5: Choosing and Researching a Topic
- Page ID
- 217868
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)- 5.0: Why It Matters- Choosing and Researching a Topic
- This page emphasizes the parallels between public speaking and design projects, highlighting the importance of careful planning, prototyping, and strategic preparation. It discusses techniques for narrowing topics, conducting research, organizing speech outlines, and documenting resources effectively, recognizing that speakers often have just one chance to convey their message successfully.
- 5.1: Introduction to Choosing a Topic
- This page provides guidance on selecting a speech topic, highlighting the excitement and challenges involved. It offers guiding questions and three effective methods to help students choose a relevant and engaging topic that suits their assignment and audience.
- 5.2: Choosing a Topic
- This page outlines methods for selecting a relevant speech topic by emphasizing personal knowledge, passion, and audience interest. It presents four specific selection methods: Personal Inventory, Guided Brainstorming, Internet Research, and Current Event Research. The goal is to find engaging topics that connect the speaker with their audience, encouraging an open mindset during daily experiences.
- 5.3: Narrowing Your Topic
- This page outlines strategies for narrowing a broad speech topic to enhance communication. It emphasizes focused topics for improved engagement and manageable research. Three methods are detailed: Clustering (brainstorming subtopics), the Inverted Pyramid (visual topic breakdown), and Initial Research (gathering insights).
- 5.4: Finding the Purpose and Central Idea of Your Speech
- This page discusses the speech-making process, focusing on defining purpose and crafting a central idea statement. It identifies four general purposes—informing, persuading, entertaining, and commemorating—and stresses the need to consider the speaker's interests, audience's needs, and context for formulating a specific purpose.
- 5.5: Introduction to Researching and Supporting Your Ideas
- This page emphasizes the importance of research in public speaking, highlighting that it enhances credibility and aids in understanding opposing viewpoints, especially on controversial topics. This understanding enables speakers to effectively address objections and lead the audience toward their perspective.
- 5.6: Supporting Materials
- This page emphasizes the necessity of various supporting materials in speeches, such as examples, data, and testimonies, to enhance credibility and audience engagement. Short examples clarify, long examples provide depth, and hypotheticals foster emotional connections. Statistics and visual aids must be clearly presented to avoid overwhelming the audience, while expert and peer testimonies enrich arguments.
- 5.7: Finding Support for Your Speech
- This page discusses how to effectively gather supporting materials for speeches, highlighting the importance of using diverse sources, including personal experiences, academic research, and interviews. It stresses the value of primary and secondary sources for credibility. Additionally, the page includes details on multimedia resources, their licensing terms, and emphasizes the educational significance of a particular resource by Susan Bagley-Koyle.
- 5.8: Assessing the Quality of Supporting Material
- This page provides guidelines for assessing online sources through the "Four Moves": critically evaluating the source, researching the author and context, seeking reliable coverage, and tracing claims to their origins. It highlights the significance of understanding source credibility and encourages the use of fact-checking tools, promoting a skeptical approach to online information.
- 5.9: Taking Notes and Tracking Sources
- This page discusses effective note-taking strategies for speech preparation. Key practices include detailed note-taking, consistent formatting, clear labeling, and organized subject headings. Stephen Lucas emphasizes the importance of recording relevant materials and clarifying sources to prevent plagiarism. This structured method enhances both the speech preparation process and information retrieval, leading to more engaging presentations.
- 5.10: Introduction to Data and Statistics
- This page highlights the significance of effectively utilizing statistical data in speeches to bolster arguments. It warns that inappropriate statistics can detract from the message, urging speakers to present data clearly and critically to avoid misleading the audience. The content stresses the importance of balancing qualitative information with numerical data to better engage and communicate with listeners.
- 5.11: Statistical Terms and Concepts
- This page highlights the significance of credibility in communication through statistics, detailing concepts like probability and sampling. It underscores that statistics must be contextually relevant and accurately represent populations. Additionally, it discusses the rising frequency and costs of wildfires in relation to consumer spending patterns, featuring contributions from multiple authors on statistical understanding.
- 5.12: The Use and Misuse of Statistics
- This page explores the importance of critically evaluating statistics, addressing common misunderstandings like false causality and biased surveys. It warns against the dangers of misleading statistics, which can lead to poor policy decisions and misinterpretations, especially in graphical representations. The text advocates for careful interpretation and presentation of data to improve public understanding and discourse.
- 5.13: Using Statistics and Data in Your Speech
- This page discusses the effective use of statistics in public speaking to enhance persuasion and comprehension. It emphasizes sourcing statistics from reputable origins, ensuring significant sample sizes, and presenting them clearly. Contextualizing data with relatable examples and visual aids like tables and graphs is crucial. Clarity and relevance must be prioritized to support the message without overwhelming the audience with too much information.
- 5.14: Putting It Together- Choosing and Researching a Topic
- This page emphasizes the importance of selecting a public speaking topic that aligns with your expertise, passions, and audience interests. It advises refining the topic to fit the allotted time and audience understanding, and highlights the necessity of conducting thorough research to ensure the credibility and accuracy of the information presented in the speech.
- 5.15: Assignment- Gathering Quality Material to Build a Speech
- This page provides instructions for completing the assignment "Gathering Quality Material to Build a Speech." It guides readers to access the assignment link, follow the instructions, and submit their work through the LMS. The content is authored by Misti Wills in collaboration with Lumen Learning, and it is licensed under CC BY: Attribution.
- 5.16: Discussion- Selecting a Speech Topic
- This page offers guidelines for engaging in the "Discussion: Selecting a Speech Topic" forum, highlighting the importance of reading the prompt and instructions before contributing responses and comments. It is authored by Misti Wills and Lumen Learning, and is protected under a Creative Commons license.