Speaking ethically 4.3 55
Speaking Ethically
4.3 List and explain five criteria for ethical public speaking.
As the boundaries of free speech expand, the importance of ethical speech in-
creases. Although there is no definitive ethical creed for a public speaker, teachers
and practitioners of public speaking generally agree that an ethical speaker is one
who has a clear, responsible goal; uses sound evidence and reasoning; is sensitive
to and tolerant of differences; is honest; and avoids plagiarism. In the discussion
that follows, we offer suggestions for observing these ethical guidelines.
Have a Clear, Responsible Goal
The goal of a public speech should be clear to the audience. For example, if you
are trying to convince the audience that your beliefs on gay marriage are more
correct than those of others, you should say so at some point in your speech. If
you keep your true agenda hidden, you violate your listeners’ rights.
In addition, an ethical goal should be socially responsible. A socially re-
sponsible goal is one that gives the listener choices, whereas an irresponsible,
unethical goal is demeaning and/or psychologically coercive or oppressive.
Adolf Hitler’s speeches, which incited the German people to hatred and geno-
cide, were coercive, as were those of Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who tried
to intimidate Chinese citizens into revealing the whereabouts of leaders of the
unsuccessful 1989 student uprising in Tiananmen Square.
If your overall objective is to inform or persuade, it is probably ethical; if
your goal is to coerce or manipulate, it is unethical. But lawyers and ethicists do
not always agree on this distinction. As we have pointed out, Congress and the
U.S. Supreme Court have at times limited speech that incites sedition, violence,
and riot, but they have also protected free speech rights “for both the ideas that
people cherish and the thoughts they hate.”^14
In a recent study of the relationship between people’s perceptions of free
speech and hate speech, researchers Daniel Downs and Gloria Cowan found
that perceptions about the importance of freedom of speech were negatively as-
sociated with judgments of the harm of hate speech. In other words, participants
who considered freedom of speech to be more important considered hate speech
4.3
2006 State of Montana pardons those convicted under the Montana Sedition act
of 1918.
2010 White house correspondent helen thomas retires amid controversy over
what some saw as her exercise of free speech.
2012 FreeSpeechDebate.com becomes a venue for global online discussion and
debate about free speech.