1. Chapter 4: Ethical Public Speaking
Meagan B. Sovine

2. Whip Around Who is your favorite singer or band?
Be prepared to share aloud.

3. Right or wrong? You decide

4. Demonstrate Competence and Character
Ethics derived from Greek word ethos.
Ethos means “character.”
Ethos is the appeal of reliability.
Positive ethos includes being trustworthy, competent, objective, well prepared, and enthusiastic towards your audience.

5. Sources of Attitudes and Values
Family
Peer groups
Role models
Societal institutions

6. Demonstrate Competence and Character (cont.)
Audiences trust a speaker who has source credibility.
Solid grasp of the subject
Sound reasoning skills
Honest and straightforward
Genuinely interested in listeners’ welfare

7. Respect Your Listeners’ Values
Our ethical conduct reflects our values.
Values can conflict.
Difficult to talk about certain topics
Anticipate the audience’s range of values.
Demonstrate respect for audience’s values.

8. Contribute to Positive Public Discourse
Involves issues of importance to community
Ethical speech advances constructive goals.
Steers clear of invective (verbal attacks)
Avoids arguments that target a person
Avoids arguments built upon fallacies

9. Use Your Rights of Free Speech Responsibly
The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech.
Certain types of speech are illegal:
Incitement or “fighting words”
Defamatory speech
Speech that invades a person’s privacy
Hate speech—offensive verbal or nonverbal communication

10. Hate Speech Example

11. Think-Pair-Share
Are profanity and vulgarity always unethical in public speeches?
Can you think of situations where they would seem appropriate?
What types of situations and why?

12. Use Your Rights of Free Speech Responsibly (cont.)
When is language defamatory?
Public figures
Requires reckless disregard for the truth
Private persons
Easier to assert claims of defamation
Speaker has burden of proving truth

13. Observe Ethical Ground Rules
Infuse dignity and integrity into speeches.
Dignity ensures listeners feel respected.
Integrity signals your incorruptibility.
Adhere to pillars of character.
Be trustworthy, respectful, responsible, and fair.

14. Avoid Plagiarism Plagiarism is
Presenting another person’s information as your own;
Using others’ ideas/words without acknowledgement;
Copying material from a source.

15. Orally Acknowledge Your Sources
Sources should be acknowledged orally.
For each source(reference, citation), include in the outline:
Author (who)
Date (year)
Organization
Title of article
Website

16. Orally Acknowledge Your Sources (cont.)
Include all references in a references section of your outline.
Websites must also be cited.
Common knowledge is an exception.
Information known by many people
In this class, you must orally cite:
Who
Year

17. Citing Quotations, Paraphrases, and Summaries
Three ways of presenting others’ ideas
Direct quotations (repeating information verbatim)
Paraphrase (restating someone else’s ideas)
Summary (brief overview of another’s ideas)

18. Fair Use, Copyright, and Ethical Speaking
Copyright (legal protection for authors, artists)
Copyrighted materials may require permission.
Not subject to copyright
Public domain works
Federal government publications

19. Fair Use, Copyright, and Ethical Speaking (cont.)
Doctrine of Fair Use
Permits limited use of copyrighted works
No permission needed for purposes of
Scholarship or teaching
Criticism or comment
News reporting or research

20. Fair Use, Copyright, and Ethical Speaking (cont.)
Provide credit even with fair use.
Copyright symbol (©) required for visual aids
Creative Commons licenses
Attribution (must credit the author)
Noncommercial (noncommercial purposes only)
No derivative works (only verbatim works)

21. Orally Citing
No Wikipedia!!!!
Keep a record of:
Who?
Year?

22. Plagiarism in this Class
Verbal citations
Direct quotations
Paraphrasing
References
Outline
PowerPoint

23. Group Activity
Felicia Robinson is running for school board in a large eastern city. Her opponent is conducting what Felicia regards as a highly unethical campaign. In addition to twisting the facts about school taxes, the opponent is pandering to racial prejudice by raising resentment against African Americans and recently arrived immigrants.
Five days before the election, Felicia, who is slightly behind in the polls, learns that the district attorney is preparing to indict her opponent for shady business practices. But the indictment will not be formally issued until after the election. Nor can it be taken as evidence that her opponent is guilty – like all citizens, he has the right to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
Still, the news of the indictment could be enough to throw the election Felicia’s way, and her advisers urge her to make it an issue in her remaining campaign speeches. Should Felicia follow their advice?

24. Summary Questions What is plagiarism, and why is it unethical?
How can you avoid plagiarizing?
What is hate speech?
What is the Doctrine of Fair Use?