Speech Quiz 1

Beebe & Beebe, Duck & McMahon Chapters 1, 2, 4

What is public speaking?

The process of delivering a message to an audience, large or small

2 reasons for empowerment after studying public speaking

1. Competence
2. Confidence

Why study public speaking?

1. Empowerment
2. Employment (interviews, employment, promotion, supervision, performance review, exit interview)

3 reasons public speaking is different than conversation

1. More prepared
2. More formal
3. More clearly defined roles

Action Model of Communication

S→R

Interaction Model of Communication

Speaker sends to receiver, receiver then transmits back to speaker (Feedback and Context)

Transaction Model of Communication

S↔R (nonverbal communication never stops)

Source

Originator of message

Message

Idea being conveyed

Channel

Vehicle upon which message travels (auditory and visual)

Receiver

Person for which message is intended

Noise

Interference (Internal/Psychological; External)

Feedback

Verbal/nonverbal queues from receiver to source message was received

Context

Situation, environment, occasion where it occurs

Intentionality

Audience gets message the way we intended, framing our message

Which century can public speaking be traced back to?

4th Century BCE

9 steps of Audience Centered speaking

1. Consider the audience
2. Select and narrow your topic
3. Determine your purpose (general and specific)
4. Develop your central idea (thesis)
5. Generate your main ideas
6. Gather my supporting materials and evidence
7. Organize your main ideas
8. Rehearse/Practice your speech
9. Deliver the speech

Definition of Communication

Transactive use of symbols, influenced, guided, and understood in the context of relationships

Key feature of Transactive Model of Communication

Shared meaning

What is shared meaning?

2 separate individuals share meaning and are able to understand one another (getting message with intentionality)

Define symbols

Arbitrary representations of something else that holds meaning in a society; **Has no meaning**

3 characteristics of Symbols

1. Arbitrary (Random)
2. Abstract=Idea
3. Ambiguous= **Assign** multiple meanings

Define Meaning

The importance or value that you assign to a symbol

Social Construction Theory

Idea that symbols take on meaning as they are used in a society over time

Signs

A consequence or an indicator of something, is not randomly occurring in a society (__not__ arbitrary)

Frames

Basic building blocks of knowledge that provide a definition of a scenario based on taken-for-granted assumptions and contextual clues

Communication Frames

Use of verbal or nonverbal cues designed to pull the audience away from things and towards others

3 aspects of context

1. Physical-actual location
2. Relational- Relationship between conversationists
3. Situational- What is transpiring at the time

2 types of Communication Use

1. Representational
2. Presentational

Representational Communication Use

Conveying facts and information only

Presentational Communication Use

Your particular version of the info (your “take”)

Constitutive Approach to Communication

Communication can create or bring into existence something that has not been there before; such as an agreement, contract, relationship, meeting, love, etc

Communication Apprehension

The stress or anxiety we experience or associate with the act of public speaking (**NOT** fear)

Common Types of CA

1. Average
2. Insensitive
3. Inflexible
4. Confrontational

Average CA

Positive outlook of public speaking, you view your performance above others (lowest HR)

Insensitive CA

Some experience, generally positive; not looking for opportunities but able to perform well

Inflexible CA

Highest HR (consistently high), stress or anxiety used as motivation

Confrontational CA

HR starts off high, tapers to average level (not happy about it, but will do it)

Histiography

Studies persuasive effect of writing history in very particular ways

What was the earliest existing book?

Precepts, 2675 BCE

3 Emergent Areas of Study

1. Rhetoric and rhetorical criticism
2. Interpersonal communication
3. Mass Communication/Media Studies

3 Methods of Studying Communication

1. Social Scientific
2. Interpretivist
3. Critical

Social Scientific Method

Views world as objective, causal, and predictable (assumes that a **single** truth exists)

Interpretivist Approach

Seeks to understand and describe communication experience (rejects idea that a “single” reality exists and causal connections can be discovered, instead communication viewed as creative, uncertain, unpredictable)

Grounded Theory

Works from the ground-up, and focuses on observations grounded in data and developed systematically

Critical Approach

Seeks to identify hidden symbolic structures that create or uphold disadvantages, inequity, or oppression of some groups in favor of others (assumes world is subjective with imbalance of power, power in societal groups, society gives advantage to one set of people over another)

Intracultural Communication

Within a single culture

Intercultural Communication

Members of different cultural groups interact

Cross-cultural communication

Compares communication of different groups

Critical Cultural Communication

Examines issues of power, promotes social justice

Fallacy

An argument that appears legitimate, but is based in invalid reasoning

Free Speech

Legally protected speech or speech acts

Ethics

The beliefs, values, and moral principles by which we determine what is right and wrong

Relationship between speech, ethics, and speaker credibility

Just because I can say something doesn’t mean that I should

1986

“Speech Acts” or nonverbal expressions of communication, are protected under first amendment (burning US flag)

5 Criteria for Speaking Ethically

1. Have a clear responsible goal
2. Use sound evidence and reasoning
3. Be sensitive to and appreciate differences
4. Be honest
5. Don’t plagiarize

How to be an ethically responsible speaker

Offer listeners choices and alternatives

Speaker Credibility

An audience’s perception of a speaker as competent, knowledgeable, dynamic, and trustworthy

Encoding

Applying meaning to symbols and preparing a message in such a way that an audience can understand it (Intentionality)

Decoding

Deriving meaning from and interpreting the message of a speaker

Intentionality

Audience gets message the way we intended, framing our message