1. Chapter 3
Speech Ethics

2. Speech Ethics: Introduction
Ethics are the rules and values a group defines to guide conduct and distinguish between right and wrong.
Situations where the right decision isn’t immediately clear are ethical dilemmas.

3. Codes of Ethics: Absolute, Situational, and Culturally Relative
Ethical absolutism: People should use the same behavior in all situations.
Telling the truth, even if it hurts
Situational ethics: Correct behavior can vary depending on the situation.
Telling the truth as long as it does not hurt someone’s feelings

4. Codes of Ethics: Absolute, Situational, and Culturally Relative
Culturally relative ethics: Ethics differ across societies and cultures.
Some cultures view knowledge as owned collectively.
Western culture views knowledge as owned individually.
Speak Up reflects a Western cultural perspective.

5. Codes of Ethics: Absolute, Situational, and Culturally Relative
Consider your own approach to making ethical decisions.
What do you believe about proper behavior?
What do you believe about public speaking?
Do you always honor these beliefs?
Do you only honor these beliefs in certain situations?

6. Codes of Ethics: Absolute, Situational, and Culturally Relative
Ethical issues related to public speaking include:
Communicating truthfully
Crediting others’ work
Using sound reasoning
Behaving ethically while listening to someone else’s speech
Developing your own responsible system

7. Tips for Ethical Dilemmas
Tip: If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.
Tip: If people think you are being unethical, you will lose credibility.

8. Legal Speech, Ethical Speech
Incorporates ethical decision making
Provides guidelines for telling the truth and not misleading audience
Focuses on the right thing to do
Legally protected speech:
Uses the law as the boundary for what you say and how you say it
Has no relation to ethics

9. Tips on Legal Speech and Ethical Speech
Tip: Even if it’s legal, being unethical can backfire and damage your credibility.
Tip: Just because you can say something, doesn’t always mean you should.

10. Legal Speech, Ethical Speech

11. Communicating Truthfully
Tell your audience the truth.
Avoid three common untruths: lying, half-truths, and false inferences.

12. Communicating Truthfully
What is not the truth?
Lying: You intentionally deceive
Half-truths: You tell only part of the truth
False inferences: You lead audience to incorrect conclusion
Taking evidence out of context
Omission

13. Speech Ethics: Communicating Truthfully

14. Tips for Communicating Truthfully
Tip: If you have to lie to make your speech topic work, pick another topic.
Tip: Leaving information out because it does not support your claims can be dangerous. Your audience may have this information and therefore you could lose credibility.

15. Acknowledging the Work of Others
Plagiarism:
Presenting another person’s words or ideas as one’s own
A form of stealing; it is always unethical
A way of misleading your audience

17. Acknowledging the Work of Others
Quoting from a source
Direct quotations should be short and must be cited.
Online sources make plagiarism easier.
Unintentional plagiarism is still plagiarism.

18. Acknowledging the Work of Others
Quoting from a source
Always write down all citation information.
Document each source with complete citation in your notes or outline for easy access later.

19. Acknowledging the Work of Others
Paraphrasing the work of others
Putting another person’s ideas into your own words is plagiarism if you don't attribute the original source.
Avoid long paraphrases.

20. Acknowledging the Work of Others
Common knowledge that is widely known needs no citation.
For example: “There is legalized gambling in Las Vegas.”
When in doubt, use citations.

21. Acknowledging the Work of Others

22. Tips for Acknowledging the Work of Others
Tip: Doing Internet research makes plagiarism tempting due to the ease of copying and pasting, so be sure you write down all citation information as you research.
Tip: Using long paraphrases and quotes is not speech writing. Use paraphrasing and quotes to enhance a speech, not write it for you.
Tip: When in doubt, cite it.

23. Using Sound Reasoning
When you use sound reasoning, you avoid fallacies that misuse logic.
Fallacious reasoning is faulty reasoning.
Weak link between claim and supporting material

24. Using Sound Reasoning Hasty generalization:
A sweeping statement about a whole group based on evidence from only a limited fraction of the group

25. Using Sound Reasoning
Post hoc (after the fact) fallacy: Wrongly ascribes an event that occurs first as the cause of an event that occurs after it

26. Using Sound Reasoning
Personal attacks (ad hominem): Unethical attempts to stir up audience bias against an opponent

27. Using Sound Reasoning
Bandwagoning (sometimes called ad populum fallacy): Assumes that belief of many people creates truth

28. Tips for Using Sound Reasoning
Tip: Using fallacies is often unethical.
Tip: Fallacies equal weak arguments. If your argument consists of personal attacks, you probably do not have a good argument.

29. Being an Ethical Listener
Being an ethical listener or ethical audience involves:
Showing courtesy
Demonstrating an open mind
Holding the speaker accountable

30. Being an Ethical Listener

31. Tips for Being an Ethical Listener
Tip: Use the golden rule. Be the audience member you would want if you were giving a speech.
Tip: If you have a question, ask it in a way that does not attack the speaker.