COM 259 Module 3: Professional Speaking and Presentations Notes & Definitions

Informative speaking

Speeches designed to teach the audience something they do not know

Persuasive speaking

Speeches designed to change the behavior, belief, or values of an audience.

Audience centered speech

A speech crafted to reach a particular audience based upon the various characteristics of the people who will be attending.

Audience Analysis

The characteristics of the audience that guides your choice of content and the language you use in your speech.

Context analysis

a review of the situation and purpose of the speaking event that guides your creation of the speech content.

Attention getter

a linguistic device designed to gain the audience’s attention and make them want to listen to your speech.

Speech Transitions

any words or phrases that help guide the listener.

Signposts

words or phrases to let the audience know where you are within the presentation.

Credibility

A speaker’s ability to gain the trust of the audience through communicating competence, virtue and goodwill. 

Verbal Citation

a spoken citation during the speech to indicate the source of any and all information you borrowed beyond your own experience

active agreement (call to action)

Persuading the audience to take some sort of action analogical reasoning

analogical reasoning

Reasoning from an analogy; making an argument by comparing two cases

Aristotle

Greek philosopher, author of The Art of Rhetoric, student of Plato, and teacher of Alexander the Great

casual reasoning

A type of inductive reasoning, more commonly known as the cause-and-effect relationship

cognitive dissonance

A theory, developed by Leon Festinger (1957), positing that when a person has two ideas that contradict each other, it creates mental noise or cognitive dissonance; a useful persuasive strategy

common ground

Showing the audience how you have a shared interest, concern, or background

connotation

The feelings or emotions that a word implies

credibility

The believability of the speaker and/or the information being presented

deductive reasoning

Occurs when the speaker takes general information (premises) and draws a conclusion from that general information

ethos

The credibility of the speaker and the information presented in the presentation; one of Aristotle’s three forms of rhetoric

formal presentation

A public speaking opportunity that occurs in a traditional speaking setting, such as presenting a sales pitch to clients or a progress report at the district meeting

general purpose

The overall goal of a presentation, to either inform or persuade

huddles

Short meetings in which employees are pulled together to share information; often occur at the beginning or end of the day

impromptu presentation

Delivering a presentation with very limited, if any, preparation

inductive reasoning

Building an argument by using individual examples, pieces of information, or cases, and pulling them together to make a generalization or conclusion

inform

The general purpose of presentations in which the speaker presents the facts, acting as a teacher relaying information

inoculation

When a speaker points out information that could hurt a persuasive argument and explains why it is not important or relevant, in an attempt to minimize its impact in the future

logos

The logic of the presentation; established through both the organizational structure and the supporting information; one of Aristotle’s three forms of rhetoric

objective

A one- or two-sentence declarative statement about a job seeker’s career goals; also, relaying information without being influenced or impacted by emotions or individual point of view, necessary in informative presentations

opportunity presentation

A public speaking opportunity that occurs in a less traditional speaking setting, such as during huddles or at the start of meetings

passive agreement

Persuading the audience simply to agree or disagree with an idea

pathos

The emotional appeal; one of Aristotle’s three forms of rhetoric

persuade

The general purpose of presentations in which the speaker advocates for something or against something

persuasive appeals

Developed by Aristotle—ethos, logos, and pathos

Quintilian

A Roman philosopher and educator

specific purpose

Declarative sentence telling the listeners what the speaker wants them to understand, know, or believe by the end of the presentation; the equivalent of a thesis statement in an essay

types of reasoning

Include inductive reasoning, causal reasoning, deductive reasoning, analogical reasoning, and cognitive dissonance

colloquialisms

Slang terms that are locally or regionally based

conclusion

The end of a presentation; should include a concluding statement, a summary of the specific purpose and main points, and a strong final impression

context analysis

Asking a series of questions designed to enhance the speaker’s understanding of the speaking situation

cuss words

Also referred to as curse or swear words; viewed as obscene expressions; should not appear in a presentation

external sources

Include information that comes from outside the organization, such as from outside agencies, the competition, the government, and the media

false close

When speakers tell the audience they are concluding and then present new information

imagery

Painting a picture or image with one’s words

internal preview

The preview of an idea or a main point found within the body of a presentation

internal sources

Include information that comes from within the organization, such as reports, policies, or interviews with employees and/or customers

internal summary

The summary of an idea or a main point found within the body of a presentation

introduction

The start of a presentation; should include five components: gain attention, introduce the topic, develop credibility, relate the topic to the audience, and preview the main points

metaphor

A literary device in which the speaker uses comparison

Monroe’s Motivated Sequence repitition

The five-step process, developed in 1935 by Purdue University professor Alan H. Monroe, includes the attention step, the need step, the satisfaction step, the visualization step, and the action step.

research

Gathering information (e.g., definitions, examples, statistics, testimonies) that aids in the design of the presentation and supports the specific purpose

slang

Words that are either made-up or used to express something other than their formal meaning; should not appear in a presentation

texting language

Expressions or acronyms used when sending instant messages and text messages—for example, LOL (laugh out loud) or TU (thank you); should not be used

transition

Any word or phrase that helps guide the listener from one point to the next

body

The central portion of the speech where the bulk of the information you must deliver is housed.

Boolean operators

Commands that eliminate undesirable search hits.

central route

The first route from the elaboration likelihood model, which involves carefully thinking about all of the pertinent information received from a message.

elaboration likelihood model

Explains two different ways a person might evaluate a new message.

peripheral route

The second route under the elaboration likelihood model, which involves low-effort decision strategies such as whether the speaker is considered an expert or how attractively a message (or message source) was packaged.

transitional statements

Sentences that verbally sew each part of your speech together so there are no abrupt jumps.