Communication and Public Speaking Exam Review

Topic: Active Listening

Stages of the Listening Process

• 1. Hearing: physically processing the sound that others have produced, and mentally focusing your attention on it.
  

• 2. Understanding: recognizing the literal meaning of the words the other person has said.
  

• 3. Interpreting: identifying any implications suggested in the person’s words and considering what action the person is trying to perform.
  

• 4. Evaluating: comparing the newly received information against your past knowledge, to check its accuracy and validity.
  

• 5. Remembering: the process of being able to call back into consciousness the messages and is a crucial part of the listening process.
  

• 6. Responding: the outcome of listening and is when you communicate your attention and comprehension to the speaker.
  

Listening Styles

• 1. People-oriented: view listening as an opportunity to establish bonds between themselves and others.
  

• 2. Content-oriented: prefer to be intellectually challenged by the messages they receive.
  

• 3. Action-oriented: like focused and organized information, and they want clear, to-the-point messages from others.
  

• 4. Time-oriented: prefer brief encounters
  

Barriers to Active Listening

• 1. Selective Listening: is taking in only bits and pieces of information presented by a speaker and dismissing the rest.  
  

• 2. Pseudo Listening: the process of behaving as if you’re paying attention though you’re really not.
  

• 3. Aggressive Listening: listening to what others say solely to find an opportunity to attack their conversational partners.
  

Topic: Communication and Perception

3 Components of Self

• 1. Self-awareness: the ability to view yourself as a unique person distinct from your surrounding environment and to reflect on your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
  

• 2. Self-concept: the overall assessment of who you are based on beliefs, attitudes and values you have about yourself.
  

• 3. Self-esteem: the overall value you assign to yourself.
  

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JoHari Window

-created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingram

-tool used to improve understanding between individuals

Perception Process

• 1. Select information to focus your attention on.  
  

• 2. Organize the information into an understandable pattern.
  

• 3. Interpret the meaning of the pattern.
  

Attribution Process

Attribution is the process of assigning an explanation for why things are happening the way they are.

• • External factors or events—things outside of the person—caused the person’s behavior.
  

• • Internal factors—personality, character, emotions, health—caused the person to act as he or she did.
  

Topic: Methods of Speech Delivery

• 1. Manuscript: speaking verbatim from a written script
  

• 2. Impromptu: a type of delivery that is unpracticed, spontaneous, or improvised
  

• 3. Memorized: putting the entire speech, word for word, into writing and then committing it to memory
  

• 4. Extemporaneous: a speech that is prepared well and practiced in advance, giving full attention to all facets of the speech (content, arrangement, and delivery
  

Topic: Types of Supporting Material

• 1. Statistics: using numbers to summarize a great many individual cases or to demonstrate relationships between phenomena
  

• 2. Examples: single instances that make a point, dramatize an idea or personalize information.
  

• 3. Comparisons: associations between two things that are similar in some important way
  

• 4. Quotations/Testimonies: using exact citations of statements made by others.
  

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Topic: Speech Introductions

Attention Getting Strategies

• 1. Quotation
  

• 2. Reference to Current or Historical Events
  

• 3. Anecdote (short story)
  

• 4. Startling statement/unusual information
  

• 5. Ask questions
  

• 6. Use humor
  

• 7. Personal reference
  

Topic: Persuasive Speaking  

Purpose: To change others by prompting them to think, feel, believe or act differently.  

Pillars of Persuasive Speaking:

• 1. Logos: rational or logical proof (arguments, reasoning, evidence)
  

• a. Toulmin Model: clear claim, build evidence, make the link with a warrant
  

• 2. Pathos: emotional reasons for attitudes, beliefs, or actions.
  

  • a. Personalize the issue, appeal to listener’s needs, bring material alive
    

• 3. Ethos: the perceived personal character of the speaker
  

  • a. Find common ground (goodwill), document sources (expertise), address other points of view fairly (trustworthiness)
    

Types of Claims

• 1. Claim of fact: Declares something is true or will happen
  

• 2. Claim of value: Addresses issues of judgment
  

• 3. Claim of policy: Recommends a specific course of action
  

Logical Fallacies

• 1. Halo Effect: Tendency to assume that an expert in one area is also an expert in other unrelated areas
  

• 2. Band wagoning: Basing an argument on general opinion
  

• 3. Either-or-Fallacy: Presents only two possible alternatives when there are alternatives
  

• 4. Ad Hominem Argument: Targets a person instead of the issue
  

• 5. Hasty Generalization: Basing a general conclusion on isolated instance
  

• 6. Slippery Slope: Faulty assumption that one case will lead to a series of events or actions
  

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Topic: Evaluating the Credibility of Sources

C – Currency: timeliness of the information

R – Relevance: the importance of the information for your needs

A – Authority: author’s qualifications to write on this topic

A – Accuracy: reliability, truthfulness and correctness of content

P – Purpose: the reason the information exists

Topic: Speaking to Actuate

Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

• 1. Attention: pull the audience into the topic
  

• 2. Need: establish why the issue is a real concern
  

• 3. Satisfaction: give proposed solution
  

• 4. Visualization: help the audience to see what will happen if your proposal is adapted
  

• 5. Action: give the audience a realistic and specific call to action