Public Speaking

Lecture 01: Introduction to Public Speaking

Prof. Binod Mishra
DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

1
 What is Public Speaking?

❖ According to Merriam Webster Dictionary , Public Speaking is “the act or

process of making speeches in public” or “the art of effective oral
communication with an audience”
❖ “Speech is power: speech is to persuade , to convert, to compel” - Ralph
Waldo Emerson
❖ To be successful, says business leader Midge Costanza, you must have
“the ability to stand on your feet, either on a one-to-one basis or before a
group, and make a presentation that is convincing and believable” (Lucas
34).

2
 Advent of Public Speaking
➢ The inception of Public Speaking in Greece and Rome as a discipline
dates 2,500 years ago.
➢ The famous Greek scholar Aristotle (384-322 BCE) laid the foundation in
his treatise titled Rhetoric - the first book on Public Speaking.

➢ Roman educator Quintilian, Christian preacher St. Augustine, the

medieval writer Christine de Pizan, British philosopher Francis Bacon,
Nelson Mandela, Hillary Clinton and many others have magnified the
power of public speaking.

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 Public Speaking and its Development
❑ 21st Century witnessed the advancements in the discourse of Public
Speaking.

❑ Due to technical advancements, different forms of public speaking have

surfaced and are thriving in the contemporary times.

❑ Besides the physical communication, new platforms for Public Speaking

like Ted Talk, YouTube broadcasting, Video conferencing, and Podcasts
are vested with the power to inspire, educate, entertain and persuade
the viewers or the listeners.

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5
 Public Speaking as a Form of Communication

➢ Communication plays a chief role in public speaking.

➢ Effective communication is the backbone of public speaking.

➢ Effective communication ensures the message reaches the audience in

its correct and desired form.

➢ Speaking with confidence is mandatory.

➢ Style of communication also plays an important role in public speaking.

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 Public Speaking Vs. Everyday Communication

▪ Public Speaking is not an everyday routine.

▪ Public speech is special and it is delivered on occasions of
importance.
▪ Attributes of Public Speaking:
✓ More structured and not spontaneous
✓ Time constraint
✓ Formal and Decent language
✓ Proper body language and mannerism
✓ Avoiding jargons, colloquial expressions or slangs
✓ Avoiding non-lexical fillers

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 Public Speaking- An Exercise in Critical Thinking

✓ Ability to form your own judgments

✓ Analyze and understand different points of view
✓ Verify the facts
✓ Recognize a speaker’s biased/unstated assumptions
✓ Broaden one’s canvas of thoughts

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Ingredients of Public Speaking

Topic

Pattern Time
Public
Speaking

Style Language

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 Beneficiaries
➢ There are more avenues to reach people than ever before, but there is
no substitute for face-to-face communication

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 Domains of Public Speaking - I
Entrepreneurial Communication:

➢ Interviews

➢ Leadership

➢ Meetings

➢ Group Discussions

➢ Negotiations

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 Domains of Public Speaking- II

Classroom/ Scholarly Communication

➢ Student-teacher communication

➢ Elocutions

➢ Recitations

➢ Debates

➢ Conferences and Symposiums

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 Impediments to Public Speaking

➢ Nervousness

➢ Inept Delivery

➢ Lack of Coherence

➢ Negligent Listening

➢ Content divorced from Occasion

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 Advantages of Public Speaking in diverse fields

➢ Technical

➢ Financial

➢ Bureaucracy

➢ Aesthetic

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 Iconic Speech
"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when
we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very
substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps,
India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but
rarely in history, when we step out from the old to new, when an age ends,
and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance…”
- Jawaharlal Nehru

15
“And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that
for you. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”
- Steve Jobs

Thank You

16
 Works Consulted
▪ Lucas, Stephen E. The Art of Public Speaking. McGraw-Hill Book
Co., 2014.
▪ https://www.cam.ac.uk/files/a-tryst-with-destiny/index.html
▪ https://www.managementstudyguide.com/role-of-
communication-in-effective-public-speaking.htm
▪ https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-
speech-in-its-entirety
▪ Zaresky, David. Public Speaking Strategy for Success. 8th Edition,
Pearson: New York,2016.

17
 Public Speaking
Lecture 02- Communication Process and Roadblocks

Prof. Binod Mishra

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

1
 Communication as a Process

● Human communication process is an essential systematic method and

means to transfer information as well as emotions.
● Past surveys indicate that an individual spends 75% of their time in some
form of communication activity, i.e. Listening, Speaking, Reading, and
Writing.
Raymond Ross emphasizes the need to bring awareness of the speech
communication of mankind through which, “Our behaviour will increasingly
reflect openness, tolerance for ambiguity, concern for context, caution with
language, and greater respect for feedback, mutual influence and our
dependence upon one another.

2
 Communication is a Social Function
❖ Humans as a social being depend on communicative acts to carry out their
personal and public life in a better manner.
❖ Communication provides a channel for two-way influence between
individuals or groups.
❖ An effective communication comprises a well-defined cause with an
intended effect.
❑ Functions of Communication:
➢ To inform
➢ To persuade
➢ To motivate

3
 Purposes of Speech Communication
▪ The three main functions of communication posits itself as the purpose to
attain certain intended goals of a speaker through his speech
communication.
▪ The three general purposes of a public speech shall be correlated to
specific goals to be achieved:
● Clarity

01 To inform ●
●
Interest
Understanding

● Belief

02 To persuade ●
●
Action
Stimulation

● Interest

03 To entertain ●
●
Enjoyment
Humor

4
 WHO
Lasswell’s Model of Communication SAYS WHAT
IN WHAT CHANNEL
TO WHOM
WITH WHAT EFFECT

5
 Types of Communication
Verbal Communication Non-Verbal Communication

❖ In Verbal Communication, words are used to ❖ In Non-Verbal Communication, body language is

convey any message. employed to convey any message.
❖ It is of two types: Written and Oral Communication ❖ Examples of Non-Verbal Communication:
❖ Examples of Written Communication: Letters,
Waving, Smile, Head Nod, Handshakes, Hugs, Sign
Texting, E-mails, Books
Language
❖ Examples of Oral Communication: Face-to-face
conversations, Speech, Host on Radio, Interview,
Group Discussion etc.

6
 Classification of Communication

Verbal Non-Verbal

Public Speaking Conversation Silences Gestures

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 Choice/Medium of Communication

➢ Choice of right medium of communication is essential

➢ Wrong medium doesn’t allow the intended meaning to reach to the
targeted audience
➢ Value of the medium in the given communication situation is called
media richness (Bovee 168).
➢ Its determinants are:
▪ The ability to convey a message with the help of multiple informational
cue.
▪ The ability to get feedback and develop personal focus.

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 Media Richness Continuum

Business Reports
Face to Telephone
Richer Letters & fliers Leaner
Face and e-mail
Memos Bulletin

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 Public Speaking as a Communicative Act
same as func of comm
Public Speaking is a vital skill for multiple reasons. Some of the reasons are as
follows:
➢ To win over a crowd persuade
■ Public Speaking is an essential skill both inside and outside the
workplace. Speaking with poise and confidence can win over
numerous clients and even oppositions.
■ Language should be fluid, intriguing and should evoke curiosity.
■ Making forward strides is equally essential in order to make a
strong case.

10
➢ To motivate people
■ Public Speaking is vested with the power of motivation where one
can influence someone to stop doing something, change a
behaviour, and to obtain goals.
■ It should be exciting enough for peers, customers, employees,
coworkers.

➢ To inform
■ Being informative is a vital component of Public Speaking.
■ Be it demonstrating or convincing, facts are essential to support
any form of persuasion

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 Roadblocks in Communication

❑ There are different types of communication barriers which dilute the

effectiveness of communication and even jeopardize the whole cause.
1. Language barrier
a. Use of casual language. (Informal)
b. Excessive use of jargon (Too formal)
c. Lack of clarity in words chosen. (Ambiguity)
2. Psychological barrier
a. Argumentative mindset.
b. Narrow mindedness.
c. Lack of emotional awareness.

12
 Contd…

3. Cultural barriers:
a. Lacking cultural sensitivity towards the audience.
b. Carrying cultural stereotypes.
c. Name-calling and Abusive language.
4. Physical barriers:
a. Noisy environment/ audience.
b. Poor architecture of seminar/ lecture halls.
c. Faulty channel. Technical issues.

13
 Contd…

5. Attitudinal barriers:
a. Personality conflicts.
b. Lack of self-confidence.
c. Motivational deficiency.
6. Interpersonal barriers:
a. Fear for criticism
b. Defensive speech communication.
c. Lack of mutual-confidence.

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 Remedies to Communication Roadblocks

➢ Adopt an audience-centered approach

➢ Encourage candid communication climate
➢ Reduce the number of levels
➢ Facilitate feedback
➢ Commit to ethical communication
➢ Compose efficient messages
➢ Be generous and patient
➢ Avoid making false assumptions

15
“ The single biggest problem in communication is the
illusion that it has taken place.”

- George Bernard Shaw

Thank You
16
 Works Consulted
▪ Bovee, Courtland L., John V. Thill, Business Communication, McGraw-Hill,
4th ed., USA, 1995.
▪ https://www.technofunc.com/index.php/leadership-
skills/communication-skills/item/functions-of-communication
▪ Lasswell, H.D. “The Structure and Function of Communication in Society”,
The Communication of Ideas, Harper & Row, 1948, p. 37.
▪ Ross, Raymond. Speech Communication, Prentice-Hall Inc., 1977.
▪ Sharma, Sangeeta and Binod Mishra. Communication Skills for Engineers
and Scientists. PHI Learning Pvt. Limited. 6th ed., New Delhi, 2015.

17
 Public Speaking
Lecture 03- Rhetoric in Public Speaking

Prof. Binod Mishra

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

1
“Rhetoric may be defined as
the faculty of observing in
any given case the available
means of persuasion".
Aristotle in Rhetoric
(trans. by W. Rhys Roberts)

2
 Aristotelian Modes of Persuasion
❑ Ethos, Pathos and Logos
pm of india speaking like this will make people
believe him, so he was using ethos
❖ That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant
striving so that we may fulfill the pledges we have so The essence of sophistry consists in the
often taken and the one we shall take today. The service moral purpose, the deliberate use of
of India means, the service of the millions who suffer. fallacious arguments. In Dialectic, the
dialectician has the power or faculty of
❖ “For the price of a cup of coffee, you can feed a starving making use of them when he pleases; when
child.” he does so deliberately, he is called a
sophist. In Rhetoric, this distinction does not
exist; he who uses sound arguments as well
❖ This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no as he who uses false ones are both known
time for ill will or blaming others. We have to build the as rhetoricians
noble mansion of free India where all her children may
dwell.
pm giving logic

3
 Historical Background
➢ The eminent Roman orators, Cicero (106-43 BCE) and Quintilian (35-95 CE), added
significantly to the study of rhetoric.

➢ Cicero tried to resolve the perpetual debate regarding content versus delivery in
oration. He argued for a balance between the style and the substance - harmony of
the rhetorical perspective and the oratorial perspective. He propounded the five
canons of Rhetoric for curating a persuasive speech: Invention, Disposition, Style,
Memorization, and Delivery.

➢ Quintilian, another significant rhetorician believed that knowledge could be acquired

through proper education.

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➢ In American Revolution, the rhetorical studies of ancient Greece and Rome
were resurrected as speakers and teachers looked to Cicero and others to
inspire defense of the new republic.

➢ John Quincy Adams of Harvard advocated for the democratic advancement

of the art of rhetoric.

➢ Throughout the 20th century, rhetoric developed as a concentrated field of

study with the establishment of public speaking courses in high schools and
universities. The courses in speaking apply fundamental Greek theories (such
as the modes of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos).

5
 atheist Rhetoric: Later Trends
➢ Francis Bacon aimed to bring the power of language under rational control
when he said,“. . . the duty of rhetoric is to apply Reason to Imagination for
the better moving of the will.” rhetoric is imp ,yes but it has to ne supported by reason

before giving a speech these exercises must be done

➢ Later trends in literature are:
▪ Epistemological
▪ Belletristic
▪ Elocutionist

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Contd…

➢ The Epistemological Tradition comprised Campbell’s The Philosophy of

Rhetoric (1776) and Richard Whately’s Elements of Rhetoric (1828) where
they brought forth their knowledge of classical rhetoric and
contemporary psychology to create rhetoric based on an understanding
of human nature. They inaugurated audience- centered approaches to
rhetoric and initiated the way for contemporary investigations with
audience analysis.

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➢ The Belles Lettres Movement, marked a departure from the rationalists
and elocutionists, valued aesthetic qualities of writing over informative
value.
➢ The Elocutionary Movement focused primarily on delivery and was
widely publicized as planned gestures, loud and dramatic movements.
These trends faded with time.

❑ In early twentieth century, however, National Communication

Association that was formed in the United States by a small group of
public speaking teachers who wanted to restore the rich qualities and
scope that were once attributed to rhetoric.

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 TYPES OF PERSUASIVE SPEECHES

Judicial Rhetoric ● Establishes facts and judgments about the

facts are very imp , eg advocate in courts , the
past
way they present a case
● Example- detectives at a crime scene

announcemnet
● Makes a proclamation about the present
Demonstrative Rhetoric
situation
● Example- wedding speeches

● Focuses on the future

Deliberative Rhetoric ● Employed by Politicians, Activists

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 technique to persuade people eg antony in julius
ceaser
Psychology of Persuasion
• A public speaker’s personality is entitled with the goal to persuade and
determine audience’s mood and motivation.
• Kluckhohn and Murray have pointed out four personality determinants
for persuader as follows:
❖ Constitution (outward appearance)
❖ Group membership (adaptability) to which party/commitee does he belong?
❖ Role
❖ Situation

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 Persuasion Filters and Barriers Chart (Ross 1977)
book: speech communication

Attention
Constitution

Group membership
Needs
MESSAGE

Motive Appeal RECEPTION

Topic Objections
Role

Situation
Comprehension

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 Theories of Persuasion

❑ Raymond Ross in his text on Speech Communication affirms that

rhetoric is “the method of giving effect to the truth” which can also
“be taught”.
❑ According to classical rhetoric theory, there are five basic tasks in
preparing and sending persuasive messages, which are referred to as
“canons”:
❖ Invention: Content of message and audience’s needs
❖ Arrangement: of the whole speech and crux message
❖ Style: of language with regards to the audience
❖ Memory: of speech content in sequential order
❖ Delivery: of message through voice and body action

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 Theories of Persuasion
Congruity theory of persuasion:
• This theory positions persuasion as a means to seek common agreement
and harmony.
• Given the established differences between individuals, a public speaker
could act as a mediator to bring people together in congruity.

Balance theory:
• As the name suggests, the theory suggests persuasion as a tool to reduce
tension due to imbalance of ideas, motivation and action through speech.
• It is achieved by “modifying either the affective (feelings)
emotions or cognitive
knowledge (belief)
element of an attitude.” (Ross 274)

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 Rhetorical Devices

➢ A rhetorical device is a technique that is used by a speaker or an author for

conveying a particular message to the audience in such a way that it
provokes an emotional response to a particular action.

➢ It is a linguistic tool, whose employment can be used to construct an

argument or make an existing one more compelling.

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 Types of Rhetorical Devices
Alliteration(L) This device is the repetition of sounds of
two or more words placed nearby in any sentence. This is
usually applied to consonants, employed to emphasize and
draw attention. If two witches
were watching
For example, Five miles meandering with a mazy motion. two watches,
(Coleridge). which witch
would watch
And the balls like pulses beat;/For the sky and the sea, and the sea
and the sky/Lay like a load on my weary eye. (Coleridge, Rime of the which watch?
Ancient Mariner)

last word of first= first word of next 15

 Contd…
Anadiplosis (Gk ‘doubling’) In this rhetorical device, there is a repetition of the
last word in a phrase at the beginning of the next phrase or sentence.
For example, Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads to suffering. –Yoda, Star Wars

Labour and care are rewarded with success, success produces confidence, confidence relaxes the
industry, and negligence ruins the reputation. (Dr Johnson’s Rambler no. 21)

Antistrophe-(Gk ‘ counter turning’) While using this device, there is a specific type
of repetition of words at the end of consecutive phrases/clauses/sentences.
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo
Emerson

“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live. It is asking others to live as one wishes to live…” ( Wilde)

16
Antithesis-(Gk.) There are two
juxtaposed ideas in one sentence which
ulta is stated in next sentence
are opposite and contrasting.
For example, “Ask not what your country can
do for you; ask what you can do for your
country.”

“Crafty men contemn studies; simple men

admire them; and wise men use them.”
(Bacon)

Also, this term is closely associated with

thesis and synthesis.
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Anaphora (Gk ‘carrying up or back’)- a rhetorical device involving the repetition of a word or
group of words in successive clauses. rep only in begn of sen

And so if we praise him, our words seem rather small, and if we praise him, to some extent
we also praise ourselves. ( J.L. Nehru)
Diacope (Gk.) - a repeated word or phrase split up by another word, to display strong
emotion.
For example, Free at last! Free at last! Thank god we are free at last! (Martin Luther King)

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. (Leo Tolstoy)

Ellipsis- This particular device has a few words, depicting an event that is omitted to highlight
the narrative gaps for readers. shows time lapse
For instance, “Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth…the proposition that all men are
created equal.” ( Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address)

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Litotes (Gk litos) This is a commonly used device in conversations where double
negatives that present a positive statement. An understatement for emphasis,
you speak 2 negatives but the meaning is positive
For example, ‘She is not thin’, ‘You are not unfamiliar with speech’.
“He hath not failed to pester us with message” - Hamlet (Act 1 Scene 2)
Hyperbole (Gk overcasting) A commonly used expression of mere exaggeration, this
device is often used to draw attention to the gravity of the matter or to make a
strong point.
For instance, ‘ I have not seen him for ages.’

“I’ll love you till the ocean/ is folded and hung up to dry” - W.H. Auden in his poem “As I
Walked Out One Evening.”

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 The Power of Rhetoric
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning
of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves
and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table
of brotherhood. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of
their character. I have a dream today.” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

20
“The rhetoric is the key to the character.
It's the verbal music of the piece.”
-Peter Shaffer

Thank You
21
 Works Consulted
• Barot, Hrideep. “4 Ways to Use Rhetorical Devices to Make Powerful Speeches (with
Examples).” Frantically Speaking, 15 Feb. 2021, https://franticallyspeaking.com/4-
ways-to-use-rhetorical-devices-to-make-powerful-speeches-with-examples/.
• Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, et al. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: In Seven Parts. Calla
Editions, 2015.
• Cuddon, Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Penguin Books, 1999
• Kluckhohn, Clyde et al. Personality in nature, society, and culture, Knopf, 1956.
• Roberts, W. Rhys. Jebb's Translation of Aristotle's Rhetoric., 1909.
• Ross, Raymond. Speech Communication, Prentice-Hall Inc., 1977.
● Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina. Fingerprint Publishing, 2016.
● https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/rhetorical-strategies-list

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 Public Speaking
Lecture 04- Role of Listening in Public Speaking
Prof. Binod Mishra
DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

1
rhetoric attract u to a speakerbut if u want to coph a speaker
u need to listen to talks, rhethorj can provide u technique but
listening is vimp Hearing Vs Listening
⮚ Hearing, according to Merriam-Webster
is the “process, function, or power of
Hearing Listening
perceiving sound; specifically: the special
sense by which noises and tones are Accidental Focused
received as stimuli.”
⮚ Listening, on the other hand, means “to Involuntary Voluntary
pay attention to sound; to hear
something with thoughtful attention and
Effortless Intentional
to give consideration.”(Merriam-
Webster)

2
 Listening as a lost art
Stephen Lucas illustrates the difference between listening and hearing as follows in the Chapter 3
of The Art of Public Speaking as follows:

❑ “Hearing is a physiological process, involving the

vibration of sound waves on our eardrums and
the firing of electrochemical impulses from the
inner ear to the central auditory system of the
brain.”
✓ We grasp only 50 percent of what we hear and
we can remember only 10 percent of the
original message.

3
 Importance of Listening
✓ Listening is the other half of talking. In fact,
listening is the first step for speaking.
✓ Of the four basic skills of learning, i.e. Listening,
Speaking, Reading and Writing - it is evident
that listening occupies the larger part. Hearing
✓ Studies reveal that students with the highest Filtering
Interpreting
grade are usually great listeners showing great Responding
attention during lectures and discussions. Remembering
✓ It also plays a significant role in developing
workplace culture and even forming healthy
interpersonal relationships.

4
 Listening as a Process
⮚ It begins with hearing.
⮚ According to Ernest D. Nathan, “Perceptive
listening is a conscious cognitive effort
involving primarily the sense of hearing
reinforced by other senses and leading to
understanding. When perceptive listening
is inspired by a sincere desire to
understand, it becomes more than a
sensory process. It is an attitude well
expressed as a listening spirit.” This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

5
 Effective Listening Situations

❖ Conversation
❖ Group discussion
❖ Negotiation
❖ Interviews
❖ Meetings
❖ Speeches

12/07/2022 6
 Advantages of Listening

⮚ Builds trust and strong relationships

⮚ Prevents you from missing important information

⮚ Enables identification or anticipation of problems

⮚ Empowers the individual as a leader

This Photo by Unknown Author is

⮚ Completes the Communication

licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

7
 Listening is also Communicating

⮚ Listening is the ability to

accurately receive and interpret
messages in the communication
process.

⮚ Listening is key to all effective

communication. Without the
ability to listen effectively,
messages are easily This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

misunderstood.

8
Basic Modes of Listening

Combative Listening

Attentive Listening

Reflective Listening

9
⮚ Combative Listening
Listeners tend to be more conscious of their own viewpoints than the content
delivered by the speaker. They deliberately draw attention and are mostly
immature listeners.
⮚ Attentive Listening
Listeners have the patience to instill whatever is being uttered by the speaker.
They neither check the facts presented by the speaker nor mistrust them. They
lack independent thinking and easily get carried away by what has been said.
➢ Reflective Listening (most effective type of listening)
Listeners are alert, actively opine and evaluate everything delivered by the
speaker and reciprocate in the best possible manner.

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 Degrees of Active Listening

Repeating Paraphrasing Reflecting

Perceiving Perceiving Perceiving

Paying Attention Paying Attention Paying Attention

Remembering Thinking and Reasoning Thinking and Reasoning

Rendering the message

Repeating the message
using similar words and Rendering the message
using exactly the same
phrase arrangement to using one’s own words
words used by the
the one used by the and sentence structure
speaker
speaker

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 Feedback in Active Listening

➢ Key component of Active Listening

➢ Corrective mechanism; helps an individual to learn how to match behaviour
with original intention
➢ Active Listener should refrain from imposing unwelcomed responses

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

12
 Advantages of Listening

⮚ Listening is an essential element of learning.

⮚ Child learns sounds before s/he learns to write.

⮚ Linguists believe language is not taught but caught.

⮚ Listening benefits the speaker as well as the listener.

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 Impediments to Listening

❑ Prejudging ❑ Hurried conclusions

❑ Ambiguity ❑ Cognitive dissonance
❑ Illusion
❑ Rigidity
❑ Abstracting
❑ Slant
❑ Premature evaluation

14
 How to listen effectively?

Pay full attention and respect.

Listen actively - one thing at a time
Focusing on the message than the details.
Look out for evidence supporting the main message.
Develop note-taking skills.

Concentrate not on the speaker’s delivery or appearances, but the

speech.
Avoid presumptions and judgements.
Avoid distractions - both physical and mental.

15
“Hearing is through ears, but listening is
through the mind.”
Thank You

16
 Works Consulted
• https://inpd.co.uk/blog/benefits-of-active-listening/
• https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/listening-skills.html
• Lucas, Stephen. The Art of Public Speaking. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 2014.
• Nikitina, Arina. Successful Public Speaking, 2011
• Ross, Raymond. Speech Communication, Prentice-Hall Inc., 1977.
• Sharma, Sangeeta and Binod Mishra. Communication Skills for Engineers and
Scientists. PHI Learning Pvt. Limited. 6th ed., New Delhi, 2015.
• Zaresky, David. Public Speaking Strategy for Success. 8th Edition, Pearson:
New York,2016.

17
 Public Speaking
Lecture 05- Role of Ethics in Public Speaking

Prof. Binod Mishra

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

1
 On Ethics

❑ The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy states that the word ethics is

“commonly used interchangeably with ‘morality’ … and sometimes it is
used more narrowly to mean the moral principles of a particular
tradition, group or individual.”

❑ Richard William Paul and Linda Elder define ethics as “a set of concepts
and principles that guide us in determining what behaviour helps or
harms sentient creatures”.

❑ Paul and Elder state that most people confuse ethics with behaving in
accordance with social conventions, religious beliefs and the law and
don’t treat ethics as a stand-alone concept.

2
 Contd…

• Ethics is moral philosophy.

• It is the study of the values and guidelines.
• Ethics deals with voluntary actions.
• Ethical values are culturally-oriented.

• “Do unto others as you would have them do

unto you.”
 Ethos and Ethics

• As discussed in the previous lecture, ethos forms an

indispensable corner of Aristotelian rhetorical triangle. Ethos

• The term ethos can be synonymously understood as

“an appeal to ethics.”
• The conscience of the speaker plays a stronger part to
establish the credibility of his/her speech.
• The nature of the effect caused by a speaker, be it good Logos Pathos
or bad, is solely determined by the ethical appeal of the
speech.

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 Ethics in Public Speaking

❖ Public speaking shall rather be a rhetorical art of persuasion, than

dubious trickery of manipulation.
❖ The speaker with the power of speech must be aware of his/her ethical
responsibilities.
❖ Roman rhetorician Quintilian said “the ideal of speechmaking is the good
person speaking well.”

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 Brutus’ Speech Antony’s Speech
brutus, a dear friend of caesar killed him along with ither
conspirators. mark anthony turned the tide in favor of ceasar
using his speech, he supported him in his speech

Be patient till the last. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your

Romans, countrymen, and lovers!
Hear me for my cause, and be silent, that
you may hear: believe me for mine honour,
and have respect to mine honour,
that you may believe: censure me in your
wisdom,
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
and awake your senses,
that you may the better judge. (Act III,
Scene ii)
ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar.
[...]
Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man. (Act
III,Scene ii)

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 Ethical Guidelines for Public Speaking

• The speech, in general, should be for the benefit for the greater goodwill
of listeners than the speaker’s personal interests.

• Get the facts right: The more thorough and well researched the content
is, lesser the chance of ethical deviance or dubiousness.

• Humankind relies and thrives on honesty and mutual trust. Thus, an

ethical speaker should try to provide words of reliability.

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 Caution in Speech
A speaker must exercise caution while developing an ethically sound speech.
S/he should refrain from the following:
❖ Cooked-up data or statistics.
❖ Equipping irrelevant quotes.
❖ Poor oral citation strength.
❖ Failing to bring the bigger picture.
❖ Lack of strong evidence to back their opinions.
❖ Insensitive to a particular individual/ socio-ethnic group and culture.
❖ Lacking dignity and politeness.

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 Plagiarism in Speech

❖ A strong speech shall arise from one’s heart boosted with emotional
feelings and intellectual fervour.
❖ However, if the speaker chooses to merely read a full speech, an excerpt
or even a quote from a third-party and fails to acknowledge the source–
then the speaker indulges in a serious ethical crime called plagiarism.
❖ An ideal speaker shall refrain from putting up a fake impression by
stealing someone else’s speech–which, in fact, defeats the purpose of
public speaking i.e, to exchange one’s own opinion and thoughts on the
subject of a critical matter.

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 Types of Plagiarism
Stephen Lucas jots down three kinds of
plagiarism in public speaking in his book Global
“The Art of Public Speaking.”

❑ Global Plagiarism: It is a blatant theft of 3 types of Plagiarism Patchwork

incorporating content completely from a
third party source, without any
acknowledgement.
Incremental

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 Contd…

❑ Patchwork Plagiarism: As the name suggests, it is stealing excerpts from

multiple sources and combining it into your personal speech.
❑ Incremental Plagiarism: It includes usage of quotes or paraphrasing
original ideas of others without due credits given.

One must be careful with the last form of plagiarism as it is most common
mistake carried out by speakers when delivering public speeches.

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 Consequences of Plagiarism

❖ Public speaking as verbal talent posits itself as a “cause” with clear

motive to “effect” the intended audience.

❖ And if the so-called “cause” is sourced to plagiarism in itself, then the

latter “effect” shall be equally misleading.

❖ The consequences of a speaker getting charged of plagiarism is both

interpersonal and intra-personal.

❖ The speaker shall lose credibility, power of speech, reputation and even
considerable amount of money when sued for liability.

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 Oral Citations

• Quotes and paraphrases are inevitable part of a public speech.

• A speaker must refer to the words of great thinkers or novel ideas to
back up their opinions and give credibility to their speech.
• Such reference to an individual or a particular source must be clearly
routed for listener's convenience.

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 Ethical Listening
▪ If one end of the public speaking is held
by the speaker, then the other end is
completed by listeners.
▪ The clear-cut contact of message
through channel, interferences and
situation determines the efficiency of
speech delivered. It blesseth him that gives and him that
▪ Listeners play an important role as takes:
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
much as speaker in order to make a The throned monarch better than his
public speech achieve its effect. crown; (Shakespeare)

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 How to be a good listener?

✓ Pay attention to the speaker during the limited time of speech.

✓ Listen to the speaker without any presumption or bias.
✓ Practice open-mindedness.
✓ Express eagerness to listen and motivate speaker's confidence.
✓ Refrain from indulging in other activities while speech is delivered.

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 Ways to be ethical

✓ Avoid Ethnocentrism
✓ Avoid misquoting
✓ Respect the audience
✓ Avoid alienating the audience
✓ Avoid being too personal

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“In law, man is guilty when he violates the rights of
others, in ethics he is guilty if he thinks of doing so.”
- Immanuel Kant

Thank You

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 Works Consulted
❖ Lucas, Stephen E. The Art of Public Speaking. McGraw-Hill
Book Co. International Edition, 11th Ed. 2014.
❖ Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar.
❖ Ross, Raymond. Speech Communication, Prentice-Hall Inc.,
1977.
❖ Zaresky, David. Public Speaking Strategy for Success. 8th
Edition, Pearson: New York,2016.

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