Deck 1: Welcome to Public Speaking

Question 1

Effective communication skills are highly valued by employers because __________.

A) interviewers like to have good conversations with interviewees
B) public speaking is becoming a larger part of corporate life
C) our economy is increasingly dependent on information communicated effectively
D) public messages are increasingly complex, and effective interpretation is difficult

Answer 1

our economy is increasingly dependent on information communicated effectively

Question 2

Which of the following is a characteristic of critical thinkers?

A) They distinguish between fact and opinion.
B) They take the speaker's claims at face value.
C) They look at each idea as new and unique.
D) The accept assertions on faith.

Answer 2

They distinguish between fact and opinion.

Question 3

Which of the following statements is a statement of fact?

A) The United States must protect itself from international terrorism.
B) Laptop computer prices are bound to drop over the next 5 years.
C) Universal health care is an idea whose time has come.
D) Mortgage rates are at a twenty-year low.

Answer 3

Mortgage rates are at a twenty-year low.

Question 4

Public speaking is a communication process that can best be described as a(n) __________.

A) series of one-way messages delivered by the speaker to the listeners
B) continuous exchange of messages and feedback between the speaker and the listeners
C) decoding process in which the speaker and the audience share a frame of reference
D) organized monologue

Question 5

Public speaking occurs __________.

A) in a specific situation
B) in response to feedback
C) in response to a speaker's urge to speak
D) in response to the audience's need to know something

Question 6

Which of the following is the term for the study of how messages affect people?

A) critical thinking
B) strategic planning
C) feedback
D) rhetoric

Question 7

A situation in which people's understanding can be changed through messages is called __________.

A) critical.
B) strategic.
C) rhetorical.
D) purposive.

Question 8

When analyzing the four factors of the rhetorical situation, which of the following is a unique concern for the speaker?

A) exigence
B) ethos
C) deliberation
D) extemporaneity

Question 9

Tenzing is planning a speech on the Chinese occupation of his Tibetan homeland and is not sure how to create identification with his classmates. Which element of the rhetorical situation is he concerned with in his search for identification?

A) the speech
B) the speaker
C) the purpose
D) the audience

Question 10

Rajiv planned to speak to his class about violence in the United States. As the date for his speech approached, he added a reference to a recent workplace shooting, which he had heard about on the evening news. By adding this reference, Rajiv recognized the importance of ________ in defining the occasion.

A) identification
B) rhetorical criticism
C) simultaneous events
D) audience feedback

Question 11

In public speaking, what is an exigence?

A) the purpose of the speech
B) a device for concluding the speech
C) a form of audience feedback
D) a problem that can be managed with a good speech

Question 12

What are the three basic purposes for public speaking?

A) informing, explaining, conforming
B) deliberating, persuading, identifying
C) persuading, debating, deliberating
D) entertaining, persuading, informing

Question 13

The speaker's characteristic use of language to convey meaning and evoke emotion is called __________.

A) invention
B) arrangement
C) style
D) delivery

Question 14

__________ is the process of using effective voice, gestures, and facial expressions.

A) Invention
B) Arrangement
C) Style
D) Delivery

Question 15

Once Maurice had gathered all the information he could about his topic, he began working on determining the best structure for his main ideas. Maurice was engaged in which activity?

A) invention
B) arrangement
C) style
D) delivery

Question 16

When a problem affects the public, cooperative action and subjective judgment is needed, the decision requires subjective judgment, and a decision is required, what has been created?

A) public speech
B) public forum
C) rhetorical situation
D) frame of reference

Question 17

What will happen if the public forum is allowed to weaken?

A) Individuals will make their own decisions.
B) Critical public decisions will be made unilaterally.
C) The public forum will return to the realm of traditional politics.
D) People will make decisions that do not affect them.

Question 18

Which of the following is a sign of a healthy public forum?

A) broad recognition of political and advertising slogans
B) increasing attention to information sources that support one's own point of view
C) an increasing number of people who are convinced that they have the power to effect change
D) a decreasing willingness to debate public issues

Question 19

What are the alternatives to a well-cultivated public forum?

A) anarchy and chaos
B) autocratic rule and anarchy
C) autocratic rule by experts but not rulers
D) civic engagement and traditional politics

Question 20

Thorough research is the best way to ensure that you have met which of the following ethical criterion?

A) showing respect for the topic
B) showing respect for the listeners
C) showing concern for the consequences of the speech
D) taking responsibility for your statements

Question 21

Which of the following violates the high ethical standards for a speaker?

A) respect for our listeners
B) respect for the topic
C) responsibility for statements
D) appealing to specific homogenous audiences

Question 22

The tendency to believe that your own views are typical of everyone else's is known as __________.

A) ethnocentrism
B) subjectivity
C) exigence
D) identification

Question 23

Plagiarism violates which ethical principle?

A) responsibility for your statements
B) concern for the consequences of your speech
C) respect for yourself
D) respect for the topic

Question 24

If you devote your entire speech to what listeners already know, how have you failed to show respect for your listeners?

A) You failed to meet them where they are.
B) Your speech did not merit the audience's time.
C) You failed to respect cultural diversity.
D) You insulted listeners' intelligence or judgment.

Question 25

What is true of the consequences of your speech?

A) You will know what all the effects will be.
B) You are legally responsible for the speech effects.
C) Ethical standards demand that you think about the effect of your speech.
D) Listeners have ethical obligations, but speakers do not.

Question 26

Critical thinking is more valuable to speakers than it is to listeners.

Question 27

The budget deficit has doubled in the last 4 years is a statement of fact.

Question 28

Each listener interprets the speaker's message differently.

Question 29

Listeners are not passive receivers; they form judgments and communicate them to the speaker during the speech.

Question 30

The rhetorical situation is a situation created by someone's speech.

Question 31

During his speech on changing general education requirements at the university, Ben made it a point to discuss the need for gainful employment, a concern he shared with his audience. By doing so, Ben was attempting to establish identification with his audience.

Question 32

Memory skills are critical for speakers when rehearsing both mentally and aloud.

Question 33

The speaker's characteristic use of language to evoke emotion and to convey descriptive meaning is referred to as delivery.

Question 34

The public forum is limited to large political questions like public health policy.

Question 35

Plagiarism violates the ethical principle of respect for the topic.

Question 36

Facts are statements that, at least in theory, can be __________ by someone else.

Question 37

Effective speakers make __________ choices, identifying their goals and then determining how best to achieve them.

Question 38

When you give a speech, you and your listeners are involved in __________, meaning that you interact to build a connection.

Question 39

Responses from the audience during and after the speech, indicating their reactions to what you have said, are known collectively as __________.

Question 40

Skillful __________ of a speech involves the effective use of voice, gesture, facial expression, physical movement, and visual aids.

Question 41

The process of structuring ideas and supporting materials so that they are coherent and organized is called __________.

Question 42

Travis made a point of referring to common values, beliefs, and goals during his speech. By doing so he was trying to create __________ with his audience.

Question 43

Kurt wanted to provide his listeners with new information about changes in student loan eligibility; so the general purpose of his speech was to __________ his audience.

Question 44

The imagined "space" where people speak to exchange ideas is called the __________.

Question 45

Respect for the listeners, respect for the topic, responsibility for one's statements, and concern for the consequences of the speech are all part of a speaker's __________ responsibilities.

Question 46

Identify the two invaluable general skills emphasized in the study of public speaking. Describe the processes of each and indicate why they are essential.

Question 47

Explain why public speaking is a continuous communication process. Identify how this influences the preparation and presentation of the speech.

Question 48

Identify the three types of occasions for public speaking. Define each and explain how each type of occasion affects the type of speech to be given. Discuss differences between the demands of different occasions.

Question 49

How does an understanding of the public forum promote civic engagement and effective democracy?

Question 50

What are the four ethical principles that your textbook supports? Explain the differences and indicate how they might be applied to a speech you might give in your class.