©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 8 Researching Your Message

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. First Things First Analyze Your Audience  Cultural, Demographic, Individual Diversity Audience and Topic  Attitude toward topic  Knowledge about topic  Interest in topic Specific Purpose: Your goal or objective in speaking to a particular audience

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Research Library Internet Interviews The process of gathering supporting materials

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Library Identifies a subject Arranged by categories Abstract = summary Index = listing e.g., encyclopedia  Select key words  Search the library catalog  Search relevant indexes, abstracts, and databases  Consult reference books e.g., Academic Search

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Use Boolean Operators And narrows search Or broadens search Not excludes items from search

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Internet Open Internet vs. Internet access to high quality databases (such as Academic Search) Watch out for hoaxes and phony sites Look at domain names and their suffixes .gov = government (usually reliable) .edu = education (usually reliable) .com = commercial (anyone can get one) .org = organization (anyone can get one)

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Evaluating Internet Information Currency Relevance Authority Accuracy Purpose

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Finding Support: Interviews Do research before conducting an interview Before  Contact person  Prepare specific questions During  Show up on time  Be proactive After  Follow up  Transcribe tape

©2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Using Your Research Prepare a References or Works Cited  Author, title, date, publisher, publication information  URL and date accessed for Internet Record sources to avoid plagiarism  Use own words when possible  Keep photocopies and printouts  Identify direct quotations  Paraphrases need citation