GATHERING SUPPORTING MATERIALS

GATHERING SUPPORT MATERIALS

There are many ways in which you can gather materials to support your speech.


Using Your Own Knowledge and Experience

• We speak best about subjects which we are familiar with.
• Personalize you speech by adding the “personal touch”
• Try not to depersonalize your speech by relying too much on facts and figures from books.
• Your points can be conveyed more meaningfully by drawing from your own experience
• You felt, did, saw and heard whatever you are speaking about.


Doing Library Research

• Librarians
• Catalogues
 Card Catalogue – a catalogue that lists on cards all the books and periodicals owned by a library
 Online Catalogue – an electronic listing of the books and periodicals owned by a library
• Periodical Indexes
 A research aid that catalogues articles from a large number of journals or magazines
• Newspaper Indexes
 A research aid that catalogues articles from one or more newspapers

• Reference Works
 Encyclopedias
 Yearbooks
 Dictionaries
 Atlas and gazetteer


SEARCHING THE INTERNET

• Browsers – a computer programme for navigating the WWW e.g. Netscape, Internet Explorer, MSN Online, etc.
• Search Aids
 Search engines – e.g. yahoo.com, google.com, infoseek.com, about.com etc.
 Virtual libraries – e.g. Argus Clearinghouse (www. clearinghouse.net), Internet Public Library ( www.ipl.org), Brittanica.com (www.brittanica.com), etc.
• Keyword Searches
 Find the search box and type the keywords of your topic
• Subject Searches – general topics
• Bookmarks – stores links to sites that can be easily revisited
• Specialized Research Resources – e.g www.gov.my for Malaysian government resources, news (www.nst.com.my) etc.


INTERVIEWING

Before
 Define the purpose of the interview
 Decide whom to interview
 Arrange the interview
 Decide whether to use a tape recorder or not
 Prepare your questions


During
 Dress appropriately and be on time
 Repeat the purpose
 Set up the tape recorder (if you are using one)
 Keep on track
 Listen carefully
 Don’t take too much time


After
 Review
 Transcribe

SUPPORTING YOUR SPEECH

SUPPORTING MATERIALS:

• Materials used to support a speaker’s idea.
• Is chosen very carefully
• Brings your ideas across clearly and creatively.


TYPES OF SUPPORTING MATERIALS:
• Examples
• Statistics
• Testimony


EXAMPLES

• A specific case used to illustrate or to represent a group of people, ideas, conditions, experiences or the like.

• Ideas become specific, personal and lively.

• Types:
o Brief – a specific case to illustrate a point.

o Extended – a story, narrative or anecdote developed at some length to illustrate a point.

o Hypothetical – describes an imaginary or fictitious situation.


FACTS AND STATISTICS

• FACTS – statements that can be verified by independent observers
• STATISTICS
o facts expressed in numbers; numerical data
o describes size, make predictions, illustrate trends or show relationship

Example:

"Since 1962, more than one million Americans have died in firearm suicides, homicides, and unintentional injuries. In 1998 alone, 30708 Americans died by gunfire….
This is a uniquely American epidemic. In the same year that more than 30,000 people were killed by guns in America, the number in Germany was 1,164. In Canada, it was 1,304. In Australia, 391. In England and Wales 211. And in Japan the number for the entire year was 83."

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE CHOOSING A STATISTIC:

• Is this information relevant to my purpose?
• Is this information the most recently available?
• Is this information truly representative of the subject?
• Is this information from a credible source?
• Is this information consistent with what other reputable sources report?
• Is this information free from bias?
• Is this information complete?


TESTIMONY

• Definition – quotations or paraphrases used to support a point
• Types:
o Expert testimony – from people who are recognized experts in their fields
o Peer testimony – from ordinary people with firsthand experience or insight on a topic
o Prestige testimony – from a respected public figure who is not necessarily an expert on the topic but voiced out some truth about the matter.


TIPS FOR USING TESTIMONY

1. Quote or paraphrase accurately
2. Use testimony from qualified sources
3. Use testimony from unbiased sources
4. Identify the people you quote or paraphrase


THE ETHICAL USE OF SUPPORTING MATERIALS

1. Provide the date, source, and context of information cited in your speech.
2. Don’t present an opinion as though it was a fact.
3. Remember that statistics are open to differing interpretations.
4. Protect your listeners from biased information.
5. Tell listeners if you can’t identify the exact sources of your information.
6. Don’t quote out of context.
7. Be sure examples reflect reality.
8. Don’t present hypothetical examples as though they were factual.

USING PRESENTATION AIDS

The first principle of learning is that people learn better and retain information longer when you involve as many senses as possible!

For this reason, most public speakers use PRESENTATION AIDS to involve the senses:
• Sight
• Smell
• Hear
• Taste
• Feel


Advantages of using presentation aids:

• It provides clarity of your message
• It generates interest towards your topic
• It prolongs audience’s attention
• It promotes longer memory retention
• It helps combat stage fright
• It shifts the attention away from the speaker
• It enhances almost every aspect of a speech



Disadvantages of using presentation aids:

• It can distract the audience.
• It can also distract the speaker.
• It can inhibit eye contact between the speaker and the audience.
• Bad presentation aids can damage your credibility.
• It takes time to prepare.
• It can put you at the mercy of the available equipment.


Types of Visual Aids

• The speaker him/herself
• Objects
• Models
• Photographs
• Drawings/Pictures
• Graphics
• Charts/Graphs
• Slides
• CDs/VCDs/DVDs
• Transparencies
• Multimedia presentations
• Handouts
• Posters


Guidelines for Preparing Visual Aids

• Prepare them in advance
• Keep them simple
• Make sure the visual aids are large enough
• Use fonts that are easy to read
• Use a limited number of fonts
• Use colour effectively


Tips for Presenting Visual Aids

• Avoid using the whiteboard for visual aids
• Display visual aids where the audience can see them clearly
• Avoid passing visual aids among the audience
• Display visual aids only while discussing them
• Talk to your audience, not your visual aid
• Explain visual aids clearly
• Practice with your visual aids

THE CONCLUSION

• the final words of your speech


“Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending”
- Longfellow


There are two major functions of conclusions:

• To let the audience know you are ending the speech
• To reinforce the central idea


SIGNAL THE END OF THE SPEECH

• An ending that is too sudden will leave the audience puzzled and unfulfilled

Ways to signal the end:

• Through what you say – In conclusion…, Let me end by saying…,
• Manner of delivery
+ Crescendo ending
- By the use of the voice – tone, pacing, intonation, rhythm
+ Dissolve ending
- Generates emotional appeal by fading step by step to a dramatic final statement


REINFORCE THE CENTRAL IDEA

There are many ways to do this:

 Summarize your speech
 End with a quotation
 Make a dramatic statement
 Echo the introduction
 End with a story
 Close with a quotation
 Use strategic repetition
 Call for action (especially for persuasive speeches)

THE INTRODUCTION

The short term memory is about 20 seconds. That means you have 20 seconds to capture their attention in your speech introduction.

Short, sweet, and mind capturing words need to be used.


Functions of the Introduction


The audience will ask these questions:

1. Why should I listen to this speech?
2. Why should I listen to this speaker?
3. What must I understand?


These questions relate to the three basic functions of an introduction:

a. Capture attention and arouse interest
b. Establish your credibility
c. Preview your speech


CAPTURING ATTENTION

Several ways of capturing your audience's attention are:

• Acknowledge the audience, location or occasion
• Ask questions
• Relate the topic to the audience
• Relate a personal experience
• Tell a story
• Use humor
• Develop suspense
• Begin with a quotation
• Use a presentation aid
• Startle the audience


ESTABLISHING YOUR CREDIBILITY

• You should establish yourself as a competent, trustworthy, likeable and strong person.
• The audience wants to listen to someone qualified to speak on a given topic.



PREVIEW YOUR SPEECH


• Indicates the main points you will cover
• Help listeners follow what you are saying

Killer Presentation Skills

CITATION AND REFERENCING

What is APA Style, and Why Use It?

► American Psychological Association
► Style established in 1928 by Social Science professionals
► Style provides guidelines for publication in Social Science Journals (such as Psychology, Sociology, Education, and Nursing)
► Style lends consistency and makes texts more readable by those who assess or publish them



Documentation

► Refers to the References list at the end of the paper
► The List
 is labeled References (centered, no font changes)
 starts at the top of a new page
 continues page numbering from the last page of text
 is alphabetical
 is double spaced
 Uses a hanging indent (1/2 inch – can be formatted from the Paragraph dialog box in MS Word)



Documenting Authors

► One Author:
Koch Jr., R. T. (2004).

► Two Authors:
Stewart, T., & Biffle, G. (1999).

► Three to Six Authors
Wells, H. G., Lovecraft, H. P., Potter, H. J., Rowling, J. K., & Kirk, J. T. (2005).

► More than Six Authors
Smith, M., Flanagan, F., Judd, A., Burstyn, E., Bullock, S., Knight, S., et al. (2002).

► Same author? List by Year. Same year? Alphabetize by source title and add a letter to the year (1984a).


Documenting Books

Model:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of book. City: Publisher.

Sample:
Perrin, R. (2007). Pocket guide to APA style (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.



Article or chapter in an edited book

Hartley, J. T., Harker J. O., & Walsh, D. A. (1980). Contemporary issues and new directions in adult development of learning and memory. In L. W. Poon (Ed.), Aging in the 1980s: Psychological issues (pp. 239-252). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.



Entry in an encyclopedia

This includes both general and specialized encyclopedias. If an entry does not have a byline, begin the reference with the entry title and publication date.
Moore, C. (1991). Mass Spectrometry. In Encyclopedia of chemical technology (4th ed.)(Vol. 15, pp. 1071-1094). New York, NY: Wiley.



Article in a Popular Magazine

Caloyianis, N. (1998, September). Greenland sharks. National Geographic, 194(3), 60-71.



Article in a Newspaper (Discontinuous pages)

Von Drehle, D. (2000, January 15). Russians unveil new security plan. The Washington Post, pp. A1, A21.



Documenting Journals

Model:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number if available), page numbers.

Sample:
Koch Jr., R. T. (2006). Building connections through reflective writing. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 10(3), 208-213.



Documenting Online Journals

Model:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number. Retrieved month date, year, from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Sample:
Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 8. Retrieved February 20, 2001, from http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html


Print and Online:
Whitmeyer, J.M. (2000). Power through appointment [Electronic version]. Social Science Research, 29, 535-555.


Documenting Websites

Model for an authored document that is a whole site:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article/document. Retrieved month date, year, from http://Web address

Model for an authored page/article from a site:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article/document. Title of Site. Retrieved month date, year, from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Sample (no author, article found on resource website):
Nebraska school nurse honored during 100th Anniversary Celebration. (2007). Answers4Families. Retrieved September 26, 2007, from http://nncf.unl.edu/ nurses/info/anniversary.html

No Author? List page title or article title first.

No page title? List site title.



Interviews, Emails, and Other Personal Communication

Personal communication is NOT included in your reference list; instead, parenthetically cite the communicator's name, the phrase "personal communication," and the date of the communication in your main text only.

(E. Robbins, personal communication, January 4, 2001).

A. P. Smith also claimed that many of her students had difficulties with APA style (personal communication, November 3, 2002).



Motion Picture

Basic reference list format:
Producer, P. P. (Producer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion picture [Motion picture]. Country of origin: Studio or distributor.

Note: If a movie or video tape is not available in wide distribution, add the following to your citation after the country of origin: (Available from Distributor name, full address and zip code).



A Motion Picture or Video Tape with International or National Availability

Sample:

Smith, J. D. (Producer), & Smithee, A. F. (Director). (2001). Really big disaster movie [ Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.



A Motion Picture or Video Tape with Limited Availability

Sample:

Harris, M. (Producer), & Turley, M. J. (Director). (2002). Writing labs: A history [Motion picture]. (Available from Purdue University Pictures, 500 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907)



Television Broadcast or Series Episode

Model:

Producer, P. P. (Producer). (Date of broadcast or copyright). Title of broadcast [ Television broadcast or Television series ]. City of origin: Studio or distributor.

YouTube
(Note that titles are not italicized)

Goyen, A. (2007, February 22). Downtown Marquette dog sled races [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW3CNCGGgTY



Television Broadcast
Sample:

Important, I. M. (Producer). (1990, November 1). The nightly news hour[Television broadcast]. New York, NY: Central Broadcasting Service.



A Television Series

Sample:

Bellisario, D.L. (Producer). (1992). Exciting action show [Television series]. Hollywood: American Broadcasting Company.



Music Recording

Model:

Songwriter, W. W. (Date of copyright). Title of song [Recorded by artist if different from song writer]. On Title of album [Medium of recording]. Location: Label. (Recording date if different from copyright date).

Sample:
Taupin, B. (1975). Someone saved my life tonight [Recorded by Elton John]. On Captain fantastic and the brown dirt cowboy [CD]. London, England: Big Pig Music Limited.



Electronic Books

Use the following format if the book you are using is only provided in a digital format or is difficult to find in print. If the work is not directly available online or must be purchased, use "Available from," rather than "Retrieved from," and point readers to where they can find it. For books available in print form and electronic form, include the publish date in parentheses after the author's name.
De Huff, E. W. (n.d.). Taytay’s tales: Traditional Pueblo Indian tales. Retrieved from http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/dehuff/taytay/taytay.html

Davis, J. (n.d.). Familiar birdsongs of the Northwest. Available from http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=1-9780931686108-0



Blog (Weblog)

Include the title of the message and the URL. Please note that titles for items in online communities (e.g. blogs, newsgroups, forums) are not italicized. If the author’s name is not available, provide the screen name.

J Dean. (2008, May 7). When the self emerges: Is that me in the mirror? [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.spring.org.uk/the1sttransport




Government Document

National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.



Signal Phrases and In-Text Citation


► Signal phrases introduce someone else’s work – they signal that the words and ideas that are about to be offered belong to someone other than the author of the paper.
► In-text citations are the parenthetical pieces of information that appear usually at the end of a quote, paraphrase, or summary (though they sometimes appear before).
► A simple rule:
Author or Title, Year, and Page: what isn’t signaled up front must be cited at the end.
► Limited signal, everything in citation
. . . end of paraphrased sentence, in which you convey the author's ideas in your own words (Krepp, 1985, p. 103).

" . . . end of quoted sentence" (Krepp, 1985, p. 103).


► Author and year in signal, page in citation

In 1985, Krepp reported that . . . (p. 103).

Krepp (1985) tells us that . . . (p. 103).

According to Krepp (1985), ". . ." (p. 103).

Krepp (1985) states that ...... (p. 103).

Krepp (1985) suggests that ..... (p. 103)

Krepp (1985) indicates that ..... (p. 103)

Krepp (1985) points out that ..... (p. 103)

Krepp (1985) presents evidence which shows that ..... (p. 103)


► Multiple Authors signaled (Alphabetical)

Studies (Jones, 1966; Krepp, 1985; Smith, 1973) have shown that . . .

► No Author
("Stocks Lose Again," 1991, p. B16).

According to the news article “Stocks Lose Again” (1991) … end paraphrase or “quote” (p. B16).

► No Page Number
Provide other information in signal phrase



References

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association.

APA formatting and style guide – The OWL at Purdue. (2007). Purdue University Online Writing Lab. Retrieved October 01, 2007, from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Documenting sources at SNHU: APA style. (n.d.). Southern New Hampshire University. Retrieved September 17, 2007 from http://acadweb.snhu.edu/documenting_sources/apa.htm#Use%20a%20citation%20when%20you%20paraphrase

Homepage: APA style. (2007). American Psychological Association. Retrieved October 1, 2007 from http://apastyle.apa.org

Perrin, R. (2007). Pocket guide to APA style (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. (2004). Purdue University Online Writing Lab. Retrieved September 28, 2007, from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_quotprsum.html

THE SPEECH COMMUNICATION PROCESS

In order to give a better speech, you need to understand what goes on during the process of communication. There are seven elements that we need to consider –

1. Sender (Speaker)
2. Message
3. Channel
4. Receiver (Listener)
5. Feedback
6. Interference
7. Environment (Situation)

SENDER

The sender is the speaker. A sender starts with what message he or she wishes to express and then must encode that idea into symbols (words) and signs (facial expressions, tone of voice, etc).

Your success as a public speaker depends on:
• Knowledge of the subject
• Your personal credibility
• Your preparation
• Your manner of speaking
• Your sensitivity to the audience and environment
• ENTHUSIASM!


MESSAGE

The message is whatever a sender (speaker) communicates to someone else (receiver).
• Your goal - to have your intended message be the message that is actually communicated.
• This depends on what you say (verbally) and how you say it (body language)
• Body language involves tone of voice, appearance, gestures, facial expression and eye contact.
• Make sure your body language does not distract from your verbal message.
• All messages are carried by a channel.

CHANNEL

• The channel is the means by which a message is communicated.
• For example the telephone, face-to-face, radio, television, email, etc.
• Public speakers may use one or more of several channels, each of which will affect the message received by the audience.


RECEIVER

• The receiver is the listener. The receiver receives the communicated message through the channel.
• Everything a speaker says is filtered through a listener’s frame of reference.

A frame of reference is the total of a person’s knowledge, experience, goals, values and attitudes. No two people can have exactly the same of reference, so the meaning of a message will be never be the same to a listener as to a speaker.

• A speaker must be audience-centered.


FEEDBACK

• Feedback is the signs the receivers projects while the sender is sending a message.
• Feedback allows the sender to know how his or her message is being received.
• Feedback is affected by one’s frame of reference.


INTERFERENCE

• Anything that impedes the communication of a message.
• It can be external or internal.
• External interference – traffic from outside the building, the clatter of the air-conditioner, students talking in the corridors, etc.
• Internal interference – a bite from a mosquito, worrying about a test coming up in the next period, a stomachache, etc.
• As a speaker, you must try to hold on to your listener’s attention despite these interferences.


ENVIRONMENT

• The environment is the time, place and emotional context the communication takes place in.
• Environments can place expectation and constraints on communication.
• Public speakers must be alert to the situation and occasion. Certain ceremonies need special speeches.
• Physical setting is also important – indoor, outdoor, in a small classroom, in a gymnasium, etc.