1. COMM 2311: Oral Communication
Chapter 14
Slide No. Title
1 Title Slide
2 Speaking to Inform
3 Informative Speech
4 Types of Informative Presentations
5 Informative Speech about an Object
6 Informative Speech about a Process
7 Informative Speech about an Event
8 Informative Speech about a Concept
9 Guidelines for Informative Speaking
10 Jargon
11 Description
12 Comparison
13 Contrast
14 Explaining a Concept
15 Explaining a Procedure
16 Personalizing Ideas
17 Blank
Chapter 14
Speaking to Inform
Communication Principles for a Lifetime
By Beebe, Beebe, & Ivy
COMM 2311: Oral Communication

2. Chapter Outline Importance of Speaking to Inform
Definition of Speaking to Inform
Types of Informative Presentations
Strategies for
Organizing Your Informative Presentation
Making Your Informative Presentation
Clear
Interesting
Memorable

3. Importance of Speaking To Inform
Countless times per day you share information with others
People ask for directions
You answer questions from a teacher
Your competence as a communicator is based on how clearly you can present information to others
One survey of teachers and students found that the most important skill taught in a presentational speaking class is how to give an informative presentation

4. Speaking to Inform
To share information with others to enhance their knowledge or understanding of the information, concepts, and ideas present.
When you inform someone, you assume the role of the teacher by
defining, illustrating, clarifying, or elaborating on the topic

5. Five Types of Informative Speeches (Presentations)
Presentations about objects
Presentations about procedures
Presentations about people
Presentations about events
Presentations about ideas

6. Presentations About Objects
A speech about an object may be about anything tangible- anything that you can see or touch.
You may want to show the object (or pictures of it) to your audience while you are talking about it.
Objects that could form the basis for an interesting presentation might include these topics:
The Eiffel Tower
Digital cameras
A museum

7. Presentations About Procedures
A presentation about a procedure discusses
how something works (how blood travels through the circulatory system)
or describes a process that produces a particular outcome (how a cocoon turns into a butterfly).
how a process is completed or how something can be accomplished (how to make a cake)
Presentations about procedures are often presented in workshops or training situations in which people learn skills.
Your audience should be able to describe, understand, or perform the procedure that you presented
One good way to teach people a skill is to follow the acronym
TEACH

8. More About Procedures
T- Tell - describe what you want your listeners to know
E- Example - show them an example of how to perform the skill
A- Apply- give them an opportunity to apply knowledge by performing the skill
C- Coach- provide positive coaching to encourage them
H- Help- help them learn by correcting mistakes
Include visual aids. Showing people how to do something is almost always more effective than just telling them how to do it
Examples of procedures:
How to do research using the internet, How to create a webpage
How to make a movie
How to bake a cake
How to plant a garden

9. Presentations About People
A biographical presentation about someone famous or someone you know
Talk about key elements of the person’s career, personality, or other significant life features
Be selective and brief
Examples of topics:
Bill Gates
President Bush

10. Presentations About Events
Major events that happen in our lives at a point in time
Events that you have witnessed or researched
Examples of topics:
Hurricane Katrina
Tsunami in 2004

11. Presentations About Ideas
Presentations about ideas that follow principles, concepts, or theories.
Select illustrations, examples and anecdotes that will make the idea interesting to your audience
Examples of topics :
Civil Rights
Global Warming
World Trade

12. Strategies for Organizing your Informative Speech (Presentation)
Your audience will understand more information if you organize your ideas logically

13. Organizing Informative Presentations
Chronologically-in order
Spatially- describing the layout
Complexity- in order of difficulty
Topically- the logical divisions of the object

14. Organizing Presentations About Objects
Presentations about objects may be organized topically, a topical pattern is structured around logical divisions of the object your delivering.
Here is a sample outline for a speech about an object – nuclear power plants
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about nuclear power plants
I. The reactor core
The nuclear fuel in the core
II. The reactor vessel
The walls of the reactor vessel
III. The reactor core rods
The description and function of the core rods

15. Organizing Presentations About Objects-continued
Presentations about objects can also be organized chronologically. A speaker may talk about the history and development of nuclear power plants
The presentation can also be organized spatially, describing the physical layout of the nuclear power plant

16. Organizing Presentations about Procedures
Speeches about procedures are usually organized chronologically, according to the steps involved in the process.
Here is a sample outline of a speech about a procedure for making candles in chronological order
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience how to make candles
I. First you have to buy the materials
wax
dye
II. Secondly, you have to melt the wax and add the dye
III. Thirdly, you have to mold the wax

17. Organizing Presentations About People
One way to talk about a person’s life is in chronological order – birth, school, career, family, professional achievements, death.
However if you are interested in a specific theme, such as Winston Churchill, master of English prose, you may decide to organize Churchill’s experiences topically. You could first discuss his achievements as a brilliant orator and then trace the origins of his skill to his work in South Africa.
Another example is Ghandi:
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about Ghandi
I. Spiritual and political leader of India
II. Employed ideas of civil disobedience
III. Principles he lived by

18. Organizing Presentations About Events
Most speeches about an event follow a chronological order
But a presentation about an event can also describe the complex issues or causes behind the event and be organized topically.
For example the Civil War:
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the causes of the Civil War
I. Political
II. Economic
III. Social

19. Organizing Presentations About Ideas
Most speeches about ideas are organized topically (by logical subdivisions of the central idea) or according to complexity (from simple ideas to more complex ones)
The following is an example of a topically organized presentation about philosophy:
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about philosophy
I. Definition of philosophy
II. Three branches of the study of philosophy

20. Guidelines for Making Your Informative Presentation Clear
A message is clear when the listener understands it in the way the speaker intended.
Be aware of what you intend to communicate, then select appropriate words with appropriate nonverbal cues to express your ideas
Adapt your message to your audience.
Simplify your ideas
easier for your audience to remember
Pace your information flow
don’t talk to fast, quality vs. quantity
Relate new information to old
help audience associate your new idea with something that is familiar to them

21. Guidelines for Making Your Informative Presentation Interesting
Present information that relates to your listener’s interests
Activity and movement- talk about a story that is action packed
Issues and events close to an audience- make it personal
Conflict –show 2 sides to the story or topic
Use attention catching supporting material
Definition, use analogies (comparisons) , describe the process, who, what , why , how

22. Making Your Informative Presentation Interesting
Establish a motive for your audience to listen to you
Ask the audience questions
Begin with an anecdote (story)
Tell them how the information you will be valuable to them
Use Word pictures
Use words to help the audience visualize the images you are talking about
Create interesting presentation (visual) aids
Pictures, graphs, posters, colorful charts
Use Humor
Use humorous quotations
Use cartoons

23. Guidelines for Making Your Informative Presentation Memorable
Build in redundancy
Repeat words or message
Use adult learning principles
Give information that they can use immediately, involve them in the learning process, connect information to their lives
Reinforce key ideas verbally
Say “this is an important point”, raise or lower your voice
Reinforce key ideas nonverbally
Gestures, point to pictures, accentuate words by making them colorful or italicizing them,