data gathering in speech writing example

The Speech Writing Process

By Philippe John Fresnillo Sipacio & Anne Balgos (Page 62)

Just like events planning, or any other activities, writing an effective speech follows certain steps or processes. The process for writing is not chronological or linear ; rather, it is recursive . That means you have the opportunity to repeat a writing procedure indefinitely, or produce multiple

drafts first before you can settle on the right one.

By Philippe John Fresnillo Sipacio & Anne Balgos

The following are the components of the speech writing process.

• Audience analysis entails looking into the profile of your target audience. This is done so you can tailor-fit your speech content and delivery to your audience. The profile includes the following information.

Q demography (age range, male-female ratio, educational background and affiliations or degree program taken, nationality, economic status, academic or corporate designations)

Q situation (time, venue, occasion, and size)

Q psychology (values, beliefs, attitudes, preferences, cultural and racial ideologies , and needs)

A sample checklist is presented below.

The purpose for writing and delivering the speech can be classified into three — to inform, to entertain, or to persuade .

• An informative speech provides the audience with a clear understanding of the concept or idea presented by the speaker.
• An entertainment speech provides the audience with amusement.
• A persuasive speech provides the audience with well-argued ideas that can influence their own beliefs and decisions.

The purpose can be general and specific. Study the examples below to see the differences. The general purpose is to inform ….

These are examples of specific purpose….

• To inform Grade 11 students about the process of conducting an
• automated student government election
• To inform Grade 11 students about the definition and relevance of

information literacy today

• To inform Grade 11 students about the importance of effective money management

The purpose can be general and specific. Study the examples below to see the differences. The general purpose is to entertain ….

• To entertain Grade 11 students with his/her funny experiences in

automated election

• To entertain Grade 11 students with interesting observations of people who lack information literacy
• To entertain Grade 11 students with the success stories of the people in the community

The purpose can be general and specific. Study the examples below to see the differences. The general purpose is to persuade ….

• To persuade the school administrators to switch from manual to
• To persuade Grade 11 students to develop information literacy skills
• To persuade the school administrators to promote financial literacy
• among students

The topic is your focal point of your speech, which can be determined once you have decided on your purpose. If you are free to decide on a topic, choose one that really interests you. There are a variety of strategies used in selecting a topic, such as using your personal experiences, discussing with your family members or friends, free writing, listing, asking questions, or semantic webbing .

Narrowing down a topic means making your main idea more specific and focused. The strategies in selecting a topic can also be used when you narrow down a topic. In the example below, “Defining and developing effective money management skills of Grade 11 students” is the specific topic out of a general one, which is “ Effective money management.”

Data gathering is the stage where you collect ideas, information, sources, and references relevant or related to your specific topic. This can be done by visiting the library, browsing the web, observing a certain phenomenon or event related to your topic, or conducting an

interview or survey. The data that you will gather will be very useful in making your speech informative, entertaining, or persuasive .

Writing patterns, in general, are structures that will help you organize the ideas related to your topic. Examples are biographical , categorical / topical , causal , chronological , comparison / contrast , problem-solution, and spatial .

The different writing patterns

An outline is a hierarchical list that shows the relationship of your ideas. Experts in public speaking state that once your outline is ready, two-thirds of your speech writing is finished. A good outline helps you see that all the ideas are in line with your main idea or message. The elements of an outline include introduction, body, and conclusion. Write your outline based on how you want your ideas to develop. Below are some of the suggested formats.

The body of the speech provides explanations, examples, or any details that can help you deliver your purpose and explain the main idea of your speech. One major consideration in developing the body of your speech is the focus or central idea. The body of your speech should only have one central idea.

The following are some strategies to highlight your main idea.

• Present real-life or practical examples
• Show statistics
• Present comparisons
• Share ideas from the experts or practitioners

The introduction is the foundation of your speech. Here, your primary goal is to get the attention of your audience and present the subject or main idea of your speech. Your first few words should do so. The following are some strategies.

• Use a real-life experience and connect that experience to your subject.
• Use practical examples and explain their connection to your subject.
• Start with a familiar or strong quote and then explain what it means.
• Use facts or statistics and highlight their importance to your subject.
• Tell a personal story to illustrate your point.

The conclusion restates the main idea of your speech. Furthermore, it provides a summary, emphasizes the message, and calls for action. While the primary goal of the introduction is to get the attention of your audience, the conclusion aims to leave the audience with a memorable statement.

The following are some strategies.

• Begin your conclusion with a restatement of your message.
• Use positive examples, encouraging words, or memorable lines from songs or stories familiar to your audience.
• Ask a question or series of questions that can make your audience reflect or ponder.

Editing/Revising your written speech involves correcting errors in mechanics, such as grammar, punctuation, capitalization, unity, coherence, and others. Andrew Dlugan (2013), an awar di ng public speaker, lists six power principles for speech editing.

• Edit for focus.

“So, what’s the point? What’s the message of the speech?”

Ensure that everything you have written, from introduction to conclusion, is related to your central message.

• Edit for clarity.

“I don’t understand the message because the examples or supporting details were confusing.”

Make all ideas in your speech clear by arranging them in logical order (e.g., main idea first then supporting details, or supporting details first then main idea).

• Edit for concision.

“The speech was all over the place; the speaker kept talking endlessly as if no one was listening to him/her.”

Keep your speech short, simple, and clear by eliminating unrelated stories and sentences and by using simple words.

• Edit for continuity.

“The speech was too difficult to follow; I was lost in the middle.”

Keep the flow of your presentation smooth by adding transition words and phrases.

• Edit for variety.

“I didn’t enjoy the speech because it was boring.”

Add spice to your speech by shifting tone and style from formal to conversational and vice-versa, moving around the stage, or adding humor.

• Edit for impact and beauty.

“There’s nothing really special about the speech.”

Make your speech memorable by using these strategies: surprise the audience, use vivid descriptive images, write well-crafted and memorable lines, and use figures of speech.

Rehearsing gives you an opportunity to identify what works and what does not work for you and for your target audience. Some strategies include reading your speech aloud, recording for your own analysis or for your peers or coaches to give feedback on your delivery. The best

thing to remember at this stage is: “Constant practice makes perfect.”

Some Guidelines in Speech Writing

1. Keep your words short and simple. Your speech is meant to be heard by your audience, not read.

2. Avoid jargon , acronyms, or technical words because they can confuse your audience.

3. Make your speech more personal. Use the personal pronoun “I,” but take care not to overuse it. When you need to emphasize collectiveness with your audience, use the personal pronoun “we.”

4. Use active verbs and contractions because they add to the personal and conversational tone of your speech.

5. Be sensitive of your audience. Be very careful with your language, jokes, and nonverbal cues.

6. Use metaphors and other figures of speech to effectively convey your point.

7. Manage your time well; make sure that the speech falls under the time limit.

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Collecting Audience Data

The word “data” might conjure an image of an accountant’s office or a research laboratory filled with beakers and vials for some, but data comes in non-numerical forms. Data concerning numbers and statistics is considered quantitative , but it also comes in qualitative forms, which include facts, stories, and observations. Collecting meaningful, purposeful data about an audience in relation to a speech topic is part science and part art. Planning and critical thinking play a large role in succeeding in this endeavor.

Demographic Categories to Consider

• Religious affiliation
• Socio-economic status
• Nationality
• Income level

Before creating a means to gather data, decide on what data matters for the speech. Knowing information about the audience’s demographics , or the most basic and quantifiable characteristics of a population of people, could prove most useful. Data on demographics (see sidebar for examples) can greatly enhance the crafting of an effective message. Why do any of these characteristics matter?

Gender and sex do not necessarily mean the same thing, and knowing the difference can make or break certain speech topics. Sex refers to the biological differences that make a person male or female, while gender refers to masculine or feminine qualities evident within a person of either sex. To determine how sex makes a difference to a speech topic, consider the following situation:

Jill is scheduled to speak to an audience made up of 18 women and 2 men. Her speech topic concerns early detection for breast cancer. Given that the sex breakdown of the room is 90% women and 10% men, the majority of her speech’s information will likely be directed toward the women in the room, but at the same time, she absolutely must find a way to make a portion of her information appeal to the men in the room, such as by talking about how 1 in 1,000 men will get breast cancer, or how a man can assist a female partner with early detection measures. If she doesn’t find a way to include the men in this conversation, then their attention spans will likely fade early in the presentation. By speaking inclusively and inviting men into the conversation using information that directly impacts them, she has acted as an effective audience-centered speaker.

Age represents another important demographic factor, because each generation learns and grows in different environments. Opinions and knowledge levels on a particular subject may vary greatly from one generation to the next.

For example, an informative speeches outlining the dangers of social media delivered to two different audiences, one to parents of high school students and another to the high school students themselves, would likely get arranged in different ways. The parents of high school students might need to hear more background information before the speaker covers the dangers of social media, whereas the experiences of the students themselves (who grew up as “digital natives” and used social media for the better part of their lives) allow the speaker to immediately explore the topic with much more depth.

Sex and age may represent more outward characteristics that seem relatively easy in most cases to spot without a lot of effort, but what about socioeconomic background, and how does this demographic affect the speech preparation process? Socioeconomic background refers to one’s position in society relative to others, which many will identify as “middle class,” “impoverished,” or “wealthy.” Others may also refer to their position among the working hierarchy, such as “blue collar” or “white collar.” To illustrate this point, consider the following student’s example:

Had the speaker, in this case, known her audience’s background, rather than assuming a homogenous (like-minded, with similar backgrounds) one, she could have provided more appealing options, thus inviting the whole audience into her presentation, which would have prevented losing listeners due to alienation or exclusion.

Lastly, a speaker must also know the intricacies of culture for a particular audience. A speaker discussing law enforcement abuses will cover information one way with a predominantly Caucasian audience and another way with an audience with a higher representation of minorities due to vastly differing viewpoints for each audience, but will ideally maintain the integrity of that message with both. Additionally, regional cultural expectations (e.g., a New York audience compared to an audience in Atlanta) can vary greatly, as will multinational audiences, so it pays for a speaker to prepare based on intercultural knowledge, as well as individual audience member characteristics. Delivering a message that meets cultural expectations and respects cultural norms and customs can earn a speaker the respect and admiration of that audience, regardless of message content.

While demographics offer a great place to start, speakers often need more detailed information about their audiences to achieve success. They can use both passive and active methods to gather information.

Hypothetical Situation #1

Hypothetical Situation #2

The more speakers know and the more they can speak specifically toward topics and information that various audiences find important, the greater rapport, or connection, they can generate.

Messages that Matter: Public Speaking in the Information Age - Third Edition Copyright © 2023 by North Idaho College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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7 Chapter 7: Gathering Materials and Supporting Your Ideas

Amy Fara Edwards and Marcia Fulkerson, Oxnard College

Victoria Leonard, Lauren Rome and Tammera Stokes Rice, College of the Canyons

Adapted by William Kelvin, Professor of Communication Studies, Florida SouthWestern State College

Figure 7.1: NYC Public Library 1

Introduction

When was the last time you spent hours on social media looking up people you used to know? Maybe we are looking to see how former schoolmates are doing or we try to identify the underlying meaning of an ex-partner’s posts. As we search for “spilled tea,” we tend to have more questions and need more information, so we continue to click deeper into profiles. Whether we care to admit this or not, we have spent countless hours on this type of “research.” However, this process of asking questions, gathering information, analyzing the truth of that information, then asking more questions and gathering more information is research.

There are similar steps we take in college when researching for a speech or essay, but instead, we search library databases, not social media apps. We pull up article after article and question the truth of new information at each turn, which then leads to more questions and more articles.

Figure 7.2: Study Group 2

The Research Process

Formal research occurs in a step-by-step process to gather content that we then fit into class assignments. In this chapter, we discuss methods of formalizing our research process so it becomes an effective tool for academic research. Let’s start with  library databases.

Library Databases

The search for information about our topics can be fun when you start the speechmaking process. Using your library databases will generate higher-quality academic work. Don’t be afraid of the library databases! They work similarly to a Google search, but they produce more peer-reviewed, academic material. Let us explain.

In the beginning, it is okay to use the internet to search for topics, but once you identify a topic, you must use the library database to find the research. The results of a database search will all be peer-reviewed articles, primary sources, books, and other vetted or pre-screened materials; library databases act as a “background check” for your research. One of the key benefits of using library databases is free access to scholarly and full-text articles to be used as the foundation for our work. Libraries purchase subscriptions to these databases that a general internet search cannot access. When selecting research from the library databases you are using material that has been vetted or screened for credibility and reliability. The alternative, traditional search engines, produce countless results flawed by bias and non-scientific approaches.

Exploring Sources

When we are looking for sources for our speech outline, we may be looking for peer-reviewed journals, books, newspapers, or magazines. A peer-reviewed source means that multiple expert reviewers have verified the content. You can feel confident that a peer-reviewed source is trustworthy. Your professor may guide you to the type of sources that are appropriate for your assignment. In academic research, we typically use a blend of sources to gain a balanced view of our topic. One way of looking at types of sources is to compare scholarly sources, substantive sources, and popular sources as the chart below illustrates (Modesto Junior College Library, 2021).

Figure 7.3: Types of Information Chart 3

Types of Sources

Scholarly sources are written by credentialed experts for an audience of their peers. They have been vetted, or pre-screened, and selected by a committee of experts. For this reason, they are called peer-reviewed. They are also known as  journal articles, scholarly articles, or academic journals. These journal publications may only publish five articles a month as they disseminate specialized, discipline-specific information. You may have heard that  many higher education instructors work diligently to produce these kinds of works. They are not easy! Imagine your professors working for a year or longer on a 30-page essay to submit to other professors. The standards are very demanding, but that is what makes the final products so useful.

Substantive sources, on the other hand, are produced by scholars or credentialed journalists for an educated audience, but not an expert audience. Typically, one editor of the publication will vet or pre-screen articles. These publications may include newspapers or magazines. The reason for using the specific source is key. A magazine that is produced monthly has fewer articles that provide more detail. Whereas newspapers are produced daily, which give us quick statistics. For example, The Los Angeles Times might cover the COVID-19 pandemic in a “daily numbers” kind of way, while Newsweek Magazine will provide the detailed context and personalized stories as evidence which makes it more substantial.

Know that these kinds of publications frequently report on scholarly sources. If you’re incorporating a periodical’s interpretation of a scholarly source, consider locating the original source and reading, or at least skimming, it yourself. You may find that the journalists misrepresented or misunderstood certain aspects, or may uncover useful details not included in their secondary account. Secondary sources summarize and relay the work of primary sources, which are often scholarly articles.

Popular sources are written by journalists, staff writers, freelance writers, or sometimes hobbyists for the general public. Although they may be good sources for finding the next recipe or where to find the best beaches or the easiest teacher, they may not have been vetted properly. Largely, they are based on opinion. For academic work, we avoid such sources because they are too broad and offer limited credible information. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Wikipedia. Wikipedia may be a good starting point to begin thinking about your research, but it is not up to academic standards. You may find primary resources cited at the very bottom of the Wikipedia page…but have you taken the time to scroll all the way down there? Many instructors will not allow Wikipedia for any portion of your assignment since it is an alterable website.

However, many scholars do begin with Wikipedia as a jumping-off point to gather a basic overview of a subject. Using a crowd-sourced tool like Wikipedia or ChatGPT to learn the “lay of the land” on a subject is perfectly acceptable. But, make sure you continue searching to locate the credible sources that are ultimately the backbone of those crowd-sourced, secondary source entries. For example, Wikipedia may cite a college textbook. That textbook is a secondary source, making Wikipedia a tertiary source in this instance. Have you played the children’s game Telephone? You don’t want two degrees of separation between your work and the sources it is based on.

Types of Evidence

We just described different types of sources. Now, what do we use these sources for? Well, we pull out evidence which becomes the content for our main points.

Examples are types of evidence that reinforce, clarify, or personalize your ideas. Throughout the reading of this book, and many others, you have experienced the use of examples. Authors say “for example” or “such as” to illustrate their points. For example , if your speech is about the top five brands of sneakers in the United States, you would give examples of different brands, such as Nike and Adidas.

There are different types of examples:

• Brief examples are quick to illustrate a point (showcased in the paragraph directly above).
• Hypothetical examples describe an imaginary or fictitious situation using words like “imagine” or “visualize.” Imagine a world with no Internet. Can you do it? This might be used in a speech about the history of the world wide web.
• Specific instance is a more developed, real example where you illustrate a specific time. For example, you might be informing about the dangers of alcoholism and provide a specific instance of when one of your friends was pulled over for a DWI (don’t drive intoxicated!). You would provide a few sentences about your friend’s situation. A specific instance can sometimes be considered a very short story. A longer story used as evidence is called a narrative.

Humans tell a lot of stories. We run to a friend to share good news or we communicate with a sibling when something happens at work. For speeches, we call these more detailed stories that relate to your topic narratives . You can use them in all types of speeches. Ultimately, a narrative is a spoken or written account of connected events. A narrative is a story, and audiences love stories, especially in speeches. Narratives can accomplish several things. They can:

• Explain the way things are . The story would explain the situation by giving the details related to the who, what, where, when, and how it relates to your speech topic. You might tell a story about a friend’s experience having shingles.
• Provide examples of excellent work to follow or admire. This type of story gives reasons for admiration. You might tell a story about a company that offers employees great workspace and health benefits.
• Strengthen or change beliefs and attitudes . This type of story can grab the audience’s attention because they tend to be emotional and highly effective. You might tell a story about a couple who met online and have been married for 15 years; this could be a story to persuade an audience to download their dating app.

Testimony is a specific account of someone’s experience, knowledge, or expertise. This type of evidence can be impactful because it comes directly from a person. We use testimony to support our claims. For example, witnesses in a court trial give testimony to share their personal accounts of the events. There are two types of testimony:

• Expert testimony comes from a person who is considered an expert in their field. For example, if our informative speech is on different types of cancer, expert testimony would come from an oncologist. You may obtain such testimony from live interviews or publications. Who else may you consider an expert on types of cancer? Does someone with cancer constitute an expert?
• Lay testimony (sometimes called peer testimony) is information from someone who has experience with the topic but is not a trained expert. So, thinking about the same informative speech example on types of cancer, lay testimony could come from a relative of someone with cancer. They would understand the struggle of watching someone experience cancer and would have secondhand information from the doctor. Lay testimony can provide a simplified and personalized account of the topic.

When using testimony, remember you must explicitly state the name of the person (when possible) and why their testimony matters. Next time you see a clip of courtroom drama , you should be able to identify both the expert and the layperson giving testimony on the stand.

Statistics are summary figures which help you communicate important characteristics of a complex set of numbers. Oftentimes you need numbers to make something clear. For example, if your speech is about using dating apps safely, a good attention getter might be that one in five women in the United States has been raped or sexually assaulted in their lifetime according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center website as of 2022. You can see that this statistic has a greater impact than just saying, “lots of women are impacted by sexual assault.”

You need to think about the best way to deliver the numbers during your speech. Here are some tips when using statistics in your speeches:

• Use them to quantify an idea.
• Interpret statistics to be sure your audience understands them the way you want them to.
• Use statistics sparingly; too many numbers can be confusing for an audience.
• Round off complicated numbers. Instead of saying “3,867,532 people,” you can say “roughly 4 million” or “about 3.9 million people.”
• Identify the source using an oral citation during delivery.
• Explain the statistics with a narrative. The numbers alone do not always tell the whole story.
• Use presentation aids, such as pie graphs, line graphs, or bar graphs to clarify statistical trends. Visual representations can help people make sense of numbers and trends, especially when they are abstract or complex.

Evaluating Your Sources

By now, you know that research is a critical part of the speech-writing process. Using sources throughout your speech is necessary, but you have to decide which sources are the right sources to use. Next, we give you specific ways to evaluate the sources you find during your research.

How to Select Credible Sources and Avoid Biased Sources

Finding information today is easy; it’s all around you. Making sure the information you find is reliable can be a challenge. When you use Google or social media to get your information, how do you know it can be trusted? How do you know it’s not biased? You can feel pretty confident that books you get from the library and articles you find in the library’s databases are reliable because someone has checked all the facts and arguments the author made before publishing them. You still have to think about whether or not the book or article is current and suitable for your project.

Make sure every source you plan on using in your speech outline or research assignment passes the “CRAAP Test,” which helps you identify if the sources use accurate information (Blakeslee, 2004). Since anyone can publish a website or write a blog with a professional-looking design, it’s more important than ever to make sure your sources are legitimate.

Figure 7.4: CRAAP Test 4

CRAAP stands for:

• When was your source published or updated?
• Is the information recent enough for your topic for your specific research question?
• Does the source directly address your topic?
• Does it answer one or more of your research questions?
• Is it information you already have?
• What are the author’s qualifications? Are they accepted by their peers?
• Do they have advanced degrees or professional experience? What kind and how much?
• Who is the publisher? Are they accomplished and unbiased?
• Is the information supported by evidence?
• Is the evidence cited?
• Can it be verified that the source has been reviewed?
• Point of View
• Is the information objective?
• Is the author trying to convince you of something?
• Do they have an agenda? How can you tell? Search for links between authors and political / economic organizations.

It is important to identify the good, the bad, and the ugly in our sources so we don’t fall victim to poorly informed opinions. We must also be vigilant about the author’s intent or motivation. If you decide to use a source even though you know it is considered questionable by many experts, make that clear. Today there are some scientists who disagree with the majority of their peers on scientific matters largely considered settled (e.g., humans’ influence on climate change, safety and efficacy of vaccines, the age of the planet and our species, etc.).

If your specific purpose involves explaining an unpopular view, be honest with your audience about that. If you omit the fact, you are being deceptive because you imply that the argument is considered sound. If you don’t discover the fact that your source is not considered credible, your lack of research preparation is also an ethical lapse. Even unintentionally misleading people is problematic. Let’s take a look at some of the different types of information and evaluate their authors’ intent.

Understand the Information

Information is data presented in context to make it understandable (O’Hair, 2019). As a speechmaker, your job is to translate data into understandable information for your audience. For example, vital signs from your doctor are data and your doctor’s interpretation of the vital signs is information that helps put that data into context. Information and data themselves are neutral, but they can have the potential to be skewed.

Propaganda is a term for widely distributed messages designed to manipulate public opinion on an issue, especially difficult-to-sell ideas such as war (Campbell et al., 2020). It often includes “rumors, half-truths, or lies” (Brittanica, 2022) and is often camouflaged as advertising or publicity.

Opposing politicians will often accuse their opponents of using propaganda in their messaging strategies, as they present an opposing political view unfavorably. However, simply casting aspersions on a person or perspective is not propaganda. By nature, propaganda is deceptive, and usually part of a widespread campaign coordinated among many parties. The Nazis in World War II created the most advanced propaganda system in the world up to that point, disseminating untrue information both at home and worldwide to shape others’ views of their actions. One particularly noteworthy incident is known as The Gleiwitz Incident , in which the German Secret Service donned Polish uniforms and took over a German radio station to make the world think Germans were dealing with Polish aggression (Pope, 2018).

Figure 7.5: North Korean propaganda poster 5

Misinformation

Misinformation refers to something that is not true. It is misinforming by using incorrect information. It isn’t always based on an ulterior motive, someone could just get it wrong. The main difference is the intention in which it was used (read on to differentiate mis information from dis information).

One author heard a story about two people arguing over COVID-19 statistics. One person was referencing information they had just heard from the most recent cable news story. The other person cited significantly different information based on a webpage they had kept open on their computer. Although it turned out that the webpage referenced hadn’t been updated in months, you can see how misinformation can have an impact on understanding.

Stories change all of the time. The people might get the facts wrong or they may embellish the facts. Let’s be clear, information is complicated and might also be incomplete. The moral of the story is to pay attention as you research! Social media is rife with misinformation as people like and share stories that fit their worldview, often without carefully evaluating them or even reading  them. One author shared an image of then-President Trump reading a scholarly, critical book about U.S. media systems on Facebook and was embarrassed when others pointed out that it was a manipulated image; the event never took place.

Disinformation

Disinformation is intentionally stating or circulating inaccurate information. Photoshopped images, doctored documents, or falsified financial records are examples of disinformation (O’Hair, 2019). This must be avoided to be an ethical public speaker. We all watch the news and hear about “fake news.” The question is how do we know what is, and is not, true. Your role as an ethical public speaker is to figure it out for the audience during the research process and offer credible information from beginning to end. Overall, identifying accurate information for our academic research assignments is a process we learn over time. As we learn to research and cite properly, we will become more critical consumers of information.

Now that we have evaluated our sources and are into the writing phase, we need to know how to cite correctly. This next part of the chapter is critical to your speech delivery.

Citing Your Sources Correctly

It is not enough to find good sources in your research, but you have to tell the audience and the readers about them during your speech and in the outline of the speech. Sometimes you may be caught unintentionally plagiarizing just because you are citing incorrectly. Citing means giving credit where credit is due. There are three places to cite for a speech: during the delivery (oral citation), in the outline (in-text citation), and in the References page at the end of the outline.

Oral Citations

Your instructor will most likely ask you to cite sources orally (verbally) during the delivery of your speech. Be warned, this does not mean recite the sources used at the end of your speech or display them on a slide. Cite the sources at the point where you use their information or claims. Also, imagine some audience members may be vision-impaired, others may look away from your slides. An on-screen citation is not an oral citation, and post-speech citations are too late to be meaningful to your audience ( or to earn you points).  You may be asked to include your oral citations in your outline exactly the way you would say them in the delivery of your speech. Many students believe that this can sound boring; however, these oral citations enhance your credibility as a speaker, making you and your arguments more persuasive.

How to Develop an Oral Citation

When you deliver an oral citation, your audience should believe that the source exists, that you are not making up a source out of thin air. They should have enough information that they can find the source later if they are interested in looking it up to verify your interpretation of its claims. They also should be convinced that the source is credible and authoritative, rather than biased and amateurish.

Oral citations should be written using the following elements (check with your professor):

• Author: Who is it that generated the information? Are they credible? Authors can be organizations—if no individual is listed on your resource, list / name the organization that produced it.
• Date: When did this information get published, updated, or accessed?
• Type of resource: In what form can this information be found? Tell us the name of the place where you found it. Book? Magazine? Online database, video, webpage title, pamphlet, etc.?
• Title: (if there is one)
• Credibility: What credentials does the author or organization have?

If you have described the resource and its producer’s background effectively, your audience will have little doubt that the source exists and is authoritative. After providing these citation elements, you will move into the direct quote or paraphrased information.

Direct quotations: Direct quotes use the exact language from the source without any changes. There are a variety of ways to make clear to your audience that you are quoting material. You can offer the citation elements above, then begin the quotation saying “quote,” and end the quotation saying “unquote.” You could dramatically alter your voice to indicate a change in speaker. You could supplement either of these techniques using your fingers to make quotation marks in the air. You can use careful attribution verbs, like “in her words,” or “the quotation reads,” or “as the author put it.” Do not cite page numbers in your oral citation.

Deciding whether to quote or paraphrase is a creative act. Reasons to quote include transmitting a person’s voice to your audience, maintaining the feeling of the original language, or avoiding misinterpretation.

Paraphrasing: Paraphrasing is a way of writing the research you retrieved in your own words. Sometimes this serves to make research more understandable to your audience. When paraphrasing, you can remove jargon, simplify language, make statements more efficient, modernize vocabulary, and remove potentially offensive or misunderstandable words. Thus, it is sometimes best to change the source’s words into your own words, while still using all correct parts of the oral citation format. Be sure not to alter the essential meaning of the content you are paraphrasing.

These are the most active verbs to use when citing a source. Active verbs are important when you write oral citations. Although there are many you can use, here are a few examples:

How to Deliver Oral Citations

Real-life example of an online fact sheet (taken from the cdc website).

The Online CDC Fact Sheet entitled Mold , last accessed on March 26, 2022, states , “ Stachybotrys chartarum is a greenish-black mold. It can grow on material with a high cellulose content, such as fiberboard, gypsum board, and paper. Growth occurs when there is moisture from water damage, water leaks, condensation, water infiltration, or flooding.” (don’t forget to say “quote” at the start and “unquote” at the end.)

Hypothetical Examples of Oral Citations with Active Verbs

In his recent article entitled “Americans Are Killing Themselves” in the American Journal of Medicine accessed March 15, 2022, Dr. Jorge Ramirez, a cardiologist from the University of Southern California, argues , “Americans are eating foods high in fat in greater numbers than ever before. This builds up plaque in arteries and raises cholesterol. Without change, we will see more Americans die from coronary artery disease.”

According to staff writer Raashid Saaman, in the January 15, 2022 issue of the Los Angeles Times, dogs and cats have been taken in great numbers to local shelters during the COVID-19 pandemic. He reasoned that “most animals were abandoned because people lost income during the pandemic and were unable to afford their basic care, such as food and veterinary care.

(Notice that the three preceding citations have easily recognizable credibility. You might want to explain what CDC stands for, but most people know it, especially after the COVID pandemic. Soon we will approach how to cite sources the audience is likely unfamiliar with.)

Hypothetical Example of Oral Citation from an Article

In an article in the November 2022 issue of the South African Journal of Psychology , Dr. Jada Smith, a professor of sociology at the London School of Psychology, asserts that “Racism begins with exposure to stereotypical and negative attitudes shown by those closest to us. We learn to mirror these behaviors when we are young and by the time we become teenagers, most of these attitudes have evolved into prejudice, and ultimately racism.”

Hypothetical Example of Oral Citation from a Web Page

The web page titled “The History of Apples,” last updated in 2022, provided by the California Apple Advisory Board, reveals varied uses of the apple: as a digestive aid, an antioxidant, and a weight loss aid.

Note: You can say “last updated” or “last accessed on” for any type of oral citation for a website.

Hypothetical Example of Citing a Study

A Harvard University study made available on the Justice website accessed on January 16, 2022, suggests that accidental shootings occur more frequently when people have not had professional firearm training.

Hypothetical Example of Citing a Source that is Not Easily Recognizable or Credibility is Unknown – Website Example

Accessing the website IMDB on February 2, 2022, I was able to trace the motion picture career of George Clooney. For those of you who may not be familiar with this site, IMDB is a web page created in 1990 that specializes in maintaining a history of people and works in the entertainment industry and is used to examine film facts, actors, producers, directors, and dates of various television or movie projects. IMDB reports that George Clooney was “active in sports such as basketball and baseball, and tried out for the Cincinnati Reds, but was not offered a contract” (IMDB, 2022).

Hypothetical Example of Citing a Source that is Not Easily Recognizable or Credibility is Unknown – Periodical Example

The periodical, The Nation , a weekly journal that tends to offer political stories from a left-leaning perspective, suggests in its letters to the editor on March 1, 2022, that facts about the euthanizing of pets in California are simply not true.

APA In-Text Citations

All written academic work needs to cite sources in the outline , both where the information is used and in the References section at the end. The Communication Studies discipline uses the APA format which stands for the American Psychological Association . This formatting style is also used in other disciplines such as Psychology, Linguistics, Sociology, Economics, Criminology, Business, and Nursing. Knowing how to cite in APA format is imperative for all academic writing. This section is based on APA Publication Manual (7th edition) and is designed to help you learn how to format in-text citations. In-text citations are used when quoting directly and when paraphrasing from a research source. 6

The APA Basics

• In-text citations in APA follow the author-date method.
• If you are directly quoting a work, you need to include the author, publication year, and also the number of the page from which you are quoting. Use the term “p.” for one page and “pp.” if the quote spans multiple pages. Be sure to add a space after the p, like this: “p. 32” or “pp. 2-5”.
• If you are paraphrasing a work, or simply referring to an idea from a work, you need to include the author and publication year, but you don’t need to include the page number (though it is encouraged to include page numbers when paraphrasing or summarizing to help readers locate that information).

Creating In-Text Citations with a Signal Phrase

• When creating an in-text citation, you can use what’s called a signal phrase to introduce a quotation or begin paraphrasing within the text of the sentence.
• A signal phrase calls attention to the author. This is the most pronounced, marked way to cite a source.
• The signal phrase contains the author’s last name followed by the publication date in parentheses.
• If you use a signal phrase to introduce a quote, you will need to include the page number in parentheses directly after the quote.
• Examples of in-text citing with a signal phrase:
• Research by Newsom (2004) suggests “Sailor Moon’s greatest powers are eventually revealed as related to her capacity to love, and through that love to heal” (p. 10).
• Newsom (2004) finds that Sailor Moon “illustrates the quality of love very plainly throughout the anime” (pp. 67-68).
• According to Newsom (2004), Sailor Moon’s power is derived from her emotional capacity.

Creating In-Text Citations without a Signal Phrase

• If you don’t use a signal phrase to introduce a quote or begin paraphrasing within the text of a sentence, you will need to place the author name, publication date, and, if applicable, the page number in parentheses directly after the quote or paraphrased content.
• Examples of in-text citing without a signal phrase:
• Sailor Moon is often portrayed crying, which supports the argument that emotions are central to her character (Newsom, 2004)
• One scholar states, “Sailor Moon’s greatest powers are eventually revealed as related to her capacity to love, and through that love to heal” (Newsom, 2004, p. 10) and goes on to illustrate how the character’s love is physically expressed.

When citing without a signal phrase, authors (you!) are focusing attention on the information, rather than the author of the source behind the citation. This technique is common when asserting a list of facts produced in different sources, or when supporting information that is relatively well known and non-controversial, but you want to be clear where you found it.

• Conversational narcissism behaviors include boasting (Vangelisti & Knapp, 1990), “shifting the conversational focus to the self” (Horan et al., 2015, p. 156) and interrupting (Blake, 2001).
• Martin Luther King Jr.’s  I Have a Dream speech was protesting conditions for African Americans in the United States (Lei & Miller, 1999).

In-Text Citations with Multiple Authors

• In-Text Citations for Sources with 2 Authors:
• Place “and” between authors’ last names when providing them in the text of your sentence with a signal phrase.

Example: Langford and Speight (2015) state…

• Place “&” between authors’ last names when providing them in parentheses after the quote or paraphrased content.

Example: …(Langford & Speight, 2015).

• In-Text Citations for Sources with More Than Two Authors:
• Place “et al.” after the first author’s last name when providing it in the text of your sentence with a signal phrase.

Example: Ince et al. (2017) claim…

• Place “et al.” after the first author’s last name when providing it in parentheses after the quote or paraphrased content.

Example: …(Ince et al., 2017)

In-Text Citations When Citing Multiple Works

• In-Text Citation with More Than One Work:
• Some of the ideas you cite will be pulled from more than one source, so you will need to include multiple sources in your in-text citations.
• To cite multiple works in your in-text citation, place the citations in alphabetical order by the first authors’ last names and separate the citations with semicolons.
• Example: Educational psychology is the most researched field involving human learning (Holloway & Hofstadt, 2000; Olson, 2019; Sterling & Cooper, 2020).
• In-Text Citation if One Work is the Most Directly Relevant:
• Place the most relevant citation first, then insert a phrase such as “see also” and the other works
• Example: Educational Psychology does not support learning styles (Palmer, 2020; see also Horne, 1999; Hayward, 1993)

In-Text Citations for Indirect Sources

• If you want to cite a source (an original source) that was cited in another source (a secondary source), name the original source author(s) in the text as you would with a signal phrase. List the secondary source in your reference list and include the author, date, and page number in your parenthetical citation, preceded by the words “as cited in.”

Example: As John Dewey said, “Action is the test of comprehension. This is simply another way of saying that learning by doing is a better way to learn than by listening” (as cited in Waks, 2011, p. 194).

In-Text Citations for Sources without Page Numbers

• Some sources, especially electronic ones such as webpages, may not have page numbers that you can include when creating in-text citations for quotes.
• If the source you are quoting doesn’t have page numbers, provide some other piece of information that will help readers locate the quote.
• You can use chapter names or numbers, heading or section names, paragraph numbers, table numbers, verse numbers, etc.
• Examples of in-text citing sources without page numbers:
• “In E.T. , Spielberg made a truly personal film, an almost autobiographical trip back into his own childhood memories” (Breihan, 2020, para. 6).
• To prevent kidney failure, patients should “get active” and “quit smoking” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017, “What Can You Do” section).

APA Reference Page Citation Format

The reference page is simply a list of all the sources used in the outline. This page is titled “References” and will be the last page of your outline. Each source will be listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name or by organization’s name (if there is no individual author). Each citation will be double spaced and there are specific ways they will need to be listed.

Reference List Basics

• List your sources in alphabetical order according to the last name of the first author of each work.
• Double-space the entries and use hanging indents.
• Adhere to the proper citation format for each source type.

Formatting Author Names

• Use surname followed by the author’s initials: Author, A. A.
• If the author’s given names are hyphenated, maintain the hyphen between the initials:
• Example: Ai-Jun Xu would by Xu, A.-J.
• Use commas to separate suffixes such as Jr. and III: Author, A. A., Jr.
• Write the surname exactly how it appears, including hyphenated surnames and two-part surnames: Santos-Garcia, A. A. or Velasco Rodriguez, A. A.
• If the author is an organization, just use the organization’s name; do not rearrange the organization’s name in order to give it a surname.
• If you can discover no author, not even a company or government agency, move the title of the work to the author position. Do not use Anonymous unless the work is signed as Anonymous.

Formatting Titles

• Capitalize only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns.
• If it is a two-part title, capitalize the first word of the second part as well (e.g., after a colon or period).
• Names of journals and books are italicized while article titles and book chapter titles are not italicized

Citation Style for Commonly Used Sources

• Journal Article:

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial If Given. (Year of Publication). Title of article: Subtitle. Title of Journal, Volume Number (Issue Number), first-page number-last page number. DOI

Without DOI

Schott, C. (2020). The house-elf problem: Why Harry Potter is more relevant now than ever. Midwest Quarterly , 61 (2), 259–273.

Takhtarova, S. S., & Zubinova, A. Sh. (2018). The main characteristics of Stephen King’s idiostyle. Vestnik Volgogradskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta. Seriâ 2. Âzykoznanie , 3 , 139. https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2018.3.14

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial If Given. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if any. Publisher.

Manson, M. (2019). Subtle art of not giving a f*ck: A counterintuitive approach to living a good life. Newbury House Publishers.

• Chapter in an Edited Book:

Editors are listed in the citation of an edited book. Their names are not inverted and come after the title of the book chapter. Place “In” in front of the first editor’s name. If there is only one editor listed use (Ed), if more editors are listed use (Eds.) after the last name of the editors.

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial If Given. (Year of Publication). Title of the book chapter . In First Initial. Second Initial. Last Name & First Initial. Second Initial. Last Name (Eds.), Title of the book (Edition or volume number if given, pp. #-#). Publisher.

Zasler, N. D., Martelli, M. F., & Jordan, B. D. (2019). Civilian post-concussive headache. In J. Victoroff & E. D. Bigler (Eds.), Concussion and traumatic encephalopathy: causes, diagnosis, and management (pp. 728–742). Cambridge Univ Press.

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial If Given. (Year of Publication, Month Day if given). Webpage title. Organization If Given. http://website.com

Horowitz, J. M., Igielnik, R., & Parker, K. (2018, September 20). Women and leadership 2018. Pew Research Center. http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2018/09/20/women-and-leadership-2018

This chapter focused on supporting your ideas with credible evidence. Although it wasn’t the most exciting chapter, this is one of the most crucial elements of speech writing and speech delivery. Sometimes students think that doing a quick Google search and jotting notes into an outline means they are writing a speech. We hope you see the value of oral citations–convincing your audience that your sources are real and credible. We also hope that after reading this chapter you see that academic research is easier than you thought. Many run away from academic research or drop a class when they see a research paper in the syllabus, but if you apply the right tools for uncovering information, it can make your job simpler. Don’t drop your class because it says you have a research assignment! You can do it and your college provides you with all of the tools you need to be a successful researcher. Research doesn’t only happen when you are scrolling your former schoolmates and partners on social media, it happens every time you read a published piece of evidence. Now go impress your professors!

Reflection Questions

• After visiting your campus library’s databases, which of them do you believe will be the most relevant for your informative and persuasive speech assignments?
• Why is it important to consider using peer-reviewed sources for an academic speech?
• How will you test the credibility of your sources?
• Why do audiences appreciate oral citations?
• Why should you cite sources when you use them–orally during the speech and in-text in the outline–and not simply rely on sharing a list of resources at the end of the piece?
• Why is it important to use active verbs when you write oral citations?

Brief Example

Direct Quote

Expert testimony

Hypothetical example

Information

Lay testimony

Oral Citation

Paraphrasing

Peer-reviewed

Popular sources

Scholarly sources

Secondary sources

Specific instance

Substantive sources

APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition): General Format (n.d.). Purdue University Online Writing Lab , Retrieved March 4, 2021 from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html.

Blakeslee, S. (2004). The CRAAP Test. LOEX Quarterly, 31 (3): 6–7.

Campbell, R. C., Martin, C., Fabos, B., & Harmsen, S. (2020). Media Essentials ., 5th edition.

Get Started With Research: Popular, Substantive, and Scholarly Sources. (n.d.). Modesto Junior College Library , Retrieved December 4, 2021 from https://www.libguides.mjc.edu/ResearchHelp/sources.

O’Hair, D., Rubenstein, H., Stewart, R. (2019). A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking. Bedford/St. Martin.

Pope, C. (2018). How a false flag sparked World War Two: The Gleiwitz Incident explained. Retrieved January 23, 2022 from https://www.historyhit.com/gleiwitz-incident-explained/.

Smith, B. Lannes (2021, January 24). Propaganda. Encyclopedia Britannica . Retrieved May 15, 2022 from https://www.britannica.com/topic/propaganda.

Introduction to Public Speaking Copyright © by Jamie C. Votraw, M.A.; Katharine O'Connor, Ph.D.; and William F. Kelvin, Ph.D.. All Rights Reserved.

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Why and How to Bring Statistics Into Your Speech

November 24, 2017 - Dom Barnard

Using statistics in public speaking is a powerful way to add a quantifiable and persuasive aspect to your message. It provides a basis on which you can build an argument, prove a statement, or support an idea.

The key to using statistics is being able to extract meaning and patterns from data in a way that your audience can understand.

In this article, we’ll explain why statistics are important, how to choose the right statistic and how to integrate it into your presentation for maximum impact.

Why use statistics in your speech?

It can be very time consuming finding the right statistic to include in your presentation. Added to this is the possibility that an audience member questions whether the data is reliable. However, statistics can add a range of benefits to your presentation:

• Add realism to your presentation  – numbers and data are a good way to ground your presentation and being reality to your presentation. For example, stating that ‘wearing a seatbelt could save your life in a crash at 60mph’, is not as impactful as ‘you have a 20% chance of surviving a 60mph crash if you don’t wear a seatbelt’.
• Increase your credibility  – using a statistic shows that you’ve done research and are knowledgeable about the subject matter. Also, if you use a statistics from a trusted source (e.g. the NHS), it will boost your credibility.
• Make your presentation memorable  – interesting statistics will stay with your audience long after the presentation finishes.
• Emotionally impact your audience  – you can increase the emotional impact to your audience by including relevant, usually shocking, statistics, for example ‘in sub-Saharan Africa,  almost 60% of youth  between the ages of about 15 and 17 are not in school.’

Hans Rosling  using statistics in his TED talk – ‘Insights on HIV, in stunning data visuals’.

How do you choose the right statistic?

After you’ve decided to use statistics in your presentation, you need to find the right one for the message you’re delivering. It’s easy to get lost in the huge number of statistics out there, not all of them accurate. With so much data, how do you decide which statistic to use?

Here are several factors to consider when making your choice of statistic:

• Make it surprising  – your aim is to have your audience members leave the presentation and say to their friends, ‘Let me tell you about this interesting statistic I heard…’
• Leave the greatest impact on your audience  – you’ll need to do some  audience analysis  for this one. Once you have found the demographic or interested of your audience, you’ll be able to find a relevant statistic.
• Validate your message or argumen t – be careful not to include statistics just because they are interesting. They must be closely tied to your message or supporting points. If it isn’t relevant to your speech, your audience may remember the statistic, but they won’t remember you or your message.

Where do these statistics come from?

Statistics can come from a number of sources, here are some common ones:

• Presenting findings from research by understanding which results are meaningful and significant in the context of your presentation.
• Results from a survey and discussion of key findings, such as the average and extremes of that survey.
• Comparisons of data and benchmarking results along with competitive data and public data.
• Social media surveys with your existing audience. You can easily set these up on Twitter and Facebook.

Watch this TED talk on  3 ways to spot a bad statistic .

Weaving the statistic into your speech

It’s important to provide context for your statistic. Just adding a statistic on its own, no matter how interesting, will not have the desired effect.

For example, if I told you Snapchat has 170 million daily users, you might think that is a huge number for a social app. However, if I also told you Facebook has 1.37 billion daily users, this allows you to interpret the statistic in a more meaningful context.

Here are some tips for bringing your statistic into your speech:

• Compare how the statistic changes over time. The most powerful aspect may be to see how the value has changed from one week to the next, or from one year to the next.
• Bring your statistic to life by  telling the story  of one of the numbers. For example, if your statistic is about the number of billionaires in the world, you might begin by telling the story of Mark Cuban, and then reveal that he is only one of over 2,000 such billionaires.
• Don’t rely on your audience understand how the statistic is relevant. Explain the connection between the statistic and your message. A direct approach is usually best, such as ‘This is important because…’

Delivering the statistic for maximum impact

So you’ve found the right statistic, added it to your speech in an effective way, now you need to deliver that statistic for maximum impact.

Here are some techniques you can use to increase:

• Speak slower than your normal rate  – this will signal the importance of the statistic and allow you to clearly articulate your words. Read this on how to  slow down your talking .
• Use body language to demonstrate the magnitude  – standing with your arms wide open, for example, creates a sense of size.
• Pause immediately before the statistic  – this helps create suspense.
• Pause immediately after the statistic  – to give your audience time to process the meaning.
• Use facial expressions  – to convey the appropriate reaction. (i.e. show your own shock, surprise, sadness, etc.)
• Hint at its importance  – you can do this earlier in the speech to build suspense (e.g. ‘In the first section of the presentation, I’m going to reveal a statistic that will change the way you view politics) or use a quicker approach (e.g. ‘If you remember one thing from this speech, remember this…’)
• Add a slide with the statistic highlighted  – if you are speaking with slides, you might show a slide that links with your statistic. You could use a chart to highlight the magnitude of the number, or you could use a photograph to strike a more emotional tone.

Helping your audience understand the statistic

• Use statistics that are easily understood. Many people understand what an average is but not many people will know more complex ideas such as variation and standard deviation.
• Use reputable sources for the statistics you present in your speech, such as government websites, academic institutions and reputable research organizations and research think tanks.
• Many people try and avoid statistics, so when presenting data explain the context and use visual aids if possible.
• When presenting graphs, make sure that the key points are highlighted, the graphs are not misleading and the axes are clearly labelled

Examples of great statistics in presentations

Here are some statistics which, if used in the right context, would leave an impact with your audience and make your presentation more memorable.

• Stat #1 – Google gets over 100 billion searches a month [ source ]
• Stat #2 – B2B companies that blogged 11+ times per month had almost 3X more traffic than those blogging 0-1 times per month [ source ]
• Stat #3 – There are more people alive today than have ever died [ source ]
• Stat #4 – 72% of adult internet users use Facebook [ source ]
• Stat #5 – 91% of people say ads are more intrusive today than two years ago. [ source ]
• Stat #6 – In a room of just 23 people there is a 50% probability of two people having the same birthday. [ source ]
• Stat #7 – There are more possible iterations of a game of chess than there are atoms in the known universe [ source ]

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A Big Data Approach to Public Speaking

Key takeaways from analyzing 100,000 presentations.

April 04, 2016

How do you better resonate with your audience? A Stanford GSB lecturer uses big data to explain what works. | Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

Students in my strategic communication class often ask how they can become more engaging, competent communicators. This question is in no way new — rhetoricians dating back to the ancient Greeks have explored this issue. However, unlike Cicero and Aristotle, we now have big data tools and machine-learning techniques to examine the core characteristics of effective communicators.

One person leveraging this technology (and one of my most popular guest lecturers) is Noah Zandan , founder and CEO of Quantified Communications , which offers one of the first analytics platforms to measure, evaluate, and improve corporate executives’ communication skills.

Zandan’s team of data scientists analyzed more than 100,000 presentations from corporate executives, politicians, and keynote speakers. They examined behaviors ranging from word choices and vocal cues to facial expressions and gesture frequency. They then used this data to rate and rank important communication variables such as persuasiveness, confidence, warmth, and clarity.

Zandan grounds his team’s work in a communication scheme created by psychologist Albert Mehrabian. They expand upon Mehrabian’s original “Three V’s” — the verbal, vocal, and visual choices that a communicator makes — by adding a fourth V: the vital elements of communication.

Here’s what his team has learned through studying the best communicators, combined with concepts I cover in class:

The actual words you use, whether spoken or written, matter. Zandan and his team found that the language used in corporate earnings calls affects up to 2.5% of stock price movement. Based on data from the most successful communicators, here are three things to keep in mind.

First, word choice should be appropriate for your audience and conform to the context (e.g., formality). Relying on jargon is likely to confuse your audience. The best approach is always to take the time to define terms and technologies that some in your audience might not know. You would also be well-served to have someone review your content specifically to confirm that your word choices are appropriate.

Second, avoid hedging language. Qualifying phrases such as “kind of” and hesitant language like “I think” can be beneficial in interpersonal communication, where they invite contribution and adjust your status relative to the person with whom you are conversing. But in contexts like presenting in public, they can reduce your credibility. You will sound more confident when you remove qualifiers and say “I feel” or “I believe.” The best way to make yourself aware of how often you use hedging language is to have a trusted colleague alert you while giving a practice presentation. Once you’re aware, you will be better able to proactively eliminate this type of language.

Finally, speak clearly and concisely. Research suggests that succinct messages are more memorable. In fact, Zandan and his team found that effective communicators’ messages tend to be more concise than those from speakers who were rated as average or below average. Many presenters speak the way they write — that is, they use complex sentences with nested clauses and phrases. This works well in writing, but when you’re presenting, it’s hard for you to speak and challenging for your audience to follow. In writing, we don’t have to worry about pauses for breath. Nor do we need to worry about the audience understanding what we have written, as a reader can always reread a confusing passage. To be more concise, start by stripping away excess wording that might sound good when read silently but that adds limited value when spoken aloud. When you’re practicing, ask others to paraphrase your points to see if their wording can help you be more succinct.

Vocal elements include volume, rate, and cadence. The keys to vocal elements are variation and fluency. Think of your voice like a wind instrument. You can make it louder, softer, faster, or slower. We are wired to pay attention to these kinds of vocal change, which is why it is so hard to listen to a monotonous speaker. In fact, even just a 10% increase in vocal variety can have a highly significant impact on your audience’s attention to and retention of your message.

Less expressive speakers should vary their volume and rate by infusing their presentations with emotive words like “excited,” “valuable,” and “challenging,” and using variations in their voice to match the meaning of these words. If you’re speaking about a big opportunity, then say “big” in a big way. With practice, you will feel more comfortable with this type of vocal variety.

Disfluencies — all those “ums” and “uhs” — might be the most difficult vocal element to address. Not all disfluencies are distracting. “Ums” and “uhs” within sentences are not perceived as frequently, nor are they as bothersome, as those that occur between thoughts and phrases. Your audience often skips over midsentence disfluencies because they are more focused on your content than your verbal delivery. But as you move from one point to another, disfluencies stand out because your audience is no longer focused on what you are saying. In essence, you are violating your audience’s expectation of a silent pause by filling it.

To address these between-thought disfluencies, be sure to end your sentences, and especially your major points, on an exhalation. By ending your phrases on a complete exhalation, you necessarily start your next thought with an inhalation. It is nearly impossible to say “um” (or anything, for that matter) while inhaling. A useful way to practice this is to read out loud and notice your breathing patterns. In addition to eliminating between-thought disfluencies, your inhalation brings a pause with it. This unfilled pause has the added benefit of varying your rate.

Visual elements refer to what you do with your body. Zandan cites studies by educational researchers that suggest approximately 83% of human learning occurs visually. Your nonverbal behaviors such as stance, gestures, and eye contact are critical not only for conveying and reinforcing your messages, but they serve as the foundation of your audience’s assessments of your confidence. This is important because your audience equates your competence with their perceptions of your confidence.

Your stance is all about being big and balanced. Stand or sit so that your hips and shoulders are square (i.e., not leaning to one side) and keep your head straight, not tilted. Presenting from a balanced position not only helps you appear more confident, but it actually helps you feel more confident, too. When you make yourself big and balanced, you release neurochemicals that blunt anxiety-producing hormones.

Quote Even just a 10% increase in vocal variety can have a highly significant impact on your audience’s attention to and retention of your message Attribution Matt Abrahams

Gestures need to be broad and extended. When you’re gesturing, go beyond your shoulders rather than in front of your chest, which makes you look small and defensive. When you’re not gesturing, place your arms loosely at your sides or clasp your hands loosely right at your belly button level. Finally, remove any distracting items that you might futz or fiddle with, like jewelry, pens, and slide advancers.

Eye contact is all about connecting to your audience. In North American culture, audiences expect eye contact, and quickly feel ostracized when you fail to look out at them. While you need to spread your eye contact around so that you connect with your entire audience, you need not look at each member individually, especially if you are in front of a large crowd. A good strategy is to create quadrants and look in those various directions. Also, try to avoid repetitive patterns when you scan the room. Finally, as Zandan rightly advises his clients, if you are presenting remotely via video camera, imagine you’re speaking directly to people and look into the camera, not at your monitor or keyboard.

Vital elements capture a speaker’s true nature — it is what some refer to as authenticity. For authenticity, Zandan’s team has found that the top 10% of authentic speakers were considered to be 1.3 times more trustworthy and 1.3 times more persuasive than the average communicator. Authenticity is made up of the passion and warmth that people have when presenting.

Passion comes from exuding energy and enthusiasm. When you’re preparing and practicing your talk, be sure to reflect back on what excites you about your topic and how your audience will benefit. Reminding yourself of your motivation can help energize you (or reenergize you if it’s a presentation you give over and over again). Additionally, thinking about how you are helping your audience learn, grow, and achieve should ignite your spirits. This energy will manifest itself in how you relay your information. This doesn’t mean you have to be a cheerleader; you need to find a method for relaying your message that is authentic and meaningful for you.

Warmth can be thought of as operationalized empathy. It is a combination of understanding your audience’s needs and displaying that understanding through your words and actions. To be seen as warm, you should acknowledge your audience’s needs by verbally echoing them (e.g., “Like you, I once…”) and by telling stories that convey your understanding of their needs, such as the CEO who tells a story of the most difficult tech support call she had to deal with as she addresses her client services team. Further, maintain an engaged posture by leaning forward and moving toward people who ask questions.

Before your next speech, try out the Four V’s and the specific suggestions derived from big data and machine learning to see if they fit your needs. Only through reflection, practice, and openness to trying new things can you become an engaging, competent communicator.

Matt Abrahams is a Stanford GSB organizational behavior lecturer, author, and communications coach.

For media inquiries, visit the Newsroom .

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Busy Bee Speech

Buzzing about Speech & Language

5 Secrets to Taking Great Baseline Data in Speech Therapy

July 5, 2017

At the beginning of every school year, I like to take mass baselines for all of my students so that I have a good clean idea on where they are toward meeting the goals set for them on their IEPs.  Maybe they had a summer miracle or maybe they’ve regressed a little.  Today I’m going to show you 5 secrets to taking great baseline data at the beginning of the year (or anytime!).

I actually do this system of mass data collection or progress monitoring 5 times per year – once at the beginning and then once at the end of each quarter, just in time for progress reports.  Now, of course I take some type of data at each session on my students.  It just might look different.

When you are taking mass baselines or progress monitoring, this is not the time to try and get a lot of trials, write long subjective comments, or probe new skills during your sessions.  If you’re like me, you’ve got a lot of students to monitor and several objectives for each one.  You want clear, objective data for each goal and you want it quickly.

1. Review goals and prep materials ahead of time

Preparation is the key to success, right?  If you want to make the most of your time when you have your students, get your materials ready beforehand.  Before a group session or before I head out to do speedy speech, I make copies and paperclip each student’s probe sheets or cards together.  Then I binder clip that group’s materials all together.  That way I can just grab and go for each group.

SECRET TIP:  Make  2 copies of everything while you’re at it!  This will make it tons easier for next time you progress monitor your groups!

2. Do a 5 minute conversation test

Before I start taking data, I like to get a quick gage on where my students are at informally if their goals lend themselves to it.  I usually try do this in my first therapy sessions of the year and call it “observational data.”  It’s easier to get a real idea of where my students’ articulation skills/fluency skills/grammar skills are at when I’m casually talking to them in informal conversations without my clipboard.  Plus, it might help give me a better idea on where to start in measuring their goals.

3. Take data for one student at a time

Ok, you might be thinking that a little data on each student is better than only having data for one student.  Here’s the thing.  You are more likely to keep your sanity and brain in tact if you have a systemized approach.  In a group, instead of having each student say one or two targets at a time then moving to the next student, I work with one student and make sure to complete all the data on at least one objective/goal before moving on.  This is a great time to pull out your articulation centers, get a craft going, or have some independent play time.

4.  Don’t try and take all the data in one session

If you want clear data towards their goals or objectives, you want to make sure that you are thoroughly covering all parts of the goal.

For example, let’s say your goal is Sara will produce /sh/ and /ch/ in all positions of sentences with 90% accuracy over three sessions .  You will need data on each sound and each position at the sentence level.  I try and get 10 trials for each position (10 initial, 10 medial, 10 final).  I like 10 because I feel it’s low enough to make use of my time and high enough to give me a good read on their ability.  If you also have multiple sounds for Timmy, Lily, and Matt in that 30 minute group, it might be hard to hit all objectives for all the students.  Don’t beat yourself up if you have to push a few students/goals to the next session.  No biggie!  At least you’ll have some clear, thorough data!

SECRET TIP : I like to give extra homework that day, since they might not have gotten many trials in!

5. Find your system

It’s important to find a system that works for you.  That includes materials and products that can make your data collecting easier.  I use these Baseline Data Tools for my articulation and language students.  They are print and go half-sheets and cover lots of goals or objectives for most of my caseload.

If you like variety for progress monitoring, do a search on TPT and see what you can find!  Take your favorite parts of several products to make a system that works for you!  Sometimes I like to keep track of all of the students that I’ve completed baselines for using a data sheet like this:

This way, everything is in one place and I can see exactly what goals or objectives I still need to tally.  You can grab this data tracker for FREE along with lots of other free resources in my exclusive library.  Just sign up using .   🙂

Note:  Another key aspect of taking clear and objective data is having MEASURABLE goals and objectives on your students’ IEPs.  If you inherit an IEP (which happens a lot at the beginning of the school year) and the student’s goal is not adequately measurable, you might want to consider amending or reconvening their IEP to make a clearer goal.

May 26, 2020 at 1:17 am

Hi there, I am trying to find your articulation baseline tracking sheets. The link in this blog is not valid. Can you send me a link? Thanks!

June 2, 2020 at 4:12 pm

Here you go! Sorry the link wasn’t working. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Baseline-Data-Tool-for-Articulation-2005551

[…] this one might be a little obvious since we just talked about the importance of taking data.  However, you’d be surprised at how many teachers and SLPs just “make a […]

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4 Gathering and Analyzing Qualitative Data

Gathering and analyzing qualitative data.

As the role of clinician researchers expands beyond the bedside, it is important to consider the possibilities of inquiry beyond the quantitative approach. In contrast to the quantitative approach, qualitative methodology is highly inductive and relies on the background and interpretation of the researcher to derive meaning from the gathering and analytic processes central to qualitative inquiry.

Chapter 4: Learning Objectives

As you explore the research opportunities central to your interests to consider whether qualitative component would enrich your work, you’ll be able to:

• Define what qualitative research is
• Compare qualitative and quantitative approaches
• Describe the process of creating themes from recurring ideas gleaned from narrative interviews

What Is Qualitative Research?

Quantitative researchers typically start with a focused research question or hypothesis, collect a small amount of numerical data from a large number of individuals, describe the resulting data using statistical techniques, and draw general conclusions about some large population. Although this method is by far the most common approach to conducting empirical research in fields such as respiratory care and other clinical fields, there is an important alternative called qualitative research. Qualitative research originated in the disciplines of anthropology and sociology but is now used to study psychological topics as well. Qualitative researchers generally begin with a less focused research question, collect large amounts of relatively “unfiltered” data from a relatively small number of individuals, and describe their data using nonstatistical techniques, such as grounded theory, thematic analysis, critical discourse analysis, or interpretative phenomenological analysis. They are usually less concerned with drawing general conclusions about human behavior than with understanding in detail the experience of their research participants.

Consider, for example, a study by researcher Per Lindqvist and his colleagues, who wanted to learn how the families of teenage suicide victims cope with their loss (Lindqvist, Johansson, & Karlsson, 2008). They did not have a specific research question or hypothesis, such as, What percentage of family members join suicide support groups? Instead, they wanted to understand the variety of reactions that families had, with a focus on what it is like from their perspectives. To address this question, they interviewed the families of 10 teenage suicide victims in their homes in rural Sweden. The interviews were relatively unstructured, beginning with a general request for the families to talk about the victim and ending with an invitation to talk about anything else that they wanted to tell the interviewer. One of the most important themes that emerged from these interviews was that even as life returned to “normal,” the families continued to struggle with the question of why their loved one committed suicide. This struggle appeared to be especially difficult for families in which the suicide was most unexpected.

The Purpose of Qualitative Research

The strength of quantitative research is its ability to provide precise answers to specific research questions and to draw general conclusions about human behavior. This method is how we know that people have a strong tendency to obey authority figures, for example, and that female undergraduate students are not substantially more talkative than male undergraduate students. But while quantitative research is good at providing precise answers to specific research questions, it is not nearly as good at generating novel and interesting research questions. Likewise, while quantitative research is good at drawing general conclusions about human behavior, it is not nearly as good at providing detailed descriptions of the behavior of particular groups in particular situations. And quantitative research is not very good at communicating what it is actually like to be a member of a particular group in a particular situation.

But the relative weaknesses of quantitative research are the relative strengths of qualitative research. Qualitative research can help researchers to generate new and interesting research questions and hypotheses. The research of Lindqvist and colleagues, for example, suggests that there may be a general relationship between how unexpected a suicide is and how consumed the family is with trying to understand why the teen committed suicide. This relationship can now be explored using quantitative research. But it is unclear whether this question would have arisen at all without the researchers sitting down with the families and listening to what they themselves wanted to say about their experience. Qualitative research can also provide rich and detailed descriptions of human behavior in the real-world contexts in which it occurs. Among qualitative researchers, this depth is often referred to as “thick description” (Geertz, 1973) .

Similarly, qualitative research can convey a sense of what it is actually like to be a member of a particular group or in a particular situation—what qualitative researchers often refer to as the “lived experience” of the research participants. Lindqvist and colleagues, for example, describe how all the families spontaneously offered to show the interviewer the victim’s bedroom or the place where the suicide occurred—revealing the importance of these physical locations to the families. It seems unlikely that a quantitative study would have discovered this detail. The table below lists some contrasts between qualitative and quantitative research

Data Collection and Analysis in Qualitative Research

Data collection approaches in qualitative research are quite varied and can involve naturalistic observation, participant observation, archival data, artwork, and many other things. But one of the most common approaches, especially for psychological research, is to conduct interviews. Interviews in qualitative research can be unstructured—consisting of a small number of general questions or prompts that allow participants to talk about what is of interest to them—or structured, where there is a strict script that the interviewer does not deviate from. Most interviews are in between the two and are called semi-structured interviews, where the researcher has a few consistent questions and can follow up by asking more detailed questions about the topics that come up. Such interviews can be lengthy and detailed, but they are usually conducted with a relatively small sample. The unstructured interview was the approach used by Lindqvist and colleagues in their research on the families of suicide victims because the researchers were aware that how much was disclosed about such a sensitive topic should be led by the families, not by the researchers.

Another approach used in qualitative research involves small groups of people who participate together in interviews focused on a particular topic or issue, known as focus groups. The interaction among participants in a focus group can sometimes bring out more information than can be learned in a one- on-one interview. The use of focus groups has become a standard technique in business and industry among those who want to understand consumer tastes and preferences. The content of all focus group interviews is usually recorded and transcribed to facilitate later analyses. However, we know from social psychology that group dynamics are often at play in any group, including focus groups, and it is useful to be aware of those possibilities. For example, the desire to be liked by others can lead participants to provide inaccurate answers that they believe will be perceived favorably by the other participants. The same may be said for personality characteristics. For example, highly extraverted participants can sometimes dominate discussions within focus groups.

Data Analysis in Qualitative Research

Although quantitative and qualitative research generally differ along several important dimensions (e.g., the specificity of the research question, the type of data collected), it is the method of data analysis that distinguishes them more clearly than anything else. To illustrate this idea, imagine a team of researchers that conducts a series of unstructured interviews with people recovering from alcohol use disorder to learn about the role of their religious faith in their recovery. Although this project sounds like qualitative research, imagine further that once they collect the data, they code the data in terms of how often each participant mentions God (or a “higher power”), and they then use descriptive and inferential statistics to find out whether those who mention God more often are more successful in abstaining from alcohol. Now it sounds like quantitative research. In other words, the quantitative-qualitative distinction depends more on what researchers do with the data they have collected than with why or how they collected the data.

But what does qualitative data analysis look like? Just as there are many ways to collect data in qualitative research, there are many ways to analyze data. Here we focus on one general approach called grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) . This approach was developed within the field of sociology in the 1960s and has gradually gained popularity in psychology. Remember that in quantitative research, it is typical for the researcher to start with a theory, derive a hypothesis from that theory, and then collect data to test that specific hypothesis. In qualitative research using grounded theory, researchers start with the data and develop a theory or an interpretation that is “grounded in” those data. They do this analysis in stages. First, they identify ideas that are repeated throughout the data. Then they organize these ideas into a smaller number of broader themes. Finally, they write a theoretical narrative—an interpretation of the data in terms of the themes that they have identified. This theoretical narrative focuses on the subjective experience of the participants and is usually supported by many direct quotations from the participants themselves.

As an example, consider a study by researchers Laura Abrams and Laura Curran, who used the grounded theory approach to study the experience of postpartum depression symptoms among low-income mothers (Abrams & Curran, 2009) . Their data were the result of unstructured interviews with 19 participants. The table below hows the five broad themes the researchers identified and the more specific repeating ideas that made up each of those themes. In their research report, they provide numerous quotations from their participants, such as this one from “Destiny:”

“Well, just recently my apartment was broken into and the fact that his Medicaid for some reason was cancelled so a lot of things was happening within the last two weeks all at one time. So that in itself I don’t want to say almost drove me mad but it put me in a funk….Like I really was depressed. (p. 357)”

Their theoretical narrative focused on the participants’ experience of their symptoms, not as an abstract “affective disorder” but as closely tied to the daily struggle of raising children alone under often difficult circumstances. The table below illustrates the process of creating themes from repeating ideas in the qualitative research gathering and analysis process.

Given their differences, it may come as no surprise that quantitative and qualitative research do not coexist in complete harmony. Some quantitative researchers criticize qualitative methods on the grounds that they lack objectivity, are difficult to evaluate in terms of reliability and validity, and do not allow generalization to people or situations other than those actually studied. At the same time, some qualitative researchers criticize quantitative methods on the grounds that they overlook the richness of human behavior and experience and instead answer simple questions about easily quantifiable variables.

In general, however, qualitative researchers are well aware of the issues of objectivity, reliability, validity, and generalizability. In fact, they have developed a number of frameworks for addressing these issues (which are beyond the scope of our discussion). And in general, quantitative researchers are well aware of the issue of oversimplification. They do not believe that all human behavior and experience can be adequately described in terms of a small number of variables and the statistical relationships among them. Instead, they use simplification as a strategy for uncovering general principles of human behavior.

Many researchers from both the quantitative and qualitative camps now agree that the two approaches can and should be combined into what has come to be called mixed-methods research (Todd, Nerlich, McKeown, & Clarke, 2004). In fact, the studies by Lindqvist and colleagues and by Abrams and Curran both combined quantitative and qualitative approaches. One approach to combining quantitative and qualitative research is to use qualitative research for hypothesis generation and quantitative research for hypothesis testing. Again, while a qualitative study might suggest that families who experience an unexpected suicide have more difficulty resolving the question of why, a well-designed quantitative study could test a hypothesis by measuring these specific variables in a large sample. A second approach to combining quantitative and qualitative research is referred to as triangulation. The idea is to use both quantitative and qualitative methods simultaneously to study the same general questions and to compare the results. If the results of the quantitative and qualitative methods converge on the same general conclusion, they reinforce and enrich each other. If the results diverge, then they suggest an interesting new question: Why do the results diverge and how can they be reconciled?

Using qualitative research can often help clarify quantitative results via triangulation. Trenor, Yu, Waight, Zerda, and Sha (2008) investigated the experience of female engineering students at a university. In the first phase, female engineering students were asked to complete a survey, where they rated a number of their perceptions, including their sense of belonging. Their results were compared across the student ethnicities, and statistically, the various ethnic groups showed no differences in their ratings of their sense of belonging.

One might look at that result and conclude that ethnicity does not have anything to do with one’s sense of belonging. However, in the second phase, the authors also conducted interviews with the students, and in those interviews, many minority students reported how the diversity of cultures at the university enhanced their sense of belonging. Without the qualitative component, we might have drawn the wrong conclusion about the quantitative results.

This example shows how qualitative and quantitative research work together to help us understand human behavior. Some researchers have characterized qualitative research as best for identifying behaviors or the phenomenon whereas quantitative research is best for understanding meaning or identifying the mechanism. However, Bryman (2012) argues for breaking down the divide between these arbitrarily different ways of investigating the same questions.

Key Takeaways

• The qualitative approach is centered on an inductive method of reasoning
• The qualitative approach focuses on understanding phenomenon through the perspective of those experiencing it
• Researchers search for recurring topics and group themes to build upon theory to explain findings
• A mixed methods approach uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to explain different aspects of a phenomenon, processes, or practice
• This chapter can be attributed to Research Methods in Psychology by Rajiv S. Jhangiani, I-Chant A. Chiang, Carrie Cuttler, & Dana C. Leighton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. This adaptation constitutes the fourth edition of this textbook, and builds upon the second Canadian edition by Rajiv S. Jhangiani (Kwantlen Polytechnic University) and I-Chant A. Chiang (Quest University Canada), the second American edition by Dana C. Leighton (Texas A&M University-Texarkana), and the third American edition by Carrie Cuttler (Washington State University) and feedback from several peer reviewers coordinated by the Rebus Community. This edition is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. ↵

Gathering and Analyzing Qualitative Data Copyright © by megankoster is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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15 Informative Speech Examples to Inspire Your Next Talk

• The Speaker Lab
• May 13, 2024

Table of Contents

A good informative speech is one of the most effective tools in a speaker’s arsenal. But with so many potential topics out there, it can be tough to know where to start. That’s why we’ve compiled 15 informative speech examples to help you find your perfect subject. Whether you’re unearthing secrets from history for your listeners or delving into future technologies, informative speeches can prove to be the recipe for the perfect talk.

But crafting an effective informative speech is about more than just picking a topic. You have to research topics, put your thoughts in order, and speak up clearly and confidently. In this post, we’ll explore strategies for each step of the process, so you can create a speech that informs, engages, and makes a lasting impact on your listeners. Let’s get started.

15 Informative Speech Examples

If you’re looking for some inspiration for your next informative speech, look no further. Below are 15 examples of informative speech topics that are sure to engage and educate your audience.

• The history and evolution of social media platforms
• The benefits and drawbacks of renewable energy sources
• The impact of sleep deprivation on mental and physical health
• The role of emotional intelligence in personal and professional success
• The science behind climate change and its potential consequences
• The importance of financial literacy for young adults
• The influence of artificial intelligence on various industries
• The benefits of regular exercise and a balanced diet
• The history and cultural significance of a specific art form or genre
• The impact of technology on interpersonal communication
• The psychology behind procrastination and effective strategies to overcome it
• The role of diversity and inclusion in fostering innovation and creativity
• The importance of mental health awareness and resources for students
• The future of space exploration and its potential benefits for humanity
• The impact of globalization on local economies and cultures

These topics cover a wide range of subjects, from technology and science to psychology and culture. By choosing one of these informative speech examples, you’ll have plenty of material to work with to create an engaging and educational presentation.

Remember, the key to a successful informative speech is to choose a topic that you’re passionate about and that will resonate with your audience. Do your research, organize your thoughts, and practice your delivery to ensure that your message comes across loud and clear.

What Is an Informative Speech?

If you’ve ever been to a conference or seminar, chances are you’ve heard an informative speech. But what exactly is an informative speech? Simply put, it’s a type of speech designed to educate the audience on a particular topic. The goal is to provide interesting and useful information, ensuring the audience walks away with new knowledge or insights. Unlike persuasive speeches that aim to convince the audience of a viewpoint, informative speeches focus on explaining a subject clearly and objectively.

Types of Informative Speeches

Informative speeches come in various forms, each with its own purpose. The most common types are definition, explanation, description, and demonstration speeches. Depending on the objective, an informative speech can take on different structures and styles.

For example, a definition speech aims to explain a concept or term, while a demonstration speech shows the audience how to perform a task or process. An explanatory speech, on the other hand, provides a detailed account of a complex subject, breaking it down into digestible parts.

Purpose of Informative Speeches

At its core, the purpose of an informative speech is to share knowledge with the audience. These speeches are characterized by their fact-based, non-persuasive nature. The focus is on delivering information in an engaging and accessible way.

A well-crafted informative speech not only educates but also sparks curiosity and encourages further learning. By dedicating yourself to providing valuable information and appealing to your audience’s interests, you can succeed as an informative speaker.

Strategies for Selecting an Informative Speech Topic

Choosing the right topic is crucial for an effective informative speech. You want a subject that is not only interesting to you but also relevant and engaging for your audience. Consider their knowledge level, background, and expectations when selecting your topic.

One strategy is to focus on a subject you’re passionate about or have expertise in. This allows you to speak with authority and enthusiasm, making your speech more compelling. Another approach is to address current events or trending topics that are on people’s minds.

When brainstorming potential topics, consider your speech’s purpose and the type of informative speech you want to deliver. Is your goal to define a concept, explain a process, describe an event, or demonstrate a skill? Answering these questions will help guide your topic selection.

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How to Write an Informative Speech

Now that you’ve selected your topic, it’s time to start writing your informative speech. The key to a successful speech is thorough preparation and a clear, organized structure. Let’s break down the steps involved in crafting an engaging and informative presentation.

Researching Your Topic

Before you start writing, it’s essential to conduct thorough research on your topic. Gather facts, statistics, examples, and other supporting information for your informative speech. These things will help you explain and clarify the subject matter to your audience.

As you research, use reliable sources such as academic journals, reputable websites, and expert opinions to ensure the accuracy and credibility of your information. Take notes and organize your findings in a way that makes sense for your speech’s structure.

Structuring Your Speech

A typical informative speech structure includes three main parts, namely, an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction should grab the audience’s attention, establish your credibility , and preview the main points you’ll cover.

The body of your speech is where you’ll present your main points and supporting evidence. Use clear transitions between each point to maintain a logical flow. The conclusion should summarize your key takeaways and leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Outlining Your Speech

Creating an outline is a crucial step in organizing your thoughts and ensuring a coherent flow of information. Start by listing your main points and then add subpoints and supporting details for each section.

A well-structured outline will serve as a roadmap for your speech, keeping you on track and helping you stay focused on your key messages. It also makes the writing process more efficient and less overwhelming.

Writing Your Draft

With your outline in hand, it’s time to start writing your draft. Focus on presenting information clearly and concisely, using simple language and avoiding jargon. Provide examples and analogies throughout your informative speech in order to illustrate complex ideas and make them more relatable to your audience.

As you write, keep your audience in mind and tailor your language and examples to their level of understanding. Use transitions to link your ideas and maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.

Editing and Revising

Once you’ve completed your draft, take the time to edit and revise your speech. First, check for clarity, accuracy, and logical organization. Then, eliminate unnecessary details, repetition, and filler words.

Read your speech aloud to identify any awkward phrasing or unclear passages. Lastly, seek feedback from others and be open to making changes based on their suggestions. Remember, the goal is to create a polished and effective informative speech.

Delivering an Informative Speech

You’ve written a fantastic informative speech, but now comes the real challenge: delivering it effectively. The way you present your speech can make all the difference in engaging your audience and ensuring they retain the information you’re sharing.

Practicing Your Speech

Practice makes perfect, and this couldn’t be more true when it comes to public speaking. Rehearse your speech multiple times to build confidence and familiarity with the content. Practice in front of a mirror, family members, or friends to get comfortable with your delivery.

As you practice, focus on your pacing, intonation, and body language. Aim for a conversational tone and maintain eye contact with your audience. The more you practice, the more natural and engaging your delivery will become.

Using Visual Aids

Visual aids such as slides, charts, or props can enhance your informative speech by making complex information more accessible and engaging. When utilized in your informative speech, they can help illustrate key points, provide visual examples, and break up the monotony of a purely verbal presentation.

Of course, it’s important to ensure your visuals are clear, relevant, and easy to understand. Otherwise, they may end up obscuring your points instead of clarifying them. In light of this, avoid cluttering your slides with too much text or overwhelming your audience with too many visuals. Use them strategically to support your message, not distract from it.

Engaging Your Audience

Engaging your audience is crucial for a successful informative speech. Use rhetorical questions, anecdotes, or interactive elements to keep them involved and attentive. Encourage participation, if appropriate, and maintain a conversational tone to create a connection with your listeners.

Pay attention to your audience’s reactions and adapt your delivery accordingly. If you sense confusion or disinterest, try rephrasing your points or providing additional examples to clarify your message. Remember, your goal is to educate and inspire your audience, so keep them at the forefront of your mind throughout your speech.

Handling Nerves

It’s normal to feel nervous before and during a speech, but there are strategies to help you manage those nerves . Take deep breaths, visualize success, and focus on your message rather than your anxiety. Remember, your audience wants you to succeed, and a little nervousness can actually enhance your performance by showing enthusiasm and authenticity.

If you find yourself getting overwhelmed, take a moment to pause, collect your thoughts, and regain your composure. Smile, make eye contact, and remind yourself that you’ve prepared thoroughly and have valuable information to share.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

To deliver an effective informative speech, it’s important to be aware of common pitfalls and mistakes. One of the biggest errors is overloading your audience with too much information. Remember, less is often more when it comes to public speaking.

Another mistake is failing to organize your content logically or using complex jargon without explanation. Make sure your speech has a clear structure and that you’re explaining any technical terms or concepts in a way that your audience can understand.

Finally, don’t neglect the importance of practice and preparation. Winging it or relying too heavily on notes can lead to a disjointed and unengaging speech. Take the time to rehearse, refine your delivery, and internalize your key points.

By avoiding these common mistakes and focusing on the strategies we’ve discussed, you’ll be well on your way to delivering an informative speech that educates, engages, and inspires your audience.

Tips for Delivering a Compelling Informative Speech

Once you’ve chosen your topic and done your research, it’s time to focus on delivering a compelling speech. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Start with a strong attention-grabbing opening that draws your audience in and sets the tone for your speech.
• Use clear, concise language and avoid jargon or technical terms that your audience may not understand.
• Incorporate storytelling, examples, and anecdotes to make your points more relatable and memorable.
• Use visual aids , such as slides or props, to enhance your message and keep your audience engaged.
• Practice your delivery and timing to ensure that you stay within your allotted time and maintain a natural, conversational tone.

By following these tips and choosing a topic that you’re passionate about, you’ll be well on your way to delivering an informative speech that educates and inspires your audience.

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20 Bonus Topics for Informative Speeches

In case the informative speech examples above didn’t pique your interest, we have several more for you to consider. Ranging from topics like science and technology to history and education, these 20 topics are perfect for your next presentation.

• The history and development of virtual reality technology
• The benefits and challenges of remote work
• The science behind the formation of hurricanes and tornadoes
• The impact of social media on political campaigns and elections
• The importance of sustainable fashion and its environmental benefits
• The role of emotional support animals in mental health treatment
• The history and cultural significance of a specific cuisine or dish
• The impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems
• The benefits and risks of gene editing technology
• The psychology behind conspiracy theories and their spread online
• The importance of digital privacy and data security in the modern age
• The role of music therapy in healthcare and wellness
• The impact of deforestation on biodiversity and climate change
• The history and evolution of a specific sport or athletic event
• The benefits and challenges of alternative education models
• The science behind the human immune system and how vaccines work
• The impact of mass incarceration on communities and families
• The role of storytelling in preserving cultural heritage and traditions
• The importance of financial planning for retirement and old age
• The impact of urban agriculture on food security and community development

Choosing a Topic That Resonates With Your Audience

When selecting a topic for your informative speech, it’s important to consider your audience and what will resonate with them. Think about their interests, backgrounds, and knowledge levels, and choose a topic that will be both informative and engaging.

For example, if you’re speaking to a group of high school students, you may want to choose a topic that relates to their experiences or concerns, such as the impact of social media on mental health or the importance of financial literacy for young adults. If you’re speaking to a group of business professionals, you may want to focus on topics related to industry trends, leadership strategies, or emerging technologies.

By choosing a topic that resonates with your audience, you’ll be more likely to capture their attention and keep them engaged throughout your speech. And remember, even if you’re not an expert on the topic, you can still deliver an informative and engaging speech by doing your research and presenting the information in a clear and accessible way.

FAQs on Informative Speech Examples

What is an example of informative speech.

An example includes breaking down the impacts of climate change, detailing causes, effects, and potential solutions.

What are the 3 types of informative speeches?

The three main types are explanatory (breaks down complex topics), descriptive (paints a picture with words), and demonstrative (shows how to do something).

What are the 5 useful topics of an informative speech?

Top picks include technology advances, mental health awareness, environmental conservation efforts, cultural diversity appreciation, and breakthroughs in medical research.

What is an effective informative speech?

An effective one delivers clear info on a specific topic that educates listeners without overwhelming them. It’s well-researched and engaging.

Informative speech examples are everywhere, if you know where to look. From TED Talks to classroom lectures, there’s no shortage of inspiration for your next presentation. All you have to do is find a topic that lights your fire while engaging your audience.

Remember, a great informative speech is all about clarity, organization, and engagement. By following the tips and examples we’ve covered, you’ll be well on your way to delivering an informative speech that educates, enlightens, and leaves a lasting impression. So go ahead, pick your topic, and start crafting your own informative speech today!

• Last Updated: May 9, 2024

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5.1: Approaches to Audience Analysis

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Whenever thinking about your speech, it is always a good idea to begin with a thorough awareness of your audience and the many factors comprising that particular audience.

In speech communication, we simply call this “doing an audience analysis.”

An audience analysis is when you consider all of the pertinent elements defining the makeup and demographic characteristics (also known as demographics ) of your audience (McQuail, 1997). We come to understand that there are detailed accounts of human population characteristics, such as age, gender/sec, education and intellect levels, occupation, socio-economic class, religion, political affiliation, language, ethnicity, culture, background knowledge, needs and interests, and previously held attitudes, beliefs, and values.

Demographics are widely used by advertising and public relations professionals to analyze specific audiences so that their products or ideas will carry influence. However, all good public speakers consider the demographic characteristics of their audience, as well. It is the fundamental stage of preparing for your speech.

So now you may be saying to yourself: “Gee, that’s great! How do I go about analyzing my particular audience?” First, you need to know that there are three overarching methods (or “ paradigms ”) for doing an audience analysis: audience analysis by direct observation, audience analysis by inference, and audience analysis through data collection. Once you get to know how these methods work, you should be able to select which one (or even combination of these methods) is right for your circumstances.

Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Direct Observation

Audience analysis by direct observation, or direct experience, is the most simple of the three paradigms for “getting the feel” of a particular audience. It is a form of qualitative data gathering. We perceive it through one or more of our five natural senses—hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, and smelling.

Knowledge that we acquire through personal experience has more impact on us than does knowledge that we learn indirectly. Knowledge acquired from personal experience is also more likely to affect our thinking and will be retained for a longer period of time. We are more likely to trust what we hear, see, feel, taste, and smell rather than what we learn from secondary sources of information (Pressat, 1972).

All you really need to do for this method of observation is to examine your audience. If you are lucky enough to be able to do this before speaking to your audience, you will be able to gather some basic reflective data (How old are they? What racial mix does this audience have? Does their non-verbal behavior indicate that they are excited to hear this speech?) that will help you arrange your thoughts and arguments for your speech (Nierenberg &Calero, 1994).

One excellent way to become informed about your audience is to ask them about themselves. Whenever possible, have conversations with them—interact with members of your audience—get to know them on a personal level (Where did you go to school? Do you have siblings/pets? What kind of car do you drive?)

Through these types of conversations, you will be able to get to know and appreciate each audience member as both a human being and as an audience member. You will come to understand what interests them, convinces them, or even makes them laugh. You might arouse interest and curiosity in your topic while you also gain valuable data.

For example, you want to deliver a persuasive speech about boycotting farm-raised fish. You could conduct a short attitudinal survey to discover what your audience thinks about the topic, if they eat farm-raised fish, and if they believe it is healthy for them. This information will help you when you construct your speech because you will know their attitudes about the subject. You would be able to avoid constructing a speech that potentially could do the opposite of what you intended.

Another example would be that you want to deliver an informative speech about your town’s recreational activities and facilities. Your focus can be aligned with your audience if, before you begin working on your speech, you find out if your audience has senior citizens and/or high school students and/or new parents.

Not understanding the basic demographic characteristics of an audience, or further, that audience’s beliefs, values, or attitudes about a given topic makes your presentation goals haphazard, at best. Look around the room at the people who will be listening to your speech. What types of gender, age, ethnicity, and educational- level characteristics are represented? What are their expectations for your presentation? This is all- important information you should know before you begin your research and drafting your outline. Who is it that I am going to be talking to?

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?

~ Albert Einstein

Audience analysis by inference is merely a logical extension of your observations drawn in the method above. It is a form of critical thinking known as inductive reasoning, and another form of qualitative data gathering.

An inference is when you make a reasoned tentative conclusion or logical judgment on the basis of available evidence. It is best used when you can identify patterns in your evidence that indicate something is expected to happen again or should hold true based upon previous experiences.

As individuals we make inferences—or reasonable assumptions—all the time. For example, when we see someone wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers t-shirt, we infer that they are fans of the baseball team. When we see someone drinking coffee, we infer that they need a caffeine boost. These are reasoned conclusions that we make based upon the evidence available to us and our general knowledge about people and their traits.

When we reason, we make connections, distinctions, and predictions; we use what is known or familiar to us to reach a conclusion about something that is unknown or unfamiliar for it to make sense. Granted, of course, inferences are sometimes wrong and it is the speaker’s responsibility to ensure their information is verifiable.

Data Sampling

Unlike audience analysis by direct observation and analysis by inference, audience analysis by data sampling uses statistical evidence to quantify and clarify the characteristics of your audience.

These characteristics are also known as variables, and are assigned a numerical value so we can systematically collect and classify them (Tucker, Weaver, & Berryman-Fink, 1981). They are reported as statistics, also known as quantitative analysis or quantitative data collection. Statistics are numerical summaries of facts, figures, and research findings. Audience analysis by data sampling requires you to survey you audience before you give a speech. You need to know the basics of doing a survey before you actually collect and interpret your data.

Basic Questionnaire

There are a great number of survey methods available to the speaker. However, we will cover three primary types in this section because they are utilized the most. The first type of survey method you should know about is the basic questionnaire, which is a series of questions advanced to produce demographic and attitudinal data from your audience.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Questionnaire is in the Public Domain.

Clearly, audience members should not be required to identify themselves by name on the basic questionnaire. Anonymous questionnaires are more likely to produce truthful information.

Remember, all you are looking for is a general read of your audience; you should not be looking for specific information about any respondent concerning your questionnaire in particular. It is a bulk-sampling tool, only.

While you can easily gather basic demographic data, we need to ask more focused questions in order to understand the audience’s “presuppositions” to think or act in certain ways. For example, you can put an attitudinal extension on the basic questionnaire (See examples below). These questions probe more deeply into the psyche of your audience members, and will help you see where they stand on certain issues.

Ordered Categories

Another method of finding your audience’s value set is to survey them according to their value hierarchy. A value hierarchy is a person’s value structure placed in relationship to a given value set (Rokeach, 1968).

The way to determine a person’s value hierarchy is to use the ordered categories sampling method. The audience member will put the given values in order based on what they deem most important. When analyzed by the speaker, common themes will present themselves. (See examples below).

Examples of Survey Questions

Demographic Questions

• Less then 18
• 18 – 30 years old
• 31 – 45 years old
• over 46 years of age

Attitudinal Questions

• Conservative
• Independent
• Should be illegal
• Should remain legal
• Should be legal in certain cases

Value Ordered Questions

Place the following list of calues in order of importance, from most important (1) to least important (5).

____________

Likert-Type Questions

Indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with each question; 1 being strongly agree, 5 being strongly disagree.

• Unsolicited email should be illegal.
• Making unsolicited email illegal would be fundamentally unfair to businesses.
• I usually delete unsolicited email before even opening it.

Likert-Type Testing

The final method of asserting your audience’s attitudes deals with Likert-type testing. Likert-type testing is when you make a statement, and ask the respondent to gauge the depth of their sentiments toward that statement positively, negatively, or neutrally. Typically, each scale will have 5 weighted response categories, being +2, +1, 0,-1, and -2.

What the Likert-type test does, that other tests do not do, is measure the extent to which attitudes are held. See how the Likert-type test does this in the example on “unsolicited email” above.

A small Likert-type test will tell you where your audience, generally speaking, stands on issues. As well, it will inform you as to the degree of the audience’s beliefs on these issues. The Likert-type test should be used when attempting to assess a highly charged or polarizing issue, because it will tell you, in rough numbers, whether or not your audience agrees or disagrees with your topic.

No matter what kind of data sampling you choose, you need to allow time to collect the information and then analyze it. For example, if you create a survey of five questions, and you have your audience of 20 people complete the survey, you will need to deal with 100 survey forms.

If you are in a small community group or college class, it is more likely that you will be doing your survey “the old-fashioned way”–so you will need some time to mark each individual response on a “master sheet” and then average or summarize the results in an effective way to use in your speech-writing and speech-giving.

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Data Collection Methods | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

Published on 4 May 2022 by Pritha Bhandari .

Data collection is a systematic process of gathering observations or measurements. Whether you are performing research for business, governmental, or academic purposes, data collection allows you to gain first-hand knowledge and original insights into your research problem .

While methods and aims may differ between fields, the overall process of data collection remains largely the same. Before you begin collecting data, you need to consider:

• The  aim of the research
• The type of data that you will collect
• The methods and procedures you will use to collect, store, and process the data

To collect high-quality data that is relevant to your purposes, follow these four steps.

Table of contents

Step 1: define the aim of your research, step 2: choose your data collection method, step 3: plan your data collection procedures, step 4: collect the data, frequently asked questions about data collection.

Before you start the process of data collection, you need to identify exactly what you want to achieve. You can start by writing a problem statement : what is the practical or scientific issue that you want to address, and why does it matter?

Next, formulate one or more research questions that precisely define what you want to find out. Depending on your research questions, you might need to collect quantitative or qualitative data :

• Quantitative data is expressed in numbers and graphs and is analysed through statistical methods .
• Qualitative data is expressed in words and analysed through interpretations and categorisations.

If your aim is to test a hypothesis , measure something precisely, or gain large-scale statistical insights, collect quantitative data. If your aim is to explore ideas, understand experiences, or gain detailed insights into a specific context, collect qualitative data.

If you have several aims, you can use a mixed methods approach that collects both types of data.

• Your first aim is to assess whether there are significant differences in perceptions of managers across different departments and office locations.
• Your second aim is to gather meaningful feedback from employees to explore new ideas for how managers can improve.

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Based on the data you want to collect, decide which method is best suited for your research.

• Experimental research is primarily a quantitative method.
• Interviews , focus groups , and ethnographies are qualitative methods.
• Surveys , observations, archival research, and secondary data collection can be quantitative or qualitative methods.

Carefully consider what method you will use to gather data that helps you directly answer your research questions.

When you know which method(s) you are using, you need to plan exactly how you will implement them. What procedures will you follow to make accurate observations or measurements of the variables you are interested in?

For instance, if you’re conducting surveys or interviews, decide what form the questions will take; if you’re conducting an experiment, make decisions about your experimental design .

Operationalisation

Sometimes your variables can be measured directly: for example, you can collect data on the average age of employees simply by asking for dates of birth. However, often you’ll be interested in collecting data on more abstract concepts or variables that can’t be directly observed.

Operationalisation means turning abstract conceptual ideas into measurable observations. When planning how you will collect data, you need to translate the conceptual definition of what you want to study into the operational definition of what you will actually measure.

• You ask managers to rate their own leadership skills on 5-point scales assessing the ability to delegate, decisiveness, and dependability.
• You ask their direct employees to provide anonymous feedback on the managers regarding the same topics.

You may need to develop a sampling plan to obtain data systematically. This involves defining a population , the group you want to draw conclusions about, and a sample, the group you will actually collect data from.

Your sampling method will determine how you recruit participants or obtain measurements for your study. To decide on a sampling method you will need to consider factors like the required sample size, accessibility of the sample, and time frame of the data collection.

Standardising procedures

If multiple researchers are involved, write a detailed manual to standardise data collection procedures in your study.

This means laying out specific step-by-step instructions so that everyone in your research team collects data in a consistent way – for example, by conducting experiments under the same conditions and using objective criteria to record and categorise observations.

This helps ensure the reliability of your data, and you can also use it to replicate the study in the future.

Creating a data management plan

Before beginning data collection, you should also decide how you will organise and store your data.

• If you are collecting data from people, you will likely need to anonymise and safeguard the data to prevent leaks of sensitive information (e.g. names or identity numbers).
• If you are collecting data via interviews or pencil-and-paper formats, you will need to perform transcriptions or data entry in systematic ways to minimise distortion.
• You can prevent loss of data by having an organisation system that is routinely backed up.

Finally, you can implement your chosen methods to measure or observe the variables you are interested in.

The closed-ended questions ask participants to rate their manager’s leadership skills on scales from 1 to 5. The data produced is numerical and can be statistically analysed for averages and patterns.

To ensure that high-quality data is recorded in a systematic way, here are some best practices:

• Record all relevant information as and when you obtain data. For example, note down whether or how lab equipment is recalibrated during an experimental study.
• Double-check manual data entry for errors.
• If you collect quantitative data, you can assess the reliability and validity to get an indication of your data quality.

Data collection is the systematic process by which observations or measurements are gathered in research. It is used in many different contexts by academics, governments, businesses, and other organisations.

When conducting research, collecting original data has significant advantages:

• You can tailor data collection to your specific research aims (e.g., understanding the needs of your consumers or user testing your website).
• You can control and standardise the process for high reliability and validity (e.g., choosing appropriate measurements and sampling methods ).

However, there are also some drawbacks: data collection can be time-consuming, labour-intensive, and expensive. In some cases, it’s more efficient to use secondary data that has already been collected by someone else, but the data might be less reliable.

Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings.

Quantitative methods allow you to test a hypothesis by systematically collecting and analysing data, while qualitative methods allow you to explore ideas and experiences in depth.

Reliability and validity are both about how well a method measures something:

• Reliability refers to the  consistency of a measure (whether the results can be reproduced under the same conditions).
• Validity   refers to the  accuracy of a measure (whether the results really do represent what they are supposed to measure).

If you are doing experimental research , you also have to consider the internal and external validity of your experiment.

In mixed methods research , you use both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods to answer your research question .

Operationalisation means turning abstract conceptual ideas into measurable observations.

For example, the concept of social anxiety isn’t directly observable, but it can be operationally defined in terms of self-rating scores, behavioural avoidance of crowded places, or physical anxiety symptoms in social situations.

Before collecting data , it’s important to consider how you will operationalise the variables that you want to measure.

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