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Chapter 11
Preparing and Researching Presentations
CHAPTER OUTCOMES
• Describe the power of public speaking and how preparation eases natural nervousness
• Identify the purpose of your speech
• Conduct audience analysis
LECTURE NOTES
• The Power of Public Speaking
ƒ Public Speaking includes the following elements:
ż A speaker with a reason for speaking
ż An attentive audience
• Clarifying the General Purpose of Your Speech explores the three general categories of
speeches: informative, persuasive, and special occasion.
ƒ Informative Speeches increase an audience’s understanding or knowledge on a particular
• Analyzing Your Audience examines the systematic process of audience analysis: getting
to know your audience in relation to your speech topic and occasion because it is important
to know where your audience is starting from to be able to meet the goals of your speech.
ƒ Considering Audience Expectations and Situational Factors
ż Audiences have different expectations and emotions that they bring to a speech.
ƒ Considering Audience Demographics
ż Demographics is the systematic study of the quantifiable characteristics of a large
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ż Knowing this information can help narrow your topic to one of interest to the group.
ƒ Anticipating Your Audiences Response
ż Consider several tips that can help you adapt to your audience’s anticipated response;
these include the following:
Ɠ Audience motivation—is the audience voluntary?
Ɠ Seek common ground—do most of the audience members exhibit homogeny—
sharing opinions or experiences?
Ɠ Determine prior exposure—has the audience heard you speak before?
Ɠ Consider disposition—how does your audience feel about your topic?
• Choosing Your Topic discusses two proven strategies for generating speech ideas:
considering personal interests and brainstorming/clustering.
ƒ Finding a Topic That Intrigues You
ż If a topic interests you, you are more motivated to work on your speech and more likely
ƒ Brainstorming and Clustering
ż Brainstorming is thinking creatively and considering problems and solutions related to
your topic.
ż Clustering involves creating a web of ideas around a main word or phrase.
ƒ Narrowing Your Topic
ƒ Determining the Specific Purpose of Your Speech
ż You need to know what your speech is precisely about and what you want your
ƒ Developing a Thesis Statement
ż A thesis statement encapsulates your speech by conveying the central idea or core
• Researching the Topic discusses the importance of research in helping support the points
that you make and in strengthening your message and credibility.
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ƒ Types of Information to Consider
ż Expert testimony is the opinion or judgment of an expert on your topic, while lay
testimony is the opinion of a nonexpert, but usually someone with personal experience.
ż Anecdotes are brief personal stories with a point or punch line that may add a personal
and memorable element to a speech.
ƒ Researching Supporting Material
ż Talk to people through networking or more formal surveys that solicit answers to
ƒ Evaluating Supporting Material
ż Credibility refers to the quality, authority, and reliability of a source as related to your
specific topic.
ż Use up-to-date sources or those that are the most recently available.
• Ethical Speaking: Taking Responsibility for Your Speech discusses the ethical
responsibility of a public speaker.
ƒ Recognizing Plagiarism
ż Plagiarism is the crime of presenting someone else’s words or ideas as your own—
ƒ Taking Accurate Notes
ż Keep track of references separately.
ƒ Speaking Ethically and Responsibly
ż Give your audience the tools to interpret your message ethically.
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How can you ensure that your informative speech doesn’t turn into a persuasive speech?
• Be sure to talk about how informative speeches don’t aim to change audience’s
attitudes or behaviors. Informative speeches aim to give information, while persuasive
2. Why do you think it’s important to pick a topic that is important or interesting to the
speaker?
• Having an interesting topic helps to ensure that students will have more knowledge on
3. Why do you think some people plagiarize?
• Some people plagiarize because they are stressed about doing a perfect speech, so they
4. When do you think testimony from an interview is appropriate as a source for a speech?
5. What are some ways to choose a speech topic?
PERSONAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
1. Speeches That Move Us
Think of speeches you’ve heard that have really stirred your emotions. What was it about the
speech that moved you? What kind of information did that speech have in it (e.g., testimony,
anecdotes, statistics)? Did that information make the speech more powerful for you?
2. Speaking “Right”
Given the list of basic rules of ethical speaking that are presented on p. 255 of the text;
think of additional items to add to that list. Why do you think those rules are important to
include?
3. Informative or Persuasive?
Take a topic that you have brainstormed for a speech. Can you make the topic into an
informative speech? A persuasive speech? What do you find to be the main difference in
changing from one type of speech to another?
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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Avoiding Plagiarism 101
Goal: To learn what plagiarism consists of
Time Required: 15–20 minutes
Materials:
4. Blank paper and writing implements for students
Directions:
2. Ask students to share their paraphrase with the student next to them.
3. Once students are finished sharing, put up the overhead with the paragraph with only
4. Ask students to volunteer their own paraphrases and compare them to the original as
well as to the one that was incorrectly paraphrased on the overhead.
Debriefing: Inform students that most plagiarism happens unintentionally, but that
2. APA Matching
Goal: To create citations in American Psychological Association (APA) format (game
can also be formatted for Modern Language Association (MLA) or another citation
format). This exercise works on the assumption that you have given some introductory
information to your students about your preferred reference format.
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials:
2. Information from the above citations for students to put in the correct format
(see example on next page)
4. Prizes (optional)
Directions:
2. Give students the list of information (following the example) and give them
3. After 10 minutes, ask students to call out the correct APA format (one at a time) for
each citation. Check them against the Citations list. Give prizes (if desired) to teams
that get the information right.
Debriefing: Have teams correct their own papers. If you see mistakes that are made
frequently, point out those mistakes and explain why they are incorrect.
Example:
Information given to the students:
Book: Communication and You
Correct citation:
O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2014). Communication and you. Boston: Bedford/
St. Martin’s.
3. Audience Matching
Goal: To understand how topics need to be adjusted based on the audience
Time Required: 30–50 minutes
Materials:
1. Speech Topics handout (provided at the end of this chapter)
Directions:
1. Ask students to write an audience type on their note card. Encourage them to go
2. Have students hand in their list of audience types.
3. Give students the list of topics. Tell students they will be asked to give a 1-minute
impromptu speech about one of these topics. Make it fun—tell them it won’t be
4. One by one, have students stand up (volunteers at first work best) and tell you which
topic they want to speak on. Then give them the top card on the stack of audience
4. Deconstructing a Public Speech
Goal: To identify multiple parts of a speech
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Materials:
2. Video clip of the same speech and method for viewing it in class
Directions:
2. Show the video clip of the person giving the same speech.
4. Have students consider the following questions: Is the speech ethical? Why or why
not? Who is the audience? How did the speaker tailor the speech to the audience?
5. Brainstorming and Clustering
Goal: To understand how to brainstorm topics
Time Required: 15 minutes
Materials: Large piece of paper and marker for each group of students (Note: You will
likely have three to four groups.)
Directions:
1. Assign students to groups of three to four (if students are giving group speeches, put
them in these groups).
3. Explain the rules of brainstorming: No ideas are ruled out; all ideas are written
down.
5. Have a contest for the group that has the most topics, the most interesting topics, the
most unusual topics, etc.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. In your own words, describe the differences between an informative speech, a persuasive
speech, and a special-occasion speech.
2. Why is analyzing your audience so important to making a presentation?
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5. Write a thesis statement for a persuasive speech on why colleges should provide each
student with a free bicycle.
6. Describe why the time of day of your presentation might influence your audience. How
MEDIA
The King’s Speech (See-Saw Films, 2010)
HANDOUTS
Speech Topics
Use the following ideas for speech topics to complete the classroom activity Audience
Matching.
Food preservatives
Computer viruses
Culture shock
