5 Ethical Public Speaking
<A> OBJECTIVES
To take responsibility for your words.
To demonstrate competence and character.
To respect your listeners’ values.
<A> CHAPTER CONTENT OUTLINE
I. Take responsibility for your words
A. Public speaking is a public act. Even though people have the right to speak freely, it is their
responsibility to speak ethically.
1. Ethics is the study of moral conduct—how people should act toward one another.
2. Communication ethics in public speaking refers to the responsibilities speakers have
3. Ethics also encompasses the responsibilities that listeners have to speakers.
B. Speakers should aim to earn listeners’ trust through ethical public speaking by demonstrating
competence and character.
1. Ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, meaning “character.”
2. Aristotle said that audiences will be disposed to listen to and trust a speaker with
positive ethos—competence, good moral character, and goodwill.
3. Source credibility is the believability of speakers; credible speakers have a sound
4. Studies reveal that we trust speakers who we believe have our own best interests in
mind.
C. Responsible public speakers also respect the values of their listeners.
1. Values are the most enduring judgments or standards of what is good and bad in life,
and of what’s important to us.
3. Conflicting values make it difficult to address certain topics without questioning and
challenging cherished beliefs of audience members. Therefore, speakers should
always proceed with sensitivity, and analyze audiences when planning speeches.
D. Ethical theories can help public speakers distinguish between ethical and nonethical
behavior, by proposing criteria or standards to follow.
1. Consequentialist ethics provides that the end result of our conduct will
2. Rules-based ethics follow widely accepted moral norms, such as those in
3. Virtue ethics is striving to develop positive character traits such as
truthfulness, civility, modesty, courage, and intellectual integrity—thus
E. Responsible speakers also bring their own values into focus.
1. By examining our own values, and then comparing them to our audience’s values, we
2. One way for speakers to bring their values into focus is to complete Milton Rokeach’s
II. Contribute to positive public discourse
A. Ethical public speaking can be measured by how much it contributes positively to public
discourse, appealing to the greater good rather than self-interest.
1. When speaking about sensitive topics, such as U.S. involvement in the Middle East,
2. The rules of engagement for public speakers include speaking the truth, disclosing
one’s purposes, response to others, coherent response, listening, and understanding.
B. Ethical public speakers must balance the rights of free speech with the responsibilities that
accompany it.
1. In the United States, the First Amendment protects the right to free speech, for both
the ethical and unethical speaker.
2. Free speech is the right to be free from unreasonable constraints on expression;
C. Although we are guaranteed freedom of speech, certain types of speech are illegal, including
the following:
1. Speech that provokes violence (“fighting words”).
2. Speech that can be proved to be defamatory (termed slander) or potentially harmful
D. Some speech that is legally protected can be unethical, such as speeches that are racist, sexist,
homophobic, pornographic, anti-religious, or just plain mean.
E. Ethical speakers avoid hate speech, ethnocentrism, and stereotyping.
1. Hate speech is offensive verbal or nonverbal communication that is directed against
people’s descriptive, religious, or other characteristics.
2. Ethnocentrism is believing that everyone shares the same point of view or points of
III. Observe the ground rules for ethical speaking
A. The qualities of dignity and integrity are universally seen as central to ethical behavior.
1. Dignity refers to ensuring that your listeners feel worthy, honored, or respected as
individuals.
B. Trustworthiness is a combination of honesty and dependability; it is important to speaker
credibility, ethical public speaking, and the democratic process.
1. Trustworthiness includes revealing the true purpose of the speech to the audience.
2. Trustworthiness includes not manipulating information to mislead or deceive the
audience.
C. Respecting audience members means treating them with civility and courtesy.
1. Speakers should address audience members as unique human beings, refraining from
rudeness and personal attacks.
3. Speakers should allow the audience the power of rational choice.
4. Speakers should, in most cases, avoid graphic pictures or upsetting verbal
descriptions merely to make a point.
D. Responsible speakers communicate in ways that are accurate, careful, and objective.
Speaking with responsibility includes evaluating the usefulness and appropriateness of the
E. Speakers should employ fairness in their speeches; they are obliged to make a genuine effort
to see all sides of an issue.
F. Civic-minded speakers care about their community, in both word and deed. Being civic–
minded is essential to democracy.
IV. Avoid plagiarism
A. Ethical speakers avoid plagiarizing other people’s ideas or words as their own.
1. Plagiarism is the use of other people’s ideas or words without acknowledging the source.
It is a serious breach of ethics and it violates the tenets of academic integrity. Examples
include:
b. Speakers who rearrange words and sentences from another source to make it appear
as their own.
B. In order to avoid plagiarism, speakers must credit sources.
1. Any source that requires credit in written form should also be acknowledged in oral
form.
a. Speakers’ citations should include the type of source, the author or origin of the
source, the title or description of the source, and the date of the source.
C. Citations can be presented in one of three ways.
1. Direct quotations are statements made verbatim, or word for word, and should
always be acknowledged.
2. Paraphrased information—information that is a restatement of someone else’s
V. Fair use, copyright, and ethical speaking
A. Occasionally, speakers will need to gain permission to use various materials in their speech.
a. A work that is copyrighted may not be reproduced, distributed, or displayed
without permission from the copyright holder.
2. The Fair Use Doctrine allows limited use of copyrighted works without permission
for the purposes of scholarship, criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, and
research.
a. When a speaker uses a visual aid, such as a table or chart, he or she must
accurately credit both the source of the data as well the creator of its graphic
<A> KEY TERMS
responsibility a charge, trust, or duty for which one is accountable.
ethics the rules or standards of moral conduct, or how people should act toward one another. In
communication ethics our ethical responsibilities when seeking influence over other people and
for which there are positive and negative, or “right” or “wrong,” choices of action.
ethos the Greek word for “character.” According to the ancient Greek rhetorician Aristotle,
source credibility a contemporary term for ethos; refers to our level of trust in a source’s
credentials and track record for providing accurate information.
ethical theory a theory that attempts to answer questions by proposing criteria or standards with
which to distinguish ethical behavior from non-ethical behavior.
rules-based ethics an approach to ethical standards that focuses on our duty to do what is
inherently right, as established by widely accepted moral rules or norms.
public discourse open conversation or discussion in a public forum.
invective abusive speech; accusatory and attacking speech.
“rules of engagement” standards of conduct for communicating with others in the public arena,
including speaking the truth, listening, and responding civilly.
hate speech any offensive communication—verbal or nonverbal—directed against people’s
racial, ethnic, religious, gender, disability, or other characteristics. Racist, sexist, or ageist slurs,
gay bashing, and cross burnings are all forms of hate speech.
slander defamatory speech.
ethnocentrism the belief that the ways of one’s own culture are superior to those of other
cultures. Ethnocentric speakers act as though everyone shares their point of view and points of
reference, whether or not this is in fact the case.
speech codes university regulations prohibiting expressions that would be constitutionally
protected in society at large.
personal expediency.
trustworthiness the quality of displaying both honesty and dependability.
respect to feel or show deferential regard. For the ethical speaker, respect ranges from
addressing audience members as unique human beings to refraining from rudeness and other
effort to see all sides of an issue and to be open-minded.
civic-minded caring about your community, as expressed in your speeches and in your deeds.
plagiarism the act of using other people’s ideas or words without acknowledging the source.
paraphrase a restatement of someone else’s statements or written work that alters the form or
phrasing but not the substance of that person’s ideas. See also direct quotation.
copyright a legal protection afforded original creators of literary or artistic works, including
works classified as literary, musical, dramatic, choreographic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural,
audiovisual, sound recording, or architectural. See also intellectual property.
fair use legal guidelines permitting the limited use of copyrighted works without permission for
the purposes of scholarship teaching and research, among other uses.
CHAPTER STUDY GUIDE
I. SUMMARY QUESTIONS
What is ethics?
Ethics is the study of moral conduct, or how a given culture or group within it believes people
should act toward one another. In terms of public speaking, communication ethics implies the
What is positive ethos?
According to Aristotle, audiences listen to and trust speakers if they demonstrate positive ethos
(good character). Positive ethos includes competence (as demonstrated by the speaker’s grasp of
According to modern research on source credibility, what speaker characteristics inspire
trust?
Modern research on source credibility reveals that people most trust speakers who have a solid
What are values, and what is their relationship to ethics?
Values are our most enduring judgments or standards of what’s good and bad in life and of
what’s important to us. Our ethical choices in daily life and in our speeches are our values in
What are the three most prominent ethical theories that people use to clarify values and
form decisions about ethical issues?
Consequentialist ethics suggests that it is the outcome or consequence of our conduct that
ultimately determines its rightness. Rules-based ethics focus on our duty to do what is
What is the relationship between speech that is legal and speech that is ethical?
There isn’t necessarily one. The First Amendment ensures protection to both the honest and the
What are the limitations to the First Amendment?
Speech that provokes people to imminent violence (“fighting words”), speech that can be proved
What two characteristics are universally seen as central to ethical behavior?
Although there is no single agreed-on code of ethical standards for communication, the qualities
of dignity and integrity are universally seen as central to ethical behavior. Dignity refers to
In addition to dignity and integrity, what other qualities do ethical speakers exhibit?
Ethical speaking requires that we be trustworthy, respectful, responsible, and fair in our
presentations. Trustworthiness is a combination of honesty and dependability. Respect ranges
What is plagiarism, and why is it unethical?
How can you avoid plagiarizing?
The rule for avoiding plagiarism as a public speaker is straightforward: Any source that requires
credit in written form should also be acknowledged in oral form. These include direct quotations,