Chat with AIExam 12: A: Preparing and Researching Presentations
Compare and contrast the three general purposes for public speaking. Briefly list and describe one example of each type of speech for which you have been an audience member at some point in your life.
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Verified•Informative speeches: Aim to increase the audience's understanding or knowledge by presenting new, relevant, and useful information. Informative speeches are typically unbiased and describe rather than evaluate ideas or issues. Examples might include teaching and training presentations. •Persuasive speeches: Intend to influence the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of audience members. Although persuasive speeches do provide information, they do so for the strategic purpose of changing or reinforcing the audience members' existing beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Examples might include sales speeches, funding proposals, or even panel interviews. •Special-occasion speeches: Use principles of both informative and persuasive speeches to accomplish a specific goal in a special circumstance. Examples might include a toast, an acceptance of an award, and a eulogy at a funeral.
Aisha needs to give a speech in one of her classes but isn't having any luck coming up with a good topic for the presentation-she doesn't seem to know how to get started. What would you say to her to explain the process a speaker goes through to develop ideas, make a selection, and then narrow the topic for a speech?
(40) VerifiedIdeal answers will emphasize starting by reviewing the assignment guidelines to determine what the general purpose of her speech will be. Additional steps will include taking an inventory of her interests and talking to other people to begin coming up with a list of potential topics. She may also benefit from doing some brainstorming based on the topic or assignment she's been given-for example, are there topics she has found intriguing in the class? From there, she can engage in some clustering to branch off from her initial topic ideas. Once she has several options, she should consider which one will be the best fit for her and her audience, as well as for the situation or assignment. Finally, she will need to narrow the topic down to make sure it fits the time-frame. One way to do this will be to write the topic down and then proceed to follow it by writing increasingly more specific topics or categories that become more concrete as she moves along.
Your friend Don has been assigned the task of giving an informative speech. Don is very passionate about animal rights, and after contemplating his personal interests he has decided to give a speech on how a vegetarian diet benefits people, animals, and our planet in hopes that his audience will think twice the next time they eat meat. Synthesizing information from throughout this chapter, what advice would you give Don to help him prepare and research a great presentation for this assignment?
Answer Key
(41) VerifiedIdeal answers to this question should identify that although Don has been assigned to deliver an informative speech, he appears to be preparing to deliver a persuasive speech. The advice provided should assist Don in differentiating between the two general purposes and in refining his topic. Don might need to revisit the topic selection process and continue clustering and then narrowing his topic until he comes up with an idea that will fit his interests as well as the assignment guidelines. Don may also need to consider his audience more carefully-they are probably passive in nature and more diverse than a selected or concerted audience would be. Is this a good topic considering who the audience is and what they are expecting of him (given the assignment)? Furthermore, given the controversial nature of his topic, his bias, and the nature of the speech, Don might be advised to carefully consider the credibility and appropriateness of his sources. Finally, some attention should be given to the matter of ethics: Is Don behaving in a trustworthy manner if he states that his intent is to inform the audience members but ultimately hopes to persuade them to change their attitudes and behaviors?
Why are ethics important in public speaking, and what steps should a speaker take to ensure he or she takes responsibility for his or her own speech and communicates ethically?
(36) Your roommate is researching a presentation for one of his classes but is having a tough time with it. He tells you that he just can't find any information. Based on what you learned in this chapter, what advice would you give to help him gather good information?
(36) Pulling together what you have learned throughout this chapter, why would you say it is important for college students to take a public speaking course?
(25) What do you think are the most important criteria for evaluating the quality of a source? Why? Based on these criteria, provide an example of a source you would recommend using and a source you would not recommend using, and give a brief explanation why.
(37) Explain why audience analysis is important in the speech preparation process and how a speaker would go about analyzing his or her audience.
(39) List and define the various types of information discussed in your textbook that a speaker could use to clarify the ideas in his or her speech. Are there notable advantages or disadvantages to using any specific types of supporting information?
(41) Describe and provide an example of plagiarism that one might commit or observe in a professional speaking context. Why do we consider plagiarism to be a problem? What steps can a speaker take to ensure he or she is not committing the crime of plagiarism?
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