Public Speaking

Develop Skills to Overcome Process Anxiety (^17)
information, such as gender and age. Features such as religious jewelry or clothing also
suggest interests, affiliations, and perspectives. Analyze psychological factors including what
they already believe about your topic and their attitudes toward it. Finally, the situation in
which you will speak—the lighting, ventilation, acoustics, and room layout—can make
a difference in their attention and comfort. Other factors, such as time of day, matter as
well. (Chapter 6 describes audience analysis in detail.)
Identify Your Purpose
What response do you want from your audience? Your answer determines your general
purpose. If you want listeners to learn something, your general purpose is to inform.
Do you want them to respond by believing or doing something? Or are you trying to
reinforce their beliefs or behaviors? If so, your general purpose is to persuade. If you want
them simply to laugh and enjoy themselves, your major purpose is to entertain. Finally, if
you want to highlight and reinforce a particular cultural ideal, your general purpose is to
commemorate. (Chapter 5 describes these purposes in greater detail.)
Gather Speech Materials
Even if you know your topic fairly well, you generally need to fill some gaps or update
your knowledge by doing research. Search in library holdings or find materials in inter-
views, videos, radio or television programs, and the Internet. Of course, you should
think critically about what you find in each source. (Chapters 7 and 8 describe research
and supporting materials.)
If you are assigned to introduce a classmate, schedule an interview for an uninter-
rupted time in a quiet place—and then be on time. Bring a list of questions and record
your conversation (with permission only) or take notes as you talk. Be sure you under-
stand what you are told by asking questions such as, “Could you explain that in more
detail?” To avoid any misunderstandings, read back your notes as you conclude.
Organize Your Ideas: The Canon of Disposition or
Arrangement
Once you have your information in hand, your next step is to arrange your ideas so
that they make sense. The principles of speech organization make up the canon of
disposition or arrangement.
If your first speech is a self-introduction, consider telling a story about a significant
experience. For example, Heidi created a speech around the theme “wounded warrior.”
She narrated an intense experience she had as an Army translator in Afghanistan. The
exemplum pattern in Chapter 18 is a good way to organize a story.
Most speeches in the Western speaking tradition have three major parts: the
introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Taken as a whole, the outline looks like this:
canon of disposition or
arrangement guidelines for
organizing a speech
I. INTRODUCTION This section orients your audience toward the subject. In general,
introductions have four major functions that the first-century Roman Quintilian taught
his students:^12
A. Draw audience attention to the topic.
B. Relate the topic to their concerns.
C. Link yourself to the subject.
D. Preview the major points.
II. SPEECH BODY Here, you present your major ideas, using enough evidence to clarify
and support each point; this part of the speech takes up most of your speaking time.
(continued)
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