Chapter 15: Informative Speaking

Definition

When offering definitions, competent speakers remember that words have connotative meanings—emotional meanings—for people (Chapter 3). Consider the words marriage and torture. Even if you offer clear dictionary definitions of these terms, your audience may have strong attitudes about them that are influenced by their cultural backgrounds. As an informative speaker, you should be aware of the power of connotative meanings while not trying to persuade people to feel differently about terms.

Most informative speeches require that the speaker define a term or clarify an idea at some point (see “Clarifying Concepts” in the next section for more discussion). For some topics, however, the entire speech is focused on definitions. The main goal of definitional speeches is to provide answers to “what” questions. Such questions as “What is torture?” and “What is marriage?” have prompted heated debate in the halls of Congress (and elsewhere) in recent years, making it clear that an entire speech could easily be devoted to defining such complex ideas. When you define something, you identify its essential qualities and meaning. Following are various ways to do this, and a definitional speech often incorporates more than one of these techniques.

An operational definition defines something by explaining what it is or what it does. For example, a salsa can be defined by what it is: “A salsa is a condiment, usually made of tomatoes, onions, and peppers, common in Spanish and Latin American cuisine.” Alternatively, it can be defined by what it does: “Salsas are most commonly used as dipping sauces for fried tortilla chips, but they also work well alongside grilled fish.”
Definition by negation defines something by telling what it is not. For example, “A salsa is not the same as taco or piquante sauce.”
Definition by example defines something by offering concrete examples of what it is. For example, “Salsas include the basic tomato version you get at your local Mexican restaurant, as well as variants made from mangoes, pineapples, or tomatillos.”
Definition by synonym defines something by using words that closely mean the same thing. For example, “A salsa is basically just a chunky sauce, similar to a chutney in Indian cuisine.”
Definition by etymology defines something by using the origin of a word or phrase. For example, “Salsa is the Spanish and Italian word for sauce, derived from the Latin word for ‘salty.’”

As noted, definitional speeches can take one or more of these ap-proaches to defining a specific term.