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CHAPTER 2 SPEAKING FOR THE COMMON GOOD:
ETHICS AND THE RESPONSIBLE SPEAKER
CHAPTER 2 SUMMARY
Chapter 2 makes the case that civility matters in public speaking, and ethical choices in speaking need
to be grounded in concern for the greater good. This chapter presents a number of ways that public
speaking can be unethical, such as deceptive speech, inappropriately biased speech, and poorly
reasoned speech. Seven principles for ethical speaking are explained, and steps for creating an ethical
presentation are discussed.
CHAPTER 2 OUTLINE
I. Introduction: why ethics matter in public speaking
A. Speaking well in public means speaking for the common good
1. Civility is about saying the right thing in the best way to create democratic change
2. Civility is not just about respectability or politeness
D. Unethical in-class speaking can affect grade
E. Unethical speaking anywhere can harm reputation
1. Effective speech isn’t necessarily ethical speech
2. Ethics and effectiveness in workplace (Remix)
F. Steer listeners in effective and good direction for them
1. Use sound evidence and arguments
2. Ethical choices and research (FAQ)
G. Ethical concerns
1. Lying
2. Misrepresenting sources
3. Knowingly weak arguments
II. Ethical pitfalls in public speaking
A. Damages relationship with audience
B. Deceptive speech
1. Intentional misrepresentations for your advantage
a. Socially acceptable white lies
b. Ethically defensible lies
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a. Avoid harm
b. Promote good
1. Persuasion can turn into bullying or threats
2. Civil speech balances how you say the things with what you need to say
D. Inappropriately biased speech
1. Advocacy is making a strong case from your perspective, without bias
2. Bias is making an intentional misrepresentation, ignoring, downplaying facts (Remix)
3. Difference = matter of ethical choices
a. Respect intelligence of audience
b. Acknowledges alternative viewpoints
c. Provide sources to consult to make reasoned decision
E. Poorly reasoned speech
1. Argument is a claim supported by grounds (evidence)
2. Reasoning is a process of making good arguments supported by solid grounds
3. Poor reasoning examples (more in Chapter 12)
a. Claims with no support (assertions)
b. Claims with weak support, does justifying claim
III. Fake News
A. Bias and poor support as part of our national political conversation
1. News is never simply “real” or “fake”
2. “News” always tells a story from one position and advances some motive
B. Solution is to put sources in conversation
1. Sources with credibility
2. Presented in a way that encourages a public conversation about their truth
IV. Seven principles of ethical public speaking
A. Be honest
1. Assess consequences of dishonesty (Try It!)
2. Honesty requires complete information
B. Be open with motivations
C. Be generous (audience focus)
D. Be balanced (presenting both sides fairly)
E. Represent evidence responsibly
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F. Take appropriate risks (give information to help audience think differently)
1. Taking a large enough risk
2. Taking risks that are too large
G. Choose engagement
1. Invite conversation
a. Help audience understand, digest, and engage with ideas
2. Do not inhibit engagement
a. Speaking too quickly
b. Using jargon-laden language
V. How to avoid plagiarism
A. Using language, ideas, or arguments of another person without giving credit
1. Not honest
2. Does not respect openness
3. Is not generous
4. Does not represent evidence responsibly
B. Unavoidably influenced by ideas and styles of arguments
C. Range of acts of plagiarism
1. Blatant and egregious copying
2. Uncredited borrowing of information
3. Paraphrasing or minor modifications
VI. How to create an ethical speech
A. Respect audience
1. Relationship and conversation, in cooperative setting
2. Reciprocity of Golden Rule (Remix) to guide decisions
B. Respect topic
1. Avoid letting agenda drive research
a. Ethically suspect
b. Violation of reciprocity re: opinion change and risk
2. Tools for being responsible to body of research
a. Pull research from broad set of sources
b. Then choose most credible arguments
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a. Highlight shared commitments
b. Clarify central points of dispute
c. Make best possible case for alternative views
d. Be explicit about grounds for disagreement
e. Identify opposing arguments when they are relevant
3. Displaying balance does not mean eliminating advocacy
a. Present multiple perspectives
b. Present grounds for your conclusion
VII. Avoid fallacies and prejudicial appeals
A. Appeal = attempt to influence audience
1. Can rely on evidence and logic
2. Can rely on prejudicial language
B. Examples of unethical appeals
1. Name calling (negative label rather than arguments)
2. Glittering generalities (connect person, idea, or thing to good or bad abstract concept)
READING TARGET FOR CHAPTER 2
This is the instructor-assigned goal for students to consider in their writing, discussion, and individual
reflections:
Read the chapter to understand why civility and ethics matter in public speaking and how to be an
ethical speaker.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR CHAPTER 2
General strategies and techniques
Use the Questions for Review and Questions for Discussion at the end of Chapter 2 as prompts
for writing or discussion (in class, online, before and after class).
Use the Try It activities in the chapter as the basis for points of discussion, in-class activities, or
assigned work outside of class.
Chapter learning objective: Explain what civil communication is, and why it is
ethical
Advocacy and civil communication. Break your class into small groups. Have each group
assign a leader who will speak for the group. The sole member of their audience is you, the
teacher. Their task is to identify one aspect of their class syllabus that they would like to change,
to develop an ethical argument for why you should make that change (3 best reasons), and to
present their argument in a civil manner. The group that presents the most ethical argument
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presented in the most civil way will be considered the “winner.” Based on their presentation,
could decide to adapt your syllabus—but let them know ahead of time that you retain the right to
not make their suggested change.
Alternative perspectives hunt. If you have Internet access in your classroom, ask students to find
as many alternate viewpoints on a topic in a short amount of time, such as 10 minutes. Tell
Chapter learning objective: To understand what civility is and what it is not
Try It (civility vs. rudeness). Instruct students to create individual lists including 6 to 8 examples
of civil and rude in communication. What do the examples of rudeness share in common? Are
there times when “civil” speech could be considered rude? What’s the difference between
frank speech and rude speech? Is there a line that shouldn’t be crossed? What does this tell
you about some of the things you need to consider in communication?
Chapter learning objective: Summarize the main reasons why ethics matter
to public speaking
Try It (why be honest?). Instruct students to create individual lists of advantages and
disadvantages of honesty in communication. Ask students to compare their lists and to discuss
the similarities and differences.
Make it personal. Ask students to list their personal criteria for ethical public speaking.
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Chapter learning objective: Identify various civility fails a speaker can make
You decide. Ask students to discuss harms resulting from unethical communication and to
decide which harm is most significant and why. (Harms include damage to your reputation,
limits on your effectiveness as a communicator, and damage to your relationship with the
audience.)
Try It (when might lying be ethically defensible?). Ask students to brainstorm about instances
when lying may be ethically defensible. Some examples include lying to prevent a greater harm
and lying to avoid hurt feelings.
Demonstrate advocacy and bias. Form small groups of students, and ask them to create skits
that demonstrate a communication situation, first with inappropriate bias and then with
advocacy.
Recall advocacy and bias. Ask students to recall and write down a time when they acted as an
bandwagoning.
Chapter learning objective: Apply the seven principles of ethical public speaking to
your own speeches
Finding examples of the seven ethical principles. Form small groups, and assign one principle of
ethical speaking to each group. Ask the group to generate examples of the principles in practice
(or examples of the principles being ignored) in public contexts such as popular culture, politics,
and entertainment media. Have each group share their illustrations with the entire class.
Exploring appropriate risk. Ask students to create short vision statements of who they are. For
example, “I am a calm, honest, caring person, who is open-minded and a bit shy.” After they
write their vision statements, discuss in small groups (or as an entire class) how the visions of
self might affect the choices they would make as speakers.
Chapter learning objective: Define plagiarism and explain how to avoid it
Plagiarism in everyday life. Form small groups and ask students to make a list of common practices of
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MINDTAP AND CENGAGE RESOURCES FOR CHAPTER 2
Chapter 2 support materials in MindTap include the following:
Quiz questions that reinforce student learning and understanding
Observe—Watch a speech to gain insights into public speaking concepts.
Prepare—Engage in an activity to develop deeper understanding of how to prepare a public speech.
Practice—Practice your speaking ability by responding to a prompt focusing on the ethics of public
speaking or by practicing your formal presentations.
Present—Deliver impromptu or formal speeches to polish your public speaking abilities.
General resources cited at the beginning of Part II
GLOSSARY OF TERMS FOR CHAPTER 2
Advocacy: action that presents a strong case for a perspective you hold or for a change in belief or action
that you would like to lead your audience toward
choices
Ethos: habits of character
Grounds: evidence or logical chain of thoughts
Paraphrase: making minor modification of the
wording of someone’s idea or argument; requires
citing the source
Persuasive appeal: attempt to influence the audience
Plagiarism: the use of the language, ideas, or
arguments of another person without giving proper
credit
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Reasoning: process of making arguments that are well supported by good grounds
Reciprocity: the Golden Rule; that is, as a speaker, you should think, speak, and argue in the same way
that you would like to be treated as an audience member
Respecting your topic: letting the evidence and arguments dictate what you will say
