Midterm Study

Audience analysis

Studying an audience's demographics, attitudes, beliefs, values, and interests before a speech.

Audience-centered speaking

Adapting a speech to the audience's needs, interests, knowledge, and expectations.

Demographics

Characteristics such as age, education, culture, and other population traits.

Psychographics

An audience's attitudes, beliefs, values, opinions, and interests.

Situational audience analysis

Examining the audience size, location, occasion, and circumstances of a speech.

General purpose

The broad goal of a speech: to inform, persuade, or entertain.

Specific purpose

A precise statement of what the speaker wants to accomplish with the audience.

Thesis statement

The central idea or main message of a speech.

Informative speaking

Speaking to increase an audience's knowledge or understanding of a topic.

Speech introduction

The opening that gains attention, establishes relevance and credibility, and previews main points.

Speech body

The section that develops the main points with explanations and supporting evidence.

Speech conclusion

The ending that reinforces the main message and provides closure.

Transitions

Words or phrases that connect ideas and guide the audience between points.

Chronological organization

Arranging main points according to time or sequence.

Spatial organization

Arranging main points according to physical location or space.

Topical organization

Organizing a speech by categories or subtopics.

Encoding

The process of taking in information and converting it into a form that can be remembered.

Storage

The process of retaining information over time.

Retrieval

The process of accessing stored information from memory.

Working memory

A limited-capacity system that temporarily holds and processes information.

Primary source

Original or firsthand material, such as an eyewitness interview or original research.

Secondary source

A source that analyzes, interprets, or discusses information from other sources.

Oral citation

Verbally identifying the source of information during a speech.

Credible source

A source that is trustworthy, accurate, relevant, and supported by appropriate expertise or evidence.

Ethos

The rhetorical appeal based on the speaker's credibility and trustworthiness.

Pathos

The rhetorical appeal that uses emotions to influence an audience.

Logos

The rhetorical appeal based on logic, reasoning, and evidence.

Visual aids

Visual materials such as charts, photographs, graphs, and diagrams that support a speech.

Effective visual aids

Visuals that are clear, readable, accurate, relevant, and easy to understand.

Evidence

Information such as facts, statistics, examples, and testimony used to support a claim.

Audience adaptation

Changing a speech's content, language, examples, or delivery to suit the audience.