Public Speaking Final
1. Saanvi is asked in a job interview to talk about a time she resolved a conflict with a coworker. This would be considered an example of an impromptu speech.
a. True
2. Riyad is asked to give a graduation speech at his high school alma mater. He has just given a year-end speech for his son’s elementary school class and wants to use much of the same material. Which of the questions concerning occasion should Riyad consider the most when revising his speech?
d. What does this particular audience expect for this occasion?
3. A speech meant to influence the audience has a persuasive purpose.
a. True
4. Effective speaking is the ability to think critically about:
c. yourself as a speaker as well as about your audience.
5. An effective impromptu speaker will think about how to get the attention of the audience at the ____ of the speech.
a. beginning
6. Familiarity and comfort with the setting can settle your nerves and boost your confidence in speaking.
a. True
7. Which of the following is an example of a physiological symptom of anxiety?
a. Holly feels her pulse quicken as she approaches the stage.
8. Shifting attention away from yourself and toward your audience is an effective way
to deal with:
d. the spotlight effect.
9. An effective presentation generally makes 8 to 10 key points, ideally.
b. False
10. Which presenter is relying on mind mapping to organize their ideas?
a. Constance gets a large sheet of paper and a set of felt-tip pens, then proceeds to draw arrows, circles, lines, and shading to illustrate how her key points connect to one another.
11. Another term for a presentation’s central idea is its:
b. thesis statement.
12. The words “furthermore,” “meanwhile,” “however,” “finally,” “consequently,” or “in addition” are all __________ because each of them is a __________.
a. transitions; bridge word
13. What is the best advice for crafting a strong introduction and conclusion to a presentation?
c. Write these sections word for word, then practice them until they can be delivered naturally and without reading from a page.
14. A conclusion should accomplish the goals of:
d. signaling an end, summarizing a message, being brief.
15. In comparison to other elements of a presentation, when should the introduction be formulated?
b. at the end, or at least after all the main points have been identified and mapped out
16. What is the single most important goal of any introduction?
a. focus audience's attention and interest
17. Effective speakers make strategic decisions about their delivery based on the nature of the occasion.
a. True
18. Communication theorists describe the way a person uses their voice and body during a presentation as _________.
c. delivery
19. Hector has a budding career as a stand-up comic; family, friends, and the small audiences he’s played to think he’s hilarious. However, he was asked to deliver the eulogy at his uncle’s funeral. If Hector wants to make public performance his career, which principle should he recognize in this situation?
b. He’s a funny guy, but now’s not the time for funny; he needs to match his delivery to the occasion at hand.
20. When Shantae hits the stage to deliver her motivational message for financial freedom, she “owns” the place. Her charisma, charm, and energy captivate her audience, and she appears comfortable and in charge. All of these qualities contribute to Shantae’s __________ .
d. stage presence
21. When Nunzio visits relatives in Piedmont, Italy, he finds that he talks at a faster rate, uses many more hand gestures, and speaks at a slightly higher volume than he does during his job as a lecturer at Hudson University in the United States. This ability to effortlessly change one’s presentational style is called __________.
c. code-switching
22. When communication scholars discuss fluency, they are referring to:
a. the ability to speak smoothly without awkward pauses or hesitations.
23. Punctuation forms the road signs of writing. A comma, for example, invites the reader to take a brief pause and separate one idea from another. Exclamation points convey excitement! A semicolon is thoughtful; there’s more to say, but perhaps we need a little time to compose our ideas. A period says “stop.” The functions served by punctuating the written word are the same functions served by
__________ when formulating vocal delivery.
a. rate
24. A skilled opera singer is said to be able to “reach the back row” even without the aid of microphones or amplifiers. This is because these professionals know how to:
a. project their voices to reach all members of an audience.
25. Which component of vocal delivery describes a controlled vocal energy that gives clearness and power to a speaker’s voice?
c. projection
26. Informative presentations provide new information, explain complex concepts and processes, and/or clarify and correct misunderstood information.
a. True
27. When making an informative presentation, the more information that can be packed into the allotted time, the better.
b. False
28. What is the purpose of an informative presentation?
a. to provide new information, explain complex processes, or clarify
misunderstood information
29. What is a good strategy for planning the information you want to share with an audience?
b. less is more: less information means more comprehension
30. Every informative presentation can be helped by first __________, so that value steps, central idea, purposes, and other elements can be clearly identified.
b. making an outline
31. Impromptu speeches don’t need to be polished or perfect, but they should be personal.
a. True
32. Wally was asked to give an impromptu speech to the local Scale Modelers’ club on the merits of different types of adhesives. By definition, what was Wally asked to do?
d. Speak to the group with little or no practice time or preparation
33. Messalina was called upon to give an impromptu address in her History Before Pre-History class. Which key attribute should she be aware of to maximize the impact of her delivery?
c. Maintain eye contact with the audience and keep an open posture.
34. The occasion of an impromptu speech dictates that a response should be __________ and generally be __________ .
b. immediate; brief
35. What is the purpose of a speaker who introduces another speaker?
a. To motivate the audience to listen to and value the main speaker’s message
36. Whose credibility matters when an introductory speaker introduces a main speaker?
c. Both the introducer’s and the main speaker’s credibility matter.
37. Which principle should guide the development of an introductory speaker’s
remarks?
a. What can I say about this particular presenter to this particular audience on this particular occasion?
38. Welcome remarks should be formal, thorough, and detailed.
b. False
39. Which of these situations calls for a speaker to deliver welcome remarks?
b. Parents are attending back-to-school night to learn about the daily activities in their children’s elementary school.
40.Rocio was welcoming a group of visiting entrepreneurs to a computer chip manufacturing plant, where they would spend the day meeting with corporate leaders, taking a guided tour of the plant’s facilities, and ending with a celebratory dinner at a local restaurant. What does Rocio need to tell the tour group about herself?
a. Her name and title
41. An award presenter might have to sometimes explain both the nature of the award being presented and the background of the reward recipient.
a. True
42. Successful award presentations should focus an audience’s attention on __________
a. the award and the recipient
43. An award presenter should appear __________ in order to keep the audience’s focus on the award and its recipient.
d. confident
44.The most successful acceptance speeches begin and end with what?
a. A sincere expression of gratitude
45. While toasts come in many different forms, most toasts can be described as:
b. celebratory.
Line graphs are better than bar graphs when tracking small changes in a trend over time.
a. True
47. The standard practice in using presentational aids is “make your point,” even if you have to alter the data and results a little bit to do so.
b. False
What is the principle rule to bear in mind when considering presentation aids?
b. Presentation aids are only aids; they are not your presentation.
Kelly’s digital presentations all took the same form: She presented an entire discussion’s worth of content on a single slide, then talked her way through it, then presented another big chunk of information on another single slide. The effect this had on her audience, understandably, is that their attention was drawn to reading the words on the slides rather than listening to her explanations. A better tactic for Kelly to use would be:
a. to build information sequentially using progressive disclosure.
50. Ralphie wants to help his audience understand the flow of production that takes place during the smelting process to extract tin from ore samples. Which presentation tactic should he take?
d. show a diagram, most likely a flow chart, that illustrates the steps in the process
51. What makes a difficult term difficult to describe is that it is often abstract.
a. True
52. Successfully describing a quasi-scientific phenomenon usually focuses on giving an audience the “big picture” about the phenomenon.
a. True
53. The primary purpose of an informative presentation is to change people’s opinions and/or behaviors.
b. False
54. How do presentations that explain complex ideas differ from presentations that report new information?
c. There’s an assumption of existing audience awareness regarding a topic when explaining complex ideas.
55. Presentations that explain complex ideas usually answer questions such as:
a. “Why is this happening?”
56. Which strategy for clarifying difficult terms might BEST be placed toward the conclusion of a presentation, and perhaps even be used as a way of assessing audience comprehension?
c. quizzing the audience
57. The word “quasi” carries the connotation of:
d. “resembling.”
58. Explaining a scientific process effectively often involves using a __________ organizational pattern of presentation.
d. chronological
59. Harvey was trying to explain the arrangement of the solar system to his 6-year-old niece, Eunice, and not having much luck with it. “The sun’s in the center, see, and then there are planets—eight of them—and the planets orbit the sun, but many of the planets also have moons, and moons orbit the planets, but the orbits aren’t circular, they’re elliptical, well, the planetary orbits that is, and the ellipse itself wavers in an up-and-down fashion, and. . . .” While he was talking, his sister Edweena gathered some different-sized balls from Eunice’s toy box, and positioned them along the carpet. What is Edweena’s strategy?
a. describing a scientific phenomenon by relying on presentation aids
60.Using transitions, previews, summaries, and signposts becomes especially important when describing a __________ process, event, or outcome, as is often the case with scientific phenomenon.
b. complex
61. The primary purpose of a persuasive presentation is to ask for something from the audience.
a. True
62. Pathos is also known as speaker credibility.
b. False
63. An appeal to reason enlists logos, presenting well-crafted claims that are sensible.
a. True
What is the purpose of persuasion?
d. To change people’s opinions and/or their behavior
65. Experienced speakers know that in order to persuade an audience, they must:
b. present information.
What is the dividing line between a persuasive speech and an informative speech?
c. The speaker’s purpose
67. Generally speaking, what is the typical order in which audience change takes place?
b. Opinion change, motivation for action, behavioral change
68.Which type of persuasive claim suggests that something will or will not happen in the future?
c. Claims of conjecture
17
69.Edgar wants to persuade an audience that his ideas offer a solution to the problem of unreliable mass transit in his town and that his recommended course of action is the appropriate one. Which type of persuasive claim is Edgar making?
d. Claims of policy
70.Renata is digging into her speech. “And furthermore!” she proclaims, “it is my contention that denying free health care to members of all species is simply wrong, wrong, wrong!! The mite is the toad is the rat is the dog is the weasel is the elephant is the person; all are equal in their basic needs!!” she passionately inveigles. “This principle cannot be denied! To do so is to stand in the shadows of ignorance!” Renata’s vigorous approach represents which kind of persuasive claim?
d. Claims of value
71. Personal appeals invoke the principle of:
d. ethos.
72. Another name for logos is an appeal to ___________.
b. reason
73. The Toulmin model of argument is based on the principles of claim, evidence, and
warrant.
a. True
74. The process of reasoning involves:
a. considering premises that support and lead to acceptance of a conclusion.
75. Claudio wants his arguments to stick to what is observed. Luisa wants her
arguments to make a claim of probability. Reynaldo wants his arguments to convey
his value judgments. In other words, Claudio wants to rely on __________, Luisa
wants to rely on __________, and Reynaldo wants to rely on __________.
c. facts; inferences; opinions
76. The attacking the person fallacy is also known as:
c. ad hominem.
77. The first step in Monroe’s motivated sequence is gaining an audience’s attention.
a. True
78. A benefits step in a presentation is most closely aligned with the principle of:
c. what’s in it for me?
79. Under which circumstances would you want to rely on central-route persuasion?
a. When addressing an intelligent, motivated audience that is already familiar
80.Before trying to sell you a widget, I try to sell you a flidget. If you buy the flidget, I
am probably a widget salesperson who uses:
d. the foot-in-the-door technique