Real Reference: 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. 434).
- Gauge what the audience already knows to determine where to begin (p. 434).
- Find an approach that will engage the audience (p. 434).
- Explain the subject’s relevance to the audience (pp. 434–435).
- Present facts and information in an objective, evenhanded way, unlike in a persuasive speech, which is subjective and presents a point of view (p. 435).
- Speak ethically (pp. 435–436).
List and describe each of the eight categories of informative speeches:
- People: focus on human qualities as well as achievements (p. 437).
- Places: find new aspects of known places or describe the unfamiliar (pp. 437–438).
- Objects and phenomena: focus on any nonhuman topic (p. 438).
- Events: describe noteworthy events in history or relate a personal experience (pp. 438–439).
- Processes: show how something works or teach how to do something (p. 440).
- Concepts: explain an abstract idea (p. 440).
- Issues: remain objective to report on a social or personal problem (pp. 440–441).
- Plans and policies: describe the important dimensions of potential courses of action (p. 441).
Outline the four major approaches to informative speeches:
- The descriptive presentation paints a mental picture, portraying places, events, persons, objects, or processes (p. 442).
- Demonstration speeches combine explanatory narration and physical demonstration (pp. 442–444).
- 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. 444–445).
- Explanatory speeches answer the question “Why?” with elucidating explanations, with quasi-scientific explanations or models, or with transformative explanations that change preconceptions (pp. 445–447).
Employ strategies to make your audience hungry for information:
- Make listeners curious by personalizing the topic and contrasting it to what they know (pp. 447–448).
- Present a clear benefit to learning about the topic (p. 448).
- Stress the topic’s relevance (p. 448).
Structure your speech to make it easy to listen to:
- Devise a clear, logical structure (pp. 449–450).
- Signal your audience when you’re about to say something important (p. 450).
- Keep it simple (p. 450).
- Relate new ideas to familiar ideas (pp. 452–453).
- Define terms your audience may not know (p. 453).
- Select interesting examples (pp. 453–454).
- Use strong presentation aids (p. 454).