Q&A Hero

Q: T F Most successful speakers are nervous before taking the floor.

Q: T F Fortunately, stage fright only affects inexperienced speakers.

Q: T F As a speaker, you can usually assume that an audience will be interested in what you have to say.

Q: T F Public speaking is more highly structured than everyday conversation.

Q: T F Public speaking usually requires more formal language than everyday conversation.

Q: T F Public speaking requires the same method of delivery as ordinary conversation.

Q: T F Both public speaking and conversation involve adapting to listener feedback.

Q: T F The teaching and study of public speaking began more than 4,000 years ago.

Q: T F As your textbook states, public speaking is a form of empowerment because it gives speakers the ability to manipulate people.

Q: T F The growth of the Internet and social networking is reducing the need for public speaking.

Q: T F Communication skills, including public speaking, are often ranked first among the qualities employers seek in college graduates.

Q: T F The strongest source of emotional appeal in a persuasive speech is the sincerity and conviction of the speaker.

Q: T F Studies have shown that speakers with low initial credibility need to use more evidence than speakers with high initial credibility.

Q: T F Arguments guilty of the ad hominem fallacy attack the person rather than dealing with the real issue in dispute.

Q: T F According to your textbook, it is redundant for persuasive speakers to give their evidence and then to state the point the evidence is meant to prove.

Q: T F Speakers who explain their expertise on the speech topic are likely to reduce their credibility with the audience.

Q: T F A speakers credibility is affected by everything she or he says and does during the speech.

Q: T F Because it moves from a general principle to a specific conclusion, reasoning from principle is the opposite of reasoning from specific instances.

Q: T F The fallacy of appeal to tradition assumes that something old is automatically better than something new.

Q: T F If you advocate a new policy in a persuasive speech, your main points will usually fall naturally into topical order.

Q: T F When trying to persuade listeners that are skeptical about your position, you need to deal directly with the reasons for their skepticism.

Q: T F Persuasion is the process of creating, reinforcing, or changing peoples beliefs or actions.

Q: T F When you discuss a question of policy, you must deal with three basic issuesneed, plan, and practicality.

Q: T F Even though a persuasive speakers goal is to influence the audiences beliefs or actions, she or he still has an ethical obligation to present evidence fairly and accurately.

Q: T F To persuade my audience to contribute to the campus blood drive is a specific purpose statement for a persuasive speech on a question of policy whose aim is passive agreement.

Q: T F As your textbook explains, persuasion takes place only if the audience is strongly in favor of the speakers position by the end of the speech.

Q: T F To persuade my audience that Citizen Kane is the greatest movie of all time is a specific purpose statement for a persuasive speech on a question of value.

Q: T F When speaking to persuade, you need to think of your speech as a kind of mental dialogue with your audience.

Q: T F The target audience is that portion of the whole audience that the speaker most wants to persuade.

Q: T F When giving an informative speech, you should think about ways to relate your topic to the audience in the body of the speech as well as in the introduction.

Q: T F Informative speeches are seldom organized in topical order.

Q: T F To inform my audience how to create their own blog is a specific purpose statement for an informative speech about a process.

Q: T F Using jargon in an informative speech is useful since it demonstrates your expertise on the topic.

Q: T F Informative speeches about concepts are usually arranged in spatial order.

Q: T F Research shows that using personal terms such as you and your in an informative speech can increase listeners understanding of the speakers ideas.

Q: T F When an informative speech about a process has more than five steps, the speaker should group the steps into units so as to limit the number of main points.

Q: T F If the specific purpose of your informative speech is to recount the history of an event, you will usually arrange the speech in chronological order.

Q: T F A lawyer urging a jury to acquit her client is an example of informative speaking.

Q: T F Your textbook discusses four kinds of informative speechesspeeches about objects, speeches about concepts, speeches about processes, and speeches about events.

Q: T F It is important to maintain strong eye contact with your audience when you are presenting a visual aid.

Q: T F Using visual aids can help combat stage fright.

Q: T F A visual aid is only as useful as the explanation that goes with it.

Q: T F Printing your visual aid in ALL CAPITAL letters is a good way to make sure it will be easy for the audience to read.

Q: T F Research has shown that visual aids can increase both the clarity and the persuasiveness of a speakers message.

Q: T F In most circumstances, you should keep your visual aids on display throughout your speech.

Q: T F When you are going to give an audience material to take home from a speech, you should usually distribute the material at the beginning of the speech.

Q: T F Research has shown that an average speaker who uses visual aids will come across as more credible and better prepared than a speaker who does not use visual aids.

Q: T F Your textbook recommends that you make a PowerPoint slide for every point in your speech.

Q: T F If you were showing statistical trends in a speech, the best visual aid to use would probably be a pie graph.

Q: T F In most cases, the question-and-answer session has little impact on an audiences response to a speech.

Q: T F Rehearsing how you behave at the beginning and end of your speech is one of the easiest things you can do to improve your image with an audience.

Q: T F You can articulate a word sharply and still mispronounce it.

Q: T F Research shows that personal appearance affects the audiences perception of the speaker.

Q: T F One of the advantages of speaking from a manuscript is that it frees a speaker from the need to establish eye contact with the audience.

Q: T F Conversational quality in a speech means that the speaker talks the same as she or he would in ordinary conversation.

Q: T F Ways of talking based on ethnic or regional speech patterns are called dialects.

Q: T F Nonverbal communication is based on a persons use of voice and body, rather than on the use of words.

Q: T F In the United States, public speakers who establish strong eye contact are usually perceived as more credible than speakers who have weak eye contact.

Q: T F An extemporaneous speech is carefully prepared and practiced in advance.

Q: T F As your textbook explains, using inclusive language in a speech is important primarily as a matter of political correctness.

Q: T F Using language with a strong rhythm can increase the impact of a speakers words.

Q: T F Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country is an example of antithesis.

Q: T F Antithesis and alliteration are excellent ways to enhance the imagery of a speech.

Q: T F The Olympic flame burns inside every competitor, igniting their desire to win gold is an example of metaphor.

Q: T F A speech dominated by abstract words will almost always be clearer than one dominated by concrete words.

Q: T F Language needs to be appropriate to a speaker herself or himself, as well as to the audience, topic, and occasion.

Q: T F A speaker should avoid using familiar words because they make a speech sound trite.

Q: T F Connotative meaning is precise, literal, and objective.

Q: T F The words we use to label an event determine to a great extent how we respond to that event.

Q: T F The speaking outline is essentially a manuscript of your speech.

Q: T F Delivery cues should be included on both the preparation and speaking outlines.

Q: T F The visual framework of a preparation outline shows the relationships among the speakers ideas.

Q: T F It is seldom necessary to write out quotations in full in a speaking outline.

Q: T F Are Our Bridges Safe? would be an appropriate title for a speech on bridge safety.

Q: T F The speaking outline follows a different pattern of symbolization and indentation from the preparation outline.

Q: T F Including the specific purpose with your preparation outline makes it easier to assess how well you have constructed the speech to accomplish your purpose.

Q: T F In the most common system of outlining, main points are identified by Roman numerals and subpoints by capital letters.

Q: T F According to your textbook, the introduction, body, and conclusion should all be labeled in a speech preparation outline.

Q: T F When making a preparation outline, you should state your main points and subpoints in full sentences to ensure that you develop your ideas fully.

Q: T F A speech conclusion that builds in power and intensity as it moves toward the closing line is known as a dissolve ending.