Ethical Public Speaking

Responsibility One of the highest expectations an audience will have is that the speaker will be honest and straightforward.

Ethics Ethics- Character An ethical speaker will: Demonstrate a correct knowledge of the subject matter. Be trustworthy Be straightforward Be honest. Be Respectful

Aristotle According to Aristotle, speakers will be regarded positively if they do the following: Be well prepared Have a sound grasp of the subject Display sound reasoning skills Be honest Display an interest in the audience’s welfare

Values Values- our most enduring judgments or standards of what’s good and bad in life, of what’s important to us.

Value Conflicts Just like feelings can compete with one another, our values can conflict or clash. Society’s core values also clash.

Listener’s Values As a speaker, you must remember that the audience will likely be made up of people who have differing opinions. Even if their opinions differ from yours, you must still respect them.

Identifying Values Identifying your listener’s values, attitudes and beliefs as they relate to your topic will help you to shape a message that is tailored to your audience. There are many ways to do this including: Surveys Polls Interviews

Identifying Personal Values Being an ethical speaker involves being conscious not only of other people’s values, but of your own values as well. If you find that certain values are important to you, you will want others to hold the same values. One way to bring personal values into focus is to conduct a values assessment. There are two different kinds of values Terminal Values- Desirable ends Instrumental Values- Valued Characteristics that people can possess.

Ground Rules There is not a single agree-upon code of ethical standards for communication. Dignity- feeling worthy, honored or respected as a person. Integrity- Incorruptibility- the ability to avoid compromise for the sake of personal expediency.

Trustworthiness Trustworthiness – a combination of honesty and dependability. For the public speaker, trustworthiness includes (but is not limited to): Revealing your true purpose to your audience Not using misleading, deceptive, or false information. Acknowledging Sources And not sacrificing the truth to it. Truth telling can be especially difficult issue in persuasive speeches. When the goal is to try to persuade others to accept a certain viewpoint, take a certain action, or change a behavior, the temptation is to fashion the information in a way that fits the goal, even if it means omitting a fact here and there that would convince the audience otherwise. This means you should acknowledge that there are alternate viewpoints. Manipulating information to achieve a particular purpose in unethical, or the manufactured of data. Ethically, you are required to support your points truthfully and accurately. This is an essential aspect of ethical speechmaking. To do otherwise is to commit plagiarism.

Respect Respect- Treating people right For the ethical speaker to show respect, they must do the following: Focus on the issues rather than on personalities. Allow the audience the power of rational choice Avoid in-group and out-group distinctions Civil disagreement is quite appropriate in a speech. Personal attacks on character on are not. Audiences deserve to hear information in a way that permits them to rationalize and choose for themselves. In most cases, it is not necessary to use graphic or shocking material to make your point. If you feel the need to use some upsetting material, let the audience know ahead of time. Each of us wants to feel included. One of the most unethical things a public speaker can do is make some members of the audience feel excluded or victimized.

Respect cont. Jargon- Specialize Terminology Ethnocentrism- The belief that one’s own culture is superior to those of other cultures. Stereotype-A belief about someone based solely on that person’s racial, ethnical, religious, gender, sexual orientation, or other characteristics. Hate Speech- any offensive communication both verbal and non verbal that is directed against people’s racial, ethnical, religious, gender, sexual orientation, or other characteristics. One simple thing you can do to make the audience feel included is to maintain eye contact. This indicates acknowledgment and respect for their presence. Try to used language that everyone can understand.1. It is fine to use jargon, but jargon should not be used if the terms are unfamiliar to even a small segment of the audience, and should be explained to the audience. Probably a much more serious ethical breach is the expression of ethnocentrism, stereotypes or prejudice. Ethnocentric speakers act as though everyone shares their point of view and point of reference . They may tell jokes that require a certain context. Ethical speakers on the other hand, assume differences and address them respectfully. Hate speech is the ultimate vehicle for promoting in-group and out-group distinctions.

Responsibility Communication is a strong tool for influencing people. Speaking with responsibility includes evaluating the usefulness and appropriateness of your topic and purpose, using sound evidence and reasoning, striving for accuracy, and using emotional appeals responsibly.

Responsibility When preparing a speech, the responsible public speaker should consider: Topic and Purpose Evidence and Reasoning Accuracy Honest use of Emotion Will learing about your topic in some way benefit your listeners? Are your overall speech aims socially constructive? What effect will your speech have on your listeners? Are your topic and purpose appropriate to the audience and the occasion? Are your arguments sound? Have you examined them critically? Sloppy evidence and reasoning distort the truth. Is the contenct of your message accurate? Are the facts correct? Accuracy is key in ethical speaking. If they are supported by facts, emotional appeals are a legitimate way for a speaker to achieve his or her goal.

Evaluating Internet Sources With all the information on the internet today, it is important to determine which sites are good resources and which are not. You want to find CREDIBLE sources! Credible means correct, non biased, believable information. WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A CREDIBLE SOURCE!

Credibility Is the name of the author or the organization at the top or bottom of the page? Does the home page of the site offer information about the author or organization? Can you find more information about the credibility of the author or the organization in other sources? Is the “date updated” indicated at the top or bottom of the page? Does the author update the information regularly? Does the url say something like .org, .edu, or .gov?

Where and When to Cite? When using any stat or fact from your article. Differences between the 1st cite and all others What do you need to say?

Verbally Citing Your Sources In their book Communicating with credibility and confidence from 1996. Lumsden state that…” “According to Stillman in the Handbook of educational counseling from 1994…” “Kibbens explains in an article from The Michigan Monitor, 1996 that…” “As stated by Jones in 2000 at the storytime.com website…” “In The new encyclopedia Britannica of 1993, Bergmann identifies…”

MLA Use the MLA format A work by one author White, Theodore. Making of the President, 1960. New York: Atheneum, 1961. A Web site with an editor “Castro-Kennedy Contacts: a Secret Path to Peace.” The Paper Trail. Ed. Jon Elliston. Winter 2000. Parascope. 17 July 2008<http://www.parascope.com/ds/papertrail/index.htm>. Walk them through easy bib

Plagiarism Plagiarism- the passing off of another person’s information as your own! What’s the big deal? It’s cheating It’s stealing You will be caught There will be consequences

How to Avoid Plagiarism The rule for avoiding plagiarism is pretty easy: Any source that requires credit in written form also gets credited when giving a speech. To avoid plagiarism, you much acknowledge Other People’s ideas, opinions, and theories Other people’s evidence Other people’s research Direct quotations Paraphrased Info Facts gathered from other sources

Steps to Avoid Plagiarism Know how to quote, paraphrase, and summarize sources. Keep track of your sources as you collect them Create a system for keeping tract of your sources. (footnotes, a works cited page, etc) Learn how to keep track of sources.