1. Chapter 15
Informative Speaking

2. Informative Speaking: Introduction
An informative speech:
Shares information or ideas with audience
Increases understanding and awareness of a topic
Gives listeners new knowledge
Keeps information audience-centered

3. Informative Speaking: An Overview
In this chapter, we will discuss:
Techniques for informing
Types of informative speeches
Developing your informative speech
Clarifying and simplifying your message
Three sample speechs

4. Techniques for Informing: Definition
Definition explains the essence, meaning, or purpose of something such as a(n):
Object
Person or group
Event
Process
Idea or concept

5. Techniques for Informing: Definition
Four types of definitions:
Dictionary: presents the meaning of a term as it appears in a dictionary
Expert: comes from a credible source in the field
Etymological: traces something’s roots in the same or other languages
Functional: looks at how something is applied or how it functions

6. Techniques for Informing: Definition

7. Techniques for Informing: Explanation
Providing an analysis of something to clarify it, or tracing a line of causal connections between events
Works well on speeches that:
Present a process
Trace the emergence of an event
Illustrate how something works .

8. Techniques for Informing: Description
Use words to paint a mental picture.
Achieve maximum impact by using:
Vivid language
Presentation aids
Details that evoke the audience’s senses

9. Techniques for Informing: Demonstration
Teaches how a process or a set of guidelines works
Calls for physical modeling and verbal elements to lead an audience through a process
Requires confidence and practice
Helps audiences retain information
Especially when combined with repetition

10. Techniques for Informing: Demonstration

11. Techniques for Informing: Narrative
Present a story that entertains while it informs.
Base narratives on audience analysis and support your message.

12. Tips for Techniques of Informing
Tip: Stories can humanize speakers and improve their credibility, but, as a speaker, you must practice the stories to sound natural and unrehearsed.
Tip: Be audience-centered—it is your job to get information across to the audience, so choose a technique that is appropriate for both the audience and the topic.

13. Types of Informative Speeches: Objects
Types of objects include:
Mechanical/technological
Natural
Cultural
Personal
Appropriate techniques:
Definition
Explanation
Demonstration
Narrative

14. Types of Informative Speeches: Individuals or Groups
People are fascinated by human subjects.
Ideas include:
Famous politician
Famous sports star, entertainer, or artist
An unsung hero
A tragic figure

15. Types of Informative Speeches: Events
Notable or exceptional occurrences from the present or past
Consider events that seem noteworthy, exciting, surprising.
Blend narrative and description.

16. Types of Informative Speeches: Events

17. Types of Informative Speeches: Processes
A series of steps or stages that lead to outcomes
Informative speeches about processes can be at the micro or macro level.
Walk the audience through the steps and their sequence.

18. Types of Informative Speeches: Ideas
Idea: Theory, principle, belief, or value
Relatively abstract
Discussion could benefit from “real life” analogies
Presenter needs to connect with the audience’s:
Interests
Level of education
Prior exposure to the idea

19. Types of Informative Speeches: Ideas

20. Developing Your Informative Speech: Analyzing Your Audience
Examine audience demographics:
Age
Ethnicity
Gender
Religion
Sexual orientation
Academic major
Educational background
Political affiliation
Occupation

21. Developing Your Informative Speech: Analyzing Your Audience
Look for common ground, such as shared values and interests.
This will help to strengthen your ethos.

22. Developing Your Informative Speech: Selecting a Technique
Choice of technique helps you decide how to develop main points and supporting materials.
For demonstration, consider forum and audience size.
For explanation or description, focus on demographics.
For narrative, look to common ground issues.
Keep your focus on your rhetorical purpose.

24. Developing Your Informative Speech: Clarifying and Simplifying Your Message
Clarity is a goal of informative speech.
Being clear makes it easier for audience to understand.

25. Clarifying and Simplifying Your Message: Move from General to Specific
Keep the information simple to help your audience understand.

26. Clarifying and Simplifying Your Message: Move from General to Specific
Ask yourself:
What message do you want your audience to take away?
The answer can help you narrow your topic.

27. Clarifying and Simplifying Your Message: Reduce the Quantity of Information You Present
“Less is more”
Pare down details

28. Clarifying and Simplifying Your Message: Make the Complex Familiar
Use definitions and analogies.
Avoid jargon and an overabundance of technical terminology.

29. Clarifying and Simplifying Your Message: Use Presentation Aids
Use presentation aids to clarify and simplify your message.

30. Clarifying and Simplifying Your Message: Reiterate Your Message
Refer to your message multiple times.
Use different words each time.

31. Clarifying and Simplifying Your Message: Repeat Your Message
Use the same words each time.

32. Sample Informative Speech
Rachel Parish, “Spider Silk: A Miracle Material Derived from…Goats?”
Read the sample speech with comments on pages 487–91.
The three main points are:
Background and unique properties of spider silk
Role of the “spider goat” in producing spider silk
Current and future uses of spider silk

33. Sample Informative Speech
Elvia Anguiano, “Precision-Guided Tumor Killers”
Read sample speech with comments on pages 492–96.
The main points are:
What traditional chemotherapy is and how it works
What precision-guided tumor killers (PGTKs) are
How PGTKs work
The potential benefits of PGTKs

34. Sample Informative Speech
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “On the Bank Crisis”
Read sample speech with comments on pages 497–501.
The main points are:
How banks work
Why banks failed in 1933
How the federal government responded

35. Tips for Informative Speeches
Tip: Be audience-centered, choose a topic that will be new to your audience. Novelty helps get and keep audience attention.
Tip: To aid in clarity and interest, focus on what you want the audience to have learned by the end of the speech. The more you narrow your focus, the easier it will be to construct an interesting, informative speech.