The Goals of Informative Speaking

As you’ll recall from Chapter 12, the purpose of informative speaking is to increase the audience’s understanding or knowledge; put more simply, the objective is for your audience to learn something. But to be a truly effective informative speaker, your presentation must not only fill your listeners’ informational needs but also do so with respect for their opinions, backgrounds, and experiences. In addition, you want to be objective, focusing on informing (not persuading) your audience, and ethical. In this section, we examine these goals and investigate ways that you can ensure that your speech remains true to them at every phase of development and delivery.