Day Six: Supporting Your Speech: Materials & more

by

Yana Cornish

Hamilton College

Agenda:

Supporting Materials (Ch. 7) Types of supporting materials (Ch. 8) Activity

Homework: Read chapters 7 & 8 Do suggested activity p. 165 Select a video speech and provide its

analysis. Perfect your introduction and conclusion Continue selecting supporting materials

for your first speech Continue putting together biographical

information

Supporting Material Ideas, opinions, and information

that help to explain a presentation’s main idea and purpose.

The best presenters use a mix of many different kinds of supporting material

What Materials to Use? Facts Illustrations (verbal or visual) Descriptions & explanations Definitions Analogies Statistics Opinions Examples Stories Testimonies

What Materials to Use?

Fact - verifiable observation, experience, or event known to be true Most effective when the audience can accept

them as true Illustrations (verbal or visual):

Brief illustration – a short example (a sentence or two)

Extended illustration – a detailed example

What Materials to Use? Descriptions & explanations:

Description – detailed mental images of people, concepts, or things.

Explanation – a statement that makes clear how something is done or why it exists.

They offer causes, effects, characteristics, and background information.

Definition – explanations or clarifications of a word’s meaning.

What Materials to Use? Analogy – a comparison of unfamiliar

concepts or objects with familiar ones. can be alike or different

Examples:Alike: America is like a quilt- many patches,

pieces, colors, and sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread.

Different: If a copilot must be qualified to fly a plane, then a U.S. Vice President should be qualified to govern the country.

What Materials to Use? Statistics – systematically collected and

numerically classified information.-only factual if analyzed correctly

Opinion – a statement made by an individual Examples- provides a reference to a specific

case or instance in order to make an idea understandable.can be facts, brief descriptions, or detailed stories

What Materials to Use? Stories- accounts or

reports about things that have happened.Can have a great impact

on the audienceUse stories to gain

attention, create a mood, or reinforce an important idea.

What Materials to Use? Testimony- statements or opinions that

someone has said or written in magazines, speeches, on the radio, books, etc.Believability depends on the credentials of the

speaker or writer, so use testimony from famous people and experts to enhance your credibility.

Expert testimony – an opinion offered by someone who is an authority on the subject.

Lay testimony – an opinion offered by a nonexpert who has firsthand experience.

How to choose good materials: Magnitude – bigger is better! Proximity – the most relevant to the

listeners (‘closest to home’) Concreteness – use concrete

examples and statistics Variety – use a mix! Humor – audience will appreciate it! Suitability of material – to you, your

speech, your audience, and occasion.

Search for Supporting materials Start with your own knowledge Internet/WWW:

To supplement library sources, not replace themDirectoriesSearch engines

Alta Vista www.altavista.com Google www.google.com Yahoo! www.yahoo.com Lycos www.lycos.com Dogpile www.dogpile.com

Search Engine

Directory:

Supporting materials: Library resources:

BooksPeriodicalsFull-text DatabasesGovernment documentsReference resources (maps,

encyclopedias, etc.)Special services (interlibrary loan)

Supporting materials: Interviews:

Needs to be set upRequires planningCan provide very

useful information Special

groups/organizations

Important Questions for Interviews Why am I conducting this

interview? What do I hope to learn?

What do I know about the person I’m interviewing?

What do I want or need to know for my presentation?

In what order should I ask the questions?

Evaluating Your Sources Is the source identifiable and credible?

Are the author and publisher identified and reputable?

Example: Which is more respected and reputable? The National Inquirer or The Wall Street Journal

Is the source biased? Is the information slanted in one direction so

much that it isn’t fair?

Evaluating Your Sources Is the information recent?

When was the information collected and published? Use magazines, web sources, etc. for current events.

Is the information consistent? Is the information similar to other information on

the same subject? Are the statistics valid?

Use sophisticated research methods to provide valid statistics and information.

Questions for Determining Validity Who collected and analyzed the data? Is the researcher a well-respected

expert? How was the information collected and

analyzed? Who is reporting the statistics: the

researcher or a reporter? Are the statistics believable?

Record Your Sources Make a bibliography card,

recording all relevant information for each source you intend to use.

Make copies of the material you will use

Save material you find online by printing it, emailing it to yourself, or saving it to a disk.

Record Your Sources Read the copies you

have made carefully Take careful notes on

information related to your paper topic.

Distinguish exact quotations from summaries and record all page numbers.

Cite Your Sources In writing (bibliography) and/or orally during

your speech

In Writing (bibliography): Must include author, title, publisher, and date There should be no question which words are

yours and which words belong to other people. Not necessary for facts regarded as common

knowledge (available in many sources), such as chronological events, author’s birth date...

Cite Your Sources (cont.) If you are not sure,

cite your sources! Cite all supporting

material unless it is common knowledge.

Cite someone else’s ideas and opinions, even if you restate it in your own words.

Citing Your Sources Orally Provide sufficient

information to allow others to find your source, don’t read the whole citation.

Provide the name of the person, saying a word or two about their credentials, and mentioning the source (or title) of the information.

Citing: Directly or Paraphrasing

Directly:

In a 1988 article published by English Journal, Dr. James Stalker described the absurdity of adopting an official language for the United States. He wrote: “We cannot…”

Paraphrasing:

In a 1988 article published by English Journal, Dr. James Stalker noted that in a Democracy like ours, we cannot pass laws against the use of other languages.

Supporting materials: How to develop a bibliography:

In alphabetical order at the end of the speech outline

Author’s nameTitle of the article (book)Title of the book/websiteDate of publication (date when

accessed if it is a web site)Publisher (books only)

Outline Review (see pp. 32-33): Topic General and Specific Purposes: at the

end of the speech… Central idea Description:

Introduction (write your statement)Body (structure only)Conclusion (write your statement)

Homework: Read chapters 7 & 8 Do suggested activity p. 165 Select a video speech and provide its

analysis. Perfect your introduction and conclusion Continue selecting supporting materials

for your first speech Continue putting together biographical

information