Notes on Ethics in Public Speaking: Principles, Credibility, and Delivery

What is Ethics in Public Speaking?

• Ethics can be described as a behavioral, moral code that guides how we act. Honesty is presented as one way to signify ethics.
• There is a debate in philosophy about whether there is an objective moral code or if ethics are culturally based, so people may have different ethical stances.
• In the context of speaking, ethics is about how your speech aligns with a moral approach to your audience and topic.

What Makes a Speech Ethical?

• From a speaker’s perspective, three core considerations are emphasized:
  • Clarity: ensuring the audience understands the message without obfuscation.
  • Efficiency and understanding: communicating efficiently so the audience comprehends the point.
  • Telling the whole truth: avoiding distortion or selective presentation of facts.
• Additional discussion prompts include: the ethicality of choosing topics (e.g., hate speech vs. humanitarian topics) and whether controversial topics can be addressed ethically.

Controversial Topics, Hate Speech, and Ethical Boundaries

• It’s possible to discuss controversial topics ethically, but one must consider how the topic is approached and framed.
• Unethical practices observed in media examples include approaching content with an open mind but also failing to engage critically with hate speech, or uncritically endorsing what is heard.
• Ethical concerns include:
  • Not approaching a topic with genuine intellectual curiosity (i.e., bias or closed-mindedness).
  • Hearing hate speech and simply agreeing without critical evaluation.
  • Dishonesty or intentional misrepresentation of facts (e.g., telling a half-truth, or selectively presenting information).

Ethical Standards for Listeners and Speakers

• Ethics apply to both speakers and listeners:
  • Listeners should approach speeches with an open mind and be willing to hear both sides.
  • Presenting both sides of an issue is debated: is it inherently ethical to platform opposing views, or must they be engaged critically and proportionally?
• A key distinction is made between purely informative mentions of hate speech (describing what happened) and how to critically engage with it.
• John Oliver’s discussion is used as a case study on ethical representation of sides:
  • He highlighted the disparity in representation when a controversial topic is shown on TV as a “balanced” debate.
  • Example: Climate scientists overwhelmingly agree on man-made climate change (roughly $99.9\%$) versus a small minority (~$0.1\%$) of skeptics.
  • Oliver contrasted a one-on-one depiction (one skeptic vs. one scientist) with a proportional representation (e.g., 99 scientists vs. 1 skeptic) to illustrate the ethical issue of how representation shapes audience perception.
• The takeaway is that representing both sides is ethical when done critically and proportionally, and when it helps the audience engage with the issues rather than mislead through cherry-picked representations.

The Tilley Pyramid: Three Key Components of Public Speaking Ethics

• From the textbook, ethics in public speaking can be viewed through the Tilley Pyramid, which has three key components:
  1. Intent: The speaker’s underlying intention, such as telling the truth to the audience. If honesty is considered ethical, then speakers should prepare to tell the truth. There is nuance: in some situations a white lie to spare feelings might be argued, but for public discourse, honesty is framed as a foundational expectation.
  2. Means (Methods): The tactics and behavioral choices used to present information and persuade. Considerations include whether you yell at someone, embarrass someone, or use other aggressive methods—these methods must be evaluated for ethicality alongside truth.
  3. Ends (What You Try to Achieve): The outcomes or goals of the speech, including who is harmed or benefited and whether those effects are proportional.
• These components interrelate; there is no simple formula for ethics, but these guidelines help evaluate a speech.
• There is an implicit question of whether a speech can be ethical on one dimension (e.g., truthful content) but unethical on another (e.g., manipulative methods).

Ends vs Means vs Intent: Evaluation and Gray Areas

• The speaker asks students to consider whether a speech can be ethical from one perspective (ends/means) but not from another (intent).
• The lecture emphasizes gray areas and avoids a single formula; instead, it recommends always considering the three components of the pyramid.

Being an Ethical Speaker: Trust and Credibility

• Ethical speakers are those whom the audience can trust. Key traits include:
  • Truthfulness
  • Goodwill
  • Integrity
• Other traits that may contribute to trust include building a relationship with your arguments and establishing reputation over time.

Establishing and Maintaining Credibility

• Credibility can be built in several stages:
  • Preparation: Conduct thorough research, produce complete outlines, and connect ideas; for informative or how-to speeches, use visual aids appropriately to demonstrate processes.
  • Knowledge and Preparedness: For persuasive speeches, know the facts, anticipate counterpoints, and prepare responses.
  • In-Speech Practices: Use spoken citations to show sources (e.g., "According to Pew Research Center…" or "Dr. Jones, head of cardiology at Vanderbilt…").
  • Avoid unprepared or sloppy notes, as they diminish credibility.
  • Establish rapport with the audience by understanding who they are and relating to their experiences (e.g., addressing first-generation college students with shared experiences).
  • Restate the thesis and main ideas (redundancy in a purposeful way) to aid comprehension and reinforce credibility.
• If you miss class or materials, recap videos will summarize the slides and provide an abbreviated overview.

Intro: Establishing Authority and Connecting with the Audience

• The intro should establish why the speaker is addressing the topic and why the audience should listen:
  • State your authority and expertise.
  • Explain what the audience gains from listening.
  • Build common ground and show how your experiences relate to the audience (e.g., shared identity or background).
• Examples used: relating to first-generation college students and why that shared experience matters for credibility.
• The intro also signals the speaker’s intent and what the audience can expect.

Delivery: Presence, Pace, and Voice

• Delivery is crucial for credibility and audience engagement:
  • Eye contact: Maintain eye contact to connect with the audience.
  • Presence: Move and position yourself to be in front of the audience; avoid looking disconnected or distant.
  • Pace: A moderate speaking rate conveys thoughtfulness; too fast may signal a lack of preparation; too slow may signal overthinking or uncertainty.
  • Tone and breath: Find your unique voice; projecting and varying tone helps convey confidence.
  • Voice identity: Owning your voice—whether loud, quiet, or distinctive—contributes to audience recall and engagement.
  • Avoid over-screaming; maintain an appropriate delivery to avoid communicating uncertainty.

Gestures, Body Language, and Visual Coupling with Content

• Gestures support communication of physical actions more effectively than abstract ideas:
  • Use gestures to indicate actions the audience can perform or to emphasize physical tasks.
  • When describing concrete actions (e.g., writing something down, moving a chair), use corresponding gestures.
  • Gestures should be proportionate to the content: match gesture size to the pitch and emphasis; large gestures for big ideas, smaller for finer points.
  • Gestures must be congruent with spoken words; incongruent gestures can diminish comprehension and credibility.
• Gestures help audience comprehension and convey passion, which enhances credibility.

Structure, Close, and Takeaways

• Regardless of the type of speech (informative, persuasive, narrative), a closing is important:
  • Close by giving the audience something to think about or act on (e.g., a rhetorical question or a memorable reminder).
  • A strong closing demonstrates ongoing thinking about the topic beyond the classroom and reinforces credibility.
• For narrative or more complex speeches, structure can resemble storytelling: hook in intro, rising action, peak, and resolution, with a takeaway for the audience.

Practical Tips and Quick Recap

• Always consider the three components of the Tilley Pyramid (Intent, Means, Ends) when evaluating or crafting a speech.
• Build credibility through preparation, accuracy, citations, and audience connection.
• Use delivery mechanics (eye contact, pace, voice, presence) to signal confidence and engage listeners.
• Use purposeful, congruent gestures to reinforce content and facilitate understanding.
• End with a reflective or actionable takeaway to leave a lasting impression.

Potential Exam and Reflection Prompts

• Explain the three components of the Tilley Pyramid and how they interact to shape ethical public speaking.
• Discuss the ethical implications of proportional representation when presenting sides of a controversial issue, using the climate change example discussed (e.g., $99.9\%$ scientists vs. $0.1\%$ skeptical views).
• Describe how to establish credibility before and during a speech, including the role of spoken citations and audience rapport.
• Provide examples of how to use gestures effectively to enhance comprehension and avoid incongruence with spoken content.
• Reflect on the ethical responsibilities of both speakers and listeners in public discourse.

Quick Activity Prompt (from the instructor)

• Take a few minutes to reflect on how you would apply the Tilley Pyramid to a topic you might deliver on; identify your intent, the methods you would use, and the intended ends, and consider potential ethical gray areas.