Public Speaking

Aristotle’s 5 Canons of Rhetoric

  • Invention (topics)

  • Disposition

  • Style (language)

  • Memory (lost canon)

    • Think about NEWS for North, East, South, West

  • Delivery (transmission of speech)

  • Pericles quote

    • “One who forms a judgement on any point but cannot explain (it) might as well never have thought at all on the subject.”

19th Century

  • Declamation

  • Elocution

20th Century

  • Multi-media/instant communication

Public Speaking vs. Conversation

  • Similarities

    • Logical

    • Tailored to audience

    • Story told for maximum impact

    • Adapt to feedback

  • Differences

    • More highly structured

      • Planned in advance

    • More formal language

    • Different method of delivery

    • Roles of speaker and audience clearly defined

      • Roles of conversation can change between speaker and listener

Communication Apprehension

  • Fear/anxiety associated 2/ real or anticipated communication w/ others

  • Also called glossophobia

2 Types of Communication Apprehension

  • Apprehensive individuals

    • People who just are apprehensive

  • Apprehensive experiences

    • Experiences that cause apprehensiveness

      • Left alone at a party with a stranger

What Triggers Communication Apprehension

  • Communicating w/ people you don’t know well

  • Communication in novel or formal situation

  • Communication w/ people of higher rank

  • Being “put on the spot”

  • Communication that is evaluated/graded

  • Repeated failures w/ communication

    • “Traumatizing experience”

Consequences of Low/High Communication Apprehension?

  • Low CAs perceived by teachers to be better students

    • Likely because of increased participation

  • Interpersonal opportunities are greater for low CAs

  • Low CAs typically choose jobs that require greater interaction

    • Low CAs - Nurse

    • High CAs - Office jobs

  • Low CAs judged as more competent, responsible, having leadership potential

  • Low CAs promoted more often

  • Low CAs often more satisfied w/ their job

Managing Communication Apprehension

  • Recognize two fallacies

    • Because we talk we communicate well in all situations

    • “I’m the only one w/ CA”

  • Think positively

    • Self-fulfilling prophecy

      • Seeing myself perform well gives me more confidence

      • This sets me up for the future to perform better

    • Presentational Energy

      • Body preparing you for situation at hand

      • Increased heart rate, sweaty palms, butterflies in stomach

  • Recognize pre-existing credibility

    • Already did research, practice, etc.

  • Concentrate on communicating w/ audience

    • Practice looking at people

  • Practice effective nonverbal communication

  • Utilize warm-up exercises

Topics

  • General purposes of speech

    • Inform

    • Persuade

    • Entertain

  • Specific purpose

    • What speaker wants the audience to know/believe after speech

      • Full, infinitive phrase

      • Phrased as a statement

      • Avoid figurative language

      • Limited to one distinct idea

      • Not be too vague/general

Audience

  • Audience Analysis

    • Audiences are egocentric

      • Why this affects the audience

      • Why this is important topic for the audience

    • Audience must be considered at every stage of speech preparation and delivery

    • Audience analysis good, if possible

  • 2 Types of audiences

    • Voluntary

      • Someone who chose to see the speaker

      • TED Talk audience

    • Captive

      • Didn’t choose to be there

  • 3 types of audience analysis

    • Demographic

    • Situational

      • Size

      • Occasion

    • Psychological (dispositionary)

      • Toward speaker

        • Trustworthy

          • Does this audience trust me w/ their best interest

        • Knowledgeable

          • Does the audience think I have knowledge

        • Dynamic

          • Is the audience able to maintain interest throughout the speech

      • Toward topic

        • Interested/uninterested

        • Favorable/unfavorable

  • 3 methods of audience analysis

    • Direct observation

    • Inferences

    • Questionnaires

      • Fixed-alternative questions offer a choice between two or more specific responses

      • Scale questions allow for a continuum of answers

      • Open-ended questions give maximum leeway in responding

Informative Speeches

  • Types of informative speeches

    • Objects

    • Processes/Procedures

    • Events

    • Concepts

    • People

  • Guidelines for informative speeches

    • Don’t overestimate what the audience knows

    • Relate to the audience

      • Why they should know this.

    • Don’t be too technical

    • Personalize ideas

    • Be creative

  • Patterns of organizations

    • Topical

      • Series of not necessarily related subjects

    • Chronological

    • Spatial

      • Directional, geographic, close to distant

    • Problem/solution

    • Cause/effect

  • Main points

    • Should be 2-5 main points

    • Main points should be distinct, separate

    • Parallel wording

    • Balance time spent on each point

  • Functions of Conclusions 

    • Signals the end

    • Reinforce central idea

    • Provide closure

  • Conclusion tips

    • 5-10% of speech

    • Write word for word

  • Intro tips

    • Write it last

    • 10-20% of speech

    • Be creative but stay on topic

Informative Outlines

  • Why it’s essential

    • Helps speaker see full scope/content of speech

    • Helps speaker judge development of speech

    • Creates a structure

  • Preparation outline

    • Detailed outline used to plan a speech

    • Process of creation involves speaker bringing together all elements of speech

      • What will be said in intro

      • How main points will be stated/supported

      • What will be said in conclusion

    • Eight guidelines for preparation outline

      • Specific purpose statement

      • Speaker’s central idea

      • Clearly labels intro, body, conclusion

      • Pattern of symbolization and indentation

      • Main points/subpoints

      • Labels transitions, internal summaries, internal previews

      • Bibliography

      • Title?

  • After preparation outline, a speaking outline can be drawn

    • Brief outline used to deliver speech

    • Helps remember what to say

      • Key words and phrases from preparation outline

      • Essential statistics/quotations

      • Cues to direct/sharpen delivery

    • Effective for extemporaneous speeches

    • Four guidelines for speaking outlines

      • Follows same visual framework used in preparation outline

      • Should be legible

      • As brief as possible!!

    • Includes cues for deliveries

Persuasive

  • Persuasion changes the following

    • Attitude

      • Favorable/unfavorable

    • Beliefs

      • True/false

    • Values

      • Good/bad

    • Behaviors

      • Course of action

  • Aristotle persuasion tops

    • Ethos

      • Have a good character

    • Logos

      • Rational

      • Logical argument

    • Pathos

      • Emotional appeal

  • Needs - Maslow

    • Physiological

      • Housing

      • Healthcare

    • Safety

      • Security

      • Protection

    • Social

      • Relationships

    • Self-esteem

    • Self-actualization

      • Find who you are

      • Who you’re meant to be

    • Fear

      • Can motivate an audience to make a change

  • Types of persuasive speeches

    • Fact

      • If it’s true what does that mean?

    • Value

      • What do you value in life?

    • Policy

      • “This is the way to solve a problem”

  • Persuasive vs. Informative

    • Leadership

      • Persuasive leads people to do something

    • Risk/commitment

      • Asking people to change something they’re doing

    • Advocates choice

      • Presenting two options to the listener

    • Emotional appeals

      • Use emotion in a way to encourage people to make a desired choice

    • Greater ethics

      • Not manipulating facts/emotions/character

    • A persuasive speech has a topic someone can argue against

Wrong test answers

  • You should draw from your own persona knowledge/experience when choosing a speech topic

  • Aristotle’s famous text on public speaking is called The Rhetoric.

  • Returning to a story in the conclusion you introduced in the introduction is called framing.

  • Studying public speaking long-term leads to advantages in empowerment and employment.

  • Nineteenth century practice of delivering famous speeches from history, instead of writing one’s own speeches is called declamation

  • In class we changed the name of communication apprehension to presentational energy.

  • Audience is an important factor in selecting a topic, organizing the speech, and choosing supporting details.

  • Functions of an intro

    • Introduce topic

    • Get attention of the audience

    • Establish sub-points

    • Establish credibility

    • Give a reason to listen

  • Functions of a conclusion

    • Signals the end

    • Wraps up the main idea

    • Provide closure

Persuasive Continued

  • Patterns of organization

    • Topical

    • Problem/solution

    • Problem/cause/solution

  • Problems

    • Quantitative

    • Qualitative

  • Illustrating

    • Concrete

      • Very detailed

    • Salient

      • How the problem affects the audience

    • Vivid

  • Causes

    • Single

    • Multiple

  • Solutions

    • Symptomatic    

      • Treat the symptoms of the problem

      • Doesn’t address the problem but is usually cheaper and easier

      • Taking medicine to reduce a headache

    • Causal

      • Has a one or multiple causes

      • Problem is solved/mitigated by addressing cause(s)

Credibility and Reasoning

  • Why is the listener persuaded?

    • Perceived credibility of speaker

    • Evidence

    • Convinced by reasoning

    • Touched by ideas/language

  • Perceived credibility of speaker

    Competence

    • Character

    • Types of credibility

      • Initial

        • Usually introduced before the speech

      • Derived

        • Credibility that is established as the speech goes on

      • Terminal credibility

        • Credibility that stays after the speech has ended

        • How much the audience was moved to action

    • Ways to enhance credibility

      • Explain competence via research/personal experience

      • Establish common ground

        • Identify w/ values and beliefs of audience

        • Use WE language

      • Be animated and use expression

  • Evidence

    • Let the audience hear the evidence

    • Be specific

      • “THIS” study shows

    • Use novel or new evidence

    • Use credible sources

    • Make point of evidence clear

  • Reasoning

    • Common fallacies

      • Hasty generalization

        • Generalization based on insufficient evidence

        • Evidence that was not generalizable

      • Assigning false cause

      • Oversimplification

        • Attempt to reduce complex issues

      • Dissimilar analogies

        • Making analogies that don’t relate two things well

      • Red herring

        • Getting someone to focus on something not related to the problem

      • Ad hominem fallacy

        • Attacking the character of the person rather than the argument itself

      • Either/or fallacy

        • Falsely giving someone two choices when there’s more than two choices

      • Bandwagon fallacy

        • Getting someone to do something because everyone does it

      • Slippery slope fallacy

        • Making someone believe that something small will lead to something bigger

Special Occasion

  • Exigence

    • Something waiting to be done

  • Rhetorical situation

    • Event that gives rise to need for communicative response

    • Examples

      • Wedding

      • Funerals

      • Dedication

      • Anniversary

      • Tragedy

  • Purpose of special occasion speech

    • NOT to inform or persuade

    • To fulfill the needs of occasion

    • Remember the occasion and the audience

  • Goals of a speech introduction

    • “Warm up” the audience

    • Motivate audience to listen

  • Elements of a speech of introduction (special occasion)

    • Speaker’s background    

      • Name

      • Title

    • Speaker’s topic

      • Why should the audience care?

      • Don’t spoil surprise/point of interest

    • Occasion

      • Why we’re here

      • Introduction is not the point of the program

    • Audience

      • Must be point of focus

      • Must be cued (let’s welcome…)

  • Speech of acceptance

    • Be genuine and humble

    • Thank those for sponsoring the award

    • Thank those who helped

    • Convey the meaning of the reward

  • Toasts

    • Introduce yourself/relationship to honoree

    • Highlight what makes them special

    • Be positive

    • Be brief

  • Eulogies (“Praise” in Greek)

    • Introduce yourself/relationship to deceased

    • Refer to family

    • Commemorate life, not death

    • Be positive but realistic

  • Commencement addresses

    • Celebrate accomplishment and future

    • Use real stories

    • Remember that they are the focus and not you

    • Refer to families

    • Make goal clear

    • Be brief 

    • End dramatically

Delivery

  • 4 basic delivery methods

    • Manuscript

      • Sticking to the script

    • Memory

      • Trying to make the speech sound delivered

      • Remembering the basic idea of the speech

    • Impromptu

      • Little to no delivery

      • 4 steps

        • State 

        • Relate

        • Support

        • Conclude

    • Extemporaneous

      • Prepared and practiced in advance

      • Presented from a set of notes

        • Exact wording is chosen at the moment of delivery

      • Advantages

        • Greater control over ideas and language

        • Allows for greater spontaneity and directness

        • Encourages conversational vocal qualities

  • Voice control

    • Volume

    • Pitch

    • Rate

    • Effective pauses

    • Vocal variety

    • Pronunciations

    • Articulation

    • Dialect

  • Usage of the body

    • Physical actions

      • Personal appearance

      • Movement

      • Gestures

      • Eye contact

  • 5-step method   

    • Prepare a speaking outline

    • Rehearse aloud

    • Practice often

    • Use mirror or recording

    • Dress rehearsal