Public Speaking

104 CHAPTER^8 Choosing Supporting Materials

Another way to attract attention and involve audience members emotionally is to

create an imaginary scenario that invites listeners to personalize your topic. Here’s an

opening illustration for a speech about latchkey children:^26

Imagine that you’re a latchkey kid. Your parent has told you not to answer the door

because the person on the other side might be an escaped prisoner or a salesman who

wants all your money. You sit with your brothers and sisters behind double doors, a

deadbolt, and a peephole, watching TV and eating microwave pizza.

Although hypothetical examples and imaginary scenarios work well in informative

speeches, real examples are generally better for persuasive speeches. Think of it this

way: Your listeners are probably more persuaded by something that really did happen

than by something that might happen.

Create Emotional Connections with Extended Examples

Extended examples include many details; each one gives your listeners an opportunity

to identify emotionally with the subject of the story. Longer illustrations are especially

useful for clarifying, explaining in depth, and motivating your listeners. Look at how

each detail in this example makes the story more engaging. The subject is texting and

accidents:

D.J. was excited after the first day of her senior year in high school. The year ahead

promised to be challenging as well as fun for the blonde teen—a popular student with

a good reputation and good grades. She eased her minivan out of the parking lot and

headed home, passing familiar landmarks in her small town. A few miles out of town,

ethiCs in

praCtiCe hypothetical example or Fabrication?

I

n Love and Consequences: A Memoir of Hope and Survival, Margaret B. Jones told of

growing up in Los Angeles foster homes and participating in gangs as a racially mixed

adolescent. Turns out, Margaret is not “Jones”; she’s Margaret Seltzer, a well-to-do white

woman, who was educated in private schools and raised by her biological parents. When

confronted, Seltzer admitted her story was hypothetical, based on experiences of people

she’d met while working in antigang outreach programs. But, she explained, “For whatever

reason, I was really torn, and I thought it was my opportunity to put a voice to people who

people don’t listen to.”^27

Seltzer is not alone. Not long ago, a law student wrote a letter to the editor of his cam-

pus newspaper, describing in great detail how campus police manhandled and harassed

him, an African American male, as he walked across campus late at night. He shared his

story “to bring attention to the topic of police misconduct.”^28 Fellow students were sad-

dened and outraged at the officers, and the university immediately began investigating the

charges. Turns out, he made them up.

Questions

1. What’s the difference between a hypothetical example and a fabricated story?


2. What, if any, ethical concerns should you have when you use hypothetical examples?

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