154 8.1 GatherinG and UsinG sUpportinG Material
Learning Objectives
8.1 List five potential sources of supporting material for a speech.
8.2 Explain five strategies for a methodical research process.
8.3 List and describe six types of supporting material.
8.4 List and explain six criteria for determining the best supporting
material to use in a speech.Apple pie is your specialty. Your family and friends relish your flaky crust, spicy
filling, and crunchy crumb topping. Fortunately, not only do you have a never-
fail recipe and technique, but you also know where to go for the best ingredients.
Fette’s Orchard has the tangiest pie apples in town. For your crust, you use only
Premier shortening, which you buy at Meyer’s Specialty Market. Your crumb
topping requires both stone-ground whole-wheat flour and fresh creamery but-
ter, available on Tuesdays at the farmer’s market on the courthouse square.
Just as making your apple pie requires that you know where to find spe-
cific ingredients, creating a successful speech requires knowledge of sources, re-
search strategies, and types of supporting material that speechmakers typically
use. This chapter covers the speech-development step highlighted in Figure 8.1:
Gather Supporting Material.Sources of Supporting Material
8.1 List five potential sources of supporting material for a speech.
Supporting material for your speech can come from a variety of sources, includ-
ing personal knowledge and experience, the Internet, online databases, tradi-
tional library holdings, and interviews.Personal Knowledge and Experience
Because you will probably give speeches on topics in which you are particularly
interested, you may find that you are your own best source. Your speech may be
on a skill or hobby about which you are knowledgeable, such as raising tropical8.1
8.3 Types of Supporting Material
Illustrations
Descriptions and Explanations
DefinitionsAnalogies
Statistics
Opinions
8.4 The Best Supporting Material