COMMS NOTES

8/23

Public Speaking

- Makes ideas public

- Career importance
- Important for civic engagement
- V.S. Conversation
o Similarities: Organized thoughts, message tailored for audience, tell stories for max impact, adapt to
feedback
o Differences: PS is more highly structured, requires more formal language and a different method of
delivery.

Stage fright – Anxiety over public speaking. (Duh.)

Critical Thinking- Focused organized thinking involves considering the audience and attempting to appeal to as many
people as possible.

Speech communication process: (there's a diagram for this apparently)

- Speaker
- Message
- Channel
- Listener
- Feedback
- Interference: Noise. In your head or around you.
- Situation

Ethnocentrism: Believing that one’s group or is superior to all other groups and cultures.

8/25

8/ 30

Hearing VS Listening

- Hearing: Vibration of soundwaves on eardrums

- Listening: Paying close attention to what we hear

Types of Listening

- Appreciative: Listening for pleasure, enjoyment

- Empathetic: Listening to provide emotional support for speaker
- Comprehensive: Listening to understand a message
- Critical: Listening to evaluate a message

Causes of Poor Listening

- Not concentrating
- Listening too hard
- Jumping to conclusions
- Focusing on delivery, appearance
-
Spare Brain Time

Difference between rate of talk and rate at which brain processes language

Better Listening

- Taking listening seriously

- Be an active listener
- Resist distractions
- Don’t be diverted by appearance, delivery
- Suspend Judgement
- Develop note taking skills
- Focus your listening

Focused Listening

Listen for:

- Main points
- Evidence
- Technique

Giving Your First Speech

Speech Development

- Focus speech to fit the time limit

- Develop topic creatively
- Use colorful, descriptive language

Introduction

- Gain attention, interest

- Orient listeners to subject matter

Body

- Select effective method of organization

- Limit and focus number of main points
- Include transition statements

Conclusion

- Signal conclusion
- Reinforce central idea
- End on strong note

Extemporaneous: Carefully prepared rehearsed speech presented from brief notes

Speech rehearsal

- Rehearse aloud
- Ask friends and family members for feedback
- Time your speech

Speech presentation

- Plant feet, smile to audience

 - Gesture naturally
- Establish and maintain eye contact
- Speak expressively
- Take steps to reduce nervousness

Nonverbal communication

- Based on use of voice, tone inflections, body language, eye contact, etc.

Methods of delivery

- Manuscript
o Written out fully and read to the audience
- Memory
- Impromptu
o Little or no preparation
- Extemporaneous (outline/ notes but its rehearsed)

Conversational Quality

- Sounds spontaneous no matter how often rehearsed

Speaker Voice

- Volume
- Pitch
- Vocal Variety: filler words like “er, like, uhm, etc.” not good.
- Rate: the speed of your speech
- Pauses: where you take a breath, pause for audience reaction
- Pronunciation
- Articulation
- Dialect: accents, personal speech patterns

Speakers Body

- Personal appearance: dress for the occasion

- Movement: fidgeting vs gestures
- Gestures: natural movement that occurs while speaking
- Eye contact: Focusing on your crowd

Kinesics: Study of body movement as a mode of communication

Practicing Delivery

- Go through prep outline aloud

- Prepare speaking outline
- Practice speech aloud
- Polish, refine delivery
- Give dress rehearsal

Prepping Q&A

- Formulate answers to possible questions

- Practice delivery of answers

Managing Q&A
 - Approach with positive attitude
- Listen carefully
- Direct answers to the entire audience
- Be honest, straightforward
- Stay on track

Brainstorming

- Generating ideas by free association

General Purpose

- Broad goal of speech

Specific Pupose (Thesis)

- Single infinitive phrase

- States what speaker hopes to accomplish
- Guidelines:
o Full infinitive phrase
o Statement, not a question
o Avoid figurative language
o Limit to one distinct idea (NO “AND”)
o Avoid being vague

Full infinitive phrase

- Inneffective: “Avalanches”
- More effective: “To inform my audience about the three major kinds of Avalanches”

Statement not a question:

- Inneffective: “What is Dia de los muertos?”

- Effective: “To inform my audience about the history of Mexicos Dio De Los Muertos Celebrations”

Specific Purpose questions

- Does it meet the assignment?

- Can I accomplish it in the time allotted?
- Is it relevant to the audience?
- Is it too trivial for my audience?
- Is it too technical for my audience?

Central Idea

- Once sentence statement

- Encapsulates major speech idea

Central idea guidelines

- Expressed as a full sentence

- Not a question
- No figurative language
- Don’t be vague

Strategic Organization
 - Organizing speech to reach a particular result with a particular audience

Main points

- Major points developed in the body of the speech

- Most speeches have 2-5

Chronological order

- Main points follow time pattern

Spatial Order

- Main points follow a directional pattern

Casual Order

- Main points show cause and effect relationships

Problem solution order

- First point is the problem

- Second point is the solution

Topical Order Main points

Tips for main points

- Keep points separate

- Try for same pattern of wording
- Balance time devoted to each

Supporting Materials!!
Connective: Words or phrases connecting ideas.

Types of connectives:

- Transition
- Internal Preview
- Internal Summary
- Signpost

Preparation Outline Contents

- Title
- Attention Getter
- Specific Purpose
- Central Idea
- Introduction
- Main points (3)
- Sub points
- Connectives (transitions)
- Conclusion
- Bibliography

Gathering Materials

 Your knowledge: Drawing on personal experience

  Library resources
o Librarians
o Catalogue
o Reference Works
o Newpaper and periodical databases
o Academic databases

Evaluating Documents

 Authorship
 Sponsorhsip
 Recency

Research interview

- Interview to get speech information

- Questions to avoid
o Questions answerable without an interview
o Leading questions

Supporting your ideas

 Supporting materials
o Examples, statistics, testimony

Examples

- Brief, extended, or hypothetical

Citing sources orally

- Name of the doc

- Author or sponsoring org.
- Qualifications
- Date

Advantages of visual aids

- Clairty
- Interest
- Retention
- Credibility
- Persuasiveness

Beginning and Ending

Introduction:

- Gain attention, interest

- Reveal topic
- Establish credibility, goodwill
- Preview body

Gain attention

- Relate topic to audience

 - State importance of topic
- Startle audience
- Arouse Curiosity
- Question audience
- Begin with quotation
- Tell story
- Use Visual aids

Credibility: Perception of the speaker's qualifications

Goodwill: Perception of whether speaker has best interests of audience in mind

Preview Statement: statement in intro identifying main points of body

Preparing intro

- Be concise
- Look for materials as you research
- Be creative
- Finalize after body is done
- Work out content, delivery in detail

Conclusion

- Signal end of speech

- Reinforce central idea

Crescendo Ending: Building to Zenith of power intensity

Dissolve Ending: Generating Emotional appeal by fading to dramatic final statement.

Reinforce Central Idea:

- Summarize speech
- End with quotation
- Make a dramatic statement
- Refer to intro

Preparing Conclusion

- Look for materials while researching

- Conclude with a bang not a whimper
- Be brief
- Work out content, delivery in detail.

Midterm review

Memorize parts of the communication model

Types of plagiarism

Evaluating internet documents

Types of supporting materials stats. Testimonies, quotes

Connectives

Types of speeches
Kinds of visual aids

Types of informative speeches

Guideline of online speaking presentations

- Control the environment

- Setting
- Lighting
- Framing
- Eye contact
- Personal appearance

Speaking to persuade Ch. 16

- Persuasion: Creating, reinforcing, changing, people's beliefs or actions

- Ethics and persuasion
o Ethical Goals
o Ethical Methods
- Mental Dialogue: Mental give and take between the speaker and the listener
- Target audience – the portion of the audience the speaker most wants to persuade
- Persuasive Speeches
o Questions of fact
 Deals with truth or falsity of assertion
o Questions of Value
 Deals with worth, rightness of idea, or action
o Questions of policy
 Whether course of action should be taken or not be taken.
 Passive Agreement
 The audience agrees with policy
 The audience does not agree with the hypothetical course of action
 Immediate action
 Convinces audience to agree with immediate call to action
 Policy issues
 Need: Is there a problem that requires a change from current policy
 Plan: what are speakers plan to solve the problem with the current policy
 Practicality: Will the plan solve the problem?
Will the plan create new problems?
o Policy Organization
 Problem – solution **only two main points
 Problem – cause – solution *best option
 Comparative advantages *each main point explains why one solution is preferable to another
- Motivated sequence: a five-step sequence used for immediate call to action

Analyzing the audience Ch. 6

Audience – Centeredness
Audience foremost in mind during speech preparation, presentation

- To whom am I speaking?
- What do I want them to know, believe, do?
- What is the most effective way of accomplishing that?
  Egocentrism: Tendency to be concerned with own values, beliefs, well-being.

Demographic Analysis

1. Age
2. Religion
3. Racial, ethnic, cultural background
4. Gender, sexual orientation
5. Group membership

Stereotyping: Oversimplified image of the group

I. Done by assuming all members are alike

Situational Analysis

1. Size
2. Physical Setting
3. Disposition toward topic
4. Disposition toward speaker
5. Disposition toward occasion

Getting audience info

- Questions: Fixed Alternatives, scale, open ended

Adapting before

- Assess how audience will respond

- Adjust to make speech clear, convincing

Adapting during

- Adjust for unexpected circumstances

- Watch for feedback

Using Language

Denotative meaning: literal dictionary meaning of a word or phrase

Connotative meaning: meaning suggested by association or feelings associated with word or phrase

- Use language accurately

- Use language clearly
- Use language vividly
- Use language appropriately

Imagery

- Creating mental images of objects, actions, ideas.

Abstract Words

- References to general concepts, qualities, attributes

Concrete words

- References to physical objects

Simile: Like or as
Metaphor: direct comparison

Rhythm (alliteration)

Parallelism: Similar phrasing and construction

Repetition

Alliteration

Antithesis: juxtaposition of ideas

Appropriate language:

- Occasion
- Audience
- Topic
- Speaker

Inclusive language:

- Does not stereotype, demean on basis of gender, race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, etc.,
- Avoid generic “he”
o Avoid man when referring to men and women
o Avoid stereotyping roles by gender
- Use names groups use to identify themselves

Speaking on special occasions

- Introduction
o Speech introducing main speaker to audience
o Guidelines
 Be brief
 Be accurate
 Adapt to occasion
 Adapt to audience
- Presentation
o Speech presenting gift, award, or some other type of recognition
- Acceptance
o Speech giving thanks for gift, award, or recognition
- Commemoration
o Paying tribute to a person, group, institution, idea.
 Inspire audience
 Heighten appreciation
 Adjust content to topic or occasion