8 Developing Supporting Material
<A> OBJECTIVES
To offer a variety of supporting materials.
To keep the audience in mind when selecting sources.
To choose accurate, relevant, motivating, and audience-centered supporting material.
<A> CHAPTER CONTENT OUTLINE
I. Developing supporting material
A. Supporting material performs three functions in a speech.
1. Supporting material arouses interest and encourages engagement with the
message.
2. Supporting material illustrates and elaborates on the meaning of your ideas.
3. Supporting material substantiates or proves your statements, adding evidence
to your assertions.
II. Using a variety of supporting materials
A. Listeners respond most favorably when a variety of supporting material is used.
B. Alternating among different types of supporting material also makes a presentation
more interesting and credible.
III. Considering the target audience
A. Keeping the audience in mind will help you choose appropriate and relevant
supporting materials.
B. Even reputable sources can be rejected by certain audiences if they are ideologically
opposed.
IV. Offering examples
A. Examples illustrate, describe, or represent general principles, ideas, or things. Their
purpose is to aid understanding by making ideas, items, or events more concrete and
compelling.
B. Examples can be brief or extended and may be either factual or hypothetical.
1. A brief example offers a single illustration of a point.
2. An extended example offers a multifaceted illustration of the idea, item, or
event being described.
3. A hypothetical example is an illustration of a point made by describing
something that could happen in the future.
V. Sharing stories
A. Narratives are stories or tales, either real or imaginary, about virtually anything.
1. Stories can relate personal experiences, folk wisdom, parables, myths, and
much more.
2. Personal narratives (also called first-person narratives) are stories that we tell
3. As supporting material, stories may be brief and simple descriptions of short
incidents mixed into the body of the speech, or relatively drawn-out accounts
that constitute most of the presentation or serve as the organizing framework.
B. One popular type of brief story is the anecdote, a short story of a meaningful,
entertaining, and/or real-life incident with a recognizable moral.
2. The key part of any anecdote is its moral—the lesson the speaker wants to
convey.
VI. Drawing on testimony
A. Testimony encompasses firsthand findings, eyewitness accounts, and people’s
B. Expert testimony is provided by professionals who are trained to evaluate or report on
a given topic.
C. Lay testimony is supporting evidence provided by nonexperts who have witnessed or
experienced events related to the subject.
D. The credibility of the source is important, and it is up to the speaker to establish that
VII. Providing facts and statistics
A. Research demonstrates that most people require some type of evidence, usually in the
form of facts and statistics, before accepting someone else’s claims or position.
1. Facts represent documented occurrences, including actual events, dates, times,
people involved, and places.
2. Facts are truly factual only when they have been independently verified by
someone other than the source.
B. Statistics are quantified evidence that summarizes numerical data. Statistics can
compare and predict things, measure the size or magnitude of something, demonstrate
trends, or show relationships.
2. A frequency is simply a count of the number of times something occurs or
3. A percentage is the quantified portion of a whole and is useful when
4. An average describes information according to its typical characteristics, and
can be determined in three different ways.
5. Speakers should present statistics ethically.
a. Speakers should choose trustworthy and reputable sources.
b. Speakers should accurately interpret statistical information by
c. Speakers should avoid presenting statistics as definitive and instead
refer to them as tentative information.
d. Speakers should clearly identify the source of their information, and
provide proper context to interpret it.
e. Speakers should use visual aids to help audience members process
information if the speech relies heavily on statistical information.
<A> KEY TERMS
supporting material examples, narratives, testimony, facts, and statistics that support the speech
thesis and form the speech.
example (as a form of support) an illustration in a speech whose purpose is to aid
brief example a single illustration of a point.
hypothetical example an illustration of something that could happen in the future if certain
things occurred. See also example and extended example.
story see narrative.
testimony firsthand findings, eyewitness accounts, and opinions by people, both lay (nonexpert)
and expert.
facts documented occurrences, including actual events, dates, times, places, and people involved.
average a summary of a set of data according to its typical or average characteristics; may refer
to the mean, median, or mode.
median a type of average that represents the centermost score in a distribution, the point above
and below which 50 percent of the scores fall.
CHAPTER STUDY GUIDE
I. SUMMARY QUESTIONS
What are the best types of supporting material for speeches?
Supporting material includes examples, narratives, testimony, facts, and statistics. Examples
illustrate, describe, or represent things; they can be brief or extended, and real or hypothetical.
Their purpose is both to aid understanding by making ideas, items, or events more concrete, and
to clarify and amplify meaning. A narrative is a story. Narratives tell tales, both real and
What is the purpose of a narrative, and when should I use it?
Personal experiences can be the basis for powerful narratives. The speaker may tie the topic to a
How should speakers use statistics?
Speakers should be careful not to overwhelm their audiences with the use of too many statistics.
Secondly, speakers should make sure to use the terms that describe statistics accurately.
II. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
When you listen to speeches, how much supporting material do you expect to hear? Can a
speech ever have too much supporting material? If so, when?
Information (e.g., ideas, theories, and facts) that does not come directly from the speaker needs
to be supported; this is a good general rule to apply in determining how much supporting
material is needed. All types of speeches require supporting material, and the amount of material
What types of supporting material will be helpful for you as you prepare for your
upcoming speech in our course?
This discussion question is helpful for students to consider as they are working on developing the
Can you think of a time when you felt a speaker was cherry-picking statistics? If so, how
did you respond to his or her message?
III. ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
QUESTIONS
The following questions may help you illustrate important points in the chapter and facilitate
students’ learning of this material. These questions can be used as:
What are the five types of supporting material?
1. examples
3. testimony
5. statistics
There are different types of examples mentioned in the textbook. Please give a description
and an example of each. (Examples can be taken from students’ upcoming speeches.)
Brief example: A single illustration of a speaker’s point
Extended example: A multifaceted illustration of an idea, item, or event being described
Hypothetical example: An illustration of a point made by describing something that could
happen in the future
What is a narrative? What purpose does it serve? Give an example of a narrative that you
might use in an upcoming speech.
Narrative: A story or tale, either real or imaginary. A speaker can employ the use of a brief or
What is testimony? Identify the two types of testimony, and give an example of each.
Testimony: Firsthand findings, eyewitness accounts, and opinions that directly support a fact
or an assertion
What are facts?
What are statistics? What does it mean to cherry-pick statistics?
Statistics are quantified evidence that summarizes, compares, and predicts things. Statistics can
ACTIVITIES
Remember That Time . . .
Purpose: To help students focus on relevant personal experiences and examples that might be
used in constructing a speech.
Instructions: This exercise may be done as an in-class assignment or as a homework
assignment. Have students brainstorm to create a list of brief and extended examples for use in
their speeches.
Based on your speech topic, what types of examples might be relevant?
Evaluating Supporting Material
Purpose: To help students think critically about the supporting materials others use in speeches.
Instructions: Ask students to locate a speech, either on the Internet or in manuscript format.
Students should watch and/or read the speech and evaluate the speaker in terms of the supporting
Prove It! Using Evidence
Purpose: To help students understand the importance of using evidence to support claims and to
gain experience in incorporating evidence into speeches.
Instructions: This exercise may be done as an in-class assignment or as a homework
assignment. Students should choose a magazine article or advertisement that uses statistics to
4. What type of statistics are used in the article?
5. Does the article include information about the source of the statistics (who compiled
them)?
6. Does the article effectively use the statistics to develop an argument? Why, or why not?
7. Are there any problems associated with making claims without evidence to back them
up?
Brainstorm Data Sources
Purpose: To encourage students to brainstorm sources they may be able to consult while
researching their speech topics.
Instructions: Develop a list of data sources with which you are currently familiar. Include as
many print and electronic sources as possible.
Brainstorm Sources to Avoid
Purpose: To encourage students to list sources that may be unreliable, unethical, or both.
Instructions: Make a list of sources that you think are not credible, unethical, or both. Explain
why each one falls into this category.
This is a good in-class activity in which unethical or not-credible sources are listed on the board,
IV. GROUP ACTIVITIES
Analyzing Supporting Material
Purpose: To give students the opportunity to analyze the supporting material found in speeches.
Instructions: In a group of four or five people, critically analyze the supporting material found
in a few speeches posted on www.youtube.com or www.ted.com. What types of sources does
each speaker use? Think about how the speaker uses facts and statistics, personal narratives, and
The Best Forms of Support for the Topic
Purpose: To help students determine the best forms of support for various topics.
C. Helping the Homeless (audience: local Rotary Club; student government association at your
college)
D. The Joy of NASCAR Racing (audience: horseback riding club; Boy Scout troop)
E. Selecting an Academic Major (audience: recent high-school graduates; nontraditional,
returning students)
F. Corrective Surgery for Nearsightedness (audience: American Association of Retired Persons
meeting; student pharmacy club meeting)
G. Reasons for Becoming Bilingual (audience: church/synagogue group; training class for those
applying for U.S. citizenship)