1. Chapter 14: Speaking to Inform

2. Speeches About Objects
Object: anything that is visible, touchable, and stable in form (places, structures, animals, people)
The specific purpose will begin with To inform the audience about...

3. Order-Use chronological order to show the history or evolution (change over time) of your subject
-Use spatial order to describe the main features of a subject
-Use topical order to explain separate elements of a subject

4. Speeches About Events
Can be personal (job interview, skiing, etc)
Can be larger (a Tsunami, Cinco de Mayo)
Can be historical (the Holocost, the civil rights movement)
The speechs specific purpose will begin with To inform the audience about...

5. Speeches about Processes
Inform the audience about a specific series of actions that leads to a specific result or product
2 possible goals:
-to help the audience UNDERSTAND it better
-to show the audience how to PERFORM a skill
Use a visual aid successfully
Use chronological or topical order
See examples on p. 302-305

6. Speeches about Concepts
Inform the audience about a belief, theory, idea, notion, or principle
Examples...a theory of religion, education, art, weight loss, psychology, etc.
Use topical order
Use a visual aid effectively
See p. 306-308 for more

7. Order-use chronological order to show the history of the event, the order in which it unfolded
-use topical order to discuss various aspects of the event, approaching it from different angles

8. Informative Speaking Dos
Relate the subject directly to the audience
*using the words you and your helps
Personalize your ideas
*give an example from your own life or that of a friend

9. Informative Speaking Donts
Dont overestimate what the audience knows
*when in doubt, be more simple. Assume you are speaking to a person with VERY general knowledge of the subject
Dont be too technical
*Keep technical terms to a minimum
*Use simpler synonyms or define

10. Dont use abstractions
*describe vividly
*use a comparison: a statement of the similarities between two or more people, events, ideas, etc.
*use contrast: a statement of the differences among two or more people, events, ideas, etc.