Chapter 15 Informative Speaking

Informative Speaking: Introduction

An informative speech:

Shares information or ideas with audience

Increases understanding and awareness of a topic

Gives listeners new knowledge

Keeps information audience-centered

Informative Speaking: An Overview

In this chapter, we will discuss:

Techniques for informing

Types of informative speeches

Developing your informative speech

Clarifying and simplifying your message

Three sample speeches

Techniques for Informing:

Definition

Definition explains the essence, meaning, or purpose of something such as a(n):

Object

Person or group

Event

Process

Idea or concept

Techniques for Informing:

Definition

Four types of definitions:

Dictionary: presents the meaning of a term as it appears in a dictionary

Expert: comes from a credible source in the field

Etymological: traces somethings roots in the same or other languages

Functional: looks at how something is applied or how it functions

Techniques for Informing:

Definition

Techniques for Informing:

Explanation

Providing an analysis of something to clarify it, or tracing a line of causal connections between events

Works well on speeches that: Present a process

Trace the emergence of an event

Illustrate how something works

Techniques for Informing:

Description

Use words to paint a mental picture.

Achieve maximum impact by using:

Vivid language

Presentation aids

Details that evoke the audiences senses

Techniques for Informing:

Demonstration

Teaches how a process or a set of guidelines works

Calls for physical modeling and verbal elements to lead an audience through a

process

Requires confidence and practice

Helps audiences retain information

Especially when combined with repetition

Techniques for Informing:

Demonstration

Techniques for Informing:

Narrative

Present a story that entertains while it informs.

Base narratives on audience analysis and support your message.

Tips for Techniques of Informing

Tip: Stories can humanize speakers and improve their credibility, but, as a speaker,

you must practice the stories to sound

natural and unrehearsed.

Tip: Be audience-centeredit is your job to get information across to the audience,

so choose a technique that is appropriate

for both the audience and the topic.

Types of Informative Speeches:

Objects

Types of objects include: Mechanical/technological

Natural

Cultural

Personal

Appropriate techniques: Definition

Explanation

Demonstration

Narrative

Types of Informative Speeches:

Individuals or Groups

People are fascinated by human subjects.

Ideas include: Famous politician

Famous sports star, entertainer, or artist

An unsung hero

A tragic figure

Types of Informative Speeches:

Events

Notable or exceptional occurrences from the present or past

Consider events that seem noteworthy, exciting, surprising.

Blend narrative and description.

Types of Informative Speeches: Events

Types of Informative Speeches:

Processes

A series of steps or stages that lead to outcomes

Informative speeches about processes can be at the

micro or macro level.

Walk the audience through the steps and their

sequence.

Types of Informative Speeches:

Ideas

Idea: Theory, principle, belief, or value

Relatively abstract

Discussion could benefit from real life analogies

Presenter needs to connect with the audiences:

Interests

Level of education

Prior exposure to the idea

Types of Informative Speeches: Ideas

Developing Your Informative Speech:

Analyzing Your Audience

Examine audience demographics: Age

Ethnicity

Gender

Religion

Sexual orientation

Academic major

Educational background

Political affiliation

Occupation

Developing Your Informative Speech:

Analyzing Your Audience

Look for common ground, such as shared values and interests.

This will help to strengthen your ethos.

Developing Your Informative

Speech: Selecting a Technique

Choice of technique helps you decide how to develop main points and supporting materials.

For demonstration, consider forum and audience size.

For explanation or description, focus on demographics.

For narrative, look to common ground issues.

Keep your focus on your purpose.

Developing Your Informative Speech:

Clarifying and Simplifying Your

Message Clarity is a goal

of informative speech.

Being clear makes it easier for audience to understand.

Clarifying and Simplifying Your

Message: Move from General to

Specific

Keep the information simple

to help your

audience

understand.

Clarifying and Simplifying Your

Message:

Move from General to Specific

Ask yourself: What message do

you want your audience to take away?

The answer can help you narrow your topic.

Clarifying and Simplifying Your

Message: Reduce the Quantity of Information You Present

Less is more

Pare down details

Clarifying and Simplifying Your

Message:

Make the Complex Familiar

Use definitions and analogies.

Avoid jargon and an overabundance of technical terminology.

Clarifying and Simplifying Your

Message: Use Presentation Aids

Use presentation aids to clarify and simplify your message.

Clarifying and Simplifying Your

Message: Reiterate Your

Message

Refer to your message multiple

times.

Use different words each time.

Clarifying and Simplifying Your

Message: Repeat Your Message

Use the same words each

time.

Tips for Informative Speeches

Tip: Be audience-centered, choose a topic that will be new to your audience.

Tip: To aid in clarity and interest, focus on what you want the audience to have learned by the end of the speech.

Sample Informative Speech

Rachel Parish, Spider Silk: A Miracle Material Derived fromGoats?

Read the sample speech with comments on pages 48791.

The three main points are:

Background and unique properties of spider silk

Role of the spider goat in producing spider silk

Current and future uses of spider silk

Sample Informative Speech

Elvia Anguiano, Precision-Guided Tumor Killers

Read sample speech with comments on pages 49296.

The main points are:

What traditional chemotherapy is and how it works

What precision-guided tumor killers (PGTKs) are

How PGTKs work

The potential benefits of PGTKs

Sample Informative Speech

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, On the Bank Crisis

Read sample speech with comments on pages 497501.

The main points are:

How banks work

Why banks failed in 1933

How the federal government responded