Chapter 12 Preparing and Researching Presentations 359Ethical Speaking: Taking Responsibility
for Your Speech
As a responsible public speaker, you must let ethics guide every phase of plan-
ning and researching your speech. Being an ethical speaker means being respon-
sible: responsible for ensuring that proper credit is given to other people’s ideas,
data, and research that you have incorporated into your presentation, as well as
being responsible for what you say (and how you say it) to your audience. Let’s
review, starting with what happens when you fail to cite your sources properly:
plagiarism.
Recognizing Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the crime of presenting someone else’s words, ideas, or intellectual
property as your own, intentionally or unintentionally. It is a growing problem
and is not limited to the written word—or to students (Park, 2003). In August
2012, Time columnist and CNN host, Fareed Zakaria, was suspended over an
allegation of plagiarism involving a column he wrote on gun control. Zakaria
had not cited his sources correctly and later apologized, acknowledging that he
had made a mistake. Despite the fact that he was ultimately reinstated, Zakaria
certainly suffered the consequences of his actions, particularly an unforgettable
blow to his image as a journalist (Haughney, 2012).
Most universities and colleges have clear definitions of plagiarism and
enforce strict penalties regarding the issue—your school’s plagiarism policy may
even be included on your class syllabus. If so, read this document carefully. The
syllabus is like your contract with your professor; by enrolling in the course, you
have agreed to follow it.
Despite the problems associated with plagiarism, many students, writers,
and speakers remain unsure of how, when, or why they must credit their sources.
In fact, many people are shocked to find that they can be guilty of plagiarism
with a seemingly unimportant error, like simply failing to include quotation
marks or mistakenly deleting one little footnote when completing a paper or
speech. To avoid making the same mistake, keep careful track of where all your
material comes from and document it properly. In Chapter 13, we will explain
how to document your sources in your speech; for now, we will focus on the
important role of taking accurate and thorough notes during the research phase.
Taking Accurate Notes
The noted historian Doris Kearns Goodwin was accused of using passages from
three other books in her own work without proper attribution. After settling
with the wronged authors and making corrections to her book, Kearns explained
that the misrepresentation had been the result of a crucial error she had made
during the note-taking phase. “Though my footnotes repeatedly cited [another
author’s] work, I failed to provide quotation marks for phrases that I had taken
verbatim, having assumed that these phrases, drawn from my notes, were my
words, not hers” (Goodwin, 2002, para. 3).
How do you feel about the
fact that even unintentionally
using someone else’s
words, ideas, or intellectual
property is still plagiarism?
Does it seem unfair that you
might suffer severe con-
sequences (such as being
expelled) even if you do
something without intent?
Why or why not?AND YOU?