Ethics in Public Speaking: Review Questions and Activities

REVIEW QUESTIONS

  1. Where did ethics originate? How are ethics used in public speaking?
  2. What is plagiarism? What is the difference between global and patchwork plagiarism?
  3. What is the difference between paraphrasing and directly quoting a source?
  4. What free speech rights are granted to a speaker?
  5. Why is raising social awareness an ethical concern when preparing a speech?
  6. What are some ways to use language ethically in presentations?
  7. How is listening used in the public speaking setting? What are some guidelines for being an ethical listener?

ACTIVITIES

  1. Think about your ethical standards. Create a list of sources from which your ethical behaviors have originated. Who or what has influenced your ethics?
  2. Review the NCA Credo of Ethics at: http://www.natcom.org/uploadedFiles/About_NCA/Leadership_and_Governance/Public_Policy_Platfor m/PDF-PolicyPlatform-NCA_Credo_for_Ethical_Communication.pdf How do you interpret this credo? How can you use the principles in your public speaking?
  3. Split into groups of three to five students. As a group, develop 5 example situations of unethical behavior in public speaking. Once you are finished, switch situations with a different group. Decide how you can make changes to create ethical public speaking behavior.
  4. Think about the following scenarios involving an ethical dilemma. How would you react?a) You attend a political debate on campus. The candidate’s speech contains many ideas that you don’t agree with. How can you be an ethical listener during the speech?

    b) You are preparing to give a speech on a topic and realize that you have lost the citation information for one of your important sources. You can’t seem to find this source again. What would you do to ethically prepare for the speech?

    c) When practicing your speech on influential sports figures, you realize that you refer to the audience, your co-ed classmates, quite often as “you guys.” Is this ethical language use? What changes would you make?

  5. When preparing for your next speech, create an ethics journal. Write down the various ethical dilemmas as you encounter them. How did you decide what to do in these situations? What was the outcome?