I

    Informative Speaking Lectures 1&2
 

I.  Introduction to Informative Speaking

A.  The Informative Speech Assignment has several requirements.

• See pp. 16-19 in workbook for all of the details.
• Time Limit: 6 minutes
• Use of a visual aid is required
• Use of at least three sources is required.
• Delivered Extemporaneously
• Formal Outline due on your speech day

B.  Selecting, Narrowing, and Phrasing a Topic is the first step in the inventional process.

1. The General Purpose is assigned to you. ["To Inform"]
2. The Specific Purpose tells exactly what you want to accomplish in your speech.

• Format of the Specific Purpose Statement:  To inform my audience _______________________.

3. The Central Idea is a single sentence that reveals the content of what you plan to say.

C.  Advice about Topics

        1. Follow the advice on the assignment description pp. 21-23 in the workbook.
        2.  In addition you should ask yourself:

• Does it fit the assignment/situation?
• Does it pass ethical guidelines?
• Does it have substance?

3. As you develop the Specific Purpose continue to consider:

• Does my audience need this information?
• Is it usable?
• Is it enlightening?
• Do pick a topic for which you can find at least three research sources.
• Don't pick a topic that makes the job more difficult for you.
• Do pick a topic that you can enjoy.

And when you are thinking about your topic, don't forget that ,"What is old to you may be new to your audience." Peggy Noon, Presidential Speech Writer.

III.  Organizing the Body of the Informative Speech: A closer look at Dispositio--the canon of arrangement.

Plato's Phaedrus declares:
“Every discourse ought to be a living creature, having a body of its own and head and feet; there should be a middle, beginning and end, adapted to one another and to the whole.”
Today's lecture focuses on the middle--the body of the speech.

A. Review with Specific Purposes and Central Ideas Exercise

Central Idea:  Handwriting analysts try to determine personality traits by examining the consistency, angularity, and size of a person's writing.
General Purpose:  To inform
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of the ways handwriting analysts determine personality traits by examining a person's writing.

I. Handwriting analysts try to determine personality traits by examining the consistency of  a person's handwriting.
II. Handwriting analysts try to determine personality traits by examining the angularity of  a person's handwriting.
III. Handwriting analysts try to determine personality traits by examining the size of  a person's handwriting.

B. Once your specific purpose is set you will need to develop Main Points adhering to the following guidelines:
• 2-5 main points
• keep them separate
• use parallel wording
• balance your attention to each main point
• use strategic ordering
C. Strategic Ordering of Main points means that you take advantage of your audience's preprogrammed ways of accessing information.  Here are sets of main points (from ex.1 p. 220),  the pattern of organization used, and then a brief discussion of what that pattern of organization does for you and your audience.

    1.    I.  Cesar Chavez is best known for his efforts to protect the rights of Hispanic farm  workers in California.

II.  Cesar Chavez was also a tireless advocate for Hispanic racial and cultural pride in general.

• Topical Order
• The most common organizing strategy.
• Perfect structure for speeches about types of things or speeches that list aspects of a topic.
• To use it well, the points must have a clear link or theme.
• This structure offers only limited strategic benefit.

    2.    I.  The game we know as golf originated in Scotland during the 15th century.
          II.  Most of golf's rules and traditions developed during the 19th century.
        III.   Professional golf tours  for men and women emerged during the 20th century.
        IV.  Today golf is at a peak of popularity among every day players and as a spectator sport.

• Chronological Order
• Main points are arranged according to a time sequence.
• Process speeches are usually chronological.
• Speeches about events and about people can use chronological order.
• There is a strong psychological benefit to this structure.

   3.    I. Many citizens are victimized every year by incompetent lawyers.

II.  A bill requiring lawyers to stand for recertification every ten years will do much to help resolve the problem.

• Problem-Solution
• Only 2 main points
• Used most often in persuasive contexts.
• It has a strong psychological benefit since you first prove that something is broken and then you fix it.
• It can be used for informative speeches; especially on medical topics for example:
I.  Alzheimer's is a serious illness that affects its victims’ minds as well as their bodies.
II. New treatments for Alzheimer's are improving the lives of its victims

   4.     I.   The outermost section of the ancient Egyptian burial tomb was the entrance passage.
           II.  The next section of the Egyptian burial tomb was the antechamber.
           III. The third section of the Egyptian burial tomb was the treasury.
           IV. The innermost section of the Egyptian burial tomb was the burial chamber.
• Spatial Pattern
• Follows a directional pattern: outside to inside; east to west, top to bottom etc.
• Great for informative speeches about places or for historical topics.
• There is some psychological benefit to this pattern, especially with visual learners.

    5.    I.   Caused by the bite of infected mosquitos, West Nile Virus is spreading throughout
                the United States.
         II.    The effects of West Nile Virus include flu-like symptoms, convulsions, swelling
                of the brain, and sometimes, death.

• Causal Pattern
• Only 2 main points
• Certainly has psychological benefits since causal reasoning is a way that we process information in the world.

Can run cause to effect:

Can run effect to cause:
I.  Fish, trees and lakes are dying in the eastern region of the United States.
II.  Fish, trees and lakes are dying because of acid rain.

• Causal patterns lend themselves to persuasive speeches of fact.
• Causal patterns can be used for informative speeches, especially for medical topics.

Practice: Can you correctly identify the pattern of organization used in each of the following sets of main points?
I.  The first area in the recycling plant is the collection room.
II. Beyond the collection room we come to the sorting area.
III.  Conveyer belts from the sorting area take like materials to the processing facilities.
IV.  From the processing facilities, the processed raw materials are shipped to manufacturers.

I. Recycling has its roots in pioneer culture.
II. Modern recycling efforts emerged in the 1970s with the rise of environmentalism.
III. Today, recycling has become a multimillion dollar industry.

I.  Communities are turning to municipal recycling programs for various reasons.
II. The effects of municipal recycling programs include reduced use of landfills and reduced pollution.

I. The United States faces a serious landfill crisis.
II.  The United State's landfill crisis can be met by the adoption of mandatory recycling programs.

I. One way to recycle is to reduce your use of packaging.
II. Another way to recycle is to reuse materials whenever possible.
III.  A final way to recycle is to collect and turn in used materials that can be remanufactured into new material.

I. One cause of the Civil War was the economic disparity between North and South.

II. A second cause of the Civil War was the disparity in ideas about the nature of the federal government.

III. A third cause of the Civil War was the institution of slavery.

Check your answers!

V. Connectives are the key to making your speech listener-friendly.

1.  There are four main types of connectives: Transitions, Internal Previews, Internal Summaries and Signposts.  Here are some brief definitions and examples of each type.

TRANSITIONS: move the audience quickly from one main point or sub-point to the next.

" Increasing the amount of money spent on education is only one part of the solution.  The other part is to ensure that the money is spent wisely."

"Now that we have explored the ancient origins of astrology, let us turn to its modern popularity."

 "We have spent a lot of time talking about the problem.  It's time now  to discuss the solution."

INTERNAL PREVIEWS: signal or list the sub-points that will follow.

"In discussing how Asian Americans have been stereotyped in the mass media, we'll look first at the origins of the problem and second at its continuing impact today."

"As we look at America's deteriorating public works system, we shall deal first with our streets and highways, second with our bridges, and third with our water systems.

TRANSITION COMBINED WITH INTERNAL PREVIEW:

     [Transition]:  "Now that we have seen how serious the problem of faulty credit reports is, let's look at some solutions.  [Internal Preview]:  I will focus on three--instituting tighter government regulation of credit bureaus, holding credit bureaus financially responsible for their errors, and giving individuals easier access to their credit reports."

INTERNAL SUMMARIES: review the main points or sub-points covered so far.

 "In short, palm reading is an ancient art.  Developed in China more than five thousand years ago, it was practiced in classical Greece and Rome, flourished during the Middle Ages, survived the Industrial Revolution, and remains popular today."

SIGNPOSTS: draw attention to exactly where you are in the speech or underscore a significant point.
     Numbers: “first”, “second”, “third”

     Other signals: “next”, “finally”

     Underscoring: “The most important thing to remember,”
       “Above all”, “Let me repeat,” “This will be on the exam”

II.  Attention to Organization will have a positive impact on your messages.

A. Good organization is linked to audience comprehension of your message.
B. Good organization is linked to retention of your message.
C. Good organization is linked to the audience's ability to use your information.
D. Good organization improves your credibility and persuasiveness.

III.  Organizing the Speech: Strong Introductions and Conclusions help you adapt to your audience and are essential to your success.

A. Strong Introductions Complete four major tasks. (CARP)
• Credibility and Goodwill
• Attention and Interest
• Reveal Topic
• Preview the Body
• Typical order in a speech is as follows: Attention (and relate to Audience), Reveal Topic, Credibility, Preview
SAMPLE INTRODUCTION: [with Labels]

[Attention and Interest:]     Few would dispute the importance of petroleum to the world economy.  In fact, some argue that in 1991 the United States and its allies fought a war in the Persian Gulf over this liquid, that at current prices costs less than half a cent per fluid ounce and doesn't even smell all that good.
  Imagine the lengths one might go to to protect access to a liquid that, in some cases, costs over $100 per ounce--20,000 times the cost of crude petroleum.  Wars may be fought again--advertising wars--this time to claim a portion of the international perfume market, which, according to Smithsonian magazine, has sales of $10 billion each year.
  [Topic Revealed] Ever since the ancient Mesopotamians first used perfume in burial rites over 4,000 years ago, humankind has developed an obsession with scent and is willing to pay amazingly high prices for something as intangible as a smell.
    [Credibility and related to audience]  Puzzled by my own inexplicable fondness for aftershave, I've spent some time researching our culture's partiality to perfume.  Even if you are someone who doesn't especially like to dabble Chanel or Polo behind your ears, you probably smell someone else's fragrance everyday.  Or maybe you use a product made with perfumes--such as soap, facial tissue, insecticides, or even cattle feed.
     [Preview]  With that in mind, we'll discuss the ingredients of perfume and then we'll examine some of the new commercial applications of perfume.  Let's start with the ingredients.

Flawed Introductions: W p. 41
       A six-year old collie lay battered and helpless by the side of the road.  The car that hit her had broken her pelvis, dislocated her hip, and smashed her jaw.  It had also blinded her, and she whimpered in pain and fear.
      Unfortunately, this true story happens much too frequently because of the growing problem of pet overpopulation.  Having grown up on a farm with animals of all kinds, I care deeply about their welfare, and I have become aware through my veterinary courses how serious the problem of pet overpopulation is.
[Note how the attention getter is not really connected directly to the topic.  Topic is clear in the second paragraph.  Credibility is very good.  There is no preview however; we can't tell if it is an informative or a persuasive speech.  Finally, some listeners will feel put off by the graphic effort ot gain attention and there is little or no effort to link the speech to the interests and concerns of the audience.]

B.  Strong conclusions accomplish two central tasks using a variety of means.

• signal the end
• verbally
• non-verbally
• reinforce the central idea
• summary
• drama
• reference back to the introduction

SAMPLE CONCLUSION (with labels)

[Signal the end] As we have seen, perfume is much more than a smelly liquid.  [Reinforce the Central IDea with Summary] These complex mixtures of ingredients such as aromatic oils may make us work harder and spend harder, if they don't trigger an allergic reaction first.
       [Reinforces the Central Idea using a Reference back to the introduction]  It seems almost absurd to think that perfume is thousands of times more expensive than a precious resource like petroleum.  But on the other hand, no matter how far you can drive your car on petroleum, crude oil is not the kind of fragrance you would want in your cologne, hair spray, room deodorizer, or even, I suppose, in your cattle feed.

Sample Flawed Conclusion
    Now you know about the problem of pet overpopulation.  Together we can make a difference.  Any questions?