470 Glossary
elocution: The expression of emotion through posture, move-
ment, gestures, facial expression, and voice
emotional contagion theory: A theory suggesting that people
“catch” the emotions of others
emotional response theory: Theory suggesting that human
emotional responses can be classified as eliciting feelings of
pleasure, arousal, or dominance
empowerment: The capacity to influence and potentially lead,
gained in part by speaking with competence and confidence
encode: To translate ideas and images into verbal or nonverbal
symbols that an audience can recognize
epideictic speech: See ceremonial speech
ethical speech: Speech that is responsible, honest, and tolerant
ethics: The beliefs, values, and moral principles by which peo-
ple determine what is right or wrong
ethnic vernacular: A variety of English that includes words
and phrases used by a specific ethnic group
ethnicity: The portion of a person’s cultural background that
includes such factors as nationality, religion, language, and
ancestral heritage, which are shared by a group of people
who also share a common geographical region.
ethnocentrism: An assumption that one’s own culture and cul-
tural perspectives and methods are superior to those of others
ethos: The term that Aristotle used to refer to a speaker’s
credibility
eulogy: A speech of tribute to someone who has died
evidence: The facts, examples, opinions, and statistics that a
speaker uses to support a conclusion
example: An illustration used to dramatize or clarify a fact
expert testimony: An opinion offered by someone who is an
authority on the subject under discussion
explanation: A statement of how something is done or why it
exists in its present form or existed in its past form
extemporaneous speaking: Speaking from a written or memo-
rized speech outline without having the exact wording of the
speech in front of you or in memory
extended illustration: A detailed example that resembles a
story
external noise: Physical sounds that interfere with communi-
cation
fact: Information that has been proven to be true through
direct observation
fallacy: False reasoning that occurs when someone attempts to
persuade without adequate evidence or with arguments that
are irrelevant or inappropriate
feature: A characteristic of something you are describing
feedback: Verbal and nonverbal responses provided by an
audience to a speaker
figurative analogy: A comparison between two essentially
dissimilar things that share some feature on which the
comparison depends
figure of speech: Language that deviates from the ordinary,
expected meanings of words to make a description or
comparison unique, vivid, and memorable
final summary: A restatement of the main ideas of a speech,
occurring near the end of the speech
First Amendment: The amendment to the U.S. Constitu-
tion that guarantees freedom of speech; the first of the ten
amendments to the U.S. Constitution that are known collec-
tively as the Bill of Rightscontext: The environment or situation in which a speech
occurs
credibility: An audience’s perception of a speaker as compe-
tent, trustworthy, knowledgeable, and dynamic
crisis rhetoric: Language used by speakers during momentous
or overwhelming times
criteria: Standards for identifying an acceptable solution to a
problem
critical listener: Someone who prefers to evaluate messages
critical listening: The process of listening to evaluate the
quality, appropriateness, value, or importance of the infor-
mation put forth by a speaker
critical thinking: The mental process of making judgments
about the conclusions that are presented in what you see,
hear, and read
culture: A learned system of knowledge, behavior, attitudes,
beliefs, values, and norms that is shared by a group of people
declamation: The delivery of an already famous speech
decode: To translate verbal or nonverbal symbols into ideas
and images that constitute a message
deductive reasoning: Reasoning that moves from a general
statement or principle to a specific, certain conclusion
definition: A statement of what a term means or how it is
applied in a specific instance
definition by classification: A “dictionary definition,” con-
structed by first placing a term in the general class to which
it belongs and then differentiating it from all other members
of that class
demagogue: A speaker who attempts to gain control over
others by using unethical emotional pleas and appeals to
listeners’ prejudices
demographic audience analysis: Analyzing an audience by
examining demographic information so as to develop a clear
and effective message
demographics: Statistical information about population
characteristics such as age, sexual orientation, race, gender,
educational level, and ideological or religious views
denotation: The literal meaning of a word
derived credibility: The perception of a speaker’s credibility
that an audience forms during a speech
description: A word picture of something
dialect: A consistent style of pronouncing words that is com-
mon to an ethnic group or geographic region
direct persuasion route: Persuasion that occurs when audi-
ence members critically examine evidence and arguments
disposition: The process of organizing and arranging ideas
and illustrations in an orderly speech
domain: The category in which a Web site is located on the
Internet, indicated by the last three letters of the site’s URL
dynamism: An aspect of a speaker’s credibility that reflects
whether the speaker is perceived as energetic
either/or fallacy: The oversimplification of an issue into a
choice between only two outcomes or possibilities
elaborate: From the standpoint of the elaboration likelihood
model (ELM) of persuasion, to think about information,
ideas, and issues related to the content of a message
elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion: The the-
ory that listeners can be persuaded directly, by logic, reason-
ing, and evidence, or indirectly, by their overall impression
of the messageZ04_BEEB3981_05_SE_Gloss_469-474.indd 470 11/14/14 5:48 PM