chapter six - gathering and using supporting material

supporting material is important

  • there are various potential sources of supporting material

    • personal knowledge and experience

    • the internet

    • online databases

    • traditional library holdings

    • interviews



personal knowledge and experience

  • skills

  • hobbies

  • experiences

^ these can all boost your credibility



the internet

  • most popular place for information

  • directories: lead to subjects (e.g. google)

  • search engines: use key words or subject searches (e.g. yahoo!)

  • vertical search engines: focused and specialized searches (e.g. google scholar)

  • boolean search: includes “and” or “+”



online databases

  • accountability: is information about authorities disclosed?

  • accuracy: is information truthful? correct? exact?

  • objectivity: does site represent special interests

  • date: is the site current?

  • usability: does the site have easy access?

  • diversity: is the site inclusive?



library resources

  • books

  • periodicals

  • full-text databases: jstor; academic search premier; lexisnexis

  • newspapers

  • reference resources

  • government documents

  • special services 



books

  • stacks: book collections

  • card catalog: information file about library books

  • indexed

  • computerized




periodicals

  • general-interest magazines (e.g. newsweek, sports illustrated)

  • trade and professional journals (e.g. american psychologist, communication monographs)

  • indexes: bibliographic listings of articles in periodicals



newspapers

  • are more current than periodicals

  • allow more detailed coverage

  • cover stories of local importance

  • indexes contain bibliographic entries 



reference resources

  • encyclopedias & dictionaries

  • directories

  • atlases

  • almanacs and yearbooks

  • books of quotations

  • bibliographic dictionaries



interviews

  • prepare ahead of time

  • determine purpose

  • schedule interview

  • plan questions beforehand

  • conduct interview promptly and with structure

  • follow up with reviewing notes



research strategies

  • develop a preliminary bibliography

    • should include possible resources to use in the speech

    • be consistent with the format (apa, mla, etc.)

    • know your instructor’s preference 

  • take notes

    • begin with sources

    • be sure to use quotation marks when copying a quote, phrase, sentence, or paragraph verbatim

    • record the source of the supporting material

  • identify possible presentation aids

    • make note of various visual forms of evidence (charts, graphs, pictures, etc.)

    • these might be used as presentation aids



types of supporting material

  • illustrations

  • descriptions & explanations

  • definitions

  • analogies

  • statistics

  • opinions

illustrations

  • short stories or anecdotes: with examples to support an idea, issue, or problem

  • brief: simplified example

  • extended: in-depth example

  • hypothetical: potential example



using illustrations effectively

  • make sure they clearly relate to ideas they support

  • make sure they are typical

  • make them vivid and specific

  • pick ones that audience can relate to

  • best illustrations are personal ones



descriptions and explanations

  • descriptions: words painting a mental picture of what something is like

  • explanations are discussions of

    • how something is done or why it exists

    • reasons why something happens



using descriptions and explanations effectively

  • provide sufficient information

  • make information clear and crisp

  • do not overload listeners with too many details

^ descriptions are statements about what a term means or how it is applied in a specific instance



two legitimate reasons to use definitions

  • technical, specialized, or unknown terms may need to be defined

  • speakers may have to show examples of how concepts apply to situations



two types of definitions

by classification

operational

(dictionary definition)

constructed by first placing a term in a general class to which it belongs, and then differentiating it from other members of that class

(applied definition)

an explanation of how something works, or what it does

more original than a dictionary definition



using definitions effectively

  • use when absolutely necessary

  • make sure the audience can understand definition

  • make sure definition is consistence with terms throughout a speech



analogies 

  • comparisons

  • help listeners understand the less familiar by showing how it is similar to the more familiar





two types of analogies

  • literal: comparing the things that are similar

  • figurative: comparing two dissimilar things that share some common feature that forms the basis of comparison



literal vs. figurative analogies

literal analogy

figurative analogy

“what worked in new york city on 9/11 for disaster management should work in los angeles”

“homeland defense is the best medicine against the epidemic of terrorism”

(two u.s. coastal major metropolitan cities)

(comparing terrorism to a virus)



using analogies effectively

  • for literal analogies: make sure the two things being compared share many similar qualities

  • for figurative analogies: make sure the similar between dissimilar things is quite obvious



statistics

  • numerical data summarizing facts or samples

  • can express magnitude or seriousness of situation

  • can be percentage express relationship of part to whole



using statistics effectively

  • use reliable, authoritative, or unbiased sources

  • interpret accurately

  • make understandable and memorable

  • “round off” (to make clear)

  • use visual aids to present statistics



three types of opinions

expert testimony

lay testimony

literary quotations

statements of recognized authorities

statements of nonexperts with firsthand knowledge

opinions or descriptions by writers speaking in a memorable - often poetic - way

(often more credible)

(often more emotional)

(often have more impact)



using opinions effectively

  • make sure “experts” are experts

  • identify sources

  • cite unbiased authorities

  • make sure opinion is representative of prevailing opinion

  • do not misquote

  • control number of literary quotes





selecting the best supporting material

  • magnitude: larger numbers are better

  • proximity: support relating more closely with listeners is better

  • concreteness: details are better for listeners to remember

  • variety: more diverse forms of support will reach more listeners

  • humor: listeners might appreciate wit

  • suitability: pick support appropriate for speaker, audience, and occasion