Key Terms:

• Upward communication: includes speeches, proposals, or briefings that are directed at audience members who hold higher positions in the organizational hierarchy than the sender.
• Horizontal communication: This communication may occur between colleagues working in the same area or between colleagues with different areas of expertise.
• Downward communication: includes messages directed at audience members who hold a lower place on the organizational hierarchy than the sender.
• Communication to outside stakeholders: includes messages sent from service providers to people who are not employed by the organization but conduct business with or support it.
• Briefings: short presentations that either update listeners about recent events or provide instructions for how to do something job related
• Technical briefings: Briefings that provide instructions like how to use a new identification badge
• Debrief: People in supervisory or leadership positions often provide training, which includes presentations that prepare new employees for their jobs or provide instruction or development opportunities for existing employees.
• Elevator Speech: a presentation that persuades the listener in less than thirty seconds, or around a hundred words.
• Impromptu Speech: a speech given with little to no preparation about a topic
• Reciprocity: a relationship of mutual exchange and interdependence, is an important characteristic of a relationship, particularly between a speaker and the audience.
• Mutuality: when you search for common ground and understanding with the audience, establishing this space and building on it throughout the speech.
• Nonjudgementalism: underlines the need to be open-minded, an expression of one’s willingness to examine diverse perspectives.
• Honesty: directly relates to trust, a cornerstone in the foundation of a relationship with your audience.
• Respect: can be defined as an act of giving and displaying particular attention to the value you associate with someone or a group.
• Trust:  the ability to rely on the character or truth of someone, that what you say you mean and your audience knows it.
• Exploitation: this means taking advantage, using someone else for one’s own purposes.
• Claim: the statement that will be supported by evidence.
• Evidence: also called grounds, supports the claim.
• Warrant: the underlying justification that connects the claim and the evidence.
• Propositions of face: focus on beliefs and try to establish that something “is or isn’t.”
• Propositions of value: focus on persuading audience members that something is “good or bad,” “right or wrong,” or “desirable or undesirable.”
• Propositions of policy:  advocates that something “should or shouldn’t” be done.
• Adoption: the speaker wants to persuade the audience to take on a new way of thinking, or adopt a new idea.
• Discontinuance: the speaker persuading the audience to stop doing something they have been doing, such as smoking.
• Deterrence: a call action that focuses on persuading audience not to start something if they haven’t already started.
• Anticipation step: As professional speakers lead up to a main point, they raise their hand slightly, perhaps waist high to engage the audience.
• Implementation step: involves using your arms and hands above your waist.
• Relaxation step: where the letting go motion complements your residual message, concludes the motion.
• Facial gestures: involve using your face to display feelings and attitudes nonverbally.
• Eye contact: refers to the speaker’s gaze that engages the audience members.

Study Questions: 

SQ1 – What are some myths and realities of public speaking?

Speaking in public is not like killing lions, you do not have to be perfect, organization is key to a successful speech, and speaking in public is like participating in a conversation are some myths and realities. Public speaking does not have to be a “fright or flight” experience; it can be like holding a half of a friendly conversation. This will especially be true if you do a good job of preparing and organizing your presentation ahead of time.

SQ2 – How does audience analysis, intercultural communication, questions-and-answer strategies, and effective planning useful when understanding how to write and give a speech? What is an elevator speech?

1. Employ audience analysis to adapt communication to supervisors, colleagues, employees, and clients.
2. Explain the role of intercultural communication competence in intercultural business communication contexts.
3. Identify strategies for handling question-and-answer periods.
4. Identify strategies for effectively planning and delivering common business presentations, including briefings, reports, training, and meetings.
5. Discuss the basic parts of an elevator speech.
6. Create an effective elevator speech.

What counts as being a good communicator in one business context doesn’t in another, so being able to adapt to various business settings and audiences will help you be more successful in your career.

• Initial communication with clients, customers, or funding sources is usually persuasive in nature, as you will be trying to secure their business. Later communication may be more informative status reports. Connect your message to their needs rather than focusing on what you offer. Use persuasive strategies like positive motivation, and always have a “money slide” prepared that gets across the essence of what you offer in one attractive message.
• When adapting business communication to intercultural contexts, take a “tools not rules” approach that focuses on broad and adaptable intercultural communication competence.
• There are various types of business presentations for which a speaker should be prepared:
  • Briefings are short, two- to three-minute “how-to” or “update” presentations that are similar to factual bullet points.
  • Reports can be past, present, or future focused and include status, final, and feasibility reports.
  • Trainings are informal or formal presentations that help get new employees ready for their jobs and keep existing employees informed about changing policies, workplace climates, and legal issues.
• To have an effective meeting, first make sure it is necessary to have, then set a solid foundation by distributing an agenda in advance, manage the flow of communication during the meeting, and take note of accomplishments to promote a positive view of future meetings.

An elevator speech is a presentation that persuades the listener in less than thirty seconds, or around a hundred words. It takes its name from the idea that in a short elevator ride (of perhaps ten floors), carefully chosen words can make a difference.

SQ3 – What is an impromptu speech? What kind of planning can be done for an impromptu speech? What are key points to remember when giving an impromptu speech?

An impromptu speech is given when preparation time is limited. There is a priority development method to impromptu speeches that includes: a thesis/clincher, main points, preview/summary, attention grabber/tie back, and visual aid.

The acronym PREP can aid in giving an impromptu speech. It stands for: Point, Reason, Example, and Point. Impromptu speeches can also use the past, present, future method, in which speakers discuss what happened in the past, what is happening today, and what could happen.

Some key points to remember when giving an impromptu speech is to keep your speech short, keep to your point (be focused), keep the speech organized, and keep your cool – do not rush, use pauses for effect.

SQ4 – How do you prepare for an informative speech?

In preparing an informative speech, use your knowledge and consider the audience’s knowledge, avoid unnecessary jargon, give credit to your sources, and present the information ethically.

SQ5 – What is an argument and factors and strategies that aid in creating a persuasive argument?

Arguments are formed by making claims that are supported by evidence. The underlying justification that connects the claim and evidence is the warrant. Arguments can have strong or weak warrants, which will make them more or less persuasive.

Good persuasive speech topics are current, controversial (but not inflammatory), and important to the speaker and society.

Speakers should adapt their persuasive approach based on audience members’ orientation toward the proposal.

• When audience members agree with the proposal, focus on intensifying their agreement and moving them to action.
• When audience members are neutral in regards to the proposition, provide background information to better inform them about the issue and present information that demonstrates the relevance of the topic to the audience.
• When audience members disagree with the proposal, focus on establishing your credibility, build common ground with the audience, and incorporate counterarguments and refute them.

Persuasive speeches include the following propositions: fact, value, and policy.

• Propositions of fact focus on establishing that something “is or isn’t” or is “true or false.”
• Propositions of value focus on persuading an audience that something is “good or bad,” “right or wrong,” or “desirable or undesirable.”
• Propositions of policy advocate that something “should or shouldn’t” be done.

Persuasive speeches can be organized using the following patterns: problem-solution, cause-effect, cause-effect-solution, or Monroe’s Motivated Sequence.