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Chapter 2
GIVING YOUR FIRST SPEECH: DEVELOPING CONFIDENCE
This chapter provides an overview of the speechmaking process. Because public speaking is almost
always a humanities or liberal arts course, I introduce classical terminology relating to the canons of
rhetoric. Because public speaking anxiety (PSA) is a major problem for many, even most, beginning
speakers, specific strategies for dealing with nervousness come here.
Chapter Goals
At the end of this chapter, your students should be able to:
•
Develop skills to overcome process anxiety
•
Explain the five canons of rhetoric: invention, disposition, style, memory, and delivery
•
Develop strategies to deal with performance anxiety
•
Develop strategies to deal with physiological anxiety
•
Develop strategies to deal with psychological anxiety
•
Learn skills for effective rehearsal
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
Identify any student who has major anxiety that shows up on the PSA self-test. Consider setting up
an individual or group conference with anxious students early in the term; in that meeting, plan
strategies together for dealing with this anxiety.
Chapter Outline
I.
People can have
communication apprehension (CA)
and/or
public speaking anxiety (PSA)
(
usually either
process anxiety
or
performance anxiety)
when faced with the task of giving a
speech.
A.
There are several causes of stress.
1.
Stress comes from your uncertainty about that outcome.
2.
Stress comes from the importance of the outcome.
B.
Stress results from three perceptions.
1.
One perception is your perceived imbalance between and objective demand and your
perceived response capability where you perceive failure to have serious consequences.
C.
There are three areas to manage, change, or improve.
1.
Sometimes you can change the objective demands and sometimes you can’t.
2.
You can increase your response capability for the required task.
3.
Changing perceptions is the third strategy.
a.
You might reevaluate the consequences and see if they are really that serious. D.
Developing skills will help overcome process anxiety.
1.
Anticipatory speech anxiety is highest right after a speech is announced and is a fear of
the unknown.
2.
One way to lessen anxiety is to learn the process or “how–to” of speechmaking by
understanding the standards or principles in five canons of rhetoric.
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E.
Principles in the canon of invention help you choose a topic and purpose, do research, and
develop supporting information for the content of the speech.
1.
Choose a topic.
a.
Finding a topic that will interest both you and your listeners is challenging.
b.
You must find an interesting focus.
2.
Consider the audience and the setting.
a.
Analyze your listeners for demographic information.
b.
Analyze psychological factors.
c.
Consider situational factors such as room, lighting, noise, and time of day.
3.
Identify a general purpose that indicates the desired audience response.
a.
The purpose “to inform” wants listeners to learn something.
b.
A speech “to persuade” targets listeners’ behaviors or beliefs.
c.
The purpose “to entertain” wants listeners to laugh and have fun.
d.
A speech “to commemorate” highlights and reinforces a particular cultural ideal.
e.
Purposes often overlap.
4.
The canon of invention provides principles for gathering speech materials.
a.
Consult a variety of outside resources.
b.
Conduct an interview when you introduce a classmate.
C.
The canon of disposition (arrangement) contains standards for organizing speech materials.
1.
The introduction orients the audience toward the topic.
a.
First, draw audience attention to the subject.
b.
Motivate them to listen by relating the topic to their concerns.
c.
Demonstrate credibility to speak on the topic.
d.
Preview the major points or central idea of the speech.
2.
The body takes most of the speaking time; explain and develop major ideas here.
a.
Develop major ideas by using sufficient evidence for clarification and support.
b.
Organize by using a linear pattern such as topical or cause-effect. There are many
ways to organize a speech.
3.
The conclusion summarizes and provides a sense of closure.
a.
Provides a transition.
b.
Summarizes major ideas.
c.
Gives a reference to the introduction.
d.
Ends memorably.
4.
Connectives are words, phrases, and sentences that link ideas and help the speech flow
smoothly.
D.
Choose suitable language using principles from the canon of style.
1.
In rhetoric, style means language.
2.
Guidelines include choosing appropriate language for the occasion and the audience.
3.
Omit offensive language.
4.
Choose understandable vocabulary.
5.
Use an oral style that reflects the way people actually speak.
E.
Learn the speech using principles from the canons of memory and delivery.
1.
Romans used to memorize speeches; today the canon of memory is sometimes referred to
as the “lost” canon.
2.
Avoid
memorized delivery
.
3.
Don’t use manuscript delivery (reading the speech).
4.
Avoid impromptu delivery (minimal preparation) in classroom speeches.
5.
Use
extemporaneous delivery
(outlined, prepared, and rehearsed in advance with
specific wording chosen during the speech).
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6.
Be sure to rehearse your speech in front of family or friends—anyone that can act as an
audience and provide feedback. You might also choose to videotape your rehearsal.
a.
Go through the speech several times using slightly different wording.
b.
Focus on looking away from your notes and communicating conversationally.
c.
Think about eye contact and gestures.
d.
Use pleasant facial expressions and smile appropriately.
e.
Show confidence with posture.
f.
Be conversational.
II.
Overcome performance anxiety by developing strategies.
A.
Develop strategies to deal with physiological anxiety or bodily responses to stress.
1.
Bodily responses to anxiety include the fight-or-flight mechanism.
a.
This burst of energy enables people to fight against or run from dangerous situations.
b.
The body doesn’t distinguish between physically and psychologically threatening
situations.
c.
The adrenaline rush can itself increase feelings of stress.
i.
There are four milestones of anxiety-producing events.
(a.) The pre-speaking period of anticipation.
(b.) Confrontation is beginning the speech.
(c.) Completing the speech is adaptation.
(d.) Release is the period lasting one minute after the speech.
ii.
Anxiety peaks in the anticipation period and steadily decreases, virtually
disappearing in the release milestone.
d.
You can counteract this type of stress in several ways. by
i.
Get a good night’s sleep.
ii.
Engage in some sort of physical exercise.
iii.
You may want to listen to soothing music.
iv.
Eat breakfast and lunch but limit your sugar and caffeine intake.
v.
Relax your major muscle groups just before speaking and breathe slowly and
deeply.
2.
Systematic Desensitization
can help minimize the physical effects of PSA when you
can’t escape or avoid speaking.
a.
Order a list of frightening activities from least to most frightening.
b.
Learn principles of relaxation.
c.
Learn to relax as you think you way through your list.
B.
Plan to deal with psychological or mental anxiety.
1.
Control negative internal monologue (I-M) or self-talk through a process called
cognitive modification (identify negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones).
a.
Think positively about the message.
b.
Think positively about the audience.
c.
Maintain a positive self-image.
d.
Think realistically about the assignment.
2.
Use visualization; imagine the speech proceeding successfully from beginning to end.
a.
Create vivid images.
b.
Control these images.
c.
Rehearse several times out loud or before an audience of friends.
3.
You may also want to try power poses (an open and expressive posture).
a.
Copy some of the poses used by powerful people.
b.
Anxiety lessens with habituation, which is repeating an experience time and
again with fewer negative outcomes than expected.
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Suggested Videos
MindTap and the instructor’s resources website.
Have students view one or more of the self–
introduction speeches.
Elizabeth. (1998) A short clip from this feature film portrays Queen Elizabeth I rehearsing a speech.
(She tries out various wordings before she addresses rival clergy on the importance of a unified
Church of England.)
•
Use it to discuss apprehension and extemporaneous delivery.
•
Show the clip.
•
Have students contrast her extemporaneous delivery with impromptu or memorized
delivery. (evaluation)
•
Discuss what Elizabeth did to overcome her apprehension. (comprehension, application)
Discussion Topics
Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA) Use various scenarios for this topic. Divide the class into small
groups and assign one of the following scenarios (or one you make up) to each group. They are
counseling a friend who describes her or his fears (they list them), and the reasons for the fears
(they list them). As “counselors,” they then come up with at least one specific thing the subject
can do to minimize her or his anxiety. (application, analysis, synthesis)
•
Scenario 1: Tamara is extremely shy, especially around strangers. She has to take a public
speaking class in order to graduate, and she’s totally scared. During “Show and Tell” in
second grade, she forgot her speech, and the other kids laughed at her; she’s never spoken in
front of a group since.
•
Scenario 2: Ariko’s first language is Japanese. She can read and write English quite well, but
she’s noticed that Americans often look puzzled when she talks, and they often say, “What?”
or “Can you repeat that?” The few who take the time to talk with her sometimes exaggerate
their words and talk louder. She feels like they think she’s dumb. Now, horror of horrors, she
must give a speech in English to people who’ve spoken the language from their first word
on.
•
Scenario 3: Bob is 39-years-old, married, with two teenaged children. He’s returning to school
to get a degree in hopes of getting a better job. He works as a nursing assistant in a nursing
home (his manufacturing job was “downsized”). All but one other student in the class are in
their early twenties and single; about half of them are in sororities or fraternities where the
parking lots are filled with expensive cars. He thinks he has little or nothing in common with
his classmates who largely ignore him in class.
•
Scenario 4: John is dyslexic. He has heard that this class requires lots of research and several
outlines. The prospect of that much reading and writing–in addition to all the other classes
he’s taking–is daunting.
•
Scenario 5: Ellen was nearly killed in a car crash the night of her senior prom. She has a
prominent scar on her right cheek and a permanent limp. She was once proud of her looks;
now people either stare or quickly look away from her. The thought of having twenty people
eyeing her during the several minutes she’ll speak causes her distress.
The Canons of Rhetoric (pp. 16-19) Use Teaching Idea 2.1, “The Canons of Rhetoric,” to help
students classify the elements of speechmaking into the five canons of rhetoric. You’ll find this
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explained in detail in the Supplemental Resources section of this chapter. If you need additional
information on the canons, Brigham Young University presents many materials that define and
explain the canons. The URL is http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Canons/Canons.htm.
Habituation (p. 25) Give students as much opportunity to speak on their feet in front of the audience
as possible. Have them answer questions standing at their seat in the beginning of the class; as
the class goes on, move students with answers to the front of the room. (application, analysis,
synthesis)
Visualization (pp. 23-24) Lead the whole class in a visualization scenario. Direct them to include
specific vivid images and control those images. (application)
Grading Criteria Set up your grading standards early in the course. Part I in the IRM includes a copy
of criteria for grading speeches that’s widely used by professors in the National Communication
Association. (comprehension)
Critical Thinking Exercises
(See pp. 26-27 of the textbook for Critical Thinking Exercises)
Application Exercises
(See p. 27 of the textbook for Application Exercises)
Internet Activities
You can access instructor’s resources at http://www.cengage.com/us/. You will need your instructor’s
access code. Students and instructors may also go to MindTap to find a broad range of resources that
will help students better understand the material in the chapter, complete assignments, and succeed
on tests. MindTap and the instructor’s resource website also feature speech videos with critical
viewing questions, speech outlines, and transcripts.
Supplemental Resources
•
Teaching Idea 2.1: The Canons of Rhetoric
•
Teaching Idea 2.2: Alternate Assignment: Drawing a Speech of Introduction
•
Research Note 2.1: Treating Communication Apprehension
•
Research Note 2.2: Behavioral Inhibition and the Perception of Anxiety
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Teaching Idea 2.1: The Canons of Rhetoric
(to go with the text, pp. 16-19)
Purpose: To help students classify the elements of speechmaking into the five canons of rhetoric.
Procedure
1.
Begin by asking students the essentials of speechmaking–from beginning to end. Divide the
blackboard or a blank transparency into five sections, but don’t label them yet. As they give
answers, categorize and list their responses according to one of the five canons.
You’ll typically get “eye contact,” “get a topic,” “find out about your topic,”
“introduction,” “speak loudly enough to be heard,” “remember the speech,”
“make it understandable,” “gesture.” (You may have to hint to get items
related to the canon of style.)
2.
On the board, place “eye contact” and “speak loudly” together (delivery). “Get a topic” and “find
out about your topic” belong together in another category (invention). Place each response into
one of the five sections.
3.
After your five categories have several items in them, label each according to the name of the
canon. That is, “Delivery” goes above the list that includes eye contact, speak loudly, etc.
“Invention” goes above topic, research, etc. Label Style, Memory, and Disposition similarly.
D. Define a canon as the body of principles, rules, standards, or norms that they can learn in
order to speak more effectively.
Teaching Idea 2.2: Alternative Assignment: Drawing a Speech of Introduction
Bia Bernum, an instructor at the University of Central Arkansas, presented this creative idea at the Speech
Communication Association convention, November 1996.
Description: A speech of introduction serves as both an icebreaker and an introduction to public
speaking. If the purposes of this speech are to:
1)
introduce students to one another,
2)
introduce them to public speaking, and
3)
allow the instructor to get to know students better,
an alternative “Drawing Speech” may help you accomplish your goals better. Students can spend
ample time interviewing and conversing while reducing some speech anxiety associated with their
first speech. This speech also encourages risk taking, and it gives you time to meet students on a more
relaxed level. I use this exercise on the first day of class, just after I introduce the syllabus.
Total Time: About 75 minutes. If you do this in two class sessions, have students turn in their
drawings after the first session.
Procedure
•
Pair students with someone they don’t know, and give a list of questions to ask (name, major,
interests, family, job, favorite things, hometown, something unique, etc.). You can work as a class
to identify these questions which you write on a transparency or the board.
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•
Give each student a sheet of newsprint and drawing materials (e.g., crayons or magic markers).
Or give them a blank transparency and an erasable transparency pen. Instruct them to draw what
they found out about their partner – a drawing that they’ll use as a visual aid in their speech.
Encourage creativity.
•
One student drew a beehive on a tree branch to represent the other person’s hometown of “Bee
Branch.”
•
Another drew green hair on her partner whose last name was “Green.”
•
As students draw, they begin to interact by sharing markers and ideas. This also gives you an
opportunity to walk around, speaking with students personally.
•
When the drawings are completed, the pairs present their “works of art” to the class. The artists
explain the drawing while their partners hold it or display it using the overhead projector.
•
After the pair finishes speaking, invite classmates to comment.
Follow-Up: Ask how students felt after the first speech and why it seemed easier than they expected.
Someone inevitably comments that s/he is not an artist, which is a good segue into the
communication process, specifically, that we tend to think communication is simple when it is
actually not as easy as we think. Explain that some may have experienced trouble drawing what they
wanted because they lack artistic training to encode their messages and put them on paper. Similarly,
we often have difficulty communicating what we want, because we lack the necessary speechmaking
skills to be effective. This reinforces the main point of the chapter.
Research Note 2.1: Treating Communication Apprehension
Recent research affirms the value of combining a variety of methods to combat nervousness.
Whitworth and Cochran report that nervous students reported less apprehension when they are
presented with multiple treatments rather than a single method for reducing anxiety. Learning the
process of speechmaking, combined with visualization and positive self talk worked together to
lessen their anxiety and help students focus more on communicating their ideas than on simply
“performing” their speeches.
Source: Whitworth, R. H. & Cochran, C. (1996). Evaluation of integrated versus unitary treatment for
reducing public speaking anxiety. Communication Education, 45, 306-314.
Research Note 2.2: Behavioral Inhibition and the Perception of Anxiety
Abstract: “Researchers studying the communication of public speaking anxiety have reported that
audiences consistently underestimate the state anxiety of public speakers and that speaker behavior,
rather than audience decoding skills, are primarily responsible for the discrepancy. In the present
study, behavioral inhibition is advanced as explanation of this phenomenon. Analyses of variance for
trends revealed an inverse linear relationship between state anxiety level and audience decoding
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efficiency. Behavioral assessments of speaker inhibition and rigidity, however, were positively
related to state anxiety levels. These findings are consistent with the operation of behavioral
inhibition within Buck’s readout theory of emotion. Implications are advanced for future research
and pedagogy.”
Source: Sawyer, C. R. & Behnke, R. R. (2002). Behavioral inhibition and the communication of public
speaking anxiety. Western Journal of Communication, 66(4), 412-423.