Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Lecture Notes
Chapter 12: Preparing for a Presentation
Learning Objectives
1. Identify factors you should consider when analyzing and relating to an audience.
6. Determine which factors you should consider when selecting sources for a presentation.
7. Identify factors you should consider when conducting research and gathering material.
Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
A. Common concerns of inexperienced presenters: Group of strangers staring; thought of
making a mistake; fear of unknown.
B. Often do not see relevance of learning how to develop, deliver presentation.
C. Skills of presenting are useful in everyday life.
II. Presenting and Relationships
A. Presentation as potentially misleading term: May give impression that speaker is
addressing unknown, possibly hostile audience.
B. Occasions for addressing large groups most likely to involve known audience:
III. Getting Ready to Present
A. Preparation: Groundwork conducted before development and delivery.
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
B. Success of presentation depends largely on this phase.
C. Research, creativity, analysis of audience’s expectations, structuring and layout of
IV. How Do You Analyze Audiences?
A. Analyzing audiences, adapting delivery accordingly.
B. Fundamental to effective presentations.
D. A Speaker’s Relationship with the Audience
i. Preexisting relationships with speaker: Influence view of speaker, expectations
from presentation.
E. Relationship with the Issue and Position
i. Must determine audience’s knowledge, in case of informing/persuading.
ii. Positive, negative or impartial view of topic: May exist even before presentation.
F. Audience View of the Occasion
i. Extent to which audience desires to listen.
ii. Captive audience: Required to listen to presentation.
iii. Voluntary audience: Members have personally chosen to be there.
iv. May have interest in occasion, topic, particular need.
G. Attitude, Beliefs, and Values
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
i. Fact versus opinion: Known to be true versus believed: Parmenides, Plato
distinguished between episteme and doxa.
ii. Attitudes: Learned predispositions to evaluate something in positive/negative
way; guide thinking and behavior.
iii. Tend to remain constant: Preexisting attitudes influence view of speaker, topic,
occasion, evidence provided.
vi. Assist speaker in statements accepted without need for support.
vii. Values: Deeply held, enduring judgments of significance/importance.
V. Selecting Your Topic
A. Already established in some cases: Such as wedding toast, presentation about work
project.
B. Selection of topic, area required in other cases: Such as a classroom presentation.
C. Several factors to be considered in selection.
D. Consider Yourself
i. Knowledge: Consider areas about which you are knowledgeable.
E. Consider Your Audience
i. Establish relationship between audience and topic: In order to draw them to it.
ii. Inform audience about effect of topic on them: Why they should listen (included
during introduction).
F. Searching for a Topic
i. Brainstorming: Gathering, generating ideas without immediate evaluation.
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
ii. Open brainstorming: Generate list of ideas with no topic boundary.
iii. Topic-specific brainstorming: Ideas encompassing specific topic.
iv. Looking at current events: News site, newspaper, news channel, radio program
VI. Determining the Purpose and Thesis of Your Presentation
A. General Purpose: The basic objective you want to achieve through your presentation
i. To inform: Develop audience understanding of topic: Through definition,
clarification, demonstration, or explanation of process.
B. Specific Purpose: Narrow, explicit goal; entails precise impact desired.
i. Ensures speaker stays focused on achieving explicit goal.
ii. Should correspond with general purpose of the speech.
C. Thesis Statement
i. Thesis statement: To be argued/develop throughout entire presentation.
ii. Encapsulates entire speech.
iii. Single sentence: Focus on a single idea.
VII. Evidence and Support Material
A. Research as a key, fundamental step: Progressing from mere opinion to factually
based information.
B. Use evidence, support material to develop thesis.
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
C. Thesis supported by main points (then, subpoints): Consist of evidence such as
D. Definitions: Evidence or support that provides the meaning of a word or phrase.
i. Assist audience understanding; help clarify topic of discussion.
ii. Operational definitions: Concrete explanations of meaning; more
original/personal than dictionary definition.
E. Facts and Opinions
i. Facts: Provable/documented truths used as evidence to support claims.
ii. Opinions: Personal beliefs or speculations; not proved or verified.
iii. Both can be used as support material; managed differently: Facts more likely to
stand alone without additional support.
iv. Both should be taken from credible sources.
F. Comparisons and Contrasts
i. Often used to assist audience understanding.
ii. Comparisons: Demonstrate how things are similar.
G. Testimony: Declarations/statements of a person’s findings, opinions, conclusions, or
experience.
i. Personal testimony: Comes from oneself; enhanced by one’s connection with
audience.
ii. Expert testimony: Comes from someone with special training, instruction, or
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
H. Examples: Specific cases used to represent larger whole to clarify or explain
something.
i. Can involve the concrete or tangible, or the abstract or intangible.
I. Statistics: Numbers that demonstrate or establish size, trends, and associations.
i. Recognizing and Overcoming Problems with Statistics
a. Statistics are open to interpretation: Which can be deceptive.
b. Ensure relevance, accuracy of statistics used in presentation.
c. Statistics may be fabricated.
d. Statistics and Time
1. Shelf life of many statistics is especially short.
6. Mode: Number that occurs most often.
e. Population and Base
1. Statistics can be misleading when population, base not disclosed.
2. Population: Whom or what a study includes.
f. Asking the Questions
1. How question is posed, how issue is defined: Can influence statistical
results.
2. Many surveys quite biased in ways they present questions.
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
ii. Using Statistics Effectively: Be aware of pitfalls, consequences.
VIII. Selecting and Using Evidence and Support Material
A. Students often wonder how much evidence, support material to use.
B. The Quantity of Evidence and Support Material
i. Include enough good evidence: Take advantage of its positive influence.
ii. Impact will differ according to audience connection with topic.
iii. Unfamiliar audience members more influenced by quantity than quality.
C. The Quality of Evidence and Support Material
i. Careful research enhances effectiveness of presentation.
D. Comparing the Effectiveness of Evidence and Support Material
i. None of the types consistently proved most persuasive/effective.
ii. Statistical evidence may be “slightly more effective”, according to study.
IX. Selecting and Searching for Sources (Inventio)
A. Inventio: Finding large range of ways to persuade audience, in classical times.