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CHAPTER SIX
CONSIDERING THE ETHICS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
2. Recognize the need for ethics in society;
4. Develop and apply ethical standards for public speaking;
Note: When assigned early in the course, this chapter can be used as a foundation for ethical decision-making in all
areas of speech development.
Additional Skill Builder Exercises
3. Stewart speech. Have students read the speech on ethics by Thomas C. Stewart at the end of
the chapter. Separate your class into groups and have students discuss the following questions:
a. Stewart says, “…the moral choices you’ve made in the small things …will
either help keep you afloat—or they’ll sink you.” What does he mean? Do you
agree or disagree? Why?
b. He says in the speech, “they say that ‘honesty is the best policy.’ It isn’t” What
is he trying to say?
4. Group discussion. Separate the class into several discussion groups and assign each group
one of the following topics for analysis. Ask each group to present the topic as a panel discussion
to the class. (This exercise can be combined with assignments in Chapter 19, “Speaking in
Groups.”)
a. Should the personal life of a candidate for president be subjected to press and
public scrutiny in a political campaign?
b. Should priests, ministers, or rabbis who commit sex offenses be restored to
their clerical positions after a period of intensive rehabilitation?
c. Should former governmental officials be allowed to make millions writing
books, endorsing commercial products, signing movie contracts, and speaking
in the lecture circuit once they leave public office?
d. Should members of Congress be allowed to accept travel opportunities from
lobbyists, businesses, and industries?
e. Should members of Congress be allowed to accept stipends for presenting
speeches in institutions such as hospitals and universities as well as business
organizations?
5. Advertising. Ask students to search for 3 newspaper or magazine advertisements they
consider to be unethical. Have them answer these questions:
a. What elements of the ads are unethical?
b. Are the ads partially dishonest, or do they convey false implications?
c. How could the ads be altered, making them ethical?
InfoTrac/Library Database Exercise
Have each student find an article about a serious corporate scandal or ethical problem that
affected people in significant ways. (You could guide them to examples such as Lehman
Brothers, AIG, Enron, Bernard Madoff, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, etc.) Have students
discuss or answer the following questions:
