Deck 12: C: Preparing and Researching Presentations

Question 1

How would you define an informative speech?

Answer 1

Informative speeches aim to increase an audience's understanding by presenting them with new, relevant, and useful information.

Question 2

Provide an example of a situation where you might have to deliver a public speech in your career.

Answer 2

Answers will vary but might include training employees, selling a product or service, or updating one's management team about the progress made on a project.

Question 3

Briefly describe the process of clustering, as it is explained in your textbook.

Answer 3

Beginning with a single nucleus word, one begins to associate and connect other words, creating a web of potential topics. When each new word is added to the cluster, it is circled and connected to others, and the speaker is able to branch off from it or from other words within the cluster.

Question 4

Define plagiarism.

Question 5

Give an example of a special-occasion speech one might have to deliver.

Question 6

List and briefly describe three of the four characteristics of ethical speaking identified in your textbook.
Answer Key

Question 7

Briefly explain why speakers need to keep track of whether they have copied information from a source verbatim or if they have paraphrased.

Question 8

Briefly describe the characteristics that distinguish public speaking from other types of communication.

Question 9

Speakers can capitalize on the commonalities among their audience members to create a sense of common ground. We refer to this sameness as _____________.

Question 10

Facts and statistics can be boring, so effective speakers use ____________ to breathe life into their speeches by personalizing them and giving a "face" to the facts and statistics they have used.

Question 11

Contrast lay testimony and expert testimony.

Question 12

Based on your observation and research, provide an example of one salient demographic characteristic of your classroom audience.

Question 13

"My audience will know more about how the Internet has changed the way we communicate, learn, and do business" is an example of what type of statement developed in the preparation process for an informative speech?

Question 14

_____________ involve soliciting answers to a question or series of questions related to your topic from a broad range of individuals.

Question 15

How does a persuasive speech differ from an informative speech?