Glossary of Terms
Academic sources: often (not always) peer-reviewed by like-minded scholars in the field
Active voice: when the subject in a sentence performs the action
Ad hominem: connects a real or perceived flaw in a person’s character or behavior to an issue he or she supports, asserting that the flaw in character makes the position on the issue wrong
Aesthetics: to captivate and evoke a felt experience for and with a live audience
Aesthetic experience: when good speakers create a felt sense with their audience. Something happens where the audience is captivated by the speaker’s delivery of their argument
After-dinner speech: humorous speeches that make a serious point
Alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sounds in a sentence or passage
Appeal to traditional: the fallacy type that uses traditional practice as the reason for continuing a policy
Appreciative listening: takes place while listening to music, poetry, or literature or watching a play or movie; listening that’s focused on appreciating the arts
Argument: a series of statements in support of a claim, assertion, or proposition
Asynchronous: the speech may be recorded and watched at a different time. Speech is not live
Attitude: a positive or negative response to a person, idea, object, or policy
Audible aids: musical excerpts, audio speech excerpts, and sound effects (see also: presentation aids)
Bandwagon fallacy: fallacy that asserts that because something is popular (or seems to be), it is therefore good, correct, or desirable
Brainstorming: the process and practice of searching to find ideas or information
Call in: creating a message that implicates and relates to your audience; it is to summon
Call-to-action: an action for the audience given by a speaker during a persuasive speech
Ca us e/Effect P a ttern : grouping information by the source or origin, followed by the effect
Chart: a graphical representation of data or a sketch representing an ordered process
C hronologic a l organizational pattern groups information based on time order or in a set chronology—first this occurred, then this, then this, then that.
Civic engagement: listening to information that’s relevant to your community/communities and using public outlets—voting, petitioning, or speaking— to participate in democracy.
Claim: a declarative statement or assertion—it is something that you want your audience to accept or know
Closed information system: information is behind a paywall or requires a subscription
Commencement speech: speech to recognize and celebrate the achievements of a graduating class or other group of people
Commemorative speech : speeches that pay tribute to a person, place, thing, or idea by publicly honoring, remembering, or memorializing
Comprehensive listening: focused on understanding and remembering important information from a public speaking message
Confirmation bias: “a tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions” (Nickerson, 1998)
Connective statements are broad terms that encompass several types of statements or phrases. They are generally designed to help “connect” parts of your speech to make it easier for audience members to follow.
Connotative meaning: the idea suggested by or associated with a word at a cultural or personal level
Constitutive communication: the idea that communication creates meaning and, thus, reality
Context: the particular time and place that a speech occurs
Critical listening: the audience member is evaluating the validity of the arguments and information and deciding whether the speaker is persuasive and whether the message should be accepted
Critical thinking: decision-making based on evaluating and critiquing information
Culture: the collection of language, values, beliefs, knowledge, rituals, and attitudes shared amongst a group
Defamatory speech: false statement of fact to damage a person’s character
Define: to set limits on something; defining a word is setting limits on what it means, how the audience should think about the word, and/or how you will use it
Definitional speeches provide the meaning of an idea to the audience
Deliberation: the process of discussing feasible choices that address community problems
Delivery: part of the classic rhetorical cannon interested in how information is delivered
Demagoguery: actions that attempt to manipulate by distorting an audience through prejudice and emotion.
Demographics: sociocultural characteristics that identify and characterize populations – are common ways of organizing and gathering data about groups of people
Denotative meaning: specific meaning associated with a word
Diagrams: visual representations that simplify a complex process
Digital oratory: thesis-driven, vocal, embodied public address that is housed within (online) new media platforms (also see: online public speaking)
Discrete audience: the explicit, formal audience that shows up to a speech
Dispersed audience: less defined and geographically unclear; often digital
Elocution: in classical rhetoric, the art of delivering speeches, where pronunciation, vocal delivery, and gestures were key to effective public speaking
Empathetic listening: understanding the feelings and motivations of another person, usually with a goal of helping
Ethics: the practice of what’s right, virtuous, or good
Ethnocentrism : the belief that one’s own culture is superior
Ethos : the credibility of a speaker (see also: rhetorical appeals)
Eulogy: speech given in honor of someone who has passed away
Evidence: the proof or support for a claim
Examples: specific instances to illuminate a concept
Explicit audience: the group that’s present when a speaker directs their message
Exploratory research: brainstorming strategies that spark curiosity
Extemporaneous speaking is the presentation of a carefully planned and rehearsed speech, spoken in a conversational manner using brief notes.
Facts: observations that verified by multiple credible sources
Fallacies: erroneous conclusions or statements made from poor analyses
False cause: a fallacy that assumes that one thing causes another, but there is no logical connection between the two
False dilemma: the “either-or” fallacy, or giving only two options, and more than two options exist
Familiar language: language that your audience is accustomed to hearing and experiencing
Funnel Approach: when brainstorming a topic, starting broad and moving downward to a more specific idea
Graph: a pictorial representation of the relationships of quantitative data using dots, lines, bars, pie slices
Hasty generalization: making a generalization with too few examples (see also: fallacies)
Hate speech: language directed against someone or a community’s nationality, race, gender, ability, sexuality, religion or citizenship
Hearing: physical process in which sound waves hit your ear drums and send a message to your brain
Historical narrative: stories about a past person, place, or thing
Implied audience: cultures, groups, or individuals who are represented and/or affected by a message
Impromptu speaking is the presentation of a short message without advance preparation.
Inferred warrants: when the underlying warrant can be understood without being explicitly stated
Internal summaries emphasize what has come before and remind the audience of what has been covered.
Iterative: the process of writing a speech; the final product is not the order that the speech is composed
Jargon: specific, technical language that is used in a given community
Keynote: speech focused on a key theme or idea—generally defined by the event or occasion— with the purpose of unification
Lateral reading: fact-checking source claims by reading other sites and resources
L ectern is a small raised surface, usually with a slanted top, where a speaker can place notes during a speech
Listening: active process where you are specifically making an effort to understand, process, and retain information
Manuscript speaking is the word-for-word iteration of a written message.
Memorized speaking is reciting a written message that the speaker has committed to memory
Metaphor: direct comparisons
M ind ma p : a visual tool that allows you to chart and expand key topic ideas or concepts
Monroe’s Motivated Sequence: designed by Alan Monroe, this 5-step organizational pattern approaches persuasion through attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action
Mythical norm: what Audre Lorde (1984) defines generally as young, white, thin, middle-class men
Narratives: a type of evidence that stories that clarify, dramatize, and emphasize ideas
Needs: important deficiencies that we are motivated to resolve
Noise: the physical or mental sound; a barrier to listening
Nonacademic information sources: sometimes also called popular press information sources; their primary purpose is to be read by the general public
Parallelism: the repetition of sentence structures
Percentage: expresses a proportion of out 100
Personal inventory: a process of tracking ideas, insights, or topics that you have experience with or interest in
Personal narrative: providing a story about your experience with a topic
Persuasion: “the process of creating, reinforcing, or changing people’s beliefs or actions” (Lucas, 2015, p. 306)
Persuasive continuum: a tool that allows you to visualize your audience’s relationship with your topic
Persuasive speaking: addressing a public controversy by creating, reinforcing, or changing someone’s beliefs or actions
Plagiarism: using another person’s words or ideas without giving credit
Planned redundancy: purposeful ways of repeating and restating parts of the speech to help the audience listen and retain the content
Podium is a raised platform or stage
Power: the ability and process of influencing others and selecting certain ways to represent our ideas
Presentation aids are the resources beyond the speech itself that a speaker uses to enhance the message conveyed to the audience
Problem/Solution pattern : grouping information by identifying a harm and describing a solution
Propaganda: biased or misleading information that’s purpose is to promote a particular agenda
Propositions of fact: Speeches with this type of proposition attempt to establish the truth of a statement
Propositions of policy: identify a solution to correct the problem
Propositions of value: argue that something is good/bad or right/wrong
P ublic controversy: community disputes that affect a large number of people
Public speaking: when a speaker attempts to move an audience by advocating for a purposeful message—through informing, persuading, or entertaining—in a particular context
Public speaking apprehension : fear associated with giving a public speech
Online public speaking: thesis-driven, vocal, embodied public address that is housed within (online) new media platforms (also see: digital oratory).
Open information system: information that is publicly available and accessibility
Outline : provides a visual structure where you can compile information into a well-organized document
Organizational patterns : standard ways of organizing groups or categories
Rate: how quickly or slowly you say the words of your speech
Red herring: creating a diversion or introducing an irrelevant point to distract someone or get someone off the subject of the argument
Reflexivity : to critically consider how our values, assumptions, actions, and communication affect others
Research: the process of discovering new knowledge and investigating a topic from different points of view
Selective recall: selectively attend to, perceive, and recall information that supports our existing viewpoints
Similes: the use of “like” or “and” when making a comparison
Slippery slope: a type of false cause fallacy which assumes that taking a first step will lead to subsequent events that cannot be prevented
Spatial pattern: groups information according to space or direction
Speech of acceptance: is a speech given by the recipient of a prize or honor
Speech of dedication: speeches designed to highlight the importance of the project and possibly those to whom the project has been dedicated
Speeches of demonstration are speeches that demonstrate how something is done for the audience
Speeches of description provide a clear, vivid, and memorable picture of a person, place, thing, idea, or alternative
Speeches of explanation detail processes or how something works, often explaining an otherwise complex, abstract, or unfamiliar idea to the audience
Speech of introduction: a mini-speech given by the host of a ceremony that introduces another speaker
Speeches that memorialize: longer speeches that celebrate and honor the person or group of individuals on a significant date
Speech of presentation : a brief speech given to accompany a prize or honor
Statistics: the collection, analysis, comparison, and interpretation of numerical data
Stereotyping: generalizing about a group of people and assuming that because a few persons in that group have a characteristic, all of them do
Straw person: a fallacy that shows only the weaker side of an opponent’s argument in order to more easily tear it down
Style: the classic rhetorical cannon interested in how to effectively craft and execute your ideas
Symbols: a word, icon, gesture, picture, object, etc.—that stand in for and represent a thing or experience
Synchronous: your audience is experiencing the speech in real-time
Target audience: individuals who are willing to listen to your argument despite disagreeing, having limited knowledge, or lacking experience with your advocacy
Testimony: a type of evidence that uses the words of others
Thesis statement: a single, declarative statement that outlines the purpose of your speech
Toast: speech designed to congratulate, appreciate, or remember
Topical pattern : groups information into key categories
Totalizing: taking one characteristic of a group or person and making that the “totality” or sum total of what that person or group is
Tropes: a turning of the text where the literal meaning is changed or altered to provide new insight (Brummett, 2019, p. 95)
Values: goals we strive for and what we consider important and desirable
Verbal delivery: what symbols you select and how you portray them in a public speech
Verbal punctuation: the process of imagining the words as they’re written to insert purposeful, punctuated pauses to conclude key thoughts
Visual aids: pictures, diagrams, charts and graphs, maps, and the like
Vivid language: evokes the senses and is language that arouses the sensations of smelling, tasting, seeing, hearing, and feeling
Vocal enunciation: the pronunciation and expression of words and language
Vocal fillers: fillers including “like, and, so, uh” that disrupt the flow of the sentence
Volume: the relative softness or loudness of one’s voice
Warrant: part of the argument structure that connect the evidence with the claim
Webinar : a meeting or presentation over the Internet
Speak Out, Call In: Public Speaking as Advocacy Copyright © 2019 by Meggie Mapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.
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