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14.5: Selecting Supporting Materials

  • Page ID
    9047
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    The credibility of the materials chosen to support a speech’s main idea is culturally dependent. This rule applies to the choice of stories, facts and statistics and testimonies, the materials most often used to support a speech.

    stories

    In many cultures, anecdotes, stories or parables enjoy high credibility as supporting materials. For instance, in Kenya the success of persuasive messages will often depend on the effective use of personal stories and anecdotes (Miller, 2002). Similarly, East and South East Asian cultures influenced by Confucianism also tend to rely on analogies, metaphors and parables to convey the main message of the speech (Xiao, 1996). An effective strategy for public speakers would be to choose stories and anecdotes to support their main arguments when addressing audiences predominantly from cultures that value such supporting materials.

    facts and statistics

    European American cultures often value facts and statistics as the most credible form of supporting materials (Lustig & Koester, 2010). Most public speaking textbooks include a section that emphasizes the importance of strengthening main points with facts and statistics. And, most public speeches made by politicians, activists or corporate CEOs are often peppered with statistics that appear to highlight or buttress their arguments. However, “facts” do not enjoy currency in all cultures. In cultures that value stories and parables, facts and statistics are not as well received.

    testimonies

    The acceptance of expert testimonies also varies from culture to culture. In some African cultures, no one is regarded as being objective. For instance, the testimony of a witness would have low credibility, because when someone speaks up about something, that person is expected to have a personal agenda in mind (Chang, 2004). On the contrary, in the United States, testimonies of witnesses are vital pieces of evidence. These differences in relative credibility accorded to testimonies by different cultures can affect the effectiveness of a public speech. Employing a mix of supporting materials might enhance credibility with a diverse audience.

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    This page titled 14.5: Selecting Supporting Materials is shared under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ganga S. Dhanesh@National University of Singapore (Public Speaking Project) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.