Chapter Six: Developing and Supporting Your Ideas
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Chapter Goals
Chapter 6 introduces students to the importance of developing their ideas, and to support their ideas
and arguments with supporting materials. Students should have an understanding of the following goals
after the end of this chapter:
To explain the importance of supporting materials in a speech
To identify the five main types of supporting materials
Chapter Outline
When we enter the public dialogue, we take part in a social interaction—one person makes a claim
about a topic to an audience, “calling out” to his or her listeners, and they respond to this claim in some
way.
Claim is an assertion that must be proved (pg. 103).
Evidence comes from the information you gather in your research on the Internet, at the library, and in
interviews.
Your evidence is proof, and it helps you build your credibility, or believability.
Real example—Instance that actually took place.
Hypothetical example—Instance that did not take place but could have.
Consider what parts of your speech might prompt the audience to say, “I don’t see that it matters.”
Examples help audiences recognize the relevance and importance of your points in their own lives.
Use examples to build your case or make credible generalizations (pgs. 105-106).
Is the example relevant and appropriate?
Make sure it refers to the point you are making, not to something else.
Is the hypothetical example ethical?
Make sure the hypothetical example represents events or information grounded in fact. Do not lie to or
Are there enough examples to support your claim?
Have you accounted for the counterexamples?
Counterexamples can make what you say false or weaken your assertions.
You may have to change your claims to explain the counter examples.
Use narratives to challenge an audience to think in new ways (pgs. 107-108).
As we tell a story, we share our perspectives with an audience in personal and organized ways.
When you share a story about an experience that is just like everyone else’s experience, you establish
common ground with your audience.
Because of their content and the personalized way they are told, stories often create a sense of
Is the length appropriate?
Make sure your story fits the time limit for your speech.
Is the language vivid?
Is the delivery appropriate to the story?
The manner in which the story is told is also significant.
Is the story appropriate for my audience?
Is the story too graphic, too personal, or simply inappropriate for a particular audience?
Make sure the stories told ring true for a particular audience.
Statistics (pg. 109).
It tells you where the midpoint is in your set of data.
It shows that one-half of the observations will be smaller and one-half larger than that midpoint.
Use statistics to synthesize large amounts of information (pg. 114).
Allows speaker to present large amounts of data precisely.
Helps audience appreciate numerical force behind something.
Testimony—Opinions or observations of others.
Direct quotation—Exact word-for-word presentation of another’s testimony.
-Direct quotations are often seen as more credible than paraphrasing.
Use testimony when you need the voice of an expert (pg. 115).
Bias—Unreasoned distortion of judgment or prejudice about a topic. (pg. 117).
Objective—Having a fair, ethical, and undistorted view on a question or issue.
Is the source of your testimony credible?
Is the testimony biased?
Have you paraphrased accurately?
Is the testimony connected to your point?
Definitions (pg. 119).
Definition—Statement of the exact meaning of a word or phrase.
Is the source of the definition credible?
Have you avoided proper meaning superstition?
Have you actually defined the term?
A map of reasoning (pg. 122).
Claim: What do you think or want to propose?
Grounds—Why you think something is true or want to propose it.
End of Chapter Activities and Discussion Questions
The following questions can be found at the end of Chapter 6.
Review Questions and Activities
Imagine that you are attempting to support the following argument: Living in the dormitories is the best
way for first-year students to adjust to college. In pairs or small groups, create one example, one
statistic, one narrative, and one piece of testimony to support this claim. Assess the strength and
credibility of your evidence. Which do you think is most convincing? Why?
Using any of the following words, find a denotative definition and create a connotative definition for one
or more of them: democracy, free speech, gun control, terrorism, and politics. How might each of these
definitions be important in a speech about “the rights and privileges of U.S. citizens?
Students should use the definitions guidelines and examples of denotative and connotative definitions
given on page 119.
Consider the examples or narratives you have gathered for your speech. Are they real or hypothetical,
brief or extended? Out loud, practice delivering one of your examples or narratives. Do you feel
comfortable with your delivery? Why or why not? Practice delivering this material until it sounds natural
and conversational.
In what instances might you be an expert and be able to offer your own testimony in a speech? What
makes you an expert in this situation and not in others? How could you establish your credibility as an
“expert” if you were to use this testimony?
Web Activities
Students are often challenged by finding effective statistics. Encourage students to access this website
to help them search for statistics from credible sources.
Whom Do You Believe?
Purpose: To practice evaluating sources for bias and credibility.
to check out their list of words and their original meanings. Choose the link for the list of words and
phrases and locate a word that is familiar to you. What is the origin of the word? How does the word’s
origin help you to understand the term more fully? Are you surprised at the term’s origin?
Avoiding Proper Meaning Superstition
Purpose: To explore how disputed terms have multiple meanings and how multiple meanings shape our
conceptions of ideas.
Interactive Student and Professional Speech Videos in MindTap
Video Clip 1: Chelsey Penoyer, “Mike” narrative
Additional Exercises and Resources
Cartoons and Claims
Bring several newspapers to class (or have students bring several newspapers to class). Have students
look through the editorial sections of the papers. Ask them to identify the claims made in the editorials.
Narratives and September 11, 2001
Have students recall stories they heard about the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and
Washington, D.C. Have students respond to the following questions: Who were the stories about? Why
do the students think the media used the stories they did (emotional appeal)? Did the stories have more
Access different politician speeches related to the September 11, 2001 attacks. After students read
these speeches, ask them to consider whether the particular politicians use stories in their speeches
about particular victims. Do the politicians use stories about Osama Bin Laden and his followers? If so,
what purpose might those narratives have served? Were the narratives always used ethically?
Visually Representing Statistics on PowerPoint
When working with statistical information you may want to create graphs to visually represent your
statistics. Use the following steps to help you do this:
I. Go into INSERT and choose NEW SLIDE.
A. Select any of the slide options that show charts/graphs.
II. If you do not want the bar graph, you can switch to any type of chart/graph you prefer.
C. Select from any of the chart/graph types (either STANDARD TYPES or CUSTOM TYPES).
III. You can also animate your graphs.
A. Click on CHART on the menu bar.
Supplemental Bibliography
Allen, James. Inference from Signs: Ancient Debates About the Nature of Evidence. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2001.
Allen offers a historical perspective on the use of evidence in arguments. Although not really for
1994.
Case studies, many of which appeared in popular media, of the misuse of evidence are presented in this
book. These examples could be used to get students to think about evidence they encounter everyday,
and to get them to begin to evaluate and question that evidence.
Kazoleas, Dean C. “A Comparison of the Persuasive Effectiveness of Qualitative versus Quantitative
Evidence: A Test of Explanatory Hypotheses.” Communication Quarterly, 41 (Winter 1993): 40–50.
Two main categories of evidence, statistical and narrative, are discussed. Kazoleas examines attitude
change resulting from both types. This article shows that both kinds of evidence are effective, and that
students need not only focus on quantitative information in their speeches.
Nakayama, Thomas. “Disciplining Evidence.” Western Journal of Communication, 59 (Spring 1995): 171.
Nakayama’s discussion of the narrowness of typical evidence used in research (evidence is limited to
Robinson, Grady Jim. “Did I Ever Tell You About the Time”: How to Develop and Deliver a Speech Using
the Power of Stories to Persuade and Captivate Any Audience? New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000.
additional means of understanding material. Many helpful exercises, examples, and tools are included to
make storytelling a bigger part of the speaking process.
Scheidel, Thomas M. “On Evidence.” Western Journal of Communication, 58 (Winter 1994): 66.
Scheidel writes an interesting article about how to use evidence in academic research that could, either
summarized or assigned as reading, offer new perspectives and insight on the use of evidence.
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