Chapter 14 Informative Speaking
Chapter Objectives
Describe the primary task and goal of informative speaking.
Explain the difference between informing and persuading.
List and describe the five strategies of informing.
List three tips for creating a great informative speech.
Lecture Outline
I. The Informing Genre
A. Learning Objectives
1. Describe the primary task and goal of informative speaking.
3. List and describe the five strategies of informing.
B. The primary goal of speaking to inform is to provide a new point of view or new
information to an audience.
C. Informing versus Persuading
1. Informative speaking attempts to introduce or impart new knowledge and
information to audiences.
2. Speaking to inform is about imparting knowledge. By contrast, speaking to
persuade aims to change beliefs, attitudes, values, and sometimes behavior.
3. Speaking to inform is usually considered easier than speaking to persuade
because it’s much less challenging to give the audience new information or knowledge
than to try to change the audience’s behavior or mind about something.
4. Some communication scholars argue that all forms of speaking are persuasive on
some level.
5. Informative speaking is typically objective whereas persuasive speaking always
represents a specific point of view.
6. When you are giving an informative presentation, it is vital that you be as
objective as possible even though objectivity has its limits.
D. Choosing an Informative Topic
1. Informative speech topics should always be chosen with the specific reason for
speaking in mind.
2. Once you know the context and guidelines for your informative speech and have
1. Description
a) The purpose of description is to give an audience a mental sense of an
event, a process, or an object.
b) Speeches that are primarily focused on description are rarely about
abstractions, because these are difficult to imagine. Description is often used to
create mini-speeches, or parts of larger informative presentations.
2. Definition
a) The purpose of definition is to explain or describe the meaning of a term
or concept. Speakers define terms or concepts that the audience is unlikely to
have much knowledge about.
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b)
Speakers typically employ different types of definitions, including
dictionary, etymological, example, and functional/operational.
3. Explanation
a) A speaker uses explanation when educating an audience.
b) This strategy allows the speaker to explain how or why something is the
way it is.
4. Demonstration
a) Demonstration is another term for “how-to.”
b) Presentations structured around a how-to topic often incorporate both
definition and explanation.
5. Narration
a) When public speakers tell stories in their speeches, this strategy is known
as narration.
b) Narratives fundamentally tell audiences about something, whether an
event, a person, or a deed.
II. Tips for Informing
A. Learning Objective
1. List three tips for creating a great informative speech.
B. In addition to finding an appropriate topic, there are two key challenges in informative
speaking:
1. Getting your audience to find your topic interesting
2. Encouraging them to remember your speech
C. Follow three guidelines to encourage and interest your audience:
1. Keep it simple, students, or “K.I.S.S.”
a) Keeping your speech clear and easy to follow is the first step to
encouraging audience interest.
(1) Reduce the quantity of information.
(2) Do not over- or underestimate the audience’s knowledge.
(3) Use visual aids.
(4) Keep things concrete.
(5) Teach, don’t browbeat.
(6) Repeat your major points.
2. Make your speech unique.
a) In addition to selecting an informative topic that is unique, you should
present your speech in a way that sets it apart from the way a similar speech has
been presented.
b) Familiar topics can seem fresh to audiences when you avoid information
that is common knowledge.
3. Make your speech personally relevant.
a) Speakers who are genuinely interested in their topics give the most
compelling informative speeches because audiences can sense and feel that
interest.
b)
Speakers need to make sure their speeches relate to their audiences, too.
Key Terms
Informative speaking: attempts to introduce or impart new knowledge and information to audiences.
Description: gives audiences a mental sense of an event, a process, or an object, evoking sights, sounds,
and smells.
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Definition: explanation or description of the meaning of a term or concept.
Narration: a verbal account of an event or series of events.
Chapter Summary
Chapter 14: Informative Speaking defines informative speaking and explains the goal of informative
speaking vs. persuasive speaking. Specifically, informative speaking is defined as attempts to introduce or
impart new knowledge and information to audiences, and the goal of an informative speech is to be
objective.
This chapter introduces five informative speaking strategies, depending on the type of speech to be given.
These strategies are description, definition, explanation, demonstration, and narration. Tips are then
provided for overcoming two challenges of informative speaking: getting your audience to find your topic
interesting and encouraging your audience to remember your speech. Three guidelines to encourage and
interest an audience are presented. These include K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, students), make your speech
unique, and make your speech personally relevant (to the speaker and relevant to the audience).
Discussion Questions
1. Scholars who study communication pedagogy, or how to teach communication, say that the best
teachers attempt to relate to their students in the same way that speakers attempt to relate to their
audiences. Textbooks are like informative speeches; they present information for audiences to use. What
strategies does Speech Craft use to inform and relate to its audience? Refer to ideas from the chapter and
provide examples.
2. An informative speaker is like a teacher, but there are times when teachers are persuasive instead of
informative. Think about a teacher who you thought crossed the line inappropriately into persuasion. Do
not reveal identifying information about the teacher. What were some things they did that were persuasive
instead of informative? Was their behavior unethical? What guidelines does this example provide for your
informative speech? Defend your answer and provide examples to illustrate.
3. Think of the some of the worst classes you’ve taken. You might have disliked the course because the
material was too complex, the topic was boring, or you didn’t like the teacher’s lectures. Your example
can be from college or high school. Do not reveal identifying information about the teacher. What were
some difficulties you had with the way the teacher communicated information? What strategies could the
teacher use to improve as an informative communicator or speaker? Explain your answer with ideas from
the chapter and provide examples to illustrate.
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4. As you know, good informative speakers must translate their material to the knowledge level of their
audiences. As you prepare your speech, you have completed an audience analysis and discovered that
several listeners have a good deal of prior knowledge about your topic and several have had limited
exposure. How would you approach your speech? What strategies can you use to bridge this gap? If you
have chosen a topic for your upcoming speech, you can apply the question to your topic. Use ideas from
the chapter and provide examples to illustrate.
5. You have been invited as a public speaking coach for middle school students in a local 4-H program.
The students need help presenting their science fair projects to listeners of all ages, including their peers
and judges. The panel of judges is made up of science teachers. What advice would you give the students?
Explain your answer and provide examples to illustrate.
Activities for in-class work or homework
1. Develop informative speech topics.
The box called “Informative versus Persuasive Speaking at a Glance” on page 274 gives a brief example
of the difference between informative and persuasive topics based on expectations. This activity extends
the example. Students will gear the topic to an informative and persuasive general purpose. To extend the
activity, students can write specific purpose statements.
For homework or groupwork, the topics can be distributed on a handout. For class discussion, the topics
can be shown one at a time on a slide deck. This activity works in most class formats with most activity
structures.
List of potential topics Informative Persuasive
2. GMOs or organic
food
4. Brexit
6. Free college tuition
8. Prayer in schools
10. Fake news
12. Selfies
14. HELA cells
2. Evaluate a student speech.
In this activity students evaluate an example student speech by applying the guidelines and tips of an
effective informative speech from Chapter 14. Make sure that students can generally identify the
evaluative criteria before the activity. Use the rubric designed for the assignment to make the criteria
concrete and to help students envision their own work process. If assessments are aligned with the course,
then this activity should help instructors identify where students struggle to connect the rubric to the
speech.
This activity can fit most class formats and activity structures.
You can use a speech from LaunchPad or a sample speech from your class.
Question Prompt:
Evaluate how well the speaker uses informative strategies and the KISS tips for informative
speaking in this speech. Do you think the speaker did a good job informing the audience? Defend
3. Determine the general purpose of a Joe Rogan podcast.
Students will evaluate an episode of the Joe Rogan Podcast to identify the general purpose.
In this video of the podcast, Rogan and his guest discuss the flat earth conspiracy and why people believe
in conspiracies. The guest is Lawrence Maxwell Krauss, a theoretical physicist. Rogan regularly discusses
conspiracies on the podcast.
This activity fits in most class formats and most activity structures.
Search: “joe rogan & lawrence krauss on flat earth and conspiracy theories.”
Prompt:
Listen to the Joe Rogan Podcast which discusses the Flat Earth Conspiracy with guest Lawrence
Maxwell Krauss, a theoretical physicist. Unlike a speech, the discussion is free-wheeling, so the
agenda and points are difficult to trace. While you listen to the podcast, try to track the flow of
the conversation to determine both speakers’ perspectives. Are they objective and impartial or are
they biased? Is the goal to report on information or to change beliefs, attitudes, or values? Based
on the conversational flow, is the overall purpose of the conversation to inform or to persuade?
4. Balancing information and persuasion in documentaries
Students will evaluate the balance of information and bias in a 60 Minutes documentary about Amazon
called “Jeff Bezos: a Short Documentary about Amazon’s Business, Technology and Future.” Many
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people consider documentaries and news reports as neutral and informative, often overlooking the bias.
The 60 Minutes documentary is slanted to present Amazon in a favorable light, relying on positive
language, a one-sided perspective, and low-ball questions about controversial issues. The show does a
good job of depicting behind-the-scenes processes that Amazon uses and applying informative principles
to show how the company works.
There is little information in the chapter to help students detect bias, but students can refer to other
chapters or use guidelines from FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting). Search “fairness and
accuracy in reporting.”
III. To search for the video, go to YouTube, and search “jeff bezos a short documentary about
amazons business technology and future.”
This activity works in most class formats with most activity structures.
Prompt:
In this 60 Minutes documentary about Amazon, Charlie Rose interviews Jeff Bezos about the way
that the company works, its past, and its future growth. Do you think the show is successful in
informing the audience? What informative strategies and tips does the show use? In what ways is
the show biased? What can the creators do to minimize the bias? Does the bias reduce the show’s
effectiveness? Defend your answers with ideas from the chapter and provide examples to support
your points.
Teaching Tips
1. Chapter 14 tells students to “speak for a reason” and choose topics they care about, but also that real-
world speech situations tend to dictate a speaker’s topic. This is a useful point to remember when
2. For choosing topics, a good rule of thumb is to begin with what excites the student and then align it
with the assignment, rather than to direct students away from their choice.
3. Instructors might consider structured peer feedback activities on topics and topic development. This
4. Students can find information, at least through Google, and general education classes emphasize
evaluating information. But students struggle with packaging information for others. Multiple reports
indicate that employers are dissatisfied with recent college graduates’ ability to problem-solve, and apply
and communicate information. Instructors can use survey information about cross-cutting skills to make
informative speaking relevant to students’ life goals:
Harvard Business Review article: “Who Can Fix the Middle-Skills Gap” by Thomas A. Kochan,
David Finegold, and Paul Osterman
To find the article, search “harvard business review who can fix the middle skills gap.”
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To find the survey results, search “it takes more than a major employer priorities for college learning.”
IV. Survey results: Falling Short? College Learning and Career Success
Selected Findings from Online Surveys of Employers and College Students Conducted on Behalf
of the Association of American Colleges & Universities by Hart Research Associates
To find the survey results, search “falling short college learning and career success.”
Student Activity from Josh Gunn
Objectivity, the news, and you. The idea that news reporting should strive to be objective is a relatively
new one. It was inspired in large part by news-business owners in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries who realized that more-objective stories could appeal to a broader audience. Before then, most
news stories had been highly opinionated. Because local opinions varied from place to place, news wire
services realized that if they kept their stories relatively objective, different newspapers with different
editorial opinions could all buy and print the stories. Thus a new way to report the news—and a new way
to make money—were born.
Based on this history, your assignment is to explore whether you have what it takes to adopt a wire-
service mindset in today’s more-polarized world. Pick a specific hot-button current event and find two
news articles about it from two different print or online news sources; more specifically, though, be sure
to find the two articles from sources that are on different sides of the political spectrum—such as MSNBC
and Fox.com, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, or other sources that your instructor
recommends.
Compare the articles, and find specific places in each that might “turn off” a more general audience or
readers who don’t share the editorial viewpoint of the publication. Then, choose two statements from each
story that don’t seem objective and rewrite them in more objective, wire-service style.
Content Presentation Ideas
1. Creating a News Broadcast
In this activity, students will work in “news teams” to inform the audience of the latest current events,
while being objective in their delivery.
Working with your group and using the theme you were given, come up with relevant and current news
stories that fall under your theme. Although you will be presenting with your team members, each
member of your group is to report a different news story. For this activity, you will be writing a script that
you will deliver during the broadcast, so this presentation differs from others where you can only use a
speaking outline.
2. Alternate Ending (Narrative Speech)
This assignment gives students experience with narrative speeches and with storytelling.
Preparing for the Assignment
You can allow students to select any well-known story ending, or you can suggest endings to the class.
Some possible story endings include:
3. Description, Definition, or Explanation Speech
This is an independent activity to familiarize students with various types of informative speeches.
Assignment Instructions
More Resources
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1. This is an instructor’s video explaining informative speeches. It’s good for a flipped or online class.
The video includes annotations explaining the parts of the speech. One of the comments suggests the
2. Video about persuasive vs. manipulative communication: https://youtu.be/RE5hYt4Eagg (CC). The
video’s purpose is coaching sales techniques, but it also does a good job explaining that ethical
3. HBO made an award-winning biopic, Temple Grandin, in 2010 starring Claire Danes. The movie is
available for streaming on many sites including HBO’s on-demand sites. It might be interesting for
students to watch Grandin’s TED Talk that is referenced at the beginning of Chapter 14.
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