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 audience Use 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 them Directories Search 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: Books Periodicals Full-text Databases Government documents Reference resources (maps, encyclopedias, etc.) Special services (interlibrary loan)

Supporting materials: Interviews: Needs to be set up Requires planning Can 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 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 name Title of the article (book) Title of the book/website Date of publication (date when accessed if it is a web site) Publisher (books only)

In Class Activity: Critical thinking pp. 187-188

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

Questions?