Public Speaking

Provide Facts (^97)
that change is happening, but they argue that “eco-fundamentalists” overstate the
problem, propose ineffective solutions, and neglect more pressing issues such as
the global need for safe drinking water.^2 This example shows how reliance on differ-
ent evidence can lead to very different conclusions about important topics.
Each culture has rules for what counts as credible evidence; consequently,
we follow cultural standards for weighing evidence, accepting some information as
valid and rejecting other data as inaccurate, inadequate, or irrelevant. This chapter
examines six types of evidence that speakers in the United States commonly use:
facts, numerical data, examples, quotations, comparisons, and visual evidence.
Throughout the chapter you’ll find guidelines for thinking critically about the quality
of the data or evidence, both when you select materials for your own speeches and
when you listen to other speakers.

Provide Facts

Much of your information will be factual because audiences typically need facts

before they form their conclusions. Empirical facts are verifiable by observation, and

established facts are those that are consistently validated by many observers. We judge

facts as being true or false, accurate or inaccurate, and we derive them from a variety of

sources, as these examples show:

•   Alicia Keys passed up a full scholarship to Columbia University to pursue her musi-

cal career.^3 [source: Biography.com]

•   Children with special needs find joy and help through horses in equine therapy.

[source: newspaper article]

•   Autism develops from specific brain cells that fail to mature during pregnancy.^4

[source: New England Journal of Medicine]

Facts differ from personal opinion—either yours or that of other people. Opinion

adds a subjective interpretation that is open to question. For example, “Alicia Keys

should have taken the scholarship instead” is an opinion, not a fact. Generally accepted

definitions and descriptions count as facts.

Use Definitions

We look in dictionaries and thesauruses for definitions—the meanings of terms we gen-

erally accept in common usage. However, culturally accepted definitions also derive

from traditions, philosophers, poets, and so on. For example, Merriam-Webster defines

a “scholar” as “an intelligent and well-educated person who knows a particular subject

very well”;^5 In a speech celebrating scholarship, a physics professor defined scholar in

three additional ways. First was his personal definition:^6

What does it mean to be a scholar? I think it means to think deeply about a subject,

to grasp it entirely, to make it your own, to make it part of yourself. Being a scholar is

different from being a student, or even a teacher. Being a scholar means being willing

to approach a subject with informed curiosity, to delve deeply, and to devote yourself

to its mastery—beyond grades, beyond credit hours, beyond graduation, for the sake

of knowledge itself.

Read, highlight, and take

notes online.

empirical facts information

verifiable by observation

established fact information

verified consistently by many

observers

Review the
chapter
Learning
Objectives
and Start
with a quick
warm-up
activity.

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