Your Reference
Page 333
A Study Tool
Now that you have finished reading this chapter, you can
Describe the goals of informative speaking:
- Use informative speaking to teach the audience something new (p. 310).
- Gauge what the audience already knows to determine where to begin (p. 310).
- Find an approach that will engage the audience (pp. 310–311).
- Explain the subject’s relevance to the audience (p. 311).
- Present facts and information in an objective, evenhanded way, unlike in a persuasive speech, which is subjective, presenting a point of view (pp. 311–312).
- Speak ethically (pp. 312–313).
List and describe each of the eight categories of informative speeches:
- People: focus on human qualities as well as achievements (p. 313).
- Places: find new aspects of known places, or describe the unfamiliar (p. 313).
- Objects and phenomena: focus on any nonhuman topic (pp. 313–314).
- Events: describe noteworthy events in history, or relate a personal experience (p. 314).
- Processes: show how something works, or teach how to do something (pp. –315).
- Concepts: explain an abstract idea (p. 315).
- Issues: remain objective to report on a social or personal problem (pp. 315–316).
- Plans and policies: describe the important dimensions of potential courses of action (p. 316).
Outline the four major approaches to informative speeches:
- The descriptive presentation paints a mental picture, portraying places, events, persons, objects, or processes (pp. 316–317).
- Demonstration speeches combine explanatory narration and physical demonstration (p. 317).
- There are five categories of definitional speeches
:an operational definition defines something by explaining what it is or what it does; definition by negation defines something by telling what it is not; definition by example offers concrete examples; definition by synonym defines something with closely related words; definition by etymology explains the origin of a word or phrase (pp. 317–318). - Explanatory speeches answer the question “Why?” with elucidating explanations, with quasi-scientific explanations or models, or with transformative explanations that change preconceptions (pp. 318–319).
Employ strategies to make your audience hungry for information:
- Make listeners curious by personalizing the topic and contrasting it with what they know (pp. 319–320).
- Present a clear benefit to learning about the topic and stress the topic’s relevance (p. 320).
Structure your speech to make it easy to listen to:
- Devise a clear, logical structure (pp. 320–321).
- Signal your audience when you’re about to say something important (p. 323).
- Keep it simple (p. 323).
- Relate new ideas to familiar ideas (p. 323).
- Define terms your audience may not know (p. 324).
- Select interesting examples (p. 324).
- Use strong presentation aids (pp. 324–325).