Human Communication Chapter 11

Public Speaking

A teachable, learnable process of developing, supporting, organizing, and orally presenting ideas.

Tasks of a Speaker

1) Select & narrow topic. 2) Identify purpose. 3) Develop central idea. 4) Generate main ideas. 5) Gather supporting material. 6) Organize presentation. 7) Rehearse presentation.8) Deliver presentation. 9) Consider the audience.

Audience-Centered Presentational Speaker

Someone who considers and adapts to the audience at every stage of the presentational speaking process.

Speaker Anxiety

AKA Stage fright; anxiety about speaking in public that is manifested in physiological symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, butterflies, shaking knees and hands, quivering voice, and increased sweating.

Illusion of Transparency

The mistaken belief that the physical manifestations of a speaker's nervousness are apparent to the audience.

Habituation

The process of becoming more comfortable as you speak.

Systematic Desensitization

An anxiety management strategy that includes general relaxation techniques and visualization of success.

Performance Visualization

An anxiety management strategy that involves viewing a videotape of a successful presentation and imagining oneself delivering that presentation.

General Purpose

The broad reason for giving a presentation: to inform (teach), to persuade, or to entertain.

Specific Purpose

A concise statement of what listeners should be able to do by the time the speaker finishes the presentation & guides you in developing your presentation.

Central Idea

A definitive point about the topic, should be a single topic, should be audience-centered, and be direct. Is it logical? Are there several reasons for why it is true? Can I support this with steps or a chronological sequence?

Declarative Sentence

A complete sentence that makes a statement as opposed to asking a question.

Main Ideas

Subdivisions of the central idea of a presentation that provides detailed points of focus for developing the presentation.

Supportive Material

Verbal or visual material that clarifies, amplifies, and provides evidence to support the main ideas of presentation. Sources - Yourself, the Internet, Online Databases, and Library Resources.

Vertical Search Engine

A website that indexes information on the WWW in a specialized area. 6 Criteria for Evaluating Resources: Accountability, Accuracy, Objectivity, Date, Usability, and Diversity.

Boolean Search

A web search that ties words together so that a search engine can hunt for the resulting phrase. (Include parenthesis or quotes so you get the search sentence verbatim).

Online Databases

A subscription-based electronic resource that may offer access to abstracts or the full texts of entries, in addition to bibliographic data.

Stacks

The collection of books in a library.

Periodical Index

A listing of bibliographic data for articles published in a group of magazines or journals during a given time period.

Reference Resources

Material housed in the reference section of a library, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, almanacs, and books of quotations.

Illustration

A story or anecdote that provides an example of an idea, issue, or problem the speaker is discussing.

Hypothetical Illustration

An example or story that has not actually occurred.

Description

Provides detailed images that allow an audience to hear, see, smell, touch, or taste whatever you are describing.

Explanation

A statement that makes clear how something is done or why it exists in its present or past form.

Definition

A statement of what something means.

Classification

A type of definition that first places a term in the general class to which it belongs and then differentiates it from all other members of that class.

Operational Definition

A definition that shows how a term works or what it does.

Analogy

A comparison between two ideas, things, or situations that demonstrations how something unfamiliar is similar to something the audience already understands.

Literal Analogy

A comparison between two similar things.

Figurative Analogy

A comparison between two seemingly dissimilar things that share some common feature on which the comparison depends.

Statistics

Numerical date that summarize examples.
Opinions add authority, drama, and style:

Exploding

Adding or multiplying related numbers to enhance their significance. (like rounding up large numbers in stats, using visual aids to present the stats, and citing the sources of the info).

Expert Testimony

The opinion of someone who is an acknowledged expert in the field under discussion.

Lay Testimony

The opinion of someone who experienced an event or situation firsthand.

Literary Quotation

A citation from a work of fiction or nonfiction a poem, or another speech.

Plagiarism

The presentation of someone else's words or ideas without acknowledging the source

Oral Citation

The oral presentation of such information about a source as the author, title, and publication date.