Discussion: Speech Research Sources

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Speech Undergraduate (yrs. 1-2)

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Discussion: Speech Research Sources

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Unit IV: Public Speaking

Chapter 11Developing Your Speech

Asiseeit, Getty Images

Freedom of speech is of no use to a man who has nothing to say.

—FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter, you should be able to

1. 1List and explain the components of the audience-centered public speaking model.
2. 2Apply specific strategies for becoming a more confident speaker.
3. 3Select and narrow a speech topic that is appropriate to the audience, the occasion, and yourself.
4. 4Write an audience-centered, specific-purpose statement for a speech.
5. 5Develop a central idea for a speech.
6. 6Generate main ideas from a central idea.
7. 7Describe five potential sources and seven types of supporting material for a speech, and use each type effectively.

 

A good friend of ours who lived in Hong Kong for several years once remarked that she found traveling back to the United States exhausting. Her reason? It was not so much the long plane trip or the thirteen-hour time difference, but, as she explained, “When I begin to hear airport public announcements in English instead of Cantonese, I suddenly feel compelled to pay attention to every word. All that listening wears me out!”

Few of us can take for granted that others will listen to us merely because we are speaking their native language. However, when we study the public speaking process and learn its component skills and principles, we increase the likelihood that others will listen to us out of genuine, compelling interest.

Far from being a rare talent possessed only by an inspired few, the skill of public speaking is a teachable, learnable process of developing, supporting, organizing, and orally presenting ideas. The skills you will develop as you learn and practice this process will be of practical use in the future. They will give you an edge in other college courses that require oral presentations. They may help you convince a current or future boss that you deserve a raise. They may even land you a job.

 

Let’s begin our discussion with an overview of the public speaking process. Then we will offer suggestions for building your confidence as a public speaker before focusing specifically on the first five stages of the public speaking process—discovering and narrowing your topic, identifying your purpose, developing a central idea, generating main ideas, and gathering supporting material for your speech—all firmly grounded in the five Communication Principles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overviewing the Public Speaking Process

1. 1 List and explain the components of the audience-centered public speaking model.

You don’t have to read an entire book on public speaking before you give your first speech. An overview of the public speaking process can help you with your early assignments even if you have to speak before you have a chance to read Chapters 11 through 15. Figure 11.1 illustrates the public speaking process. At the center of the model is “Consider the audience.” Double arrows connect this center with every other stage, illustrating that at any point, you may revise your ideas or strategies as you learn more about your audience. Your audience influences every decision you make.

 

Figure 11.1 An Audience-Centered Model of the Public Speaking Process

 

Audience-centered public speakers are inherently sensitive to the diversity of their audiences. While guarding against generalizations that might be offensive, they acknowledge that cultural, ethnic, and other traditions affect the way people process messages. They apply the fundamental principle of appropriately adapting their messages to others. How? They might choose to use pictures to help them communicate. They might select topics and use illustrations with universal themes such as family and friendship. They might adjust the formality of their delivery and even their clothing to whatever is expected by the majority of the audience members. The fundamental communication principle of adapting to the audience is central to the success of any speech.

 

Developing Your Speech Step by Step

Considering Your Audience

A well-known Chinese proverb says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Developing and delivering a speech may seem like a daunting journey. But if you take it one step at a time and keep your focus on your audience, you’ll be rewarded with a well-crafted and well-delivered message.

To help you see how the audience-centered speaking process unfolds, this Developing Your Speech Step by Step feature will provide a window through which you can see how one student prepared and delivered a speech. Dezerae Reyes, an undergraduate student at Texas State University, developed the persuasive speech entitled “The Health Risks of Soft Drinks” that is outlined in Chapter 12.⁶ In the pages ahead, we’ll walk through the process Dezerae used to develop her speech.

 

Even before selecting her speech topic, Dezerae thinks about her audience. Because her listeners will include her university classmates and instructor, she knows that she can discuss complex issues, using a fairly advanced vocabulary. Her challenge is to find a topic that will interest her fellow students as well as her instructor.

Now view the model as a clock, with “Select and narrow topic” at 12 o’clock. From this stage, the process proceeds clockwise in the direction of the arrows, to “Deliver speech.” Each stage is one of the tasks of the public speaker:

1. Select and narrow topic.
2. Determine purpose.
3. Develop central idea.
4. Generate main ideas.
5. Gather supporting material.
6. Organize speech.
7. Rehearse speech.
8. Deliver speech.

The following video discusses the importance of knowing and adapting to your audience.

Watch: Analyzing and Adapting to Your Audience

Source: © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Building Your Confidence

1. 2 Apply specific strategies for becoming a more confident speaker.

The previous overview of the stages of the public speaking process should help you understand how to prepare for your first speaking assignment, but if you still feel nervous at the prospect, you are definitely not alone.¹ One study found that more than 80 percent of us feel anxious when we speak to an audience.² Other surveys have discovered that the fear of public speaking is more common than the fear of death!³

 

The following video discusses ways to address the fear associated with speaking in public.

Watch:Confidence and Anxiety

Source: © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

If you are taking a communication class online, you might think you will experience less public speaking anxiety than you would if you were speaking to a live audience. But recent research suggests that in fact slightly more students report feeling anxious about web-based speech delivery than the number who report anxiety about face-to-face delivery.⁴

 

What additional factors cause us to feel anxious about speaking in public? Figure 11.2 summarizes the results of studies that have explored the answers to this question.⁵

Figure 11.2Some Reasons We May Feel Anxious About Speaking in Public

 

Fortunately, regardless of the reasons you may feel nervous about speaking in public, you can learn strategies to help you build your confidence. Figure 11.3 outlines these strategies, which are also explained in detail in the following paragraphs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 11.3 Building Your Confidence

Understand Public Speaking Anxiety

Regardless of why you may feel anxious, the physical symptoms of public speaking anxiety result from your brain signaling your body to help with a challenging task. Your body responds by increasing your breathing rate and blood flow and by pumping more adrenaline, which in turn results in the all-too-familiar symptoms of a rapid heartbeat, butterflies in the stomach, shaking knees and hands, quivering voice, and increased perspiration.⁷

Watch the following video to learn six tips for dealing with public speaking anxiety.

Watch: Six Tips for Dealing with Speaking Anxiety

Source: Courtesy of boclips/LangVid

 

Although these symptoms may annoy and worry you, the increased oxygen, blood flow, and adrenaline that cause you to feel uncomfortable can actually be helpful. For example, you may find that you speak with heightened enthusiasm. And due to these biological changes, your brain thinks faster and more clearly than you would have believed possible. Overall, your state of increased physical readiness can help you speak better.⁸

 

Keep in mind, too, that most speakers feel more nervous than they look. Although the adage “Never let ’em see you sweat” suggests that our increased perspiration, along with our shaking hands and knocking knees, is likely to be visible to our audience, rarely is that true. Communication researchers call this mistaken belief the illusion of transparency and have found that simply informing speakers that their nervousness is not as apparent as they think can improve the quality of their speeches.⁹

Harry Potter creator J. K. Rowling has admitted experiencing public speaking anxiety. We all need to take positive steps to control anxiety before a performance.

Seth Wenig/AP Images

Know How to Develop a Speech

Communication researchers have found that instruction in public speaking decreases students’ perception of their own public speaking anxiety.¹⁰ By reading the first part of this chapter, you have already taken this first step toward managing your anxiety: learning about the public speaking process. Just knowing what you need to do to develop an effective speech can boost your confidence in being able to do it.

Be Prepared

Being well prepared will decrease your public speaking anxiety. Communication researchers have found that one way for speakers to manage anxiety is to follow the recommended steps for preparing a speech, which include developing a logical and clear outline.¹¹ Being prepared also involves discovering an appropriate topic and researching that topic thoroughly. Perhaps most importantly, it includes rehearsing your speech. Research suggests that people who spend more time rehearsing experience less public speaking anxiety than those who rehearse less.¹²

 

When you rehearse your speech, imagine that you are giving it to the audience you will actually address. Stand up. Speak aloud rather than rehearsing silently. If you cannot rehearse in the room where you will deliver the speech, at least imagine that room. If you will be video recording your speech, practice it—and later deliver it—in a professional setting rather than a kitchen or bedroom.¹³ Thorough preparation that includes realistic rehearsal will increase your confidence when it is time to deliver your speech.

 

The following video provides suggestions on ways to stay relaxed while speaking.

Watch: Martin Cox on How to Relax Before Giving a Speech

Source: © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Give Yourself a Mental Pep Talk

A recent study found that speakers who recast their anxiety as excitement by stating, “I am excited” actually felt more excited and were perceived by their listeners as more confident than speakers who tried to tell themselves, “I am calm.”¹⁴

Rather than allowing yourself to dwell on how nervous you are, make a conscious effort to think positively. Remind yourself that you have chosen a topic you know something about. Give yourself a mental pep talk before getting up to speak: “I know I can give this speech. I have prepared and practiced, and I’m going to do a great job.” Researchers have suggested that such “prespeaking exercises” may be the most effective antidotes for anxiety both before and during the speech.¹⁵

Use Deep-Breathing Techniques

Two physical symptoms of nervousness are shallow breathing and rapid heart rate. To counter these symptoms, draw on the breathing techniques employed by practitioners of yoga.¹⁶ Take a few slow, deep breaths before you get up to speak. As you slowly inhale and exhale, try to relax your entire body. These simple strategies will increase your oxygen intake and slow your heart rate, making you feel calmer and more in control.

Focus on Your Audience

Being audience centered is key to reducing public speaking anxiety. As you prepare your speech, consider the needs, goals, and interests of your audience. The more you know about your listeners and how they are likely to respond to your message, the more comfortable you will feel about delivering that message. As you rehearse your speech, visualize your audience members and imagine how they may respond; practice adapting your speech to the responses you imagine. And as you finally deliver your speech, look for positive, reinforcing feedback from audience members.¹⁷ The more you concentrate on your audience, the less you attend to your own nervousness.

Focus on Your Message

Focusing on your message can be another anxiety-reducing strategy. Like focusing on your audience, it keeps you from thinking too much about how nervous you are. In the few minutes before you begin your speech, think about what you are going to say. Mentally review your main ideas. Silently practice your opening lines and your conclusion. Once you start speaking, maintain your focus on your message and your audience rather than on your fears.

Take Advantage of Opportunities to Speak

As you gain public speaking experience, you will feel more in control of your nervousness. Communication researchers have found that most public speakers become progressively more comfortable as they speak, a phenomenon they call habituation.¹⁸ Past successes build confidence. Your communication course will provide opportunities for frequent practice, which will increase your skill and confidence.¹⁹

 

The following video features a student speech about the fear of public speaking. After watching the video, answer the self-check questions to test your knowledge.

Video Self-Check:Fear of Public Speaking

Source: © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Explore Additional Resources

For a few people, the above strategies may not be enough help. These people may still experience a level of public speaking anxiety that they consider debilitating. If you believe that you may be such a person, ask your communication instructor for additional resource recommendations. For example, some college or university departments of communication have communication labs that teach students additional strategies to help manage counterproductive anxiety.

 

 

Recap:Building Your Confidence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selecting and Narrowing Your Topic

1. 3 Select and narrow a speech topic that is appropriate to the audience, the occasion, and yourself.

Sometimes a speaker is invited or assigned to speak on a certain topic and doesn’t have to think about selecting one. Other times, however, a speaker is given some guidelines—such as time limits and perhaps the general purpose for the speech—but otherwise is free to choose a topic. When that happens to you, as it almost certainly will in your communication class, your task may be made easier by exploring three questions: Who is the audience? What is the occasion? What are my interests and experiences?

The following video discusses factors you should consider when selecting a speech topic.

Watch: Finding and Selecting a Topic for Your Speech

Source: © 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Who Is the Audience?

As we have noted several times throughout this book, the principle of appropriately adapting messages to others is central to the communication process. In public speaking, that adaptation begins with topic selection. Who are the members of your audience? What interests and needs do they have in common? Why did they ask you to speak?

 

One professional speaker calls the answers to such questions “actionable intelligence”—information that you can use as you select your topic.²⁰ Your college classmates are likely to be interested in such topics as college loans and the job market. Older adults might be more interested in hearing a speaker address such topics as the cost of prescription drugs and investment tax credits. Thinking about your audience can often yield an appropriate topic.

What Is the Occasion?

You might also consider the occasion for which you are being asked to speak. A Veterans’ Day address calls for such topics as patriotism and service to one’s country. A university Centennial address will focus on the successes in the institution’s past and a vision for its future.

What Are My Interests and Experiences?

Self-awareness, another communication principle you already know, can also help you discover a topic. Exploring your own interests, attitudes, and experiences may suggest topics about which you know a great deal and feel passionate about, resulting in a speech you can deliver with energy and genuine enthusiasm. One speaker’s thinking about her own interests and experiences quickly produced the following list of possible topics.

• San Antonio, Texas: City of cultural diversity
• Ballet Folklorico
• Light pollution and dark skies
• Working at Schlitterbahn water parks
• What a forensic anthropologist does

Even after considering audience, occasion, and personal interests and experiences, you may still find yourself facing a speaking assignment for which you just cannot come up with a satisfactory topic. When that happens, you might try silent brainstorming, scanning web directories and web pages, or listening and reading for topic ideas.

Conducting Silent Brainstorming

Silent brainstorming, which was discussed in Chapter 10 as a technique used by small groups to generate creative ideas, is a useful strategy for generating possible topics for speeches. A silent brainstorming session of about three minutes yielded the twelve potential topics shown in Figure 11.4.

 

Figure 11.4 Brainstorming a Topic

 

Having generated a list of topics, you can now go back and eliminate the ones that don’t have much promise or that you know you would never use. For example, you may not have any real interest in or reason for discussing Joshua Tree National Park. However, perhaps your Irish literature course has given you good background for discussing James Joyce. Keep the topics you like in your class notebook. You can reconsider them for future assignments.

Scanning Web Directories and Web Pages

You know how addicting it can be to surf the web, following various categories and links out of interest and curiosity. What may seem an idle pastime can actually be a good way to discover potential speech topics. For example, a recent random search on Best of the Web (botw.org), starting with the general menu heading Arts, yielded the categories and possible topics illustrated in Figure 11.5.

 

Figure 11.5 Possible Topics from a Web Directory Search

 

An additional advantage of this strategy is that you now have both possible topics and potential sources for your speech.

Listening and Reading for Topic Ideas

It is not unusual to see on television or read in a news source something that triggers an idea for a speech. For example, the following list of topics was suggested by recent headlines:

• Conservative European politicians
• Likely Supreme Court nominees
• World Cup expansion
• Amazon Echo versus Google Home

You might also discover a topic in one of your courses. Perhaps you recently had an interesting discussion in your criminology class about minimum mandatory sentencing. It might make a good topic for a speech, and your criminology instructor would probably be happy to suggest additional resources.

Even a subject that comes up in casual conversation with friends may make a good speech topic. Perhaps everyone in your dorm seems to be sniffling and coughing all at once. “It’s sick-building syndrome,” gasps one. Sick-building syndrome might be an interesting topic for a speech.

The point is to keep your eyes and ears open. You never know when you might see or hear a potential topic. When you do, write it down. Nothing is as frustrating as knowing that you had a good idea for a topic but now can’t remember what it was.

Even if you discover potential topics through brainstorming, surfing the web, listening, or reading, you should still consider the communication principles of adapting to your audience and being aware of your own interests and experiences before you make your final topic selection. You will also need to consider the time limits of the speaking assignment. Many good topics need to be narrowed down before they are appropriate for a given assignment. The key to narrowing your topic is sustaining your focus on your audience. One professional speaker advises,

Listen to the Audio

You have to research the group, look on their website, and talk to people in the group to assess what they need and want to know about a topic . . . .²¹

Developing Your Speech Step by Step

Selecting and Narrowing Your Topic

While surfing the web one afternoon, Dezerae comes across a list of “30 Health Reasons Not to Drink Soda or Diet Soda.” As she scans the list, she is startled by the number and severity of health conditions with known links to soft drinks. She vows to cut down on her own consumption. As she ponders this idea, another thought goes through her mind: Maybe the health risks associated with soft drinks would make a good topic for her upcoming persuasive speech. She is personally interested and thinks her audience would be as well.

 

With your audience’s needs and expectations in mind, you might continue the process of narrowing your topic by constructing the kinds of categories created by web directories. Write your general topic at the top of a list, making each succeeding word or phrase more specific and narrow. Figure 11.6 illustrates how the broad topic recreation might be narrowed to a workable topic for a speech.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 11.6 Narrowing a Broad Topic

 

If you think your audience is unlikely to be interested in Cruising on a freighter or barge, you can go back a step and consider other types of cruises—European river cruises, for example—that may be more likely to interest your audience.

 

Recap: Selecting and Narrowing Your Topic

• Consider the audience, the occasion, and your interests and experiences.
• Practice silent brainstorming.
• Scan web directories and web pages.
• Listen and read for topic ideas.
• Narrow your topic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Identifying Your Purpose

1. 4 Write an audience-centered, specific-purpose statement for a speech.

Now that you have a topic in mind, you need to determine your purpose for your speech. A clear purpose can help you select main ideas, an organizational strategy, and supporting material. It can even influence how you deliver your speech. You should determine both your general purpose and your specific purpose for every speech you give.

General Purpose

Your general purpose is the broad reason for giving your speech: to inform, to persuade, or to entertain.

 

To Inform, Persuade, or Entertain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In your speech class, the general purpose for each assignment will probably be set by your instructor. Because the general purpose influences the way you develop and organize your speech, as well as the way you deliver it, it is important to be aware of your general purpose throughout the process of developing and delivering your speech.

The three main general purposes for public speaking are to inform, to persuade, and to entertain. Which appears to be this speaker’s purpose?

CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Specific Purpose

Knowing whether you want to inform, persuade, or entertain clarifies your general purpose for speaking. You also need to determine your specific purpose. A specific purpose is a concise statement of what your listeners should be able to do by the time you finish your speech. In other words, a specific purpose is an audience-centered behavioral goal for your speech. Table 11.1 shows examples of general and specific purposes.

 

 

 

Table 11.1 Examples of General and Specific Purposes

 

Communication & Ethics

Is It Ethical to Buy a Speech?

An online “speech mill” advertises that for $13 per page, “highly qualified writers” will prepare a custom speech for you. The ad goes on to claim that the speeches are “original” and “from scratch,” designed to “let you escape the whole preparation process.”

Would it be ethical to use this or a similar website to prepare a speech for a class assignment? Why or why not? Are you comfortable with the site’s “plagiarism-free guarantee”? Would it be ethical to buy a speech from such a site for a personal occasion, such as a great-aunt’s funeral or your cousin’s wedding? How do online speechwriters for hire compare, ethically, with professional speechwriters, who are regularly hired by executives and politicians?

 

A specific-purpose statement is intended not to become part of your speech, but to guide your own speech preparation. You can begin a specific-purpose statement for any speech with the words:

At the end of my speech, the audience will . . .

Then you can specify a behavior. For example, if you are giving an informative speech on eating disorders, you might state:

At the end of my speech, the audience will be able to explain the causes of anorexia.

If your topic is cell phone spyware and your general purpose is to persuade, you might say:

At the end of my speech, the audience will be able to disable spyware on their cell phones.²²

Wording your specific purpose as in the examples above will help you keep your audience foremost in your mind during the entire speech preparation process.

The following video discusses the importance of determining your speech’s general and specific purposes.

Video Self-Check: Martin Cox Discusses the Speech Purpose

Source: © Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

Every subsequent decision you make while preparing and delivering your speech should be guided by your specific purpose. As soon as you have formulated it, add it to the reminders on your smartphone or write it on a note card and keep it with you while you are working on your speech. Think of it as a compass pointing true north—toward your audience. Refer to it often.

Recap: Identifying Your Purpose

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Developing Your Central Idea

1. 5 Develop a central idea for a speech.

Your specific purpose indicates what you want your audience to know or do by the end of your speech, but your central idea makes a definitive point about your topic. It focuses on the content of the speech. Unlike the specific purpose, which guides your preparation but is not stated in your final speech, the central idea is stated.

Developing Your Speech Step by Step

Identifying Your Purpose

Dezerae’s assignment is to prepare and deliver a persuasive speech, so she knows that her general purpose is to persuade—to change or reinforce her audience’s ideas, or to urge them to do something. She will talk about the health hazards associated with soft drinks and urge her listeners to cut down on their consumption.

Dezerae knows that her specific purpose should begin with the phrase “At the end of my speech, the audience will . . . ,” so she jots down,

At the end of my speech, the audience will know about the health hazards of soft drinks.

As Dezerae considers this draft specific purpose, she sees some problems with it. How can she determine what her audience “knows” at the end of her speech? And what, specifically, should her listeners do with the information she gives them? She edits her purpose statement to read,

At the end of my speech, the audience will list the health hazards associated with soft drinks.

Although more specific, this version is more appropriate for an informative speech than for a persuasive one. Dezerae wants her audience to take action. Maybe a better purpose statement would be,

At the end of my speech, the audience will consume fewer soft drinks.

Dezerae is pleased with this third version. It specifies what she wants her audience members to do by the end of her speech.

 

Sometimes, as in the following example, wording the central idea can be as simple as copying the part of the specific-purpose statement that specifies what the audience should be able to do.

topic:	Foreign-language education
specific purpose:	At the end of my speech, the audience will be able to explain two reasons foreign-language education should begin in the elementary grades.
central idea:	Foreign-language education should begin in the elementary grades.

Figure 11.7 summarizes how the specific purpose and central idea differ.

 

Figure 11.7 Specific Purpose versus Central Idea

 

Professional speech coach Judith Humphrey explains the importance of a central idea:

Listen to the Audio

Ask yourself before writing a speech . . . “What’s my point?” Be able to state that message in a single clear sentence. Everything else you say will support that single argument.²³

To be most useful to both speaker and listeners, the “single clear sentence” to which Humphrey refers should be an audience-centered idea, reflect a single idea, be a complete declarative sentence, and use direct, specific language.

An Audience-Centered Idea

If your specific purpose is focused on your audience, your central idea probably will be, too. It should reflect a topic in which the audience has a reason to be interested and should provide some knowledge that they do not already have or make some claim about the topic that they may not have previously considered. Consider the appropriateness of the central ideas in Figure 11.8 for an audience of students already attending college.

 

Figure 11.8 The Central Idea Should Be Appropriate for the Audience

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Single Idea

A central idea should be a single idea. Trying to cover more than one topic, even if the multiple topics are related, only muddles your speech and confuses the audience. The example in Figure 11.9 illustrates this guideline.

 

Figure 11.9 The Central Idea Should Be a Single Idea

A Complete Declarative Sentence

Your central idea should be more than just the word or phrase that is your topic; it should also make a claim about your topic. In addition, avoid wording your central idea as a question. Questions may help you come up with a central idea, but because they don’t make any kind of claim, questions themselves are not good central ideas. Figure 11.10 illustrates how a central idea should be a complete declarative sentence, not a topic and not a question.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 11.10 The Central Idea Should Be a Complete Declarative Sentence

 

 

 

Developing Your Speech Step by Step

Developing Your Central Idea

Dezerae knows from reading Chapter 11 of this book that her central idea should state a single audience-centered idea. She jots down,

Why should people consume fewer soft drinks?

She thinks her first draft is not bad. It is certainly relevant to her purpose. Then she remembers that the central idea should be a declarative sentence, not a question. So she revises the question to read,

People should consume fewer soft drinks.

This second draft meets all the criteria for a central idea: It is audience-centered, reflects a single idea, is a complete declarative sentence, and uses direct, specific language.

Direct, Specific Language

As illustrated in Figure 11.11,²⁴ a good central idea uses direct, specific language rather than qualifiers and vague generalities.

 

Figure 11.11 The Central Idea Should Be Worded in Direct, Specific Language

 

Recap: The Central Idea Should . . .

• Be audience-centered.
• Reflect a single topic.
• Be a complete declarative sentence.
• Use direct, specific language.

 

 

 

 

 

Generating Main Ideas

1. 6 Generate main ideas from a central idea.

If the central idea of a speech is like the thesis statement of a paper, the main ideas of a speech correspond to the paragraph topics of a paper. They support or subdivide the central idea and provide more detailed points of focus for developing the speech.

 

Getting from the central idea to related but more specific main ideas can seem challenging, but you can actually use the central idea to generate main ideas. Here’s how.

Write the central idea at the top of a sheet of paper or a word-processing document. Then ask yourself three questions:

1. Does the central idea have logical divisions?
2. Can I think of several reasonsthe central idea is true?
3. Can I support the central idea with a series of stepsor a chronological sequence?

 

You should be able to answer yes to one of these questions and to write down the corresponding divisions, reasons, or steps. Let’s apply this strategy to several examples.

Does the Central Idea Have Logical Divisions?

Suppose that your central idea is “Most accomplished guitarists play three types of guitars.” The phrase three types is a flag that indicates that this central idea does indeed have logical divisions—in this case, the three types of guitars. You list the three that come to mind:

1. Acoustic
2. Classical
3. Electric

You don’t need to use Roman numerals or to worry particularly about the order in which you have listed the types of guitars. Right now, you are simply trying to generate main ideas. They aren’t set in concrete, either. You may revise them—and your central idea—several times before you actually deliver the speech. For example, you may decide that you need to include steel guitars in your list, so you revise your central idea to read “four types of guitars” and add “steel” to your list. If your central idea has logical divisions, you may organize those logical divisions topically, spatially, or according to cause–effect or problem–solution, organizational strategies that will be discussed in Chapter 12.

 

Can You Think of Several Reasons the Central Idea Is True?

If your central idea is “Refugee children in developing nations lack educational opportunities,” you may not be able to find readily apparent logical divisions.²⁵ Simply describing the refugee populations of Afghanistan, Somalia, and Myanmar,²⁶ for example, would not necessarily support the argument that refugee children in developing nations lack educational opportunities. However, the second question—Can I think of several reasons the central idea is true?—is more productive. You can develop the central idea with reasons why refugee children lack educational opportunities:

1. Developing countries lack educational infrastructure.
2. The focus of international development and support is misguided.

Unlike the list of types of guitars, this list is written in brief complete sentences. You may or may not use full sentences in your own list. The purpose of your first list of main ideas is just to get the ideas in written form, whether using words, phrases, or sentences. You can and will revise them later. If your main ideas are reasons your central idea is true, you will probably organize them according to effect–cause.

Can You Support the Central Idea with a Series of Steps or a Chronological Sequence?

“Free speech was alternately challenged and defended in the U.S. throughout the twentieth century.” This central idea seemed like a pretty good idea when you drafted it, but now what do you do? It does not have any logical divisions. You cannot really come up with reasons it is true. You could, however, support this central idea with a chronological sequence or a history of free speech in the twentieth century. You jot down the following list:

1. 1919: The Supreme Court suggests that speech presenting a “clear and present danger” may be restricted.
2. 1940: Congress declares it illegal to urge the violent overthrow of the federal government.
3. 1964: The Berkeley Free Speech Movement arises from protest over the arrest of student activists.
4. 1989: The Supreme Court defines the burning of the U.S. flag as a speech act.
5. 1997: The Supreme Court defends free speech on the Internet by striking down the Communications Decency Act of 1996.

These five events, arranged in chronological order, could become the main ideas of your speech.

How many main ideas should you have? Your topic and time limit will help you decide. A short speech (three to five minutes) might have only two main ideas. A longer one (eight to ten minutes) might have four or five. If you have more potential main ideas than you can use, decide which main ideas are likely to be most interesting, relevant, and perhaps persuasive to your audience, or combine two or more closely related ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gathering Supporting Material

1. 7 Describe five potential sources and seven types of supporting material for a speech, and use each type effectively.

By the time you have decided on your main ideas, you have a skeleton speech. Your next task is to flesh out that skeleton with supporting material, both verbal and visual. Verbal supporting material includes illustrations, explanations, descriptions, definitions, analogies, statistics, and opinions—material that will clarify, amplify, and provide evidence to support your main ideas and your thesis. Visual supporting material includes images, text, video, audio, objects, and people. The speaker who seeks out strong verbal and visual supporting material is adhering to the fundamental communication principles of using verbal and nonverbal messages effectively.

 

Developing Your Speech Step by Step

Generating Your Main Ideas

With her central idea (“People should consume fewer soft drinks”) in hand, Dezerae is ready to generate main ideas for her speech. She applies three questions:

• Does the central idea have logical divisions?
• Can I think of several reasons the central idea is true?
• Can I support my central idea with a series of steps or a chronological sequence?

Dezerae doesn’t find logical divisions in her central idea. Nor can she support it with a series of steps or a chronological sequence. But she can certainly list reasons it is true. She begins her list:

1. Soft drinks are high in sugar.
2. High sugar consumption leads to obesity.
3. Obesity puts people at risk for a variety of lifestyle diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

Dezerae feels confident that she now has three main ideas that both support her central idea and fulfill her specific purpose. Because she also wants her audience to take action (decrease their consumption of soft drinks), she can make that action step her fourth point:

4. You should consume fewer soft drinks.

Now Dezerae feels confident that she has four main ideas that both support her central idea and fulfill her specific purpose.

Sources of Supporting Material

Like a chef who needs to know where to buy high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables for gourmet recipes, you need to know where to turn for supporting material that will effectively develop your speech and achieve your specific purpose. We will discuss five potential sources of supporting material: personal knowledge and experience, the Internet, online databases, traditional library holdings, and interviews.

A smartphone lets you do Internet research anywhere, but there are also times when you may need to visit a library or interview someone to get information for your speech.

scyther5/Shutterstock

 

 

Personal Knowledge and Experience

If you were self-aware as you selected your topic, you may have chosen a topic based on your passionate interest in cataloging cat videos or cooking. Or you may have chosen a topic with which you have had some personal experience, such as negotiating a favorable apartment lease. Although most well-researched speeches will include some objective material gathered from the Internet or from library resources, your listeners will respect your authority if they realize that you have firsthand knowledge of your topic.

The Internet

Although easy to use and generally helpful, general search engines such as Google or Bing can yield an overwhelming number of resources. The following relatively simple strategies can help you narrow thousands or even millions of hits to a more workable number:

• Vertical search engines.One way you can narrow your search is to use a vertical search engine, a specialized tool that may index, for example, only academic sources (Google Scholar) or job websites (Indeed).
• Boolean searches.Another way to narrow a search is to conduct a Boolean search, which allows you to enclose phrases in quotation marks or parentheses so that a search yields only those sites on which all words or the phrase appear in that exact order and eliminates sites that contain the words at random. Boolean searches also let you exclude words or phrases from your search or restrict the dates of documents to a specified time frame.

 

• Criteria for evaluating web resources.A third strategy for sorting through information you discover on the Internet has to do with the principles of appropriately interpreting verbal and nonverbal messages. Specifically, you need to evaluate the sites you discover according to a consistent standard. The six criteria in Table 2 can serve as such a standard.²⁷

Table 11.2 Six Criteria for Evaluating Internet Resources

Source: Steven Beebe, et al., “Six Criteria for Evaluating Internet Resources,” Pearson Education, Inc.

 

Inevitably, one of the first hits in almost any Internet search is Wikipedia. Because it is continually updated, Wikipedia can provide valuable information about current events and cutting-edge technology. But users should keep in mind that because anyone, regardless of expertise, can add or edit a Wikipedia entry, the site’s reliability and appropriateness for academic use are limited.

 

Watch the following video to learn how to identify credible online sources. Then answer the self-check questions to test your knowledge.

Video Self-Check: Melissa Beall – The Credibility of Online Sources

Source: © Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Online Databases

Online databases provide access to bibliographic information, abstracts, and full texts for a variety of resources, including periodicals, newspapers, government documents, and even books. Like websites, online databases are accessed via a networked computer. Unlike websites, most databases are restricted to the patrons of libraries that subscribe to them. Your library may subscribe to several or all of the following popular full-text databases:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full-Text Databases

 

Communication & Social Media

Facebook and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Campaign

Prior to the 1920s, voters in U.S. presidential elections were able to hear and see candidates only face-to-face at political rallies and train whistle stops. In 1924, voters first listened to campaign information on the radio, and in 1952, they viewed ads and speeches on television for the first time.

In 2016, voters for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton relied to a significant degree on a new media tool for campaign news: Facebook. A post-election survey conducted by the Pew Research Center revealed that “Nearly one-in-ten of both Trump (7%) and Clinton (8%) voters said Facebook was where they got most of their news about the campaign . . . .”²⁸

Traditional Library Holdings

Despite the explosion of Internet and database resources in recent years, the more traditional holdings of libraries, both paper and electronic, remain rich sources of supporting material. Spend some time becoming familiar with your library’s services and layout so that you know how and where to access books and reference materials.

• Libraries’ collections of books are called the stacks. The stacks are organized by call numbers, which are included in electronic catalog entries. A location guide can tell you the floor or section of the stacks that houses books with the call numbers in which you are interested.
• Reference resources.Print reference resources—which include encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, almanacs, and books of quotations—are indexed with a ref prefix on their call numbers to show that they are housed in the reference section of the library. Like periodicals, newspapers, and microfilm, print reference resources are usually available only for in-house research and cannot be checked out. Reference librarians are specialists in the field of information science. They are often able to suggest additional print or electronic resources that you might otherwise overlook. If you plan to use the reference section, visit the library during daytime working hours. A full-time reference librarian is more likely to be on hand and available to help you at that time than in the evenings or on weekends.

Interviews

If you need detailed information that only an expert can provide, you may want to interview that person. For example, a member of the city council may be able to explain the reasons for the continuing controversy surrounding granting a liquor license to the new restaurant opening on the edge of campus. Appendix A offers guidelines and strategies for conducting an information-gathering interview.

 

Recap: Sources of Supporting Material

Types of Supporting Material

If you have explored your own knowledge and insights and those of people you know, discovered material on the Internet, consulted databases, and examined a variety of library resources, you probably have a wealth of potential supporting material. Now you will need to decide what to use in your speech.

 

 

Keeping in mind your listeners’ knowledge, interests, and expectations will help you determine where an illustration might stir their emotions, where an explanation might help them to understand a point, and where statistics might convince them of the significance of a problem. Let’s discuss these and other types of supporting material and consider suggestions for using them effectively.

Illustrations

Illustrations offer an example of, or tell a story about, an idea, issue, or problem a speaker is discussing. Illustrations can be as short as a word or phrase or as long as a well-developed paragraph. Sometimes speakers will offer a series of brief illustrations, as President George W. Bush did in his final state of the union address in January 2008:

In the past seven years, we’ve also seen images that have sobered us. We’ve watched throngs of mourners in Lebanon and Pakistan carrying the caskets of beloved leaders taken by the assassin’s hand. We’ve seen wedding guests in blood-soaked finery staggering from a hotel in Jordan, Afghans and Iraqis blown up in mosques and markets, and trains in London and Madrid ripped apart by bombs. On a clear September day, we saw thousands of our fellow citizens taken from us in an instant.²⁹

Other speakers offer longer and more detailed illustrations. Still others will use instead a hypothetical illustration—one that has not actually occurred. If you decide to use a hypothetical illustration, it is important to clarify to your audience that the scene you describe never really happened. Notice how Matthew uses the word imagine, which lets his audience know that his illustration is hypothetical:

Listen to the Audio

Imagine an evening outing: You and your two children decide to have a fun night out. You look up to your rearview mirror to see a car slam into the back of your car—WHAM—killing your children. You survive the crash and so does the individual who rear-ended you.³⁰

Whether you choose to use brief or extended illustrations, true or hypothetical ones, remember this principle: Everybody likes to hear a story. An illustration almost always ensures audience interest. In addition, communication researchers have found that listeners are less likely to generate counterarguments to a persuasive message supported by examples and personal narratives than one not so supported.³¹

 

The following suggestions should help you use illustrations effectively in your speeches:

• Be sure that your illustrations are directly relevant to the idea or point they are supposed to support.
• Choose illustrations that are typical, not exceptions.
• Make your illustrations vivid and specific.
• Use illustrations with which your listeners can identify.
• Remember that the most effective illustrations are often personal ones.

Everybody loves a good story. David Sedaris is famous for illustrations that keep the attention of his audiences. What principles can you use from this chapter to hold your listeners’ attention?

Adm Golub/Modesto Bee/ZUMAPRESS.com

Descriptions

A description provides the details that allow an audience to see, hear, smell, touch, or taste whatever you are talking about. Descriptions can make people and scenes come alive for an audience. In her Nobel Prize acceptance speech, writer Doris Lessing described Africa as she remembered it:

the banks of the Zambesi, where it rolls between pale grassy banks, it being the dry season, dark-green and glossy, with all the birds of Africa around its banks . . . . elephants, giraffes, lions and the rest . . . the sky at night, still unpolluted, black and wonderful, full of restless stars.³²

 

Explanations

An explanation of how something works or why a situation exists can help an audience understand conditions, events, or processes. Discussing the use of solitary confinement in the U.S. juvenile justice system, student speaker Branden explained how this form of punishment came to be used in the first place:

Listen to the Audio

Solitary confinement in the United States was based on a Quaker belief that prisoners isolated in stone cells with only a Bible would use the time to repent, pray, and find introspection.³³

Although descriptions and explanations are part of most speeches, they lack the inherent interest factor that illustrations have. The following suggestions may help you keep audiences from yawning:

• Avoid too many descriptions and explanations.
• Keep your descriptions and explanations brief.
• Use specific and concrete language.

Definitions

A definition has two justifiable uses in speeches. First, a speaker should be sure to define any and all specialized, technical, or little-known terms in his or her speech. Such definitions are usually achieved by classification, the kind of definition you would find in a dictionary. Alternatively, a speaker may define a term by showing how it works or how it is applied in a specific instance—what is known as an operational definition. Before arguing that we need to change our cultural perspective of pain, student speaker Veronica provided an operational definition of pain:

Listen to the Audio

Pain is specifically a physical sensation—you might think of chronic pain or stepping on your five-year-old’s Lego . . . .³⁴

To use definitions effectively, consider the following suggestions:

• Use definitions only when necessary.
• Be certain that your definitions are understandable.
• Be sure that any definition you provide accurately reflects your use of the word or phrase throughout the speech.

 

Analogies

An analogy demonstrates how unfamiliar ideas, things, and situations are similar to something the audience already understands. Speakers can use two types of analogies in their speeches. The first is a literal analogy, or comparison of two similar things. Eulogizing former Israeli President Shimon Peres, Barack Obama used a literal analogy to communicate Peres’s status among world leaders of the twentieth century:

In many ways, he reminded me of some other giants of the 20th century that I’ve had the honor to meet—men like Nelson Mandela; women like Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth—leaders who have seen so much . . . .³⁵

The second type of analogy is a figurative analogy, a comparison of two seemingly dissimilar things that in fact share a significant common feature. In her 2016 commencement address at Berkeley, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg used a figurative analogy to inspire her listeners to emerge from life’s most difficult moments:

. . . when life sucks you under, you can kick against the bottom, break the surface, and breathe again.³⁶

Two suggestions can help you use analogies more effectively in your speeches:

• Be certain that the two things you compare in a literal analogy are very similar.
• Make the similarity between the two things compared in a figurative analogy apparent to the audience.

Statistics

Statistics, or numerical data, can represent hundreds or thousands of illustrations, helping a speaker express the significance or magnitude of a situation. Statistics can also help a speaker express the relationship of a part to the whole. In her speech on domestic abuse, Ellie used both types of statistics to communicate the inadequacy of funding for shelters:

Listen to the Audio

. . . 80 percent of shelters had been facing funding cuts, despite the fact that 88 percent have been seeing an increase in their demand. Additionally, more than 20 shelters, aiding thousands of women, have been forced to close entirely . . . .³⁷

Skilled speakers learn how to use statistics to their greatest advantage. For example, they try to make numbers more dramatic for their audiences. AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney dramatized the danger of unsafe bridges in the United States by making a statistic personal:

Since I was coming to work from Washington to New Rochelle this morning, I asked my staff to check out my route. We found that traveling the I-95 corridor between Washington, D.C. and New York City, I would cross or come within two-tenths of a mile of 30 bridges that are rated either functionally obsolete or structurally deficient.³⁸

Ken Huber, CEO of the innovative medical technology company Grail, dramatized the rapid progress of technology with statistics that his student audience could readily envision:

Floppy disks were the thumb drives of the 1980s, except it would take over 7,000 floppy disks, or a stack 50 feet high, and cost $35,000, to equal the storage in a one gigabyte thumb drive you buy for 3 bucks today, and [that] easily fits in your pocket.³⁹

And student speaker Isaac dramatized a statistic by compacting it—expressing it in units more readily understandable to his audience:

Listen to the Audio

Every hour, the equivalent of 300 football fields of forest is cleared in order to make way for palm oil plantations . . . . That means that in the time it takes me to give this speech, the equivalent of 50 football fields will have already been cleared.⁴⁰

In addition to dramatizing statistics, you can use statistics more effectively if you apply the following suggestions:

• Round off large numbers.
• Use visual aids to present your statistics.
• Cite the sources of your statistics.

Developing Your Speech Step by Step

Gathering Supporting Material

With a draft of her specific purpose, central idea, and main ideas in hand, Dezerae begins to research the health hazards of soft drinks. The article that launched her topic mentions studies done by Harvard University.

She finds and electronically bookmarks fact sheets and other information from the Harvard studies. She also decides to do a Google search. She finds relevant and convincing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. Dezerae creates electronic bookmarks for these additional sources.

She then begins to read each resource more carefully and to take notes. As she does so, she puts quotation marks around any material she copies verbatim and makes sure that she has copied it accurately.

Opinions

The opinions of others can add authority, drama, and style to a speech. A speaker can use three types of opinions: expert testimony, lay testimony, and literary quotations.

 

Expert testimony is the type of opinion most frequently employed by speakers. If you lack authority on your topic, cite someone who can offer such expertise. In preparing her speech on the college credit card crisis, Jeni realized that her audience might not believe that the misuse of credit cards by college students is a widespread problem. So Jeni quoted an expert:

Listen to the Audio

Ruth Susswein, executive director of the Bankcard Holders of America, told the . . . Pittsburgh Post Gazette, “I defy you to go on any college campus and find any student who doesn’t know some other student who has messed up using credit cards.”⁴¹

After an F5 tornado ravaged Joplin, Missouri, television audiences were moved by the compassionate reporting of Weather Channel journalist Mike Bettes, who was one of the first reporters on the scene. For a speaker, as well as a news organization, such lay testimony can provide the most memorable moments of a speech, stirring an audience’s emotions.

 

Finally, speakers may wish to include literary quotations in their speeches. Salem State College Professor Robert Brown quoted architect Buckminster Fuller to make a point about how the English language has become increasingly visual and kinesthetic:

As the architectural visionary Buckminster Fuller was fond of saying, “I am a verb.” In English, with every innovation that comes to market, we transform things into actions, and nouns into verbs, as when I say: “Let me friend you.”⁴²

Whether you use expert testimony, lay testimony, or literary quotations, consider the following suggestions for using opinions effectively in your speeches:

• Be certain that any authority you cite is actually an expert on the subject you are discussing.
• Identify your sources.
• Cite unbiased authorities.
• Cite representative opinions, or identify dissenting viewpoints as such.
• Quote or paraphrase your sources accurately and note the context in which the remarks were originally made.
• Use literary quotations sparingly.

Communication & Diversity

How to Adapt to Your Diverse Audience

Here are some ideas to help you adapt when you speak to an audience of people who have cultural backgrounds different from your own.⁴³

• Adapt your supporting materials.Telling a good story to illustrate your ideas is an especially effective strategy to appeal to a wide range of audience preferences.
• Adapt your visual support.You might want to use more visual aids to illustrate your talk. Pictures and images can communicate universal messages, especially emotional ones.
• Adapt your speech organization.People from the predominant culture in North America usually prefer a structured speech that follows an outlined pattern. They also prefer an introduction that previews the ideas you’ll present and a conclusion that crisply summarizes the essential points you’ve made. A Russian or Eastern European audience would expect a less tightly structured speech, however. When you’re in doubt about listener preferences, we recommend being structured and organized.
• Adapt your delivery style.One study found that members of some cultures prefer a more formal oratorical style of delivery than the conversational, extemporaneous style that is usually taught in American public speaking classes.⁴⁴

Our overarching suggestion is to be aware of who will be in your audience. Before you develop or deliver your speech, if you’re unsure of your listeners’ speaking-style preferences, ask for tips and strategies from audience members or people you trust.

 

As you select your illustrations, descriptions, explanations, definitions, analogies, statistics, and opinions, be guided not only by the suggestions provided in this chapter but also by the five Communication Principles for a Lifetime:

 

• Be aware of your communication with yourself and others.The best supporting material reflects self-awareness, taking advantage of your own knowledge and experience.
• Effectively use and interpret verbal messages.Effective verbal supporting material is appropriately worded, concrete, and vivid enough that your audience can visualize what you are talking about.
• Effectively use and interpret nonverbal messages.Use visual aids to present statistics.
• Listen and respond thoughtfully to others.If listeners find a speech boring, the speaker has probably not used the fundamental principles of communication as criteria for selecting supporting material.
• Appropriately adapt messages to others.Lin-Manuel Miranda, celebrated creator of the hit musical Hamilton, told recent graduates at the University of Pennsylvania,

 

This act of choosing—the stories we tell versus the stories we leave out—will reverberate across the rest of your life. Don’t believe me? Think about how you celebrated this senior week, and contrast that with the version you shared with the parents and grandparents sitting behind you.

Miranda’s “act of choosing” will help you select the verbal and visual supporting material that is most appropriately adapted to your audience.

Recap: Supporting Your Speech

The following video provides an overview of the different types of supporting material you can use for a speech.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch: Supporting Material

Source: © Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgment of Supporting Material

In the United States and most other Western cultures, using the words, sentence structures, or ideas of another person without crediting the source is a serious breach of ethics. Once you have supporting material in hand, you must decide whether and how to acknowledge the source.

 

Determining What Should Be Acknowledged

Some information is so widely known that you may not need to acknowledge a source. For example, you need not cite a source if you say that former FBI official Mark Felt was identified as the long-anonymous Watergate informant “Deep Throat.” This fact is general knowledge and is widely available in a variety of sources. If you decide to use any of the following, however, you must acknowledge the source:

• Direct quotations, even if they are only brief phrases
• Others’ opinions, assertions, or ideas, even if you paraphrase them rather than quote them verbatim
• Statistics
• Any non-original visual materials, including graphs, tables, and pictures

Understanding Plagiarism and its Consequences

Presenting someone else’s words or ideas without acknowledging the source constitutes plagiarism, a breach of academic honesty that can have dire consequences.

During the 2016 Republican National Convention, Melania Trump was accused of plagiarizing a speech given by Michelle Obama in 2008. Watch the following video to see if you agree with this accusation.

Watch: Melania Trump 2016 vs. Michelle Obama 2008 – Their Words

Source: Courtesy of boclips/Bloomberg

 

A few years ago, one of your authors heard a student’s excellent speech on the importance of detecting cancer early. The only problem was that she heard the same speech again in the following class period! On finding the “speech”—actually a Reader’s Digest article that was several years old—both students were certain that they had discovered a shortcut to an A. Instead, they failed the assignment, ruined their course grades, and lost their instructor’s trust. The consequences of plagiarism in other arenas can be even more severe, including the loss of a job or the end of a promising career.

 

Acknowledging Sources in Oral Citations

To acknowledge your source, you can integrate an oral citation into your speech. In his speech on contaminated water, Nick provided this oral citation:

Fortune of January 25th, 2016, reports that although Congress banned lead water pipes over 30 years ago, more than 3.3 million old pipes remain throughout the country.⁴⁵

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sample Oral Citation

 

The following video discusses how to use oral citations correctly.

Watch: Oral Citations

 

Chapter 11 Study Guide: Review, Apply, and Assess

Overviewing the Public Speaking Process

1. 1 List and explain the components of the audience-centered public speaking model.

REVIEW: The stages of the public speaking process center on consideration of audience members, who influence every decision a speaker makes. A speaker’s tasks include selecting and narrowing a topic, identifying a general and specific purpose, developing the central idea, generating main ideas, gathering supporting materials, organizing the speech, and rehearsing and delivering the speech.

APPLY: How is the behavior of a speaker who adapts to his or her audience different from that of a speaker who does not adapt to the audience?

ASSESS: Pat has been asked to attend Monday night’s city council meeting to speak on behalf of neighbors who do not want the council to issue an alcohol use permit to a new restaurant in their neighborhood. What strategies could Pat use to adapt her speech to the members of the city council?

Building Your Confidence

1. 2 Apply specific strategies for becoming a more confident speaker.

REVIEW: Understanding public speaking anxiety, knowing how to develop a speech, being prepared, giving yourself mental pep talks, using deep-breathing techniques, and focusing on your audience and message can help you become a more confident speaker, as can taking advantage of opportunities to speak and exploring additional resources.

APPLY: Xavier, one of your best friends from high school, went on to play football for your flagship state university. Now he has been invited back to address the annual football banquet at your old high school. Not having taken an oral communication course yet, Xavier is anxious about his upcoming speech. Based on what you have learned about becoming a more confident speaker, what advice would you give Xavier?

ASSESS: Complete the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA) to assess your level of communication apprehension. At the end of the communication course in which you are currently enrolled, complete the self-evaluation again to see whether this course has affected your level of communication apprehension.

Selecting and Narrowing Your Topic

1. 3 Select and narrow a speech topic that is appropriate to the audience, the occasion, and yourself.

REVIEW: As you begin to prepare your speech, you will first have to select and narrow your topic, keeping in mind the audience, the occasion, and your own interests and experiences. You may find helpful such strategies as silent brainstorming, scanning web directories and websites, and listening and reading for topic ideas.

APPLY: One speaker’s self-awareness helped her generate a list of possible topics that began with “San Antonio, Texas: City of cultural diversity.” Use your own interests and experiences to help generate a similar list of five to seven topics.

ASSESS: The chair of the Department of Communication Studies visits your required communication class to discuss what you can do with a degree in communication studies. Analyze her choice of topic according to the topic selection guidelines presented in this chapter.

Identifying Your Purpose

1. 4 Write an audience-centered, specific-purpose statement for a speech.

REVIEW: Once you have a topic, you need to identify both your general purpose and your specific purpose. General purposes include to inform, to persuade, and to entertain. Specific purposes are determined by the general purpose, the topic, and the audience.

APPLY: Given the broad topic “ocean tides,” write three specific-purpose statements: one for a speech to inform, one for a speech to persuade, and one for a speech to entertain.

ASSESS: Revise the following draft of a specific-purpose statement so that it better meets the criteria presented in this chapter: To explain why I use public transportation instead of my own car.

Developing Your Central Idea

1. 5 Develop a central idea for a speech.

REVIEW: Your central idea will focus on the content of your speech. It should be centered on your audience; reflect a single idea; be a complete declarative sentence; and use direct, specific language.

APPLY: Following the guidelines in this chapter, write a central idea for a speech on the topic of buying car insurance.

ASSESS: Revise each of the following central ideas according to the criteria presented in this chapter:

• Bicycling and jewelry making are fun hobbies.
• How do you change your academic major?

Generating Main Ideas

1. 6 Generate main ideas from a central idea.

REVIEW: The main ideas of a speech support or subdivide the central idea. They are usually logical divisions of the central idea, reasons the central idea is true, or a series of steps or a chronological sequence that develops the central idea.

APPLY: Divide the central idea you wrote about buying car insurance into two or more main ideas, using the three questions recommended in this chapter.

ASSESS: Check the main ideas you drafted for the previous “apply” question against the following specific-purpose statement: “At the end of my speech, the audience will explain three criteria for buying car insurance.” If your main ideas do not contribute to this specific purpose, make appropriate revisions to either the specific purpose or the main ideas.

Gathering Supporting Material

1. 7 Describe five potential sources and seven types of supporting material for a speech, and use each type effectively.

REVIEW: You have at least five potential sources of supporting material: personal knowledge and experience, the Internet, online databases, traditional library holdings, and interviews. Personal knowledge and experience increase the likelihood that the audience will find you a credible speaker. To supplement your own knowledge and experience, you can turn to the vast resources of the Internet. Online databases provide both bibliographic information and full texts to subscribers. You will also most likely use traditional library holdings—books, periodicals, newspapers, and reference resources—as sources of supporting material. And finally, if you need detailed information that only an expert can provide, you may want to interview that person. The types of supporting material available in these sources include illustrations, descriptions, explanations, definitions, analogies, statistics, and opinions. Simple guidelines can help you use each type of supporting material effectively and cite your sources correctly.

APPLY: Think back to a recent speech you have heard. Identify an illustration, statistic, or other piece of supporting material from this speech that you found highly memorable.

ASSESS: Use each of the five Communication Principles for a Lifetime to explain why the supporting material you identified in the previous “apply” question was memorable.

The Principle Points

Principle One:

Be aware of your communication with yourself and others.

 

• Understand that public speaking anxiety results from your body working to help you perform better.
• Give yourself a pep talk before getting up to speak.
• Consider your own interests and experiences when selecting a topic.
• Remember that the best supporting material often draws on your own knowledge and experience.

Principle Two:

Effectively use and interpret verbal messages.

 

• Focus on your message to help you become a more confident speaker.
• Search for topics on the Internet, in the media, and in books.
• Word your specific purpose in terms of your audience to help you keep your focus on them.
• Make sure that your central idea reflects a single topic, is a complete declarative sentence, and uses direct, specific language.
• Consider the accountability, accuracy, objectivity, date, usability, and sensitivity to diversity of verbal material you find on websites.
• Make your illustrations vivid and specific.
• Keep descriptions and explanations brief.
• Describe and explain in specific and concrete language.
• Make your definitions readily understandable, and be certain that they accurately reflect how you use the word or phrase in the speech.
• Round off large numbers to make them more understandable.
• Cite unbiased authorities who represent prevailing opinion.
• Quote or paraphrase accurately and in context.
• Integrate oral citations of your sources into your speech.

Principle Three:

Effectively use and interpret nonverbal messages.

 

• Remember that nonverbal indicators of public speaking anxiety are rarely visible to an audience.
• Consider the accountability, accuracy, objectivity, date, usability, and sensitivity to diversity of pictures and graphics you find on websites.
• Use visual aids to make statistics more readily understandable to your listeners.

Principle Four:

Listen and respond thoughtfully to others.

                                 

• To increase your confidence when speaking in public, seek out information about your listeners and how they are likely to respond to your message.
• Listen for topic ideas in the course of casual conversation with friends.

Principle Five:

Appropriately adapt messages to others.

                                

• As you learn more about your audience, you can revise ideas or strategies for your speech at any point in your preparation process.
• Focus on your audience to increase your confidence.
• Be sensitive to and adapt to the diversity of your audience.
• Consider your audience’s interests and expectations as you select the topic for your speech.
• Keep in mind your audience’s knowledge, interests, and expectations as you select supporting material for your presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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