Chapter Exercises

Speaking Ethically

Johanna was in the midst of preparing her speech. She’d done the research and found a number of great sources for her speech. The specific purpose of her speech was to persuade a group of wildlife experts to step up their help for saving the water channel between the islands of Maui and Lanai, an area where humpback whales migrate during the winter to give birth.

Johanna had a very strong first point and a strong third point, but she just couldn’t shake the fact that her middle point really was underdeveloped and not as strong as the other two. In fact, the middle point was originally going to be her last point, but when her research went bust she ultimately downgraded the point and sandwiched it in between the other two. Now that she looked at her second point, she realized that the sources weren’t credible and the point should probably be dropped.

In the back of Johanna’s head, she heard that small voice reminding her of the fact that most audiences don’t remember the middle of the speech, so it really won’t matter anyway.

  1. Is it unethical to use a main point that you know is underdeveloped?
  2. Should a speaker ever purposefully put less credible information in the middle of a speech, knowing that people are less likely to remember that information?
  3. If you were Johanna, what would you do?

End-of-Chapter Assessment

  1. Juan is finishing writing his specific purpose. He brainstorms about his specific purpose and finally settles on three topics he plans on talking about during his speech. What are these three topics called?
    1. specific topics
    2. main points
    3. generalized topics
    4. specific points
    5. main topics
  2. Which speech format does the following outline represent?
    Specific Purpose To inform my audience about the life of Paris Hilton
    Main Points I. Describe Paris Hilton’s life before she became famous.
    II. Describe Paris Hilton’s first job as a model working for Donald Trump.
    III. Describe Paris Hilton’s transition from model to media personality.
    1. atopical
    2. categorical/topical
    3. biographical
    4. spatial
    5. psychological
  3. Which speech format does the following outline represent?
    Specific Purpose To persuade my audience to invest in VetoMax
    Main Points I. Tell the history of VetoMax.
    II. Explain the VetoMax advantage.
    III. Describe the VetoMax pledge to investors.
    1. atopical
    2. categorical/topical
    3. biographical
    4. spatial
    5. psychological
  4. Bobby is creating a speech related to the Hawaiian islands. He plans on talking about each of the islands in order from southeast to northwest. Which speech format is probably the most effective for Bobby’s speech?
    1. atopical
    2. categorical/topical
    3. biographical
    4. spatial
    5. psychological
  5. What is a phrase or sentence that indicates that a speaker is moving from one main point in a speech to another main point in a speech?
    1. transition
    2. guidepost
    3. internal preview
    4. internal summary
    5. thesis statement

Answer Key

  1. b
  2. c
  3. b
  4. d
  5. a