Public Speaking Chapter Seven

Research: the process of looking for and discovering supporting materials for the speech
Analysis: exploration of a speech topic to determine which subordinate topics must be covered
Research Goals/Questions:
- Develop or strengthen your expertise on the topic
- To find evidence that will support the ideas of the speech
- To make the ideas of the speech clear understandable and pertinent to the audience
- The goals may not all be achieved by one type of material
- How much general background is necessary?
- What issues require specific supporting material?
- What types of supporting material are needed and where should you find them?
- How much supporting material is necessary? How much is too much?
- What will the audience expect?
- What will the audience accept? What examples do they want to hear?
Types of Supporting Materials:
- Personal Experience
o Should rarely be used
- Common Knowledge
o Maxims
o Generally held beliefs
o Value judgements
o Not always correct
Common Knowledge: the beliefs and values that members of a society or culture generally
share
Presumption: the assumption that a statement or claim is true until shown otherwise
- Direct Observation
o The heart of the scientific method
o Not personal experience because it can be verified by others
o Usually results from a deliberate act of trying to observe something
o Occasionally can be accidental observation
- Examples
o Makes general statements more meaningful
o Brief Example
§ These ideas are not developed in detail, they support the claim when
added with other brief examples
o Hypothetical Example
§ Ask listeners to imagine a particular situation
o Anecdote
§ A story that allows you to develop an example in great detail
§ Helps illustrate the point and helps the audience relate the issues
o Case Study
§ Supporting a general claim by focusing on one true example of this claim
o All the types of examples work by relating part of the story to the whole novel
- Documents
o Primary sources
o Valuable source of supporting material if quoted properly, often used as support
Documents: primary source that can establish a claim directly without opinion or speculation
- Statistics
o Useful when the topic is vast, they make it easy to generalize larger populations
o Stats are meaningful when compared to another stat or to a baseline
o Stats can be misleading
o Simple Enumeration
§ The most basic form of stats, a single number
§ Use context for these, do not accept them at face value
o Surveys and Polls
§ Gain information on public opinion
§ Not equally reliable
o Rates of Change
§ Show what is happening and help the audience compare the situation
o Experiments
§ Controlled tests of the effects of one item on another
§ Changes only the variable being tested
Statistics: numbers recording the extent of something or the frequency with which it occurs
- Testimony
o An opinion from someone other than the speaker
o Might have to convince the audience that the source is credible
o Factual Testimony
§ While quoting facts you say that you cannot verify the fact yourself buy
are willing to accept it because you think the source is credible
o Opinion Testimony
§ Offering a person’s opinion, also implying you believe them to be credible
§ Consider if the audience will know and trust the person being quoted
Testimony: information or an opinion expressed by someone other than the speaker
Tools for Locating Support:
- Search Engines
o The easiest way to begin research
o The sites that pop up are the most popular not the most credible
- Electronic Databases
o Subject specific area that makes it easier to find information
- Catalogs
o Can search through these using key words
- Indexes
o Newspapers
o Periodicals
o Government publications
Sources for Supporting Material:
- Periodicals
o General Interest
o Special Interest
o Technical
- Newspapers
- Books
 - Reference Works
o Dictionary
o Specialized dictionaries
o General encyclopedias
o Specialized encyclopedias and handbooks
o Abstracts
o Fact Books
o Biographical references
o Compilations and yearbooks
o Atlases
o Collections of quotations
o Book previews
- Government Publication
o Bulletins
o Reports
o Pamphlets
o Research studies
o Congressional deliberations
o Judicial opinions
o Agency publications
- Other Online Materials
- Interviews
o Person
o Subject
§ Do not ask general questions and do not ask repetitive questions
o Format
§ Ask open ended questions so the interviewee can answer with their own
personal thinking and opinions unlimited by the question
o Competence
§ Be on time, remind of the purpose of the interview, thank them for coming
§ Ability to adjust questions based on flow of interview
o Taking Notes
§ Keep track of important points
§ Ask if you can record the interview
§ Recording the interview might make the respondent lest candid
o What is Usable?
§ Rely on the interview for opinion and testimony
Closed Question: question with a finite number of choices from which the respondent must pick
Open Ended Question: a question that does not restrict the range of possible responses
Follow Up Question: a question that explores the implications of a previous response
Evaluating Evidence:
- Potential Deficiencies in Evidence
o Unavailable for inspection
o Inaccurate or uncertain
o Not credible
o Not from a relevant expert
 o Inconsistent
o Contradicted
o Irrelevant
- Quality of Internet Evidence
o Does the site meet the standards of credibility?
o Who set up the website?
o What are the sources credentials?
o What is the purpose of the website?
o Does the content appear to reflect scholarship?
o Can you confirm the information?
o When was the site last updated?
Plan for Research:
- Start Early
- Determine what sources are best (internet, library, combination)
- Bring necessary materials and supplies
- Learn the libraries layout
- Develop a preliminary bibliography
- Set priorities within the bibliography
- Read progressively
- Read selectively
- Read efficiently
- Be open to new ideas
- Use multiple sources and evidence
- Protect against plagiarism (use multiple sources and paraphrase)
- Keep a speech material file
- Know when to stop
Note Taking:
- Use a flexible system (allow things to be easily rearranged, added, or deleted)
- Include Full Bibliographic content (essential part of research)
- Decide whether to quote or paraphrase the source
- Clearly identify added and deleted items in quoted material (ellipses and brackets)
- Take notes only once