Supporting Your Ideas

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers essential terms related to speech research, types of testimony, library and internet resources, and citation ethics based on lecture notes.

Specific Purpose Statement

A one sentence summary of the goal of your speech, often beginning with 'At the end of my speech, the audience will be able to..', which guides research and evidence selection.

Personal Testimony

An individual’s story concerning his or her lived experience, used to illustrate a point, convey emotion, and enhance credibility through firsthand insight.

Lay Testimony

Any testimony based on witnesses’ opinions or perceptions in a given case, often used when the speaker lacks personal experience with a topic.

Expert Testimony

Information coming from a recognized authority who has conducted extensive research on an issue.

Rapport

A cordial relationship between two or more people in which both parties convey respect and understanding for one another, often fostered during interviews.

Interlibrary Loan

The process of borrowing materials from another library when the local library does not hold the desired resource.

Call Number

An address for a book that indicates its specific location on the stacks within a library.

Periodicals

Publications printed at predictable intervals, such as weekly, monthly, or quarterly, including magazines, newspapers, and journals.

Scholarly Research Journal

A not-for-profit publication targeted toward experts, designed to publicize high-quality research through a process of peer review.

Peer Review

A process where scholars send articles to an editor who has other experts in the field examine the quality of the research and writing.

Search Engine

Software that uses algorithms to scan an index of existing Internet content for particular terms and ranks the results based on relevance.

Boolean Operators

Words and symbols such as OR, AND, +, NOT, and - that illustrate the relationship between search terms to expand or limit results.

Google Scholar

A specialized search engine used to find research published in scholarly journal articles, books, theses, conference proceedings, and court opinions.

Parity

The similarity or alignment of information across multiple sources on a given issue.

Bias

The predisposition toward a particular viewpoint that may influence the perspective of a source.

Style Guide

An established set of standards for formatting documents and citing sources, such as MLA, APA, or the Chicago Manual of Style.

Plagiarism

The act of presenting someone else's work or ideas as your own, whether intentional or occurring by mistake.

Oral Attribution

Providing verbal citations during a speech to let the audience know the source, timing, and authorship of ideas that are not the speaker's own.

Source Credibility

Signs that a person or resource is offering trustworthy information, typically evaluated through qualifications, parity, and bias.