Exam Prep Chapter 1 Welcome To Public Speaking

Chapter 1: Welcome to Public Speaking

Multiple Choice

1. Robert listens as his friend tells him that fewer immigrants are being allowed into the United States but he knows he needs to verify this information before using it in his speech. What aspect of a critical thinker is Robert displaying?

a. Critical thinkers distinguish between fact and opinion.

b. Critical thinkers take the speaker’s claims at face value.

c. Critical thinkers look at each idea as new and unique.

d. Critical thinkers accept assertions on faith.

Learning Objective: 1.1 Identify the principal skills and concepts you will learn in this course and how they will benefit you outside the classroom.

Topic: Why Study Public Speaking?

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

2. Which sentence represents a statement of fact?

a. The United States must protect itself from international terrorism.

b. Laptop computer prices are bound to drop over the next 5 years.

c. Universal health care is an idea whose time has come.

d. Mortgage rates are at a 20-year low.

Learning Objective: 1.1 Identify the principal skills and concepts you will learn in this course and how they will benefit you outside the classroom.

Topic: Why Study Public Speaking?

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

3. Carlos told the class that after his trip to Italy he thinks no matter where you go in the world, there aren’t enough nice hotel rooms for travelers. What type of information is Carlos using to make his point?

a. a fact

b. a value

c. an opinion

d. a strategy

Learning Objective: 1.1 Identify the principal skills and concepts you will learn in this course and how they will benefit you outside the classroom.

Topic: Why Study Public Speaking?

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

4. When speakers use strategic planning, the first thing they do is to __________.

a. identify their goals

b. assess their personal knowledge

c. organize sources

d. locate reference materials

Learning Objective: 1.1 Identify the principal skills and concepts you will learn in this course and how they will benefit you outside the classroom.

Topic: Why Study Public Speaking?

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

5. Effective communication skills are highly valued by employers because __________.

a. interviewers like to have good conversations with interviewees

b. public speaking is becoming a larger part of corporate life

c. our economy is increasingly dependent on information communicated effectively

d. public messages are increasingly complex, and effective interpretation is difficult

Learning Objective: 1.1 Identify the principal skills and concepts you will learn in this course and how they will benefit you outside the classroom.

Topic: Why Study Public Speaking?

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

6. Public speaking is a communication process that can best be described as a(n) __________.

a. series of one-way messages delivered by the speaker to the listeners

b. continuous exchange of messages and signals between the speaker and the listeners

c. decoding process in which the speaker and the audience share a frame of reference

d. organized monologue delivered to an audience

Learning Objective: 1.2 Describe public speaking as a communication process in which the speaker and listeners jointly create meaning and understanding.

Topic: Public Speaking and Communication

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

7. Amanda is a college senior and also interns for the local city council. She gave a speech on retail store shopping habits in class and is reworking it for her presentation at the council board meeting to include some facts the board members will want to know. What aspect of the speaker’s view is Amanda considering?

a. the audience

b. the feedback

c. the interplay

d. the opinions

Learning Objective: 1.2 Describe public speaking as a communication process in which the speaker and listeners jointly create meaning and understanding.

Topic: Public Speaking and Communication

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

8. Jeremy noticed that many of his audience members were nodding their heads in agreement when he said that property taxes were too high. The audience response is a form of __________.

a. fact

b. feedback

c. noise

d. strategy

Learning Objective: 1.2 Describe public speaking as a communication process in which the speaker and listeners jointly create meaning and understanding.

Topic: Public Speaking and Communication

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

9. Public speaking occurs __________.

a. in a specific situation

b. in response to feedback

c. in response to a speaker’s urge to speak

d. in response to the audience’s need to know something

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

10. What is the term for the study of how messages affect people?

a. critical thinking

b. strategic planning

c. feedback

d. rhetoric

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

11. Carson considered his speech an opportunity to help his audience understand the importance of having automatic defibrillators installed in every campus building. Carson’s speech is an example of a(n) __________ situation.

a. critical

b. feedback

c. rhetorical

d. purposive

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

12. During her speech on changing general education requirements at the university, Mollie made it a point to discuss the need for gainful employment, a concern she shared with her audience. By doing so, Mollie was attempting to __________.

a. recognize the occasion

b. devise a strategy

c. decode the message

d. establish identification

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

13. Tenzing is planning a speech on the Chinese occupation of his Tibetan homeland and is not sure how to create identification with his classmates. Which element of the rhetorical situation is he concerned with in his search for identification?

a. the speech

b. the speaker

c. the purpose

d. the audience

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

14. Rajiv plans to speak to his class about violence in the United States. As the date for his speech approaches, he adds a reference to a recent workplace shooting, which he heard about on the evening news. By adding this reference, Rajiv recognized the importance of ________ in defining the occasion.

a. identification

b. rhetorical criticism

c. simultaneous events

d. audience feedback

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

15. During her closing argument, the attorney reminded jurors that no other defendant in history had been charged with this type of crime and they should carefully consider all of the facts. What type of speech occasion does this represent?

a. ceremonial

b. forensic

c. informative

d. deliberative

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

16. In public speaking, what is an exigence?

a. the purpose of the speech

b. a device for concluding the speech

c. a form of audience feedback

d. a problem that cannot be avoided

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

17. What are the three basic purposes for public speaking?

a. informing, explaining, conforming

b. deliberating, persuading, identifying

c. persuading, debating, deliberating

d. entertaining, persuading, informing

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

18. Kurt wants to provide his listeners with new information about changes in student loan eligibility. The general purpose of his speech is to __________ his audience.

a. inform

b. persuade

c. direct

d. entertain

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

19. Margo wants to convince her audience to participate in the upcoming 5K run to support local charities. The purpose of her speech is to __________.

a. inform

b. persuade

c. direct

d. entertain

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

20. The speaker’s characteristic use of language to convey meaning and evoke emotion is a speech element called __________.

a. invention

b. arrangement

c. style

d. delivery

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

21. __________ is the process of using effective voice, gestures, and facial expressions during a speech.

a. Invention

b. Arrangement

c. Style

d. Delivery

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

22. Jane spent several hours at the library researching possible ideas she could use in her speech on the development of Western architecture. Which speech element is she focusing on?

a. style

b. arrangement

c. memory

d. invention

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

23. Which element of a speech involves sharing the message with an audience?

a. style

b. invention

c. delivery

d. arrangement

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

24. Once Sanjay had gathered all the information he could about his topic, he began working on determining the best structure for his main ideas. Sanjay is engaged in which activity?

a. invention

b. arrangement

c. style

d. delivery

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

25. Kerri prepared an outline she could refer to when giving her speech to the board members. What type of presentation is Kerri using?

a. extemporaneous

b. impromptu

c. memorized

d. manuscript

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

26. Parva is worried she will forget an important fact when she makes her presentation so she decides to read her speech line by line from the script she prepared. What type of presentation is Parva giving?

a. manuscript

b. impromptu

c. extemporaneous

d. memorized

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

27. When a speaker discusses matters that affect the audience and also affect others in the community, that speaker is participating in a(n) __________.

a. extemporaneous speech

b. public forum

c. rhetorical situation

d. frame of reference

Learning Objective: 1.4 Define the public forum and describe how studying public speaking will prepare you to participate effectively in it.

Topic: The Public Forum

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

28. One characteristic of a public forum is the need for cooperative action which means that

a. the issue being discussed affects only the speaker

b. the desired outcome of the speech is obvious

c. both speakers and listeners participate in determining the outcome

d. a decision is not necessary to come to a conclusion

Learning Objective: 1.4 Define the public forum and describe how studying public speaking will prepare you to participate effectively in it.

Topic: The Public Forum

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

29. When most people hear about a public forum, they think of __________.

a. politics

b. television news

c. a courtroom

d. religion

Learning Objective: 1.4 Define the public forum and describe how studying public speaking will prepare you to participate effectively in it.

Topic: The Public Forum

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

30. What will happen if the public forum is allowed to weaken?

a. Individuals will make their own decisions.

b. Critical public decisions will be made unilaterally.

c. The public forum will return to the realm of traditional politics.

d. People will make decisions that do not affect them.

Learning Objective: 1.4 Define the public forum and describe how studying public speaking will prepare you to participate effectively in it.

Topic: The Public Forum

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

31. What is a sign of a healthy public forum?

a. broad recognition of political and advertising slogans

b. increasing attention to information sources that support one’s own point of view

c. an increasing number of people who are convinced that they have the power to effect change

d. a decreasing willingness to debate public issues

Learning Objective: 1.4 Define the public forum and describe how studying public speaking will prepare you to participate effectively in it.

Topic: The Public Forum

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

32. What are the alternatives to a well-cultivated public forum?

a. anarchy and chaos

b. autocratic rule and anarchy

c. autocratic rule by experts but not rulers

d. civic engagement and traditional politics

Learning Objective: 1.4 Define the public forum and describe how studying public speaking will prepare you to participate effectively in it.

Topic: The Public Forum

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

33. As Cassandra walked to her dorm, she stopped on the quad to listen to speeches on the social conditions in the surrounding community. The speakers urged students to help those in need. These speakers and Cassandra are participating in a(n) __________.

a. public forum

b. political debate

c. extemporaneous presentation

d. feedback channel

Learning Objective: 1.4 Define the public forum and describe how studying public speaking will prepare you to participate effectively in it.

Topic: The Public Forum

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

34. Thorough research is the best way to ensure that you have met which ethical criterion?

a. showing respect for the topic

b. showing respect for the listeners

c. showing concern for the consequences of the speech

d. taking responsibility for your statements

Learning Objective: 1.5 Identify the principal ethical obligations of listeners and speakers.

Topic: Ethics: Respect for Audience, Topic, Evidence, and Occasion

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

35. What would violate the high ethical standards for a speaker?

a. respect for the listeners

b. respect for the topic

c. responsibility for statements

d. appealing to specific homogenous audiences

Learning Objective: 1.5 Identify the principal ethical obligations of listeners and speakers.

Topic: Ethics: Respect for Audience, Topic, Evidence, and Occasion

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

36. The tendency to believe that your own views are typical of everyone else’s is known as __________.

a. ethnocentrism

b. subjectivity

c. exigence

d. identification

Learning Objective: 1.5 Identify the principal ethical obligations of listeners and speakers.

Topic: Ethics: Respect for Audience, Topic, Evidence, and Occasion

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

37. Plagiarism specifically violates which ethical principle?

a. responsibility for your statements

b. concern for the consequences of your speech

c. respect for yourself

d. respect for the topic

Learning Objective: 1.5 Identify the principal ethical obligations of listeners and speakers.

Topic: Ethics: Respect for Audience, Topic, Evidence, and Occasion

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

38. If you devote your entire speech to what listeners already know, how have you failed to show respect for your listeners?

a. You failed to meet them where they are.

b. Your speech did not merit the audience’s time.

c. You failed to respect cultural diversity.

d. You insulted listeners’ intelligence or judgment.

Learning Objective: 1.5 Identify the principal ethical obligations of listeners and speakers.

Topic: Ethics: Respect for Audience, Topic, Evidence, and Occasion

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

39. A plagiarized work occurs when the speaker presents someone else’s words and __________.

a. tells the audience these words are from another person

b. ties these words to their main point

c. does not cite the source

d. assumes that the audience understands the terminology

Learning Objective: 1.5 Identify the principal ethical obligations of listeners and speakers.

Topic: Ethics: Respect for Audience, Topic, Evidence, and Occasion

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

40. Respect for the listeners, respect for the topic, responsibility for one’s statements, and concern for the consequences of the speech are all part of a speaker’s __________ responsibilities.

a. feedback

b. context

c. diversity

d. ethical

Learning Objective: 1.5 Identify the principal ethical obligations of listeners and speakers.

Topic: Ethics: Respect for Audience, Topic, Evidence, and Occasion

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

Essay Questions

41. Identify the two invaluable general skills emphasized in the study of public speaking. Describe the processes of each and indicate why they are essential.

• Critical thinking is the ability to form and defend your own judgments rather than blindly accepting or instantly rejecting what you hear or read. Critical thinking is necessary to place ideas in a broader context, showing how they relate to other things that you already know or believe.
• In planning strategically, you make conscious choices about whether to speak, when to speak, what to say, how to phrase a point and how to explain or defend the point, how to organize the message, what tone to give it, and how to relate a message to the audience. Through strategic planning, you identify goals and determine how best to achieve them.

Learning Objective: 1.1 Identify the principal skills and concepts you will learn in this course and how they will benefit you outside the classroom.

Topic: Why Study Public Speaking?

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

42. Explain the difference between a fact and an opinion and describe the role each plays in the critical thinking process.

• A fact is a statement that can be verified by a source, such as a reference book
• An opinion is a subjective statement that is based on someone’s personal experience and has not been verified by an external source.
• Critical thinkers are able to quickly recognize the difference between fact and opinion and use this knowledge when assessing a situation.
• Listeners also benefit from knowing this difference as they are able to recognize a speaker’s unstated assumptions.

Learning Objective: 1.1 Identify the principal skills and concepts you will learn in this course and how they will benefit you outside the classroom.

Topic: Why Study Public Speaking?

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

43. Explain why public speaking is a continuous communication process. Identify how this influences the preparation and presentation of the speech.

• The audience participates along with the speaker in creating shared meaning and understanding. The salient issues will matter the most, so the speaker should focus on those.
• The speaker’s ideas and values are tested and refined through interaction with the audience, and listeners’ knowledge and understanding is modified through interaction with the speaker. The speaker should try to match the audience’s expectations appropriately.
• Messages and signals circulate back and forth between speaker and listeners. The speaker should use audience feedback while delivering the speech to improve the fit while speaking.

Learning Objective: 1.2 Describe public speaking as a communication process in which the speaker and listeners jointly create meaning and understanding.

Topic: Public Speaking and Communication

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Analyze It

44. Describe the process of identification and explain its importance in the rhetorical situation.

• Identification refers to the common ground speakers try to find between what they know about the audience and what they want to say in the speech.
• This common bond creates a link between the speaker and the audience.
• A speaker may avoid identification if they wish to antagonize the audience as they attempt to persuade them.
• Sometimes audience members incorporate what they speaker wants them to but at other times they may be skeptical of this common ground.

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

45. Identify the three types of occasions for public speaking. Define each and explain how each type of occasion affects the type of speech to be given. Discuss differences between the demands of different occasions.

• The three types of occasions for public speaking are ceremonial, deliberative, and forensic occasions.
• Ceremonial occasions call for speeches about the present and the praiseworthy. They include awards, introductions, eulogies, and commemorations.
• Deliberative occasions call for speeches about decision making. They focus on the future and what should be done. They include oral reports, sales presentations, speeches of advocacy, and refutation.
• Forensic occasions call for speeches about the past and render judgment. They are generally limited to courtroom speaking.

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

46. Describe the five major speech elements that create opportunities for the speaker.

• Invention is the generation of materials for the speech. You produce (or “invent,” to use the rhetorical term) these materials through a combination of analysis, research, and judgment.
• Arrangement is the structuring of ideas and materials in the speech. This includes the organization of materials for each main idea, the ordering and connecting of main ideas within the body of the speech, and the overall structure of the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.
• Style is the distinctive character that may make a speech recognizable or memorable. Style is achieved primarily through language, and it reflects the speaker’s awareness of how language can be used both to “show” and to “tell”—both to evoke emotions and to convey descriptive meaning.
• Delivery is the presentation of the speech. Whereas the preceding activities are performed by the speaker alone, delivery involves actually sharing the message with the audience. Skillful delivery involves the effective use of voice, gesture, facial expression, physical movement, and visual aids.
• Memory was an extremely important category of skills at a time when most speeches were memorized. Today, however, most speakers use either extemporaneous presentation (referring to an outline) or manuscript presentation (reading a written script). Even so, some dimensions of memory are still very important— for example, keeping track of main ideas, phrasing ideas so that listeners will remember them, and precisely wording an effective introduction and conclusion. Memory skills also are critical in rehearsing your speech mentally and in practicing it aloud before presentation.

Learning Objective: 1.3 Name the elements of a rhetorical situation and explain the steps by which a speech affects the situation.

Topic: The Rhetorical Situation

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

47. How does an understanding of the public forum promote civic engagement and effective democracy?

• With an understanding of the public forum, a speaker comes to know that speeches affect an audience beyond the immediate listeners.
• A speaker who understands the public forum knows that it is important to participate in the public forum so as to avoid unilateral decision making by leaders.
• A speaker with this understanding also knows that democracies weaken when the public forum is not robust and that active participation in the public forum helps avoid a shift toward autocracy or anarchy.

Learning Objective: 1.4 Define the public forum and describe how studying public speaking will prepare you to participate effectively in it.

Topic: The Public Forum

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Analyze It

48. Describe the conditions that must be present for a public forum to exist.

• Some problem affects people collectively as well as individually.
• Cooperative action is needed to address the problem. Speakers and listeners participate in deciding what to do.
• The decision requires subjective judgment. What should be done is not obvious; there is more than one possible solution, and there is no way for anyone to gather all the information that conceivably might bear on the decision.
• Nevertheless, a decision is required. People stand at a fork in the road, and a choice cannot be avoided.

Learning Objective: 1.4 Define the public forum and describe how studying public speaking will prepare you to participate effectively in it.

Topic: The Public Forum

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

49. Discuss how the prominence of social media has changed the face of the public forum.

• Social media brings speed to the transmission of news and discussion which was not available before.
• Much of the discourse in the public forum now takes place online via Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
• Since it is easy to share a message via social media this has created a smaller perceived distance between speakers and listeners
• It is now much easier to be politically engaged
• The downside to the social media aspect of a public forum occurs in a lack of civility, polarization, and an unwillingness to engage “offline.”

Learning Objective: 1.4 Define the public forum and describe how studying public speaking will prepare you to participate effectively in it.

Topic: The Public Forum

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Analyze It

50. What are the four ethical principles that your textbook supports? Explain the differences and indicate how they might be applied to a speech you might give in your class.

• The four ethical principles are (1) respect for the listeners, (2) respect for the topic, (3) responsibility for one’s statements, and (4) concern for the consequences of the speech.
• Respect for listeners involves a speaker being willing to acknowledge the audience’s current position, whether or not the speaker agrees with it. The speaker also shows respect by not insulting listeners’ intelligence and by acknowledging audience diversity.
• A speaker respects a topic by learning about it in enough detail to present it clearly and fairly.
• A speaker must take responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of his or her statements, being careful not to misrepresent fact as opinion or vice versa. A speaker always acknowledges sources and never plagiarizes another’s work.
• A speaker is never indifferent to how the speech will affect others.
• The ideal answer will give a short description of a speech topic and provide a specific example of how an audience’s position can be acknowledged, the topic could be researched, sources could be cited, and the speech effects carefully considered.

Learning Objective: 1.5 Identify the principal ethical obligations of listeners and speakers.

Topic: Ethics: Respect for Audience, Topic, Evidence, and Occasion

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know