Chapter 6.1 General Purposes of Speaking
Learning Objectives
Differentiate among the three types of general speech purposes.
Examine the basics of informative speech topics and some common forms of informative speeches.
Examine the basics of persuasive speech topics and some common forms of persuasive speeches.
Examine the basics of entertaining speech topics and some common forms of entertaining speeches.
Purpose of Speech
Definition of "purpose": why something exists, how we use an object, or why we make something.
In public speaking, purpose relates to why a speech is given, how information should be used and why a speech is created.
Historical Classifications of Speech Purposes
Aristotle: three speech purposes.
Deliberative (political speech).
Forensic (courtroom speech).
Epideictic (speech of praise or blame).
Cicero: three purposes.
Judicial (courtroom speech).
Deliberative (political speech).
Demonstrative (ceremonial speech, similar to Aristotle's epideictic).
Saint Augustine of Hippo: three speech purposes.
To teach (provide information).
To delight (entertain or show false ideas).
To sway (persuade to a religious ideology).
General purpose: broad goal in creating and delivering a speech.
Modern classification: to inform, to persuade, and to entertain.
To Inform
Helping audience members acquire information they do not already possess.
Use information to understand something (e.g., new technology, new virus) or perform a new task/improve skills (e.g., how to swing a golf club, how to assemble a layer cake).
Goal is to gain knowledge, not to encourage specific use of that knowledge.
Example: Informing vs. Persuading about a vaccination program.
Informing: explaining what the program is and how it works.
Persuading: encouraging audience to participate in the program.
Mistake: blurring the line between informing and persuading.
Why We Share Knowledge
Knowledge sharing: delivering information, skills, or expertise to people who could benefit from it.
Knowledge management: field of study created to help people, especially businesses, become more effective at harnessing and exchanging knowledge.
Motivations for sharing knowledge:
Personal sense of achievement or responsibility (internal motivational factors).
Desire for recognition or possibility of job enhancement (external motivational factors).
Common Types of Informative Topics
Objects: how objects are designed, how they function, and what they mean. (e.g., corsets using a mannequin).
People: biography-oriented speeches, recounting achievements and explaining importance. (e.g., Dottie Walters, the first female in the United States to run an advertising agency).
Events: explaining the significance of specific events, historical or contemporary. (e.g., a specific battle of World War II, concerts, plays, arts festivals, athletic competitions, and natural phenomena such as storms, eclipses, and earthquakes.).
Concepts: abstract and difficult ideas or theories. (e.g., communication theory. EM, Griffin, website, http:www.afirstlook.com/main, cfm/theory_list)
Processes: how it functions and how to do.
How it functions: helps audience understand how a specific object or system works. (e.g., how a bill becomes a law in The United States).
How to do: designed to help people come to an end result of some kind. (e.g., how to quilt, how to change attire, how to write a resume).
Issues: problems or matters of dispute. Goal is to be balanced when discussing both sides of the issue. (e.g., series PointCounterpoint published by Chelsea House, http:chelseahouse, info based publishing dot com).
Sample Informative Speech: The Piraha
Delivered by Jesse Olle, an undergraduate student.
Focuses on sharing information without persuasion.
Explores the unique culture, language, and implications of the Piraha tribe.
Introduction
Daniel Everett, a missionary, studied the Piraha tribe in Brazil.
Piraha language challenges universal linguistic theories (e.g., counting).
Piraha have a language that shouldn't exist.
Daniel Everett is a professor of linguistics at Illinois State University.
Main points
Examine the unique culture of the Piraha.
Explore what makes their language so surprising.
Discover the implications the Piraha have for the way we look at language and humanity.
Taking a closer look at the tribe’s culture, we can identify two key components of Piraha culture that help mold language.
Isolation: no group in history has resisted change like the Piraha.
Emphasis on reality: all Piraha understanding is based around the concept of personal experience. If something cannot be felt, touched, or experienced directly then to them, it doesn't exist, essentially eliminating the existence of abstract thought.
Many things missing with the language.
Words for time, direction, and color.
Lacks complexity, counting, and recursion.
Simplicity: speak in terms of direct experience; rely on tone, pitch, and humming to communicate.
Counting: only have words for one, two, and many.
Recursion: ability to link several thoughts together (lacking in Piraha language).
Implications
Communicative, philosophical, and cultural levels.
Daniel Everett's research shows that more critical research is needed to make sure that our understanding of language is not lost in translation.
To Persuade
Attempt to get listeners to embrace a point of view or adopt a behavior they would not have done otherwise.
Distinguished by a call for action.
Why We Persuade
Pure persuasion: speaker urges listeners to engage in behavior or change a point of view because they believe it's in the audience's best interest. (e.g., speech on oral hygiene).
Manipulative persuasion: speaker urges listeners to engage in a behavior or change a point of view by misleading them to fulfill an ulterior motive. Speaker is not being honest about the real purpose for attempting to persuade the audience.
Key question: speaker's intent.
Sincere belief in the benefits vs. personal benefits from audience adopting a certain behavior or point of view.
Persuasion: Behavior Versus Attitudes, Values, and Beliefs
Behaviors: observable actions.
Example: washing hands, adopting driving habits to improve gas mileage, using open source software, or drinking one soft drink or soda over another.
Attitudes: individual's general predisposition towards something as good/bad, right/wrong, negative/positive. (e.g., dress codes on college campuses).
Values: individual's perception of the usefulness, importance, or worth of something. (e.g., college education, technology, freedom).
Beliefs: propositions or positions held as true or false without positive knowledge or proof.
Core beliefs: actively engaged in and created over the course of their lives. (e.g., belief in a higher power, belief in extraterrestrial life forms).
Dispositional beliefs: judgments based on related subjects made when encountering a proposition. For example, "can gorillas speak English?"
Altering beliefs: changing core beliefs is more difficult than changing dispositional beliefs.
Just to Entertain
Focused on theme and occasion; audience enjoyment is key.
Goal is to divert audience from day-to-day lives for a short period of time.
Why We Entertain
Entertaining speeches can be funny or serious.
Entertaining speeches are very common in everyday life.
Common Forms of Entertainment Topics
After-dinner speech: injects humor into a serious speech topic.
Ceremonial speech: context-driven speeches (e.g., introductions, toasts, eulogies).
Inspirational speech: based in emotion, motivates listeners to alter their lives. (e.g., Florence Littard's "Silver Boxes"). Server.firefighters.org/catalog/2009/45690nine.mp3.
Key Takeaways
Three general purposes of speaking: to inform, to persuade, and to entertain.
Informative speeches: focus on sharing information without persuasion; can focus on objects, people, events, concepts, processes, or issues.
Persuasive speeches: pure and manipulative; ethical considerations.
Entertainment speeches: after-dinner, ceremonial, or inspirational; primary goal is to entertain.