references in a speech to sources used is called

Citing Sources: Citing Orally in Speeches

• Citing Sources Overview
• Citing in the Sciences & Engineering
• APA Citation Examples
• Chicago Citation Examples
• Biologists: Council of Science Editors (CSE) Examples
• MLA Citation Examples
• Bluebook - Legal Citation

Citing Orally in Speeches

• Citation Managers
• Oral Source Citations - James Madison University Communication Center
• Using Citations and Avoiding Plagiarism in Oral Presentations - Hamilton College, Dept. of Rhetoric and Communication
• Referencing: Citing in Orals - James Cook University

General Tips:

Tell the audience your source before you use the information (the opposite of in-text citations).

Do not say, “quote, unquote” when you offer a direct quotation. Use brief pauses instead.

Provide enough information about each source so that your audience could, with a little effort, find them. This should include the author(s) name, a brief explanation of their credentials, the title of the work, and publication date.

 “In the 1979 edition of The Elements of Style, renowned grammarians and composition stylists Strunk and White encourage writers to ‘make every word tell.’”

If your source is unknown to your audience, provide enough information about your source for the audience to perceive them as credible. Typically we provide this credentialing of the source by stating the source’s qualifications to discuss the topic.

“Dr. Derek Bok, the President Emeritus of Harvard University and the author of The Politics of Happiness argues that the American government should design policies to enhance the happiness of its citizens.”

Provide a caption citation for all direct quotations and /or relevant images on your PowerPoint slides.

Direct Quotations:

These should be acknowledged in your speech or presentation either as “And I quote…” or “As [the source] put it…”

Include title and author: “According to April Jones, author of Readings on Gender…”

Periodical/Magazine:

Include title and date: “Time, March 28, 2005, explains…” or “The New York Times, June 5, 2006, explained it this way…”

Include journal title, date, and author: “Morgan Smith writes in the Fall 2005 issue of Science…”

For organizational or long-standing website, include title: “The center for Disease Control web site includes information…” For news or magazine websites, include title and date: “CNN.com, on March 28, 2005, states…” (Note: CNN is an exception to the “don’t use the address” rule because the site is known by that name.)

Interviews, lecture notes, or personal communication:

Include name and credentials of source: “Alice Smith, professor of Economics at USM, had this to say about the growth plan…” or “According to junior Speech Communication major, Susan Wallace…”

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Module 2: Ethical Speech

Citing sources in a speech, learning objectives.

Explain how to cite sources in written and oral speech materials.

Tips on citing sources when speaking publicly by Sarah Stone Watt, Pepperdine University

Even if you have handed your professor a written outline of your speech with source citations, you must also offer oral attribution for ideas that are not your own (see Table below for examples of ways to cite sources while you are speaking). Omitting the oral attribution from the speech leads the audience, who is not holding a written version, to believe that the words are your own. Be sure to offer citations and oral attributions for all material that you have taken from someone else, including paraphrases or summaries of their ideas. When in doubt, remember to “always provide oral citations for direct quotations, paraphrased material, or especially striking language, letting listeners know who said the words, where, and when.” [1]  Whether plagiarism is intentional or not, it is unethical, and someone committing plagiarism will often be sanctioned based on their institution’s code of conduct.

In your speech, make reference to the quality and credibility of your sources. Identifying the qualifications for a source, or explaining that their ideas have been used by many other credible sources, will enhance the strength of your speech. For example, if you are giving a speech about the benefits of sleep, citing a renowned sleep expert will strengthen your argument. If you can then explain that this person’s work has been repeatedly tested and affirmed by later studies, your argument will appear even stronger. On the other hand, if you simply offer the name of your source without any explanation of who that person is or why they ought to be believed, your argument is suspect. To offer this kind of information without disrupting the flow of your speech, you might say something like:

Mary Carskadon, director of the Chronobiology/Sleep Research Laboratory at Bradley Hospital in Rhode Island and professor at the Brown University School of Medicine, explains that there are several advantages to increased amounts of sleep. Her work is supported by other researchers, like Dr. Kyla Wahlstrom at the University of Minnesota, whose study demonstrated that delaying school start times increased student sleep and their performance (National Sleep Foundation, 2011).

This sample citation bolsters credibility by offering qualifications and identifying multiple experts who agree on this issue.

• Turner, Kathleen J., et al.  Public Speaking . Pearson, 2017. ↵
• Jobs, S. (2005, June 14). "You've got to find what you love," Jobs says. Retrieved September 30, 2020, from http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html ↵
• Tips on citing sources. Authored by : Sarah Stone Watt. Located at : http://publicspeakingproject.org/supporting.html . License : CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives . License Terms : Used with Permission

8.4 Citing Sources

By this point you’re probably exhausted after looking at countless sources, but there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. Most public speaking teachers will require you to turn in either a bibliography or a reference page with your speeches. In this section, we’re going to explore how to properly cite your sources for a Modern Language Association (MLA) list of works cited or an American Psychological Association (APA) reference list. We’re also going to discuss plagiarism and how to avoid it.

Why Citing Is Important

Citing is important because it enables readers to see where you found information cited within a speech, article, or book. Furthermore, not citing information properly is considered plagiarism, so ethically we want to make sure that we give credit to the authors we use in a speech. While there are numerous citation styles to choose from, the two most common style choices for public speaking are APA and MLA.

APA versus MLA Source Citations

Style refers to those components or features of a literary composition or oral presentation that have to do with the form of expression rather than the content expressed (e.g., language, punctuation, parenthetical citations, and endnotes). The APA and the MLA have created the two most commonly used style guides in academia today. Generally speaking, scholars in the various social science fields (e.g., psychology, human communication, business) are more likely to use APA style , and scholars in the various humanities fields (e.g., English, philosophy, rhetoric) are more likely to use MLA style . The two styles are quite different from each other, so learning them does take time.

APA Citations

The first common reference style your teacher may ask for is APA. As of October 2019, the American Psychological Association published the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association ( http://www.apastyle.org ) . The seventh edition provides considerable guidance on working with and citing Internet sources.

MLA Citations

The second common reference style your teacher may ask for is MLA. In March 2009, the Modern Language Association published the seventh edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (Modern Language Association, 2009) ( http://www.mla.org/style ). The seventh edition provides considerable guidance for citing online sources and new media such as graphic narratives.

Citing Sources in a Speech

Once you have decided what sources best help you explain important terms and ideas in your speech or help you build your arguments, it’s time to place them into your speech. In this section, we’re going to quickly talk about using your research effectively within your speeches. Citing sources within a speech is a three-step process: set up the citation, give the citation, and explain the citation.

First, you want to set up your audience for the citation. The setup is one or two sentences that are general statements that lead to the specific information you are going to discuss from your source. Here’s an example: “Workplace bullying is becoming an increasing problem for US organizations.” Notice that this statement doesn’t provide a specific citation yet, but the statement introduces the basic topic.

Second, you want to deliver the source; whether it is a direct quotation or a paraphrase of information from a source doesn’t matter at this point. A direct quotation is when you cite the actual words from a source with no changes. To paraphrase is to take a source’s basic idea and condense it using your own words. Here’s an example of both:

You’ll notice that in both of these cases, we started by citing the author of the study—in this case, the Workplace Bullying Institute. We then provided the title of the study. You could also provide the name of the article, book, podcast, movie, or other source. In the direct quotation example, we took information right from the report. In the second example, we summarized the same information (Workplace Bullying Institute, 2009).

Let’s look at another example of direct quotations and paraphrases, this time using a person, rather than an institution, as the author.

Notice that the same basic pattern for citing sources was followed in both cases.

The final step in correct source citation within a speech is the explanation. One of the biggest mistakes of novice public speakers (and research writers) is that they include a source citation and then do nothing with the citation at all. Instead, take the time to explain the quotation or paraphrase to put into the context of your speech. Do not let your audience draw their own conclusions about the quotation or paraphrase. Instead, help them make the connections you want them to make. Here are two examples using the examples above:

Notice how in both of our explanations we took the source’s information and then added to the information to direct it for our specific purpose. In the case of the bullying citation, we then propose that businesses should either adopt workplace bullying guidelines or face legal intervention. In the case of the “aha!” example, we turn the quotation into a section on helping people find their thesis or topic. In both cases, we were able to use the information to further our speech.

Using Sources Ethically

The last section of this chapter is about using sources in an ethical manner. Whether you are using primary or secondary research, there are five basic ethical issues you need to consider.

Avoid Plagiarism

First, and foremost, if the idea isn’t yours, you need to cite where the information came from during your speech. Having the citation listed on a bibliography or reference page is only half of the correct citation. You must provide correct citations for all your sources within the speech as well. In a very helpful book called Avoiding Plagiarism: A Student Guide to Writing Your Own Work , Menager-Beeley and Paulos provide a list of twelve strategies for avoiding plagiarism (Menager-Beeley & Paulos, 2009):

• Do your own work, and use your own words. One of the goals of a public speaking class is to develop skills that you’ll use in the world outside academia. When you are in the workplace and the “real world,” you’ll be expected to think for yourself, so you might as well start learning this skill now.
• Allow yourself enough time to research the assignment. One of the most commonly cited excuses students give for plagiarism is that they didn’t have enough time to do the research. In this chapter, we’ve stressed the necessity of giving yourself plenty of time. The more complete your research strategy is from the very beginning, the more successful your research endeavors will be in the long run. Remember, not having adequate time to prepare is no excuse for plagiarism.
• Keep careful track of your sources. A common mistake that people can make is that they forget where information came from when they start creating the speech itself. Chances are you’re going to look at dozens of sources when preparing your speech, and it is very easy to suddenly find yourself believing that a piece of information is “common knowledge” and not citing that information within a speech. When you keep track of your sources, you’re less likely to inadvertently lose sources and not cite them correctly.
• Take careful notes. However you decide to keep track of the information you collect (old-fashioned pen and notebook or a computer software program), the more careful your note-taking is, the less likely you’ll find yourself inadvertently not citing information or citing the information incorrectly. It doesn’t matter what method you choose for taking research notes, but whatever you do, you need to be systematic to avoid plagiarizing.
• Assemble your thoughts, and make it clear who is speaking. When creating your speech, you need to make sure that you clearly differentiate your voice in the speech from the voice of specific authors of the sources you quote. The easiest way to do this is to set up a direct quotation or a paraphrase, as we’ve described in the preceding sections. Remember, audience members cannot see where the quotation marks are located within your speech text, so you need to clearly articulate with words and vocal tone when you are using someone else’s ideas within your speech.
• If you use an idea, a quotation, paraphrase, or summary, then credit the source. We can’t reiterate it enough: if it is not your idea, you need to tell your audience where the information came from. Giving credit is especially important when your speech includes a statistic, an original theory, or a fact that is not common knowledge.
• Learn how to cite sources correctly both in the body of your paper and in your List of Works Cited ( Reference Page ) . Most public speaking teachers will require that you turn in either a bibliography or reference page on the day you deliver a speech. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the bibliography or reference page is all they need to cite information, and then they don’t cite any of the material within the speech itself. A bibliography or reference page enables a reader or listener to find those sources after the fact, but you must also correctly cite those sources within the speech itself; otherwise, you are plagiarizing.
• Quote accurately and sparingly. A public speech should be based on factual information and references, but it shouldn’t be a string of direct quotations strung together. Experts recommend that no more than 10 percent of a paper or speech be direct quotations (Menager-Beeley & Paulos, 2009). When selecting direct quotations, always ask yourself if the material could be paraphrased in a manner that would make it clearer for your audience. If the author wrote a sentence in a way that is just perfect, and you don’t want to tamper with it, then by all means directly quote the sentence. But if you’re just quoting because it’s easier than putting the ideas into your own words, this is not a legitimate reason for including direct quotations.
• Paraphrase carefully. Modifying an author’s words in this way is not simply a matter of replacing some of the words with synonyms. Instead, as Howard and Taggart explain in Research Matters , “paraphrasing force[s] you to understand your sources and to capture their meaning accurately in original words and sentences” (Howard & Taggart, 2010). Incorrect paraphrasing is one of the most common forms of inadvertent plagiarism by students. First and foremost, paraphrasing is putting the author’s argument, intent, or ideas into your own words.
• Do not patchwrite ( patchspeak ) . Menager-Beeley and Paulos define patchwriting as consisting “of mixing several references together and arranging paraphrases and quotations to constitute much of the paper. In essence, the student has assembled others’ work with a bit of embroidery here and there but with little original thinking or expression” (Menager-Beeley & Paulos, 2009). Just as students can patchwrite, they can also engage in patchspeaking. In patchspeaking, students rely completely on taking quotations and paraphrases and weaving them together in a manner that is devoid of the student’s original thinking.
• Summarize, don’t auto-summarize. Some students have learned that most word processing features have an auto-summary function. The auto-summary function will take a ten-page document and summarize the information into a short paragraph. When someone uses the auto-summary function, the words that remain in the summary are still those of the original author, so this is not an ethical form of paraphrasing.
• Do not rework another student’s paper ( speech ) or buy paper mill papers ( speech mill speeches ) . In today’s Internet environment, there are a number of storehouses of student speeches on the Internet. Some of these speeches are freely available, while other websites charge money for getting access to one of their canned speeches. Whether you use a speech that is freely available or pay money for a speech, you are engaging in plagiarism. This is also true if the main substance of your speech was copied from a web page. Any time you try to present someone else’s ideas as your own during a speech, you are plagiarizing.

Avoid Academic Fraud

While there are numerous websites where you can download free speeches for your class, this is tantamount to fraud. If you didn’t do the research and write your own speech, then you are fraudulently trying to pass off someone else’s work as your own. In addition to being unethical, many institutions have student codes that forbid such activity. Penalties for academic fraud can be as severe as suspension or expulsion from your institution.

Don’t Mislead Your Audience

If you know a source is clearly biased, and you don’t spell this out for your audience, then you are purposefully trying to mislead or manipulate your audience. Instead, if the information may be biased, tell your audience that the information may be biased and allow your audience to decide whether to accept or disregard the information.

Give Author Credentials

You should always provide the author’s credentials. In a world where anyone can say anything and have it published on the Internet or even publish it in a book, we have to be skeptical of the information we see and hear. For this reason, it’s very important to provide your audience with background about the credentials of the authors you cite.

Use Primary Research Ethically

Lastly, if you are using primary research within your speech, you need to use it ethically as well. For example, if you tell your survey participants that the research is anonymous or confidential, then you need to make sure that you maintain their anonymity or confidentiality when you present those results. Furthermore, you also need to be respectful if someone says something is “off the record” during an interview. We must always maintain the privacy and confidentiality of participants during primary research, unless we have their express permission to reveal their names or other identifying information.

Having gathered a wealth of information from various sources for his speech on Oklahoma State University’s traditions, Pistol Pete realized he needed to correctly orally cite these sources during his presentation. While he was familiar with written citations, he was unsure about the best way to acknowledge these sources out loud without disrupting the flow of his speech.

Pete decided to consult with his public speaking professor, an expert in the art of oral communication. His professor explained that the key to orally citing sources was to seamlessly integrate the citations into the narrative of the speech. She advised Pete to briefly mention the author or source while presenting the information, making sure it felt natural and didn’t distract from the overall message.

With this advice in mind, Pete practiced his speech, making sure to give due credit to his sources. For instance, when discussing the history of OSU traditions, Pete might say, “As noted in Dr. Johnson’s comprehensive history of Oklahoma State University found in the podcast “Just Poking Around” in July of 2022…” or “According to an article from the university archives from the Oklahoma State official website in 2002…”

Pete also learned the importance of giving context for the cited information. When citing a yearbook or an archived newsletter, he could say something like, “As described in the 1960 OSU yearbook…” or “As an issue of the OSU newsletter from the 1980s recounts…”

With careful practice, Pistol Pete found he was able to cite his sources naturally and effectively, maintaining the narrative flow of his speech. He felt more confident, knowing he was respecting the work of his sources while also providing his audience with well-researched and accurate information about OSU’s beloved traditions. Armed with his well-prepared speech, Pete was ready to inspire his fellow Cowboys and Cowgirls with the rich heritage of their university. What are some transitional phrases, like “According to…” that you can use to seamlessly incorporate your source citations?

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. See also American Psychological Association. (2010). Concise rules of APA Style: The official pocket style guide from the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Howard, R. M., & Taggart, A. R. (2010). Research matters . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, p. 131.

Menager-Beeley, R., & Paulos, L. (2009). Understanding plagiarism: A student guide to writing your own work . Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, pp. 5–8.

Modern Language Association. (2009). MLA handbook for writers of research papers (7th ed.). New York, NY: Modern Language Association.

Workplace Bullying Institute. (2009). Bullying: Getting away with it WBI Labor Day Study—September, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from http://www.workplacebullying.org/res/WBI2009-B-Survey.html

components or features of a literary composition or oral presentation that have to do with the form of expression rather than the content expressed (e.g., language, punctuation, parenthetical citations, and endnotes)

style scholars in the various social science fields (e.g., psychology, human communication, business) are more likely to use

the style scholars in the various humanities fields (e.g., English, philosophy, rhetoric) are more likely to use

when you cite the actual words from a source with no changes

to take a source’s basic idea and condense it using your own words

Introduction to Speech Communication Copyright © 2021 by Individual authors retain copyright of their work. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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6.4 Citing Sources

Most public speaking teachers will require you to turn in either a bibliography or a reference page with your speeches. In this section, we’re going to explore how to properly cite your sources for a Modern Language Association (MLA) list of works cited or an American Psychological Association (APA) reference list. We’re also going to discuss plagiarism and how to avoid it.

Why Citing Is Important

Citing enables readers to see where you found information used within a speech, article, or book. Citing your sources is one way that you demonstrate your credibility and integrity to your audience. When you cite your sources, you are showing your audience that your ideas are based on the most up-to-date ideas and best practices within your subject area as well as differentiating between your own insights and the intellectual property of others. Failing to cite your information properly, or at all, is considered plagiarism, which is representing someone’s words or ideas as your own. Because plagiarism is a type of academic dishonesty, educational institutions have strict prohibitions against it.

APA versus MLA Source Citations

While there are numerous citation styles to choose from, the two most common style choices for public speaking are APA (American Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Language Association). Scholars in the social sciences (e.g., psychology, human communication, business) tend to use APA style , while scholars in the humanities (e.g., English, philosophy, rhetoric) are more likely to use MLA style . The two styles are quite different from each other, so learning them does take time. Your instructor will tell you which citation style to use for citing your sources.

Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab has a useful chart that explains the differences between APA and MLA Citation Style for different types of sources: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/documents/20191212CitationChart.pdf .

Citing Sources in a Speech

In this section, we’ll discuss how to incorporate and cite outside sources in a speech. Citing sources within a speech is a three-step process: setting up the citation, incorporating the cited information, and explaining the citation. All three parts of this process are necessary to signal to your audience that you are going to support your claim with ideas or words that are not your own as well as explain how those ideas relate to your claim. Putting source material into your speech without framing it is “ drive-by quoting ,” a practice that disorients your audience by not giving them everything they need to understand how the source is relevant to your own claims.

Setting up the Citation

First, you want to set up your audience for the citation. The setup is one or two sentences that put your source into context and signal to the audience that you are about to transition from your own ideas to someone else’s.

For example:

Workplace bullying is becoming an increasing problem in the United States, and employers are reluctant to take steps to address this problem.

This statement introduces the basic topic and provides a context for the outside material you will use to support this observation.

Incorporating the Cited Information

The set up is followed by the cited information, which you can directly quote, paraphrase, or summarize. Directly quoting a source is to take a passage from it verbatim and enclose it in quotation marks to indicate that these words are not your own. Paraphrasing and summarizing are ways of restating the source’s ideas in your own words. A paraphrase is approximately the same length as the original passage, while a summary is a shorter version of the original passage. Because paraphrases and summaries are written in your own words, you do not enclose them in quotations.

Important!  While paraphrases and summaries of sources are written in your own words, you must still cite the original author because you are using someone else’s ideas.

Direct Quotation : Workplace bullying is becoming an increasing problem in the United States, and employers are reluctant to take steps to address this problem. In their 2009 report “Bullying: Getting Away with It,” the Workplace Bullying Institute found that “doing nothing to the bully (ensuring impunity) was the most common employer tactic (54%).”

Paraphrase: Workplace bullying is becoming an increasing problem in the United States, and employers are reluctant to take steps to address this problem. According to a 2009 study by the Workplace Bullying Institute entitled “Bullying: Getting Away with It,” 54 percent of employers took no action against bullies after workers reported a problem.

In both of these cases, the source information is first introduced by citing the author—in this case, the Workplace Bullying Institute. We then provided the title of the study. You could also provide the name of the article, book, podcast, movie, or other source.

Let’s look at another example of direct quotations and paraphrases, this time using a person, rather than an institution, as the author.

Direct Quotation : In her book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know , Mary George, senior reference librarian at Princeton University’s library, defines insight as something that “occurs at an unpredictable point in the research process and leads to the formulation of a thesis statement and argument. Also called an ‘Aha’ moment or focus.”

Paraphrase : In her book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know , Mary George, senior reference librarian at Princeton University’s library, tells us that insight is likely to come unexpectedly during the research process; it will be an “aha!” moment when we suddenly have a clear vision of the point we want to make.

Notice that the same basic pattern for citing sources was followed in both cases.

Explaining the Citation

One of the biggest mistakes of novice public speakers (and research writers) is incorporating cited material without explaining how it supports their claim, or “hit and run” quoting. The cited material does not speak for itself. It’s your job as writer and speaker to explain how the quotation or paraphrase supports your claim. Don’t force your audience to draw their own conclusions: help them make the connections you want them to make.

In the examples below, the material that explains the significance of the paraphrase or quote is in bold type.

Bullying Example Direct Quote: Workplace bullying is becoming an increasing problem in the United States, and employers are reluctant to take steps to address this problem. In their 2009 report “Bullying: Getting Away with It,” the Workplace Bullying Institute found that “doing nothing to the bully (ensuring impunity) was the most common employer tactic (54%).” Clearly, organizations need to be held accountable for investigating bullying allegations. If organizations will not voluntarily improve their handling of this problem, the legal system may be required to step in and enforce sanctions for bullying, much as it has done with sexual harassment.

Bullying Example Paraphrase: Workplace bullying is becoming an increasing problem in the United States, and employers are reluctant to take steps to address this problem. According to a 2009 study by the Workplace Bullying Institute entitled “Bullying: Getting Away with It,” 54 percent of employers took no action against bullies after workers reported a problem. Clearly, organizations need to be held accountable for investigating bullying allegations. If organizations will not voluntarily improve their handling of this problem, the legal system may be required to step in and enforce sanctions for bullying, much as it has done with sexual harassment.

Aha! Example Direct Quote : In her book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know , Mary George, senior reference librarian at Princeton University’s library, defines insight as something that “occurs at an unpredictable point in the research process and leads to the formulation of a thesis statement and argument. Also called an ‘Aha’ moment or focus.” As many of us know, reaching that “aha!” moment does not always come quickly, but there are definitely some strategies one can take to help speed up this process.

Aha! Example Paraphrase: In her book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know , Mary George, senior reference librarian at Princeton University’s library, tells us that insight is likely to come unexpectedly during the research process; it will be an “aha!” moment when we suddenly have a clear vision of the point we want to make. As many of us know, reaching that “aha!” moment does not always come quickly, but there are definitely some strategies one can take to help speed up this process.

Notice how in both of our explanations we took the source’s information and then added to the information to direct it for our specific purpose. In the bullying example, we then propose that businesses should either adopt workplace bullying guidelines or face legal intervention. In the “aha!” example, we turn the quotation into a section on helping people find their thesis or topic. In both cases, we were able to use the information to support our claims.

Using Sources Ethically

The last section of this chapter is about using sources in an ethical manner. Whether you are using primary or secondary research, there are five basic ethical issues you need to consider.

Strategies to Avoid Plagiarism

• First, and foremost, if the idea isn’t yours, you need to cite where the information came from during your speech. Having the citation listed on a bibliography or reference page is only half of the correct citation. You must provide correct citations for all your sources within the speech as well.
• Do your own work and use your own words. One of the goals of a public speaking class is to develop skills that you’ll use in the world outside academia. When you are in the workplace and the “real world,” you’ll be expected to think for yourself, so you might as well start learning this skill now.
• Allow yourself enough time to research the assignment so that you will have enough time to cite your sources. One of the most commonly cited excuses students give for plagiarism is that they didn’t have enough time to do the research. In this chapter, we’ve stressed the necessity of giving yourself plenty of time. The more complete your research strategy is from the very beginning, the more successful your research endeavors will be in the long run. Remember, not having adequate time to prepare is no excuse for plagiarism.
• Keep track of your sources by taking careful notes while you do your research. A common mistake that people can make is that they forget where information came from when they start creating the speech itself. Chances are you’re going to look at dozens of sources when preparing your speech, and it is very easy to suddenly find yourself believing that a piece of information is “common knowledge” and not citing that information within a speech. This problem can be avoided by taking careful notes as you conduct your research, either with a pen and notebook or a Word document or spreadsheet. Write down the source of the information along with any key ideas or direct quotes that you might want to use. When you keep track of your sources, you’re less likely to inadvertently lose sources and not cite them correctly.
• Make sure to clearly differentiate your voice in the speech from the voice of specific authors of the sources you quote. The easiest way to do this is to set up a direct quotation or a paraphrase that includes the author and title of the source. Remember, audience members cannot see where the quotation marks are located within your speech text, so you need to clearly articulate with words and vocal tone when you are using someone else’s ideas within your speech.
• Learn how to cite sources correctly both in the body of your paper and in your List of Works Cited (Reference Page). Most public speaking teachers will require that you turn in either a bibliography or reference page on the day you deliver a speech. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the bibliography or reference page is all they need to cite information, and then they don’t cite any of the material within the speech itself. A bibliography or reference page enables a reader or listener to find those sources after the fact, but you must also correctly cite those sources within the speech itself; otherwise, you are plagiarizing.
• Quote accurately and sparingly. Paraphrase and summarize whenever possible. A public speech should be based on factual information and references, but it shouldn’t be a string of direct quotations stitched together. Experts recommend that no more than 10 percent of a paper or speech be direct quotations (Menager-Beeley & Paulos, 2009). When selecting direct quotations, always ask yourself if the material could be paraphrased in a manner that would make it clearer for your audience. If the author wrote a sentence in a way that is just perfect, and you don’t want to tamper with it, then by all means directly quote the sentence. But if you’re just quoting because it’s easier than putting the ideas into your own words, this is not a legitimate reason for including direct quotations.
• Paraphrase carefully. Modifying an author’s words in this way is not simply a matter of replacing some of the words with synonyms. Instead, as Howard and Taggart explain in Research Matters, “paraphrasing force[s] you to understand your sources and to capture their meaning accurately in original words and sentences” (Howard & Taggart, 2010). Incorrect paraphrasing is one of the most common forms of inadvertent plagiarism by students. First and foremost, paraphrasing is putting the author’s argument, intent, or ideas into your own words.
• Do not patchwrite (patchspeak). Menager-Beeley and Paulos define patchwriting as “mixing several references together and arranging paraphrases and quotations to constitute much of the paper. In essence, the student has assembled others’ work with a bit of embroidery here and there but with little original thinking or expression” (Menager-Beeley & Paulos, 2009). Just as students can patchwrite, they can also engage in patchspeaking. In patchspeaking, students rely completely on taking quotations and paraphrases and weaving them together in a manner that is devoid of the student’s original thinking.
• Summarize, don’t auto-summarize. Some students have learned that most word-processing programs have an auto-summary function. The auto-summary function will take a ten-page document and summarize the information into a short paragraph. When someone uses the auto-summary function, the words that remain in the summary are still those of the original author, so this is not an ethical form of paraphrasing. Also, auto summaries generated by word processing programs aren’t always accurate summaries. Writing an accurate summary is a complex task best performed by a human brain.
• Do not represent someone else’s work as your own by reworking another student’s speech or buying or downloading one from a speech mill. Presenting someone else’s work as your own is also plagiarism as well as academic fraud. Penalties for academic fraud can be as severe as suspension or expulsion from your institution.

Don’t Mislead Your Audience

If you know a source is clearly biased, and you don’t spell this out for your audience, then you are purposefully trying to mislead or manipulate your audience. Instead, if the information may be biased, tell your audience that the information may be biased and allow your audience to decide whether to accept or disregard the information.

Give Author Credentials

You should always provide the author’s credentials. In a world where anyone can say anything and have it published on the Internet or even publish it in a book, we have to be skeptical of the information we see and hear. For this reason, it’s very important to provide your audience with background about the credentials of the authors you cite.

Use Primary Research Ethically

Lastly, if you are using primary research within your speech, you need to use it ethically as well. For example, if you tell your survey participants that the research is anonymous or confidential, then you need to make sure that you maintain their anonymity or confidentiality when you present those results. Furthermore, you also need to be respectful if someone says something is “off the record” during an interview. We must always maintain the privacy and confidentiality of participants during primary research, unless we have their express permission to reveal their names or other identifying information.

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. See also American Psychological Association. (2010). Concise rules of APA Style: The official pocket style guide from the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

“CRAAP Method.” LSU Libraries. 16 February 2022. https://guides.lib.lsu.edu/ENG1001/CRAAP.

George, M. W. (2008). The elements of library research: What every student needs to know. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, p. 183.

Howard, R. M., & Taggart, A. R. (2010). Research matters. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, p. 131.

Menager-Beeley, R., & Paulos, L. (2009). Understanding plagiarism: A student guide to writing your own work. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, pp. 5–8.

Modern Language Association. (2009). MLA handbook for writers of research papers (7th ed.). New York, NY: Modern Language Association.

Moxley, Joseph M. “Research.” Writing Commons. https://writingcommons.org/section/research/. Retrieved 22 February 2022.

Ochman, B. L. (2007, June 29). The top 10 news stories broken by bloggers. TechNewsWorld. [Web log post]. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from http://www.mpdailyfix.com/technewsworld-the-top-10-news-stories-broken-by-bloggers.

Project Management Institute. (2004). A guide to the project management body of knowledge: PMBOK® guide (3rd ed.). Newton Square, PA: Author, p. 19.

Weiner, M. (2006). Unleashing the power of PR: A contrarian’s guide to marketing and communication. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass and the International Association of Business Communicators.

Workplace Bullying Institute. (2009). Bullying: Getting away with it WBI Labor Day Study—September, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from http://www.workplacebullying.org/res/WBI2009-B-Survey.html.

Wood, J. T. (2002). A critical response to John Gray’s Mars and Venus portrayals of men and women. Southern Communication Journal, 67, 201–210.

Wrench, J. S., Thomas-Maddox, C., Richmond, V. P., & McCroskey, J. C. (2008). Quantitative methods for communication researchers: A hands on approach. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

style scholars in the various social science fields (e.g., psychology, human communication, business) are more likely to use

the style scholars in the various humanities fields (e.g., English, philosophy, rhetoric) are more likely to use

a practice that disorients your audience by not giving them everything they need to understand how the source is relevant to your own claims

to take a source’s basic idea and condense it using your own words

when you cite the actual words from a source with no changes

It’s About Them: Public Speaking in the 21st Century Copyright © 2022 by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Speech: Citing Sources in APA

• Two Sides of an Issue Informative Speech
• Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Persuasive Speech
• Citing Sources in APA
• Evaluating Information
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How to Cite in Your Speech

• Oral Citations

To orally cite something, you will need to give sufficient information about the source. Typically, this is the author, title, and date of a source. By including this information, you allow your listeners to find your original sources, as well as allow them to hear that your sources are recent and are credible.

Source: Santa Fe College Library. (2023). Reading Scholarly Papers . https://sfcollege.libguides.com/speech/oral-citations

How to Cite in Your Outline

• More APA Help

The first thing you want to figure out when you are creating a reference is what type of material you are referencing. Depending on what your item is, the reference will look slightly different. Check out the tabs for examples of how to cite. 

Your Reference page should include the following:

• At the top, it should have the word   References  centered and in bold.
• References will be in alphabetical order by the first author's last name.
• The references will be   double spaced  and have  hanging indentation . Hanging indentation means that the first line of the reference is all the way to the left, and the rest of the lines of the reference are indented. 

Check out our APA Help Page for more in-depth information on citing in APA format. 

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Reading Scholarly Papers

Organizing Sources

All direct quotes, paraphrasing, summarizing, statistics, and outside opinions count as outside information, and must be cited. If you have never developed a system for keeping track of your citations, the following video provides an easy to use but effective system.

View Transcript

Hi, everyone! This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel and in today's video, I'll tell you how I use Google Sheets to organize my citations and sources for papers and research projects.

I'm in my first year of graduate school and we do a lot of writing. References and citations are very important, as they are for any discipline. I supposed if I was writing a dissertation with a hundred citations, I would feel the need to pay for and learn a whole complicated citation software, but since I'm not, I prefer to use tools that I already use and know well. AND despite the fact I'm not writing a dissertation, I have written some papers that have had over 25 sources, so I do need SOME kind of system to organize and manage my citations.

I started out, as most people do, with kind of a hodge-podge system of just cutting and pasting URLs from the Internet and sticking them at the bottom of the Word document of the paper. Or, if I'm doing research, I'd just copy and paste URLs with maybe some quotes from the study or article. The problem was, if I had multiple quotes, I couldn't organize them by topic for fear of losing the reference link, or I'd have to duplicate the URL multiple times. Plus, scrolling down to check these references was annoying. I needed a better, less messy system.

Here's what I do now. For each research project or paper, I create a new Google Sheets spreadsheet for references. You could easily do this in any spreadsheet program. I name it something like Class name - Project name - Citations and Quotes. Let's use a research project that I just did for my Policy class as an example. My spreadsheet name is "Policy - Ex-Felon Voting Rights Citations and Quotes." Then -- I make 2 tabs. The first tab is called Quotes, the second is Sources. I'm going to put a sample of this Citation Spreadsheet up on my Google Drive to share with you. To use it, just follow the link that I will provide in the notes section, make a copy into your own Drive, and then use it or modify it as you see fit.

Sample Google Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PaQbDLrTFptlZAlarTkdj_syYBxs1zUaqqXulF1e11A/edit?usp=sharing

Back to the spreadsheet -- so, now as I'm doing my research and reading a bunch of different articles -- in this case, mostly news articles and opinion pieces -- I starting finding quotes or statistics that help me to understand the issue or that I might want to use in my paper. So, I copy the quote and paste it into this first column. Okay -- the second column is a reference number. I'm going to want to remember where I got this quote from -- so go to the article and copy the URL or website address. I note some basics about the source and what the article is about -- in this case it's an Editorial from The Washington Post Editorial Board. Now I go into the Sources tab paste the URL under website address, note some basics about the article -- more for my own recall ability than anything else, and I number it -- #1. Now, I'm going to have a bunch of other articles to put in here, so I might as well go ahead and fill in these numbers, 1 to 10. Okay, back to the Quotes tab, I'm going to indicate that this quote came from article #1. Now, I can paste several quotes from the same article, I just need to indicate where they came from. So, here is my completed spreadsheet for this research project. I have 13 sources and 38 quotes. I obviously did not use all of those in my paper, but they helped to shape my understanding of the topic and served as a repository for the quotes and statistics that I DID end up using.

Just a quick note -- because of the nature of this research project, most of my sources were articles about current events, but this system also works great for scholarly research since so much is accessible on the Internet these days through your academic institution's research portal. I also use this system to capture quotes from books. Check out my video on exporting quotes from Kindle books into a spreadsheet such as this.

There are two things that I find really helpful about this system:

1) Easy to categorize - Because each quote has its own line, you can tag each quote with a theme or category. For example, in this column, I'm going to put in the main reasoning that states use to disenfranchise ex-offenders. There are a handful: safety, punishment, violation of social contract, political ideology, race etc. Not every quote is going to get a tag, but I can tag all of the ones that apply and then I can sort by this column. That way, if this is how I've decided to structure my paper, in this case -- by state rationale, I have quotes that are all nicely grouped together and ready to use for each topic. The second thing, is that this system makes it

2) Easy to cite while drafting - So, I'm writing my paper and I want to use a good statistic. Here's one: "McAuliffe's order affected 200,000 people in a state where 3.9 million people voted in the 2012 presidential election." So, I go ahead and quote this in my paper. Now, I don't want to slow down my writing process do the whole citation now (for me, that is an entirely different thinking process), so when I'm drafting, I just put the reference number in parenthesis right behind the quote. Like this (4). Then, once I've drafted and edited the paper, I go back in looking for reference numbers and replace them with proper citations. This is easy to do since I have a nice centralized place where I've gathered all of the source website information.

This system has worked well for me. Let me know what you think! Comments are always appreciated and thanks for watching!

You may also choose to organize your notes on sources in a more topical manner. For instance, you may have main points as a heading and include bullet points of quotes, information, and statistics. Be sure to include your sources!

TWITTER IN SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

• First conceived by Andrea Kuszewski in 2011
• “Liu notes that the hashtag was originally intended for science journalists, who typically lack access to the online library resources available to researchers at large universities; however, her research has demonstrated that academics and students use #icanhazpdf services more frequently than those in communications fields” (p. 7)
• “Such requests are evidence of users choosing social media over the library as a means of obtaining scholarly materials” (p. 11)
• https://www.altmetric.com/blog/interactions-the-numbers-behind-icanhazpdf
• “Specific tools, such as Twitter, have proved popular for frequent use by scholars to communicate with their counterparts and promote each other’s work” (Al-Aufi & Fulton, 2015, p. 228)

Now, how do you incorporate those sources into your writing? This wonderful video from ASU and Crash Course covers how you can use paraphrasing, quotations, and explanations without plagiarism.

Citing Your Sources

Ask your professor which style you should use for your class. APA, MLA, and Chicago are the three mostly commonly used citation styles at Santa Fe College, with APA being the most common citation style for speech classes.

• APA Citation Guide [Tyree Library] Guide created by the Tyree Library with information on formatting, example citations, and tutorials.
• APA Style Blog The official blog, answering and clarifying questions about APA.
• The Basics of APA Style Official tutorial on APA.

• Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide Quick examples from the official style guide.
• Chicago Citation Guide [Tyree Library] Guide created by the Tyree Library with information on formatting, example citations, and tutorials.

• MLA Citation Guide [Tyree Library] Guide created by the Tyree Library with information on formatting, example citations, and tutorials.
• The MLA Style Center The official website for MLA style, with more examples, guidelines, and a place to ask questions.

Oral Citations

• Oral Citation Basics

To orally cite something, you will need to give sufficient information about the source to your audience. Typically, this is the author, title, and date of a source. By including this information, you allow your listeners to find your original sources, as well as allow them to hear that your sources are recent and are credible.

Orally Citing Information in Your Speech from Andrew Ishak on Vimeo .

Provide the author, title, and date of the book.

Colonel Charles Hoge in his 2010 book Once a Warrior, Always a Warrior coins the term 'rageaholism,' which refers to "persistent rage and hostility."

Provide the author, publication name, and date.

The recent 2013 Law & Human Behavior article by Kahn, Byrd, and Pardini, shows that young men who have high callous-unemotional traits, such as a lack of empathy, are more likely to be arrested for serious crimes.

Provide the website title and date.

In a March 2014 piece on the Blue Review website, anthropologist John Ziker found that college professors spend 17% of their day in meetings.

Provide the name of the interviewer (if not you), the name and credentials of the interviewee, and the date.

In an February 25 interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show , Michio Kaku notes that memories can currently be uploaded into mice, and eventually this could be used to help sufferers of Alzheimer's disease.

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• Background Research

Citing Sources in a Speech

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• Citing Sources This link opens in a new window

Business Librarian

Citing your sources just means telling where you got particular ideas or bits of information that did not originate in your own head.  Sometimes this is called giving credit, attributing, or referencing.

When you cite sources in an oral presentation, there are 3 basic parts:

1. Orally cite sources of what you say

2. Adapt a citation format to cite the sources of what is written on your visuals

3. Have a full reference list handy for answering questions

Ineffective: “Margaret Brownwell writes in her book Dieting Sensibly that fad diets telling you ‘eat all you want’ are dangerous and misguided.” (Although the speaker cites and author and book title, who is Margaret Brownwell?  No information is presented to establish her authority on the topic.)

Better: “Margaret Brownwell, professor of nutrition at the Univeristy of New Mexico, writes in her book, Dieting Sensibly, that …” (The author’s credentials are clearly described.)

Magazine, Journal, or Newspaper Article

Ineffective: “An article titled ‘Biofuels Boom’ from the ProQuest database notes that midwestern energy companies are building new factories to convert corn to ethanol.” (Although ProQuest is the database tool used to retrieve the information, the name of the newspaper or journal and publication date should be cited as the source.)

Better: “An article titled ‘Biofuels Boom’ in a September 2010 issue of Journal of Environment and Development” notes that midwestern energy companies…”(Name and date of the source provides credibility and currency of the information as well as giving the audience better information to track down the source.)

Ineffective: “According to generationrescue.org, possible recovery from autism includes dietary interventions.” (No indication of the credibility or sponsoring organization or author of the website is given)

Better: “According to pediatrician Jerry Kartzinel, consultant for generationrescue.org, an organization that provides information about autism treatment options, possibly recovery from autism includes dietary interventions.” (author and purpose of the website is clearly stated.)

Note: some of the above examples are quoted from: Metcalfe, Sheldon. Building a Speech. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2010. Google Books. Web. 17 Mar. 2012.

Some content created by Bucks County Community College. Accessed Feb 3, 2017. 

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COMM B1: Informative Speeches: Citing Sources

• Finding Reference Books
• Using OneSearch
• Finding Articles
• Finding Websites
• Defining Scholarly Sources
• Finding Empirical Sources
• Evaluating Sources
• Citing Sources
• Citing Sources Orally
• Other Helpful LibGuides

Avoiding Plagiarism

Citing Your Sources in APA Style, 7th edition

Format guidelines for reference list:.

• Double-space the References page.
• One space follows a period.
• Use a hanging indent format (first line is flush left, all other lines are indented .5 inch. In MS Word, use  Format → Paragraph → Hanging Indent ).
• Arrange the list of references alphabetically by authors' last names (or by title if no author).
• Authors' names are inverted, followed by the initials of their first and middle names (Last name, A.A.).
• The date of publication follows the author's name in parentheses.
• If no author is listed, list the source by title, followed by date of publication in parentheses.
• Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle of a book or article.
• Capitalize the titles of journals, magazines, and newspapers normally.
• Italicize  titles of books, journals, magazines, etc., and the volume numbers of journals as well.
• Do not include "retrieved from" information, such as the name of the database, nor a URL for the source unless it is an active URL to a website.
• Do not include place of publication for books ( no city and state).

Things to Notice About APA Citations, 7th edition

Cite journal articles, magazine articles, and newspaper articles the same whether in print or digital.  Do not include the name of the database or a URL.  Only include a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) if provided.  The standard format for DOIs is https://doi.org/ ...(the DOI number given).

Cite books, eBooks, and parts of books found in a subscription database the same whether in print or digital.   Do not include the name of the database or a URL.  Do not include the place of publication (city and state).

For webpages or articles found on websites, do not use a period at the end of the URL.  Provide a URL that links directly to the section, not the home page of the website, and is a live hyperlink.  Do not include a "retrieved from" statement.  Only include a retrieval date if the work is designed to change over time.  

APA Citation, 7th edition

The American Psychological Association recently updated their Style Guide in October 2019 to its 7th edition.

• APA Style and Grammar Guidelines from American Psychological Association
• Purdue Owl APA Citation
• BC Library APA Citation Guide
• APA 7th edition LibGuide from CSU, Dominguez Hills

Introduction to APA, 7th edition

Examples of APA Citations, 7th edition

Further Breakdown of Source Part of Journal Article Citation:

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• NMC Library

Public Speaking

• Citing Sources (MLA)
• Choosing a Topic for Your Speech
• Finding Articles
• Finding Books & eBooks
• Finding Speeches and Transcripts
• Finding Statistics

Understanding MLA Style

The Two Required Types of Citation

• Two Types of Documentation
• Works Cited
• MLA Works Cited Page (Purdue OWL)
• MLA In Text Citations (Purdue OWL)

MLA Format Examples

• MLA Format 8th Edition Layout
• MLA Format 8th Edition Layout (MS WORD)
• MLA Citation Template - Blank & Filled
• Sample Works Cited Page (Purdue OWL)
• Sample Paper (Purdue OWL)
• Sample Papers in MLA Style (MLA Style Center)

Citation Formats

• What Are Citation Formats?
• Why Cite Sources?
• Why Cite Sources
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English - Speech and Public Speaking: Citing Sources

• Persuasive Speeches
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• Citing Sources
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What's Your Style?

It is important to document your sources to help your reader find your research sources and to avoid plagiarism. It is standard practice in writing papers.

While there are many different citation styles, the most commonly used by Madison College English classes are MLA and APA:

• MLA (Modern Language Association) MLA (Modern Language Association) is most commonly used in the humanities. Most English classes will use this style.
• APA (American Psychological Association) APA (American Psychological Association) is most commonly used in the social sciences. Many English classes use this style.

Plagiarism Video

Citing sources in mla 8: database sources.

Purdue Writing Lab. “MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources // Purdue Writing Lab.” Purdue Writing Lab , 31 Dec. 2017, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_electronic_sources.html. Accessed 27 Nov. 2018.

Example from Academic Search:

“Disco Inferno: WYES Transformed into a Bustling Nightclub for a Disco Party.” Saint Charles Avenue, vol. 23, no. 3, Aug.

      2018 , p. 42. EBSCOhost,  ezproxy.madisoncollege.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? 

      direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid&custid=s6246812&db=f6h&AN=131036640&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Help in Print

Check the 808 section of the circulating and reference stacks for books that can help in the process of writing papers and properly documenting sources.

To play video, click on the above image.

• Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism - YouTube version
• Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism - Plain text version

Citation Management Tools On the Web

These free web-based tools can help create and manage your citations for your research papers. Always check with your instructor to see if it is okay to use these.

• MyBib Free citation generator with no ads.
• Knightcite Free resource from Calvin College that allows you to create bibliographies in MLA, APA and Chicago styles. You can also set up a personal account to save citations, manage files, and export bibliographies to Word.

Library Databases & Citations

Nearly all of the madison college library subscription databases offer internal citation generators:.

Examples: 

In Credo Reference , look for the " " tool!

In JStor , look for 'Cite This Item':

When using Opposing Viewpoints , look for the Tools Menu:

In CQ Researcher , look for 'Cite Now'.

Microsoft Word has a references tab

that can help generate citations and pages for works cited & bibliographies.

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1.10: Research- Finding and Citing Your Research

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Supposing is good, but finding out is better. Mark Twain, writer

This chapter is about being strategic with how to find your research, how to evaluate the research you find, how to smoothly work information into your speech, and how to adapt your reference page to the presentation context. Since this is an advanced public speaking book, I am going to assume you already know the basics about how to access primary research sources. My goal is for you to take what you know about research and dig a little deeper. I also want you to think about how to use your research differently to adapt to the context.

Advanced Tips on Research

1. brainstorm.

You should thoroughly brainstorm your topic in writing before you ever begin researching. Make a list of possible words you would look up. Anytime you do this type of brainstorming, your goal should be to have at least 20 words. For example, i f I wanted to give an informative speech on the impact of a teacher’s body language on student learning, I might look up any of these words–notice the variety of angles as well as how I have listed several ways of saying the same thing.

• body language
• immediacy behaviors
• eye contact
• personal space
• evaluations

2. Research Your Topic Broadly

Vary your research by looking up different types of research from different types of sources. Don’t just “google it.” (Yes, I like to use internet search engines, but that should not be all you do.) Look up books on the topic, look up art on the topic, look up statistics on the topic, use a library periodical search engine on your topic. I am sure you have heard this before, but I am reminding you–mostly because I need to be reminded. Resist the temptation to do just one type of research.

You should also diversify your research. Look at the authors of your research, do they represent various genders, ethnicities, and political leanings? Try being intentional with varying your research. Seeking a variety of voices on your topic leads to some varied and interesting perspectives.

3. Interview Someone

One semester, I required all my students to do an interview for their speeches. At the end of the speech day, I asked them, What stood out about the speeches? What really helped you to be drawn in? One of the most frequent answers had to do with the interview. When possible, do an interview as part of your speech research.

One of the added bonuses of doing interviews is you can use it to make a new professional contact. Use your speech research to do networking, you might be surprised that you come out with a new contact or maybe a future job opportunity.

When you talk about the interview in your speech, be sure to tell the audience who you interviewed and the credentials of the person you interviewed. It is also helpful to include why you chose to interview that person. Take a picture of the person you interviewed or their office and if it seems right for your presentation, include the photo in your slides.

Brainstorm interview prospects

• Who can you interview on your topic?
• Who is a professional in the field?
• Who could you talk to who has a lived experience related to your topic?
• Who is a professional you have always wanted to talk to and needed a good excuse to get your foot in the door?

When conducting an interview always:

• Ask open-ended questions.
• Listen way more than you talk.
• Stay focused to the very end.
• Send a thank-you note.

Food For Thought

When researching for a ceremonial speech–eulogy, wedding toast, retirement speech, birthday speech–it is helpful to talk to other people who know the person you are celebrating. This type of research usually produces information you wouldn’t have otherwise considered.

4. Look up Something Weird

Speaker, educator, and author John Spencer said, “Research shouldn’t feel like a chore. It should feel like geeking out.” Think of a weird way to look at your topic. Think of a subpart of your topic. Look up a fun fact related to your topic. Sometimes, this exercise becomes an interesting diversion, but other times, it is a gold mine of new ideas.

Using Your Research in a Speech

Oral citations: using your research in a speech.

When mentioning your research in your speech, you should always give an oral citation. Depending on the type of speech and the type of audience, this would be done differently. Citations are about credibility–ethos. When you use high-quality sources, it instills trust in the minds of your audience. They trust the information that you are giving, and they trust you as a person.

When I was on the debate team, we had to say the entire citation…every single word of it….the author, date, article title, and the publication and issue number. For debaters talking to other debtors, this type of complete citation worked. Outside of that context, it is just too much information, and the audience gets bored. The trick is to find the balance that allows you to share key parts of your citation without losing the audience’s attention.

Instead of speaking every single part of the citation, find the part that is the most familiar to the audience (like a prominent name or publication) and speak the parts of the reference that enhances your credibility.

• If the information is from a known magazine or journal, you should mention that.
• If the article comes from a respected author that the audience knows, you should mention them.
• If the person you are citing has a title that is relevant, you should mention that.
• If the research is time-sensitive, you should mention the year of publication.

The key here is to be intentional about which part of the citation you speak. To further, illustrate this, I want to show you the difference between what you say in your speech, how you would write it on a full-sentence outline, and then how it would look on your reference page.

(These samples are in APA)

This is what you would say in your speech.

According to an article on consumer perception of coffee published in Nutrients Journal, those who were surveyed said young males are more likely to be inclined to believe there are health benefits from drinking coffee. In a market where there is increased interest in healthy food, there is room to improve the perception of coffee and the scientifically-based health benefits.

(Nutrients Journal carries the credibility of a journal. Mentioning the authors would be optional. Since most people don’t know who they are, it doesn’t help with the credibility.)

This is what it would look like on your outline.

According to an article on consumer perception of coffee published in Nutrients Journal those who were surveyed said young males are more likely to be inclined to believe there are health benefits from drinking coffee (Samoggia & Riedel, 2019).

This is what you would put on the reference page.

Samoggia, A., & Riedel, B. (2019). Consumers’ perceptions of coffee health benefits and motives for coffee consumption and purchasing. Nutrients, 11 (3), 653. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu11030653

An article published in the Nutrition and Food Science Journa l titled, “To sip or not to sip: The potential risks and benefits of coffee drinking” coffee drinking can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.

(The title of the article is interesting, and the mention of a Journal gives credibility. Once again, I wouldn’t mention the authors since most people don’t know them.)

An article published in the Nutrition and Food Science Journal titled, “To sip or not to sip: The potential risks and benefits of coffee drinking” coffee drinking can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. (Taylor & Demming-Adams, 2007).

Taylor, S. R., & Demmig-Adams, B. (2007). To sip or not to sip: The potential health risks and benefits of coffee drinking. Nutrition and Food Science, 37 (6), 406-418. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00346650710838063

As I was working on this eulogy for today, I talked to a couple of family members and asked them what they most remember about grandpa. Cousin Zena said she remembers him for always wearing bibbed overalls, an International Harvester hat, and for having shoes the size of cars. Most of all, she remembers his laugh.

(In this case, the audience only needs to know the names and relationships. No need for formal titles or last names if the people are familiar)

This is what it would look like on your manuscript.

Meade, Z. (2021, May 8). Personal Interview.

Let’s be honest, in a real eulogy, you would not turn in a reference page. If you are in a college class, it will be required of you to establish the practice of citing your sources.

According to the Hobby Lobby website, wheeled glass nippers will cost you $16. These will be essential for cutting glass for your mosaic.

According to the Hobby Lobby website, wheeled glass nippers will cost you $16. These will be essential for cutting glass for your mosaic (2021).

Hobbylobby.com (2021) Wheeled Glass Nippers.

According to the article, How to Host Your Own Coffee Tasting on the Starbucks website, when formally coffee tasting, you should slurp your coffee to allow the coffee to spray across your tongue and palate.

According to the article, How to Host Your Own Coffee Tasting on the Starbucks website, when formally coffee tasting, you should slurp your coffee to allow the coffee to spray across your tongue and palate (Starbucks, 2020).

Starbucks. (n.d) Host your own coffee tasting. Retrieved May 8, 2020, https://athome.starbucks.com/host-your-own-coffee-tasting/

Do Not Say This

• “According to google.” Google is not a source; it is a search engine. The equivalent would be to say, according to the university library. The library is where you find the information, not the information itself.
• “According to homedepot.com.” You would never say, “According to 210 South Main Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas because that is an address. When you say “.com” you are citing an address. Don’t site a person’s address or a webpage’s address as your source. You can say, “according to the home depot website.”
• “And my source is…” When saying your source, use the name of the specialist or the name of the article and journal. No need to tell us it is your source; we will figure that out.
• “Quote/Unquote .” Say the author and the quote, no need to say the word “quote.”
• “Thank you and now here are my sources.” You do not need to show your audience your references on your slide show. To make sure your audience doesn’t accidentally see your reference page, put two blank slides at the end of your presentation and then add your references. Putting them with your slides keeps them available for anyone who wants a copy of your slides.

Fake-istotle Quotes

While I was researching Aristotle, some amazing quotes came up as Aristotle quotes. The only problem is, he didn’t say them. While I was hunting down the original author, I found a website called Fake-istotle Quotes.

Why is this relevant? It demonstrates one of the many challenges of internet research– typically one person puts it out there and then others copy it. You should be a sleuth and hunt down the originals and you should sniff out faulty research. Don’t just copy the work of others, look for the original.

Good quotes, Aristotle just didn’t say them.

• We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act but a habit. Will Durant
• Mark of an educated man is to entertain a thought without accepting it. Someone other than Aristotle

Does Your Research Pass the CRAAP Test?

Once you have found your research, you should test it to make sure it is credible. Check your research for currency, reliability, authority, accuracy, and purpose using the CRAPP test.

• When was it published?
• Has it been revised since then?
• Is it current enough for your topic?
• Is it a topic where the opinions about it change over time?

Reliability //Relevance

• Can you depend on the information and trust it to be accurate?
• Is the information biased?
• Is the information the appropriate complexity for the type of project I am working on?
• Does it provide reliable sources to back up claims?
• Can you trust the source where you found the information?
• Is the author an authority or do they cite subject authorities?
• Are they reputable?
• If the material is taken from other sources, do they credit/cite those sources?
• What does the URL end with? (.gov, .org, .edu, .com?) If not, how are you determining its reliability?
• Can you trust the reliability of the information?
• Is the information correct? How would you know?
• Can you verify any of the information from another source?
• Do the links lead to useful information corroborating the site’s statements, or do they link to questionable information?

Purpose/Point of View

• What is the author’s motivation for publishing the resource?
• Is the author trying to inform, persuade, or entertain you?
• Does the author appear to have an ax to grind or seem blindly committed to their cause?
• Are they using this information to make money off of users?
• Is there any conflict of interest?

This video gives a great analysis of a couple of sources using the CRAPP test.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhwB4zQD4XA&t=139s (<--- PRIVATE VIDEO)

Researching Images

Searching, finding, and using images is a type of research too. Just like text-based research, you should provide citations and give credit.

Searching for Images

When searching for images to use, you should seek out images the have a creative commons copyright or are open for use. Here are a couple of my favorite sites.

Don’t forget to reference your image on your reference page and on your slides.

• Creativecommons.org About: “CC Search is a tool that allows openly licensed and public domain works to be discovered and used by everyone. Creative Commons, the nonprofit behind CC Search, is the maker of the CC licenses , used over 1.4 billion times to help creators share knowledge and creativity online.”
• About: All items on Unsplash can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and noncommercial purposes. You do not need to ask permission but giving credit to the photographer is appreciated.
• Eduimages About: A free library of photos celebrating students—and the educators who teach them—in seven schools across the United States.
• Gettyimages About: The Getty makes available without charge, all available digital images to which the Getty holds the rights or that are in the public domain to be sued for any purpose. No permission is required.
• Wikimedia Commons About: Wikimedia Commons is free. Everyone is allowed to copy, use and modify any file here freely as long as they follow the terms specified by the author. The conditions of each media file can be found on their description page.
• Pixabay About: All images and videos on Pixabay are released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty-free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.

Reference Page

The reference page is where you list all the sources that you used in your speech. This means the books, articles, and internet information that you use as well as any interviews, images, videos, and charts.

What Do You Do with Your Reference Page?

What you do with your reference page is going to be different based on context. Many of you are in a college speech class, which means that you will give your teacher a digital or physical copy of your reference page. I want you to be prepared for speeches outside the college classroom, so let’s look at how to use a reference page in a variety of contexts.

For reference, I have included a sample reference page in APA.

Reference Page Sample APA “References” should be at the top. Alphabetize references. Use a hanging indent Every line is double-spaced. (This sample is not correct because of the way this program formats. Every line should be double space with no single-spaced items). For reference on this look at this sample student paper from OWL Purdue -the reference page in on page 17.

References Hobbylobby.com (2021) Wheeled Glass Nippers. Meade, Z. (2021, May 8). Personal Interview. Samoggia, A., & Riedel, B. (2019). Consumers’ perceptions of coffee health benefits and motives for coffee consumption and purchasing. Nutrients, 11(3), 653. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu11030653 Starbucks. (n.d) Host your own coffee tasting. Retrieved May 8, 2020, https://athome.starbucks.com/host-yo...offee- \tasting/ Taylor, S. R., & Demmig-Adams, B. (2007). To sip or not to sip: The potential health risks and benefits of coffee drinking. Nutrition and Food Science, 37(6), 406-418. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00346650710838063

Understanding Peer Review and Scholarly Sources

I want to make sure that you understand peer review and scholarly sources since it is an area that some struggle to grasp. When someone says they are wanting you to reference scholarly sources, typically they are talking about items that have been through the peer-review process. According to OWL Purdue, “One major character of scholarly sources is that they are peer-reviewed. Here’s how a scholarly source typically goes through the process:

• A scholar/author writes an article and submits it to the editor of a journal or book.
• The editor sends it to other scholars who are at least the academic peers (equals) of the author in that field.
• The reviewers review or vet (examine) it, then tell the editor whether they think it’s good enough to be published in that journal or what should be changed.”

Oftentimes your speech is required to have peer reviewers or scholarly articles, it is important that you are able to understand why peer review articles are different and how to access them. I included this video to help you understand.

What is Peer Review, Scholarly Article?

You may be asked to use peer-reviewed/scholarly/refereed articles for your research. It is important to understand the process in order to understand why this is a more advanced type of research.

Please share your feedback, suggestions, corrections, and ideas

I want to hear from you.

Do you have an activity to include? Did you notice a typo that I should correct? Are you planning to use this as a resource and do you want me to know about it? Do you want to tell me something that really helped you?

Click here to share your feedback.

In summary, it is important to know how to research your speech properly and to reference those sources in a way that gives credibility to your topic.

AskUs NCSU Libraries. (2014). Peer Review in 3 Minutes. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOCQZ7QnoN0&t=9s Standard Youtube License.

Houston Community College Libraries. (2021). Evaluating sources: C.R.A.P. Test. https://library.hccs.edu/evaluatingsources/test

Huntress, C. (2017). My favorite quote of all time is a misattribution. https://medium.com/the-mission/my-favourite-quote-of-all-time-is-a-misattribution-66356f22843d

Portland State University Library (2012). The C.R.A.P. Test in action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhwB4zQD4XA&t=139s

Purdue University. English 106/108: Scholarly Sources and Peer Review. https://guides.lib.purdue.edu/eng106/scholarly-sources-and-peer-review

Samoggia, A., & Riedel, B. (2019). Consumers’ perceptions of coffee health benefits and motives for coffee consumption and purchasing. Nutrients, 11 (3), 653. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu11030653

Sheets, R. (2021, May 18). Personal Interview. (Director of the Business Communication Lab, Walton College of Business. University of Arkansas).

Spencer, J. [ https://twitter.com/spencerideas] . (July 3, 2018). Research should be fun. It should feel like geeking out. Twitter. Retrieved May 19, 2021, from https://twitter.com/spencerideas/status/1014178267820118018/photo/1

Taylor, S. R. & Demmig-Adams, B. (2007). To sip or not to sip: The potential health risks and benefits of coffee drinking. Nutrition and Food Science, 37 (6), 406-418. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00346650710838063

University of Arkansas Library Research Guide. CRAAP Test for evaluating. https://uark.libguides.com/BENG4933/Evaluation

*CRAAP test developed by Meriam Library, California State University, Chico

Media Attributions

• Girl on computer © Surface is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
• sketchplanations social research is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
• christina-wocintechchat-com-LQ1t-8Ms5PY-unsplash © Christina is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
• Man on stage © Product School is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
• Tape over mouth © Jackson Simmer is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
• Presenter-visual © Pixabay is licensed under a CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) license

• Spartanburg Community College Library
• SCC Research Guides

Speech - General Resources

• Verbal Citations

Citing Sources in a Presentation

• Intro to Verbal Citations
• Additional Verbal Citation Resources
• Citing Sources in a PowerPoint Presentation

When preparing your presentation, remember that all sources used must be cited in both the Works Cited page and in-text.  For a speech you will need to verbally give credit to your sources. Verbally citing a source can be as simple as stating, "Dr. Bob, a Professor at Clemson University, stated in a 2019 Forbes article, ..."   Other examples could be, "The World Health Organization published the following Zika virus statistics on April 12, 2016...," or "According to Neal's book we learned..."

By verbally citing your sources you are lending credibility to your topic and making  your position stronger. Be sure to vary the language in which you verbally cite sources to keep your presentation more interesting (don't say "According to..." every time). 

• Oral Citations Video (Video) A brief tutorial on creating and delivering oral citations in public speaking. Topics include the importance of oral citations, when oral citations are necessary, and how to create and deliver oral citations in a speech. (5 mins.)
• Orally Citing a Source in a Speech (Video) by Janene Davison This is a basic primer on how to incorporate indirect and direct quotes into your presentation. (4 mins.)
• Tips on citing sources when speaking publicly by Sarah Stone Watt Gives example of written sources versus orally attributions.

There are several ways to cite sources in a project depending on the source and your instructor's requirements.

Most instructors want you to cite your sources the same you would if you were writing a paper for your in-text citations where you include an in-text on the slide where you used the information, and a Works Cited or References list of all your sources on a slide at the end of your presentation.

Some instructors instead have you number your sources on your Works Cited or References slide and then use the number as the in-text citation. Follow your instructor's requirements.

For images, see   Finding and Citing Images in a Project .

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Modi is accused of using hate speech for calling Muslims ‘infiltrators’ at an Indian election rally

Hindu nationalism, once a fringe ideology in India, is now mainstream. Nobody has done more to advance this cause than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of India’s most beloved and polarizing political leaders.

FILE- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi listens to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda speak during an event organized to release their party’s manifesto for the upcoming national parliamentary elections in New Delhi, India, April 14, 2024. India’s main opposition party is accusing Modi of hate speech after he called Muslims “infiltrators” and used some of his most incendiary rhetoric to date about the minority faith.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

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NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s main opposition party accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using hate speech after he called Muslims “infiltrators” — some of his most incendiary rhetoric about the minority faith, days after the country began its weekslong general election .

The remarks at a campaign rally Sunday drew fierce criticism that Modi was peddling anti-Muslim tropes. The Congress party filed a complaint Monday with the Election Commission of India, alleging he broke rules that bar candidates from engaging in any activity that aggravates religious tensions.

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Critics of the prime minister — an avowed Hindu nationalist — say India’s tradition of diversity and secularism has come under attack since his Bharatiya Janata Party won power a decade ago. They accuse the party of fostering religious intolerance and sometimes even violence. The party denies the accusation and says its policies benefit all Indians.

At a rally in the state of Rajasthan, Modi said that when the Congress party was in government, “they said Muslims have the first right over the country’s resources.” If it returns to power, the party “will gather all your wealth and distribute it among those who have more children,” he said as the crowd applauded.

“They will distribute it among infiltrators,” he continued, saying, “Do you think your hard-earned money should be given to infiltrators?”

Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress party’s president, described the prime minister’s comments as “hate speech” and party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi called them “deeply, deeply objectionable.”

The party sought action from the election commission, whose code of conduct forbids candidates from appealing “to caste or communal feelings” to secure votes. The first votes were cast Friday in the six-week election, which Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP are expected to win, according to most surveys. The results come out on June 4.

Asaduddin Owaidi, a Muslim lawmaker and president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen party, said on Sunday: “Since 2002 till this day, the only Modi guarantee has been to abuse Muslims and get votes.”

While there have long been tensions between India’s majority Hindu community and Muslims, rights groups say that attacks against minorities have become more brazen under Modi.

Muslims have been lynched by Hindu mobs over allegations of eating beef or smuggling cows, an animal considered holy to Hindus. Muslim businesses have been boycotted, their homes and businesses have been bulldozed and places of worship set on fire . There have been open calls for their genocide .

Modi’s remarks referred to a 2006 statement by then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress party. Singh said that India’s lower castes, tribes, women and, “in particular the Muslim minority” deserved to share in the country’s development equally.

“They must have the first claim on resources,” Singh said. A day later, his office clarified that Singh was referring to all of the disadvantaged groups.

In its petition to the election commission, the Congress party said that Modi and the BJP have repeatedly used religion and religious symbols and sentiments in their election campaign with impunity. “These actions have been further bolstered by the commission’s inaction in penalizing the prime minister and the BJP for their blatant violations of electoral laws,” it said.

“In the history of India, no prime minister has lowered the dignity of his post as much as Modi has,” Kharge, Congress’ president, wrote on social media platform X.

The commission can issue warnings and suspend candidates for a certain amount of time over violations of the code of conduct.

“We decline comment,” a spokesperson for the commission told the Press Trust of India news agency on Monday.

In his speech, Modi also repeated a Hindu nationalist trope that Muslims were overtaking the Hindu population by having more children. Hindus make up 80% of India’s 1.4 billion people, while the country’s 200 million Muslims are 14%. Official data shows that fertility rates among Muslims have dropped the fastest among religious groups in recent decades, from 4.4 in 1992-93 to 2.3 between 2019-21, just higher than Hindus at 1.94.

Modi’s BJP has previously referred to Muslims as infiltrators and cast them as illegal migrants who crossed into India from Bangladesh and Pakistan. Several states run by the BJP have also made laws that restrict interfaith marriage, citing the unproven conspiracy theory of “ love jihad ,” which claims Muslim men use marriage to convert Hindu women.

Through it all, Modi has largely stayed silent, and critics say that has emboldened some of his most extreme supporters and enabled more hate speech against Muslims.

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Modi Calls Muslims ‘Infiltrators’ Who Would Take India’s Wealth

The direct language used against the country’s largest minority was a contrast to the image Prime Minister Narendra Modi presents on the world stage.

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By Alex Travelli and Suhasini Raj

Reporting from New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called Muslims “infiltrators” who would take India’s wealth if his opponents gained power — unusually direct and divisive language from a leader who normally lets others do the dirtiest work of polarizing Hindus against Muslims.

Mr. Modi, addressing voters in the state of Rajasthan, referred to a remark once made by Manmohan Singh, his predecessor from the opposition Indian National Congress Party. Mr. Singh, Mr. Modi claimed, had “said that Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the nation. This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators.”

Mr. Modi aimed his emotional appeal at women, addressing “my mothers and sisters” to say that his Congress opponents would take their gold and give it to Muslims.

Modi Calls Muslims ‘Infiltrators’ in Speech During India Elections

Prime minister narendra modi of india was criticized by the opposition for remarks he made during a speech to voters in rajasthan state..

I’m sorry, this is a very disgraceful speech made by the prime minister. But, you know, the fact is that people realize that when he says the Congress Party is going to take all your wealth and give it to the Muslims, that this is just a nakedly communal appeal which normally any civilized election commission would disallow and warn the candidate for speaking like this.

Implications like these — that Muslims have too many babies, that they are coming for Hindus’ wives and daughters, that their nationality as Indian is itself in doubt — are often made by representatives of Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P.

Mr. Modi’s use of such language himself, as he campaigns for a third term in office, raised alarm that it could inflame right-wing vigilantes who target Muslims , and brought up questions about what had prompted his shift in communication style. Usually, Mr. Modi avoids even using the word “Muslims,” coyly finding ways to refer indirectly to India’s largest minority group, of 200 million people.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress party, called Mr. Modi’s remarks “hate speech.” Asaduddin Owaisi, who represents the only national party for Muslims, lamented how “common Hindus are made to fear Muslims while their wealth is being used to enrich others.”

Tom Vadakkan, a spokesman for the B.J.P., said that Mr. Modi’s speech was being misinterpreted. “This is not about our compatriots, the Muslims,” he said. Mr. Modi was talking only about “infiltrators,” according to Mr. Vadakkan.

The prime minister’s fiery oration, delivered in 100-degree heat in the town of Banswara in arid Rajasthan, marked a contrast to the image he presents in international contexts.

During a visit to the White House in June, Mr. Modi said there was “no question of discrimination” in India. When he played host to the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi three months later, he chose the theme “the world is one family”(in Sanskrit, the primary liturgical language of orthodox Hinduism).

He put his own face on soft-power outreach programs like World Yoga Day, broadcast to Times Square, using it to present a Hindu-centric India as a benign “teacher to the world.”

Campaigns that divide Hindus and Muslims can be useful in animating the hard-right Hindu base of Mr. Modi’s otherwise broad-based electorate, especially in places like Banswara, where Hindus outnumber Muslims by three to one.

With his remarks, Mr. Modi may have been trying to close a divide that has opened among Hindus in Rajasthan over whether to support the B.J.P., with one prominent group holding protests over comments made by a party official.

But the prime minister’s speech was also clearly intended for a wider audience; he shared a clip on his official social media channels.

The B.J.P. remains the favorite to win another parliamentary majority when six weeks of voting concludes on June 1 and ballots are counted three days later. Mr. Kharge, the Congress party president, called Mr. Modi’s speech — perhaps hopefully — a sign of desperation, adding that opposition candidates must be faring well in the early stages of balloting.

Neerja Chowdhury, a columnist and the author of “How Prime Ministers Decide,” echoed Mr. Kharge, saying that, in her view, “voters are expressing their dissatisfaction much more openly this time.” The B.J.P. is capable of a swift course correction, she added, because “they get feedback very quickly.”

Rahul Gandhi, the public face of the Congress party , said that Mr. Modi’s comments had been intended as a diversion from subjects that trouble ordinary voters, like joblessness and inflation.

That the prime minister alluded to religion at all in his speech drew complaints that he may have violated India’s election rules.

Candidates are supposed to be barred from asking for votes in the name of religion or caste. But B.J.P. leaders regularly invoke Hindu deities during campaign rallies. The country’s Election Commission, which enforces the rules, has taken little action against the party, even as it has moved against members of other parties in similar cases.

Uddhav Thackeray, a former ally of Mr. Modi’s who is now running against the B.J.P., declared that he would now ignore an Election Commission order to remove the word “Hindu” from his own party’s campaign song.

The basis for Mr. Modi’s attack was a 22-second excerpt from a statement that Mr. Singh, a Sikh economist who was the prime minister before Mr. Modi, made in 2006. Mr. Singh had been listing many of the traditionally disadvantaged groups in India, including lower-caste Hindus and tribal populations, and “in particular the Muslim community,” and said that all should share equitably in the nation’s wealth.

Since Mr. Modi took office in 2014, Muslims haven’t had a proportional share of India’s steady economic and social development . Just one of the 430 candidates the B.J.P. is fielding in the current election is Muslim.

Mr. Singh’s speech from 2006 seems old now, but it was made just four years after riots in the state of Gujarat under the watch of Mr. Modi. Hindus and Muslims hacked and burned one another and at least 1,000 died, most of them Muslims.

An earlier version of this article misstated the number of Muslim candidates that the B.J.P. is fielding in India’s current election. It is one, not zero.

How we handle corrections

Alex Travelli is a correspondent for The Times based in New Delhi, covering business and economic matters in India and the rest of South Asia. He previously worked as an editor and correspondent for The Economist. More about Alex Travelli

Suhasini Raj is a reporter based in New Delhi who has covered India for The Times since 2014. More about Suhasini Raj