SOME THINGS ARE BETTER LEFT UNSAID
CONSIDER THE DILEMMA
As an active member of your campus community, you belong to several clubs and serve as a student representative to the college dean’s advisory council. You also volunteer as a peer mentor. In this role, you help guide first-year students in their academic and social adjustment to college. Given your academic standing and your popularity as a mentor, Dr. Dawkins—the college dean—asks you to present a session called Academic Survival Skills for Your First Semester during new-student orientation.
Though you are honored, you are also nervous, and you share your concerns with your friend Jack: “I’m not sure how I can keep the stu-dents interested in academic survival skills. Dr. Dawkins wants me to present for 15 to 20 minutes.”
“Just tell them about your first semester and what worked for you,” Jack advises.
“I can’t do that,” you reply. “My first semester was a disaster. I almost quit school.” When Jack asks you what happened, you reluctantly explain, “Well, it’s pretty embarrassing, but I was accused of plagiarizing a paper in my intro psych class. I didn’t give proper credit for my sources. It’s not that I didn’t want to; I just didn’t know how.”
“So, did you fail the class?” Jack asks.
“No,” you answer. “I got an F on the paper. But I learned to ask for help instead of making assumptions about how to do something. The professor took me under her wing. I ended up passing the course, and I actually changed my major to psychology.”
“Wow! That’s a powerful lesson. Why don’t you tell the students that story?” Jack suggests.
“Are you kidding me? Dr. Dawkins will be there. I don’t want him knowing that. Besides, I’m supposed to be teaching these students how to avoid getting into that kind of trouble.”
CONNECT THE RESEARCH
Self-disclosure occurs in speeches when you share information about yourself that wouldn’t ordinarily be known by listeners. Speakers often do this to bond with their listeners. In educational settings—like a new-student orientation—appropriate self-disclosure increases student motivation and liking for the instructor (Hill, Ah Yn, & Lindsey, 2008). Additionally, researchers have found that learning is promoted through the use of self-disclosure and stories to illustrate concepts (Downs, Javidi, & Nussbaum, 1988).
However, the kind of personal information you share matters. Researchers Pamela Lannutti and Elena Strauman (2006) found that students give high positive evaluations to teachers who self-disclose information that is positive and relevant to the lesson (“During my first week of college, I was so hyped that I was up and dressed by six o’clock every morning”). Such revelations help students see instructors as human. But there is a limit. Self-disclosing negative information (personal flaws, bad habits) or talking excessively about themselves causes students to view presenters unfavorably (Downs et al., 1988).
COMMUNICATE
Before making a communication choice, consider the facts of the situation, and the research on self-disclosure in academic settings. Also, reflect on what you’ve learned so far about informative speech preparation (pp. 402–406), narrative presentations (pp. 409–410), and the guidelines for informative speaking (pp. 414–419). Then answer these questions:
How might the new students benefit from your personal story?
What risks do you take by including your personal narrative in the presentation? If you do not disclose the experience, how else might you engage your audience?
What will you say in your speech?