Deck 11: Selecting Your Topic and Knowing Your Audience

Question 1

The general subject of a presentation is referred to as the ______.

A) demographics
B) specific purpose
C) topic
D) general purpose

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which statement is true about general purpose statements?

A) They support one main idea.
B) They refer to the overarching goal of the presentation.
C) They describe the precise goals of the presentation.
D) They ask a question.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which statement is true about specific purpose statements?

A) They ask a question.
B) They are used in the conclusion of a speech.
C) They are considered framing statements.
D) They focus on one idea.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Lara is giving a eulogy at her father's funeral. This is an example of a(n) ______ presentation.

A) impromptu
B) epideictic
C) informative
D) persuasive

Question 5

Omar has been asked to present a speech at an upcoming sales conference. When he tells his mother about this, she says, "Oh, you'll be giving an epideictic presentation!" On which topic might Omar be presenting?

A) an award presentation for salesperson of the year
B) a recap of the company's record sales year
C) a presentation on how to win customer trust
D) a speech introducing new customer management software

Question 6

Natalie makes a toast at her sister's wedding. What type of presentation is this?

A) informal
B) informative
C) persuasive
D) epideictic

Question 7

In a(n) ______ presentation, you explain a process or concept, describe an event or idea, or demonstrate how to do something.

A) impromptu
B) persuasive
C) informative
D) epideictic

Question 8

One of the purposes of informative presentations is to ______.

A) explain a concept or process
B) encourage a specific behavior
C) change the audience's attitude
D) introduce yourself or another person

Question 9

Korrine is a tour guide at a history museum. What type of speaking does Korrine's job entail?

A) epideictic
B) informative
C) persuasive
D) impromptu

Question 10

A presentation that seeks to reinforce the audience's attitude about a topic is a(n) ______ presentation.

A) informal
B) epideictic
C) informative
D) persuasive

Question 11

Samuel is passionate about cleaning up the oceans and wants to encourage others to take actions keep the oceans clean as well. He plans to give a presentation on this topic at an upcoming community event. Which type of speech is this?

A) impromptu
B) epideictic
C) persuasive
D) informative

Question 12

Considering yourself when deciding on a topic involves choosing an area that is ______ to you since you will be spending considerable time researching it and presenting it.

A) novel
B) interesting
C) understandable
D) believable

Question 13

______ is the process of gathering and analyzing information about an audience to make informed choices about the content and delivery of a presentation.

A) Demographic analysis
B) Audience analysis
C) Target analysis
D) Audience inventory

Question 14

One benefit of conducting an audience analysis is that it helps you to ______.

A) predict how your audience will respond to your message
B) generalize about your audience based on their demographics
C) identify a topic you find interesting
D) identify precisely who will be in your audience

Question 15

The ______ consist(s) of the size of the audience, the environment, and the occasion.

A) presentation episode
B) analytical frame
C) speaking situation
D) demographics

Question 16

Many times, the speaker will not be able to control the ______ and will have to make adjustments to suit the location.

A) environment
B) occasion
C) audience
D) atmosphere

Question 17

The ______, or the reason for or the event at which you are speaking, will help you decide on the topic, tone, and length of the presentation, or the style you choose.

A) audience
B) occasion
C) environment
D) atmosphere

Question 18

When giving a speech, it is suggested that you ______ to scope out the environment and see which factors you can control and which you will have to adjust to.

A) ask for pictures
B) ask for more time
C) tell your informant
D) arrive early

Question 19

Age, ethnicity, religious preference, income, and education level are all examples of ______, or the personal characteristics or attributes of an audience.

A) inherited character traits
B) personality
C) demographics
D) cultural background

Question 20

Marcia is giving a presentation at work. She decides to omit a reference to a popular TV show from the 1970s because she thinks some people in her audience may not be familiar with it. Which demographic information was Marcia most likely considering when she made this decision?

A) age
B) gender
C) religion
D) marital status

Question 21

Imagine you are to give a presentation about the importance of self-defense to an audience of women. You will need to approach the ______, or structure, of your argument in a different way considering the gender demographic of your audience.

A) foundation
B) outlining
C) angle
D) framing

Question 22

A person's race, ethnicity, or country of origin is referred to as ______ background.

A) cultural
B) ethnic
C) religious
D) racial

Question 23

Tyrone's communication professor gives Tyrone's class an assignment to present a persuasive speech that attempts to convince the class to start or stop doing something, knowing it contradicts what they have always been taught. One of Tyrone's classmates tries to convince his classmates to stop using toothpaste (and start using baking soda instead). Another tries to convince her classmates to try eating grasshoppers (because she maintains insects are the protein of the future). This assignment intentionally collides with Tyrone's class members' _______.

A) egocentrism
B) ethnocentrism
C) patriotism
D) phobias

Question 24

Russell is giving an online presentation for an international audience. After considering his audience, Russell decides to replace some American phrases with more generic descriptions. Which demographic is Russell most likely considering when he makes this decision?

A) age
B) gender
C) culture
D) religion

Question 25

Miran does not like big cities. This is one of Miran's ______.

A) beliefs
B) outlooks
C) attitudes
D) values

Question 26

Compared with attitudes, beliefs are ______.

A) easier to change
B) harder to change
C) unable to be changed
D) equally difficult to change

Question 27

Seeking out a(n) ______ is one method you may use for conducting an audience analysis.

A) researcher
B) expert
C) investigator
D) informant

Question 28

The type of survey question that allows a person to choose an answer between two points is known as a(n) ______.

A) scaled question
B) open-ended question
C) category question
D) closed question

Question 29

The type of survey question that limits the possible answers to groupings is a(n) ______.

A) open-ended question
B) category question
C) scaled question
D) closed question

Question 30

Stella asks her audience to identify their age on a survey. She provides the options of younger than 18, 19-25, 26-35, 36-45, and 50 and older. This is an example of a(n) ______ question.

A) scaled question
B) closed question
C) category question
D) open-ended question

Question 31

Using someone else's language, ideas, or other material as your own without giving them credit is known as ______.

A) plagiarism
B) stealing
C) research
D) interpretation

Question 32

______ involves claiming an entire document created by another person your own.

A) Global plagiarism
B) Patchwork plagiarism
C) Text stealing
D) Self-plagiarism

Question 33

Jerilynn's professor thinks she used another person's words and did not give credit to the source. What type of plagiarism does the professor think Jerilynn has committed?

A) global plagiarism
B) patchwork plagiarism
C) text stealing
D) self-plagiarism

Question 34

Professor Steiner suspects a student has plagiarized a paper because the voice is inconsistent throughout the paper, that is, it reads as if multiple people wrote the paper. What type of plagiarism does Professor Steiner most likely suspect?

A) global plagiarism
B) patchwork plagiarism
C) text stealing
D) self-plagiarism

Question 35

Which information must be credited when included in an assignment or speech?

A) all information that is not formulated by you
B) opinions and direct quotes
C) only opinions
D) only technical information

Question 36

Giving credit is the easiest way to ______.

A) avoid a long paper
B) create references
C) list references
D) avoid plagiarism

Question 37

In the social sciences (psychology, anthropology, sociology, communication, etc.), most use the guidelines of the ______ for reference lists.

A) Modern Language Association
B) American Psychological Association
C) Chicago Manual of Style
D) University of Oxford

Question 38

What is the best course of action if you are unsure whether your information is common knowledge?

A) Informally poll your friends.
B) Cite the source, just to be safe.
C) Check multiple sources for consistency.
D) Follow your instincts.

Question 39

Which statement requires citation of the source if given during a presentation to a classroom of college students?

A) Spiders have eight legs.
B) The year is broken down into four seasons.
C) Alaska is part of the United States.
D) China has the largest number of Internet users.

Question 40

______ refers to a person being trustworthy and believable.

A) Ad hominem
B) Pathos
C) Logos
D) Credibility

Question 41

Establishing credibility is an important aspect of giving your presentation. During which part of your speech should you explain why you are the appropriate person to discuss a particular topic?

A) preview
B) introduction
C) body
D) conclusion

Question 42

Establishing credibility has to do with your audience seeing you as ______.

A) charismatic and persuasive
B) kind and caring
C) trustworthy and believable
D) passionate and invested

Question 43

______ refers to the credibility and ethical appeal of your presentation.

A) Mythos
B) Logos
C) Ethos
D) Pathos

Question 44

Which term, coined by Aristotle, refers to a speaker's emotional appeal?

A) ethos
B) logos
C) mythos
D) pathos

Question 45

A used car dealer who begins by persuading you that foreign car companies make better, longer lasting vehicles and then tries to sell you a (Japanese) 1997 Mitsubishi Galant from his lot is using which type of reasoning?

A) deductive reasoning
B) inductive reasoning
C) productive reasoning
D) conductive reasoning

Question 46

The statement, "I would never vote for that guy. Just look at his bad haircut!" is an example of which common fallacy of logic and reason?

A) non sequitur
B) ad hominem
C) red herring
D) slippery slope

Question 47

Imagine you were visiting family in Kansas when a tornado touched down, causing devastating damage. When you got home, you wrote an article for the college paper based on your experiences. Which type of source would you be?

A) field source
B) tertiary source
C) secondary source
D) primary source

Question 48

______ are publications, either printed or electronic, that are produced on a regular basis, such as newspapers, magazines, and journals.

A) Proceedings
B) Periodicals
C) Primary sources
D) Secondary sources

Question 49

If you find that the best source of information for your research is an expert in the field or someone with firsthand experience, you may want to conduct a(n) ______.

A) interview
B) interrogation
C) Boolean search
D) experiment

Question 50

What can paying attention to the Internet domain of a website help you establish?

A) the author's expertise
B) the bias of the author or publisher
C) the source's timeliness
D) the publisher's authority

Question 51

As you are evaluating sources, seek information about the ______ by asking the question, "Does the author know what he or she is talking about?"

A) source's timeliness
B) author or publisher's bias
C) publisher's authority
D) author's expertise

Question 52

Tasha has a lot of statistics in her presentation. Which action can she take to help the audience make sense of the statistics?

A) limiting the other information provided with the statistics
B) providing exact numbers, up to two decimal points
C) explicitly stating where the statistics came from
D) using graphs and charts to display the data

Question 53

______refers to a statement or declaration by a person who has a connection to the topic.

A) Testimony
B) An example
C) A statistic
D) Evidence

Question 54

The ______ can be a statistic, an example or a story, a rhetorical question, a reference to the past, a quotation, or anything that will draw the attention of the audience, as long as it is related to the topic.

A) closing statement
B) transition
C) attention getter
D) concluding device

Question 55

In the introduction to a presentation, the ______ introduces your topic and provides the general purpose of your presentation.

A) thesis statement
B) attention getter
C) transition
D) preview

Question 56

Imagine you are giving a presentation about the need for a greater understanding of technology. What would be the general purpose of the presentation if you included the following statement in your introduction? "Today, I hope to convince you to learn to use new technological tools needed to live in the Communication Age."

A) to inform
B) to persuade
C) to entertain
D) to introduce

Question 57

A speaker should demonstrate the importance of the topic in the ______ of the speech.

A) conclusion
B) body
C) introduction
D) attention getter

Question 58

The ______ tells the audience the specific things you will discuss in the presentation.

A) attention getter
B) thesis statement
C) transition
D) preview

Question 59

In which section of a presentation will a speaker use most of his or her research and evidence?

A) body
B) conclusion
C) introduction
D) preview

Question 60

The method used to end a presentation through the use of statistics, quotations, rhetorical questions, and the like is known as the ______.

A) attention getter
B) transition
C) closing statement
D) concluding device

Question 61

When commemorating a special event in an epideictic presentation, a speaker should always do so in a highly formal manner.

Question 62

An informative speech seeks to increase the audience's understanding about a topic.

Question 63

A speaker who uses humor during a serious event and offends the audience most likely failed to effectively consider the occasion.

Question 64

When someone asks you to give a presentation, it is perfectly okay to ask the person about the location and the setup.

Question 65

Generally, a larger audience reflects a more casual occasion, whereas a smaller audience reflects a more formal occasion.

Question 66

Demographic data are meant to be used as a tool to stereotype audience members.

Question 67

It is inappropriate to frame speeches based on the primary gender of the audience.

Question 68

As a speaker, you should not allow audience members' individual differences to influence your framing choices.

Question 69

A person's beliefs are formed from experiences in the world and significant relationships.

Question 70

Before giving a speech to an organization, it is a good idea to review their online website and social media pages.

Question 71

A survey question that asks how much the respondent agrees or disagrees with a statement is called a category question.

Question 72

If you repeat your own thoughts, words, ideas, or opinions from a previous document into a new presentation without attribution, you are plagiarizing.

Question 73

You always need to cite the source of your information unless the information is common knowledge.

Question 74

When giving a presentation, it is important to establish your credibility quickly.

Question 75

A person attacking a speaker rather than the speaker's idea is an example of a non sequitur argument.

Question 76

The key to evaluating your sources is to analyze the information, the author, and the publisher.

Question 77

The more statistics you use in your presentation, the better supported your argument will be.

Question 78

Always begin your presentation by introducing yourself to the audience.

Question 79

The last sentence should signal the presentation is finished, with phrases such as, "I'm done," or, "That's all I have to say."

Question 80

You are preparing a classroom speech on environmental initiatives and how your college could implement these initiatives. Your topic would be environmental initiatives, and the general purpose would be to persuade because you are discussing ideas to be implemented. Using both the topic and the general purpose, write a specific purpose statement for your audience.