Developing Supporting Material 8
TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS
1. Supporting material refers only to facts and statistics presented by the speaker.
2. Using a variety of different types of supporting material makes your
presentation more confusing and thus less credible.
3. Speakers should consider their target audience as they decide upon their
particular mix of supporting materials.
4. Examples in a speech weaken understanding by making ideas less concrete.
5. Examples in a speech can be brief, extended, factual, or hypothetical.
6. Hypothetical examples are effective for making a point about something that has
already occurred.
7. Narratives tell tales that are either real or imaginary.
8. Brief stories of interesting, often humorous, incidents based on real life are
called biographies.
9. Testimony comprises firsthand findings, eyewitness accounts, and opinions.
10. Lay testimony is testimony by nonexperts.
11.
position or claims.
12. Statistics are quantified evidence that summarizes, compares, and predicts
things.
13. A frequency is the quantified portion of a whole.
14. The mean, median, and mode are all types of averages.
15. The median is the most frequently occurring score in a distribution.
16. A source is likely to be more credible if it includes information about the
methods used to generate the data, such as how and why the data were
collected.
17. When a speaker selectively presents only those statistics that buttress his or
her point of view while ignoring competing data, he or she is cherry-picking.
MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
18. Which of the following is a function of supporting material?
A) to encourage argumentative listening
B) to confuse listeners
C)
D) All of the options are correct.
19. When used as supporting material in a speech, examples can
A) illustrate. C) represent things.
B) describe. D) All of the options are correct.
20. Effective examples for a speech may be all of the following except
A) hypothetical. C) factual.
B) extended. D) extraneous.
21. Which type of example offers a single illustration of a point?
A) brief C) factual
B) extended D) hypothetical
22. Which type of example offers a multifaceted illustration of an idea, item, or
event?
A) brief C) factual
B) extended D) hypothetical
23. Legends, fairy tales, myths, and other stories are considered to be
A) perspectives. C) testimonies.
B) narratives. D) statistics.
24. Plot, characters, setting, and a time line are all essential to
A) contextual examples. C) storytelling.
B) extended examples. D) credibility.
25. Brief stories of interesting, often humorous, incidents based on real life are
called
A) facts. C) statistics.
B) testimony. D) anecdotes.
26. If a medical doctor provides cutting-edge information on the threat of
cholesterol, she is providing which type of supporting material?
A) narrative material C) expert testimony
B) lay testimony D) All of the options are correct.
27. Which type of average provides the center-most score in a distribution?
A) mean C) median
B) mode D) None of the options are correct.
28. A speaker selectively presenting only those statistics that buttress his or her
point of view while ignoring competing data is said to be
A) giving expert testimony. C) speaking ethically.
B) cherry-picking. D) giving lay testimony.
FILL-IN-THE-BLANK QUESTIONS
29. ______ are a type of supporting material that aids understanding by making
ideas, items, or events more concrete.
30. ______ examples are effective for making a point about something that could
happen in the future.
31. ______, or stories, tell tales that are either real or imaginary.
32. Brief stories of interesting, often humorous, incidents based on real life are
called ______.
33. Firsthand findings, eyewitness accounts, and opinions are types of ______.
34. ______ testimony includes findings, eyewitness accounts, or opinions by
professionals who are trained to evaluate a particular topic.
35. ______ testimony is testimony by nonexperts.
36. ______ are quantified evidence that summarizes, compares, and predicts things.
37. A(n) _______ is the quantified portion of a whole.
38. ______ is a count of the number of times something occurs.
39. The arithmetic (or computed) average is called the ______.
40. The most frequently occurring score in a distribution is called the ______.
41. Speakers should always use _____ sources, or those from the most authoritative
sources.
42. ______
of view while ignoring competing data.
ESSAY AND SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
43. Describe the functions of supporting material, and explain why speakers should
use a variety of supporting materials.
44. Why should you consider your target audience when gathering supporting
material?
45. Describe the four types of examples speakers can use in a speech.
46.
47. Why is a narrative such a powerful and compelling type of supporting material?
48. What is the difference between expert testimony and lay testimony?
49. How do facts differ from statistics?
50. Describe the three types of averages.
51. Explain how speakers can ethically present statistics.
52. What is cherry-picking, and why should you avoid it?
53. Explain how speakers can win acceptance of their supporting materials.
ANSWER KEY FOR CHAPTER 8