Public Speaking for Personal Growth: Unit Quiz

Oral Style

The manner in which one conveys messages through the spoken word

Speaking Appropriately

Using language that adapts to the needs, interests, knowledge, and attitudes of the listener and avoiding language that alienates audience members

Verbal Immediacy

When the language used reduces the psychological distance between speaker and audience

Generic Language

Uses words that apply only to one sex, race, or other group as though they represent everyone

Nonparallelism

Denotes 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 designations to a description

Irrelevant association

Emphasizing one person’s relationship to another when that relationship is irrelevant to the point

Accurate Language

Language that conveys your meaning precisely

Intelligible

Denotation

The explicit meaning a language community formally gives a word; a word’s “dictionary meaning”

Context

The position of a word in a sentence and its relationship to other words around it

Connotation

The positive, neutral, or negative feelings or evaluations we associate with a word

Dialect

A unique form of a more general language spoken by a specific cultural or co-cultural group

Speech Communities

Smaller groups that speak a common dialect

Standard English

The form of English taught in American schools and detailed in grammar handbooks

Specific Language

Language that uses precise words to narrow what is understood from a general category to a particular item or group within that category

Jargon

Unique technical terminology of a trade or profession that is not generally understood by outsiders

Slang

Informal, nonstandard vocabulary and nonstandard definitions assigned to words by a social or co-cultural group

Vocalized Pauses

Unnecessary words interjected into sentences to fill moments of silence

Vivid Language

Language that is full of life—vigorous, bright, and intense

Sensory Language

Language that appeals to the senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling

Rhetorical Figures of Speech

Phrases that make striking comparisons between things that are not obviously alike

Rhetorical Structures of Speech

Phrases that combine ideas in a particular way

Simile

A direct comparison of dissimilar things using like or as

Metaphor

An implied comparison between two unlike things 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

Words that sound like the things they stand for

Personification

Attributing human qualities to a concept or an inanimate object

Repetition

Restating words, phrases, or sentences for emphasis

Antithesis

Combining contrasting ideas in the same sentence

Delivery

How a message is communicated orally and visually through the use of voice and body

Non Verbal Communication

All speech elements other than the words themselves

Conversational Style

Delivery that seems as though the speaker is talking with, not at, an audience

Spontaneity

What is said sounds as if the speaker is really thinking about the ideas and the audience as he or she speaks no matter how many times they rehearsed

Animated Delivery

Delivery that is lively, and dynamic

Impromptu Speech

A speech that is delivered with only seconds or minutes to prepare

Scripted Speech

A speech that is prepared by creating a complete written manuscript and delivered by reading a written copy or from memory

Extemporaneous Speech

A speech that is researched and planned ahead of time, but is delivered using only a speaking outline or notes

Voice

The sound you produce using your vocal organs

Pitch

The highness or lowness of the sounds you produce

Volume

How loudly or softly you speak

Rate

The speed at which you talk

Quality

The tone, timbre, or sound of your voice

Articulation

Using the tongue, palate, teeth, jaw movement, and lips to shape vocalized sounds that combine to produce a word

Pronunciation

The form and accent of various syllables of a word

Accent

The inflection, tone, and speech habits typical of native speakers of a language

Vocal Expression

Vocal variety created through changing pitch, volume, and rate, as well as stressing certain words and using pauses

Monotone

A voice in which the pitch, volume, and rate remain constant, with no word, idea, or sentence differing significantly in sound from any other

Uptalk

The tendency to end every sentence with a rising intonation

Vocal Fry

A creaky vocal effect produced by slowly fluttering the vocal cords, resulting in a popping or creaking sound at the bottom of the vocal register

Stress

Emphasis placed on certain words by speaking them more loudly than the rest of the sentence

Pauses

Moments of silence strategically placed to enhance meaning

Appearance

The way you look to others

Posture

The positioning of one’s body

Poise

The graceful and controlled use of the body that gives the impression of self-assurance, calm, and dignity

Eye Contact

Looking directly at the people to whom you are speaking

Audience Contact

Creating a sense of looking listeners in the eye when speaking to large audiences

Facial Expression

Eye and mouth movements that convey emotions

Nonverbal Immediacy

Facial expressions that communicate that you are personable and likeable

Gestures

The movements of your hands, arms, and fingers

Movement

Changing the position or location of the entire body

Motivated Movement

Movement with a specific purpose

Rehearsing

Practicing the presentation of your speech aloud

Speaking Notes

A keyword outline of your speech, plus hard-to-remember information such as quotations and statistics, as well as delivery cues

Persuasion

The process of influencing people’s attitudes, beliefs, values, or behaviors

Persuasive Speaking

The process of influencing people’s attitudes, beliefs, values, or behaviors in a public speech

Argument

Articulating a position with the support of logos, ethos, and pathos

Claim

The proposition or conclusion to be proven

Support

The reason or evidence the speaker offers as the grounds for accepting the conclusion

Warrant

The reasoning process that connects the support to the claim

Inductive Reasoning

Arriving at a general conclusion based on several pieces of specific evidence

Deductive Reasoning

Arriving at a conclusion based on a major premise and minor premise

Major Premise

A general principle that most people agree upon

Minor Premise

A specific point that fits within the major premise

Syllogism

The three-part form of deductive reasoning

Argue from Sign

To support a claim by providing evidence that the events that signal the claim have occurred

Argue from Example

To support a claim by providing one or more individual examples

Argue from Analogy

To support a claim with a single comparable example that is significantly similar to the subject of the claim

Argue from Causation

To support a claim by citing events that have occurred that result in the claim

Reasoning Fallacies

Errors in reasoning

Hasty Generalization

A fallacy that presents a generalization that is either not supported with evidence or is supported with only one weak example

False Cause

A fallacy that occurs when the alleged cause fails to be related to, or to produce, the effect

Either/Or

A fallacy that argues there are only two alternatives when, in fact, there are many

Straw Man

A fallacy that occurs when a speaker weakens the opposing position by misrepresenting it and then attacks that weaker position

Ad Hominem

A fallacy that occurs when a speaker attacks or praises a person making an argument rather than addressing the argument itself

Goodwill

A perception the audience forms of a speaker who they believe understands them, empathizes with them, and is responsive to them

Empathy

The ability to see the world through the eyes of someone else

Responsive

When speakers show that they care about the audience by acknowledging feedback, especially subtle negative cues

Terminal Credibility

Perception of a speaker’s expertise at the end of the speech

Initial Credibility

Perception of a speaker’s expertise at the beginning of the speech

Derived Credibility

Strategies employed throughout the speech that signal a speaker’s expertise

Emotions

The buildup of action-specific energy

Negative Emotions

Disquieting feelings people experience

Fear

Feeling when we perceive no control over a situation that threatens us

Guilt

Feeling when we personally violate a moral, ethical, or religious code that we hold dear

Shame

Feeling when we have violated a moral code and it is revealed to someone we think highly of

Anger

Feeling when we are faced with an obstacle in the way of something we want

Sadness

Feeling when we fail to achieve a goal or experience a loss or separation