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Chapter 8
CHOOSING SUPPORTING MATERIALS
This chapter is so closely linked to the previous one that it’s hard to separate them. In fact, when I
initially outlined the first edition, I considered and reconsidered whether to rearrange the order of
presentation. I eventually decided to identify research tools before I described the objective of the
search — to find a variety of appropriate, trustworthy evidence. This is a skills chapter that helps
students identify and evaluate various types of evidence they can use to support their ideas.
Chapter Goals
At the end of this chapter, your students should be able to:
•
Identify types of facts and learn how to test factual data
•
Select numerical data carefully
•
Use examples effectively
•
Quote authoritative sources
•
Use comparison and contrast
•
Select appropriate visual evidence
•
Chapter Outline
I.
Factual information provides the basis for most speeches.
A.
Empirical facts are defined as data that can be verified by observation; established facts
are consistently validated by many observers.
B.
Facts differ from personal opinions.
C.
Generally accepted definitions are also considered facts.
1.
Dictionary definitions give the generally accepted or common usage.
2.
Culturally accepted definitions may also be considered acceptable.
D.
Providing vivid descriptions is another way to provide factual information.
E.
Speakers should take care not to pass on unverified or inaccurate information.
F.
To avoid passing along misinformation, apply the following three tests.
1.
Check for accuracy or validity.
2.
Are the facts up to date?
3.
Consider the source.
II.
Use statistics carefully.
A.
Providing a count (enumeration) can be useful if two guidelines are followed.
1.
Round the numbers up or down.
2.
Enliven numbers by comparing them to something in the listener’s experiences.
B.
Choose statistics critically.
1.
The mean is the average of a group of numbers, but extreme figures at either end of the
range will skew the mean.
2.
The median is the middle number in a set of numbers that are arranged in a ranked
order; half lie above and half lie below.
3.
The mode is the most commonly appearing number.
4.
Percentages show the relationship of a part to the whole, represented by the number 100.
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a.
Rates of increase or decrease compare growth or decline to an earlier baseline figure.
b.
These numbers are relatively meaningless unless the baseline number is known.
5.
Ratios often replace percentages when the percentage is very small.
C.
Visual aids can clarify numerical data that might otherwise confuse an audience.
D.
Critically analyze numerical data.
1.
Are the numbers accurate?
2.
What is the source of the numbers?
3.
Are the numbers up to date?
4.
Before you use startling rates of increase, look at the baseline figures of the
percentages.
5.
Be careful of combined statistics.
III.
Examples attract listeners’ attention, involve them emotionally, and let them know the
speaker understands the implications of theories and ideas.
A.
Real examples
actually happened.
1.
Examples can be experiences and events.
2.
Personal examples can bolster the speaker’s credibility.
3.
Kenyans rate personal stories as the most convincing type.
B.
Hypothetical examples are useful for discussing sensitive topics.
1.
The incident didn’t happen, but something like it did or could occur.
2.
Sometimes hypothetical examples are woven together from elements of real people’s
stories.
3.
When discussing private, confidential matters, hypothetical examples may be more
appropriate than real ones.
4.
Imaginary scenes get listeners emotionally involved in the subject.
5.
In general, hypothetical examples are better for informative than for persuasive
speeches.
C.
Developing details of a story in an extended example creates points of emotional
connection.
1.
Additional details provide additional points of identification.
2.
Extended examples clarify, explain in depth, and motivate listeners.
D.
Combining two or three brief examples is useful in the introduction to gain people’s
attention.
E.
Think critically about examples.
1.
Is this example representative or typical?
2.
Do you have a sufficient number of examples?
3.
Is the example true?
IV.
A direct quotation or paraphrase of the words of culturally accepted authorities is a type of
support.
A.
Culturally accepted experts include scholars, elected officials, practitioners, and so on.
1.
Provide information about the expert’s credentials.
2.
Quoting people whose opinions are different than might be expected can be
powerful.
B.
Credible peers or laypeople are credible because they have a participant’s perspective.
C.
Sayings, proverbs, and words of wisdom are another source of quotations.
1.
Each culture has a store of proverbs and sayings that encapsulate important ideas,
beliefs, and values.
2.
Quote parents or other personal figures whom the audience would respect.
3.
Religious texts provide quotations for religious adherents.
D.
Think critically about quoting authorities.
1.
What is the person’s expertise?
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2.
Is the person recognized as an expert by others?
3.
Is the layperson stating an opinion commonly held by others like him or her?
4.
Are the words taken out of context?
5.
Is the quotation accurate?
V.
Compelling comparisons show how new information compares or contrasts with the known.
A.
Literal analogies compare things that are similar in important ways.
B.
Vivid figurative analogies highlight similarities between otherwise dissimilar things.
1.
The audience must apply their imaginations and make the comparisons.
2.
Analogies are effective only if the comparison makes sense to the audience.
C.
Contrasts point out differences between new concepts and a more familiar one.
D.
Think critically about analogies.
1.
Be sure the comparison is clear and makes sense.
VI.
You can use visual evidence.
A.
A literal image shows the actual subject under discussion.
B.
A metaphorical image are images used to draw analogies between a visual image
and a concept you are describing in your speech.
C.
Think critically about your use of visual evidence.
1.
Is the photograph or image typical?
2.
What is left out of the photograph or image?
Suggested Videos
Student Speeches Critique and Analysis
Show one or more examples of student speeches, available
via MindTap or the instructor’s resource center, with a variety of types of evidence for student
analysis.
•
Beforehand, divide the class into five groups, and ask each one to look for a different kind of
evidence (facts, examples, quotations, statistics, and comparison/contrast).
•
As they watch, each group jots down specific instances when the speaker uses the type of
support they’re assigned.
•
Give them a few minutes afterwards to evaluate the evidence they heard, using the tests
given in the text.
•
Then ask volunteers to discuss the speaker’s use of evidence. (application, evaluation)
A Time to Kill. The defense’s closing arguments at the end of the movie have a hypothetical example.
Play the clip and discuss with students whether or not it is effective.
Educational videos. Show a professionally prepared video on a health related topic, paying attention
to the type of support used. (Search your campus media library or a local public library for usable
informative videos on health related topics.)
•
Ask students what kind of evidence they’d expect in a speech about the topic you choose.
•
Watch the video, taking notes on the kind of evidence that’s presented.
•
Afterwards, evaluate the quantity and quality of the supporting material. (application,
evaluation)
•
Compare and contrast the type of support expected and used on the health video with that
used on another educational video about history, literature, geography, communication, etc.
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The Public Mind with Bill Moyers: Leading Questions.
This video explores the power of professional
pollsters in “virtually every facet of American culture.” Show clips when you teach the section on
statistical support. (Films for the Humanities & Sciences)
1.
Explain that many factors affect poll results, and they should exercise caution when using
statistical information.
2.
The order in which the answers are presented may influence results. If asked, “How will you
likely vote: Republican? Democrat? Independent?” a person may answer differently than if he
were asked, “How will you likely vote: Democrat? Independent? Republican?”
3.
The wording of the question can influence results. Asking “Should the U.S. give more money
to welfare mothers?” may give more NO responses than “Should the U.S. give more money to
women who are the sole support of young children?”
4.
Show the clip.
5.
Give the students five to ten minutes of in-class writing time. Ask them to summarize how
they should treat poll data they find during their research. Collect, read, and comment on their
responses. (knowledge, analysis)
Videotape a C-SPAN presentation. Find a recent speech C-SPAN. Ask students to evaluate the
evidence provided in the speech, using tests for evidence found in the text. (application,
evaluation)
Discussion Topics
Finding and Evaluating Evidence Use one or both of the suggested procedures in Teaching Idea 8.1
(Supplemental Resources). (application, analysis, evaluation)
Testing Evidence The best way to teach this chapter is to use actual supporting materials. Have
students go over a sample student speech where the student uses facts, explanations, statistics,
examples, and testimony. Use any or all of the tips for thinking critically in the chapter as guides
for testing evidence. (analysis, evaluation)
Ethics in Practice: Hypothetical Example or Fabrication? (p. 104). Ask students to read the feature,
and, working in groups, to answer the discussion questions that follow.
Thinking Critically about Facts (p. 99) Students must learn to evaluate evidence critically—
especially quantified evidence, which is often repeated as factual when it is derived from dubious
sources or is inflated for “political” reasons. Begin your own file of distorted statistics to use as
classroom examples. They’re surprisingly easy to find. Look for public opinion polls and then
examine the way questions were phrased. For example, the public may resent “welfare” but
overwhelmingly support “helping needy children.” Excerpts from Bill Moyers’ Leading Questions
may be helpful. Christina Hoff Sommers’s controversial book, Who Stole Feminism, contains a
number of examples of dubious numbers that made their way into print and then got a life of
their own as subsequent writers and speakers repeated them. Continue the emphasis on ethical
speaking that’s developed throughout the text. (analysis, evaluation)
Critical Thinking Exercises
(See p. 112 of the textbook for Critical Thinking Exercises)
Application Exercises
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(See p. 112 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 also features speech videos with critical viewing questions, speech outlines, and
transcripts.
Supplemental Resources
•
Teaching Idea 8.1: Finding and Evaluating Evidence.
Teaching Idea 8.1: Finding and Evaluating Evidence
Purpose: To enable students to find the information they need on a specific topic, then evaluate the
quality and the appropriateness of that evidence.
Procedures: (do one or both of the following)
•
Ask volunteers to bring examples of electronically stored supporting evidence. (If you offer extra
credit, consider offering a few extra points for this.) Tape segments of programs such as Animal
Kingdom, Crossfire, 60 Minutes or the nightly news. Or use educational videos from your campus
media library, or even home videos. Show the piece, then discuss the supporting materials in it.
Use programs that mostly emphasize opinion (Crossfire) and more factual shows (an excerpt from
a Discovery channel program).
• As a group, walk students through the process of finding and evaluating evidence. Have the
entire class select a popular topic (the latest recording of a popular musician, the latest political
scandal, etc.), then have them each bring a piece of evidence relating to the topic for the next class
period. Then, working in small groups, and have them share their evidence. Once they have
shared, have them evaluate the evidence using the criteria discussed in this chapter, weeding out
material that doesn’t make the cut. Which criteria was most salient? Why?