Public Speaking

ChaPter 3 Ethics in a Diverse Society

with an open mind. They allow themselves to rethink their ideas and surrender some,

modify others, and hold some relatively intact. Accommodation leads to a multivocal

society that seeks out a variety of ideas, opinions, and visions and gives them an open,

recognized voice. Here, co-cultural groups recognize their diversity yet work together

to forge a civic culture that accommodates both differences and commonalities.^12

However, accommodation has its challenges:

Participating in this form of communication requires a set of abilities, the most

important of which is remaining in the tension between holding your own

perspective, being profoundly open to others who are unlike you, and enabling

others to act similarly.^13

Study Rodney Smolla’s inaugural speech in Appendix B and notice the ways he calls

for accommodation on the college campus where he is assuming the presidency.

Resistance and accommodation have ethical implications. It’s easy to label extreme

forms of resistance (terrorist attacks, for example) or even taunting as unethical, but

what about simply ignoring people who differ from you? What about cruel remarks

in anonymous posts on Internet sites? Your decision to resist new ideas or to embrace

them with relatively few questions, to block voices from being heard or to invite

dialogue—all of these have ethical implications for both speaking and listening in a

diverse society.

Let’s now turn to specific cultural resources that can help you be a more ethical

speaker.

Speaking Ethically

Your concern with ethics should begin as soon as you receive your speech assignment

because you have responsibilities to your audience, your topic, and yourself. Ethical

principles fall into two major categories: democratic and dialogical. (The Credo for

Ethical Communication, created by the National Communication Association and

reprinted in the Ethics in Practice box, includes both perspectives.)

multivocal society society
that actively seeks expression
of a variety of voices or
viewpoints

© Rasyidien/Shutterstock.com

In an “argument culture,” a
war of words is a common
form of resistance by
those who are unwilling to
accommodate diverse ideas.

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