Public Speaking Final

abstract

words are not concrete or tangible items; they are only representations

accent

nonverbal behaviors that augment a verbal message 

acceptance  

Third step of the persuasion process in which the audience accepts that the issue is relevant to them 

alliteration  

repeating the same consonant or vowel sound at the beginning of subsequent words 

ambiguous  

language that does not have precise, concrete meanings 

antithesis  

when two ideas that sharply contrast with one another are put side by side in a parallel structure 

arbitrary  

symbols used to represent things that are not intrinsically connected to those things 

archetypal metaphors  

metaphors that use common human experiences to describe another object 

articulation

physically producing the sound needed to convey the word 

artistic proof  

constructed by the speaker for the occasion; concerns ethos, pathos, and logos 

autocratic leadership  

a style of leadership in which a leader tells group members what they should do 

awareness

first stage of the persuasion process in which you focus the audience’s attention on the issue and show why the issue is important 

bar graph  

a graph that shows two axes and bars going either horizontally or vertically to represent total achievement 

bias

an unfair preference or distortion of information

bookend group presentation  

a group presentation in which the first speaker is also the last speaker, providing both the introduction and conclusion for the group 

bookend story  

a narrative in which the speaker tells the first part of a story as an attention getter in the introduction of his/her speech and then finishes the story in the closer at the end of the conclusion 

Boolean operators  

using words such as “and,” “but,” and “or” when typing in search terms to focus the results 

brainstorm  

to create a list of possible topics and keep adding to this list as you think of new ideas 

brief example  

an example that makes a very quick point and can be effective at any point in a speech 

categorical syllogism  

a syllogism in which the argument is based on membership in a group 

channel  

the media through which an encoded message is transmitted from a source to a receiver 

chart  

visual depictions of summaries of numeric data 

clincher  

the final statement of your speech 

communication apprehension  

the fear or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with another or others 

complement  

when the action demonstrates the message contained in the verbal content

comprehension  

stage of the persuasion process in which the audience understands the relevant components of the issue and the position that you want them to take 

concept map  

also known as a mind map, a visual representation of the potential areas that you could cover in your speech 

conditional syllogism  

a syllogism in which the major premise contains a hypothetical condition and its outcome 

coordination  

all information on the same level has the same significance 

credibility  

the ability of a person to inspire belief or trust in others 

dais  

a table at which people sit in the front of the room 

decoding  

process of drawing meaning from the symbols that were used to encode a message 

deductive reasoning  

an argument that reasons from known premises to an inevitable conclusion

democratic leadership

a style of leadership in which a leader finds a balanced emphasis on task and maintenance dimensions in a group 

demographics  

categories of definable characteristics of groups of people, such as age, race, religion, socioeconomic status, education level, and se*ual orientation 

derived credibility  

the form of credibility that manifests itself during your presentation 

disjunctive syllogism  

a syllogism in which the major premise includes two or more mutually exclusive alternatives 

division  

principle that if a point is divided into subpoints, there must be two or more subpoints 

encoding  

taking an abstract notion and providing it with meaning through the application of symbols 

environment  

the context in which the communication process takes place 

ethics  

involve morals and the specific moral choices to be made by a person 

ethos  

the credibility of the speaker 

eulogy  

a speech that pays tribute to the life of the deceased 

expert testimony  

testimony from someone who has conducted extensive research on the topic, has significant experience with the topic, or holds a position that lends credibility to their ideas on the subject matter 

extemporaneous speech

a speech delivered with notes but without the entire speech in front of the speaker 

extended example  

an example that takes time, and the importance lies in the details 

feedback  

the receiver’s response to a message that is sent to the sender 

figurative analogy  

when the two cases being compared are from completely different classifications 

general purpose statement  

a brief statement representing what you aim to do with the speech; there are three types 

global plagiarism  

taking an entire piece of work and saying that it is your own 

graph  

a type of chart that illustrates numeric data by using a visual diagram 

hate speech  

attacking a person or group of people based upon their gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, social actions, or any other category that indicates applications of a negative, unwarranted stereotype 

hierarchical  

language that is structured according to more or less, higher or lower 

histogram 

a visual representation of a frequency table in which the categories are placed on the horizontal axis and vertical bars are used to represent the number (or frequency) of individuals that fit into that category 

hypothetical example  

an example that is fictional 

impromptu speech  

a presentation done with little or no preparation 

inartistic proofs  

all the evidence, data, and documents that exist outside of the speaker and the audience, but nevertheless can aid in persuasion 

incremental plagiarism  

using part of someone else’s work and not citing it as a source 

inductive reasoning  

an argument that comes to a probable, instead of an absolute, conclusion 

initial credibility  

the credibility that you have with the audience before you begin your speech that is based on your experience and the audience’s prior knowledge about you 

integration  

the fourth step of the persuasive process in which the audience adopts the position that you want them to take 

interactive model of communication  

communication theory that views communication as a two-way process that includes feedback and the environment 

internal summary  

a statement that summarizes what you have already covered and precedes transitions 

internal preview  

serves as an outline of what is to come next in a speech and is often combined with transition statements 

issue awareness  

first stage of the persuasion process, in which you focus the audience’s attention on the issue and show why the issue is important 

laissez-faire leadership  

a style of leadership in which the leader provides little direction on the task and makes little effort to develop or maintain relationships between group members 

leader-as-completer approach  

a leadership approach in which the leader is the person who is responsible for completing tasks that are not finished or undertaken by other group members 

lectern  

the stand behind which people speak and on which they place their notes 

linear model of communication theory  

that views communication as a one-way process in which a source conveys an encoded message through a channel to a receiver, who then decodes that message 

line graph  

a graph that uses lines drawn along two axes that show growth, loss, or flat developments over time 

literal analogy  

when the two cases being compared are classified the same way 

logos  

the logical dimension of the appeal 

manuscript speech  

when a speaker has an entire speech written out word-for-word in front of him/her as he/she speaks 

mean  

the average of all of the scores in a distribution, which is calculated by adding all of the scores and then dividing by the total number of scores 

measures of central tendency  

statistics that indicate where the middle of a distribution lies, including the mean, median, and mode 

median  

the middle number in a distribution of numbers 

memorized speech  

when a speaker commits an entire speech to memory and delivers it with no notes in front of him/her 

message  

the content or idea that the source tries to convey to the audience 

metaphor  

linguistic device that allows for comparisons between two objects by highlighting qualities of each object in explicit comparison 

metonymy  

using a tangible object to represent an otherwise intangible thing 

mixed metaphor  

metaphors that compare two objects that have no logical connection with each other 

mode  

the score that appears most often in a distribution of numbers 

model  

a three-dimensional representation of an actual object 

moderator  

a person who acts as the coordinator of the discussion flow and ensures a civil, organized, and complete delivery of information to the audience 

narrative

a story

necessary cause  

a cause that must be present for an effect to happen 

noise  

anything that can change the message after the source encodes and sends it 

object  

the thing being discussed, not a model or representation of that thing 

panel group presentation  

a group presentation in which individual speakers present their ideas on a single topic or a subset of a topic 

parallelism  

similarly structuring related words, phrases, or clauses of speech 

patchworking  

a speaker or writer takes original source material and changes a few words in it, but not enough to consider it a paraphrase, all the while not citing the original source material 

patchwork plagiarism  

taking ideas from more than one piece of work and putting them together into a new piece of work, and then presenting them as original work without giving due credit to the sources 

pathos  

the emotional dimensions of the appeal that can influence an audience’s disposition toward the topic, speaker, or occasion 

peer testimony  

testimony from someone who is in the same peer group as the audience but who is not necessarily an expert on the topic 

phobias  

a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid 

physical delivery  

elements of speaking that deal with the body 

physical location  

the immediate environment in which the speaker will be speaking 

photograph  

a picture of the object about which you are speaking 

pie graph  

a graph that shows circles that are “sliced” apart to represent percentages of the total “pie” for particular groups or categories 

plagiarism  

taking the intellectual achievements of another person and presenting them as one’s own