Chapter 12 Understanding Speech Genres
Chapter Objectives
Define “form” and “genre.”
List and define the three ancient speech genres.
List and define the three contemporary speech genres.
Explain why genre patterns are comforting to audiences.
Describe the limitations of genres.
Lecture Outline
I. What Are Speech Genres?
A. Learning Objectives
1. Define “form” and “genre.”
2. List and define the three ancient speech genres.
3. List and define the three contemporary speech genres.
B. Culture and Form
1. Rhetorical critic Kenneth Burke concluded that people derived a sense of
pleasure from reading or hearing things repeated.
2. Form is both a mental and a bodily experience because the satisfaction depends
on an intellectual as well as an emotional response.
3. Form is the activation and satisfaction of expectations in audiences.
4. When a form is named and becomes known to a large community, it is called a
genre, a label for a widely recognized form of a given culture.
5. Because they belong to oral tradition and rely heavily on the memories of
audiences over a lifetime, speech genres are among the slowest genres to change and
some have remained for centuries.
C. The Genres of Public Speaking
1. Aristotle established distinctions among the different types of speeches based on
the kind of judgments audiences were asked to make, as well as on how the audience was
expected to respond the speeches.
2. Epideictic (Also Celebratory)
a) Celebratory speaking, also known as ceremonial speaking, refers to
forms of speeches that praise or blame someone or something.
b) According to Aristotle, celebratory speeches did not ask audiences to do
anything but sought to amplify the beliefs, attitudes, and values that many people
share.
c) The focus of such speaking is to strengthen community bonds and to
celebrate the present moment.
3. Judicial (Also Forensic or Legal)
a) Aristotle suggested that this kind of speaking asked the audience to make
a judgment about a deed done in the past and find the person guilty or innocent.
b) Public speaking scholars today include it under the genre of persuasive
speaking.
4. Deliberative (or Policy)
a) Deliberative oratory differs from legal speaking because it concerns an
uncertain future, while the judicial concerns something that has already taken
place.
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b) All deliberative speeches ask audiences to consider the future and
typically call for audiences to do something.
D. Genres in Our Time
1. Today the study of public speaking has become open to many more people, so
the genres have been renamed, despite their origins.
2. The celebratory genre of speaking celebrates a community and is situated in the
present.
3. The informative genre of speaking informs the audience of something from the
past or something that is known.
4. The persuasive genre of speaking attempts to induce change and is usually
focused on the future.
II. On Breaking the Rules: Genre Violation
A. Learning Objectives
1. Explain why genre patterns are comforting to audiences.
2. Describe the limitations of genres.
B. Learning the expectations certain genres imply can give you a road map, making it easier
for you to compose a speech that audiences expect.
C. Part of your success as a public speaker demands that you pay attention to speech genre
expectations, but take heart: rules can be broken if done artfully and with respect.
Key Terms
Form: the activation and satisfaction of expectations in audiences.
Genre: a label for a widely recognized form of a given culture.
Chapter Summary
Chapter 12: Understanding Speech Genres introduces the three types of speeches and also provides a
clear background of the concept of genre. The chapter introduces the terms form and genre.
Next, the three genres of speeches are introduced, from ancient times to the present. In ancient times,
Aristotle established distinctions among the different types of speeches based on the kind of judgments
audiences were asked to make, as well as on how the audience was expected to respond to the speeches.
According to Aristotle, speeches could be divided into three genres: epideictic (or celebratory), judicial
(or forensic or legal), and deliberative (or policy). Today, there are still three genres of speeches, but they
are known as celebratory, informative, and persuasive.
This chapter concludes by introducing the idea of genre violation, the idea that despite the expectations
and limitations of a particular speech genre, there can be some flexibility and overlap between genres.
Discussion Questions
1. According to Chapter 12, speech genres, unlike music genres, are slow to evolve because they are
based in oral tradition and communication across a person’s lifetime. Today, people use new technology
and social media to communicate. Do you think these new ways of communicating have affected the
traditional speech genres?
A: Students can point to the many ways that technology has impacted public speaking, from radio
to YouTube videos to TED Talks. Students could use President Trump’s inaugural address and
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2. Forms and genres work by activating an audience’s expectations and then satisfying them. In today’s
mediascape, audiences get bored quickly and often seek out forms of expression that intentionally bust
genres or violate forms. Think Cabin in the Woods, Abraham Lincoln: Zombie Hunter, or various music
mashups as examples. Do you prefer when expressive forms fulfill expectations or violate them? Explain
your answer using ideas from the chapter and provide examples for support.
3. Playing with form or genre can be risky because it violates audience expectations. Can you think of
examples in music, film, or any other type of expression where the creator played with form? Was the
attempt successful? What made the attempt work? Explain your example and use ideas from the chapter
for support.
A: This question is similar to #2 except that it focuses on the risks of ignoring form. Form is the
Activities for in-class work or homework
1. Generate, sort, connect, elaborate on what makes a genre.
Students will identify what makes a genre and when a genre is recognizable by brainstorming and
categorizing examples of music. The activity should allow students to reflect on the complexities of
identifying a genre, what makes a genre, and whether there is a threshold or tipping-point moment for the
emergence of a genre.
Students will probably disagree with peers on some songs or categories. The objective is to consider the
process and criteria, and to ask questions rather than to identify a specific instance and provide an answer.
If students do provide an answer, they should give a rationale as well.
This is a group activity. It can work in most class formats and with most activity structures. It would be
difficult in distance learning or online as a group activity, but collaborative tools for brainstorming and
mind-mapping could assist the process.
Materials:
Markers, sticky notes, flip charts
Directions:
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Genres are labels for formal expectations that become comprehensible and widely recognized. Since
genres can shift and change rapidly, identifying when a genre forms can be difficult. In groups,
brainstorm for examples of music, break them into genres, and determine what makes each group a genre.
Follow the steps provided.
Steps:
1. Using sticky notes, brainstorm examples of music. Students should generate a pile of sticky notes for
songs, bands, genres, and sub-genres.
3. Make connections between and among the sticky notes by drawing lines and writing a sentence or
phrase explanation. The line can connect across branches in the concept map.
4. Elaborate on any of the ideas that emerge on the concept map. Add comments that extend or expand
5. Reflect on the concept map and decide if a pattern emerges revealing what makes a genre or when a
genre is easily identifiable. Are there characteristics? Specific patterns?
6. Discuss as a class whether there is a specific way to determine when a pattern becomes a genre.
Debrief:
In the discussion, connect the activity to public speaking genres. How is music an analogy for types of
speeches? The chapter explains that speech genres change slowly, but music changes rapidly. What does
this suggest for meeting audience expectations?
2. Video analysis: TED Talk formulas
Will Stephen’s “How to Sound Smart in Your TED Talk” is an ironic presentation that plays off the
formula of TED Talks. This activity asks students to differentiate between a formula and a genre.
Search “Will Stephen how to sound smart in your tedx talk.”
Prompt:
1. Based on Will Stephen’s TED Talk “How to Sound Smart in Your TEDx Talk,” what are the
primary characteristics of the TED Talk formula?
2. Based on your experience viewing TED Talks, do you think Stephen’s description is accurate?
Explain/support. Do you think he’s serious? What is his point?
3. Based on the characteristics in this formula, how would you classify TED Talk’s genre? Do
you think that TED Talks make up a genre on their own? Are they a subtype of a new genre? Do
they belong to one of the three genres discussed in the chapter? Defend your answer.
3. Video analysis: Academy Awards
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