174 8.3 GatherinG and UsinG sUpportinG Material
EXPERT TESTIMONY Having already offered statistics on the number of
cigars Americans consume annually, Dena emphasized the danger to both
smoker and secondhand recipient by providing expert testimony (an opinion
offered by someone who is an authority on the subject under discussion) from a
National Cancer Institute advisor:
James Repace, an adviser to the National Cancer Institute, states, “If you
have to breathe secondhand smoke, cigar smoke is a lot worse than ciga-
rette smoke.”^25
The testimony of a recognized authority can add a great deal of weight to
your arguments. Or if your topic requires that you make predictions—state-
ments that can be supported only in a marginal way by statistics or examples—
the statements of expert authorities may prove to be your most convincing
support.LAY TESTIMONY You are watching the nightly news. Newscasters reporting
on a large wildfire provide thorough statistics and descriptions to help viewers
understand the fire, as well as a video clip of a veteran firefighter predicting
the likelihood that the fire will be brought under control soon. But the most
poignant moment of this news story is an interview with a woman who has just
been allowed to return to her home and has found it in smoldering ashes. She is
a layperson—not a firefighter or an expert on forest fires but someone who has
experienced the tragedy firsthand.
Like illustrations, lay testimony (an opinion or description offered by a
nonexpert who has firsthand experience) can stir an audience’s emotions. And
although it is neither as authoritative nor as unbiased as expert testimony, lay
testimony is often more memorable.LITERARY QUOTATION Another way to make a point memorable is to
include a literary quotation in your speech, an opinion or description by a
writer, expressed in a memorable and often poetic way. Speaking on changes
essential to the survival of the automotive industry, Chrysler Corpora-
tion CEO Sergio Marchionne drew on the words of philosopher Friedrich
Nietzsche:
The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said that “what really arouses
indignation against suffering is not suffering as such but the sense-
lessness of suffering... .” And a crisis that does not result in enduring
changes, in fundamental changes, will have been very senseless indeed.^26
Note that the Nietzsche quotation is short. Brief, pointed quotations usually
have greater audience impact than longer, more rambling ones. As Shakespeare
said, “Brevity is the soul of wit” (Hamlet, II: 2).
Literary quotations have the additional advantage of being easily accessible.
You’ll find any number of quotation dictionaries on the Web and in the reference