Real Communication An Introduction

Chapter 15  Informative Speaking 435

Francisco, in which malware illegally transmitted personal data from up to

one hundred thousand students to overseas hackers. Be sure to consider the

different types of sources at your disposal: visual images, personal accounts,

statistics, and expert testimony. These sorts of things will captivate your

audience and help them remember the new information you are teaching

them.

cMake the topic relevant to each member of the audience. Always specifically

connect the subject to the audience by pointing out how it is pertinent

and useful to your listeners’ lives. For example, you might appeal to your

audience members’ sense of injustice when you share stories of fellow

students who have lost term papers—or worse—finances or personal iden-

tity information to malware. You can offer them peace of mind by offering

suggestions to prevent hackers from accessing their personal information

in the first place and on what to do should their private information be

compromised.

Informing, Not Persuading

Informative speaking often serves as the base for persuasive speaking: indeed,
persuasive speakers typically use information as part of their attempt to influ-
ence audiences to behave in a certain way. But although informative speaking
and persuasive speaking are naturally related, it is important to recognize that
they differ in one very important way: an informative speech is intended to
be objective—it presents facts and information in a straightforward and even-
handed way, free of influence from the speaker’s personal thoughts or opinions.
A persuasive speech, by contrast, is expected to be
subjective—it presents facts and information from
a particular point of view.
When delivering an informative speech, then,
you must always remain fair to different points
of view; if you find yourself presenting only facts,
information, or other material that supports your
own opinion, you are most likely delivering a per-
suasive speech. So it is important to examine your
process at every step in the development of the
speech to ensure that you are being truly objective.
Some of the issues you’ll need to evaluate are exam-
ined in Table 15.1.

Speaking Appropriately

and Ethically

Objectivity is not the only ethical consideration you
must bear in mind when delivering an informative
speech. You must also consider the implications
for your audience members of the information you
provide (Sides, 2000).

WHEN YOU’RE speaking

to an audience that is knowl-

edgeable about your topic,

you don’t want to bore them

with a long list of facts they

already know. Tell them

something new! Sam Edwards/

Getty Images

Meeting your audience’s

informational needs is

important in various

contexts. When you’re

running a group meeting

(Chapter 10), gauge what

your audience already

knows and make the

content of the meeting

relevant. No one wants

to sit through a two-hour

meeting on details of a

situation that the group

members already under-

stand. And don’t make

your topic—the reason

you’ve gathered—seem

confusing or irrelevant.

Meeting your audience’s

CONNECT