JW

Chapter 1: Public Speaking - An Overview

Why Public Speaking? Why Now? Why Here?

  • Public speaking, and more broadly communication skills, are necessary beyond mere course requirements; they are transferable across fields and careers.
  • Campbell (2022) in The Nth Degree identifies five skills that employers look for most:
    • critical thinking and problem solving
    • teamwork and collaboration
    • professionalism and a strong work ethic
    • oral and written communication
    • leadership
  • The textbook/course aims to develop these skills, emphasizing that public speaking improves critical thinking/problem solving, teamwork, professionalism, and leadership in addition to communication.
  • Campbell argues these five skills collectively enhance employability; the authors/readers thus gain tools for presentation, interviewing, listening, outlining, and leadership in real-world contexts.
  • A powerful motivator: imagine a world without public speaking—no TV speeches, no radio presentations, no teaching. Public speaking underpins many professional activities and marketability.
  • The chapter frames the subject as a journey of self-improvement and skill development in communication and leadership.
  • Attribution: material draws on Tucker et al., Exploring Public Speaking: 4th Edition (2019); Campbell (2022); The Nth Degree; Newman University.

Understanding the Communication Process

  • Public speaking is a form of human communication; others include conversation, small group, organizational, mass, and intercultural communication.
  • Core elements of any human communication process:
    • People (senders and receivers)
    • Context (environment or space where communication occurs)
    • Message
    • Channel
    • Noise (interference)
    • Feedback
    • Outcome
  • Communication is a process, not a single event; it is continuous and often builds on prior events, knowledge, or interaction.
  • Simple definition: “sharing meaning between two or more people.”
  • Roles are fluid: while in public speaking we often call the speaker the sender and the audience the receivers, the sender/receiver roles can shift as the audience initiates messages or feedback.
  • Contexts include:
    • Historical: what has happened between sender and receiver before the speech; influences credibility and understanding
    • Cultural: nationality, ethnicity, religion, regional cultures, and co-cultures
    • Social: the nature of the relationship (teacher–student, coworker–employee, etc.)
    • Physical: the environment or setting of the communication; physical cues can carry cultural meaning and affect attention (temperature, seating, external noise)
  • Message can be informal/spontaneous or formal/planned; messages can be conveyed through language or nonverbal channels.
  • Channel refers to how the message is transmitted:
    • Face-to-face channels offer immediacy and allow nonverbal cues to influence reception; delivery and appearance can affect the audience’s reception.
    • Mediated or mass channels (phone, radio, television, printing, computer) insert technology between sender and receiver.
    • Public speaking is linear in time and often does not allow for easy re-dos; online speeches may require unedited delivery.
  • Feedback is usually nonverbal in public speaking (e.g., eye contact, facial expressions, head nods, laughter, posture) and helps the speaker gauge understanding and adjust as needed. Examples include a quizzical expression prompting further explanation or audience disengagement signaling a need to change approach.
  • Noise (interference) can disrupt understanding and can be categorized as:
    • Contextual: in-room or environmental factors that hinder attention or understanding
    • Physical: health or sender’s physical state affecting clarity and delivery
    • Psychological: stress, anxiety, past experiences, or personal concerns influencing reception
      Note: these categories are not exhaustive; many factors can disrupt a speech. Some noise factors are preventable (e.g., controlling physical context) and others can be mitigated during the presentation (e.g., addressing audience concerns as they arise).
  • Outcome (result): a change in the audience or context, such as audience increased information, agreement or disagreement, inaction, or action (e.g., becoming a donor). Outcomes influence future communication encounters.
  • Practical example: Charles’s face-to-face informative speech about Hillard Hall in a classroom. Channel: in-person; Context: classroom physical environment; Psychological noise: Charles feeling hungry; Physical noise: door-knock during delivery; Feedback: audience eye contact and nods; Post-speech interaction: a student asks a question and then conducts further research (outcome).

The Classical Canons of Rhetoric and Public Speaking History

  • Public speaking has long served purposes of persuasion, religious preaching, and community-building across millennia.
  • Early figures and movements in rhetoric include Corax, Tisias, Plato, Isocrates, and Aristotle; Greek civilization (3rd–4th centuries BCE) contributed to the theory of rhetoric.
  • Classical five canons (as described in the textbook) include:
    • Invention (creating content)
    • Arrangement (organization/logic of arguments)
    • Style (level and quality of vocabulary)
    • Memory (memory techniques or memorization of speeches)
    • Delivery (nonverbal communication)
  • Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BCE) popularized the canon approach, proposing a process to craft speeches through the canons; his framework emphasizes a sequence and method for constructing effective rhetoric.
  • The text notes broader historical influence: rhetoric and public speaking concepts appeared in other cultures as well (India’s Buddha, China’s Confucius and Han Fei Tzu; Egypt); Kennedy (1980) and Hutto (2002) document these developments.

Getting Started In Public Speaking: Foundational Principles

  • Foundational principles apply universally to public speaking, regardless of context, audience, topic, or purpose.
  • Timing is Everything:
    • Adhering to time limits demonstrates preparation and respect for the audience.
    • Practice and timing are essential to stay within limits; arriving early signals respect and readiness.
  • Public Speaking Requires Muscle Memory:
    • Public speaking is physical: you stand, move, and use voice, eye contact, facial expressions, and hands.
    • It expends energy; post-speech fatigue is common and audience understanding can hinge on effective delivery.
    • Credibility depends on controlled, energetic, and fluent delivery; training the body improves comfort and performance.
  • Emulation:
    • Learn from skilled speakers; emulate a general model rather than copying exactly; adapt successful strategies (e.g., humor) to fit your own strengths.
  • Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses:
    • Introvert vs extravert dynamics matter for practice and presentation style.
    • Some sources estimate that up to 50\% of the population are introverts (Buettner, 2012).
    • Extraver ts may thrive on audience interaction but risk underpreparation; introverts may overprepare yet feel uneasy; self-awareness helps tailor preparation to maximize effectiveness.
  • Power of Story:
    • Stories, anecdotes, and narrative illustrations are highly memorable and persuasive.
    • Audiences tend to remember stories longer than statistics; however, stories should be complemented with other forms of proof (data, examples) to support claims.
  • Conclusion: The chapter argues for the importance of communication skills in general and outlines steps to begin building public speaking competence. As you progress, you will gain skills that support critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, professionalism, and leadership.

Practical Implications and Real-World Relevance

  • The immediacy of the channel (face-to-face) requires careful delivery; online presentations may require unedited submissions, which reinforces the need for clarity and practice.
  • Public speaking builds leadership, critical thinking, and collaboration skills that are valuable in nearly every field.
  • Ethical and practical implications include respecting the audience’s time, managing potential noise factors, and maintaining credibility through honest and well-structured messages.

Attribution and References

  • Material adapted from Exploring Public Speaking: 4th Edition (2019) by Tucker, Barton, Burger, Drye, Hunsicker, Mendes, and LeHew; edited for tone, content, and localization. Open Textbooks.
  • Campbell, M. (2002). Top 5 Skills Employers Look For, The Nth Degree. Newman University. (Accessed at https://newmanu.edu/top-5-skills-employers-look-for)
  • Stand Up, Speak Out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking. University of Minnesota Libraries. (2011)
  • Additional sources: Kennedy (1980); Hutto (2002); other materials cited in the chapter.