according to your textbook what kind of supporting material is used in the following speech excerpt

Chapter 7: Supporting Your Speech Ideas

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, the pupil volition be able to:

• Explain why supporting materials are necessary;
• List the diverse types of verbal supporting materials;
• Discuss supporting material strengths in explaining and proving ideas and arguments;
• Incorporate supporting materials seamlessly into the speech;
• Use supporting materials ethically through right citation;
• Explicate how perception and attention touch on the speech-giving process

Chapter Preview

7.ane – Why Supporting Materials are Needed

vii.2 – Types of Supporting Materials

7.3 – Attention Factors and Supporting Materials

seven.i – Why Supporting Materials are Needed

Equally mentioned in previous capacity, preparing to give a presentation is non a totally linear process. It would be nice if the process was like post-obit a recipe, but information technology loops back and along as y'all motion toward crafting something that volition present your ideas and research effectively. Even every bit you practice, you will make small-scale changes to your bones outline, since the way something looks on paper and the fashion information technology sounds are sometimes dissimilar. For example, long sentences may look intelligent on paper, but they are hard to say in i breath and hard for the audience to sympathise. You will likewise find it necessary to use more repetition or restatement in oral delivery.

Therefore, although this is the seventh affiliate in the book, it deals with some concepts that we have already been thinking well-nigh in Chapters 2-6. Specifically, this chapter is most supporting materials: what they are, what they practise, and how to utilize them effectively. Just yous have already been thinking about how to back up your ideas when you were researching and crafting a primal idea and main points. Supporting textile likewise relates directly to Chapter ix, presentation aids. Whereas presentation aids are visual or auditory supporting materials, this chapter will deal with verbal supporting materials.

Using your supporting materials effectively is essential because nosotros crave item and specifics. Let's say you are discussing going out to eat with a friend. You suggest a sure restaurant, and your friend makes a comment near the restaurant you lot have not heard earlier or don't have at face value, and then you ask in some way for explanation, clarification, or proof. If she says, "Their servers are really rude," you lot might enquire, "What did they do?" If she says, "Their food is delicious," y'all might ask what dish is good. Also, if she says, "The place is nasty," you will want to know what their health rating is or why she makes this argument. We desire to know specifics and are not satisfied with vagueness and generalities.

Supporting material can be thought of as the specifics that make your ideas, arguments, assertions, points, or concepts real and concrete. Sometimes supporting materials are referred to equally the "meat" on the bones of the outline, but we also like to call up of them as pegs y'all create in the audience'southward mind to hang the ideas on. Another even more useful thought is to call back of them as pillars or supports for a bridge (Figure 7.1). Without these supports, the span would just be a piece of concrete that would not agree up once cars start to cross it. Similarly, the points and arguments you are making in your spoken communication may not hold upward without the fabric to "support" what you are proverb.

Figure 7.1

Of grade, as we volition see in this chapter, all supporting materials are not considered equal. Some are meliorate at some functions or for some speeches than others. In general, there are two basic means to think about the role of supporting materials. Either they

1. clarify, explain, or provide specifics (and therefore agreement) for the audience, or

2. prove and back upwards arguments and therefore persuade the audience. Of course, some tin do both.

You might ask, how much supporting cloth is enough? The fourth dimension you are allowed or required to speak will largely determine that. Since the supporting materials are establish in the subpoints of your outline (A, B) and sub-subpoints (1, 2, etc.), you can see clearly on the outline how much you lot have and can omit one if fourth dimension constraints demand that. However, in our experience as public speaking instructors, we observe that students frequently struggle with having plenty supporting materials. We often comment on a student's speech that nosotros wanted the student to respond more of the "what, where, who, how, why, when," questions and add more than description, proof, or evidence because their ideas were vague.

Students ofttimes struggle with the difference between "main idea" and "supporting idea." For example, in this list, yous will quickly recognize a commonality.

Chocolate

Vanilla

Strawberry

Butter Pecan

Of course, they are popular flavors of water ice foam. The main idea is "Popular Flavors of Water ice Cream" and the individual flavors are supporting materials to clarify the main thought; they "hold" it upward for agreement and description. If the list were:

Rocky Road

Honey Jalapeno Pickle

Assistant Separate

Chocolate

Wildberry Lavender

you lot would recognize two or 3 as water ice foam flavors (not equally popular) but #2 and #5 do not seem to fit the listing (Covington, 2013). But y'all still recognize them every bit types of something and infer from the listing that they have to practise with ice cream flavors. "Ice cream flavors" is the general subject and the flavors are the particulars.

Those examples were easy. Allow'south look at this ane. One of the words in this list is the general, and the rest are the particulars.

Love

Emotion

Sadness

Disgust

Tolerance

Emotion is general category, and the listing hither shows specific emotions. Here is some other:

• Spaying helps preclude uterine infections and breast cancer.
• Pets who live in states with high rates of spaying/neutering alive longer.
• Spaying or neutering your pet is good for its health.
• Spaying lessens the increased urge to roam.
• Male pets who are neutered eliminate their chances of getting testicular and prostate cancer.

Which one is the main point (the general idea), and which are the supporting points that include evidence to prove the master signal? You should see that the tertiary bullet signal ("Your pet's wellness is positively affected . . .") would exist a main point or argument in a persuasive speech on spaying or neutering your pet. The basic outline for the speech might look something like this:

1. Spaying or neutering your pet is good for public health.
2. Spaying or neutering your pet is expert for your pet'due south wellness.
3. Spaying or neutering your pet is good for your family's life and upkeep.

Of class, each of the iv supporting points in this example ("helps uterine cancer in female pets, "etc.) cannot just be made upwardly. The speaker would need to refer to or cite reliable statistics or testimony from veterinarians, researchers, public health organizations, and humane societies. For that reason, here is the more specific support, which you would use in a speech to be upstanding and credible. Notice that the italicized sections in this example Main Point use statistics and specific details to support the claims being made and provides sources that are clearly given.

2. Spaying or neutering your pet is good for your pet'due south health.
   1. Spaying helps prevent uterine infections and breast cancer, which is fatal in virtually 50 percent of dogs and xc percent of cats, as found in the online article "Top Ten Reasons to Spay or Neuter Your Pet," written in 2015 and posted on the website for the American Gild for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
   2. The commodity as well states that pets who live in the states with the highest rates of spaying/neutering also live the longest.
      1. According to Natalie DiBlasio, writing for USA Today on May 7 of 2013, in Mississippi, the everyman-ranking state for pet longevity, only 56% of the dogs are neutered or spayed.
      2. She goes on to say that other issues affecting pet longevity have to do with climate, heartworm, and income of owners.
   3. The Human Society of America's website features the Baronial 2014 article, "Why You Should Spay/Neuter Your Pet," which states that spaying lessens their urge to roam, exposure to fights with other animals, getting struck by cars, and other mishaps.
   4. Likewise according to the aforementioned article, male pets who are neutered eliminate their chances of getting testicular and prostate cancer.

With all the sources available to you lot through reliable Cyberspace and published sources, finding information is not hard. Recognizing the difference between supporting information and the full general idea you lot are trying to support or prove is more than hard, as is providing adequate commendation.

Along with clarifying and proving, supporting materials, especially narrative ones, also brand your speech much more interesting and attention-getting. Later in the chapter we volition look at the various "factors of attending" that are related to supporting fabric. Ultimately, you will be perceived as a more apparent speaker if you provide clarifying, probative (proof-giving and logical), and interesting supporting fabric.

7.2 – Types of Supporting Materials

Substantially, there are seven types of supporting materials: examples, narratives, definitions, descriptions, historical and scientific fact, statistics, and testimony. Each provides a dissimilar type of back up, and you lot will want to cull the supporting materials that all-time help you make the signal you desire to get across to your audience.

Examples

This type of supporting material is the showtime and easiest to use but also easy to forget. Examples are almost always short but physical specific instances to illuminate a concept. They are designed to requite audiences a reference point. If you were describing a blazon of architecture, you lot would obviously show visual aids of it and give exact descriptions of it, but you could say, "You laissez passer an example of this type of architecture every fourth dimension y'all get downtown—Metropolis Hall." An example must be speedily understandable, something the audience tin pull out of their memory or experience quickly.

The central to effectively using examples in your speeches is this: what is an example to y'all may not be an example to your audience, if they have a dissimilar experience. One of the authors has been educational activity four decades and cannot use the same pop culture examples she used to apply in class. Television shows from 20 years ago are pretty meaningless to audiences today. Fourth dimension and age are not the just reasons an example may not work with the audience. If you are a huge soccer fan speaking to a group who barely knows soccer, using a well-known soccer player as an example of perseverance or overcoming bigotry in the sports world may not communicate. It may only exit the audition members scratching their heads.

Additionally, 1 good, appropriate example is worth several less apt ones. Proceed in mind that in the distinction between supporting materials that prove, those that clarify, and those that exercise both, examples are used to clarify.

Narratives

Earlier in this textbook the "power of story" was mentioned. Narratives, stories, and anecdotes are useful in speeches to involvement the audition and clarify, dramatize, and emphasize ideas. They take, if washed well, strong emotional power. They tin be used in the introduction, the trunk, and the conclusion of the speech communication. They tin can be brusque, every bit anecdotes ordinarily are. Think of the stories you often encounter in Readers' Digest , homo interest stories on the local news, or what you lot might postal service on Facebook about a bad experience yous had at the DMV. They could be longer, although they should not comprise large portions of the oral communication.

Narratives tin can be personal, literary, historical, or hypothetical. Personal narratives can be helpful in situations where you desire to:

• Relate to the audition on a human level, peculiarly if they may come across you lot equally competent but not actually similar or connected to them.
• Build your credibility by mentioning your experience with a topic.

Of class, personal narratives must be truthful. They must too not portray y'all as more competent, experienced, brave, intelligent, etc., than you are; in other words, along with being truthful in using personal narratives, you should be reasonably apprehensive.

An example of a literary narrative might be one of Aesop's fables, a brusk story by O'Henry, or an advisable tale from another culture. Go along in heed that because of their power, stories tend to be remembered more than than other parts of the speech. Do you lot want the story to overshadow your content? Scenes from films would be another example of a literary narrative, but every bit with examples, you must consider the audience'due south frame of reference and if they volition take seen the film.

Historical narratives (sometimes chosen documented narratives) have power considering they can besides evidence an idea as well as clarify one. In using these, you lot should treat them as fact and therefore give a citation equally to where you found the historical narrative. By "historical" we do not mean the story refers to something that happened many years ago, only that it has happened in the by and there were witnesses to validate the happening.

If yous were trying to argue for the terminate to the capital punishment because it leads to unjust executions, one good example of a person who was executed and then found innocent subsequently would be both emotional and probative. Hither, be careful of using theatrical movies equally your source of historical narrative. Hollywood likes to alter history to make the story they desire. For instance, many people call back Braveheart is historically accurate, merely it is off on many primal points—fifty-fifty the kilts, which were non worn by the Scots until the 1600s.

Hypothetical narratives are ones that could happen but have not notwithstanding. To be effective, they should be based on reality. Here are two examples:

Picture this incident: You are standing in line at the grocery checkout, reading the headlines on the Star and National Enquirer for a laugh, checking your phone. And so, the middle-aged man in front end of yous grabs his shoulder and falls to the footing, unconscious. What would you practice in a situation like this? While it has probably never happened to you, people have medical emergencies in public many times a twenty-four hours. Would you know how to answer?

Imagine yourself in this state of affairs. It is three:00 in the morning. You are awakened from a pretty practiced sleep past a dog barking loudly in the neighborhood. You go up and see green lights coming into your house from the back m. You get in the direction of the lights and unlock your back door and there, right abreast your deck, is an alien spaceship. The door opens and visitors from another planet come out and invite you in, and for the side by side hour you lot tour their transport. You tin can somehow understand them because their communication abilities are far avant-garde. Now, back to reality. If you lot were in a strange country, you would not be able to understand a strange language unless yous had studied it. That is why you lot should learn a foreign language in college.

Patently, the second is so "off-the-wall" that the audition would exist wondering near the connection, although it definitely does concenter attention. If using a hypothetical narrative, be sure that it is clear that the narrative is hypothetical, non factual. Because of their attending-getting nature, hypothetical narratives are often used in introductions.

Definitions

When nosotros use the term "definition" here as a supporting material, we are not talking nearly something you tin can hands find from the lexicon or from the first thing that comes upwards on Google, such as shown in Effigy 7.2.

Effigy 7.2 - Typical dictionary definition

Get-go, using a dictionary definition does not really evidence your audience that you have researched a topic (anyone can look up a definition in a few seconds). Secondly, does the audition demand a definition of a give-and-take like "love," "bravery," or "commitment?" They may consider information technology insulting for you to provide them definition of those words.

To define means to set limits on something; defining a word is setting limits on what it means, how the audience should call back nearly the give-and-take, and/or how you will use information technology. We know at that place are denotative and connotative definitions or meanings for words, which we usually think of as objective and subjective responses to words. Yous just demand to ascertain words that would be unfamiliar to the audience or words that you want to use in a specialized fashion.

For instance, terms used in specialized fields, oftentimes called "jargon," (see Chapter 10) demand to be defined and explained. These words may be in medicine, police force, the military, technology, or the arts. Some of these words may be in foreign languages, such equally Latin ( habeas corpus, quid pro quo ). Some of them may be acronyms; CBE is a term in higher education that ways "Competency Based Education." That is role of a definition, only not a total one—what is competency based teaching? To answer that question, you would do all-time to detect an officially accepted definition and cite it.

You may want to use a stipulated definition early in your speech. In this case, you clearly tell the audience how you lot are going to use a discussion or phrase in your voice communication. "When I utilize the phrase 'liberal commonwealth' in this speech, I am using it in the historical sense of a constitution, representative government, and elected officials, non in the sense of whatsoever detail problems that are being debated today between progressives and conservatives." This is a helpful technique and makes sure your audience understands you, but you would only want to do this for terms that take confusing or controversial meanings for some.

Although we tend to recall of the dictionary definition as the standard, that is only one style of defining something. The dictionary tends to define with synonyms, or other words that are close in meaning. All of united states of america have had the experience of looking upward a word and finding a definition that uses some other word we do non know! Synonyms are one way to define, simply there are some others.

Classification and differentiation

This is a fancy way of maxim "Ten is a type of Y, only it is unlike from the other Ys in that . . ." "A bicycle is type of vehicle that has two wheels, handlebars instead of a steering wheel, and is powered past the feet of the driver." Obviously you know what a wheel is and information technology does not demand defining, so here are some meliorate examples:

Laparoscopic adaptable gastric banding (LAGB) is a (blazon of) surgical procedure that (how dissimilar) involves the placement of an adjustable silicone belt around the upper portion of the stomach using a laparoscope. The ring tin be tightened past adding saline to fill up the ring similar blowing air into a doughnut-shaped airship. The band is continued to a port that is placed under the skin of the belly. This port is used to introduce or remove saline into the band.

Gestational diabetes is a (type of) diabetic condition (how different) that appears during pregnancy and normally goes away after the birth of the babe.

Social publishing platforms are a (type of) social medium where (how different) long and brusk-form written content can exist shared with other users.

Operational Definitions

Operational definitions give examples of an action or idea to define it. If we were to ascertain " quid pro quo sexual harassment" operationally, we might utilize a hypothetical narrative of a female employee who is pressured by her supervisor to date him and told she must go out with him socially to get a promotion. Operational definitions do not have to be this dramatic, but they do describe a picture and answer the question, "What does this expect like in real life?" rather than using synonyms to ascertain.

Definition by Contrast or Comparison

Y'all can define a term or concept by telling what it is similar to or different from. This method requires the audience to have an understanding of any yous are using as the point of dissimilarity or comparison. When alcoholism or drug addiction is defined as a affliction, that is a comparison. Although not caused by a virus or bacteria, addiction disorder has other qualities that are disease-like.

When defining by dissimilarity, you lot are pointing how a concept or term is distinct from another more familiar ane. For case, "popular culture" is defined as different from "high culture" in that, traditionally, popular civilisation has been associated with people of lower socioeconomic status (i.east. less wealth or education). High culture , on the other hand, is associated with as the "official" civilisation of the more than highly educated within the upper classes. Hither, the definition of popular civilization is antiseptic by highlighting the differences betwixt it and high civilisation.

A like course of definition by dissimilarity is defining by negation, which is stipulating what something is non . This famous quotation from Nelson Mandela is an case: "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, simply the triumph over information technology. The brave man is not he who does not experience afraid, merely he who conquers that fright." Here, Mandela is helping us draw limits around a concept by proverb what it is not .

Descriptions

The key to description is to think in terms of the 5 senses: sight (visual; how does the thing look in terms of color, size, shape), hearing (auditory; book, musical qualities), taste (gustatory; sugariness, bitter, salty, sour, gritty, smooth, chewy), smell (olfactory; sweet, rancid, fragrant, effluvious, musky), and feel (tactile; crude, silky, nubby, scratchy). The words kinesthetic (movement of the body) and organic (feelings related to the inner workings of the torso) can be added to those senses to describe internal concrete feeling, such as straining muscles or hurting ( kinesthetic ) and nausea or the feelings of heightened emotions ( organic ).

Description as a method of support also depends on details, or answering the v questions of what, where, how, who, when. To use description, you must dig deeper into your vocabulary and recall concretely. This example shows that progression.

Furniture

A chair

A recliner

A La-Z-Boy® rocker-recliner

An old dark-green velvet La-Z-Male child® rocker recliner

An old lime greenish velvet La-Z-Boy® rocker recliner with a cigarette burn on the left arm

As you add together more clarification, two things happen. The "photographic camera focus" becomes clearer, simply y'all also add tone, or attitude. A recliner is one thing, but who buys a lime greenish velvet recliner? And someone saturday in it smoked and was sloppy well-nigh it. In this example, the concluding line is probably too much clarification unless y'all desire to pigment a picture of a careless person with odd gustation in furniture.

Description is useful as supporting material in terms of describing processes. This topic was discussed in Chapter half dozen in chronological patterns of organization. Describing processes requires particular and not taking for granted what the audience already knows. Some instructors apply the "peanut butter sandwich" example to make this bespeak: How would you describe making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to someone who had never seen a sandwich, peanut butter, or jelly? Yous would need to put yourself in their shoes to describe the process and not assume they know that the peanut butter and jelly go on the inside, facing surfaces of the breadstuff, and that two pieces of bread are involved.

Historic and Scientific Fact

This type of supporting material is useful for clarification just is especially useful for proving a point. President John Adams is quoted as maxim, "Facts are stubborn things," but that does not hateful everyone accepts every fact every bit a fact, or that everyone is capable of distinguishing a fact from an opinion. A fact is divers by the Urban Lexicon every bit "The place well-nigh people in the world tend to retrieve their opinions reside." This is a humorous definition, but often true about how we arroyo facts. The meaning of "fact" is complicated by the context in which it is being used. The National Center for Science Education (2008) defines fact this mode:

In science, an observation that has been repeatedly confirmed and for all applied purposes is accustomed as 'true.' Truth in scientific discipline, notwithstanding, is never final and what is accepted equally a fact today may be modified or fifty-fifty discarded tomorrow.

Another source explains fact this way:

[Fact is] a truth known by bodily experience or observation. The hardness of fe, the number of ribs in a squirrel's body, the existence of fossil trilobites, and the like are all facts. Is it a fact that electrons orbit around atomic nuclei? Is it a fact that Brutus stabbed Julius Caesar? Is information technology a fact that the sun will ascension tomorrow? None of the states has observed any of these things - the beginning is an inference from a diversity of dissimilar observations, the second is reported by Plutarch and other historians who lived close enough in fourth dimension and space to the event that nosotros trust their report, and the tertiary is an inductive inference afterwards repeated observations. ("Scientific Thought," northward.d.)

Without getting into a philosophical dissertation on the pregnant of truth, for our purposes facts are pieces of data with established "backup." You can cite who discovered the fact and how other government have supported information technology. Some facts are so mutual that about people don't know where they started—who really discovered that the water molecule is two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen (H2O)? Only we could find out if we wanted to (information technology was, by the manner, the 18th century pharmacist Henry Cavendish). In using scientific and historical fact in your speech, practice not take citation for granted. If information technology is a fact worth maxim and a fact new to the audition, assume yous should cite the source of the fact.

Also, the difference between historical narrative (mentioned above) and historical fact has to exercise with length. An historical fact might just be a date, place, or activeness, such as "President Ronald Reagan was shot past John Hinckley on March 30, 1981, in front of Washington, D.C. Hilton Hotel." An historical narratives would get into much more particular and add together dramatic elements, such as this assassination try from the betoken of view of Secret Service agents.

Statistics

Statistics are widely used in public speaking, but they are often misunderstood past the speaker and the audience. Statistics include numerical facts, descriptive statistics (such as ratios and percentages), and the more in-depth process of analyzing, comparison, and interpreting numerical data to understand its human relationship to other numerical information. It is a numerical fact that the population of the U.S., according to the 2010 census, was 308,700,000. This is a 9.7% increase from the 2000 census (a comparison). Another category of statistics is inferential statistics, which are analyses that are used to generalize sample results to populations. So, for example, political polling results reporting margins of mistake that give us an idea of voters' preferences as a whole are based on inferential statistical analysis.

Statistics are also misunderstood because the science of statistics is difficult. Fifty-fifty terms similar hateful, median, and mode oft confuse people, much less regression analysis, two-tailed T-tests, and margin of error. Before you can use statistics in a speech, y'all should have a basic understanding of them.

Mean is the same as mathematical boilerplate, something you learned to exercise early in math classes. Add together up the figures and divide by the number of figures. Related to mean is the concept of standard difference, which is the boilerplate amount each figure is different from (higher or lower) than the boilerplate or mean. Standard deviation is harder to figure (and normally done past estimator!) but it does let you know if a grouping is more similar than alike. If the average on a exam in a class is 76, but the standard deviation is xx, that tells you students tended to exercise really well (96) or really poorly (56) on information technology (we're simplifying hither, but you encounter the betoken).

The median , however, is the middle number in a distribution. If all salaries of players in Major League Baseball game were listed from highest to everyman, the 1 in the exact middle of the list would be the median. You tin can tell from this that information technology probably will not exist the same as the average, and it rarely is; however, the terms "median" and "mean" are often interchanged carelessly. Mode is the name for the most frequently occurring number in the list. As an example, Figure 7.3 is a listing of grades from highest to lowest that students might make on a midterm in a class. The placement of mean, median, and mode are noted.

Percentages have to do with ratios. There are many other terms yous would be introduced to in a statistics class, but the bespeak remains: be careful of using a statistic that sounds impressive unless you know what it represents. At that place is an old saying about "figures don't lie but liars effigy" and another, "There are liars, damn liars, and statisticians." These sayings are exaggerations but they point out that nosotros are inundated with statistical information and often exercise non know how to process it. Another thing to watch when using numerical facts is not to confuse your billions and your millions. There is a large departure. If you say that 43 billion people in the US are without adequate health care, you volition probably misfile your audience, since the population of the planet is around 7 billion!

In using statistics, you are probably going to use them as proof more than as explanation. Statistics are considered a strong class of proof. Here are some guidelines for using them effectively in a presentation.

Effigy 7.3 - Mean, Way, Median

1. Employ statistics equally support, not every bit a main point. The audience may blench or melody you lot out for proverb, "Now I'd similar to give you some statistics well-nigh the problem of gangs in our office of the land." That sounds equally heady as reading the phone book! Use the statistics to support an argument. "Gang activity is increasing in our region. For example, it is increasing in the three major cities. Mainsville had 450 arrests for gang activity this yr alone, up xx% from all of concluding year." This example ties the numerical fact (450 arrests) and the statistical comparison (upwardly xx%) to an statement. The goal is to weave or blend the statistics seamlessly into the speech, not have them stand up solitary as a section of the speech.

2. Ever provide the source of the statistic. In the previous example, it should read, "Co-ordinate to a study published on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's website, Mainsville had 450 arrests . . ." There are a number of "urban myth" statistics floating around that probably have a basis in some research done at some indicate in time, but that research was outlived past the statistic. An audience would take reason to exist skeptical if you lot cannot provide the name of the researcher or organization that backs upward the statistics and numerical information. By the way, it is mutual for speakers and writers to say "According to research" or "According to studies." This tag is essentially meaningless and really a logical fallacy. Give a real source to support your statement.

3. In regard to sources, depend on the reliable ones. Table 7.1, originally published in Wrench, Goding, Johnson, and Attias (2011), lists valid websites providing statistical information.

4. Exercise not overuse statistics. While there is no hard and fast rule on how many to utilize, in that location are other practiced supporting materials and you would not desire to depend on statistics lonely. You want to choose the statistics and numerical data that will strengthen your argument the nearly and drive your signal home. Statistics can have emotional power also equally probative value if used sparingly.

5. Use graphs to display the near important statistics. If yous are using presentation software such equally PowerPoint, you can create your own basic pie, line, or bar graphs, or you can infringe one and put a correct citation on the slide. Notwithstanding, you do not demand to make a graph for every single statistic. More than information on these types of visual aids and what type of information they convey best tin exist plant in Chapter 9.

6. Explain your statistics as needed, but do not make your speech a statistics lesson. Explicate the context of the statistics. If you lot say, "My web log has 500 subscribers" to a group of people who know little nearly blogs, that might sound impressive, but is it? You lot can also provide a story of an individual, and so tie the private into the statistic. Later on telling a story of the daily struggles of a young mother with multiple sclerosis, yous could follow up with "This is but ane story in the 400,000 people who suffer from MS in the United States today, co-ordinate to National MS Lodge."

7. If you do your own survey or research and use numerical data from it, explain your methodology. "In social club to understand the attitudes of freshmen at our college about the subject field of open source textbooks, I polled 150 first-twelvemonth students, only iii of whom were shut friends, asking them this question: 'Do you hold that our higher should encourage the faculty to use open source textbooks?' Lxx-five percent of them indicated that they agreed with the statement."

8. It goes without saying that you will utilise the statistic ethically, that there will exist no distortion of what the statistic means. However, it is acceptable and a good idea to circular up numerical data to avoid overwhelming the audition. Earlier nosotros used the instance of the U.Due south. census, stating the population in 2010 was 308.7 million. That is a rounded effigy. The actual number was 308,745,538, but saying "almost 309 million" or "308.7 one thousand thousand" will serve your purposes and not exist unethical.

Table vii.1 - Statistics-Oriented Websites

9. Additionally, do not make statistics mean what they do not hateful. Otherwise, y'all would be pushing the boundaries on ideals. In the example nigh your survey of students, if y'all were to say, "75% of college freshmen back up . . . ." That is not what the enquiry said. Seventy-five percent of the students you surveyed indicated agreement, but since your study did non meet scientific standards regarding size of sample and how you found the sample, you can but use the information in relation to students in your higher, not the whole country. One of the authors had a statistics professor who often liked to say, "Numbers will tell you whatever y'all want if y'all torture them long plenty," pregnant you can always twist or manipulate statistics to meet your goals.

10. An constructive technique with numerical data is to use physical comparisons. "The National Debt is 17 trillion dollars. What does that mean? Information technology means that every American citizen owes $55,100." "It means that if the money were stacked as hundred dollar bills, it would get to . . ." Or another example, "There are 29 million Americans with diabetes. That is 9.3%. In terms closer to home, of the 32 people in this classroom, 3 of usa would have diabetes." Of class, in this final example, the class may not exist made up of those in take chances groups for diabetes, and then yous would non want to say, "Iii of u.s. have diabetes." It is merely a comparison for the audience to grasp the significance of the topic.

11. Finally, because statistics tin can be confusing, ho-hum down when you say them, give more accent, gesture—small ways of helping the audience grasp them.

Testimony

Testimony is the words of others. Yous might think of them every bit quoted material. Plain, all quoted material or testimony is not the same. Some quotations you just utilize because they are funny, compelling, or attention-getting. They piece of work well equally openings to introductions. Other types of testimony are more useful for proving your arguments. Testimony tin likewise requite an audience insight into the feelings or perceptions of others. Testimony is basically divided into 2 categories: proficient and peer.

Expert Testimony

What is an expert? Hither is a quotation of the humorous kind: An expert is "one who knows more and more than virtually less and less" (Nicholas Butler). Actually, an expert for our purposes is someone with recognized credentials, cognition, instruction, and/or feel in a subject. Experts spend fourth dimension studying the facts and putting the facts together. They may not be scholars who publish original research just they have in-depth cognition. They may have certain levels of education, or they accept real-world feel in the topic.

For case, i of the authors is attending a quilt show this week to talk to experts in quilting. This expertise was gained through years of making, preserving, reading about, and showing quilts, even if they never took Quilting 101 in college. To quote an expert on expertise, "To be an good, someone needs to have considerable knowledge on a topic or considerable skill in accomplishing something" (Weinstein, 1993). In using expert testimony, you should follow these guidelines:

• Utilize the expert's testimony in his or her relevant field, not exterior of it. A person may have a Nobel Prize in economic science, but that does not make them an good in biology.
• Provide at least some of the expert's relevant credentials.
• Choose experts to quote whom your audience volition respect and/or whose proper noun or affiliations they will recognize equally credible.
• Brand it clear that you lot are quoting the expert testimony verbatim or paraphrasing it. If verbatim, say "Quote . . . stop of quote" (not unquote—you cannot unquote someone).
• If you lot interviewed the expert yourself, make that clear in the speech also. "When I spoke with Dr. Mary Thompson, principal of Park Lake High School, on October 12, she informed me that . . ."

Adept testimony is one of your strongest supporting materials to prove your arguments, just in a sense, past clearly citing the source'south credentials, yous are arguing that your source is truly an expert (if the audition is unfamiliar with him or her) in order to validate his or her information.

Peer Testimony

Any quotation from a friend, family member, or classmate about an incident or topic would exist peer testimony . Information technology is useful in helping the audition empathize a topic from a personal betoken of view. For example, in the spring of 2011, a devastating tornado came through the boondocks where 1 of the authors and many of their students alive. One of those students gave a dramatic personal experience spoken language in class about surviving the tornado in a building that was destroyed and literally disappeared. They survived because she and her coworkers at their concatenation restaurant were able to get to safe in the freezer. While she may not have had an advanced degree in a field related to tornadoes or the destruction they tin crusade, this pupil certainly had a good deal of cognition virtually surviving a tornado. However, practise not present just whatever testimony of a peer or friend as if it were expert or credentialed.

7.3 – Attention Factors and Supporting Material

In Affiliate two, we discussed how public speaking as an oral form of communication is dissimilar from written forms of communication. Therefore, every bit a speaker, yous must work to maintain the attention of your audience. In this section, we will await more securely at attention and how you can utilise supporting materials to keep the audience'due south attention in addition to the important functions of clarifying and proving ideas.

What is Attention?

Attending and perception are closely tied concepts, simply they are not exactly the same. If yous have taken an introduction to psychology course, i of the primeval chapters in the textbook was probably nigh perception, since our perceptual processes are so foundational to how we think and procedure. Perception deals primarily with how we organize and translate the patterns of stimuli around usa. The key words in this definition are patterns, organize, and interpret. The brain does the piece of work of taking thousands of stimuli around united states of america and making sense of them. Sensation is taking in the stimuli in the concrete realm; perception is doing something with it psychologically. Perception is plain influenced by memory, experiences, past learning, etc. If yous gustation a desert, the scent and taste are physically going to your brain, and thus you are sensing it. But if y'all say, "This tastes similar my mother'southward recipe for this desert," then you are perceiving.

Attending, on the other mitt, is focused perception. Attention is defined as focus on one stimulus while ignoring or suppressing reactions to other stimuli. Information technology has been referred to as the "allocation of limited processing resources" (Anderson, 2005, p. 519). Although we think we can multitask and pay attention to iii things at a time, we cannot.

The diagram in Figure seven.four might assistance show why multitasking is a problem rather than a benefit. In the effigy, two assurance from the upper chutes (which stand for the 2 sources of stimuli, such as ii auditory messages) are trying to enter the key chute at the same fourth dimension. For a applied example that you tin can probably relate to, permit'south say these balls represent watching Television and playing a game on your telephone at the same time. Simply one ball tin get through the unmarried chute at a time, which is representative of your focus (the ideas or tasks you can actually retrieve about at a given moment). The "balls" or stimuli must take turns, therefore making your attending shift back and forth, affecting your power to do 1 chore versus the other.

When you endeavour to pay attention to two things at once, you are going to let the data in just accept to switch back and along on the pathways, making your attention (listening, reading, processing) less efficient. This means that in our example above, you're either going to miss something that is being said on Telly or you're going to not play the game very well considering you tin can't separate your focus between the two activities. Multitudes of studies have been washed on how inefficient multitasking beliefs is, especially for students (Weimer, 2012).

When you pay attending, you focus and other stimuli become muted or nonexistent in your mind for that amount of fourth dimension. Nosotros accept all had experiences when nosotros and then focused on a stimulus—it could be a concert, a movie, a roller coaster ride—that we almost "wake upward" to the rest of the world when information technology is over.

Figure 7.iv - How Attention Works

Why Do We Pay Attending?

Perception is non something we have a good deal of control over, simply we practice have more say in attention. At that place are basically five reasons we pay attending to what nosotros do when confronted with lots of competing stimuli.

1. We cull to focus on ane thing over some other. Plain and simple, we dust our teeth and pay attention, such equally when nosotros are making ourselves study difficult textile for a test. While this is a behavior we accept as adults, equally public speakers nosotros should non expect the audience to do all the work of paying attention just because they feel a duty to do so; they probably will not. We should attempt to meet the audience half mode by using our understanding of attention. Nosotros should use various techniques in our speech to help the audition pay attention.

2. Expectations. If a speaker started a lecture with "In this presentation I am going to say the give-and-take 'serendipity,' and when I exercise, the first person who jumps up and says 'gotcha' will become this $100 bill." The audience is expecting to hear something and tuning in for information technology. Of course, this is an farthermost example (and we don't recommend it!) but when a speaker gives an introduction that sets up for the audience what to expect, attention can exist helped.

3. Demand states. Have you e'er noticed that the hamburgers on the fast food commercials look juicier and more delicious when y'all are hungry? When we are in a need state, we will be focused on those items that meet the demand. When your instructor begins discussing in class what you tin expect on the next exam, yous probably perk up a chip, since this is information students generally need to know in club to do well in the class. Because that data meets a personal need, they volition be more receptive to and focused on it.

4. By training and experiences. You will detect what y'all accept been taught or trained, either straight or indirectly, to focus on. Sometimes you will non even be aware that you lot are doing so. For example, if you have a background in rodeo competition, you will run into aspects and details in a rodeo scene in a movie that someone else would but accept for granted.

5. All of these reasons for paying attention are relevant to the public speaker, but the last one is near directly usable and related to supporting textile. There are sure qualities or characteristics of stimuli that naturally attract our attention. These take been termed the "factors of attention." If a public speaker puts these traits into the speech and presentation aids, the audience'due south ability to pay attention will exist bolstered. These characteristics, listed below, are generally ways to "perk up" you audience'south ears and gain their attending, at least temporarily. Our attention can wane rather quickly and a speaker must piece of work to keep the audience engaged. Incorporating attention factors tin assistance.

Attention Factors

The list of factors that can help y'all get or maintain attention during your spoken communication is rather long, and a speaker cannot, of course, utilize all of them in one speech, but they are useful tools in certain speech situations. Every bit you lot progress as a public speaker, you can use them in an "impromptu" fashion if you think the audience needs an attention boost, or you can programme to utilise them in strategic places.

The first factor in getting or maintaining attending is motion . A moving object will gain more than attention than a stationary one. Movement is one of the factors of attention you can use in dissimilar ways. You lot tin can use stories that have movement in plot. You can use physical motion in your delivery. Transitions requite a sense of movement to a speech communication, likewise every bit not domicile on one idea too long. The blitheness of words and graphics in PowerPoint or other slide presentation software is another utilize of animation.

At the same time, because animation attracts attention and therefore distracts attending too, it should exist used strategically and intentionally (for a good purpose). For instance, piffling blithe figures, pacing back and forth, and repetitive gestures are uses of motion that you lot would non want to use because they are abrasive, they are non purposeful, and they depict the audience's attention away from your message.

The second factor of attention is conflict . Showing ideas, groups, teams, etc. that are in conflict draws attention. Stories tin too utilize conflict.

The third factor of attention is novelty . Your ideas and the fashion you arroyo them should exist fresh and new to the audience. When nosotros get to persuasion in Affiliate xiii, we volition besides see that evidence used to persuade an audition should be new to them.

The fourth gene of attention is humor . Humor is usually not the focus of your voice communication, especially in a course situation, but well-placed and intentional humour tin can be helpful to maintain attention of your audition. It should exist appropriate to the topic and well-practiced. Information technology is probably a good idea to "road test" your humor to be sure information technology is funny to other people. We all take our own sense of what is funny and take experienced those times when friends or family unit don't seem to "become" what we find funny. If you lot want to tell a joke, be sure to tell it, not read it, and practice the delivery well. See Appendix D for more information on humor in public speaking.

The fifth factor of attention is familiarity . Equally mentioned already, supporting materials should be immediately accessible and depict from your audience'south experience so they can empathise quickly in an oral communication setting. Familiarity is attractive considering it is comfortable. Familiarity may seem in conflict with novelty, and in a sense they evidence both sides of how our minds piece of work. We similar new things (such as the virtually recent design of a sports auto) but we besides similar comfortable, familiar things (such every bit our favorite moving picture nosotros accept seen ten times already). They part differently in a spoken communication. Familiarity works ameliorate to explain a new concept; novelty works meliorate to pique an audience's interest.

The 6th factor is contrast . This one is particularly useful to a speaker in creating visual aids so that fundamental words stand out, for example, on presentation slides. Contrast also applies to the variety in your vocalism (avoiding what we would call monotone or monorate).

The seventh factor of attention is repetition . We accept already seen how key repetitions at points in the speech communication can remind the audience of your structure and principal ideas.

Suspense is the 8th gene of attention. Although not as useful in public speaking as some of the factors, suspense tin can be useful in an introduction. You can use a series of questions asking the audience to guess your topic; however, this is a risky approach if you disappoint your audience when the "existent" topic is not what they are guessing. Yous can likewise tell a story in the introduction and say you lot will give the outcome of the story at the stop of the speech, or pose a question and promise that by the end of the speech they will know the answer. However, ever be sure to deliver on the promise!

The ninth factor is proximity , which refers to physical closeness. While non applicative to supporting materials, proximity does relate to public speaking commitment. The more physical distance between the audition members and the speaker and the audience, the harder information technology will exist for the audience to remain circumspect. If y'all know that just xx people are going to attend a presentation, it is best to have it in a twenty-seat room, not an auditorium that seats 100. The audience members will spread out and feel detached from each other, and it volition be harder for you be or experience to close to them.

The tenth factor of attention is demand-oriented subjects. Nosotros pay attention to what meets our needs. For example, when you lot are hungry, you probably notice fast food advertisements more than on television (which advertisers recognize and use against us). If yous are shopping for a car, you will be more aware of automobile advertisements.

The eleventh gene is intensity , which is likewise useful in the commitment attribute of public speaking. Raising your vocalization at key times and slowing down are useful for attention.

The last attention factor is concreteness , which in a sense describes all of them. All of the factors and types of supporting materials are tied to real or physical experience. The more than a speaker can attach the oral communication to real experience, either her own or preferably the audition'south, the more effective she will be.

Conclusion

It is hard to imagine an effective speech communication without a diverseness of supporting materials. Call up of it like cooking a flavorful cuisine—there will exist a mixture of spices and tastes, not just ane. Statistics, narratives and examples, testimony, definitions, descriptions, and facts all clarify your concepts for the audience, and statistics, testimony, facts, and historical examples also back up logical arguments. In the process of composing your speech, exist sure to provide sources and use varied and interesting language to express the support your speech ideas require and deserve.

Something to Call back Almost

One type of supporting textile that is ordinarily used only was not fully discussed in this chapter is quotations such equally "The simply limits to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today" (Franklin D. Roosevelt). You tin go to websites to find quotable quotes on various topics. What category (testimony, narratives, statistics, examples) would quotations such as this fall into? Would they exist for proof or explanation? When would they be useful? What could exist some downsides to using them? (Some of these answers are discussed in Chapter 8.)

Watch a Telly show and do not change the channel when the commercials come up on. What factors of attention do the advertisers use to get you lot to attend to the commercial? Hint: Don't say music–that'southward non a gene of attention. What is it nigh the music that gets your attention, such as intensity or familiarity?

Case Study

Terrence is planning a spoken language for his fraternity on the side by side charity fundraiser. He desire to advocate that they support Habitat for Humanity with an open up mic talent show on campus. What supporting materials might Terrence use?

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Source: https://alg.manifoldapp.org/read/exploring-public-speaking-the-free-dalton-state-college-public-speaking-textbook-4th-edition/section/c261f853-e2ad-439d-814f-fdf882705a31

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