from those above the age. It does not mean everyone above the age drinks or wants to, but how they can potentially access and interact with alcohol will be different.

Education How much do your listeners already know about your subject? Do their formal and informal experiences allow them to bring knowledge to your speech? People who have worked with a particular software program, for example, will learn its new features more quickly than people who have not and will be ready for more advanced advice on how to use it. Knowing the educational background of your audience can guide your language, supporting material, and organizational pattern. Assume that you are

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addressing the faculty senate as a student advocate of expanded student parking on campus. Most likely, faculty are already familiar with the basic issues and parking restrictions. So, you can express complex arguments without extensive maps or background information. When you are invited to speak to a local citizens’ group about the proposal for expanding student parking into a residential neighborhood, however, you may need to use maps to show the lack of campus parking for students and data about the number of cars that will park on city streets. Since your listeners may not be as familiar with the issues or as supportive of the proposal, you should probably choose an inductive organizational approach for your speech.

Group Membership Do your listeners belong to groups that represent special attitudes or identifiable values? Are they part of a formal organization, such as a church, chamber of commerce, or scouting group, or have they spontaneously come together? Can you pick out common traditions or practices within the organization? What is the cultural climate of the organization? People you’ll be talking to join social networking sites, church groups, support groups, professional organizations, hobby clubs, and communities—the list seems endless. We come together to share common interests and values, to express feelings, and to accomplish personal goals. Often, group members share demographic characteristics as well. For example, doctors, lawyers, and dentists join professional societies based on occupational similarities. Homeowners’ groups share geographic interests. Tee-ball clubs, high school reunions, and associations of retired persons unite people who are similar in age. Identifying these common interests is an important element of assessing your audience, as the following example illustrates.

Using Demographic Information Demographic information can be endless. We can categorize people endlessly. But the point is to avoid stereotypes and build a common theme within your target audience. Belonging to a particular group, being a certain age, or coming from a certain zip code, does not define who you are. For the sake of speech creation, we just need to know who is in the room and some variables that might influence how they will process your information. Recognizing the variables that are present in an audience is the first step in audience analysis. The key is to decide which of these demographic factors will affect your listeners’ reception of you and your message. Adapt your message and speaker–audience identification to these variables. Transferable Skill. The difference between writing and speaking is the ability to adapt to your audience at different times. Yes, when writing, you should

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tailor for an audience, but speaking makes it a constant process. Employers value the skills of being able to analyze in advance and adapt to the situation based on your audience. Demographic analysis helps you adapt your message to your listeners more effectively. If you know who is listening to your speech, you can better select and develop your key ideas and construct a positive interactive relationship with them.

ANALYZING YOUR AUDIENCE PSYCHOLOGICALLY Careful psychological analysis of your audience may provide clues about how they think. This is especially important when your general speaking purpose is to inform or to persuade. Before you can hope to increase understanding, alter their thoughts, or prompt action, you need to know what ideas your listeners already hold. To analyze your audience psychologically, you can use psychological profiling. That is, you identify what your listeners already think and feel, much as you would discover their demographic characteristics. Beliefs, attitudes, and values are the key concepts in discussing the psychology of listeners and their relationships to you and what you’re advocating. After we have examined each of these concepts, we’ll discuss ways in which you can use them to tailor your message and relationship to your listeners.

Beliefs The first task of psychological profiling is to understand your audience’s beliefs. Beliefs are convictions about what is true or false. They arise in many ways: from firsthand experiences, from public opinion, from supporting evidence, from authorities, or even from faith. Beliefs are held with varying degrees of conviction. For example, you might believe that calculus is a difficult course based on your own experience. At the same time, you might also believe that calculus is important for your career because of what your parents and high school teachers have told you. Each of these beliefs is supported by different kinds of external evidence, and each belief can be held with a different degree of conviction. Once you have investigated audiences’ beliefs, how can you use this information? You need to determine which beliefs you share with them and which are obstacles to be sidestepped. Suppose you are advocating the installment of cameras at key city intersections. Your listeners might believe that such cameras are unreasonable limits on their personal freedoms. You have to find a way to skirt that issue, by stressing the cameras’ abilities to identify dangerous or drunk

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drivers or to provide visual evidence to quickly assess accident liability. Search out ideas that reinforce beliefs you share with listeners.

Attitudes The second goal of psychological profiling is to identify audience attitudes. Attitudes are tendencies to respond positively or negatively to people, objects, or ideas. Attitudes express our individual preferences and feelings, such as “I like my public speaking class,” “comedies are better than horror movies” and “Prague is a beautiful city.” In other words, they are emotionally weighted. Attitudes often summarize our personal reactions to our beliefs about the world. So, you must consider the dominant attitudes of your listeners. Audiences may have attitudes toward you, your speech subject, and your speech purpose. Your listeners may think you know a lot about your topic, and they may be interested in learning more. This is an ideal situation. If, however, they think you’re not very credible, you must deal with their attitudes. For example, if you tell your listeners that they can earn extra money in their spare time by selling unused items at a garage sale, they may have several reactions. The thought of extra income is enticing, but they might be reluctant to devote much time to this project. You’ll have to show them that you made enough money to pay for your tuition in just a few weeks. In this way, you’re challenging their negative attitudes.

Values The third component of psychological profiling is understanding audience values. Values are the basic concepts organizing one’s orientation to life. They underlie an individual’s particular attitudes and beliefs. For many citizens, life, freedom, family, and honesty are basic values. These values are deeply ingrained and enduring; as a result, they are very resistant to change. Imagine trying to convince a friend to renounce his or her citizenship. No matter how noble your cause, you will likely meet with powerful resistance because you are attacking a fundamental value. Values are more basic than beliefs or attitudes. Values, then, underlie an individual’s particular attitudes and beliefs. People often think about the world in habitual ways and we can identify these value orientations in the ways that they express their attitudes and beliefs. That values can mean such different things to people shouldn’t be surprising because different attitudes and behaviors comprise each value orientation from liberal to middle-of-the-road to conservative. The differences are so great that you can’t ignore them when talking about

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this topic. By establishing common ground, you will have a greater chance of successfully uniting your listeners.

Assessing Listeners’ Identities Related to surveying your listeners is figuring out which of their many identities are relevant to your purposes. Should you remind listeners of their status as students, workers, or club officers (roles)? Or their membership in sororities, the Young Republicans, or the Association of Latin American Students (affiliation groups)? Or their drive to succeed after school, their moral commitments, or their loyalty as alumni (personal characteristics they live out)? So, suppose your alumni association asked you to speak to fellow seniors about making a contribution to the school immediately after graduation. You have several choices among listeners’ identities.

• Role: “You’ll want future students to have access to the same quality education and types of campus organizations that you did. Even a small contribution will help make that happen when you’re an alumnus.” • Affiliation: “The Association of Latin American Students will be able to recruit more students to campus and maintain an even broader range of campus and community programs if you’ll maintain the same commitment next year that you’ve shown you have to ALAS this year.” • Personal characteristics: “Loyalty to the school that helped you grow and that prepared you to enter the workforce involves more than attending sporting events. The kind of loyalty that you wanted from the school is the same sort you should return to it: a commitment to keep it alive and well with financial support for its missions, for future people like you.” In other words, assessing relevant listeners’ identities helps you establish identifications with them, frame arguments relevant to those self-conceptions, and word claims in ways consistent with how you and they see yourselves during the speech.

Developing Your Speaking Goals As you develop your speaking goals, it is important to consider both the demographic and psychological dimensions of your listeners, because these affect what your listeners will comprehend as well as how they will interpret your message. Demographic factors such as age, gender, education, group membership, and cultural and ethnic background will help you understand your listeners’ familiarity with your topic, motivation to listen, reaction to you personally, and ability to understand your message. If your goal is to explain new tax laws, your message

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FIGURE 5.2 TARGET AUDIENCE SPECTRUM

will take a very different form for part-time, teenage workers than for senior citizens. Now imagine the same informative speech for an audience of tax accountants. The demographics of your audience are critical as you think about the complexity of the information you will share as well as how your listeners can use it. Your credibility is also at stake. Think about a room full of individuals listening to your speech. Everyone would have different levels of agreement, knowledge, interest, experience, etc. As shown in Figure 5.2, try to target a particular population. You would not be targeting those who completely agree or disagree. But in the circle is a population with similar beliefs. They mostly agree but still have room to be further persuaded. They have a middle-of-the-road knowledge of the issue at hand. Targeting in on where they stand on a “hypothetical analysis spectrum” could help you choose language and structure. Your listeners’ beliefs, attitudes, and values provide clues to how they will perceive what you say. For example, in speaking to a local Parent–Teacher Association about a new after-school program of foreign language and culture instruction, you’re addressing an audience of school administrators, teachers, and parents. Each of these groups has varying beliefs, attitudes, and values that will affect their perception of the program. School administrators may believe that its cost is prohibitive, teachers may think the program will enhance the current curriculum, and parents may want to know how the program will affect their children. Probably most audience members value education. As you think about how you will present your information, you should consider framing it within the broad value of education while at the same time addressing the practical

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problems: cost, the after-school as a co-curriculum, and the broadening of the children’s educational experience that will result. Be realistic about the degree of change you can expect from your listeners. If your listeners are strongly opposed to using an extra student fee to renovate a sports arena, a single speech—no matter how eloquent—will probably not reverse their opinions. More likely, one attempt can only neutralize some objections. For a single speech, this is a more realistic goal than completely reversing opinions. SPEAKING OF … SKILLS

Handling Hostile Audiences How do you gain a positive response from people who disagree with you? While it is unreasonable to expect to convert every member of a hostile audience, you can improve your chances of getting them to listen with the following strategies. • • • • • • •

Establish goodwill. Let them know you are concerned about the issues or problems you’re discussing. Start with areas of agreement. Develop some common ground before you launch into controversial territory. This helps foster social identification. Offer principles of judgment. Determine the basis on which you and your listeners can evaluate ideas. Develop positive credibility. If your listeners respect you and feel linked to aspects of your identity, they are less likely to reject your ideas. Use experts and supporting material to which your audience will respond. Choose your supporting material with your audience in mind. Disarm your listeners with humor. Mutual laughter establishes a positive rapport. Use a multisided presentation. Recognize more than one perspective on the issues.

Above all, be realistic when addressing a hostile audience. Remember that the more strongly an audience opposes your position, the less chance you can reasonably expect it to occur. For more information, see Jean G. Jones and Herbert Simons, Persuasion in Society (New York: Routledge, 2017).

Using Your Psychological Profile After you have developed a profile of your audience’s beliefs, attitudes, and values, how can you use this information? Understanding your audience’s beliefs, attitudes, and values will help you make decisions about three aspects of your speech: your ideas, your supporting materials, and your phrasing. Your psychological profile can help you do the following:

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1. Frame your ideas. For example, if your listeners believe that childhood is a critical time of development, you can move from this belief to recruit volunteers for a daycare co-op. If they value family life, you can touch on this theme to solidify their commitment. On the other hand, if your listeners are apathetic about childhood development, you must establish the critical nature of the early years of child development before you can hope to persuade them to support a co-op. 2. Choose your supporting materials. An audience of college students likely will respond well to scientific studies or numerical data in your speech. Some of your audiences would be more receptive to emotional stories that help add detail to a situation. This will depend on a variety of factors. 3. Phrase your ideas. You can choose your words to reflect the intensity of your audience’s convictions. If your listeners are ready to picket a corporate chain coffee shop, then your language should show the urgency of an immediate boycott. Demand action now. On the other hand, if they are reluctant to take up placards, then you should use less forceful words. How much action can you expect after your speech? If your pre-speech analysis indicates that your listeners strongly support after-school programs, you may be able to recruit many of them to work alongside you, with others lobbying and participating in telephone marathons. If, however, they only moderately support such programs, you might ask for a small monetary donation rather than an actual commitment of time. Audience analysis should help you set realistic communication goals.

Developing Your Specific Purposes Suppose you have a part-time job with your college’s Career Planning and Placement Office. As part of your job, you speak to various student groups about building a résumé. Audience analysis should help you determine appropriate, specific purposes. If you were to talk to a group of incoming students, for example, you would know that they probably:

• know little about the functions of a résumé (have few beliefs on the subject); • are more concerned with such short-term issues as registering for classes and finding a major (are motivated by practical values). Given these audience considerations, you would probably provide basic rather than detailed information about résumés. You might phrase your specific purpose as follows: “To brief incoming students on the functions of a good résumé.” This orientation will include a brief description of what is included in a résumé and an

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appeal to your listeners to choose college classes and extracurricular activities to build theirs. If you spoke to a group of graduating college seniors on the same subject, you would address your listeners differently. You will discover that they:

• are familiar with the functions of résumés, because roommates and friends have used them (have beliefs that are based on personal experience); • tend to think of the résumé as a tool for getting a good job (have a practical perspective on the topic). Given these audience considerations, you would offer more specific details about building a résumé. Because your listeners know that they will need one as they enter the workforce or apply for graduate school, you might describe the specific features of a successful résumé rather than simply outlining its general functions. You might also reassure your listeners that their job search will be more productive if they understand the usual forms, know how to phrase their school and summertime work in terms of skill sets, and their aspirations clearly and professionally. You might phrase your specific purpose as follows: “To inform graduating seniors about the features of a good résumé and about the steps they should take in creating the résumé that will land them a great first job.” Audience analysis will help you shape your specific purposes and determine which are most appropriate to your listeners.

Developing Your Appeals So far, we’ve focused on how audience analysis helps you target your listeners as a large group. Using an approach called audience segmentation, you can divide your listeners into a series of subgroups or “target populations.” A typical college audience, for example, might be segmented by academic standing (incoming students through seniors), by academic major (art through zoology), by classroom performance (A+ to F), or even by extracurricular activity (ROTC, SADD, Young Democrats, March for Our Lives, Pi Kappa Delta). You can direct the main ideas to each of these subgroups. Suppose you were to give a speech to members of a local community club urging them to fund a scholarship. Through audience analysis, you discover that the club is composed of social service personnel and businesspeople. By thinking of the club as segmented into these subgroups, you are in a position to offer each subgroup some reasons to support your proposal. For example, you might appeal to social service workers by saying, “The social-team concept means educating others who will contribute to the improvement of the community.” For the businesspeople, you might declare, “Well-educated citizens contribute more to the financial resources of the community as investors, property owners, and heads of households.” You can see how each statement is directed to segments of your

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audience. These main ideas implicitly refer to the commitment of social services to helping people from all strata of life and to business leaders’ commitment to financial responsibility and success. Often, especially as your audience gets larger, it will become culturally more diverse. Think about black, Hispanic, and LGBTQ groups, women’s empowerment movements of the 1960s and 1970s, the emphasis on cultural diversity in the 1980s and 1990s, and contemporary social awareness generated by “Black Lives Matter.” The differences that are culturally constructed can present some serious challenges to speakers. People may not only look and act dissimilar, but they may have very different ideas, rituals, routines, and behaviors. And they probably attach different meanings to persons, places, and ideas. They may not agree on who is powerful and respectable (people), how to act at home and in public buildings (places), what’s true and false (ideas), how to greet family and strangers (routines), and how to worship (rituals). Recognizing these complexities is easier said than done, but successful speakers take time to understand their listeners as uniquely human and inherently diverse. Understanding your audience is a key step in speech preparation. Demographic and psychological analyses of audience members will help you make decisions about your topic, specific purposes, and phrasing for central ideas and main ideas. If you learn all you can about your listeners and use relevant information to plan your speech, you’ll improve your chances for success. Analyze before, during, and after. Be reactive and proactive in how you address the audience. They will appreciate it and it will greatly improve your success.

ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Tailoring speeches to audiences involves managing both content and relationships. 2. The primary goal of audience analysis is to discover your listeners’ demographic and psychological characteristics that are relevant to your speech purposes and ideas. 3. Demographic analysis is the study of audience characteristics, such as age, gender, education, group membership, and cultural and ethnic background. 4. Psychological profiling seeks to identify the beliefs, attitudes, and values of audience members that are relevant to your relationships with them and to your subject matter. 5. Beliefs are convictions about what is true or false. 6. Attitudes are tendencies to respond positively or negatively to people, objects, or ideas. 7. Values are basic concepts organizing one’s orientation to life. 8. The better you understand aspects of listeners’ identities relevant to your goals, specific purposes, appeals, and credibility, the more relevant audience analysis will be to your success as a speaker.

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Key Terms attitudes audience segmentation beliefs demographic analysis

identification interactive process lived experiences psychological profiling

social identities stereotypes value orientations values

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Pretend Your Commitments are Sooner 1. If an event is two months away, plan for it to be one month away. 2. Envision this and how it will affect your life. 3. Would you commit? If the answer is no, it probably won’t be any better with the additional time. 4. Use your current schedule as a guide. The future will often not become more free and with less obligation over time. 5. This helps add to your wellness and mindfulness of valuing your time.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE Determining the Kinds of Supporting Materials You’ll Need Finding Supporting Materials Using Artificial Intelligence and Generative Text Forms of Supporting Materials Functions of Supporting Materials Support is Important Assessing Your Progress

DOI: 10.4324/9781003414926-6

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FIGURE 6.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

The twentieth century, called by many the Communications Century, ​generated the miracles of information technology: film, television, the computer chip, satellites, laptops, fax machines, email, cell phones, digital sound and video reproduction, and, of course, the internet. Although it’s still young, the twenty-first century promises to produce even more astonishing communication technologies. You can access staggering amounts of information more easily than ever before. As you put your speeches together, you will need to find and sort through this information, choosing the supporting material that works best for your speech and fits your listeners’ needs. Even though we have more information at our disposal than at any other point in history, more information does not automatically mean better information. Instead, the mountains of facts and ideas available to us require sophisticated research strategies to find these materials, and critical thinking to determine their quality. This chapter explores the challenge of finding and assembling the materials relevant to your speech, your audience, and the speech occasion. You need to turn

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information into knowledge—to transform streams of facts into something your listeners can use in their daily lives. Devoting careful thought to how you will organize your search for supporting materials, and then to how you will put those materials to use, will make your preparation time more productive. First, we will examine the sources of supporting materials, and then we’ll suggest some ways of using these materials.

DETERMINING THE KINDS OF SUPPORTING MATERIALS YOU’LL NEED To guide your choice of supporting materials, you need to consider your main topic, your audience, and the ideas you intend to discuss. Thinking about these elements should help you decide what kinds of supporting materials you will need. Consider the following critical questions before you begin your search process.

• What support does your topic require? Specific topics require certain sorts of supporting materials. You wouldn’t use the same kind of supporting material to describe your experience traveling in Lima, Peru, as you would to report your international relations club’s financial status. The requirements of your speech topic should suggest the appropriate forms of supporting material. • What does your audience need to know? You need to think about what your audience already knows and what they need to know. Your search for supporting materials should reflect your listeners’ needs. For example, if you give a speech on skin cancer to a group of students in your communication class, your audience is probably most interested in knowing their chances of getting it. They are probably aware that certain practices, such as the use of tanning beds, increase the risk of skin cancer, but they probably don’t know about the latest treatment methods. Your search for supporting material on this topic should discover this information. • Which form of support will be most effective for your topic? Different forms of supporting material accomplish different results. Explanations, comparisons, and statistics will help you develop the topic so that your listeners can better understand it. Examples and testimony will lend interest to the topic. In an introduction to a speech on fire alarms, you might use an example of a local house fire to stimulate audience interest and then, in the body of the speech, use statistics to establish the importance of installing fire alarms. • How objective is your supporting material? To read and think critically, you must be able to distinguish among sources of information. One

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way to differentiate is to distinguish between primary sources (eyewitness/firsthand accounts) and secondary sources (accounts based on other sources of information). On the topic of the strained U.S. health care system, an interview with an emergency room physician would be a primary source while a news program would be a secondary source. Each type of supporting material reflects a different perspective. Which is most useful? Well, that depends on factors unique to your speaking situation such as your speaking purpose and your audience. These initial questions about your topic help you decide what supporting materials your topic requires and guide your selection of supporting materials in light of your audience’s needs. SPEAKING OF … SKILLS

How Much Material is Enough? Have you ever found yourself wondering, “How much supporting material should I use in my speech?” While there’s no absolute rule governing the number or kind of supporting materials, you need enough support to establish your points. This varies according to the quality and kind of supporting materials. Here are some guidelines. •

•

•

•

•

Complex or abstract ideas are enhanced by visual aids and specific examples. Visual aids such as graphs and specific examples from daily life would clarify a speech on chaos theory. Controversial points require a lot of authoritative evidence. This means that a speech that supports raising income taxes would benefit from statistics, budget trend information, and expert testimony. Speakers with low credibility need more supporting material than speakers with high credibility. If you plan to speak on educational reform for the next century but your only experience has been as a student, you should use a lot of supporting material. But keep in mind, that the credibility of being a student helps with connection to your audience. The support is to help justify and amplify your statements. If your listeners are unfamiliar with your topic, use concrete supporting materials to establish identification with them. For example, a speech on life in a space station doesn’t come alive until you insert specific details and concrete examples such as how astronauts cook meals or do their laundry. If your audience’s attention or comprehension is low, use more examples. Enliven a speech on accounting procedures with a story or a specific instance. Examples that audience members can relate to work best.

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FINDING SUPPORTING MATERIALS So, where do you find the materials you’ll need for your speeches? You’ll find them in several places: in print, online, and in interaction with others who have specific knowledge or information to share. Many people start their searches online. They do a Google search or go to Wikipedia. While you may do the same thing at the start of your investigation, you need to go much deeper than generic, crowd-sourced material. You’ll need to access more expert sources of information that have gone through a more rigorous process of review. To find primary sources, locate online archives, and historical societies, look up museums, or explore scientific journals to find the list of items in each collection. Those might very well support what was found on the crowd source pages but will help justify and add credibility to what you can say.

Finding Print Resources Most of the time, your university or college library will house the print sources you need to consult during your research. Your library collection contains thousands of volumes of reference books and specialized works that you can search. Print materials are especially useful if you need an in-depth, authoritative account such as books and reference sources. Some of these sources are not available in digital form online. Others may be available from other libraries. You can ask your librarian to help you request these materials through your interlibrary loan system. Print resources are often highly authoritative. Editors and publishers provide control over the material published, offering some assurance that the facts presented in print form are accurate. Books, newspapers, and magazines are checked for factual accuracy before publication. If the newspaper or magazine was published before 1980, you should check for print copies. While some of this early material has been digitalized and is available in electronic form, much of it is available only in print form. Your librarian can help you locate newspapers and magazines through indexes such as the New York Times Index or the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature (Readers’ Guide Full Text is the electronic version), which includes publications of general interest. Interlibrary loan arrangements are usually available if the print material is not in the collection of your library. Special collections of materials, such as diaries, photographs, artwork, and memorabilia, are sometimes only accessible through local library archives and the collections of county and state historical societies. However, some of this material has been digitalized and made available online.

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Finding Electronic Resources Generally, online catalogs will conduct searches by key words, author, title, or topic. So, as you’re thinking about where to begin your search, you should jot down key terms and phrases. Learning to narrow your searches through precise specification of a topic or through subcategorization will make your searches less frustrating. Knowing the authors and titles of relevant books and articles will help even more. Find out what databases your university can access. Your reference librarian can provide instructions for accessing your university’s electronic resources. These are collections of materials that usually have a central focus such as popular periodicals, medical information, or journals published within a specific academic discipline (e.g., science, history, law, or mass media). The reference librarian can help you find the database that is most useful for your research. Some of the most popular general databases include the following.

• InfoTrac College Edition

is a collection of databases through which your library might subscribe in specialized subjects like psychology or management. • Readers’ Guide Full Text provides full texts for over 100 popular publications and abstracts for many more. • EBSCOhost provides periodical articles, often in full text. • FirstSearch is an extensive listing of other databases, such as WorldCat and ArticleFirst, both of which include library collections and journal articles. • Academic Search provides full texts of articles from more than 3,000 popular and scholarly periodicals. • ProQuest Research Library indexes approximately 2,000 periodicals and academic journals, providing full texts for about half of its entries. • LexisNexis Academic Universe includes full texts for about 5,000 public and commercial business, legal, newspaper, and media sources with television broadcast transcripts. • ERIC provides articles, citations, and abstracts for education and humanities journals as well as unpublished documents collected by a government clearinghouse. • MLA Bibliography contains references to articles, books, and dissertations on literary criticism. • PsycINFO is a comprehensive database of psychological research. • MEDLINE provides psychosocial and physiological studies of disease and associated medical problems. • Dissertation Abstracts includes doctoral dissertations accepted at accredited American institutions since 1861 and selected Master’s theses since 1962.

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These databases provide a general place to begin your research. If you are looking for these reference materials in your library, use the electronic catalog. However, you might want to expand your search to include specialized resources or materials from other libraries, research institutes, or international sources. To access these specialized resources, you’ll need to know about search engines, directories, and virtual libraries. Search Engines. A search engine is a computer program that allows you to search multiple databases using specific words or phrases. Search engines match your search terms to millions of bits of online data. You should realize that no single search engine is capable of searching the entire web; it’s just too extensive. Because each search engine has a different way of organizing and accessing information on the internet, it’s a good idea to try more than one search engine when you’re researching a topic. By varying the search engines, you’ll broaden your search and generate a broader range of web sources. Directories. Unlike search engines that are programmed to seek matches without regard to quality, directories have been developed by information specialists. Directories also seek information, but they have arranged internet sites by topic, such as sports, shopping, entertainment, finance, and news. You can choose the directory that is most likely to generate specific matches to your search goals. If you are interested in a specific topic and don’t want to be bothered with irrelevant hits, you should consider using a directory. Some general search engines, such as Google and Lycos, also offer the option of searching a directory. Virtual Libraries. As you will soon discover when you conduct internet research for your speeches, the problem is not the quantity but the quality of the materials available to you. Anyone can post anything on the internet—and they do. How can you find the high-quality sources available in a traditional library through the internet? You might access a virtual library. Virtual libraries are usually smaller than commercial search engines and hosted by academic organizations, such as universities and research groups. They combine the advantages of technological speed with traditional library methods of organizing and cataloging high-quality information. The advantage of the virtual library is that the accessible materials have been screened for quality. They also include many databases and other resources that are overlooked by commercial search engines. These databases and other resources are referred to as the invisible web because they are not indexed by commercial search engines and thus escape notice with generic searches. This is why a general search is only the beginning of your research. With virtual libraries, you gain quality materials as well as an expanded search capacity. Here is a partial list of virtual libraries to get you started:

• Librarian’s Index to the Internet: www​.lii​.org • Education Virtual Library: www​.vlib​.org​/Education

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• Internet Public Library: www​.ipl​.org • Infomine: www​.infomine​.com • Invisible Web Directory: www​.invisible​-web​.net • Google Scholar: http://scholar​.google​.com/ • Social Science Information Gateway: www​.ariadne​.ac​.uk​/issue2​/sosig The value of virtual libraries can be seen rather dramatically when you consider what happens if you begin with a random search through a generic search engine and then tailor your search using a virtual library. Let’s take the popular myth that George Washington wore wooden dentures. How would you discover if this is true? Using the search phrase “George Washington,” you search the internet using the metasearch engine MetaCrawler. In 12 seconds, your search generates hits in 86 different places, from eBay to Expedia​.co​m. Listed are references to Washington, D.C., hotels, and to George Washington University. This didn’t work very well, so you try Google, a single search engine. In 0.06 seconds you have 50,400,000 hits. This isn’t working either. Finally, you use Librarian’s Index to the Internet, a virtual library, and find 48 authoritative biographies on George Washington within seconds. If you had used the search phrase “wooden dentures,” you would have turned up several specific biographies instead of 48 separate books. Still, in each case, you’ve completed your initial searches in less time than it would take to find your car keys, put on your coat, and go to the local library. Choosing the best search engine and refining your search phrase can save you even more time.

Interview Resources When looking for material, many of us forget the easiest and most logical way to start: by asking questions. The goal of an informational interview is to obtain answers to specific questions. Interviews increase your understanding of a topic because you can gather information firsthand. Your interviewee may be a content expert or someone who has had personal experience with the issues you wish to discuss. If you’re addressing the topic of black holes, who is better qualified to help you than an astronomer? If you’re explaining the construction of a concrete boat, you might contact a local civil engineer for assistance. Conducting a successful interview requires planning. You need to observe these general guidelines in preparing an informational interview.

• Determine your specific purpose. What do you hope to learn from the interview? Can the person you are interviewing provide precise information from a unique perspective? Determine what you would like to glean from the interview, and communicate that purpose directly to the person you interview.

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• Structure the interview in advance. Plan your questions. Begin the interview by communicating what topics you are interested in covering during the session. The interview may not follow your list of questions exactly. You should remain flexible and free to deviate from your interview plan to clarify or elaborate on a previous response. End the interview by recapping the main ideas and expressing your appreciation. • Remember that interviews are interactive processes. Adept interviewers are good listeners. You should listen carefully to what is said and accurately interpret the significance of those comments. Follow a pattern of “turn-taking,” as you would in any conversation. And if you don’t understand something, ask additional questions to clarify remarks and opinions. • Build a sense of mutual respect and trust. Feelings of trust and respect are created by revealing your motivation, by encouraging the person to talk, and by expressing sympathy and understanding. Careful preparation and good communication skills build rapport in interview situations. • Be courteous. Arrive on time, and use the interview period productively. Always follow up the interview with a note expressing your appreciation for the person’s shared time and expertise.

USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND GENERATIVE TEXT Transferable Skill. The most game-changing addition to finding sources includes generative artificial intelligence that can write human-like text. Employers will expect you to create and produce at rapid speed. Artificial intelligence text generators might be a natural thing to use. But there are things to be cautious of. Let’s figure out what it is, how it is different than search engines, and how we can use it productively.

What Is It? Generative text artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT, Bard, WriteSonic, and GoMoonBeam to name just a few offer the opportunity to generate content with simple prompts. Such as, “write a five-minute speech on the benefits of exercise for college students.” You can then interact with the ChatBot to generate new ideas. These generative text applications use an advanced language model, such as GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), and refer to a sophisticated artificial intelligence model that has been trained on a large collection of text data to understand and generate human-like text. Advanced language models like GPT are designed to learn the statistical patterns, structures, and semantics of language by training on massive amounts of text data from diverse sources like books, articles, websites, and more. The

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training process involves predicting the next word in a sentence or filling in the missing word given the context of the surrounding words. By learning from such vast and varied data, these models acquire knowledge about grammar, syntax, semantics, and even some factual information contained in the training texts. They capture patterns of language usage and generate text that closely resembles human-written content. In short, they model some of the behaviors we are using when we brainstorm, write, and edit speeches. Even with the immense power of generative text artificial intelligence, it’s important to note that while advanced language models can generate highly convincing text, they are not truly intelligent or conscious entities. They lack genuine understanding, consciousness, and the ability to reason like humans. They rely on statistical patterns and associations present in the training data to generate text, which means they can occasionally produce incorrect or nonsensical responses. That is where we should use these tools as a start to help generate ideas.

Difference From Search Engines These artificial intelligence tools and search engines serve different purposes and have distinct functionalities. Here are some key differences between the two (we will use ChatGPT as an example).

• Interaction and conversational nature: ChatGPT is designed to engage in natural language conversations with users. It can understand and generate responses conversationally, providing interactive and dynamic interactions. In contrast, a search engine primarily accepts text queries and returns a list of relevant web pages or documents. • Contextual understanding: ChatGPT is trained to understand the context of a conversation and generate responses accordingly. It can maintain context across multiple turns, remembering previous queries and responses to provide coherent and relevant answers. Search engines, on the other hand, rely on keyword matching and relevance algorithms to retrieve web pages based on the user’s query without understanding the broader conversation context. • Generation of personalized responses: ChatGPT can generate personalized responses based on the specific input it receives. It can provide tailored suggestions, explanations, or recommendations based on the context of the conversation. In contrast, search engines provide generic search results that are not personalized to the individual user. • Data sources: ChatGPT is trained on a wide variety of internet sources, books, articles, and more, which allows it to provide information beyond

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what a search engine may present in its search results. ChatGPT can generate synthesized responses based on its training data, while search engines provide links to external sources that users can explore. • Limitations of depth and breadth: ChatGPT has limitations in terms of the depth and breadth of its knowledge. It has a knowledge cutoff, meaning it was trained on data only up until a specific date. It may not be aware of recent events or have access to the latest information. In contrast, search engines constantly trawl the web and index new content, providing access to the most up-to-date information available. In summary, while a search engine is effective for retrieving information from the web, ChatGPT offers a more interactive and conversational experience, generating personalized responses based on its training data. It can provide explanations, and suggestions, and engage in dynamic conversations beyond what a search engine can offer. SPEAKING … OF SKILLS

How to Use it? ChatGPT can assist you in finding sources for your speech by providing guidance and suggesting potential avenues for research. While it cannot perform searches directly, it can offer strategies and tips to help you locate reliable sources and information. •

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Topic exploration: Begin by discussing your speech topic with ChatGPT. Describe the main points you want to cover and any specific areas where you need more sources. ChatGPT can provide suggestions for relevant subtopics, keywords, or specific sources to consider. Search strategies: ChatGPT can help you brainstorm effective search strategies. You can ask for tips on using search engines, online databases, academic journals, or specific platforms for finding sources. ChatGPT might suggest combining keywords, using advanced search operators, or exploring specialized resources related to your topic. Evaluating sources: Once you find potential sources, it’s crucial to assess their reliability and credibility. ChatGPT can guide you through the process of evaluating sources by providing criteria to consider, such as author expertise, publication credibility, and peer review. It can also suggest fact-checking websites or tools to verify information. Academic resources: If your speech requires academic sources, ChatGPT can advise you on accessing scholarly databases, libraries, or digital repositories where you can find peer-reviewed articles, research papers, or books. It can recommend specific platforms based on your field of interest.

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Citation and referencing: ChatGPT can guide proper citation and referencing formats, depending on the style guide you need to follow (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago). It can assist in formatting citations for different source types, such as books, articles, websites, or interviews.

Remember that while ChatGPT can offer suggestions and assist in the research process, it’s important to critically evaluate and select the sources that align with your speech’s requirements and meet the standards of credibility and reliability.

FORMS OF SUPPORTING MATERIALS After you’ve located your supporting materials, you need to choose among them. Your choices will depend on the demands of the topic and your listeners. For example, if you intend to describe cutting-edge research on energy creation from algae to a group of chemists, you’ll need plenty of scientific data and statements from leading scientists. On the other hand, if your goal is to introduce the topic of community gardening to a group of neighbors, you will probably choose specific examples bolstered with testimony from previous successes in gardening. Generally, you will choose your supporting materials from among three categories: (1) examples, (2) statistics, and (3) testimony.

Examples Examples can be powerful ways to involve an audience in your topic because they make abstract or general ideas easier to comprehend. Examples take various forms: they can illustrate concepts, conditions, or circumstances; they can narrate events; or they can be listed as undeveloped specific instances. Types of Examples. Hypothetical examples are made up. Factual examples (or real examples) are events that happened or real people, places, and things. If you were giving a speech on why homeowners should move into rented apartments, you might narrate a “typical” homeowner’s day: a leaky faucet to fix, a lawn to mow, real estate taxes to pay, and a neighbor’s dog to chase out of the flower garden. Although not all of these events occurred on the same day, asking listeners to imagine what homeowners can face helps you convey the carefree life of an apartment dweller. For many audiences, factual examples are more potent. Choosing Examples. When selecting examples, whether hypothetical or factual, you should keep four considerations in mind: 1 Is the example relevant? If the connection is vague, it won’t accomplish its goal. If your hypothetical story about a spring break road trip is fun to

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listen to but not related to your speech on saving the Florida Everglades, you’re in trouble! 2 Is it a fair example? An audience can be quick to notice unusual circumstances in an illustration or story; exceptional cases are seldom convincing. Your dog might surf on weekends, but most dogs don’t. 3 Is it vivid and impressive in detail? Be sure your extended examples are pointed and visual. When a student argues for more humane treatment of animals raised for slaughter, he describes the procedures at a local auction barn, traces typical routes to processing plants, and details the handling of animals in the holding pens. This example was detailed enough to convince listeners that there was reason for change. 4 Will comparison and contrast heighten the impact of your examples? You can use comparison and contrast together to double their impact on your audience. For example, a student speaker compared and contrasted Rocky and Bullwinkle, popular in the 1960s, with Beavis and Butthead from the 1990s, and recent episodes of Futurama, Robot Chicken, and BoJack Horseman to illustrate how very different cartoons can stir up similar public controversy.

Statistics Statistics are numbers that show the relationships of phenomena—relationships that can emphasize size or magnitude, describe subclasses or parts (segments), or establish trends. By reducing large masses of information into generalized categories, statistics clarify situations and make complex aspects of the world clear to your listeners. Magnitude. We often use statistics to describe a situation or to indicate its scope—that is, its size or magnitude. The effect on listeners can be especially strong if one statistical description of the size of a problem is reinforced by others. Explore ways to compile complex information in a form that your listeners can easily understand. Not all uses of magnitudes, of course, need such piling up of instances. Simple, hard-hitting magnitudes sometimes work even better. For example, Brenda Theriault of the University of Maine argued that there is “very little nutritional value in a hamburger, chocolate shake, and fries.” She supported this claim with statistics, saying that “of the 1,123 calories in this meal, there are 15 calories of carbohydrates, 35 calories of protein, and 1,073 calories of fat.” With these numbers, Brenda’s listeners could understand the limited nutrition in a typical fast-food meal. Segments. Statistics that are used to isolate the parts of a problem or to show aspects of a problem caused by separate factors are statistical segments. The most important value of statistics doesn’t lie in the numbers themselves but in

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how you interpret and use them. In using statistical data, always answer the question “What do these numbers mean or demonstrate?” Trends. Statistics often are used to point out trends, or indicators that tell us about the past, the present, and the future. The comparison of statistical data across time allows you to say that a particular phenomenon is increasing or decreasing Using Statistics. When you use statistics to indicate magnitude, to split phenomena into segments, or to describe trends, you can help your listeners by “softening” the numbers. You can use the following four strategies to do this: 1. Translate difficult-to-comprehend numbers into more understandable terms. Speaking about the problem of solid waste, the statistic on how we waste 130 million tons of garbage is hard to fathom. Use the analogy by explaining that trucks loaded with that amount would extend from coast to coast three times. 2. Round off complicated numbers. “Nearly 400,000” is easier for listeners to comprehend than “396,456.” And “just over 33%” or “approximately onethird” is preferable to “33.4%.” 3. Use visual materials to clarify statistics whenever possible. Use a computer-generated graph or prepare a chart in advance. Such aids will allow you to concentrate on explaining the significance of the numbers rather than on making sure the audience hears and remembers them. If the statistics are important for future reference, prepare a photocopied sheet to hand out to listeners. 4. Use statistics fairly. Arguing that professional women’s salaries increased 12.4% last year may sound impressive to listeners until they realize that women are still paid less than men for equivalent work. In other words, provide fair contexts for your numerical data and comparisons.

Testimony When you cite the opinions or conclusions of others, you’re using testimony. Sometimes testimony adds weight to an idea, as when you quote someone with experience or expertise. At other times, it bolsters the credibility of a claim, especially when it comes from a credible source. When Camila Cabello addressed her audience at the 2018 Grammy Awards, she used testimony in another way. She cited Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus” as a source of inspiration for her listeners. She urged her listeners to follow their dreams to success as she quoted the poet. Testimony should relate to and strengthen the ideas you are discussing. As Cabello advocated the rights of Dreamers or children brought to the United States

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illegally by their parents, she used the familiar reference to the Statue of Liberty, a potent symbol for immigration. You should use quotations that inspire, add emotion, or capture your thoughts in language that is more eloquent than your own. Testimony also should satisfy four specific criteria: 1. The person quoted should be qualified to speak on the topic being discussed. Qualification can be by training and/or experience. For example, athletes are more credible talking about sports equipment or exercise programs than they are endorsing breakfast food or local furniture stores. Parents know about their own children but probably aren’t qualified to talk about the nation’s youth. 2. If possible, the authority’s statement should be based on firsthand knowledge. A Florida farmer is not an authority on an Idaho drought unless he or she has personally observed the conditions. Veterinarians aren’t usually experts on human diseases, and Hollywood stars may not know much about international movie ticket sales. 3. The judgment expressed shouldn’t be unduly influenced by personal interest. Asking a political opponent to comment on the current president’s performance will likely yield a self-interested answer. 4. Your listeners should perceive the person quoted to be an actual authority. When citing testimony, don’t use big names simply because they’re well-known. The best testimony comes from subject-matter experts whose qualifications your listeners recognize. Finally, always acknowledge the source of an idea or particular phrasing. Give your source credit for the material, and give yourself credit for having taken the time to do the research.

FUNCTIONS OF SUPPORTING MATERIALS As you choose supporting materials for your speech or listen to others speak, you should be conscious of the role of supporting material. There is no absolute rule about how each kind of supporting material functions, but there is general agreement about what supporting materials accomplish in your speech. Here are some considerations when choosing your supporting materials:

• Complex and abstract ideas benefit from the use of specific information. Use examples to clarify complex or abstract ideas. Compare the relationship of subatomic particles to balls on a billiard table, for instance. Such simplification is especially useful when your listeners have little knowledge about your topic or when the subject matter is complex. Examples also

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provide more vivid details and make ideas more immediate. Thus, they can stimulate your listeners’ enthusiasm for complex or abstract material. When your audience has only minimal knowledge of a concept, you should use comparisons, examples, and statistical magnitudes and trends to help you amplify the idea. These forms of support expand on your idea so that your audience can more easily comprehend and examine it. • For a controversial idea or hostile audience, use statistics and testimony. These forms of supporting material are generally regarded as highly rational and credible, so they work well with controversial topics or hostile listeners. When there is disagreement among experts on the issue, you will need an abundance of supporting material. If you ask students at your university to support tougher grading standards, you will probably face substantial resistance. You’ll need to compare your university to others where such standards have been instituted. In addition, you’ll need statistics to show the advantages gained in employment and salaries. The testimony of students who support you will also be important. If you expect your listeners to resist your message, you should be prepared with lots of supporting material. • Supporting materials can enhance your credibility as a speaker. While your listeners may question your ability to understand the complex nature of the International Monetary Fund, they will respect authorities on the subject. They will also probably be reluctant to question supporting material such as statistical information. You should always use supporting materials when you are not an expert or when your status is lower than that of your listeners. • Supporting materials provide audience members with ammunition for later discussions. When you ask for a raise, you are more likely to get it by providing information about your job performance. Your supervisor can use this information in defending your raise to others. If you are asking your listeners to make sacrifices or to accept ideas that are unfamiliar to them, use plenty of supporting material. It provides the reassurance they need to take a risk and embrace a new thought. • Generally, examples create human interest, while statistics provide reasonable proof. Listeners tend to respond subjectively to narratives. On the other hand, their response to statistics is often more detached and objective.

SUPPORT IS IMPORTANT Don’t let your audience ask, “based on what”? They crave the ability to understand information and have it supported with examples, testimony, statistics, and perspectives of experts. Many times, we view this as a labor-intensive process. A

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good process of finding and using support will help with your knowledge acquisition and the overall success of your speech. View it as an opportunity to expand your own understanding.

ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Your search for supporting materials should be purposeful. You should attempt to assemble materials that are relevant to your speech, your audience, and the occasion on which you’re speaking. 2. Primary sources are eyewitness accounts and secondary sources are based on other sources of information. 3. To plan your search, you should consider: (1) the rational requirements of the topic, (2) the audience demands, (3) the power to prove that it is generally associated with various kinds of supporting materials, and (4) the objectivity of your sources. 4. Supporting materials clarify, amplify, or strengthen the speaker’s ideas. 5. There are a variety of forms of information from examples, statistics, testimony, and various others.

Key Terms directories factual examples hypothetical examples informational interviews invisible web

magnitude metasearch engines primary sources search engines secondary sources

segments statistics testimony trends virtual libraries

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Track the Room 1. 2. 3. 4.

Begin to look around the room. Find an item and describe it to yourself. If you find the item appealing, linger on it for a while. Move around the room with your gaze to ground yourself in what you are surrounded by. 5. At the end of a few minutes, you should begin to find calm that removes you from potentially anxious thoughts.

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Generating Ideas

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CHAPTER OUTLINE Selecting and Narrowing the Subject Step 1 Brainstorm Step 2 Grouping Step 3 Editing Step 4 Creating Purpose and Direction Step 5 Developing Your Central Idea Step 6 Analyzing Your Audience Step 7 The Occasion

DOI: 10.4324/9781003414926-7

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FIGURE 7.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

Looking at the blank paper when writing the speech is a frustrating and anxiety-causing activity. ​ Let’s find ways to select and narrow your subject, making it appropriate to you and your listeners. Determine your general and specific purposes, then word the central idea to guide your development of the key ideas. Analyze your audience and the occasion to discover what you might say and how you might say it. Gather your material, beginning with what you already know and then supplementing it with additional research. Arrange and outline your points to package your ideas clearly and coherently. Practice your speech aloud, working from outlines and then notecards, first alone and then with an audience. Recognize that self-confidence can be developed by understanding the communication process and through public speaking experience. While there’s a lot to discover about speechmaking, you can learn enough about the basics to begin speaking right away. As you prepare to speak, you’ll probably ask questions such as: How do I choose a topic? What will my listeners want to hear? Where do I find the material for my speech?

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What kind of notes should I make? What’s the best way to practice delivering my speech? By answering these questions now, you’ll be well on your way to success. The key to effective speech-making is planning. If you follow the seven steps offered in this chapter—either as they are presented here or in another order that works for you—you’ll be ready to deliver your first speeches.

SELECTING AND NARROWING THE SUBJECT The most difficult task for many speakers is to choose a subject. Sometimes the subject is chosen for you, but often you will choose your own topic for speeches. Begin by asking yourself questions. What do you know something about? What are you interested in talking about? What topics will interest your listeners? Does the occasion or situation suggest a topic for discussion? Your answers will help you select and narrow your subject. A well-chosen topic is the first step to a successful speech. So let’s start with choosing and narrowing a topic. You will go through a four-part topic-generating sequence: brainstorm, group ideas, edit for organization, and give the speech purpose.

STEP 1 BRAINSTORM It’s a good idea to begin selecting a topic by listing those subjects you already know something about, choosing the ones you’d like to share with others and thinking about ways you can relate them to your listeners. If the purpose of your first classroom speech is to inform your classmates about a subject, you might come up with the following list of things that came to mind. Remember, this exercise is just to list things that are currently on your mind. They don’t necessarily have to be topics you are an expert on. Here is a version of brain-dumping ideas on paper:

• softball (you played softball in high school) • sharks (you did a science project on this subject) • Halloween (you love to make costumes) • YouTube (you’ve uploaded several videos) • TikTok (you use it a lot) • Vampire Diaries (it’s your favorite show) • meal prep (you do this every week) • careers in accounting (you’re considering them now) • photography (you like taking amateur photos) • climate change (you hear a lot about it on the news but don’t know a lot)

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SPEECH CREATION ACTIVITY. BRAINSTORMING TO GENERATE TOPICS Having trouble coming up with possible speech topics? Try this brainstorming exercise: 1. Get a large, blank sheet of paper and a pen. 2. On the left-hand side of the paper, write the letters of the alphabet in a column. 3. Then, as quickly as you can, write single words beginning with each of the letters. Write any word that comes to mind. Repeat until you have the entire sheet filled. You might begin like this: A—apples, alphabet, alarm; B—bazaar, balsa, baboon, bassoon, balloon; C—comics, cologne, colors, confetti. 4. Next, consider each of the words as a key to potential topics. For example, apples might suggest apple pie recipes, Johnny Appleseed and other early American legends, pesticide controversies, fruit in our diets, farm, and orchard subsidies, or government price controls of farm produce. This is just the beginning. From one keyword, you can derive many possible speech topics. 5. Obviously, not all of these topics would be great speech topics, but this exercise gives you a creative and quick way to generate lots of ideas.

STEP 2 GROUPING After some additional thought, you decide to inform your classmates about climate change, because you know it is talked a lot about but you don’t understand why it is such a big deal. You know that you can arouse the audience’s interest because it is a hot-button issue. Once you’ve determined your general subject, you can generate a list of subtopics. Just like the initial brainstorming, write anything and everything that comes to mind. Sometimes what you write doesn’t necessarily have to be well thought out in the initial stages: Let’s brainstorm an informative speech on climate change. The following is a word association dump on paper to generate the next step. After you write those words, you will come back and group. We will discuss that in the next section. Below are all the things that we could think of in our initial brainstorming of associations we had with climate change:

• Melting ice • Polar bears • Endangered animals • Ocean • Turtles

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• Weather • Forest fire • Carbon emission • Plastic • Renewable energy • Energy • Fracking • Recycling • Policies • Immediate change • Killing coral • Warming of planet • Overpopulation • Cows • Culprits • Disbelief After you have exhausted writing all of the ideas you have, go back and group ideas to inform your potential main ideas. What do certain ideas have in common? What threads and themes do you see? You cannot have 20 main ideas. You would start grouping similar things, that seem like they serve the same idea, and create a main idea. You can see that this brainstorming and grouping yielded three main ideas. See Figure 7.2 for the rough process of grouping ideas. This is meant to

FIGURE 7.2 ROUGH BRAINSTORM GROUPING

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be elementary in its presentation because of the working nature of brainstorming and grouping. You can see some ideas didn’t make the cut. They might be included in the next phase or completely disregarded. Feel free to use a different method of categorizing. Highlight with different colors, put different symbols by them, etc. You could go back and reorganize different ways based on the occasion, topic, etc. It is important to note here that there is not a specific mechanism to use when brainstorming. The point is to generate ideas, start to see relationships, and group together to make the process of understanding them a bit easier.

STEP 3 EDITING After you have grouped your subtopics into main ideas, from this list of subtopics, ask yourself additional questions to narrow the topic even further. How much time do I have to deliver this speech? What do my classmates already know about the topic? After you answer these questions, you may end up with an informative speech focusing on three topics that cluster around how to address climate change. Transferable Skill. You might say you don’t like to brainstorm and organize. You just write. Many employers desire the skill of taking others’ ideas to transfer them into a coherent message. If you have that skill practice in your speech, this skill will transfer. As you can see from this example, you begin with a broad list of potential topics. Then, you select those that reflect your knowledge, the expectations of your listeners, and the requirements of the occasion. Finally, you consider the possible subtopics and choose several that fit the time limits and that go together naturally. This kind of systematic topic selection is the first step in successful speaking. The next step is to identify your speaking purposes and central idea.

STEP 4 CREATING PURPOSE AND DIRECTION Ok. Now you have the main ideas, support for those ideas, and a rough structure for the speech. Once you know what you want to talk about, you need to ask yourself still more questions. Why do you wish to discuss this subject? Why might an audience want to listen to you? Is what you’re discussing appropriate to the occasion? To answer these questions, you must analyze the reasons for your speech. First, think about the general purpose, and the primary reason you will speak in public. Next, consider your specific purposes, and the concrete goals you wish to achieve in a particular speech. Finally, focus your thoughts on a central idea, the statement guiding the thoughts you wish to communicate.

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FIGURE 7.3 PICKING A GENERAL PURPOSE LANE

General Purposes General purposes help keep you moving in the right direction. A general purpose should be two words such as “to inform” or “to celebrate.” Think about it as picking your lane on the highway for the speech. Rather than crossing lanes and driving all over the place, this keeps you and your audience on the same page. Yes, you might have multiple purposes but try to narrow it down to one. For a special occasion speech, you might have multiple opportunities for a general purpose. See Figure 7.3 to see the potential opportunities for multiple lanes. Try to stay in one. This helps you AND the audience stay focused. If you examine most speeches, you’ll identify one of three general purposes: to inform, to persuade, or to address an occasion. This chart summarizes the general purposes for speaking.

General Purpose

Audience Response Sought

To inform To persuade To address occasion

Clear understanding Acceptance of ideas or behaviors Enjoyment/Entertainment/Advocacy/etc.

Throughout this book, we will emphasize speeches to inform and speeches to persuade. These types of speeches dominate the speaking occasions you’ll face in life. Speaking to Inform. When you speak to inform, your general purpose is to help your listeners expand their knowledge—of an idea, a concept, or a process— by providing new information or new viewpoints.

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To create understanding, you must change the level or quality of information possessed by your listeners or offer a new perspective for understanding information. Listeners should leave your speech knowing more than they did or thinking about a topic in a different way. By providing explanations, examples, statistics, and illustrations, you expand your listeners’ knowledge. Your goal as an informative speaker is to impart both knowledge and overall understanding. Speaking to Persuade. If you seek to influence listeners’ beliefs and actions, then your purpose is to persuade. Celebrities sell us diet plans, cars, and insurance; lawyers convince jurors to recommend the death penalty; activists exhort tenants to stand up to their landlords; and politicians debate taxes. As a persuasive speaker, you usually seek to influence the beliefs and attitudes of your listeners. In this type of persuasive speech, called a speech to actuate, you ask your listeners for specific actions. You might ask your classmates to quit watching television, cut back on caffeine consumption, donate blood, start stock portfolios, or register to vote. Speaking to an Occasion. Sometimes a speaker’s general purpose may be to address a particular event. The goal is to amuse and divert listeners so that they relax and enjoy themselves, help advocate for something, and celebrate an accomplishment, and an endless list of possibilities. Award acceptance speeches, travel lectures, and even commencement addresses can be highly entertaining. Gatherings of friends and associates may provide the occasions for such speeches. To inform, to persuade, and to speak to an occasion are just a small sampling of the potential general purposes of speaking. By thinking about general purposes, you identify your overall speaking goal. The next step is to focus on the specific purposes of your speech.

Specific Purposes Your specific purpose combines your general purpose for speaking with your topic. For example, if your topic is aircraft and your general purpose is to inform, then your specific purpose might be to inform your audience about the role of aircraft in military combat or to provide them with a history of aircraft design. If your general purpose is to persuade, then your specific purpose might be to persuade your listeners that safety regulations governing air travel ought to be changed. The specific purpose provides a focus for your speech by combining your general purpose with the topic of your speech. Some purposes are short-term; others are long-term. If you’re speaking to members of a local organization about the importance of recycling, your

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short-term purpose might be to convince them to save their aluminum cans, while your long-term purpose could be to gather support for a citywide recycling program. You may have several short-term and long-term specific purposes whenever you speak, but it is important to identify one dominant specific purpose to guide your speech preparation. A single specific purpose, one that you can articulate for an audience, focuses you on precisely what you want your audience to understand, believe, or do. Suppose that you wanted to take on the challenge of getting more of your classmates to protect their computers. Consider various ways of wording your specific purpose.

• “The purpose of my speech is to explain how ransomware computer viruses target your computer.” (understanding)

• “The purpose of my speech is to show my listeners that even with virus protection software, their computer is at risk from sophisticated new viruses.” (beliefs) • “The purpose of my speech is to get my classmates to update their computer virus protection.” (action) All of these purposes involve computer viruses, yet each has a different specific focus, making it a different speech. Locking onto a specific purpose allows you to zero in on your primary target.

Central Idea Once you’ve settled on a specific purpose for your speech, you’re ready to compose a sentence that expresses it. You need to capture the controlling thought of your speech to guide its development. This central idea (sometimes called a thesis statement) is a statement that captures, usually in a single sentence, the essence of the information or concept you wish to communicate to an audience. For example, your central idea for a speech on diamonds might be “The value of a diamond is largely determined by four factors: color, cut, clarity, and carat.” In a persuasive speech, the central idea phrases the belief, attitude, or action you want an audience to adopt. Because persuasive speeches depend on making arguments to convince listeners, your central idea is phrased as a claim that summarizes the argument. So, for example, your central idea for a persuasive speech on dieting might be phrased as this claim: “Avoid fad diets, because they create dangerous imbalances in essential nutrients.” The precise phrasing of central ideas is very important, because wording conveys the essence of your subject matter, and guides your development of it. Examine Figure 7.4 for examples of ways to word speech purposes. Then, assume

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FIGURE 7.4  SPEAKING PURPOSES

that you’ve decided to give an informative speech on fixing a leaky faucet. You might phrase your central idea in one of three ways: 1. “With only minimal mechanical skills, anyone can fix a leaky faucet.” 2. “With a few simple supplies, you can fix a leaky faucet for less than $10.” 3. “Fixing a leaky faucet yourself will free you from plumbers’ expensive house calls.” Note that the phrasing of the central idea controls the emphasis of the speech. The first version stresses the individual audience member’s ability to complete the task. Presumably, that speech would offer a step-by-step description of the repair process. The second version suggests a quite different speech, one that is focused on securing inexpensive supplies. In contrast, the third version concentrates on benefits to the listener.

STEP 5 DEVELOPING YOUR CENTRAL IDEA The first step in planning what will be said out loud in your speech is determining your central idea. Your central idea is a statement of your speech goal, developed when you blend your general purpose to inform or persuade with your topic. For example, you might identify your central idea as “I want to inform (my general purpose) my listeners about the fall of the Berlin Wall (my topic)” or “I want to persuade (my general purpose) my listeners to help save lives by becoming organ donors (my topic).” Phrasing a central idea is especially critical because the focus you select limits the scope of your speech and frames your relationship with your audience. Your central idea determines the way you develop your whole talk: your main points, the information you include, the organization you follow, and the ways

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you link your points. For example, each of the following central ideas expresses a different focus and relationship with listeners.

• “You can conserve energy on campus by recycling aluminum cans and plastic water bottles, riding a bicycle instead of driving, installing energyefficient light bulbs in your desk lamps, and adjusting your thermostat by a couple of degrees.” • “From its founding charter in 1912, this university has been dedicated to four educational objectives.” • “If our university decides to replace traditional grades with a pass–fail system, there will be several negative consequences for students.” These three central ideas establish very different parameters for developing a speech. The first offers four tangible actions every student can take to save energy. The scope of the speech is limited to practical, easy-to-implement solutions. The second suggests a historical perspective that provides information and less directly involves the audience. The speaker who proposes the third topic is preparing to develop an argument. In each case, the phrasing of the central idea determines how the topic will be approached and the role of the listener. It also helps determine which organizational pattern is best for the speech. The process of selecting your subject, determining your general and specific purposes, and phrasing your central idea is the process of narrowing. When you put it all together, here is the result of an informative speech: Subject: Plumbing repair General Purpose: To inform Specific Purpose: To explain how you can fix a leaky faucet Central Idea: Most leaky faucets require a new washer that you can install in less than an hour for about $2.00. For a persuasive speech, you will probably go through a similar process of determining a topic based on your background and the needs of your listeners. However, your general purpose is different, and this means you must phrase your specific purpose and central idea to persuade your listeners. Your central idea is an argumentative claim. Here’s an example: Subject: Saving for retirement General Purpose: To persuade Specific Purpose: To convince your listeners that they need a savings plan for retirement Central Idea/Claim: Most social retirement plans will fall short of your needs, but you can retire in comfort if you make wise savings decisions now.

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Work on your general and specific purposes before constructing your speech. Your speaking purposes clarify your relationship with your audience. They also guide your search for speech materials.

SPEAKING OF … SKILLS

Using Artificial Intelligence Ethically to Generate Ideas Artificial Intelligence such as ChatGPT or Bard is a great place to start to generate ideas for your speech topic by engaging in a structured brainstorming session with the AI. But it needs to be done in a way that is ethically sound, allows your unique voice to show up, and you to appropriately engage in the editing process. It is not there to do the work for you. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it. Define Your Purpose and Audience: Begin by clarifying your speech’s purpose and identifying your target audience. Understand whether you want to inform, persuade, or entertain your audience. Knowing your audience’s interests and expectations is crucial for generating relevant ideas. Ask Open-Ended Questions: Pose open-ended questions to ChatGPT related to your speech topic. These questions should encourage the AI to provide information, insights, and ideas. For example: “What are some key points to consider when discussing [speech topic]?” Or “Can you provide some statistics or data related to [speech topic]?” Or “What are the latest trends or developments in [speech topic]?” Explore Different Angles and Perspectives: Don’t limit yourself to one perspective or viewpoint. Ask the AI to explore various angles or perspectives on your topic. For example: “What are the different viewpoints on [speech topic]?” or “How has [speech topic] evolved over time?” Gather Supporting Evidence: If your speech requires data, facts, or examples, ask the text generator to provide supporting evidence or anecdotes. For instance: “Can you share some real-life examples that illustrate the points I want to make in my speech?” Or “What are some compelling stories related to [speech topic]?” Organize and Structure Your Ideas: As ideas are generated, make sure to organize and structure them according to your speech’s outline. You may want to use bullet points or a mind map to visually represent your ideas. Evaluate and Refine: Review the ideas generated by the AI platform and evaluate their relevance, coherence, and effectiveness in achieving your speech’s objectives. Refine and narrow down your ideas based on what fits best. Remember that while artificial intelligence can provide valuable insights and ideas, it’s essential to tailor the generated content to suit your unique style, audience, and speech objectives. Additionally, always fact-check any information you plan to use in your speech and ensure it is up-to-date and accurate.

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STEP 6 ANALYZING YOUR AUDIENCE Communication is a two-way street. That means you need to consider your listeners when you are preparing to speak. It’s tempting to focus only on yourself: your goals, your fears, and your interests. If you want to speak so that you reach others, however, then you must construct the speech from your listeners’ viewpoint. Responsible speakers regularly ask questions such as “How would I feel about this topic if I were in their place?” or “How can I adapt this material to their interests and habits, especially if their experiences or understandings are different from mine?” Putting yourself in your listeners’ shoes is what researchers call audience orientation: an ability to understand the listener’s point of view. Being audience-oriented will push you to investigate aspects of the audience’s demographic and psychological background. Chapter 5 examines the topic of audience identity and orientation in detail. For now, you should find out how much your listeners already know about your subject so that you can adjust to their level of understanding. You should also discover their attitudes toward your subject. If they are apathetic, you must create interest; if they are hostile or favorable, you must adapt what you say. In a public speaking class, this type of investigation is easy enough to conduct: start asking questions. After all, your whole purpose in speaking is to connect with your listeners.

STEP 7 THE OCCASION It is also important to consider the nature and purpose of the occasion on which you’re speaking. The occasion is what brings people together; consequently, it often determines listeners’ expectations. Do they expect to hear a comic monologue? Does the situation demand a serious approach, such as a lecture? Will your listeners be tired, wide awake, or distracted by outside noises? Is this a voluntary or a captive audience? How many people will attend? Will the speech be delivered indoors or outdoors? Will the audience be sitting or standing? Will there be other speakers? Will you need to make special arrangements for equipment such as a public address system or an overhead projector? How should your listeners and their expectations guide your speech preparation? Throughout the process of developing your speech, always consider your listeners and the occasion. Your listeners’ expectations and the reasons they have gathered to hear you will influence your choice of topic and the focus of your speech. As you examine the remaining steps in the process of speech development, remember that your ultimate goal is to communicate with your listeners.

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FIGURE 7.5 THE ESSENTIAL STEPS IN PLANNING, PREPARING, AND PRESENTING A SPEECH

If not the process presented in this book, please have a process that helps you go from a blank paper to some type of logical structure. By the end of this chapter, you will have walked through a blank page to create main ideas, topics, a general purpose, a specific purpose, a central idea, and be starting to think about why your audience will want to listen to this speech. As Figure 7.5 shows, you still have lots of steps left in the process. We will explore the idea of organizing ideas next.

CHAPTER SUMMARY . Select and narrow your subject, making it appropriate to you and your listeners. 1 2. Determine your general purpose. Pick your lane. 3. Determine your specific purpose. What will your audience get out of this speech? 4. Then word the central idea to guide your development of the key ideas. 5. Analyze your audience and the occasion to discover what you might say and how you might say it.

Key Terms audience orientation central idea

general purpose specific purpose

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Outline the Positives in your Life 1. 2. 3. 4.

Brainstorm the things you are happy about/love/excited about. Begin to group them into main ideas. Use the basic outlining structures to showcase how amazing you are. Reflect on these things to help you stay in a positive mindset.

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Organizing and Outlining

8

CHAPTER OUTLINE Outlining Your Speech Developing Your Speech Plan Speech-Centered Patterns of Organization Audience-Centered Patterns of Organization A Process Assessing Your Progress

DOI: 10.4324/9781003414926-8

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FIGURE 8.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

OUTLINING YOUR SPEECH “I don’t like outlining”. “I just write.” ​“It all comes together”. All of these are phrases we hear during the speech-creation process. I completely understand where you are coming from. Let’s walk through the components of outlining and how the process can assist you in speech construction. Outlining is an important tool for a speaker for three reasons: 1. Testing. A rough outline allows you to “see” the relationships among your ideas. When you outline a speech, you can discover which ideas you’ve overemphasized and which you’ve excluded or underdeveloped. Your outline is a testing device. 2. Guiding. When you’re delivering a speech, a speaking outline is the preferred form of notes for many—and perhaps even most—speaking occasions. A good speaking outline shows you where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re headed. Your speaking outline also can include special directions to prompt your memory, such as “show map here” or “emphasize this idea.” You can even include delivery cues such as “point to chart,” “smile,” or “step forward.”

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3. Editing. This helps you set the stage for how the speech is organized. You can ask others to provide feedback and guide you in the right direction before you even practice the delivery. Outlining helps accomplish flow, structure, organization, and an overall purpose to the speech. Use the example of just a visual approach. Look at Figure 8.2. This is a visual of the main ideas and support. Each different color and size of “text” indicates a different level of importance. What looks right about it? What looks wrong? From an initial glance, we can see issues in structure, parallel structure, and overall format. Without even seeing a word, we can notice some issues that might be present. Main idea two appears to have more subtopics and even a topic supporting one of the subtopics. Audience members want a similar structure and time for each main idea. So, this image is a quick visualization of what an audience might highlight before you even read a word of an outline. Outlines are exactly that: a visual depiction of the structure and flow we will HEAR. You should develop your outline, as well as the speech it represents, gradually, through a series of stages. Your outline will become increasingly complex as FIGURE 8.2 VISUAL DEPICTION OF OUTLINE

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the ideas in your speech evolve and as you move the speech closer to its final form. But then, once you’re ready to speak, you must simplify the outline again so that your delivery can be conversational. Step 1 Rough Outline. Initial ideas that are a work in progress. Step 2 Preparation Outline. Detailed speech that is almost word for word what you would like to say. Step 3 Speaking Outline. Key phrases and terms to remind you what to say when speaking. Transferable Skill. You don’t like to outline. Yes, many individuals do not like the concept of outlining. Think about the outline being for someone else, not you. Employers ask for an overview of concepts that summarizes quickly. Think about being able to get feedback on a brief overview with a clear visual structure rather than a huge document. This is a truly desired skill in the workplace.

Developing a Rough Outline A rough outline establishes the topic of your speech, clarifies your purpose, and identifies a reasonable number of subtopics. Use the brainstorming we did in Chapter 7. Climate change is your broad topic. You now take those main themes and begin to organize them. In a short speech, you obviously can’t cover such a broad topic adequately. After considering your audience and your time limit, you decide to focus your presentation on how to give a quick overview of climate change. Remember, our main ideas: Main Idea 1 Main Idea 2 Main Idea 3

Cause/Culprit Effects Solutions

In what order do you want to put these in? How will you help the audience understand? At this point, you have clustered similar ideas to help listeners follow your thinking. Your next step is to consider the best pattern of organization for these topics. A chronological pattern would enable you to organize the history of climate change but would not allow you to discuss ways your listeners could help. Either a cause–effect or an effect–cause pattern would work well if your primary purpose is to persuade. This is an informative speech, however, and you want to talk about more than the causes and effects of climate change.

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As you subdivide your three clusters of information, you develop the following rough outline: I II III

Causes of Climate Change A carbon emission B fracking C overpopulation Effects A weather changes B endangered animals C warming of the planet Solutions A Changing policies B Using renewable energy C recycling

A rough outline identifies your topic, provides a reasonable number of subtopics, and reveals a method for organizing and developing your speech. Notice both the main points and the subpoints have been arranged topically. You should make sure, however, that the speech doesn’t turn into a “string of beads” that fails to differentiate between one topic and the next. With topical outlines, always figure out a way to make the topics cohere (hold together). Doing so will help you develop effective transitions as you practice your speech. The next step in preparing an outline is phrasing your main headings as precisely as possible, usually in complete sentences, to capture your exact meaning. Then, you can begin to develop each heading by adding subordinate ideas. As you develop your outline, you’ll begin to see what kinds of information and supporting materials you need to find.

Developing a Preparation Outline A preparation outline is a detailed speech with everything you can have in it. Put everything you would like to say, delivery notes, evidence, oral citations, and everything that would allow others to give feedback. The amount of detail that you include in an outline will depend on your subject, the speaking situation, and your previous experience in speech preparation. New subject matter, unique speaking contexts, and limited prior speaking experience all indicate the need for a more detailed outline. Your instructor may even require a full-sentence outline to help you develop the content of your speech. Under any circumstances, a good outline should meet these basic requirements:

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• Each unit in the outline should contain one main idea. If two or three ideas merge under one subpoint, your audience may become confused. Suppose you are outlining a speech advocating the use of American military personnel to bolster airport security and you include the following subpoint: “Also, current airport security is lax, and placing military personnel in airports would cost less than hiring more civilians to screen passengers and baggage.” Notice that this point combines two separate ideas about current security and costs. It would be more effective to separate the ideas and develop them as individual points, such as: A Current airport security is lax. B Placing armed military personnel in airports would cost less than hiring more civilians to screen passengers and baggage.

• Less important ideas in the outline should be subordinate to the more important ones. Subordinate ideas are indented in an outline, and they are marked with subordinate symbols. Doing a good job with subordination helps you know what to emphasize when you’re speaking. And it alerts you to the need to use an appropriate transition from one idea to the next. Proper subordination emphasizes your main arguments and supporting materials. Consider the following example: I The cost of medical care has skyrocketed. A  Hospital charges are high. 1 A private room may cost more than $2,000 a day. 2 X-rays and laboratory tests are expensive. B  Doctors’ charges have steadily risen. 1 Complicated operations cost thousands of dollars. 2 Office calls can start at $100 or more. C  Drugs are expensive. 1 Most new antibiotics cost over $20 per dose. 2 The cost of nonprescription drugs has mounted. Phrase your main points effectively. You can help your listeners understand your message better if you are concise, choose vivid language, and use parallel structure. More specifically:

• Be concise. State your main points as briefly as you can without distorting their meaning. Crisp, clear, straightforward statements are easier to grasp than rambling, vague, complex declarations. Say “Get regular exercise,” not “Regular and repetitive exertion, considering age and physical conditioning, lends itself to improved physiological functioning.”

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• Use vivid language. Whenever possible, state your main points in evocative words and phrases. Drab, colorless statements are easily forgotten; punchy lines grab attention. Phrase your main points so that they’ll appeal directly to the concerns of your listeners. Say “Cut tuition fees now!” not “We should take immediate action to reduce the costs of higher education.” • Use parallel structure. In a speech, your listeners have only one chance to catch what you’re saying; parallelism in sentence structure helps them do so. The repetition of key ideas aids the listener in remembering this series: “Cope with cold and flu season by washing your hands, getting enough sleep, and taking vitamin C. Wash your hands to destroy the viruses. Get enough sleep to reduce physical stress. Take vitamin C to fortify your body.” Notice in this series that the three most important ideas are repeated. Such parallelism will help your listeners remember the major ideas in your speech.

SPEECH CREATION ACTIVITY

Deconstructing a Preparation Outline Use this chapter or another chapter from the book. Pretend it is the preparation outline. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Deconstruct it for a speaking outline. What key phrases/terms would you use? What delivery notes do you include? How much information would you need to deliver it effectively?

Developing a Speaking Outline Your preparation outline is too detailed to use when you’re delivering a speech; you’d probably be tempted to read to your listeners. If you did that, however, you would lose your conversational tone. So, you need to compress your rough outline into a more useful form. A speaking outline uses keywords or phrases to jog your memory when you deliver your speech. It is a short, practical form to use while delivering your speech. The actual speaking outline you use will depend on your personal preference; some people like to work with small pieces of paper and others with notecards. Whatever your choice, your speaking outline should be unobtrusive. Holding large notebook pages or a laptop computer will distract your listeners from what you have to say and limit your ability to move and gesture.

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There are five things to keep in mind as you prepare your speaking outline: 1. Use keywords or phrases. A word or two should be enough to trigger your memory, especially if you’ve practiced the speech adequately. 2. Fully write/type out the ideas that must be stated precisely. You don’t want to make mistakes with people’s names, statistical information, or exact quotations. 3. Include directions for delivery. For example, “SHOW GRAPH.” 4. Add emphasis to jog your memory during your speech delivery. You might use capital letters, white spaces, underlining, indentation, dashes, and highlighting with colored markers to emphasize important ideas. Whatever memory prompts you choose, they should easily catch your attention as you speak. 5. Use your speaking outline during your practice sessions. This will ensure maximum familiarity with it when you give your speech.

DEVELOPING YOUR SPEECH PLAN Approaching your speech in an organized manner is important for several reasons. Just as you waste time wandering around a store if you don’t have a shopping list, you appear confused if you give a disorganized speech. The result can be chaotic because you undermine your credibility and risk confusing your listeners. There are five reasons to organize your speeches: 1. Your listeners learn more from an organized speech. Because there is an obvious pattern for categorizing the new material you present, it’s easier for listeners to learn it. Good organization leads to better comprehension. 2. An organized speech is easier for you to present. The ideas fit together more logically. And even if you forget a phrase or two, the speech will still flow naturally, because the organization holds it together. 3. You will appear more credible when you give an organized speech. Your listeners will realize that you have prepared well and will be more likely to accept this demonstration of your expertise. 4. Some evidence suggests that well-organized speeches are more persuasive. You can see why: if listeners trust your preparation and don’t have to strain to understand the ideas, they are more likely to be impressed by your message. 5. Good organization lowers the frustration level for everyone: you and your listeners. This is reason enough to practice developing clear and effective organization when you speak.

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Choosing Your Organizational Plan After you have identified your central idea, you need to think about the organizational plan for your speech. Here are some questions to determine what you’re looking for in an organizational pattern:

• What structure is best suited to the ideas in my speech? Your speech topic may offer natural groupings among ideas that will be easy for your listeners to recognize. For example, if your speech traces the Battle of Gettysburg day by day, it is probably organized by time. On the other hand, if you are talking about the causes, symptoms, and cures for Lyme disease, your ideas fall into a causal pattern. And a speech on the layout of your campus is spatial. You should consider the natural pattern suggested by the ideas of your speech as you think about organizing it. • What structure is best adapted to my audience’s needs? Keep your listeners in mind. What do they know? What do they expect? And what do they need? If your listeners have never heard of bioremediation, then you need to develop your speech on this topic in a very different way than if they are environmental scientists. You can’t ignore your listeners’ need to process information efficiently. That means beginning with what they already know. • How can I make the speech move steadily forward toward closure? Listeners need a sense of forward motion—of moving through a series of main points toward a clear destination. Backtracking slows down the momentum of the speech, giving it a stop-and-start progression rather than a smooth, forward flow. You’ll also enhance the sense of progression with forecasts and transitions to indicate forward movement. Once you’ve developed your central idea and answered these basic questions about the plan of your speech, you’re ready to arrange your ideas. Some topics require chronological order, while other topics can be organized in topical, spatial, or causal patterns. These are speech-centered patterns—that is, they are traditional organizational patterns based on the content of the speech. The needs of your audience, however, may require a special pattern of organization adapted to them. These are audience-centered patterns—that is, these patterns of organization are based on the ways that people think. First, we will discuss some speech-centered types of organization. Then we’ll consider some audiencecentered patterns of organization.

SPEECH-CENTERED PATTERNS OF ORGANIZATION As we use the term here, organization is the order or sequence of ideas in a pattern that suggests their relationship to each other. There are four general types of

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organization that arise from the demands of the topic: (1) chronological, (2) spatial, (3) causal, and (4) topical.

Chronological Patterns Chronological patterns order ideas in a time sequence—more or less as you naturally order your day or week. You begin at one point in time and move forward or backward to some other time. You should begin by asking, “Where do I begin and where do I end my timeline?”

Spatial Patterns In spatial patterns, the major points of the speech are organized by their position—that is, their location to each other. A speech about the movement of weather systems from the north to the south across the United States would fit such a pattern. If you conduct a tour of your campus or describe the constellations in the Southern Hemisphere, you would probably use a spatial pattern. Spatial patterns can trace ideas from east to west, from top to bottom, from left to right, from large to small, or even from inside to outside.

Causal Patterns Causal patterns of speech organization show a relationship between causes and effects. Causal patterns assume that one event results from or causes another. This pattern of organization gives listeners a sense of coherence because ideas are developed in relationship to each other. Causal patterns may move in two directions: (1) from present causes to future effects, or (2) from present conditions to their past causes. Notice that the first outline uses a cause–effect pattern and that the second uses an effect–cause pattern. Which should you choose? That depends on your listeners. Begin with the ideas that are better known to audience members, and then proceed to the lesser-known facets of the problem. Use the cause–effect pattern if listeners are better acquainted with the cause; use the effect–cause pattern if the opposite is true.

Topical Patterns Some speeches on familiar topics are best organized by categories that are already well-known to listeners. You’ll probably recognize the topical patterns in these common examples: sports strategy is divided into offense and defense; kinds of courts into municipal, county, state, and federal jurisdictions; and types of trees into deciduous and evergreen. When you use a topical pattern of organization, you list categories of persons, places, things, or processes. Usually, speakers

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identify the primary or most interesting aspects of their speech instead of trying to list everything. Topical patterns are among the most popular and easiest to use. If you plan to list only certain aspects of the topic, take care to explain your choices early in your speech. If you don’t plan to talk about biofeedback as a means of reducing stress, you should tell your listeners, “I will focus on the three most common approaches to stress reduction and will present simple techniques that anyone can use to reduce the stress in their life.” The patterns of speech organization discussed so far—chronological, spatial, causal, and topical—are determined principally by the subject matter. While these patterns do not ignore the audience, it’s the subject that usually suggests the pattern of organization.

AUDIENCE-CENTERED PATTERNS OF ORGANIZATION At times, audience-oriented patterns of organization will more effectively arrange your material. These patterns often work well because they’re based on the listeners’ needs. You can ask several questions to determine whether an audienceoriented pattern of organization will work for you.

• Can I introduce a new idea by comparing it to something my listeners already know? • How would a person approach this idea for the first time? • What are common, recurring questions about this topic? • Am I presenting a solution to a problem? • Can I eliminate all but one of the alternative solutions to a question or problem? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might consider organizing your speech based on your listeners’ needs. We’ll examine five audience-centered patterns of organization: (1) familiarity–acceptance order, (2) inquiry order, (3) question–answer order, (4) problem–solution order, and (5) elimination order.

Familiarity–Acceptance Order Familiarity–acceptance order begins with what the audience knows or believes (the familiar) and moves on to new or challenging ideas (the unfamiliar). In an informative speech on the subatomic particles called quarks, you can begin with what the audience already knows about molecules and then introduce the new information on quarks. Familiarity–acceptance order is very well suited to persuasive speeches, especially if your listeners are skeptical or hostile. You can begin your speech by acknowledging values or ideas that are accepted by your listeners and then

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proceed to more controversial issues. In this way, your listeners will have difficulty rejecting your claim without denying the underlying facts or values that they already accept. You will probably speak in many different kinds of settings during your lifetime. How can a clear organizational pattern be useful for speakers in informal settings?

Inquiry Order Inquiry order provides a step-by-step explanation of how you acquired information or reached a conclusion. Often, scientists use this pattern as they carefully describe their research procedures to demonstrate the reliability of their findings. Similarly, if you want to persuade your neighbors to plant a new variety of elm tree, you could recount how you studied the varieties that seemed to be dying in your neighborhood, investigated species less susceptible to pests, and searched to find the best variety. Inquiry order has a double advantage. First, it displays relevant facts and alternatives for the audience. Second, it enables listeners to judge for themselves the worth of the information or policy being presented.

Question–Answer Order Question–answer order raises and answers listeners’ questions. First, you must determine which questions are most likely to arise in your listeners’ minds. Then, you need to structure your speech to answer each key question in a way that favors your conclusion. For example, when you buy a new car, you want to know about its principal features, available options, gas mileage, and cost. By structuring your speech to address these questions, you can maintain audience interest and involvement.

Problem–Solution Order When you advocate changes in action or thought, your main points may fall naturally into a problem–solution order. First, you establish the existence of the problem. If your listeners are already aware of the problem, you can remind them of the primary issues. For example, if your listeners walk or ride bicycles to classes, they’ll be unaware that there aren’t enough parking spaces on campus; but if they drive automobiles, they’ll be quite familiar with the parking shortage. You also need to depict the problem in a way that will help your listeners perceive it in the same way that you do. For example, your listeners may tolerate the parking shortage as a simple inconvenience of college life, so you will need to show them that there is no reason to accept a parking shortage. Once you’ve established that a problem exists, you must propose a solution to it. Your solution should be workable and practical. It would be silly to suggest

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building a multimillion-dollar parking complex if financing isn’t available or if the parking complex is too small. However, a carpooling or busing system would be less expensive and might effectively solve the parking problem.

Elimination Order When your phone doesn’t work, you may systematically search for what’s wrong. Is it charged? Are you in a dead zone? Is there a signal? Similarly, with elimination order, you first survey all of the available solutions and courses of action that can reasonably be pursued. Then, proceeding systematically, you eliminate each of the possibilities until only one remains. Elimination order is well suited to persuasive speeches. To use elimination order effectively, you first must make an inclusive survey of options. If you overlook obvious choices, your listeners won’t be convinced by your analysis. Second, you must make the options mutually exclusive; otherwise, your listeners may choose more than one.

A PROCESS All of this is a systematic process of building a speech, checking its flow, seeing how things are related, and ultimately working with what you know about the audience to best align the organization. We do not have the luxury of having your paper or outline to read. We are relying on you as the speaker to make everything easier to understand. What considerations have you made in your process to help us understand? That is where outlining, organization, and preparation come into play.

ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Associating ideas with each other so that there is a coherent pattern of ideas is critical in a speech. 2. Four speech-centered types of organization are chronological, spatial, causal (effect–cause, and cause–effect), and topical patterns. 3. Five audience-centered types of organization are familiarity–acceptance, inquiry, question–answer, problem–solution, and elimination orders. 4. Speakers can use outlines for testing their ideas and guiding their oral presentation of those ideas. 5. Rough outlines test ideas; preparation outlines show flow; speaking outlines guide the presentation of ideas.

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Key Terms audience-centered patterns causal patterns chronological patterns coherence elimination order familiarity–acceptance order

forecasts inquiry order organization problem–solution order question–answer order rough outline

signposts spatial patterns speaking outline speech-centered patterns summaries topical patterns

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Let your mind wander. 1. Find a place where you won’t be disturbed. 2. Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. 3. Ask yourself what you are currently experiencing, and observe your feelings, sensations, and thoughts. 4. Shift your attention to your body and spend a moment or two zooming in on the sensations in places that touch the chair or floor. 5. Shift attention to your breathing and what you experience. 6. Try to let your mind wander. 7. After ten minutes, bring your focus back to the present. 8. Enjoy the ability to wander with your mind.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE Capturing and Holding Attention Introduction Part 1 Attention Getting Device Part 2 Credibility Part 3 Audience Relevance Part 4 Central Idea Part 5 Preview Transitions Conclusions Assessing Your Progress

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FIGURE 9.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

Once you have established a solid outline of what will be said during your speech, it is time to think about introductions, conclusions, and transitions. ​Think about how you will help the audience navigate your speech. These are like going on a road trip. Introduction: The itinerary for the trip. Where are you headed? How are you going to get there? What does the whole trip look like? Transitions: When you stop for the night. Where have you been? What is next? What have you done? What do we have to look forward to? Conclusion: The photo album. Where did we go? How did the whole trip go? What were the highlights? What do we remember from the trip? You can seize some listeners’ attention just by walking up to the lectern, but you need more than that to maximize your impact on them. A good introduction engages listeners’ focus on you and establishes your relationship with them, the tone of your talk, and your approach to the topic. Similarly, a thoughtful conclusion reminds them of your topic’s relevance to their lives and signals what they should remember. People most often remember what they first hear or see (the primacy effect) and what they most recently have seen or heard (the recency effect).

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In this chapter, we review ways to capture and sustain listeners’ attention, examine the purposes of introductions, conclusions, and transitions, and suggest various strategies for beginning and ending speeches.

CAPTURING AND HOLDING ATTENTION Attention is the ability to focus on one element in a perceptual field. When attention is complete, competing elements in the perceptual field fade out. That explains why everything else disappears when you are logged on. You can command your listeners’ maximum focus by using the nine factors of attention in your speech. The factors of attention are (1) activity, (2) reality, (3) proximity, (4) familiarity, (5) novelty, (6) suspense, (7) conflict, (8) humor, and (9) the vital.

Activity Compare a sentimental ballad from late 1950s or early 1960s television shows with a performance on The Voice where lights, costumes, and rapid camera changes all create lots of motion. Action is a common way of holding attention. Tips for creating activity in your speech include:

• Choose active verbs. “Raced,” “tore,” “shot through,” “slammed,” “ripped,” “slashed,” “catapulted,” “flew,” “flashed”: most of these are simple verbs, but they depict activity. • Select dynamic stories. Use illustrations that depict action, and tell fastmoving or emotionally involving stories. • Use short segments. Keep your speech moving by shortening stories or quotations.

Reality The earliest words you learned were names for tangible objects: “mama,” “cookie,” and “toy.” Concrete concepts are the building blocks of our everyday worlds and illustrations of abstract ideas. So, refer to specific events, people, and places. For example, when we used the abstract phrase “tangible objects” at the beginning of this paragraph, we gave you three concrete examples to clarify it. Real objects are easier for everyone to understand. You can create reality for your listeners by using actual objects, referring to concrete examples, and replacing abstract or vague phrases with specific words. So, in your speech on air traffic control, bring in a chart showing air traffic patterns in a nearby airport, use a recent example of a near-collision on the runway, and avoid industry jargon by using everyday terms.

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Proximity Proximity means “nearness.” A direct reference to a person in the audience, a nearby object or place, an incident that has just occurred, or the immediate occasion helps you to command attention. So, when giving a speech on why your outdated classroom should be renovated, you might be able to just point around the room: peeling paint, sealed windows, broken chair, or loose door knobs. The problem is proximate: right there!

Familiarity References to the familiar are attention sustaining, and help listeners identify with you. People drive the same route to work, and children sing the same songs over and over. Stories about Shoeless Joe Jackson, Babe Ruth, Satchel Page, and Roberto Clemente get repeated whenever cultural memories of baseball are invoked. Through the first two years of his presidency, Barack Obama repeatedly used Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous phrase “the fierce urgency of now” in his calls for immediate reform. Such familiarity provides reassurance and continuity. You can appeal to the familiar by reminding your listeners of common experiences like holiday rituals, well-known celebrities, popular television shows, and other widely shared events.

Novelty Novel happenings, dramatic incidents, or unusual developments attract attention. Look at the tabloid newspaper headlines next time you’re in the grocery store checkout line: “Tornado Rearranges Lawn Furniture,” “Neighbor to Marry Alien From Mars,” and “Elvis Presley Sighted at County Fair.” These bizarre stories catch our attention. References to size and contrast work well to create novelty. When using novelty, blending the familiar and the novel, the old and the new, often yields the best results. Otherwise, you risk stretching the credulity of your listeners—like those supermarket tabloids. So, you might pass out candy in your introduction to a speech on the history of chocolate. Or, you might perform a simple magic trick to introduce the topic of disappearing Social Security funds. You can create novelty through unexpected associations, creative metaphors, and unusual approaches to conventional ideas.

Suspense Much of the appeal in mystery stories arises because we don’t know how they will end. The Hunger Games films had enough unusual twists to captivate audiences.

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You, too, can introduce suspense into your speeches. Ask a surprising question to introduce suspense as listeners contemplate the answer. In addition to asking startling questions, you can delay providing the answers so that suspense is heightened or you can begin your speech with a story and hold listeners in suspense about the outcome until the conclusion of your speech.

Conflict Controversy grabs attention. Conflict, like suspense, suggests uncertainty; like activity, it’s dynamic. The next time you hear the news, listen for conflict. You hear about shipwreck survivors as “battling nature,” athletes as “overcoming adversity,” or political opponents as “rallying their troops.” The concept of struggle brings a sense of urgency to the day’s events. That’s why most political campaigns are driven by conflict. In your speeches, you can create conflict among ideas, such as why the United States gives so much foreign aid to countries that it chastises for violating human rights. Conflict engages listeners’ minds and reveals complexities. It’s also dramatic and engaging. You can use conflict by setting up opposing examples, challenging commonly held social conventions, or offering alternative viewpoints for your listeners to consider.

Humor Listeners usually pay attention when they’re enjoying themselves. Humor unites you and your audience if you share viewpoints, beliefs, and attitudes. When using humor to capture and hold attention, remember to make it relevant to your topic and inoffensive to your listeners. Because the humor is good-natured, it allows everyone to enjoy a moment of camaraderie as they remember similar experiences in their own lives.

The Vital The phrase “the vital” was coined by Alan Monroe, the original author of this textbook, to reflect our tendency to be concerned with things that immediately benefit us. We pay attention to matters that affect our health, reputation, property, or employment. When a speaker says, “Students who take internships while in college find jobs after graduation three times as fast as those who don’t,” you’re likely to pay attention, because getting a job is vital to you. Use the vital in your speaking by discovering what is important to your listeners. Recognize their goals and dreams as well as their fears and limitations, then link your ideas to what is vital to your listeners.

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In summary, these nine different ways to stimulate and maintain attention give your speech sparkle and spunk, tie you more tightly to your audience, and help listeners follow and remember your speech. But how do we actually build this attention at the beginning of our speech? We will explore that next.

INTRODUCTION Introductions are vital to the success of your speech. The first few seconds tell your audience where you are headed. An introduction should have five elements: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Attention Getting Device Relevance to Audience Credibility of the Speaker Central Idea Preview

Attention is not enough. You must also secure goodwill and respect as well as prepare your listeners to hear what you have to say. In other words, you must build your credibility. Practice your introduction so that you can begin your speech with confidence. You should assure your listeners that you are ready and eager to talk to them so they can relax and focus on your ideas. You might bolster their confidence by reminding them that you have expertise on the topic. You can also convey a positive attitude through your nonverbal delivery and your language. Choose positive, active words to signal your enthusiasm for the topic. Use direct eye contact to engage your listeners. You should carefully build specific connections with your audience: by aligning your beliefs, attitudes, and values with theirs; framing your specific purposes in appealing ways; tapping into their interests and curiosities; and previewing the developmental pattern that organizes your speech. There may be times when your listeners dislike your position or even the topic. When confronted by indifference, distrust, or skepticism, tie conceptions of their self-identities to your argument and approach. By commenting on the differences between your views and theirs, let them know that you’re aware of disagreements but are seeking consensus. Your speech introduction is important because people often remember what they first hear. You can create a powerful first impression by presenting your ideas in ways that engender goodwill, a fair hearing, and listeners’ positive views of you and your material. Following are some approaches you might use for an introduction to your speech (see Figure 9.2). As you think about your introduction, choose an approach that enhances your credibility as well as gains attention.

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FIGURE 9.2 TYPES OF INTRODUCTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS You can choose among different types of introductions and conclusions for your speeches. As you choose your introduction, ask yourself whether it orients your audience to your purposes and ideas. When choosing a conclusion, ask whether it summarizes your ideas, reinforces the appropriate mood, and achieves closure. Referring to the subject or occasion Using a personal reference or greeting Asking a question Making a startling statement Using a quotation Telling a humorous story Using an illustration

Speech

Issuing a challenge Summarizing the major points or ideas Using a quotation Using an illustration Supplying an additional inducement to belief or action Stating a personal intention

PART 1 ATTENTION GETTING DEVICE There are a variety of ways to get the attention of your audience. In the first few seconds, you need to gain attention and show that you have a passion for what you will be talking about. Keep in mind, different attention-getting devices work for some individuals and don’t work for others. If you struggle with humor, avoid humor. If your strength is reciting powerful statistics, go with that. Here are some examples of how to gain attention (not an exhaustive list, be creative).

Referring to the Subject or Occasion If your audience already has a vital interest in your subject, you need only to state that subject before presenting your first main point. The speaker wastes no time in addressing the topic because listeners have voluntarily chosen to attend the

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talk. The speaker still must establish expertise, however, and provide a brief preview of the main ideas in the speech.

Using a Personal Reference or Greeting At times, a warm, personal greeting from a speaker or the remembrance of a previous visit can quickly establish a positive rapport between a speaker and the audience. This is especially important if the speaker is representing an organization. Official ties are one thing, but if they can be personalized, the audience may be even more open to developing a relationship with the speaker. The brevity and forthrightness of her words struck exactly the right note on this occasion. If a personal reference is sincere and appropriate, it will establish goodwill as well as gain attention.

Asking a Question Another way to open a speech is to ask a question or series of questions to spark thinking about your subject. Rhetorical questions—that is, those for which you do not expect direct audience response—are often used to forecast the development of the speech. A speaker could use rhetorical questions to capture listeners’ interest and then use rhetorical questions again to forecast her major speech topics: “Can you imagine losing everything: your house, your car, your savings accounts? All because you used your credit card to purchase something online? This could happen to you. It’s called identity theft, and last year alone, there were thousands of cases. You don’t have to be the next victim.” Rhetorical questions are most often used with topical organizations when other types of forecasts are more difficult to use.

Making a Startling Statement On certain occasions, you may choose to open a speech by making a startling statement of fact or opinion. This approach is especially useful when listeners are distracted, apathetic, or smug. It rivets their attention on your topic. Present facts or ideas that are verifiable. Your goal is to startle your listeners by giving them something new to think about or by providing a new perspective on known facts and ideas.

Telling a Humorous Story You can begin a speech by telling a funny story or relating a humorous experience. When doing so, however, observe the following three rules of communication:

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1. Be sure that the story is at least amusing, if not funny. Test it out on others before you deliver the speech. Practice sufficiently so that you can present the story naturally. 2. Be sure that the story is relevant to your speech. If its subject matter or punch line is not directly related to you, your topic, or at least your next couple of sentences, the story will appear to be a gimmick. 3. Be sure that it works for you AND your audience. Certain humor does not work for some individuals. Being sarcastic sometimes doesn’t land because of your personal delivery style. Sometimes, audiences do not appreciate sarcasm. Think about how the first things will be said.

Using an Illustration A real-life incident, a passage from a novel or short story, or a hypothetical illustration can also get a speech off to a good start. An illustration should be not only interesting to the audience but also relevant to your central idea. If the illustration were humorous, rather than serious, the effect would be different but equally useful. Illustrations can come from your own experience, the lives of others, or the biographies of famous people gleaned from biographies, news accounts, and other sources.

PART 2 CREDIBILITY Answer this question briefly in your introduction: Why do I want to listen to YOU for the next ten minutes? I have lots of choices to gain information. In the world of a click of a button, I cannot get all the answers, why you? Make me like you. Make me see you as an expert on this topic. Make me see you as someone who wants me to learn something from this speech. The credibility statement does not have to be rigid and formulaic. Just level with us as audience members and make me want to listen to you.

PART 3 AUDIENCE RELEVANCE Answer this question briefly in your introduction: Why do I want to listen to this TOPIC for the next ten minutes? What is the relationship to me as an audience member? Audience members crave certain elements to be present in an introduction and tying it to their lives helps keep them engaged. If I cannot see the relevance to me and view your speech as a data dump, I will not care. Make it relevant to my current living situation, financial situation, my knowledge level, my lack of knowledge, and how it will benefit me. Just make it important to me.

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PART 4 CENTRAL IDEA The central idea (sometimes called a thesis statement) is a statement that captures, usually in a single sentence, the essence of the information or concept you wish to communicate to an audience. This needs to be heard in the introduction. What is the key takeaway from the entire speech? This is often repeated throughout the speech.

PART 5 PREVIEW Your introduction should also forecast the speech’s development using a preview. The preview establishes your listeners’ understanding of the organization of your speech, thus enhancing your credibility. It creates listener receptivity by providing a structure for you and your listeners to follow during the speech. Here are some examples of types of previews:

• Announce the organizational pattern. You might say, “I’ll develop the effects of the problem of carbon dioxide emissions and then examine their causes” (causal pattern) or “In demonstrating how to check basic problems with your computer, I’ll consider three topics. I’ll be talking about the hard drive, the ancillary drive systems, and the word-processing program” (topical order). • Use mnemonic devices. Acronyms aid memory: for example, “I’m going to discuss the ABCs of jogging. Always wear good shoes. Baby your feet. Call a podiatrist if problems develop.” • Employ alliteration. Rely on sound similarities to create interest: for example, “My advice for finding someone to work within a group? Use the three As: availability, attitude, and active listener. • Use repetition. Reinforce your message by repeating the main phrases. You can say, “We need to examine how a lack of street lights creates a problem on campus, a problem on nearby streets, a problem on downtown streets, and ultimately, even a problem on the seemingly quiet, wooded streets of suburbia.”

TRANSITIONS So now you have a great body of your speech, a good introduction, and organization. But, you cannot seem to get from idea to idea. It is time to build some transitions between your main ideas. Think of transitions as signals for an audience member to acknowledge you are done talking about one idea and now going to talk about another all while tying them together. See Figure 9.3 and use buckets as an analogy. If I keep talking on and on with no signal that I have moved on,

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FIGURE 9.3 OVERFLOWING BUCKET WITH NO TRANSITIONS

an audience member will keep filling up bucket number one. This will overload them with information and nothing will be processed. You set out the buckets in your preview, help us understand that you are moving on to the next idea to fill up that bucket with great information. Transitions are constructed of three parts, signposts, internal previews, and internal summaries. Signposts are linking phrases that move an audience from one idea to another. Signposts or transitions are words or phrases, such as “first,” “next,” or “as a result,” that help listeners follow the movement of your ideas. Signposts such as “the history of this invention begins in” also provide clues to the overall message structure. The following are useful signposts:

• “In the first place … The second point is …” • “In addition … to notice that …” • “Now look at it from a different angle …” • “You must keep these three things in mind to understand the importance of the fourth …” • “What was the result?” • “Turning now to …” The preceding signposts are neutral. They tell an audience that another idea is coming, but they don’t indicate whether it’s similar, different, or more important. You can improve the coherence of your speeches by indicating the precise relationships among ideas. Those relationships include parallel/hierarchical, similar/ different, and coordinate/subordinate relationships. Here are some examples:

• Parallel: “Not only … but also …” • Hierarchical: “More important than these …”

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• Different: “In contrast …” • Similar: “Similar to this …” • Coordinated: “One must consider X, Y, and Z …” • Subordinated: “On the next level is …” Internal previews precede the development of each main idea forming part of the transition to a new idea. They provide an overview of the speech structure. Previews are especially helpful in outlining the major topics of the speech. Each of these forecasts links the introduction of the speech to the development of ideas in the body of the speech. The forecast shows the listener what to expect. In a sense, you are providing a road map when you signal your speech structure in a forecast, so your listeners can relax and enjoy the ride instead of wondering where they are headed. Forecasts, internal and final summaries, and signposts are important to your audience. Forecasts and summaries give listeners an overall sense of your entire message; if listeners can easily see the structure, they’ll better understand and remember your speech. Creating coherence through forecasts, summaries, and signposts also enhances your credibility because you are demonstrating that you are well-prepared. An internal summary provides coherence in your speech by recapping the ideas that you’ve covered. You can summarize ideas internally as you close a main topic before moving on to another topic. For example, “Worldwide dependence on fossil fuels is the primary contributor to global warming. Now, let’s examine some effects of global warming.” Transferable Skill. One of the most difficult things to do in a speech is move from idea to idea. The same goes for running a meeting, moving from conversation to conversation, and moving from task to task. Figuring out how to think through a good transition is a desirable skill.

CONCLUSIONS A good conclusion should accomplish three things. It should 1. Signal Conclusion. Use movement, gestures, and change in tone to signal conclusion is happening. Signposts such as “to wrap up” or “in conclusion” are the obvious choices. 2. Restate the Central Idea. Say what you said in the beginning. 3. Memorable Close. The term in gymnastics is to “stick the landing”. End the speech with confidence. Below are some common methods used. The first two should be relatively easy by restating the thesis and signaling that you are ending. However, the memorable close needs a bit more discussion.

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Memorable Close Just as the introduction to your speech accomplishes specific purposes, so does the conclusion. An effective conclusion: (1) reinforces the message of the speech, letting listeners understand one more time the importance and significance of what you’re saying; (2) completes the emotional relationship you’ve constructed with your listeners; and (3) creates a sense of completeness or closure. If your speech has one dominant idea, restate it clearly and forcefully. If your speech is more complex, summarize the key points or spell out the action or belief that these points suggest. Take advantage of the recency effect—your listeners are more likely to remember your conclusion because it is the most recent part of your speech. In addition to reinforcing the central idea or claim, conclusions should leave the audience in the proper mood. If you want your listeners to express vigorous enthusiasm, use language and enthusiastic delivery to create that mood. Decide whether the response you seek is an atmosphere of seriousness or good humor, of warm sympathy or utter disgust, of thoughtfulness or action. Then, end your speech in a way that will create that mood. Finally, a good ending should convey a sense of completeness and finality. Listeners grow restless and annoyed when they think the speech is finished, only to hear the speaker ramble on. Tie the threads of thought together so that the pattern of your speech is brought clearly to completion. Then end it. Avoid the temptation to add something you just thought of, or an idea you forgot to include earlier. Following are some approaches you might use for a conclusion to your speech.

Issuing a Challenge You may conclude your speech by issuing a challenge to your listeners, requesting support or action, or reminding them of their responsibilities. That challenge can be as direct as the one used in this student speech on volunteering during spring break. Imagine the satisfaction you’ll feel when you return to classes after spring break. You’ll have contributed to the well-being of others instead of squandering your days lying on a beach. You’ll have improved the lives of people for years to come instead of getting a tan that will just fade within the month. By volunteering to build a house for Habitat for Humanity, you will have changed our society. Notice the use of parallel structure in this conclusion: to contribute instead of squander, to improve instead of tan. Such attention to style elevates the challenge, giving it a seriousness that inspires listeners.

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Summarizing the Major Points or Ideas In an informative speech, a summary allows the audience to pull together the main strands of information and evaluate the significance of the speech. In a persuasive speech, it gives you a final opportunity to present the major points of your argument. Summarizing the main ideas of the speech gave the speaker another opportunity to reinforce the message and terminology.

Using an Illustration Illustrations engage your listeners emotionally. If you use a concluding illustration, it can set the tone of your final words. Your illustration should be both inclusive of the main focus or thrust of your speech and conclusive in its impact. Capturing the message and the way the speaker wanted the audience to feel about the message is nicely illustrated this way.

Supplying an Additional Inducement to Belief or Action Sometimes, you may conclude a speech by quickly reviewing the principal ideas presented in the body and then supplying one or more additional reasons for endorsing the belief or taking the proposed action. Give the audience a very direct and identifiable call to action.

Stating a Personal Intention Stating your intention to adopt the action or attitude you recommend in your speech is particularly effective when your credibility with your audience is high or when you have presented a concrete proposal requiring immediate action. Are you giving a speech telling your fellow students to visit the bloodmobile parked by the student center today? Tell them you’re going there to give blood right after class. Regardless of the means you choose for closing your speech, remember that it should focus the attention of your listeners on the central theme or argument you’ve developed. In addition, a good conclusion should be consistent with the mood of your speech and should convey a sense of closure. Introductions, conclusions, and transitions serve the purpose of helping guide listeners through a speech. Do the work to consider the elements and how to incorporate those most effectively. It will make your job easier and your speech more enjoyable.

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ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Introductions should grab attention, give a clear takeaway, preview the structure, get the audience interested in the topic, and make them want to listen to YOU. 2. Types of introductions include: referring to the subject or occasion, using a personal reference or greeting, asking a question, making a startling statement, using a quotation, telling a humorous story, and using an illustration. 3. In concluding your speech, you should attempt to focus the thoughts of your audience on your central theme, maintain the tenor of your speech, close off (or extend) the relationship built between speaker and listeners, and convey a sense of finality. 4. Transitions help guide the audience through the speech like a road trip. 5. Techniques for ending a speech include: issuing a challenge, summarizing the major points or ideas, using an illustration, supplying an additional inducement to belief or action, and stating a personal intention.

Key Terms attention factors of attention internal preview

internal summary primacy effect recency effect

rhetorical questions signpost

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Schedule Self Care Time 1. We are good at scheduling things that are obligations and things that we may not want to do. 2. Schedule a self-care day, hour, or ten minutes. 3. What will you do? Call your friend you haven’t talked to, go for a walk, grab a coffee, or take a long shower. 4. Reflect on how taking time for yourself helped.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE Using Oral Style Using Language Strategically Choosing a Rhetorical Frame Creating an Atmosphere Assessing Your Progress

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FIGURE 10.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

You might be thinking to yourself, “what do I need to know about language? I’ve been using it all of my life!” ​Oral language has been integral to your self-understanding and relationships with others for longer than you can remember, but that doesn’t mean it’s not complicated. Language functions on multiple levels. It is a referential, relational, and symbolic medium of communication. Because language refers to things, it is referential. When you label or name things such as “dog,” “tree,” or “bagel,” you are illustrating the referential nature of language. Young children learn the power of language as a referential tool early. Language also has relational powers; it suggests associations between people. “Give me that bagel!” not only points to a specific object, but it also indicates that one person has the power or authority to command another person. Some groups even use their own special languages that exclude others. Technical language is used most often by professionals, and your slang doesn’t sound right when used by your grandmother. Finally, language is symbolic; it can be disconnected from the concrete world. We can talk about unreal things, such as unicorns, or abstract constructs,

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such as democracy and love. Whole empires of thought can be constructed out of language. When you speak, it’s not enough to know the words. You must also understand how language reflects human relationships, shared senses of reality, and human abstractions: your culture and thinking. In essence, we’ve been talking about the fundamental quality of orality that exists in our use of language. When you put ideas into words or actions, you are using language orally. In this chapter, we’ll focus on using an oral speaking style, using language strategically, and creating a speaking atmosphere.

USING ORAL STYLE Generally, spoken language is uncomplicated. It has to be because we use it every day: at the grocery store, with our friends, around the supper table, and in our classes. Most of the time when you speak, you use an informal oral style like you do in everyday situations. Oral style is informal, similar to conversation. Good oral style is clear and direct. The topic of conversation is obvious and the discussion uses language that’s appropriate to the relationships between the listeners and speakers. Good oral style is flexible too. It can be adapted to handle imaginary matters, such as unicorns, or abstractions, such as “love,” in concrete ways. Occasionally, spoken language assumes a more complicated and formal style that more closely resembles written work; this is referred to as written style. It usually indicates a formal occasion or weighty topic. Consider the following examples of written and oral style. If you write out your whole speech before giving it, the result is likely to be stilted and stiff. It might sound more like an essay than a speech. For example, consider the following introduction. I am most pleased that you could come this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to discuss with you a subject of inestimable importance to us all: the impact of inflationary spirals and shrinking government-insured loans on students enrolled in institutions of higher education. Translated into an oral style, a speaker would say: Thanks for coming. I’d like to talk today about a problem for all of us: the rising cost of going to college. Notice how much more natural the second version sounds. The first example is wordy—filled with prepositional phrases, complex words, and formal sentences. This style is okay for a university president who will publish it in an alumni magazine or on an academic website, but the second example contains shorter sentences, simpler vocabulary, and direct address of the listeners. It’s more appropriate for a speech.

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SPEAKING OF … SKILLS

Oral Versus Written Style How do you instantly recognize that a speaker has written out a speech? It sounds as though it’s been written. The speaker uses a written rather than oral style. Here are some ways in which oral style differs from written style: • • • • • •

You use shorter sentences in oral communication, on average. You use fewer different words when you speak. You use a large number of short words, such as “it” and “the,” in oral communication. Fifty simple words constitute almost half of your speaking vocabulary. You refer to people more often with words like “I,” “you,” “me,” “our,” and “us” when you speak. You use more qualifying words, such as “much,” “many,” “a lot,” and “most,” in oral communication. Your language choices are more informal when you speak, and you use more contractions.

For most speech occasions, you should cultivate an oral style. On rare, highly ceremonial occasions, you may decide to read from a prepared text, but even then you should strive for an oral style. Three fundamental qualities will help you develop a clear and effective oral style: (1) accuracy, (2) simplicity, and (3) restatement.

Accuracy Oral language is usually concrete and specific. When you speak, your goal is precision. Because words are symbols that represent not only objects but also ideas about those objects, your listeners may attach a meaning to your words that’s quite different from the one you intended. Say the word “cow,” and we’ll likely all envision the same beast. However, for kids from a farm in western Iowa, that animal is central to the family’s livelihood and their 4-H experiences; a kid from a large metro area neighborhood might only see a cute calf in a petting zoo. People’s experiences vary widely, even with common, concrete terms. Imagine the potential for confusion when you use more abstract words. Misinterpretation and confusion become more likely as your words become more abstract, such as “democracy” or “capitalism,” or phrases like “the way of life.” To avoid vagueness or misinterpretation, choose words that express the exact shade of meaning you wish to communicate in language that listeners are likely to know. You might say that an object “shines,” but the object might also “glow,” “glitter,” “glisten,” “flare,” “gleam,” “glare,” “blaze,” “shimmer,” “glimmer,” “flicker,” “sparkle,” “flash,” and “beam.” Each word allows you to describe the experience more precisely. Accuracy means using exact terms to convey clear meaning.

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Simplicity “Speak,” said Abraham Lincoln, “so that the most lowly can understand you, and the rest will have no difficulty.” Because electronic media reach audiences and cultures more varied than Lincoln could have imagined, you have even more reason to follow his advice today. Say “learn” rather than “ascertain,” “try” rather than “endeavor,” “use” rather than “utilize,” and “help” rather than “facilitate.” Don’t use a longer or less familiar word when a simple one is just as clear. Simplicity doesn’t mean simplistic. If you talk down to your audience, they will be insulted. Instead, speak directly and use words that convey precise, shared, and concrete meanings.

Restatement Because words disappear into the atmosphere as soon as they’re spoken, your listeners may miss ideas. Because they can’t go back to review like they can when reading, you must rely on restatement. Restatement is the repetition of words, phrases, and ideas to clarify and reinforce them. The key here is not simply to repeat yourself but to rephrase to advance listeners’ understanding or acceptance of an idea—to reach every listener with at least one of the phrasings. Advertisers frequently depend on restatement to reinforce their point. Restating an idea from several perspectives usually involves listing its components or redefining the basic concept. Restatement can help your listeners remember your ideas more readily.

USING LANGUAGE STRATEGICALLY Developing an effective oral speaking style is important. You will also, however, want to think more about the power of language: the power to alter people’s thinking and to move them to action. To accomplish those goals, you need to use oral language strategically. We will focus on three of the most common language strategies: (1) definitions, (2) imagery, and (3) metaphor.

Definitions Audience members need to understand the fundamental concepts of your speech. As a speaker, you have several options to define unfamiliar or difficult concepts. You’re most familiar with a dictionary definition, which categorizes an object or concept and specifies its characteristics: “An orange is a fruit (category) that is round, orange in color, and a member of the citrus family (characteristics).” Occasionally, a word has so many meanings that you have to choose one. If that’s the case, stipulate the meaning you’re working with. A stipulative definition designates how a word will be used in a certain context. You might say, “By

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rich, I mean a household earning enough annually to be classified in the top 5% of household incomes.” Getting someone to see your point of view often depends on strategic rhetorical decisions. You can further clarify a term or a concept by telling your audience how you are not going to use the concept—that is, by using a negative definition. Defining negatively can clear away possible misconceptions. Using a negative definition along with a stipulative definition, like the examples above, allows you to treat a commonplace phenomenon in a different (and more positive) way. Sometimes, you can reinforce an idea by telling your listeners where a word came from. One way to do this is by using an etymological definition. An etymological definition is the derivation of a single word. So, in talking about the type of speech we call a “eulogy,” you might say: “The word eulogy comes from Greek ‘logia,’ meaning to use words or to speak, and the prefix ‘eu-,’ meaning good or well. So, a eulogy originally was a talk where you spoke well of a person—both their characteristics and those they shared with the rest of the community.” The Oxford English Dictionary often provides the historical meanings of words. One of the best ways to define a technical or unfamiliar term is by example—with an exemplar definition. You might tell your listeners, “Each day, most of you stroll past the Old Capitol on your way to classes. That building is a perfect example of what I want to talk about today: federal architecture.” Be careful, however, to use in your definition only those examples that are familiar to your audience members. A contextual definition tells listeners how a word is used in a specific situation. For example, a speech instructor tells her students: The word framing can be used in different ways. You can frame a picture with a wooden or metal border. If you’re good with tools, you can frame a house by setting corner posts, and then constructing doors and windows within wall studs. But today, I want to talk about framing the way psychologists use that word: to describe the way that human beings attempt to control your perceptions of people, places, things, and problems by providing a perspective or point of view. A perspective or viewpoint is the key to psychological framing. Still, another means of making technical or abstract notions easier to understand is the analogical definition. An analogy compares a process or event that is unknown with ones that are known, as in “Hospitals and labs use cryogenic tanks, which work much like large Thermos bottles, to freeze tissue samples, blood, and other organic matter.” By referring to what is familiar, the analogical definition can make the unfamiliar much easier to grasp.

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The points here are simple but important:

• There are many different kinds of definitions to choose from when working with unfamiliar or difficult concepts.

• Select definitional strategies that make sense for your subject matter, your audience, and your purposes.

• Use definitions strategically to make your style more accurate and simple, and to encode ideas in ways that can give them more popular appeal.

Imagery People grasp their worlds through the senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. To intensify listeners’ experiences, you can appeal to these senses. You can stimulate your listeners’ sensory recall by using language to create images that they have previously experienced. Imagery consists of sets of sensory impressions evoked in the imagination and memory through language. The language of imagery is rooted in the particular sensation that it seeks to evoke.

• Visual imagery describes optical stimuli, such as size, shape, color, and movement. You might use contrasts of light and dark, brilliant hues of paint, and movement of the eye around the canvas to help your listeners appreciate your favorite artists. • Auditory imagery creates impressions of sounds through description. You can help your listeners hear the patterned chaos of punk rock or experience the soft stillness of a fall Maine lake by choosing your language carefully. • Gustatory imagery depicts sensations of taste. Mention the saltiness, sweetness, sourness, or spiciness of various foods. Remember textures as well. While demonstrating how to make popcorn, you might mention the crispness of the kernels, the oily sweetness of the melted butter, and the grittiness of the salt. • Olfactory imagery helps your audience smell the odors connected with the situation you describe. Smell is a powerful sense because it normally triggers a flood of associated images. Think about a state fair: Polish sausages with fried onions, diesel fumes, rancid grease, animal manure, cotton candy, and freshly mown grass. Describing the swirl of smells can make it feel vivid. • Tactile imagery comes to us through physical contact with external objects. In particular, tactile imagery gives sensations of texture and shape, pressure, and heat or cold. Let your listeners feel the smooth, slimy, stickiness

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of modeling clay. Let them sense the weight of a hiking backpack, the pinch of a wetsuit, or the facial pain caused by wind-driven sleet. • Kinesthetic imagery describes the sensations associated with muscle strain and neuromuscular movement. You can share the triumph of marathon racing by letting your listeners feel the muscle cramps, the constricted chest, the struggle for air, and the magical serenity of getting a second wind before running toward the finish line. • Organic imagery focuses on internal feelings or sensations, such as hunger, dizziness, and nausea. There are times when an experience is incomplete without the description of inner feelings. The lightheadedness that a motocross rider experiences flying over a steep grade is one example. Another is the way the bottom seems to drop out of your stomach on a roller coaster. Different people respond to different kinds of imagery, so you should insert several types of imagery in your speeches. We want to have your language paint a picture and allow us to explore what you are talking about in a variety of ways.

CHOOSING A RHETORICAL FRAME Another good strategy to use when speaking, especially to diverse listeners, is to create a rhetorical frame—that is, an orientation that will be accepted by your audience. That’s exactly what Belinda did when she volunteered to raise money for the daily operations of her local humane society. When she asked her boss to donate, Belinda talked about the “partnership” that the company had formed with the community and reminded her boss that part of the responsibility of a partnership was to share with others. Belinda relied on the value of partnership to convince her boss to give money. Because her rhetorical frame rested on the concept of partnership as a value, Belinda used a valuative frame to present her argument. Valuative frames can depend on dominant community values such as fairness in housing or opportunities in employment. More abstract values such as freedom, justice, and democracy are often used to frame arguments to persuade others. In the debate on reproductive rights, both sides construct a rhetorical frame—the right to choice versus the right to life. There is evidence to suggest that arguments featuring positive values are more persuasive than those featuring negative values. So, it’s probably wise to stress the positive values over the negative values. Belinda used the positive value of partnership to persuade her boss, rather than using a slightly more negative value of responsibility or duty. When Belinda asks her roommate for money, she uses a different rhetorical frame. She told the story of Sparky, the little dog she had adopted from the humane society. The exploits of Sparky had her roommate laughing and crying—and

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writing a check to help support the local humane society. Just as Belinda discovered when she used the heartwarming story of Sparky, a narrative frame can elicit a strong emotional response from listeners. Stories of tragedy and hope, and romance and danger, can capture attention and hold interest even when the story does not directly involve the listener. These stories or narrative frames can hook the listener in personal ways that provoke intense reactions. Research on presidential election campaigns found that the vast majority of news coverage of leading candidates dealt with the candidates’ personalities and activities, not with the issues or their policies. Voters are interested in the candidates’ families, home lives, spats with other candidates, and blunders. Such rhetorical framing helps to create a feeling of closeness to the candidate.

CREATING AN ATMOSPHERE You cultivate the atmosphere of the speaking occasion largely through your speaking style. Sometimes, the atmosphere of the occasion dictates what speaking style should be used. You don’t expect howling humor during a funeral. Even so, sometimes a friend or relative will tell a funny story about the deceased. Yet the overall tone of a speech at a funeral should be respectful, even solemn. In contrast, a speech after a football victory, an election win, or a successful fund drive is seldom somber. Victory speeches are times for celebration and unity. Transferable Skill. The speaking atmosphere is the mindset or mental attitude that you attempt to create in your audience. How do you generate an atmosphere or mood in your listeners? You can adjust the intensity of feelings by managing the tone and appropriateness of your language and by maintaining identification with your listeners, your relationship to the subject, and the cultural rules governing the occasion.

Intensity Intensity—the emotional force of words in context—tells your listener how deeply you feel about your talk and how you hope the listeners will react as well. In a sense, you are trying to recreate your feelings through language choices.

Appropriateness Your oral language should be appropriate not only to your listeners but also to the speech topic and situation. Solemn occasions call for restrained and dignified language; joyful occasions call for informal and lively word choices. The language used for a marriage ceremony wouldn’t work for a half-time locker room pep talk, and vice versa. Fit your oral language to the audience and speaking situation.

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Informal Language. Make sure that your language level is appropriate to your audience. Before you use informal language, check to see who’s listening. Informal language, including slang, quickly goes out of style. Match your word choice to your listeners’ cultural backgrounds. But also, we connect more with those who speak using their preferred speaking style. Don’t try to force a formal style that would not typically align with your style. Neutral Language in a speech is important to be inclusive and avoid assumptions about gender, culture, or other identities. Here are five ways to effectively use neutral language. Pronoun Usage: Use gender-neutral pronouns like “they/them“ when referring to a person whose gender is unknown or when discussing individuals in a general context. For example, instead of saying “he or she,” you can say “they.” This is difficult for some as it violates the basic learned assumptions of grammar use. Attempting to be neutral or even using names instead of pronouns helps with pronoun neutrality. Gender Neutral Language: When referring to someone’s title or occupation, use neutral terms. For instance, use “firefighter” instead of “fireman” or “police officer” instead of “policeman.” These small efforts make it more welcoming to those whose identity might not align with certain words. Steer clear of gendered adjectives or descriptors. For example, instead of using “chairman,” use “chair” or “chairperson.” Words can communicate values or attitudes to your listeners. Gender-linked words are those that directly or indirectly identify males or females. Generic Language: Use generic terms that don’t assume a specific gender or identity. For instance, instead of saying “ladies and gentlemen,” you can say “distinguished guests” or “everyone.” Experiential Sensitivity: Be aware of those who may not have the same experience that you or others in your audience might have. In your speech you might say, “Everyone knows how to drive a car”, as it seems like a pretty common thing. However, a select few individuals in the audience might be unable to drive a car and a statement like this leaves them out. Be aware of how you phrase and use stories that might be exclusive. Ability Sensitivity: Some individuals are not able to do certain things. Just because we all are enrolled in a public speaking class does not mean we have the same ability to speak. Be aware of how you use language that might exclude members who do not have certain abilities. Being neutral and inclusive will help build goodwill for the entire audience. None of this is easy. We use the knowledge we have on how we communicate and how we have communicated our entire lives. Practicing neutral language in

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your speech might take some getting used to, so rehearse and edit your content to ensure you’re using inclusive language. Increasing your awareness of the potential biases in your language is essential for making it neutral. By incorporating these strategies, you can create a more inclusive and respectful speech that resonates with a diverse audience.

Share Your Story Language is powerful. Language is complicated. Language allows us to understand each other. Be true to yourself and share stories. Sharing stories is a powerful and effective way to enhance language use and development. Sharing those stories will help with your vocabulary expansion as well as expanding your audience’s knowledge. Stories expose individuals to a wide range of words, phrases, and expressions, helping expand vocabulary. Stories add contextual understanding by providing context for words and phrases, allowing listeners to understand meanings and usage within a specific context. This helps in grasping nuanced language and improving comprehension skills. Stories often incorporate cultural references, idiomatic expressions, and societal norms. By engaging with diverse stories, listeners gain insights into different cultures, enhancing their cross-cultural communication skills. Stories stimulate imagination and encourage listeners to visualize new world realities. This process fosters creative thinking and the ability to describe and express ideas vividly. Stories often evoke emotions and empathy as listeners connect with the speakers’ experiences. This emotional engagement aids in understanding and expressing emotions more effectively in language. Stories provide narrative structure with introductions, rising action, climaxes, and resolutions—helping individuals organize their thoughts and communicate ideas coherently and engagingly. Narrative storytelling assists with retention and recall. Listeners remember new vocabulary, phrases, and concepts better when they are encountered within a compelling narrative. Overall, sharing stories is an enjoyable and effective means of improving language skills, engaging the audience, and expressing your true self. As we’ve already discussed, your speaking style arises from your word choices, your language intensity, and your rhetorical strategies. It also arises from your economic, social, and ethnic experiences, because these experiences are reflected in how you speak, what you talk about, and the patterns of your messages.

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ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY . Language functions on referential, relational, and symbolic levels. 1 2. Successful speeches generally follow the oral style that is typical of conversations with accurate word choice, simple phrasing, and restatement. 3. Rhetorical strategies are word and phrase choices intended to control the impact of the speech. 4. Imagery consists of word pictures that intensify listeners’ experiences by engaging their senses. There are seven types of imagery: (1) visual, (2) auditory, (3) gustatory, (4) olfactory, (5) tactile, (6) kinesthetic, and (7) organic. 5. The intensity and appropriateness of language can be altered to contribute to the atmosphere created for your audience.

Key Terms accuracy analogical definition atmosphere contextual definition dictionary definition etymological definition exemplar definition gender-linked words

gender-neutral words imagery intensity metaphor narrative frame negative definition oral language oral style

restatement rhetorical frame simplicity stipulative definition valuative frame written style

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Color Away the Anxiety 1. Take a trip down memory lane and think about wonderful memories. 2. Choose some type of printable design and begin coloring. 3. Color for about 20 minutes and focus on the satisfaction of creating something and reflecting on positivity.

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11

CHAPTER OUTLINE Selecting the Method of Delivery A Quick Note on Ability Using Your Voice to Communicate Using Your Body to Communicate Reminder on Finding Yourself Assessing Your Progress

DOI: 10.4324/9781003414926-11

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FIGURE 11.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

Consider some of the famous people you know: ​Abraham Lincoln suffered from extreme stage fright; Eleanor Roosevelt was self-admittedly awkward and clumsy, John F. Kennedy had a strong dialect and repetitive gestures; Barack Obama sometimes hesitates as he speaks; and you? You may worry about what to do with your hands, where to look, how to stand, and whether you will manage your “ums” and “ahs”. These are features of delivery that you can learn to manage with practice. But also, you can make it work for your style. Delivery is not a “one size fits all” approach. You must find what works for you. Most of the important relationships in your life happen as you interact through communication. But there will be times in your life when communication gets more formal than chatting with friends, contributing to class discussions, or talking on your cell phone. You will present the findings of your research group, propose that the city council support your cause, or offer congratulations in a wedding toast. These times call for special forms of speaking and listening. This textbook is about those more formal speaking situations. Specifically, in this chapter, we will focus on delivery—the oral transfer of information and understanding from one person to another. First, we will

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examine your options for delivering speeches, and then, we will discuss the use of your voice and your body to enhance your speech delivery. More specifically, we’re dealing with how sound is shaped into meaning and how your body and your voice can add intelligibility, emphasis, and even emotion to your words.

SELECTING THE METHOD OF DELIVERY How should you deliver your speech to others? Your choice will be based on several criteria, including the type of speaking occasion, the purpose of your speech, audience expectations, and your strengths and weaknesses as a speaker. Usually, you have four choices: you can deliver a speech extemporaneously, as an impromptu speech, read from a manuscript, or from memory.

The Extemporaneous Speech Most speeches that you’ll deliver will be extemporaneous. An extemporaneous speech is prepared in advance and presented from speaking notes. Most of the advice in this textbook pertains to extemporaneous speaking. Extemporaneous speeches are not nearly as polished as memorized ones, but they are more vigorous, flexible, and spontaneous because you are not limited by predetermined words and phrases. Before giving an extemporaneous speech, you must plan and prepare a detailed outline and speaking notecards. Then, working from the notecards, you practice the speech aloud, communicating the ideas in your own words. Your word choices or phrasing may differ somewhat each time you practice your speech. That’s fine because your notes regulate the order of ideas. With this approach, you gain control of the material and also preserve your spontaneity of expression. Good preparation is the key to extemporaneous speaking. While you may use all four types of speech delivery for different occasions during your lifetime, extemporaneous speaking is the most important. Extemporaneous speaking displays your enthusiasm for your ideas and promotes your relationship with your listeners through conversational style. To develop your skills as an extemporaneous speaker, you will need to learn to use both your voice and your body to communicate with your listeners.

The Impromptu Speech An impromptu speech is delivered on the spur of the moment, with minimal preparation—the way you do in spontaneous conversations with other people. Somebody says something about a person or a news event, and you just jump in, telling others what you feel or what you know.

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In an impromptu speech, you are relying entirely on previous knowledge, your skills in talking with others, and ability to speak in the moment. You might tell your classmates why you think the author of your reading assignment was wrong. Or, you might respond to questions in a survey interview. All of these are impromptu speaking situations. For best results, try to focus your impromptu remarks on a single idea, tying in details to explain or reinforce your point. This single focus will keep you from wandering aimlessly through disconnected comments and random thoughts, which will only make you seem confused and maybe even ditzy. SPEAKING OF … SKILLS

Impromptu Speaking You’ll probably be called on many times during your life to express your opinion, volunteer information, or contribute to a discussion. In these speaking situations, you can hone your impromptu speaking skills. As general preparation, consider these suggestions: • • • •

Pay close attention to the discussion or the question being asked. Jot down a few notes to remind yourself of the key points being made. Relax by taking a few deep breaths and by making a conscious effort to think about the ideas, rather than your feelings of apprehension. Channel your emotional energy into enthusiasm for your ideas.

The most critical part of an impromptu speech is its organization. Your listeners will be impressed by organized thoughts because it will appear to them that you have prepared your comments. Organization increases your credibility. It also provides cues for you as you present your ideas. Most impromptu speeches can be organized using the following four steps. 1. Point step: Tell your listeners your main point. 2. Reason step: State a reason why your point is worth considering. 3. Support step: Provide an example, comparison, quotation, statistic, or story to support your reason. 4. Restatement step: Summarize by restating your main point. To practice this plan for impromptu speaking, have someone ask you a question. Repeat the question, and then answer it using the four steps. As with many other skills, you will respond more effectively in an impromptu manner if you practice—so get started!

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The Manuscript Speech A manuscript speech is written out beforehand and then read from a manuscript or teleprompter. By using teleprompters, speakers can appear to be looking at their listeners while they’re really reading their manuscripts projected onto clear sheets of Plexiglas. When extremely careful wording is required, the manuscript speech is appropriate. When the president addresses Congress, for example, a slip of the tongue could misdirect domestic or foreign policies. Many radio and television speeches are read from manuscripts because of the strict time limits imposed by broadcasting schedules.

The Memorized Speech On rare occasions, you might write out your speech and commit it to memory. When notecards or a teleprompter cannot be used, it may be acceptable for you to give a memorized speech. When making a toast at your parents’ twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, for example, you probably wouldn’t want to speak from notecards. Some speakers, such as comedians, deliver their remarks from memory to free their hands to mimic the movements of the character they are playing. Speakers who use memorized presentations are usually most effective when they write their speeches to sound like informal, conversational speech rather than formal, written essays. Remember that with a memorized speech, you’ll have difficulty responding to audience feedback. Because the words of the speech are predetermined, you can’t easily adjust them as the speech progresses.

A QUICK NOTE ON ABILITY Public speaking can sometimes focus a bit too much attention on particular preferred characteristics in delivery. Movement is important but what about those who have limitations on their physical ability to move? Eye contact is crucial but what about those who cannot make eye contact or struggle with its cultural implications? What about those who cannot hear speeches and focus on listening? Public speaking can be perceived as ableist when it is not taken into consideration that some individuals may have communication challenges or disabilities that make it difficult for them to engage in traditional public speaking formats. Ableism refers to discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities, and it occurs when the needs and perspectives of disabled individuals are not adequately accommodated or considered.

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Here are some reasons why public speaking may be viewed as ableist in certain contexts.

• Exclusion of people with disabilities: Traditional public speaking settings often prioritize verbal communication and body language. This can exclude individuals with speech or hearing impairments, those who use communication devices or sign language, or those who have social anxiety or other conditions that make public speaking challenging. • Lack of accessibility: Many public speaking events and venues may not be fully accessible to people with physical disabilities. This includes inadequate wheelchair ramps, limited sign language interpretation services, or lack of assistive listening devices. • Unawareness of communication alternatives: Public speakers and event organizers may not be aware of alternative communication methods, such as providing captioning or using communication boards, that can help include people with diverse communication needs. • Social pressure and anxiety: Public speaking can be particularly daunting for individuals with social anxiety, which is a legitimate mental health condition. Pressuring people with social anxiety to participate in public speaking events without considering their needs can exacerbate their anxiety and be seen as ableist. • Stereotyping and misconceptions: Ableism can also manifest in assumptions about what a person with a disability can or cannot do. Assuming that individuals with certain disabilities cannot be effective public speakers based on stereotypes is discriminatory. To combat ableism in public speaking, it’s essential to promote inclusivity and accessibility. This can be achieved by:

• Ensuring that public speaking events are held in accessible venues with appropriate accommodations for different disabilities. • Providing captioning or sign language interpretation for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. • Encouraging a variety of communication methods, including written presentations, slides, or videos, alongside traditional oral presentations. • Offering support and accommodations to individuals with disabilities who wish to participate in public speaking but may require assistance or adjustments. By recognizing and addressing the diverse needs of individuals with disabilities, public speaking events can become more inclusive and welcoming to all participants. This fosters an environment where everyone’s voices and perspectives are

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heard and valued. That being said, the spirit of the rest of the chapter should be translated to incorporate the reason why a particular delivery feature is used, not the exact act. For example, the purpose of “making eye contact” is important because of how it helps you connect and engage with the audience. The spirit of “eye contact” can be accomplished in other ways. Keep that in mind.

USING YOUR VOICE TO COMMUNICATE Transferable Skill. Although you have been speaking for years, you have probably not tapped the full potential of your voice—its power to connect you with others. Your voice is an instrument that helps convey the meaning of language. You’ll need to take time to practice to achieve your vocal potential, just as you would to master any instrument. The suggestions in this section will help you to get started. You communicate your enthusiasm to your listeners through your voice. By learning about the characteristics of vocal quality, you can make your ideas more interesting. Listen to a stock market reporter rattle off the daily industrial averages. Every word might be intelligible, but the reporter’s vocal expression may be so repetitive and monotonous that the ideas seem unexciting. Then, listen to your favorite sportscasters doing a play-by-play of football games or covering basketball games. The excitement of their broadcasts depends largely on their voices. Our society prizes one essential vocal quality above all others: a sense of conversationality. The conversational speaker creates a sense of a two-way, interpersonal relationship even from behind a lectern. The best hosts of afternoon talk shows or evening newscasts speak as though they’re engaging each listener in a personal conversation. Speakers who have developed a conversational quality have recognized that they’re talking with, not at, an audience. Don’t assume that you’ll be able to master all of the vocal skills we describe in one day. Practice aloud. Record yourself, and then listen to the way you’re conveying ideas.

The Effective Speaking Voice Successful speakers use their voices to shape their ideas and emotionally color their messages. A flexible speaking voice possesses intelligibility, variety, and understandable stress patterns. Intelligibility refers to the ease with which a listener can understand what you’re saying. It depends on volume, rate, enunciation, and pronunciation. At times, you can communicate despite slurred enunciation, a rapid speaking rate, or soft volume, both because you know the people you’re talking with and because you’re probably only three to five feet away from them. In public speaking, however, you may be addressing people you don’t know,

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often from 25 feet or more away. When speaking in public, you have to work on making yourself intelligible in the following ways: • Adjust your volume. Probably the most important single factor in intelligibility is how loudly you speak. Volume—how loudly or softly you talk—is related to the distance between you and your listeners and the amount of background noise that is present. You must realize that your voice sounds louder to you than it does to your listeners. If you’re speaking in an auditorium filled with several hundred people, you need to project your voice by increasing your volume. The amount of background noise with which you must compete also affects your volume. So, unless you have a microphone, you’ll need to adjust your volume to suit your situation. • Control your rate. Rate is the number of words spoken per minute. In animated conversation, you may speak at 200 to 250 words per minute. As words tumble out of your mouth during informal conversations, they’re usually intelligible, because they don’t have to travel far. In large auditoriums or outdoors, though, rapid delivery can impede intelligibility. Echoes sometimes distort or destroy sounds in rooms, or ventilation fans interfere with sound. Outdoors, lots of sounds compete with your voice. When addressing larger audiences, cut your rate by a third or more. Get feedback from your instructors and classmates regarding your speaking rate. • Enunciate clearly. Enunciation refers to the crispness and precision with which you form words. Good enunciation is the clear and distinct utterance of syllables and words. We blend sounds, drop syllables, and skip over the beginnings and endings of words. This laziness might not inhibit communication between friends, but it can seriously undermine a speaker’s intelligibility in larger group settings. If you’re having trouble enunciating clearly, ask your instructor for some exercises to improve your performance.

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Vocal Exercises If you are concerned about improving your vocal control, these exercises can be helpful: •

Breath control. Try saying the entire alphabet in only one breath. As you practice, say it more and more slowly each time to improve your control of exhalation.

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Control of pitch. Sing “low, low, low, low,” dropping one note of the musical scale each time you sing the word until you reach the lowest tone you can produce. Then, sing your way back up the scale, singing “high, high, high, high,” going up the scale to the highest note you can reach. Then, sing your way back down. Go up and down, trying to sense the notes you’re most comfortable with: your so-called optimum pitch. Give most of your speeches around your optimum pitch. Articulatory control. Pronounce each of the following word groups, making sure that each word can be distinguished from the others. Have someone check your accuracy: “jest, gist, just”; “thin, think, thing”; “roast, roost, roosts”; “ghost, ghosts”; “began, begun, begin”; “wish, which, witch”; “affect, effect”; and “twin, twain, twine.”

Variety. As you move from conversations with friends to speaking before larger groups of listeners, you should compensate for the greater distance that sounds have to travel by varying certain characteristics of your voice. Variety is produced by changes in rate, pitch, stress, and pauses. • Vary your rate. Earlier, we discussed the rate at which we normally speak. Alter your speaking rate to match your ideas. Slow down to emphasize your thoughtfulness, or quicken the pace when your ideas are emotionally charged. A varied speaking rate keeps an audience’s attention riveted to the speech. • Change your pitch. Pitch is the frequency of sound waves as they travel through the air. Three aspects of pitch—level, range, and variation—are relevant to effective vocal communication. Your everyday pitch level—whether it is habitually in the soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, or bass range—is adequate for most of your daily communication needs. • Use stress effectively. Stress is how sounds, syllables, and words are accented. Without vocal stress, you would sound like a computer. Vocal stress is achieved in two ways: through vocal emphasis, and the judicious use of pauses. Stress Patterns. Vocal emphasis is how you accent words. You create emphasis principally through increased volume, changes in pitch, or variations in rate. Emphasis can affect the meanings of your sentences. Notice how the meaning of “Jane’s taking Tom out for pizza tonight” varies with changes in word emphasis. • “Jane’s taking Tom out for pizza tonight.” (Jane, not someone else, is taking Tom out.)

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• “Jane’s taking Tom out for pizza tonight.” (She’s not taking out someone else.) • “Jane’s taking Tom out for pizza tonight.” (They’re not staying home as usual.) • “Jane’s taking Tom out for pizza tonight.” (They’re not having hamburgers or tacos.) • “Jane’s taking Tom out for pizza tonight.” (They’re going out tonight, not tomorrow or next weekend.) A lack of vocal stress not only gives the impression that you are bored but can also contribute to misunderstandings about your meaning. Rate changes can also be used to add emphasis. The ideas pick up speed through the accelerating list of problems but then come to an emphatic halt with the speaker’s main concern. Such variations in rate emphasize for an audience what is and what is not important to the speech. If you want to emphasize the many demands on their time faced by parents, for example, you could relate a list of daily activities at an increasingly rapid rate. By the end of the list, your listeners would probably feel some of the stress facing parents. Pauses are the intervals of silence between or within words, phrases, or sentences. When placed immediately before a key idea or the climax of a story, they can create suspense: “And the winner is [pause] …!” When placed after a major point, pauses can add emphasis: “And who on this campus earns more than the president of the university? The football coach [pause]!” Inserted at the proper moment, a dramatic pause can express feelings more forcefully than words. Silence can be a highly effective communicative tool if used sparingly and if not embarrassingly prolonged. Too many pauses—and those that seem artificial—will make you appear overrehearsed or manipulative. Sometimes, speakers fill silences in their discourse with sounds: “um,” “ah,” “er,” “well-uh,” “you know,” and other meaningless fillers. Undoubtedly, you’ve heard speakers say, “Today, ah, er, I would like, you know, to speak to you, um, about a pressing, well-uh, like, a pressing problem facing this, uh, campus.” Such vocal intrusions convey feelings of hesitancy and a lack of confidence. Practice your speech until the sentences flow naturally, with as few of these fillers as possible.

USING YOUR BODY TO COMMUNICATE Just as your voice can add dimension to your message, your physical behavior conveys meaning. You can use both your voice and your body to create a better understanding of your presentation. To help you explore ways of enhancing your use of the visual channel, we’ll examine the speaker’s physical behavior.

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Dimensions of Nonverbal Communication In recent years, research has re-emphasized the important role of nonverbal communication in effective oral communication. There are multiple dimensions in nonverbal communication but we’ll focus on the physical behavior in public speaking settings. Three generalizations about nonverbal communication should guide your speech-making. 1. Speakers disclose their emotional states through their nonverbal behaviors. Your listeners read your feelings toward yourself, your topic, and your audience from your facial expressions and physical movements. Consider the contrast between a speaker who walks briskly to the front of the room, head held high, and one who shuffles, head bowed, and arms hanging limply. Communication scholars have concluded that feelings and emotions are more accurately communicated via nonverbal rather than verbal means. 2. Speakers’ nonverbal cues enrich the message that comes through words. You can use physical movement to reinforce the ideas of your speech. The phrase “We must do either this or that” can be illustrated with appropriate arm-and-hand gestures. Taking a few steps to one side tells an audience that you’re moving from one argument to another. A smile enhances your comment on how happy you are to be at a wedding, just as a solemn face reinforces the dignity of a commemorative occasion. 3. Nonverbal messages form a reciprocal interaction between speakers and listeners. Listeners frown, smile, shift nervously in their seats, and engage in many types of nonverbal behavior. The physical presence of listeners and the natural tendency of human beings to mirror each other when they’re close together mean that nonverbal behavior is a social bonding mechanism. Take advantage of this natural human tendency by displaying the nonverbal behavior you want your listeners to mimic. For this chapter, we’ll concentrate on the speaker’s control of physical behavior in four areas: (1) proxemics, (2) movement and stance, (3) facial expressions, and (4) gestures. Proxemics. Proxemics is the use of space by human beings. Two components of proxemics, physical arrangement, and distance, are especially relevant to public speakers. Physical arrangements include the layout of the room in which you’re speaking, the presence or absence of a lectern, the seating plan, the location of chalkboards or whiteboards and similar aids, and any physical barriers between you and your audience. Distance refers to the extent or degree of separation between you and your audience.

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  Both of these components affect the message you communicate publicly. Typical speaking situations involve a speaker facing a seated audience. Objects in the physical space—the lectern, a table, several flags—tend to set the speaker apart from the listeners. This setting apart is both physical and psychological. As well as figuratively, objects can stand in the way of open communication. If you’re trying to create a more informal atmosphere, you should reduce the number of physical barriers in the setting. You might stand beside or in front of the lectern instead of behind it. In very informal settings, you might even sit on the front edge of a table while talking. So, what influences your use of physical space? • The formality of the occasion. The more solemn or formal the occasion, the more barriers will be used; on highly formal occasions, speakers may speak from an elevated platform or stage and use a microphone. • The nature of the material. Extensive quoted material or statistical evidence may require the use of a lectern; and the use of visual aids often demands such equipment as an easel, a whiteboard, or a computer-aided projection. • Your personal preference. You may feel more at ease speaking from behind rather than in front of the lectern. Movement and Stance. The ways you move and stand provide a second set of bodily cues for your audience. Movement includes physical shifts from place to place; posture refers to the relative relaxation or rigidity and vertical position of the body. Movement and posture can communicate ideas about yourself to an audience. The speaker who stands stiffly and erectly may, without uttering a word, be saying “This is a formal occasion” or “I’m tense, even afraid, of this audience.” The speaker who leans forward, physically reaching out to the audience, often is saying silently “I’m interested in you. I want you to understand and accept my ideas.” The speaker who sits casually on the front edge of a table and assumes a relaxed posture may suggest informality and readiness to engage in a dialogue with listeners.   Movements regulate communication. As a public speaker, you can, for instance, take a step or two to indicate a change in topic, or you can accomplish the same purpose by changing your posture. At other times, you can move toward your audience when making an especially important point. In each case, you’re using your body to reinforce transitions in your subject or emphasize a matter of special concern.   Keep in mind, however, that your posture and movements can also work against you. Aimless and continuous pacing is distracting. Nervous

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bouncing or swaying makes listeners seasick, and an excessively erect stance increases tension in listeners. Your movements should be purposeful and enhance the meaning of your words. Stance and movement can help you communicate impressions of self-assurance and control that you want to exhibit. Facial Expressions. When you speak, your facial expressions function in several ways. First, they express your feelings. What researcher Paul Ekman calls affect displays are communicated to an audience through the face. Affect displays are facial signals of emotion that an audience perceives when scanning your face to see how you feel about yourself and them.   Second, facial changes provide listeners with cues that help them interpret the contents of your message. Are you being ironic or satirical? Are you sure of your conclusions? Is this a harsh or pleasant message? Researchers tell us that a high percentage of the information conveyed in a typical message is communicated nonverbally.   Third, the display elements of your face—your eyes, especially—establish a visual bond between you and your listeners. Mainstream American culture values eye contact. The speaker who looks people square in the eye is likely to be perceived as earnest, sincere, forthright, and self-assured. In other words, regular eye contact with your listeners helps establish your credibility. Speakers who look at the floor, who read from notes, or who deliver speeches to the back wall sever the visual bond with their audiences and lose credibility. However, be mindful of what we talked about earlier. Eye contact can be accomplished with proximity, building immediacy with your audience, asking questions, and interacting with your audience. Do not put too much stock in one verbal or nonverbal delivery aspect.   Of course, you can’t control your face completely—but that’s okay. You do want your listeners to know how you feel: happy, angry, or frustrated. You must learn to let your feelings show through as clearly in public speaking as they do in private conversation. As you know from your own experience, when speakers are engaged with their topic, their argument, and their audience through words, facial display, and bodily action, they’re much more likely to affect their listeners. Gestures. Gestures are purposeful and expressive movements of the head, shoulders, arms, hands, and other areas of the body that give performative shape to ideas and add emotional intensity to human expressiveness. Pulling at your clothing, picking lint out of your pocket, or twisting a finger through

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your hair are not purposive gestures. These are just distracting behaviors. To be purposeful, movements must work with the verbal symbolic meanings that make up human communication. Three types of gestures are especially useful. 1. Conventional gestures are physical movements that are symbols with specific meanings assigned by custom or convention, such as the circle formed by placing the index finger on the thumb to signal “okay.” Gestures condense ideas; they are shorthand expressions of things or ideas that would require many words to describe fully. A speaker can use the raised-hand “stop” gesture to interrupt listeners who are drawing premature conclusions or the “thumbs up” sign when congratulating them for jobs well done. Because culture determines the meanings of conventional gestures, you should understand how your audience views the gestures you use. Misunderstandings can be embarrassing—or even disastrous. 2. Descriptive gestures are physical movements that describe the idea to be communicated. Speakers often depict the size, shape, or location of an object by movements of the hands and arms—that is, they draw pictures for listeners. You might demonstrate the size of a box by drawing it in the air with a finger, or you might raise an arm to show someone’s height. 3. Indicators are movements of the hands, arms, or other parts of the body that express feelings. Speakers throw up their arms when disgusted, pound the lectern when angry, shrug their shoulders when puzzled, or point a threatening finger when issuing a warning. Such gestures communicate emotions to your listeners and encourage similar responses in them. Your facial expressions and other body cues usually reinforce such gestures. Conventional gestures have culturally defined meanings. What conventional gestures can you think of? You can improve your gestures through practice. As you practice, you’ll obtain better results by keeping in mind that relaxation, vigor, and proper timing contribute to the effectiveness of gestures. To begin, ask yourself these questions:

• Am I relaxed? If your muscles are tense, your movements will be stiff and your gestures awkward. You should make an effort to relax your muscles before you start to speak. You might warm up by taking a few steps, shrugging your shoulders, flexing your muscles, or breathing deeply. • Are my gestures natural and animated? You should put enough force into your gestures to show your conviction and enthusiasm. Dynamic gestures are associated with speaker credibility because they show listeners your conviction. However, avoid exaggerated or repetitive gestures, such as

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pounding the table or chopping the air, to emphasize minor ideas in your speech. Vary the nature of your gestures as the ideas in your speech demand. • Is the timing of my gestures effective? The stroke of a gesture—that is, the shake of a fist or the movement of a finger—should fall on or slightly before the point the gesture emphasizes. Just try making a gesture after the word or phrase it was intended to reinforce has already been spoken; it appears ridiculous. Practice making gestures until they’re habitual, and then use them spontaneously as the impulse arises.

Adapting Nonverbal Behavior to Your Presentations You can gain more effective control of your physical behavior by learning how to orchestrate your gestures and other movements. You can make some conscious decisions about how you will use your body together with the other channels of communication to communicate effectively.

• Signal your relationship with your audience through proxemics. If you’re comfortable behind a lectern, use it; however, keep in mind that it’s a potential barrier between you and your listeners. If you want your whole body to be visible to the audience but feel the need to have your notes at eye level, stand beside the lectern, and arrange your notecards on it. If you want to relax your body, sit behind a table or desk, but compensate for the resulting loss of action by increasing your volume. If you feel relaxed and want to be open to your audience, stand in front of a table or desk. Learn to use the space around you while speaking publicly. Also, consider your listeners’ needs. The farther they are from you, the more important it is for them to have a clear view of you, the harder you must work to project your words, and the broader your physical movements must be. The speaker who crouches behind a lectern in an auditorium of 300 people soon loses interest. Think of large lecture classes you’ve attended or outdoor rallies you’ve witnessed. Recall the delivery patterns that worked effectively in such situations, and put these to work for you. • Adapt the physical setting to your communicative needs. If you’re going to use visual aids—whiteboards, a working model, or screen projections—remove the tables, chairs, and other objects that might obstruct your audience’s view. Increase intimacy by arranging chairs in a small circle, or stress formality by using a lectern. • Adapt your gestures and movements to the size of the audience. Remember that subtle changes in facial expression or small hand movements can’t be seen clearly in large rooms or auditoriums. Although many auditoriums have a raised platform and a slanted floor to make you more

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visible, you should adjust to the distance between yourself and your audience by making your movements and gestures larger. • Establish eye contact with your audience, looking specific individuals in the eye. Your head should not be in constant motion, scanning the audience with rhythmic, nonstop movement. Rather, take all of your listeners into your field of vision periodically, and establish firm visual bonds with individuals occasionally. Such bonds enhance your credibility and keep your listeners’ attention riveted to you. Some speakers identify three audience members—one to the left, one in the middle, and one to the right— and make sure they regularly move from one to the other of them. Another technique is to do the same thing from front to back. Making sure that you are achieving even momentary eye contact with specific listeners in different parts of the audience can create powerful visual bonding. • Use your body to communicate your feelings. When you’re angry, don’t be afraid to gesture vigorously. When you’re expressing tenderness, let that message come across through your relaxed face and softer volume. In other words, when you communicate publicly, use the same emotional indicators as you do when you talk to individuals on a one-to-one basis. • Regulate the pace of your presentation with bodily movement. Shift your weight as your speech moves from one idea to another. Move more when you’re speaking more rapidly. Reduce bodily actions and gestures accordingly when you’re slowing down to emphasize particular ideas. • Use your full repertoire of gestures. You probably do this in everyday conversation without even thinking about it; re-create that behavior when addressing an audience. Physical readiness is the key. Keep your hands and arms free and loose so that you can call them into action easily, quickly, and naturally. Let your hands rest comfortably at your sides, relaxed but ready. Then, as you unfold the ideas of your speech, use descriptive gestures to indicate size, shape, or relationships, making sure the movements are large enough to be seen by listeners in the back row. Also, use conventional gestures to give a visual dimension to your spoken ideas. Selecting the appropriate method of delivery and using your voice and body productively will enhance your chances of gaining support for your ideas. Practice is the key to effective use of these nonverbal elements. Through practice, you’ll have an opportunity to see how your voice and body complement or detract from your ideas. The more you prepare and practice, the more confident you’ll feel about presenting the speech and the more comfortable you’ll be. Remember that the nonverbal channel of communication creates meaning for your audience.

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Practicing Your Speech If you’ve ever learned to play the piano or drive a car with a standard transmission, you know that you can’t master it all at once. You must practice to improve. The same principle can be applied to improving your public speaking skills. Remember these guidelines: •

•

•

Keep practice sessions brief. It’s better to practice your speech for a few minutes at a time over several days than to go through it repeatedly for two hours the day before it’s due. Practice in different settings. Deliver your speech as you walk to class, in front of your friends, or an empty classroom. This kind of varied practice encourages flexibility. After you start your speech, finish it without stopping to correct errors or to restart it. You aren’t going to deliver your speech the same way every time you give it. Expect some changes in your delivery and phrasing.

REMINDER ON FINDING YOURSELF Now you’re ready to present your speech. Remember what we talked about in the chapter on speech anxiety? Find yourself and understand that this is a stressful and anxiety-causing event. But it is important and the audience wants to hear from you. Even if you’ve prepared fully, you still might be asking, “How can I deal with my nervousness? How can I channel my anxiety into enthusiasm? How can I convey a sense of self-confidence to my listeners?” Although there’s no foolproof program for developing self-confidence, here are some practical ways to communicate confidently:

• Realize that tension and nervousness are normal. They can even benefit you. Remember that tension can provide you with energy. As adrenaline pours into your bloodstream, you experience a physical charge that increases alertness. A baseball pitcher who’s not pumped up before a big game may find that his fastball has no zip. Similarly, a speaker who’s not pumped up may come across as dull and lifeless. Practice speaking often so that you learn how you react to stress and develop strategies for coping with it.

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• Focus on your ideas. Think about what you want to communicate to your listeners. When you speak, you want their minds to be focused on your ideas, not on the way you’re presenting them. Speech anxiety arises in part because of self-centeredness; sometimes you’re more concerned with your appearance and performance than with your topic. One means of creating confidence is to select topics that you are interested in and know a lot about. By doing this, you make the situation topic-centered rather than selfcentered. Have you ever wondered why you can talk at length with friends about your favorite hobby, sports, or political interests without feeling anxious? The fact that you’re talking about a subject that interests you may be part of the answer. • Look at your listeners. If you look at your notes rather than at your listeners, they may get the impression that you don’t care about them, that you aren’t interested in their reactions to your message, or that you are not prepared. Eye contact with members of your audience will signal your eagerness to communicate with them. In addition, you can watch your listeners’ faces for feedback and make minor adjustments as you speak. If you notice looks of puzzlement, for example, you can adjust by further explaining your ideas. • Remember to breathe. Although this may seem like unnecessary advice, research shows that stress can interfere with your breathing. To counter the effects of stress, breathe deeply using your diaphragm. Your chest should expand, pushing down and out against your waistband. An adequate supply of oxygen will help calm your anxiety and support your vocal apparatus as you speak, so remember to breathe! • Relax your body. Realize that you are being seen as well as heard and that your body can communicate confidence. In addition, bodily movements and changes in facial expression can help clarify and reinforce your ideas. You might smile as you refer to humorous events or step toward your listeners as you take them into your confidence. Keep your hands free at your sides so that you can gesture easily. As you say, “On the other hand,” you might raise one hand to reinforce your statement. As you speak, your body uses up the excess adrenaline it generates. The very act of talking aloud reduces fear. • Speak in public as often as you can. Public speaking experience will not eliminate your fears, but it will help you to cope. Speaking frequently in front of your classmates is a great way to practice coping with anxiety. Then, as you gain confidence and poise, you’ll want to try speaking to different audiences and in different settings. So speak up in class discussions, join in conversations with friends, and contribute to public meetings. You might even decide to run for office!

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There are no shortcuts to developing speaking confidence. The uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach may always be there, but it need not paralyze you. As you gain experience with each of the essential steps—from selecting a subject to practicing the speech—your self-confidence as a speaker will grow.

ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Choose an appropriate method of delivery: extemporaneous, impromptu, manuscript, or memorized. 2. A flexible speaking voice has intelligibility, variety, and understandable stress patterns. 3. Volume, rate, enunciation, and pronunciation interact to affect intelligibility. 4. Changes in rate, pitch, and stress as well as the use of pauses create variety in delivery and help rid speeches of monotony. 5. Three generalizations about nonverbal communication are important: (1) speakers reveal and reflect their emotional states through their nonverbal behaviors, (2) nonverbal cues enrich or elaborate the speaker’s message, and (3) nonverbal messages form an interaction between the speaker and listener. 6. Speakers can use proxemics or space to create physical and psychological intimacy or distance. A speaker’s movement and posture regulate communication. 7. Facial expressions communicate feelings, provide important cues to meaning, establish a visual bond with listeners, and establish speaker credibility. 8. Speakers commonly use conventional gestures, descriptive gestures, and indicators.

Key Terms ableism affect displays conversationality delivery emphasis enunciation extemporaneous speech

gestures impromptu speech intelligibility manuscript speech memorized speech movement pitch

posture proxemics rate stress volume

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Send A Thank You Note 1. Send a Thank You note to let someone know why you appreciate them. 2. Send one to yourself to thank yourself for the work and effort you have put in. 3. Write an expression of gratitude that links to the happiness you have experienced. 4. Written expressions of gratitude are associated with increased happiness.

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12

CHAPTER OUTLINE The Functions of Visual Media Why Visual Media? Strategies for Selecting and Using Visual Media Assessing Your Progress

DOI: 10.4324/9781003414926-12

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FIGURE 12.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

Television monitors, large-screen projections, computer-generated graphs, films, streaming video, cell phone screens, billboards, sidewalk posters, and countless others: images from an amazing range of sources dominate our everyday world.​ From the time that you participated in “show-and-tell” in elementary school, you’ve used visual objects and technologies to communicate. As you develop additional skills for speaking in front of an audience, you’ll continue to make use of visual channels—especially digital technologies—as an essential part of the speech transaction. In this chapter, we’ll focus on the functions of visual media; then, we’ll examine the various types of visual aids and explore ways to use them effectively. The bottom line when thinking about visual matters is this: public speaking is a multimedia event, where oral language, vocal characteristics, use of face and body, and employment of various other visual media combine to create multifaceted messages for audiences. It’s your job to integrate these channels into a coherent, informative, and powerful message for your audience.

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THE FUNCTIONS OF VISUAL MEDIA Visual media are illustrative and persuasive materials that rely primarily on sight. Visual materials enhance your presentation in two ways: (1) they aid listener comprehension and memory, and (2) they add persuasive impact to your message.

Comprehension and Memory Remember the old saying “A picture is worth a thousand words”? This saying contains a great deal of truth. We understand ideas better, and we remember them longer if we see them as well as hear them. Research has demonstrated that bar graphs are especially effective at making statistical information more accessible to listeners. Charts and human-interest visuals, such as photographs, help listeners process and retain data. Even simple pictures have significant effects on children’s recall and comprehension during storytelling. Visuals can be immensely valuable if your purpose is to inform or teach an audience.

WHY VISUAL MEDIA? There are many different types of visual materials. Depending on your speech topic and purpose, you may choose one or several types of visual media. We will discuss each type and examine specific approaches for using it to supplement your oral presentations. But before you decide to use one of these, ask a few questions: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Will visual media enhance the presentation? Will a particular visual media better describe detail than I can in words? Will the visual media cause more of a distraction? What value will my audience get from the use of this visual media?

Visual media should be used to aid a presentation not replace your voice.

Actual Objects or Props You can often bring to a presentation the actual objects that make arguments and ideas concrete. If your speech explores how to play chess, for example, you can point to particular parts of a chessboard in your presentation. Describing the differences between two varieties of onions also may be easier if you demonstrate the differences with real plants. Prepare your props ahead of time, and practice talking while handling them.

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Your Own Body Your own body can add concreteness and vitality to your presentation. You might, for example, demonstrate warm-up exercises, dance moves, sign language, or tennis strokes during your speech; in each case, your body is a medium of communication. Remember to control the experience. Make sure that everyone, even people in the back rows, can see you. Slow the tempo of a tennis stroke so that the audience can see any intricate action and subtle arm and leg movements. The advantage of properly controlled visual action is that, with it, you can control the audience’s attention to your demonstration. You should dress appropriately for your demonstration. A physical therapy major might add credibility by wearing a white coat when demonstrating CPR, and a yoga instructor could wear workout clothing. Such minor adaptations add to your credibility. If you decide to ask another person to demonstrate a technique while you describe it, plan ahead. Contact one of your classmates in advance, and practice the demonstration together before you give your speech. Practice will help you create a smooth, dynamic speech event.

Photographs Photographs can often be a good substitute for the real thing. For example, photographs can illustrate the damage to fire-ravaged homes or show the beauty of a wooded park that is threatened by a new shopping mall. Such pictures provide information and intensify listeners’ emotional reactions—all to the good. Make sure that your audience can see details from a distance. You can enlarge photos or use projection technology so that people can see your illustrations easily. For example, you can manipulate a digital photograph using software to show what happens to facial skin as a person spends more and more time in a tanning booth. Photographs allow you to depict color, shape, texture, and relationships. Such images help rivet listeners’ attention to your ideas. If you’re describing the Padre Islands as a good place to vacation, you might show your audience photographs of the buildings and landscape. If you’re giving a speech on the history of locomotives, pictures will help you isolate key design changes. Representations convey information in various ways. For instance, an illustration of the parts of a longboard gives an audience a realistic but complicated view of the object. ​ There are several things to ask as you prepare photographs for your presentation:

• Have you remembered to give credit to the photographers whose work you’re using? (Sometimes it is you.)

• Will the correct equipment be available and in working order?

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• Do you know how to set up and use the projection equipment? • Can you practice with the equipment before your speech? • Will you speak from the front of the room or next to the

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equipment? Attention to small, seemingly inconsequential details ensures that your pictures complement your presentation.

Videos Computer technology offers almost unlimited possibilities for speakers who wish to use moving images, from movie clips to newscasts to recorded performances. No matter which images you choose to share with your listeners, keep in mind that your visual media should not overpower your message. This is always a threat with moving images because they will draw your listeners’ immediate interest. If computer projection is available and you have an internet connection, you can use various forms of video streaming from podcasts to live news feeds

FIGURE 12.2 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LONGBOARD ELEMENTS

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to YouTube videos. There’s always a danger in trying to go online for materials during a speech, because just about the time you need the connection, the system can go down or a key link on the site will be broken. You can protect yourself by downloading the material onto an external storage device such as a thumb/flash drive and then playing the video/film from it. Be sure to check on the legality of downloading protected material by going to the Federal Trade Commission website for its recommendations on the legality of downloading internet materials.

Drawings Whiteboard drawings are especially valuable when you need a quick illustration or want to show something step by step. By drawing each step as you discuss it, you can center the audience’s attention on your major points. Coaches often use this approach when showing players how to execute particular plays. Time sequences can also be sketched on a whiteboard. To visually represent the history of the civil rights movement in the United States, you can draw a timeline that illustrates key events. Whether or not you use drawings will depend on the formality of the situation. If you’re brainstorming ideas for a building renovation with a prospective client, quick sketches might suffice. If you’re meeting with the client’s board of directors, however, the same rough drawings will be inadequate. The board will expect a polished presentation, complete with a professionally prepared proposal or prospectus. Similarly, whiteboard drawings might be sufficient to explain the photovoltaics of solar power to a group of classmates, but you’ll need more professional visuals for formal presentations such as when you present your findings on photovoltaics as part of a science fair project. Consider whiteboard drawings for informal presentations.

Projections You can use projected images just as you would use whiteboard drawings: to illustrate points as you talk. Be sure to insert a blank slide or mute the projector image when you’ve made your point, thus removing listener distractions. You can also control the flow of information by revealing information in stages rather than altogether. Finally, you can prepare your projected images before your speech, giving them a more professional appearance than whiteboard drawings. When you’re using projected images, be aware of your technique. First, make your illustrations large enough that the audience can see them. Second, talk to the audience rather than to the screen or the light source. Avoid turning your back to your listeners so their attention does not drift away from you and your message. Third, stand so that you don’t block the audience’s view of your visuals. Fourth, point to relevant parts of the screen as you discuss your slides. Point with the hand nearest the screen to avoid awkwardly moving your body away from your

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listeners. Fifth, when you’re through talking about the illustration, turn off the projector or move to a blank slide to eliminate the competing message channel. Sixth, make sure that your graphics aren’t “tired”—that is, the kinds of items that have been used too many times by too many speakers. And, most important, don’t clutter your slides with too much text that you or your listeners will be tempted to read. Even with large-screen displays, limit the amount of information you put on any single screen because you don’t want to overwhelm your listeners.

Graphs Graphs show relationships among various parts of a whole or between variables across time. Graphs are especially effective for representing numerical data. There are several types of graphs:

• Bar graphs show the relationships between two or more sets of figures. Research has demonstrated that plain bar graphs are the most effective method for displaying statistical comparisons, perhaps because bar graphs represent numbers in a visual form. • Line graphs show relationships between two or more variables, usually over time. • Pie graphs show percentages by dividing a circle into the proportions being represented. • Pictographs function like bar graphs but use symbols instead of bars to represent size and numbers. Your choice of bar, line, pie, or pictorial graphs will depend on the subject and the nature of the relationship you wish to convey. A pie graph, for example, cannot easily illustrate discrepancies between two groups, nor can it show change over time. Bar and line graphs don’t easily show the total amount being represented. Regardless of the type of graph you choose, you must be very careful not to distort your information when using these visual media. A bar graph can create a misleading impression of the difference between two items if one bar is short and wide while the other is long and narrow. Line graphs can portray very different trends if the units of measurement are not the same for each time period. You can avoid misrepresenting information by using consistent measurements in your graphs and by generating your graphs with a computer.

Charts and Tables Charts and tables condense large blocks of information. Tables present information in parallel columns. Charts can present data in a variety of forms. The periodic table of elements is a common chart that you’ve probably seen. If they are not too complicated, charts and tables work well in technical speeches. So, if

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you discuss various contributions to the operation of the United Nations, you can break down the contributions of, say, ten countries to five of the major agencies. If you want to compare how the Republicans or Democrats select delegates to their national conventions, an organizational chart showing how convention delegates from the two parties are selected in the county, district, and state conventions is very useful. You can use physical charts or screen projections of charts during your presentation. Tables and charts should be designed so that they can be seen and so that they convey data simply and clearly. Too much information will force the audience to concentrate more on the visual material than on your oral explanation. For example, a dense chart showing all of the major and minor offices of your college might overwhelm listeners as they try to follow your explanation. Keep it simple and easy to see.

Models Like props, models are reduced- or enlarged-scale replicas of real objects. Architects construct models of new projects to show clients. You can use models of genes to accompany your explanation of the Human Genome Project. As with other visual media, models need to be manageable, visible to the audience and integrated smoothly into your speech. You can increase listener interest if you use a model that comes apart so that different pieces can be examined. Be sure to practice removing and replacing the parts before your speech.

STRATEGIES FOR SELECTING AND USING VISUAL MEDIA Your decision about which visual aids will work best for you should be based on three considerations: (1) the characteristics of the audience and occasion, (2) your ability to integrate verbal and visual materials effectively, and (3) the potential of computer-generated visual materials.

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Using Artificial Intelligence Ethically to Find and Create Visual Media for Speeches Using artificial intelligence to ethically find or create visual media for your speech involves several considerations. Here are some steps you can follow. Understand AI’s Limitations: Recognize that AI, including ChatGPT and Bard, may not always generate accurate or reliable information. Be cautious when using AI to find facts or data for your speech and always verify information independently.

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Respect Copyright and Licensing: When using AI to find visual media, ensure you have the legal right to use those materials. Respect copyright laws and licensing agreements. Look for images and media with appropriate licenses, such as Creative Commons, that allow for reuse and modification. Remember to provide proper attribution when required. Avoid Plagiarism: If you’re using AI to generate content, such as text or visuals, make sure to provide appropriate attribution or citation to the AI model if you use its output in your speech. Plagiarism is unethical and can have serious consequences. Use AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement: AI can be a valuable tool for brainstorming ideas, generating content, or assisting in research. However, it should not replace your own critical thinking, creativity, or expertise. Always review and edit AI-generated content to ensure it aligns with your message and style. Be Transparent: If you’ve used AI to assist in creating content, it’s a good practice to inform your audience. Mention that AI was involved in the content generation process to maintain transparency and credibility. Check for Accuracy: Verify any information or data generated by AI models before presenting it in your speech. AI-generated content may contain errors or inaccuracies. Respect Privacy: If your speech involves personal information or data, ensure that you have obtained proper consent from individuals involved or anonymize the data to protect their privacy. Stay Updated: Be aware of any developments or changes in AI technology and ethical guidelines. Ethical considerations surrounding AI use can evolve, so staying informed is crucial. Using AI models to find or create visual media for your speech can be ethical as long as you adhere to legal and ethical standards. Always exercise caution, verify information, respect copyrights, and ensure that AI enhances your work rather than replacing your own critical thinking and ethical judgment.

Integrate Verbal and Visual Materials Effectively To be effective, your visual aids should complement your spoken message. Visuals should save time, enhance the impact of your speech, clarify complex relationships, and generally enliven your presentation. Following are suggestions for getting the maximum benefit from your visuals.

• Use color to create interest. Use contrasting colors (red on white, black on yellow) to highlight information in an organizational chart or to differentiate the segments of a pie graph or bars of a bar graph. As a rule, color commands attention better than black and white. Greater contrasts are easier to see than colors that are close in value.

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• Keep visual aids clear and simple. This advice is especially important for charts and other graphic devices. By ensuring that essential information stands out clearly from the background, you make it easier to work the verbal and visual channels in harmony with each other. • Make your visuals large enough to be seen easily. Listeners get frustrated when they must lean forward and squint to see details in a visual aid. Make your figures and lettering large enough so that everyone can see them. • Make your visuals neat. Spell words correctly, and make sure diagrams, charts, graphs, and any digital images look good. Such advice might seem unnecessary, but too often, beginning speakers throw together visual materials at the last minute or just type a string of words onto a presentation slide, often without proofreading and correcting errors. Visual media contribute to the audience’s assessment of your credibility. • Decide in advance how to handle your visual media. Prepare and practice with your visuals well in advance, especially for demonstration speeches. Suppose you want to show your listeners that anyone can change a bicycle tube. Do you bring in a whole bike, or do you bring another wheel and change a tube on that? Do you demonstrate how to put the wheel back on the bike? Figure out how to handle actual objects and other visuals. • Hand your listeners a copy of materials you wish them to reflect on later. If you’re making recommendations to your college’s strategic planning committee, provide copies of your proposal. Or, if you’re reporting the results of a survey on campus-wide alcohol consumption, your listeners will better digest the key statistics if you give each audience member a copy of them. Of course, don’t duplicate your entire speech—and don’t just read the handout to your listeners! For handouts, select only those items that have lasting value or the ability to clarify your message. And be ready to compensate for the distraction as copies are passed around. • Coordinate visual and verbal messages. Projected images and other forms of visual media can easily distract your listeners. You need to talk louder and move vigorously when using visual media to communicate, or you need to show audiovisual materials either before or after you comment on their content. Whatever strategy you choose, make sure that your visuals are well integrated into your oral presentation. If you are using a chart, you might say, “This chart shows you what I’ve been saying about the growing season for different varieties of tomatoes.” If you plan to show a clip of an advertisement, tell your listeners, “The advertisement you are about to see shows the use of pathos or emotion to sell insurance.” In both cases, you are helping your listeners understand what they will see in your visual examples.

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• Remember that your message is more important than your visual media. The visual channel should reinforce, not overpower, your central idea or claim. Listeners might find the visuals so intriguing that they miss part of your message. You can partially compensate for any potential distraction by building repetition into your speech. As added insurance, you also might keep your visuals out of sight until you need them. Control each channel: voice, language choice, face and body, and visual media.

Using Visual Slideshows Many of us are familiar with using a slideshow to guide our presentation. We use Canva, Google Slides, PowerPoint, Visme, and a wide range of tools. But many of us violate the rules of what makes a presentation effective. Visual slideshows are very important to consider when creating a presentation. So here are some pointers that are adapted to public speaking:

• Keep your slides simple. Resist the temptation to use all of the bells and whistles that come with the tools that create a slideshow. Decide on one overall font and color scheme to use throughout your presentation. A general rule is that you should limit the number of lines of type on a slide to six or fewer. Graphics and images are usually preferable to solid text. Think about the purpose of each slide. What does it add to your speech? If you can’t come up with an answer, maybe you don’t need the slide. • Don’t compete with your slides. Insert blank slides between those with information so that your listeners stay focused on you. If there are interesting things happening on the screen, you’ll lose some of your listeners. You always should reveal a slide one line or topic at a time so that listeners don’t race ahead. Stay in charge. Focus your listeners’ attention. • Prepare, prepare, prepare. After you’ve created your slides, practice your speech using them. This seems simple, but a surprisingly large number of speakers think that if they’ve developed the slides, they’re ready to use them. You need to practice with your slides so that you know how to pace your speech. Practice for glitches too. If your computer suddenly quits, be ready to fill in. Technology can be unpredictable and you should be ready in case it fails. You may even need a backup laptop and appropriate cables in case the software you need isn’t loaded on the computer in the room. Imagine what can go wrong and prepare for it. When you use a visual aid, your goal should be to make it a seamless part of your speech. That takes planning and practice.

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Transferable Skill. The digital world offers exciting possibilities for the public speaker. If you learn to integrate personal talk, bodily action, and audiovisual presentation, you’ll find that your ability to reach audiences will be enhanced. Working an audience across channels—verbal, visual, and acoustic—allows you to give your messages a powerful presence that informs and persuades.

ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Public speaking is a multimedia event involving oral language, vocal delivery, use of the body, and presentation aids. 2. Employment of various other visual media all combine to create multifaceted messages for audiences. 3. Visual media can boost listener comprehension and memory and add persuasive impact to a speech. 4. There are many types of visual media: actual objects or props, your own body, photographs, videos and films, whiteboard drawings, digital projections, graphs, charts and tables, and models. 5. In selecting and using visual media, consider the audience and the occasion, find ways to integrate verbal and visual materials smoothly, and work on methods to use computer graphics effectively.

Key Terms actual objects bar graphs line graphs models

photographs pictographs pie graphs tables

video streaming visual media whiteboard drawings

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Gratitude List 1. 2. 3. 4.

Before you read this chapter think about five things you are grateful for. Write those down. Put the list somewhere you can access it and look at it. Revisit this list and add to it when you feel anxious or stressed.

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13

CHAPTER OUTLINE Types of Informative Speeches The Subtle Differences of Types of Speeches Obstacles Essential Qualities of Informative Speeches Tips for Developing Informative Speeches Assessing Your Progress

DOI: 10.4324/9781003414926-13

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FIGURE 13.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

Speeches to inform seek to package information or ideas to create knowledge in listeners. In this era of the information explosion, selecting and arranging information for others is a necessary skill. ​ Three types of informative speeches are explanations, demonstrations, and reports. No matter what type of informative speech you’re preparing, you should strive for five qualities: (1) ensuring clarity, (2) associating new ideas with familiar ones, (3) clustering ideas to aid memory and comprehension, (4) constructing relevant visualizations to aid in audience comprehension, and (5) motivating your audience. To maximize your ability to reach your audience, you should create curiosity, adapt to what listeners already know, use repetition, involve listeners, choose an appropriate organizational pattern, use multiple channels, and suggest additional resources. A staggering amount of information is available to us, made possible by digital technological developments that promise even more astonishing future access to information. You are able to scroll through your phone, library databases, huge collections of words, pictures, and sounds from around the world in just a matter of seconds. One theme will be reinforced throughout this chapter: mere information is useless until you put it together in a way that makes it clear and relevant to others.

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Informative speeches select, arrange, and interpret facts and ideas for audiences. Without this interpretation and organization, information is meaningless. In this chapter, we discuss various types of informative speeches, outline the essential features of informative talks, and then review some ways of structuring each type of informative speech.

TYPES OF INFORMATIVE SPEECHES Informative speeches take many forms, depending on the situation and the level of knowledge possessed by listeners. Three of these forms—explanations, demonstrations, and reports—occur so frequently that they merit special attention. They represent three common ways in which people package information.

Explanations You’ve been asking questions all of your life. A speech of explanation doesn’t just offer a dictionary definition. Rather, explanations define concepts or processes in ways that make them relevant to listeners. These usually involve more extended explanations and definitions and also increase an audience’s understanding of a particular field of knowledge or activity. For instance, a business executive might define “lean manufacturing” and go on to show how it can streamline the company for better performance and higher profits. A historian might tell a group of students what sociocultural forces converged to create the Vietnam War. A social worker could lecture an audience of government officials on the continuing local impact of the 1996 federal welfare reform package. Maybe you even ask questions about all those things just listed.

Demonstrations Throughout your life, you’ve heard classroom instructions, seen job demonstrations, and read instructions for everything from making a cake to replacing your car battery. Not only have you gone through many “tell” sessions, but you’ve also had people “show” you how to execute actions: how to sort various kinds of plastics for recycling, how to assemble burgers at a fast-food shop, or how to sharpen the teeth of a chain-saw. Generally, demonstrations both explain processes and illustrate them. Demonstrations involve the serial presentation of information, usually in steps or phases. They require clarity because your listeners are expected to learn how to reproduce these steps themselves. We have all watched a YouTube video that helped us understand. We have also watched those that gave us little clarity. The difference was most likely the intention and structure of the content delivery.

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Reports A report is a speech that arranges and interprets information gathered in response to a request made by a group. Academic reports, committee reports, and executive reports are examples of oral reports. Scientists and other scholars announce their research findings in oral reports at professional conventions. Committees in business, industry, and government carry out special tasks and then present oral reports to their sanctioning organizations or constituencies. You might have been asked to present a report on possible community projects for a charity group or provide a financial update for a campus organization. Whatever the situation, your goal as a speaker will be to provide a meaningful summary of the information you have gathered and organized.

THE SUBTLE DIFFERENCES OF TYPES OF SPEECHES So, what’s the difference? Let’s walk through some of the main differences in these types of speeches because it drastically changes the outcome of some of the key elements. Speeches that explain, demonstrate, and report have distinct purposes and therefore require different structures, language, and organization to effectively convey their messages.

Purpose Explanation. The primary purpose of an explanatory speech is to clarify a concept, process, or idea. It aims to provide the audience with a clear understanding of the topic. This can often be a bit more abstract and complicated in the process. Demonstration. Demonstrative speeches focus on showing the audience how to do something or how something works. They often involve physical demonstrations or visual aids. Report. A report is intended to inform the audience about a specific topic or event. They are typically factual and objective, aiming to provide information rather than persuade or instruct.

Structure Explanation. The speaker must introduce the topic and its importance at a very early stage of the process. The audience will need to see the value immediately to want to pay attention. The main points are presented in key concepts or steps, providing detailed explanations for each. With a good explanation, examples or anecdotes to illustrate your points will be helpful.

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The conclusion will focus on summarizing the main ideas and reiterating their significance. Demonstration. A demonstration will start similarly with an introduction but the difference is that it is to set the stage for the demonstration and explain its relevance. This speech will take a different approach because you will most likely need materials/equipment. Be prepared for how those are incorporated purposefully in the speech. Your audience expects a step-by-step demonstration that clearly and sequentially demonstrates the process or task. You will conclude with a recap of the main steps and highlight key takeaways. The slight difference between a speech of explanation and difference is the recap of the main steps. Report. Just like the others, the introduction helps introduce the topic or event and its context. The main points will specifically present the facts, data, or information about the topic. This differs from an explanation because there is less of a need to go into detail. You are brief and short with how the data can be interpreted. You must provide supporting evidence, statistics, or examples to substantiate your points. The conclusion will act as a summary of the key findings and their implications.

Language Explanation. The language choice is focused on the use of clear and concise language. Yes, this is something that should be apparent in all communication exchanges but how you explain a concept will need explanation. When you talk about the concept of “closure” after a relationship, what does that mean? How do you explain such a concept? The audience will expect certain things to be accomplished to reduce their cognitive burden. This might involve spending time to define and explain technical terms or jargon. Your first main idea might be to simply explain the definition of closure and how it can be interpreted. You will most likely need to employ analogies or metaphors to aid understanding. Your main focus is on educating and enlightening the audience. Demonstration. Use action verbs and descriptive language to explain steps. The audience expects a very vivid approach to how things are happening, in what order, and how they interact. Find ways to incorporate sensory details to make the demonstration vivid. Demonstrations take explanations to a different level and your preparation and language choice should be aligned with that shift. Provide clear and concise instructions. What is the first step of making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? You have to take the bread out of the bag before you can put either jelly or peanut butter on. Be mindful of what is necessary in the description and don’t get too caught up in the trivial details. But don’t overlook how important those trivial details can be.

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Report. Maintain a neutral and objective tone. Informative speeches have the potential to be boring. Reports can be that way but if you take the time to find the purpose of what and how you are reporting, you will be in a good place. Use factual and data-driven language. Make sure to cite sources when presenting information. Sometimes, your explanation and demonstration will be lighter on the oral citations. The report will have a bit more of a thirdparty approach. Try to avoid emotional language or persuasive techniques.

Organization Explanation. Organize content logically, such as chronologically or by importance. Attempt to use transitions to connect ideas and concepts. You will have to take additional steps and measures to ensure a clear progression from basics to more complex information. You will have to think about why you put things in a particular order. Demonstration. The organization of this type of speech is most likely more self explanatory as you would organize steps in a sequential and logical order. Your responsibility would be to clearly label each step or stage of the demonstration. You must reiterate key points throughout to reinforce learning. Report. Organize information in a structured manner, such as by categories or chronological order. This is similar to the previous types of speeches but changes slightly because you want to organize in a way in which evidence is organized on levels of importance. It cannot be just a data dump. Make sure to prioritize the most important information first. Find ways to use visual aids and handouts to help audiences navigate the dense material. The structure, language, and organization of speeches that explain, demonstrate, and report should align with their respective purposes and audience expectations. Adapting these elements appropriately will enhance the effectiveness of the speech and ensure the audience gains the intended knowledge or understanding. Think about why and how you can best connect and relay information to your target audience.

OBSTACLES Why does it matter that we know the type of speech we are using? Seems a little silly. Informing is informing. Not really. It comes down to four main questions, 1) what is said, 2) how is it said, 3) what the key takeaway is, and 4) who cares? Use the example found in Figure 13.2. Information is not just information. There is a key takeaway from that information. For example, salads seem like a

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FIGURE 13.2 TYPES OF SPEECHES

very easy thing to inform people about. In an explanation speech, the audience would be expecting details about what it is, what it might look like, what could be found in it, etc. In a demonstration speech, folks might expect step-by-step instructions on how to buy, how to meal prep, how to put together, and how to store, just to name a few. In a report, the audience will be expecting more detailed numbers and figures to help see the health benefits, the reports on consumption of salad by different geographic areas, or more detailed information. Crafting your language depends greatly on your purpose of how you are informing. The obstacles you are overcoming include audience interest in the material, your passion, the information being new and exciting, and building on people’s current knowledge base. Information can be boring. It can also be really powerful.

ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF INFORMATIVE SPEECHES Your goal as an informative speaker is to make it easy for your listeners to retain new information. There are five things you can do to ensure that your listeners remember what you say: (1) strive for clarity, (2) associate new ideas with familiar ones, (3) engage the audience, (4) construct strong visualizations, and (5) provide motivational appeal.

Striving for Clarity Informative speeches achieve maximum clarity when listeners can follow and understand what the speaker is saying. Clarity is largely the result of two factors: effective organization and the careful selection of words.

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Achieving Clarity Through Effective Organization. Here are some guidelines to maximize clarity in your speech: • Limit your points. Confine your speech to three or four principal ideas, grouping your facts or ideas under these main headings. • Use transitions to show relationships among ideas. Word your transitions carefully. Make sure to indicate the relationship of the upcoming point to the rest of your ideas. • Keep your speech moving forward. Rather than jumping back and forth between ideas, develop a positive forward direction. Move from basic ideas to more complex ones, from background data to current research, or from historical incidents to current events. Achieving Clarity Through the Careful Selection of Words. The second factor in achieving clarity is being understood. You can develop understanding through careful selection of your words. For now, think about the following ways to achieve clarity: • Keep your vocabulary accurate but not too technical. In telling someone how to finish remodeling a basement room, you might be tempted to say, “Next, take one of these long sticks and cut it off in this funny-looking gizmo with a saw in it and try to make the corners match.” An accurate vocabulary will help your listeners remember what supplies and tools to get when they approach the same project: “This is a ceiling molding; it goes around the room between the wall and the ceiling to cover the seams between the paneling and the ceiling tiles. You make the corners of the molding match by using a miter box, which allows you to cut 45-degree angles. Here’s how you do it.” • Simplify when possible. Include only as much technical vocabulary as you need to explain why and how. For a speech on the Heimlich maneuver, you will want to exclude its history and a discussion of the breathing process. Stick to the key ideas: how to detect signs of choking, where to exert pressure, and what to expect if you’ve completed the procedure correctly. • Repeat complex ideas. Rephrasing helps solidify ideas for those who didn’t get them the first time.

Associating New Ideas with Familiar Ones Audiences grasp new facts and ideas more readily when they can associate them with what they already know. It’s also likely that people will remember your

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information if they can link it to something familiar. In a speech to inform, try to connect the new with the old. To do this, you need to know enough about your audience to choose relevant experiences, images, analogies, and metaphors to use in your speech. Sometimes, such associations are obvious. If you cannot think of any obvious association, you might have to rely on common experiences or images.

Engaging the Audience We have all had a bad learning experience or a teacher that we classified as a “bad teacher”. Giving information to lots of people at the same time is difficult. Before you give the speech, it is important to think about the audience and why they need this information. What are your objectives for them? Using the basic constructs of education, what will be the learning objective for your audience? Your speech on salads should have some clear objectives. Write them out in advance. Use a very basic prompt at the beginning of the sentence. “As a result of my speech, My audience members can _________”. Then fill in the blank. As a result of my speech, my audience can make a delicious salad. Now, remember, sometimes just because the speech was good, your audience may not have been listening. Welcome to teaching.

Constructing Strong Visualizations As we’ve been emphasizing, relevance is key to speech-making success. Using visualizations—recreations of events that people can “see”—can be a powerful technique for engaging listeners; if they can be made to see a process or event, they perhaps can be induced to project themselves mentally into it. Word pictures— reinforced with photos or video clips—help listeners construct vivid worlds for themselves. However, oral language that creates strong visual references works by itself as well. Picture this: You’re walking down Coleman Street in Collegeville, enjoying a sunny afternoon, when you come across a man who looks desperate. He’s sweating profusely, then he staggers and falls to the sidewalk. What do you do? Is this person drunk? Crazy? Sick? In diabetic shock? Having a heart attack? How are you going to handle this situation? Well, in my speech today, I’m going to tell you how to handle it. Today, I want to talk to you about how you can respond to life-threatening emergencies.

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Notice that the speaker tries to depict a familiar locale and a plausible event in that locale, to set up a speech on the new kinds of first-aid training currently offered to students at her school. If she’s successful in conveying a sense of fear, uncertainty, and mistrust, then she’s likely going to have her listeners following the rest of her talk.

Providing Motivational Appeal Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you must be able to motivate your audience to listen. Unfortunately, many people ignore this essential feature of good informative speeches. Many of us assume that because we are interested in something, our audience will want to hear about it as well. You may be fascinated by collecting all 50 states’ worth of American quarters, but your listeners may yawn through your entire speech unless you motivate them. You need to give them a reason to listen. To make them enthusiastic, you might explain how the coins individualize the states while assembling them into a common medium, illustrating some of the choices that were made for some states by describing the art competitions. You can use the factors of attention to engage the members of your audience and draw them into your speech. SPEAKING OF … SKILLS

Information Overload You’re in the library, getting together materials for a speech, when suddenly you’re overwhelmed by supporting materials stacking up around you. What to do? Consider the following: •

• •

•

Sample it. Even if you’ve found 13 great examples, pick out only two or three of them. Use the ones you think are most relevant to the audience’s needs and desires. Rotate it. Use some of the examples this time and some other examples when talking to friends about the topic. Table it. If you have too much information to deliver orally, put some of it in a graph or table, and either project it or hand it out to your listeners. That way, you won’t have to recite all of the numbers, yet they won’t go to waste. Distribute it. Lots of good quotations? Use them not only in the body of the speech as supporting materials but also in the introduction to set the tone and in the conclusion to wrap up your ideas.

If you do a good job at finding supporting materials, you’ll have much too much at your disposal. That’s okay—better than having too little. Be happy in the knowledge that the opposite problem is much, much worse.

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TIPS FOR DEVELOPING INFORMATIVE SPEECHES Because informative speeches contain large amounts of information, both familiar and unfamiliar, there are some special considerations that you should take into account. One of your primary jobs is to bring coherence, focus, and listener relevance to the information being presented. You must consider your listeners as learners. To that end, you should think about how people acquire new information most easily. The following are some considerations for adapting information to listeners.

Creating Curiosity Often, listeners don’t realize the full impact of new information or its potential for improving their lives. You need to pose this possibility for them, creating enough curiosity that they will stick with you through the acquisition of new ideas or concepts. Imagine that you’ve decided to provide your classmates with information about mole rats. Think about what attracted you to mole rats. Was it the blind, pink, and hairless bodies of the mole rat that first caught your eye in the zoo display? Or was it the intricate patterns of their subterranean tunnels that intrigued you? As you think about what first caught your attention, you may discover the key to creating curiosity in your listeners. You can hook your listeners by starting with the appearance of the mole rat or its tunneling behavior—that is, by visualization. Once they get a glimpse of the creature and its maze of tunnels, your job will be easier. Apathetic audiences are a special challenge in speeches on unfamiliar concepts because we’re tempted to say, “Well if I’ve made it this far in life without knowing anything about this subject, why should I bother now?” You need to make people wonder about the unknown. Use new information to intrigue them. The job of an informative speaker is to present information coherently to listeners. What are some of the ways a speaker can achieve clarity in an informative speech? What listener needs should you take into consideration when planning your speech?

Adapting to Prior Knowledge Most of us approach learning situations not as blank slates, but with all sorts of pre-existing categories of facts, theories of relationships, and attitudes toward learning. We have notions about how the world works, how history happened, and how we fit into all of this. Understanding these predispositions can be critical in developing informative speeches because all learning involves the merging of new facts and ideas into the framework that already exists in listeners’ minds. New information is often retained more easily when we know that it can be useful. When we’re convinced that we need to know something, we’re more

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likely to learn it. Think about taking your first test for an automobile license. The rules of the road might have seemed somewhat arbitrary, but realizing that you needed to know this information to get a license probably made learning them easier. Besides, it’s useful to know who has the right of way. You could say, “Understanding right-of-way rules at a four-way stop can save you time and trouble. It sure beats ending up in a fender-bender!”

Using Repetition Researchers have demonstrated that repetition is critical to increasing the recall of ideas and facts. Think about your own experiences. You probably won’t learn a new word such as “intrepid” if you repeat it once, but you’re more likely to remember “intrepid” with two or three repetitions. Use it in a sentence or repeat it for the fourth time, and research tells us that you’re 90% more likely to remember it. (So, what does it mean? Courageous or fearless or bold. Try using “intrepid” in a sentence.) Repetition is important when you’re learning a single fact, but this concept also applies when you’re learning more complex material. People remember more information when it is packaged in a way that emphasizes repetition. If you’re going to take your listeners through the steps involved in refinishing a bookcase, for example, give them an overall picture of the process before you start detailing each procedure. Then, your listeners will know where you’re headed, and they’ll be more likely to go with you. After you’ve detailed the refinishing process, you should summarize the main ideas in your conclusion. Consider your conclusion as a final chance to repeat your main ideas. Your summary will increase the chances that your listeners will retain information for a much longer time period. You might say, “Remember the 4 S: strip, sand, stain, and seal …” Notice that the main steps in the process are easier to remember because they all begin with “s.”

You Are a Teacher Transferable Skill. Ultimately, as an informative speaker, you are trying to be the best teacher. Think about what makes a good teacher and what stands out in their informative skills. A good teacher possesses a combination of skills, qualities, and approaches that enable them to effectively educate and inspire their students. While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, here are some key characteristics that often contribute to making a good teacher or informative speaker. Think of you as the teacher and your audience as students.

• Subject Mastery: A good teacher has a deep understanding of the subject they’re teaching. This expertise helps them explain complex concepts,

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answer questions, and provide valuable insights to their students. Show that in your speeches. • Passion and Enthusiasm: A passionate teacher can ignite students’ interest and curiosity in the subject matter. Enthusiasm is contagious and can motivate students to engage more deeply with the material. Audience members want this in informative speeches too. • Adaptability: Each student is unique, just as your audience is, with different learning styles and abilities. A good teacher is flexible and capable of adjusting their teaching methods to accommodate diverse needs and preferences. Be flexible in how you craft your speeches. • Empathy: Understanding your audience’s perspectives and emotions is important. A good teacher is empathetic, creating a safe space where students feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and concerns. How can you show empathy toward your audience’s current and future understanding of the subject? • Organizational Skills: Planning speeches requires good organizational skills. An organized teacher can manage their time effectively and ensure a well-structured learning experience through a speech. • Creativity: Injecting creativity into teaching methods can make the learning experience more engaging and memorable. Creative approaches can capture students’ attention and make complex topics more accessible. Remember that being a good teacher or informative speaker is an ongoing journey of growth and improvement. Different situations and students may require varying approaches, but the core qualities of passion, empathy, expertise, and adaptability remain essential for effective informative speaking.

ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Speeches to inform seek to package information or ideas to create knowledge in listeners. 2. In this era of the information explosion, selecting and arranging information for others is a necessary skill for survival. 3. Three types of informative speeches are explanations, demonstrations, and reports. 4. No matter what type of informative speech you’re preparing, you should strive for five qualities: (1) ensuring clarity, (2) associating new ideas with familiar ones, (3) clustering ideas to aid memory and comprehension, (4) constructing relevant visualizations to aid in audience comprehension, and (5) motivating your audience. 5. To maximize your ability to reach your audience, be a great teacher.

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Key Terms association clarity clusters

demonstrations explanations informative speaker

lectures reports visualizations

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Draw in the Abstract 1. Before you begin to read, take out a piece of paper and find some colored pencils/markers/crayons. 2. Don’t try to draw anything in particular. 3. Focus on the colors and the sensation of your pencil/marker/crayon against the paper. 4. Reflect on what eventually is created. 5. You have created something abstract and interesting.

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14

Speeches to Persuade

CHAPTER OUTLINE Rational Thinking and Talking: Argumentation Tips for Developing Argumentative Speeches Motivational Appeals Enhancing Your Credibility Organizing Persuasive Speeches: The Motivated Sequence Assessing Your Progress

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FIGURE 14.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

Speeches to persuade have psychological and behavioral changes as their primary goals. ​As you prepare your speech to persuade, you should consider enhancing your credibility and selecting effective motivational appeals. Analysis of audience segments can provide speakers with motivational appeals to use in persuading listeners. We encounter persuasion nearly every day of our lives—from the advertisements that pop up on our computer screens, to the commercials that interrupt our favorite television programs. And we’re not just the receivers of persuasive messages. We use them to convince our employers to give us raises, to influence our city government to pave our streets, and to bargain on purchases like cars. Persuasion is the process of changing thinking or behavior of others. Whatever their specific purpose, persuaders attempt to influence listeners’ thoughts (using speeches of persuasion) or actions (using speeches of actuation) primarily through motivation. Whatever the specific purpose, the general purpose of all persuaders is to move audiences to thought or action. Broadly, persuasion encompasses a wide range of communication activities, including advertising, marketing, sales, political campaigns, and interpersonal relations. The world seems to have evolved at a dizzying pace over the past decade. We’re a fragmented society in many ways. This means that you have to think of audiences as segmented, with the different segments—clusters or cultures—often

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requiring their motivational appeals to act. That is why we’ll begin this chapter with various approaches to understanding and thinking about motivational appeals before talking about persuasive speechmaking.

RATIONAL THINKING AND TALKING: ARGUMENTATION Argumentation is a process of advancing claims supported by good reasons and evidence. It is not merely offering opinions or stating information. Through argumentation, people hope to come to reasonable conclusions about matters of fact, value, and policy. Both persuasion and argumentation seek to convince audiences. Persuasion works largely through emotion, while argumentation acts through reasoning. Argumentation commits you to communicating by using good reasons. Consider the differences between televised political advertisements for two candidates and a debate between those same candidates. Usually, an advertisement relies most heavily on appeals to listeners’ emotions, such as patriotism or outrage, while a debate requires candidates to develop reasons for their positions. Sorting through all of those appeals to determine which are justified and whether you should alter your thoughts or actions requires a cool head, not emotional responses. Before committing yourself, you’ve got to be able to analyze appeals to determine if the reasons fit the claim being made. Skilled speakers, too, must be able not only to construct motivational appeals but also to work from facts to logical conclusions. They must cultivate critical thinking: the ability to analyze others’ ideas and requests. In this chapter, we’ll examine the structure of arguments, and then offer ways for you to critically evaluate the arguments of others. We’ll finish with some tips to help you argue effectively. To tap the power of rational thought, you’ve got to learn how to construct an argument. An argument is built out of three essential elements that must work together: (1) the claim you advance, (2) the relevant evidence that you provide in support of that claim, and (3) the reasoning pattern that you use to connect the evidence with the claim (see Figure 14.2).

Types of Claims Most argumentative speeches assert that: (1) something is or is not the case, (2) something is desirable or undesirable, or (3) something should or should not be done. Such judgments or assessments are the speaker’s claims. Your first task as an arguer or a listener is to determine the type of claim being argued. Claims of Fact. A claim of fact asserts that something is or is not the case. If you’re trying to convince listeners that “Using compact fluorescent light bulbs will reduce your utilities cost significantly,” you’re presenting a factual

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FIGURE 14.2 THE ELEMENTS OF ARGUMENT

claim asserting that a given state of affairs exists. When confronted with this sort of claim, two questions can occur to the critically aware listener: 1. How can the truth or accuracy of the claim be measured? If you’re asked to determine someone’s height, you immediately look for a yardstick or other measuring tool. Similarly, listeners look for a standard by which to measure the accuracy of a factual claim. Before agreeing with your claim, the critical listener asks what you mean by “reduce your utilities costs significantly.” What percentage reduction in your electrical bill is considered significant? Against what standard, precisely, is the accuracy of the claim to be judged? As a speaker, you need to build those criteria for judgments into your speeches. 2. Do the facts of the situation fit the criteria? If you’re trying to save energy, how many light bulbs have to be replaced to achieve the utility bill reduction you’re after? First, get listeners to agree to certain standards of judgment, and then present evidence that a given state of affairs meets those standards. In these ways, you work to gain the agreement of listeners to your factual claims. Claims of Value. When your claim asserts that something is good or bad, desirable or undesirable, or justified or unjustified, you’re advancing a claim of value: a claim about the intrinsic worth of the belief or action in question. Here, too, it is important to ask the following two questions: 1. By what standards is something to be judged? For example, you can measure the quality of a college by the distinction of its faculty (intellectual value), the excellence of its building program (material value), the success of its graduates (practical value), the size of its endowment

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(monetary value), or the reputation it enjoys according to surveys of education excellence (educational value). 2. How well does the item in question measure up to the standards specified? Suppose you were considering attending either Apple Valley Community College or State University. You can assess the worth of each institution by the standards you’ve identified: intellectual, material, practical, monetary, or educational. Your rating is not merely an assertion of personal preference (“I like Apple Valley Community College best”) if it can be promoted based on established standards. Claims of Policy. A claim of policy recommends a course of action that you want the audience to approve. Typical examples are “State standards for welfare eligibility should be tightened,” or “A test for English competency should be instituted as a graduation requirement.” In both instances, you’re asking your audience to endorse a proposed policy or course of action. Four questions are relevant to the judgments your listeners are being asked to make when analyzing a policy claim: 1. Is there a need for such a policy or course of action? If your listeners don’t believe that a change is called for, they’re not likely to approve your proposal. If, for example, students are already required to pass four English courses before graduation, is a test for English competency necessary? 2. Is the proposal practical? Can we afford the expense the proposal would entail? Would it solve the problem or remove the problem it is designed to correct? Does such a policy stand a reasonable chance of being adopted? If you can’t show that your proposal meets these and similar tests, you can hardly expect it to be endorsed. 3. Are the benefits of the proposal greater than its disadvantages? People are reluctant to approve a proposal that promises to create conditions worse than the ones it is designed to correct. The benefits and disadvantages that will result from a plan of action must always be carefully weighed along with considerations of its basic workability. Would an English proficiency test, for instance, be expensive and cumbersome to administer and grade? 4. Is the proposal superior to the alternatives? Listeners are hesitant to approve a policy if they have reason to believe that another course of action is more practical or more beneficial. A program of job training may be a better way than new qualification tests to remove people from the welfare rolls. Different types of claims make varying demands on you as an arguer. You should tell your listeners how to assess your claims. Articulating criteria or standards for judgment is essential if you want to win an argument. For example, if you think tuition fee waivers should be tied to financial need rather than academic

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performance, you must show your listeners why financial need is a better standard for waiving tuition fees. Unless there are sound reasons for delay, you should announce your claim early in your speech. If listeners don’t see where you’re going in your argument, your strongest arguments may be lost on them. Take time to say something like “Today, I want to convince you that tuition fee waivers should be tied to financial need, not academic performance.” With a direct statement of your claim, your listeners will have no trouble understanding how your supporting material and reasons fit together.

Types of Evidence As you discovered in Chapter 6, supporting materials clarify, amplify, and strengthen the ideas in your speech. In doing so, these supporting materials provide the base from which an argument is built. Any of the forms of supporting materials with which you are already familiar (examples, statistics, and testimony) can be used to develop an argument. There’s no single or easy rule for selecting relevant evidence. Supporting material that’s relevant to one claim may be irrelevant to another, or it may be relevant to your topic but not provide compelling reasons for action. You should consider both the rational and the motivational characteristics of evidence as you select it. Is it reasonable? Is it convincing? Rationally Relevant Evidence. The type of evidence you choose should reflect your claim. For example, if you’re defending the claim that controls on the content of Facebook advertisements violate the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech, you’ll probably choose testimony by noted authorities or definitions of terms to advance your claim. On the other hand, examples, illustrations, and statistics work better for showing that a problem exists or a change is needed. For example, if you argue that the speed limit in your state should be lowered by ten miles per hour on interstate highways and have statistics indicating that lives will be saved, you’ll be providing a compelling reason for a change. The claim you present requires a rationally relevant type of evidence. As you plan your arguments, ask yourself, “What type of evidence is logically relevant to support my claim?” Motivationally Relevant Evidence. If you hope to convince listeners to adopt your attitudes or actions, your claim must supply more than logically relevant evidence. You must also get your listeners emotionally involved. That is, your evidence must be motivationally relevant to them. So, you should ask two questions: 1. What type of evidence will this audience demand? If you want to argue that your city needs to build a new sewage plant, many people will

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demand that you demonstrate the problems with the present system, present a financial plan that won’t bankrupt the city, propose incentives that the new plant will provide for new jobs, and even offer a strategy for implementing the work that won’t paralyze neighborhoods. On the other hand, if you’re reviewing a new film release for friends, an example of a surprising plot twist, an analogy to similar films, or an illustration of creative character development would be more forceful as proof than statistical word counts, box office receipts, or testimony from published movie critics. Careful audience analysis, as we discussed earlier, will help you determine what type of evidence is needed to move your listeners psychologically. 2. What specific evidence will generate the best response? You should pose this question once you’ve determined the type of evidence required by your argument. For example, if you’ve decided to use expert testimony to support your argument, whom should you quote? Or, if you’re using an illustration, should you use a factual example or develop one of your own? Will listeners be more moved by a personalized story or a general illustration? Speakers should ask what type of evidence their listeners will demand as well as what evidence will generate the best response. Think of two different audiences. What kind of evidence would work best with each? SPEAKING OF … SKILLS

Evaluating Arguments Undoubtedly, you’ll participate in disputes or arguments many times throughout your life. Often, you’ll have to determine if your arguments or those of others were effective. Here are four questions you can ask to evaluate the effectiveness of an argument: 1. What was the argument’s effect? Did it convince people to vote? To boycott? To donate canned goods? If your argument results in a desired response, it is effective. However, this is only one way of judging the effectiveness of arguments. You must also ask the next three questions. 2. Was the argument valid? Did the arguer follow a logical order of development? Did he or she use supporting materials to prove the points? Were those supporting materials relevant to the claim advanced? If the argument is sound, it can be judged valid. 3. Was the argument truthful? Did it meet the test of reality? If an argument doesn’t correspond to the way things are, then it fails the truthfulness test. 4. Was the argument ethical? Did it advocate what is morally good? Did the arguer use ethical means to achieve results?

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TIPS FOR DEVELOPING ARGUMENTATIVE SPEECHES As you get ready to pull all of your claims, kinds of evidence, and reasoning patterns together into coherent argumentative speeches, consider the following pieces of advice.

• Place your strongest arguments first or last. This strategy takes advantage of the primacy–recency effects. Arguments presented first set the agenda for what is to follow, and a strong opening argument often impresses an audience with its power, thereby heightening the credibility of the arguer (the primacy effect). We also know that listeners tend to retain the most recently presented idea (the recency effect). Therefore, you might put your strongest argument at the end of your speech so that listeners will remember your best shot. Decide which position will help most with the particular audience you face, and then place your best argument there (but then, of course, summarize all of the arguments in your conclusion). • Vary your evidence. Different listeners are likely to prefer different kinds of evidence, and most listeners want supporting materials that are both logically relevant and psychologically motivating. For example, if you’re arguing that more Americans must invest in solar power units for their home electrical needs, general statistics on energy savings and average reduction in costs of utilities are good, but a clear illustration of what it’s like to live in a solar-powered house will more likely clinch the argument. • Avoid personal attacks on the audience. Maintain arguments on an appropriate intellectual level. This tactic enhances your credibility. Often, your audience may not agree with you. Establishing that you understand their viewpoint and stance but provide logical reasons for why they should shift their knowledge, belief, or action is the appropriate approach. • Know the potential arguments of your opponents. The best advocates know their opponents’ arguments as well as their opponents do; they have thought about those arguments and ways of responding to them ahead of time. Having thought through opposing positions early allows you to prepare a response and feel confident about your position. Notice how presidential candidates can anticipate each other’s positions in their debates. • Practice constructing logical arguments and detecting fallacious ones. Ultimately, a successful argument demands skill in performing the techniques of public reasoning. You need to practice constructing arguments with solid relationships among claims, evidence, and reasoning patterns, and you need to practice detecting the fallacies in the proposals of others. Critically examine product advertisements, political claims, and arguments that your friends make to improve your communication skills— both as a sender and as a receiver of argumentative messages.

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MOTIVATIONAL APPEALS The key to persuasion is to understand listeners’ needs and desires. Needs and desires, of course, are psychological constructs: perceptions people have of themselves, their plight in life, their fantasies, and their nightmares. These perceptions drive people to think and act in particular ways, they are motive needs. A motive need is an impulse to satisfy a biological urge or a psychological–social desire. Such needs may arise from physiological considerations—pain, hunger, or surroundings that are too hot or cold—or they may come about for sociocultural reasons, such as when you feel left out of a group. If you feel the need deeply, your feelings may compel you to do something about your situation. You might eat, adjust the thermostat, or join a group—you’re motivated. Once you recognize the power of motive needs to propel human action, you may ask, “How can I identify and satisfy these needs in a speech? How can I use these basic needs, wants, and desires as the basis for effective public speaking?” The answer to both of these questions is “With the use of motivational appeals.” A motivational appeal is either a visualization of a desire and a method for satisfying it or an assertion that an entity, idea, or course of action holds the key to fulfilling a particular motive need. This is the cornerstone of persuasion.

ENHANCING YOUR CREDIBILITY Now, consider another essential dimension affecting the persuasive process: credibility, or ethos. We have noted throughout the book that your credibility as a speaker is determined by listeners’ perceptions of you: their sense of your expertise or competency, trustworthiness, sincerity, and personal dynamism. These dimensions of an audience’s impression of you are especially important when you seek to change someone’s mind or behavior. The following guidelines can assist you in making decisions about the use of credibility as an effective tool in persuasion. First, when speaking to people who are relatively unmotivated and do not have enough background information to critically assess what they hear, the higher your credibility, the better your chances of being a successful persuader. Conversely, if your credibility is low, even strong arguments may not overcome your initial handicap. Sure, this is obvious, but it’s amazing how many speakers think they needn’t worry about their credibility, especially if their listeners are unmotivated or uninformed. Second, your listeners are more likely to trust you if you display knowledge about your topic. People are unlikely to change their beliefs and values if they think you’ve done a poor job of researching the issues because they are less likely to trust your ideas. So: (1) carefully set forth all of the competing positions, ideas, and proposals relevant to a topic before you come to your judgment; (2) review various criteria for judgment—criteria that others can also apply—to show that

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your positions flow from accepted measures; and (3) show that the recommendations you offer actually will solve the problems you have identified in your speech. Third, model the response you want from your listeners when you seek their commitment or action. People will be more likely to follow your lead if they believe you know what you’re talking about, have their best interests in mind, and are excited about your proposal. An audience’s sense of your dynamism can be enhanced if you speak enthusiastically by drawing vivid images of the events you describe; using sharp, fresh metaphors and active rather than passive verbs; and expressing your ideas with a short, hard-hitting, oral style rather than cumbersome, written style. Your physical delivery should mirror your enthusiasm as well. You can use direct eye contact rather than reliance on notes; varied vocal patterns; emphatic gestures; and a firm, upright stance. Transferable Skill. When you speak in public, you are a living, active human being behind the lectern—a person who embodies a message and whose own values are expressed both in and through the message. Your presence will command more attention and interest than written words, and unlike films and videos, you can interact with your listeners, creating a sense of urgency and directness. Your credibility may be your most important asset as you persuade others.

ORGANIZING PERSUASIVE SPEECHES: THE MOTIVATED SEQUENCE Now, it’s time to think about organizing your appeals into a persuasive speech. As we’ve suggested, an important consideration in structuring appeals is your listeners’ psychological tendencies: ways in which individuals’ motivations and circumstances favor certain ways of structuring ideas. You must learn to sequence supporting materials and motivational appeals to form a useful organizational pattern for speeches as a whole. Since 1935, the most popular such pattern has been called Monroe’s motivated sequence (see Figure 14.3). We will devote the rest of this chapter to it. The motivated sequence arranges human reactions in their most logical order. The motivated sequence for the presentation of verbal materials is composed of five basic steps. 1. Attention. Create interest, curiosity, and desire. 2. Need. Develop the problem by analyzing wrongs in the world and relating them to the individual’s interests, wants, or desires. 3. Satisfaction. Propose a plan of action that will alleviate the problem and satisfy the individual’s interests, wants, or desires. 4. Visualization. Depict the world as it will look if the plan is put into action or if it’s not. 5. Action. Call for personal commitments and deeds.

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FIGURE 14.3 THE MOTIVATED SEQUENCE Notice how the audience should respond to each step of the motivated sequence. Steps

Audience Response

I. Attention Getting attention.

I want to listen. 2. Need Showing the need: describing the problem.

Something needs to be done. 3. Satisfaction Satisfying the need: presenting the solution.

This is what to do to satisfy the need. 4. Visualization Visualizing the results.

I can see myself enjoying the benefits of such an action. 5. Action Requesting action or approval.

I will do this.

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The motivated sequence provides an ideal blueprint for urging an audience to take action. That’s what it was designed for because it was used originally as the basis for sales presentations.

Step 1 Attention You must engage your listeners at the very beginning of your speech if you hope to get them to move. Remember that startling statements, illustrations, questions, and other factors focus attention on your message. You can’t persuade people without their attention.

Step 2 Need Now you’re ready to explain why change is needed. To do this, you must show that a definite problem exists. You must point out, through facts and figures, just how bad the present situation is: “Last month our fundraising drive to support the campus radio station fell $3,500 short of its goal. If we can’t gain those dollars in this week’s emergency drive, we’ll have to close down two work–study positions. That will not only make it difficult for those students to stay in school, but also we’ll have to shut down our Friday night live coverage of local music.” In its full form, a need or problem step has four parts. 1. Statement. Give a definite, concise statement of the problem. 2. Illustration. Give one or more examples that explain and clarify the problem. 3. Ramification. Offer additional examples, statistical data, testimony, and other forms of support that show the extent and seriousness of the problem. 4. Pointing. Explain how the problem directly affects the listener.

Step 3 Satisfaction The satisfaction step urges the adoption of a policy. Its goal is to get your listeners to agree that the program you propose is a workable one. This step consists of presenting your proposed solution to the problem and proving that this solution is both practical and desirable. Five items are usually contained in a fully developed satisfaction step. 1. Statement. State the attitude, belief, or action you wish the audience to adopt. This is a statement of action: “We need to adopt an incentive system for the alumni phone bank.”

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2. Explanation. Make sure that your proposal is understood. Visual aids, such as charts and diagrams, can be very useful here. In our example, you would define the incentive system: “By ‘incentive system,’ I mean that students working the phone bank will be paid in part by the number of contributions they raise during their two-hour shifts.” 3. Theoretical demonstration. Show how your proposed solution meets the need. For example, you could say, “Worker productivity will rise because students will be serving both their own needs and those of our college.” 4. Reference to practical experience. Supply examples to prove that the proposal has worked effectively where it has been tried. Facts, figures, and the testimony of experts support your contention: “The number of contributions rose by 42% after our sister campus instituted an incentive system.” 5. Meeting objections. Forestall opposition by answering any objections that might be raised against the proposal. You might counter the objections of alumni by arguing, “Our phone callers actually will end up serving the alumni more fully because their motivations will soar. They’ll soon figure out that sincerity and enthusiasm are needed to heighten alumni interest.” Just as certain phases can sometimes be omitted from “Step 2: Need”, one or more of these phases can be left out of the satisfaction step. Also, you can alter the order of the steps to best meet your listeners’ objections by answering them as they arise. In other situations, theoretical demonstration and reference to practical experience can be combined. If “Step 3: Satisfaction” is developed properly, then at its conclusion, the audience will say, “Yes, you’re right; this is a practical and desirable solution to the problem you identified.”

Step 4 Visualization The function of the visualization step is to intensify desire. It should picture for the audience future conditions if your proposal is or is not adopted. In the visualization step, ask your listeners to project themselves into the future. This projection can be accomplished in one of three ways. 1. Positive method. Describe how conditions will improve under your proposal. Make this description vivid and concrete. Select a situation that you are quite sure will arise. Then, picture your listeners enjoying the conditions your proposal will produce. For example, if an incentive system is installed, work at the phone bank will become more engaging, the alumni will be speaking with more credible students, and your college will gain a more solid financial base.

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2. Negative method. Describe conditions as they will be in the future if your proposal is not carried out. Picture for your audience the problems that will arise from failure to follow your advice. Select the most undesirable conditions, and show how they will be aggravated if your proposal is rejected. Describe the often sullen attitudes of students now working the phones, alumni finding clumsy callers annoying, and the prospect of a still greater tuition fee increase if outside funds can’t be increased. 3. Method of contrast. Combine the two preceding methods. Use the negative approach first, and then use the positive approach. In this way, the benefits of the proposal are contrasted with the disadvantages of the present system. Whichever method you use—positive, negative, or contrast—remember that “Step 4: Visualization” must stand the test of reality. The conditions that you picture must be vivid and reflective of the world as your listeners know it. Let your listeners see themselves enjoying the advantages or suffering the evils you describe.

Step 5 Action The function of the action step is to call for explicit action. You can do this by offering a challenge or appeal, a special inducement, or a statement of personal intention. Your request for action should be short and intense enough to set your listeners’ resolve to act. It should also be specific enough so that listeners will know exactly how to implement their newfound resolution. The motivated sequence is flexible. You can adapt it to various situations once you are familiar with its basic pattern. Like cooks who alter good recipes to their tastes, you can adjust the formula for particular occasions: changing the number of main points from section to section, sometimes omitting restatement from the attention step, and sometimes omitting the positive or negative projections from the visualization step. Like any recipe, the motivated sequence is designed to give you a formula that fits many different situations. It gives you an excellent pattern but does not remove the human element; you still must think about your choices.

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ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Monroe’s motivated sequence is an organizational pattern based on people’s natural psychological tendencies. 2. The five steps in Monroe’s motivated sequence are attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action. 3. Argumentation is a process of advancing propositions or claims supported by good reasons. 4. Arguments are built from three elements: (1) the claim, (2) the evidence, and (3) the reasoning pattern. 5. The types of claims common to arguments are claims of fact, claims of value, and claims of policy.

Key Terms argument argumentation claim of fact claim of policy

claim of value claims Monroe’s motivated sequence motivational appeal

motive need persuasion primacy–recency effects

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THINK ABOUT MINDFULNESS Box Breathing 1. Visualize a box. 2. Inhale and count to 3. Visualize the top edge of a box. 3. Hold your breath as you count to 3 and run your eyes down the right side of the box. 4. Exhale for a count of 3 moving from right to left on the bottom edge. 5. Hold for another count of 3 while going UP the left side. 6. Repeat for several cycles as needed to help become grounded and possibly calm nerves.



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15

CHAPTER OUTLINE Public Speaking Influenced by Change Adapting to Change Public Speaking Influenced by Occasion Public Speaking Changed by Technology Assessing Your Progress

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FIGURE 15.1 INFOGRAPHIC SUMMARIZING CHAPTER

In this chapter, it is important to understand how speeches are affected by recent changes in what public speaking is, the occasion in which speeches are delivered, and the medium (online, recorded, face-to-face) they are delivered in. ​We need to understand the particular situations changing the nature of public speaking and then provide some tips to navigate these scenarios.

PUBLIC SPEAKING INFLUENCED BY CHANGE Over the past two decades, public speaking has undergone significant changes, largely driven by advancements in technology and shifts in societal norms. We have expected certain oratory for centuries and we are finally shifting that expectation. This is a good thing. We also need to adapt to how we view public speaking and how we practice, prepare, and present because of these changes. Some of the key ways public speaking has transformed over the past decades include the following. Technology and Digital Platforms: The rise of digital technology and social media platforms has revolutionized public speaking. Speakers can now

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reach global audiences through live streaming, webinars, and video conferencing. Virtual presentations have become commonplace, making it possible for speakers to engage with diverse audiences without physical presence. For some of us, this is a good thing. For some, we do not feel as comfortable with this new space. We must find ways to prepare how to deliver in new mediums. Public speaking is no longer limited to physical stages. Podcasts, vlogs, and TED-style talks have gained popularity, providing alternative avenues for speakers to share their ideas and expertise. These are incredibly important to prepare for. How will you adapt the fundamentals in this book to work in these spaces? Visual Enhancements and Interactivity: The use of visual aids has become more sophisticated, with the introduction of high-quality projectors, interactive screens, and 3D animations. Visuals are now an integral part of presentations, helping speakers illustrate complex ideas and keep audiences engaged. Are you prepared to engage your audience with a variety of presentations rather than just your voice? Audiences now expect more interactivity and engagement during presentations. Speakers often incorporate live polls, Q&A sessions, and real-time audience feedback to foster two-way communication and keep listeners involved. How can you compliment your delivery style with these enhancements and interactivity? Transferrable Skill. Shorter Attention Spans: With the advent of smartphones and constant connectivity, people’s attention spans have decreased. Our interest in expecting shorter content in a burst of video and audio changes how we consume spoken word. This shift has forced public speakers to adapt their content and delivery to be more concise, impactful, and attention-grabbing. What does this mean for how you prepare? Public speaking is still a valuable skill. Fortunately, expectations from audiences have shifted to allow presenters to use skills other than just their voice and stage presentation. A good speech can be structured with a variety of new formats, skills, tools, and abilities. How can you address these short attention spans effectively? Inclusivity and Diversity: There is a growing emphasis on inclusivity and diversity in public speaking. Audiences are demanding representation and perspectives from a broader range of backgrounds, leading to more diverse speakers and topics. Yes, it is important to stay true to your values and beliefs, but the expectation is to become more aware of the varying perspectives of the world. What does this mean for how you will engage your audience? Adapting to Remote Work and Hybrid Events: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote work and virtual events. Public speakers had to adapt quickly to this new format, mastering the art of engaging

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remote audiences. Preparing for these changes involves viewing what it means to participate in “public speaking.” Authenticity and Storytelling: Audiences today appreciate authenticity and storytelling in public speaking. Speakers who can connect emotionally with their listeners and share personal stories often leave a more lasting impact. How do you place stories and authenticity to yourself in your speech creation? Don’t let the formal nature of how public speaking has been taught for centuries eliminate your true ability and personality. Reduced Formality: Traditional formalities in public speaking have relaxed somewhat. Casual and conversational styles are now more widely accepted, making presentations feel more approachable and relatable. This is a good thing. Often, speech anxiety is made more profound when we expect to go into a rigid and particularly scripted speech event. Find ways to reduce the formality to connect with your audience. Accessibility: Efforts have been made to make public speaking more inclusive for individuals with disabilities. Many events now provide live captioning and accessibility features to ensure everyone can access the content. The act of public speaking is changing our understanding of what we need to be accessible to the skills and abilities of a wide variety of speakers. What we value in public speaking is often presentation skills. Now we are focusing on the content, the logic of the argument, and the true language used. So, public speaking has evolved significantly over the past two decades, embracing technology, interactivity, inclusivity, and authenticity. As technology continues to advance, public speaking will likely continue to transform and adapt to meet the changing needs and preferences of audiences.

ADAPTING TO CHANGE With these changes, that means we need to adapt to the drastic changes in public speaking, but with dedication and practice you can become a more effective and engaging speaker. Here are some tips to help you adapt to these changes. Embrace Technology: Familiarize yourself with the technology and digital platforms commonly used for public speaking, such as video conferencing tools, presentation software, and virtual event platforms. Practice giving virtual presentations to become comfortable with the medium. At the end of this chapter, there are some suggestions to help navigate these changes. Shorten and Refine Your Content: With shorter attention spans, focus on delivering concise and impactful messages. Structure your presentation to include key points and eliminate unnecessary details. Emphasize the most important aspects of your topic. The main focus of audience adaptation is to

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deliver content meaningful and important to them. Make sure you are consistently working through content that will engage your audience. Interactivity and Engagement: Find ways to involve your audience during your presentation. Use live polls, interactive exercises, and Q&A sessions to keep them engaged and actively participating. Anonymous response software allows you to ask for feedback while individuals use their smartphones and project responses on the projection screen. Be creative in how you incorporate behaviors to engage your audience. Develop Your Authentic Voice: Emphasize authenticity in your speaking style. Be genuine and share personal stories or experiences that can resonate with your audience. Authenticity creates a stronger connection with listeners. For many years, public speaking had a very rigid and formal approach which would jeopardize the true voice of the speaker. Find creative ways to speak to your audience. Practice Active Listening: Be attentive to feedback and adapt your approach based on audience reactions. Observe how they respond to different parts of your presentation and make adjustments accordingly. Diversify Your Platforms: Explore various communication channels to reach a broader audience. Consider creating podcasts, vlogs, or online courses to share your expertise beyond traditional presentations. Keep yourself informed about the latest trends and best practices in public speaking. Follow industry leaders, attend conferences, and read relevant publications to stay current. Be open to change and willing to experiment with different techniques and formats. Adaptability is key to thriving in a rapidly evolving public speaking environment. Remember that adapting to change takes time and effort. Be patient with yourself as you navigate these transformations and focus on continuous improvement. With determination and a willingness to learn, you can become a more confident and effective public speaker in this new era. Practice Regularly: Like any skill, public speaking improves with practice. Rehearse your presentations, record yourself, and seek feedback from trusted colleagues or friends to refine your delivery.

PUBLIC SPEAKING INFLUENCED BY OCCASION Just as we have to adapt to the changes in how society expects speeches to be constructed, delivered, and prepared, occasions will change how we develop a speech. There are a few things to consider when writing a specific speech for a particular occasion. There are endless types of occasions, of which we discuss a few here.

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As a member of society, you have learned that there are generally acceptable ways to speak at funerals, weddings, graduations, conferences, or breakfasts honoring community leaders. You know that remembering the life of the person is an essential part of a funeral ceremony and weddings and graduations celebrate the promise of the future. These situations call for speeches that are particularly sensitive to group expectations. Such special occasions have a ritualistic air to them that is determined by the community. You are a member of a community—that is, a group of people who share common ties of locale, nationality, race, culture, religion, occupation, gender, or other attributes. Communities are bonded by shared characteristics or commitments, and those shared characteristics and commitments often are recognized and celebrated on special occasions. In this section, we will explore community-based special occasion speeches. There are many more examples but it is important to examine how occasion does influence the construction of a speech. We’ll look in particular at speeches of introduction, speeches of courtesy (welcomes, responses, acceptances, and toasts), speeches to stimulate (speeches that create examination of special community challenges in emotional terms), and speeches to advocate.

Speeches of Introduction Speeches of introduction are designed to prepare the community (the audience) to accept the featured speaker and his or her message. The group must want to hear the message before the featured speaker can be successful. In a way, a speech of introduction acknowledges that the audience has a stake in what the speaker will say and has gathered to hear the message. The introduction may serve as a reminder of the speaker’s accomplishments and the reasons for the message. If you’re invited to give a speech of introduction, remember that your main objective is to create in others a desire to hear the speaker you’re introducing. Everything else should be subordinate to this aim. You’re the speaker’s advance agent; your job is to sell that person to the audience. Your goals should be: (1) to arouse curiosity about the speaker and the subject in the minds of the listeners, so it will be easy to capture their attention; and (2) to motivate the audience to like and respect the speaker, so they’ll tend to respond favorably to the forthcoming information or proposal.

Speeches of Courtesy Speeches of courtesy (including welcomes, responses, acceptances, and toasts) explicitly acknowledge the presence or qualities of the audience or a member of the audience. When you extend a welcome to a political candidate who is visiting your class, for example, or when you accept an award, you are giving speeches of courtesy.

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Speeches of courtesy fulfill social obligations, such as welcoming visitors, responding to welcomes or greetings, accepting awards from groups, and toasting individuals with short speeches recognizing achievements. The speech of courtesy has a double purpose. The speaker not only expresses a sentiment of gratitude or hospitality but also tries to create an aura of good feeling in the audience. Usually, the success of such a speech depends on satisfying the listeners that the appropriate thing has been said. Speeches of courtesy are more than merely polite talk. The courtesies extended in welcoming someone into your midst or in thanking someone for work done are expressions of community values. In extending courtesies to others, you’re acknowledging the cultural principles you share with them.

Speeches to Stimulate Speeches to stimulate ask communities of listeners to think seriously about where they’ve been and where they’re going in the face of serious challenges. Speeches to stimulate begin with ideas, events, or principles commonly held by the community of listeners, then ask listeners to consider how they will face the future. Some speeches to stimulate offer specific courses of action, such as voting or community activism; others provide motivation without offering specific directions for change. Overall, speeches to stimulate are calls for internal dialogues about beliefs, attitudes, values, and behavior, as well as calls for thoughtful reflection among those who have the power to take action. The purpose of a speech to stimulate is to stir listeners to reform their thoughts and actions. Emotional appeals to self-examination, open and public exploration of problems that have been avoided or hidden, and recommitment to take challenges seriously are all central to speeches to stimulate. Such speeches attempt to initiate public discussion, engage listeners’ feelings and thinking, and prepare communities for more sustained dialogues, and, ultimately, action.

Speeches to Advocate An advocacy speech is a type of persuasive speech that aims to promote or support a particular cause, idea, or viewpoint. The primary purpose of an advocacy speech is to convince the audience to take action, change their beliefs, or support the advocated position. Advocacy speeches are commonly used by individuals, organizations, activists, politicians, and public figures to raise awareness about important issues, influence public opinion, and inspire people to get involved in or support a specific cause. These speeches often focus on social, political, environmental, or humanitarian topics, addressing issues such as human rights, climate change, healthcare reform, poverty, education, and more.

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To be effective, an advocacy speech typically employs various persuasive techniques, such as logical arguments, emotional appeals, compelling evidence, personal anecdotes, and rhetorical devices. The speaker aims to engage the audience’s emotions and reasoning, encouraging them to align with the advocated position and take action accordingly. In summary, an advocacy speech is a powerful tool for influencing public opinion and inspiring positive change. It involves presenting a convincing case for a cause or idea, rallying support, and motivating the audience to take action to bring about the desired outcome. When delivering a speech that advocates for a particular cause or idea, it’s essential to know your audience. Take the time to understand their beliefs, values, and concerns, so you can tailor your message to resonate with them. Start your speech with a clear and concise statement of what you are advocating for, ensuring that your main message is understood from the very beginning. To persuade your audience effectively, support your points with solid evidence. Back up your claims using facts, statistics, real-life examples, and expert opinions to add credibility to your arguments. While evidence is crucial, don’t underestimate the power of emotions. Connect with your audience on an emotional level through compelling stories, personal experiences, and passionate language. Maintaining a positive and inspiring tone throughout your speech is essential. Focus on the benefits and positive outcomes of your advocacy, motivating your audience to believe in and support your cause. However, it’s also crucial to acknowledge potential counterarguments or opposing views. By addressing these objections, you demonstrate that you’ve considered different perspectives and reinforce the strength of your stance. Always strive to use respectful language in your speech. Avoid being aggressive or offensive, as this may alienate your audience and hinder the effectiveness of your message. Instead, foster an environment of understanding and open dialogue. Craft your speech with clarity and coherence, using strong, persuasive language to make your points memorable. A well-structured speech with compelling language will leave a lasting impression on your audience. Don’t forget the call to action. Clearly articulate what you want your audience to do after hearing your speech, and provide actionable steps they can take to support your cause. Encourage audience participation through rhetorical questions, interactive elements, or thought-provoking statements to keep them engaged throughout the speech. Stay informed and up-to-date with the latest information related to your advocacy. This will help you respond to questions and challenges effectively and reinforce your expertise on the topic. Respect the diverse perspectives of your audience. Acknowledge that people may have different viewpoints on the subject and encourage respectful discussion. Emphasize the importance of hearing and understanding differing opinions.

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To make your speech more persuasive, be authentic and let your passion for the subject shine through. Authenticity can resonate deeply with the audience and strengthen their connection to your message. Finally, after delivering your speech, make yourself available for further discussion or questions. Provide additional resources for those interested in learning more and taking action in support of your cause. By following these guidelines, you can create a compelling and persuasive advocacy speech that engages your audience and inspires them to support your cause wholeheartedly.

PUBLIC SPEAKING CHANGED BY TECHNOLOGY Now we have talked about the different changes in public speaking, and the occasions that affect it, it is time to consider how technology has drastically changed public speaking. It is also important to begin thinking about how to prepare for a speech influenced by technology. Delivering a successful online speech requires a combination of effective communication skills, technical proficiency, and preparation. Here are some tips to help you deliver an engaging and impactful online speech. Know your audience: Just like a face-to-face presentation, the audience is the main focus. Understand who will be attending your online speech and tailor your content to their interests, needs, and knowledge levels. Prepare thoroughly: Just like an in-person speech, preparation is crucial. Organize your thoughts, create an outline, and practice your speech multiple times. Conduct a practice run with the same equipment and software you’ll be using for the actual speech. This helps you identify and troubleshoot any technical issues in advance. Familiarize yourself with the platform you’ll be using for the speech (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams), and make sure your internet connection, microphone, and camera are working properly. Keep it concise: Online audiences have shorter attention spans. Make your speech clear, and focused, and avoid unnecessary tangents. Use engaging visuals: Incorporate relevant slides, images, or videos to enhance your points and keep the audience interested. Mind your pace: Speak clearly and at a moderate pace. Avoid rushing through your speech, as it may lead to miscommunication or audience disengagement. Utilize body language: Even in an online speech, body language plays a role. Maintain eye contact with the camera, use hand gestures to emphasize points, and maintain good posture. Interact with the audience: Encourage audience participation through polls, Q&A sessions, or discussions. This creates a more interactive experience and helps maintain interest.

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Minimize distractions: Choose a quiet and well-lit location for your speech. Ensure there are no distractions in the background that could divert the audience’s attention. Use a conversational tone: Speak in a friendly and approachable manner, as if you’re having a conversation with a friend. Avoid using jargon or technical language that might confuse your audience. Address potential interruptions: Inform family members or housemates in advance about your speech to minimize interruptions. Be flexible: Technical glitches or unexpected interruptions can happen during online speeches. Stay composed and be ready to adapt if something goes wrong. Record your speech: If possible, record your speech for self-evaluation. Watching it afterward can help you identify areas for improvement. Remember that online speeches require additional attention to engagement and technical aspects, so practice and preparation are key to delivering a successful presentation. It is important to note that recorded and live presentations are not the same and should be treated differently. Here are some considerations, benefits, and drawbacks when preparing for different types.

Recorded Presentations Think about what stands out for you when you think about recorded presentations. We all have access to a wide range of YouTube videos and those that stand out have a clear message, entertaining content, considerations about the view experience, and an attempt to capture and keep the audience’s attention. Be mindful that a recorded presentation does not have to be incredibly technologically advanced. We don’t need a deep understanding of editing techniques or the ability to animate. We can do a good job with just the basic concepts of using the space wisely. Below are a few considerations to make as you prepare for a recorded presentation.

• Flexibility in Timing: When delivering a recorded presentation, you have the advantage of flexibility in timing. You can record and re-record until you feel satisfied with the final version. How will you adapt to this flexibility? • Edit and Enhance: Recording allows you to edit the content and visuals, and even add post-production enhancements like graphics or animations to make the presentation more engaging. Try to find ways to be comfortable with the most basic editing software.

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• Scripted Delivery: Recorded presentations often have a more polished and scripted delivery since you can carefully plan and rehearse your speech before recording. But don’t allow the personal delivery style to be scripted out. How can you practice to make it sound non-robotic? • No Immediate Audience Interaction: One of the main differences is the lack of real-time audience interaction. You won’t receive immediate feedback or questions from the audience as you would in a live setting. This might be a good or a bad thing. Just prepare for that difference. • Reduced Nervousness: Some speakers may find recording a presentation less nerve-wracking compared to speaking live in front of an audience.

Live Presentations

• Real-Time Interaction: Live presentations offer the advantage of real-time interaction with the audience. You can engage with them through Q&A sessions, and polls, and gauge their reactions for immediate feedback. • Adaptability: In a live presentation, you must be more adaptable and responsive to unforeseen circumstances or audience reactions. • Energy and Presence: Live presentations require a higher level of energy and presence to captivate and hold the audience’s attention. • Handling Nervousness: Nervousness and stage fright can be more pronounced during live presentations, but overcoming these feelings can lead to a more authentic and memorable delivery. • Time Constraints: Unlike recorded presentations, live speeches must adhere to strict time constraints, which may require on-the-spot adjustments to stay within the allocated time. • Spontaneity: Live presentations often allow for spontaneous moments, humor, and improvisation, making them feel more dynamic and engaging. In summary, recorded presentations offer more control over content and delivery, allowing for multiple takes and post-production enhancements. On the other hand, live presentations involve real-time interaction with the audience, which demands adaptability, energy, and the ability to handle potential challenges on the spot. Both formats have their strengths, and the choice between them depends on the specific context, goals, and preferences of the presenter. Speeches can be influenced by a variety of factors. Public speaking has changed drastically over the past few decades. It is still a skill valued by employers, community members, friends, and family. How will you continue to grow your skills and abilities?

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ASSESSING YOUR PROGRESS CHAPTER SUMMARY 1. Public speaking has drastically changed because of a wider variety of expectations of what “public speaking” truly is. 2. Occasions often call for speeches that reflect community or group interests and change your approach to how you deliver. 3. Technology has changed how we prepare and deliver speeches.

Key Terms community community-based special occasion speeches

special occasions speeches of courtesy speeches of introduction

speeches to stimulate

Index

ableism 157–8 accuracy 77, 143–4, 161, 181 action 99, 118, 125, 135–6 active listening 23–5, 53 actual objects 125, 175 adaptability 199, 223, 229 affect displays 165 affiliation 64 analogical definition 144 anticipate 50, 210 anxiety 3, 31–42, 92, 158, 169–70, 222 appeal 25, 59, 68, 113, 196, 204–5 appreciative listening 47 apprehension 11, 33, 156 argument 54, 64, 101, 112, 136, 146, 203–6 argumentation 203–6 Aristotle 9–10 artifical intelligence (AI) 19, 52, 81–2, 102, 180–1 association 61, 64–5, 94, 195 atmosphere 27, 143, 147–8 attention 46, 212–13, 221, 227–8 attitudes 61–3, 65, 98 audience 57–72, 99, 101–2, 103–4, 109–10, 115–16, 117–18, 127–8, 129–30 audience analysis 57–72, 209 audience-centered 115, 117 audience-centered patterns 115 authentic voice 223 bar graphs 179–81 Bard 53, 81, 102, 181 beliefs 4–5, 10–11, 20–2, 60–2, 127–8, 211, 221, 225–6 brainstorm 82–3, 91–4, 106, 178, 181 Cabello, C. 86 causal patterns 115–16, 120 central idea 49, 69, 91, 96, 99–100, 123, 128, 131–4

chronological patterns 110, 116, 120 civility 10, 11, 14 claim 58–9, 64, 85–6, 99–101, 135, 183, 205–10, 217 claim of fact 205, 217 claim of policy 207, 217 claim of value 206, 217 clarity 8, 11, 99, 188–9, 193–5, 200 clusters 96, 110–11, 188, 199, 204 coherence 116, 120, 133, 197, 226 communication models 5–6, 8 community 9–10, 18, 23, 53–4, 64, 68, 84, 146, 190, 224 comprehension 47–8, 54, 76, 149, 175, 184, 188 conclusions 52, 59, 86, 123–5, 129, 135–6, 166 context 7–8, 11, 13, 82, 86, 111, 143, 147–9, 158, 191 contextual definition 144, 150 conversationality 159 counterargument 226 critical thinking 50, 54, 74, 181, 205 cultural competence 25–8 cultural differences 8, 20, 23, 25–6 cultural intelligence 20–1 cultural knowledge 24 cultural sensitivity 22–3, 27 culture 22–3, 25–7, 141, 143, 148–9, 165 delivery 108–13, 128, 131, 135, 152–70, 184, 189, 212, 221, 223, 229 demographic analysis 58–9, 62, 69 demonstrations 114, 176, 182, 188, 189–91, 215 dictionary definition 143, 189 directory 79 discriminative listening 48 diversity 20–2, 24–8, 59, 69, 221 editing 91, 96, 102, 109, 228 Ekman, P. 165 

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elimination order 117, 119 empathic listening 48 emphasis 23, 37, 69, 100, 114, 155, 161, 221 energy 33–7, 156, 169, 206, 210, 229 enunciation 159–60, 171 ethics 10 ethos 9–10, 13, 211 etymological definition 144 evidence 146, 164, 191–2, 205–10, 217, 226 examples 4, 7, 76, 84, 88, 182, 190, 196, 207–8, 215, 224, 226 exemplar definition 144 explanations 75, 82, 83, 98, 188–90, 199 extemporaneous speech 155 factors of attention 125, 196 familiarity–acceptance order 117, 119 feedback 2–3, 5–6, 7–9, 13, 27, 37, 40, 46, 110, 117, 157, 160, 170, 221–3 forecasts 115, 130, 132 gender-linked words 148 gender-neutral words 148 general purpose 96–8, gestures 26, 134, 154, 165–8, 171, 212 glossophobia 33 GoMoonBeam 81 group membership 58, 60, 64, 69 grouping 25, 94–6, 115, 194 guiding 96, 108, 119 hearing 45–7, 54, 128, 145, 158, 226 human speech 4 ideas 45, 47–9, 50–2, 58–9, 62–3, 69, 74, 75, 76, 81, 87–8, 91–5, 96–102, 108, 110, 114, 119, 170 identification 59, 61, 64, 66, 70, 147 imagery 143, 145–6, 150 impromptu speech 155–6 informative speaker 193, 197–9 inquiry order 117–18, 120 intelligibility 155, 159–60, 171 intensity 67, 147, 149, 150, 165 interactional model 5 interactive process 6, 9, 14, 59, 70 interference 6, 8, 46 internal preview 133–4, 137 internal summary 134 intersectionality 25, 27–8 interview 76, 80–1, 84, 156 introductions 123–5, 137, 149 Jones, J.G. 66 Kennedy, J. F. 154 Kiewra, K. 50

language 28, 33, 46, 52–4, 60, 65, 81, 82, 87, 112–13, 135, 138 language differences 24, 28 lectures 4, 9, 44, 54, 98, 200 Lincoln, A. 33, 143, 154 line graphs 179 linear model 5 listener 6–10, 13, 26, 32, 38, 40, 44, 46, 50, 58, 59–64, 66–9, 84–6, 88, 98–100, 115 lived experience 58, 60 logos 9 magnitude 85–6, 88 manuscript speech 157 memorized speech 157 message 5–9, 20, 24, 48, 50, 136, 159, 162–4, 168, 170–1, 174–9, 182–4, 190, 204, 210, 212, 214, 222, 224, 226, MetaCrawler 80 metaphor 126, 143, 191, 195, 212 models 5–8, 81–2 Monroe, A. 127 Monroe’s motivated sequence 212, 217 moral frames 2, 10, 13 motivational appeal 204–5, 211–12, 217 motive need 211 movement 164–8 narrative frame 147 negative definition 144 nervousness 169, 229 Obama, B. 126, 154 occasion 92, 93, 96, 97–8, 103–4, 130, 141, 147, 155, 164, 219, 223–4, 230 occasion speeches 224 Ong, W. 4 oral language 4, 140, 142–3, 147, 150, 174, 184, 195 oral style 139, 141–2, 150, 212 orality 1, 4, 10, 14, 141 organization 3, 11, 20, 22, 23, 27, 60–1, 79, 100, 107, 114–9, 130, 132, 190, 192, 199 Oxford English Dictionary 144 passive listening 46 pathos 9, 10, 182 perceived report of communication apprehension 35 perceptual field 46, 54, 125 personal characteristics 64 persuasion 12, 66, 204–5, 211, 217 photographs 77, 175, 176 phrasing 36, 66, 69, 87, 99, 100–1, 194 physical distractions 46 physical environment 46, 51 physical setting 7, 167 physical stressors 32, 35, 41

I n d ex

pictographs 179 pie graphs 179, 181 pitch 3, 161, 169, 171 plagiarism 181 planning ahead 39 positive method, in visualization step 215 posture 164, 171, 227 PowerPoint 183 practice 2–3, 11, 13, 22, 24, 36, 53–4, 61, 114, 152–71 preparation outline 111, 113, 119 previews 132–4 primacy effect 124, 137, 210 primary source 76, 89 print resources 77 pronunciation 159, 171 props 175, 180, 184 proxemics 163, 167, 171 psychological factors, discovering 8 public decision making 10 public speaking 1–7, 10–13, 17, 25–7, 34–6, 40, 47–8, 59, 63, 92, 103, 148, 157–8, 165, 169, 170, 174, 219–21, 222–3, 227 rate 160–3 recency effect 124, 135, 137, 210, 217 relational model 6 reports 190 review 50 rhetorical frame 146, 150 rhetorical questions 130 role 19, 27 Roosevelt, E. 33, 154 rough outline 108, 110, 113, 119–20 RRA technique 50, 53–4 satisfaction, in motivated sequence 213–14 search engine 79–83, 89 secondary source 76, 89 segment 89, 125, 204 Seinfeld, J. 33 self-confidence 92, 169, 171 self-fulfilling prophecy 47 signpost 133–4 Simons, H. 66 simplicity 142–3

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social identity 59, 66 spatial patterns 115–17, 119 speaker 119, 127, 129, 130, 136, 141, 157, 162–9, 171, 177, 179, 182, 190, 196, 205, 209, 211, 221–4 speaking outline 108, 110, 113–14, 119 special occasions 224, 230 specific purpose 67–9, 80, 96, 98–9, 101 speech anxiety 3, 31–42, 92, 158, 169–70, 222 speech apprehension 11, 33, 156 speech-centered patterns 115, 119–20 statistic 129, 156, 164, 175, 179, 182, 191, 208 stererotypes 19, 21–4, 28, 61, 158 stipulative definition 143–4 stress 159, 161–2, 167, 169 summaries 133–4 tables 179 testimony 75–6, 84, 86–8, 208–9, 214–15 testing 108, 119 Theriault, B. 85 thesis 99, 132, 134 time constraints 229 topical patterns 116–17, 119 transactional model 6, 8 transferable skill 3, 11, 12, 21, 23, 39, 45, 61, 81, 96, 110, 134, 147, 159, 184, 198, 212 trend 86, trigger words 46 unconscious bias 24, 28 understanding 28, 34, 42–54, 62–3, 66, 80–2, 98, 162 valuative frame 146 video streaming 177 virtual library 79–80 visual aid 3, 35–6, 40, 76, 164, 167, 174, 180–2 visual media 173–84 visualizations 188, 193, 195, 199, 200 volume 46, 77, 159–61, 167 wellbeing 31, 35, 40–1 whiteboard drawings 178 worldview 19–20, 23 written style 141, 212