Speech

PUBLIC SPEAKING

A sustained formal presentation by a speaker to an
audience

Rhetorical Situation

The composite of the speaker (and their knowledge and intentions), the audience (and their knowledge and expectations), and the occasion

Audience Analysis

The study of the interested audience for the speech

Audience Adaptation

The process of tailoring the speech to address the unique needs, interests, and expectations of the audience.

Uncertainty Reduction theory

- Where audience analysis and adaptation is rooted in.
- explains the processes we go through to
get to know strangers

Subjects

broad area of knowledge that can be
identified by listing those important to you and know something about

Brainstorming

uncritical, non-evaluative process of generating ideas

Concept Map

visual means of exploring connections between a subject and related ideas

Demographic Data

person’s age, education level, sex, income, occupation, socioeconomic status, race ethnicity, religion, geographic uniqueness, and first language

Subject-Related Data

level of knowledge, initial level of interest in, and attitude toward the potential topics

Survey

direct examination of people to gather information about their ideas and opinions

Marginalizing

practice of ignoring the values, needs, interests, and subject specific knowledge of some audience members

Stereotyping

assuming all members of a group have similar
knowledge levels, behaviors, or beliefs simply because they belong to that group

Audience diversity

the range of demographic characteristics and
subject specific differences represented in an audience

Examine the occasion

the occasion is the expected purpose and setting for the speech.

General Goal

the overall intent of the speech

Specific Goal

a single statement that identifies the desired response a speaker wants from the audience

authority, objectivity, currency, relevance

government documents are evaluated by using these four criteria

Fieldwork Observations

a research method focused on careful observations of people or groups of people while immersed in their community

Ethnography

collecting data by acting as a participant or non-participant observe

Interviews

a planned, structured conversation where
one person asks questions and another answers them

Statistics

numerical facts

Examples

specific instances that illustrate a general
factual statemen

Factual Statements

statements that can be verified

Secondary Research

The process of locating information about your topic discovered by other people

Anecdotes

brief and often amusing stories

Narratives

accounts, personal experiences, tales, or lengthier stories

Annotated Bibliography

- Preliminary record of relevant sources.
- Contains a short summary of information in that source and how it might be used in the speech

Research Cards

These are individual 3x5 or 4x6 inch index cards or electronic facsimiles that record one piece of information relevant to your speech along with a key word or main idea and the bibliographic information

Oral Footnotes

References to an original source, made at the point in the speech where information from that source is presented

Organizational Pattern

a logical way to structure information that makes it easy for an audience to follow

Time Order

organizing the main points by a chronological sequence or by steps in a process

Narrative Order

dramatizes the thesis using a story
or series of stories that includes characters, settings, and a plot

Topical Order

structures the main points using some
logical relationship among them

Logical Reason Order

structures the main points as reasons for accepting the thesis as desirable or true

Thesis Statement

A one- or two-sentence summary that states your general and specific goals and previews the main points of your speech

Outline the Speech Body

A written framework of the sequential and hierarchical relationships among ideas in the speech

Listener Relevance Link

a piece of information that alerts listeners to why the main point is relevant to them

Subpoint

statements that elaborate on a main point

Supporting Material

developmental material gathered through secondary and primary research

Transitions

words, phrases, or sentences that show
the relationship between and bridge ideas

Section Transitions

complete sentence that shows the relationship between and bridges major parts of the speech

Signposts

words or short phrases that connect
pieces of supporting material to the main point or subpoint they address

Startling Statements

a shocking expression or example

Questions

requests for information that encourage
the audience to think about something related to your topic

Rhetorical Question

a question that doesn’t require an overt response.

Direct Question

a question that seeks an overt response from the audience

Stories

an account of something that has happened
or could happen.

Jokes

anecdotes or a piece of wordplay designed to
make people laugh

Personal References

a brief account of something
that happened to you or a hypothetical situation that listeners can imagine themselves in

Quotations

a comment made by and attributed to
someone other than the speaker

Action

an act designed to highlight and arouse
interest in a topic

Suspense

wording your attention-getter so that it
generates uncertainty and excites the audience

Credibility

is the perception your audience has about
your competence and character

Clincher

a short statement that provides a sense of
closure by driving home the importance of your speech in a memorable way

Vivid Imagery

when the writer or speaker uses language that appeals to our five senses to help the reader or listener picture the author's meaning

Appeal to Action

describes the behavior you want
your listeners to follow after they have heard your arguments

Presentational Aid

Any visual, audio, audiovisual, or other sensory
material used to enhance a verbal message.

Visual Aids

Enhance a speech by allowing audience members to see what it is you are describing or explaining

Actual Objects

inanimate or animate physical
samples of the idea being communicated

Models

a three-dimensional scaled down or scaled-up version of an actual object

Simple Drawings/Diagrams

a type of drawing that shows how the whole relates to its parts

Charts

a graphic representation that distills a lot of
information into an easily interpreted visual format

Flow Chart

uses symbols and connecting lines to diagram the progression through a complicated process

Organizational Chart

shows the structure of an organization in terms of rank and chain of command

Pie Chart

shows the relationship among parts of a single unit

Graphs

a diagram that presents numerical information

Bar Graph

uses vertical or horizontal bars to show relationships between 2 or more variables

Line Graph

indicates the changes in one or more variables over time

Audio Aids

Enhance a verbal message through sound.

Audiovisual Aids

Enhance a verbal message through a combination of sight and sound

Other Sensory Aids

enhance a verbal message through smell, touch, or taste

Flip Chart

a large pad mounted on an easel

Oral Style

Refers to how we convey messages through the
spoken word

Verbal Immediacy

describes the language used
to reduce the psychological distance between you and your audience.

Timeliness

how the information can be used now

Timely

information audience members can use now

Proximity

information in relation to listeners’ personal
space

Common Ground

The combination of background, knowledge, attitudes, experiences, and philosophies shared by speaker and audience

Credibility

the confidence an audience places in the
truthfulness of what a speaker says

Linguistic Sensitivity

Choose words that are respectful of others and avoid potentially offensive language

Generic Language

words used to apply to one co-cultural group as though they represent everyone

Nonparallel Language

when terms are changed because of the sex, race, or other group characteristics of the individual

Marking

the addition of sex, race, age, or
other group designation to a description

Irrelevant Association

emphasizing one person’s relationship to another when doing so is not necessary to make the point

Profanity & Vulgarity

not considered appropriate
language, but “casual swearing” is injected into regular conversation now

Specific Language

Words that narrow what is understood from a general category to a particular item or group within it

Jargon

the unique technical terminology of a trade or
profession

Slang

informal, nonstandard vocabulary and
definitions assigned to words by a social group or co-culture

Vocalized Pauses

unnecessary words interjected into
sentences to fill moments of silence

Sensory Language

words that appeal to seeing, hearing, tasting,
smelling, and feeling

Rhetorical Figures of Speech

make striking comparisons between things that are not obviously alike.

Rhetorical structures of speech

combine ideas in a particular way

Simile

a direct comparison of dissimilar things using
the word “like” or “as”

Metaphor

an implied comparison between two unlike
things, expressed without using “like” or “as”

Analogy

an extended metaphor

Alliteration

repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are near one another

Assonance

repetition of vowel sounds in a phrase or
phrases

Onomatopoeia

use of words that sound like the things they stand for

Personifocation

attributing human qualities to a concept or an inanimate object