Chapter 14: SPEAKING TO INFORM

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• Selection of informative topics
• INFORMATIVE speaking; 4 basic types
  • FIRST: OBJECTS
  • SECOND: PROCESSES
  • THIRD: EVENTS
  • FOURTH: CONCEPTS
• GENERAL NOTES
• GUIDELINES FOR INFORMATIVE SPEAKING
• RELATING SUBJECT TO THE AUDIENCE

Chapter 14: SPEAKING TO INFORM

"Speaking to inform" is of great importance to college graduates in the work-force
62% use informative speaking daily

Tips on selection of informative topics:

consider audience appropriateness
* consider the background of your audience
* if we have first-hand experience with your topic, your speech will be more memorable

consider speaker appropriateness
* can you speak competently on the subject?
* can you become well and accurately informed?

consider your competency and appropriateness to audience
* we don't want to listen to someone who does not appear well-informed
* topic of the speech must meet our needs

INFORMATIVE speaking; 4 basic types

1--DESCRIBE OBJECT
2--SHOW HOW SOMETHING WORKS (PROCESS)
3--REPORT ON AN EVENT
4--EXPLAIN A CONCEPT

success judged on three general criteria
* is the info communicated accurately?
* is the info communicated clearly?
* is the info made meaningful and interesting to audience?

4 TYPES: ANALYSIS AND ORGANIZATION

FIRST TYPE: OBJECTS
* objects are anything visible, tangible and in stable form such as places, structures, animals etc.

 

examples: Catcher in the Rye, whales, painted desert
example 1: To inform my audience of the characters in Catcher in the Rye
example 2: To inform my audience about the migration routes of Gray Whales
example 3: To inform my audience about soil types in the painted desert
* note how the specific purposes are precise

3 BASIC ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERNS FOR OBJECT SPEECHES

CHRONOLOGICAL : the history or evolution of object
example: To inform the audience about the accomplishments of the NAACP; (listing major accomplishments from beginning to present)

SPATIAL : describing main features of subject
example: To inform my audience of natural attractions of the Pacific Northwest
(start in northern CA and head up the coast)

TOPICAL : for more diverse topics
example: To inform the audience on the classes of computers
super computers, mainframes, workstations, personal computers
(although topical, note that the main points can be arranged along a continuum)

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR ALL THREE ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN

* limit the number of main points in your speech: 2 to 5 main points, maximum
* keep main points separate and discrete
* balance amount of time devoted to each main point

SECOND TYPE: PROCESSES

• series of systematic actions that leads to a specific result or product
• explains how something works, is made, or how to do it

  example 1: to inform audience how to save a person from chocking
  example 2: to inform audience on how read aloud to children
  example 3: to inform audience on how glass is recycled

TWO TYPES OF PROCESS SPEECHES

• explain a process so listeners can understand
• explain a process so listeners can better perform it themselves
  • TIP: make it practical and useful to audience You want the audience to be able to use techniques as result of your speech
  • visual aids can be very useful
    • you can use a chart outlining the steps
    • you can demonstrate the steps during the speech
    • visual aids can clarify and captivate

process speech often CHRONOLOGICAL in organization

Example:
* specific purpose: to inform the audience on how theatrical makeup is applied
* central idea: To create three dimensional illusions on their faces, actors must know the painterly devices of applying a base color, accentuating shapes with shadows and describing prominent features through highlights.
* main points:

1. Base color appropriate to the character makeup is evenly sponged on
2. Illusionary highlights are created with a lighter shade on prominent
   features
3. Shadows and recesses are created with a darker shade adjacent and
   blended with the highlights

process speech sometimes TOPICAL in organization

* specific purpose: To inform the audience about outdoor
photography

* central idea: Outdoor photography techniques can be very different
depending upon whether the day is sunny or overcast or if the subject is
in the shade.

* main points

1. sunny days require slower film and can result in higher contrast
2. cloudy days require faster film and can result in lower contrast
3. shady spots require special consideration

(even though this example is topical, a semi-spatial organizational pattern is used)

CONCISE ORGANIZATION IMPORTANT

• each step must be clear and easy to follow
• limit steps to less than five main points
  • if there are more than five steps, group them logically
  • otherwise unfocused and poor retention for the audience

THIRD: EVENTS

Events: anything that happens or is regarded as happening: Operation Desert Storm, job interviews, terminal illness, movie viewing. Examples:

* to inform my audience on the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm
* to inform my audience on common mistakes made during job interviews
* to inform my audience how terminal illness affects surviving family members
* to inform my audience of how advance publicity affects movie viewing

organization for events:
historical if warranted (operation desert storm)
causal: analytical approach: describing the cause and showing the effect

* main points must subdivide subject logically and consistently

FOURTH: CONCEPTS

• beliefs, theories, ideas, principles
• more abstract than objects, processes or events

specific purpose: To inform my audience on the reasons people become vegetarians.

central idea: The two main reasons cited for becoming a vegetarian are the benefits derived from a vegetarian. diet and the ethics of eating meat.

main points:

1. Some people choose vegetarianism because of two benefits:
   1. vegetarian diets are more economical
   2. vegetarian diets are healthy
2. Some people choose vegetarianism because of personal convictions:
   1. It is wrong to eat meat because it wrong to kill animals
   2. wrong to eat meat because its production is inefficient

"CONCEPTS" speeches usually arranged in TOPICAL order
Some topics require definition of key concepts, identification of major elements, illustration through specific examples
Another approach: explaining different schools of thought on the same subject

specific purpose: to inform my audience on three major cosmologies

central idea: The three major theories of cosmology propose an initial "big bang" followed by either a steady state, dissolution into nothingness or a rebounding collapse.

main points

1. The big bang theory theorizes a definite starting and ending point to the Universe
2. The steady state theory that the Universe, after the Big Bang, is following entropy to an eventual equilibrium
3. The oscillating universe theory theorizes that after dissolution, the Universe collapses inward to another Big Bang

GENERAL NOTES

Concepts speeches are more complex

* They might deal with abstract concepts and be difficult to explain
* It is important to avoid technical language
* define key terms clearly
* use examples and comparisons to illustrate

NOTES ON ORGANIZATION PATTERNS: DIVISION NOT ABSOLUTE

* some subjects can fit into more than one category
* depends on the slant you take
* decide how you will handle subject, object, process, event or concept
* develop accordingly

HELP THE AUDIENCE SORT OUT FACTS

* transitions, internal reviews/previews, summaries and signposts
* "tell 'em what you're going to say, say it, tell them what you said"
* preview the main points in the introduction
* summarize in the conclusion

GUIDELINES FOR INFORMATIVE SPEAKING

USE AUDIENCE ANALYSIS WISELY
establish credibility in the introduction and don't assume the audience know the material
* never overestimate the information of your audience
* never underestimate their intelligence
      --even if we learned about your topic long ago, if it's held little relevance to us in the meantime, it's gone
      -- listeners will be vaguely familiar with topics at best so explain and define as you go
* ask yourself if someone hearing your information for the first time would understand
* don't sound like a speaker reviewing information the audience knows
      -- if handled properly; it won't sound like "talking down" to us

test of a good speaker is to communicate complex ideas clearly
* it takes hard work and creative thinking

• listeners don't have the luxury of re-reading difficult passage
• listeners have to understand it the first time through
• how do you gauge how much the audience knows? Use a questionnaire!

tip: prepare your speech as if the audience has never heard of the subject

* define special terms
* clarify every idea
* illustrate every concept
* support every conclusion

RELATING SUBJECT TO THE AUDIENCE

• A speech is measured by its impact on an audience
• It's your job to get and keep them interested
• The hurdle: what's fascinating to you may not be to others, so:

relate your topic to the audience; their wants and needs

* get them interested at the beginning of the speech
* let the audience know how and why your topic is important to them
* put your speaker's into the body of the speech
* talk about topic in the terms of the audience

AVOID BEING TOO TECHNICAL

* discern what can and cannot be explained to an ordinary audience
* avoid jargon specific to certain activities
* language must be straightforward and easy to grasp

AVOID ABSTRACTIONS

* too many abstractions are tedious
* informative speeches can be improved through:
         --descriptions: external and internal events, feelings and emotions
         -- comparisons: putting subject in analogical, familiar terms
* put abstractions into meaningful perspectives: statistics

TRY TO PERSONALIZE TOPIC

* listeners want to be entertained
* personal illustrations enliven speeches
* people are infallibly interested in personal stories
* personalize your ideas in dramatic, human terms