Ebook PDF The Audience The Message The Speaker 8th Edition PDF
Ebook PDF The Audience The Message The Speaker 8th Edition PDF
C O N T E N T S
Preface xv
ﱾ
P
1
A R T
I The Audience
11
12
12
The Message 12
The Speaker 13
Value to the Speaker 14
Speaker–Audience Relationship 15
Getting Started 16
Exercise 17
Questions for Discussion and Review 17
Progress Management Checklist 18
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viii CONTENTS
Religious Influences 24
Cultural Differences 24
The Relevance Factor 25
Stepping into the Listener’s Shoes 26
Speaking So That People Will Listen 27
Gain the Audience’s Attention 27
Have a Clear Purpose Statement 27
Emphasize Key Words and Important Points 28
Provide Connecting Phrases 28
Build Attention Features into the Speech 28
Ease the Strain of Listening 29
Penetrate Stereotyped Notions 29
Observe the Time Limit 31
Respect for the Audience 31
Exercise 31
Questions for Discussion and Review 32
Progress Management Checklist 32
CONTENTS ix
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Progress Management Checklist 64
P A R T
II The Message 65
x CONTENTS
Controlled Studies 79
Statistical Data 80
Testimonial Evidence 82
Explanation 83
Interest Grabbers 85
Selecting Your Material 87
Exercise 87
Questions for Discussion and Review 87
Progress Management Checklist 88
CONTENTS xi
xii CONTENTS
Exercise 143
Questions for Discussion and Review 144
ﱾ
Progress Management Checklist 144
P A R T
III The Speaker 147
CONTENTS xiii
xiv CONTENTS
P R E F A C E
ﱾ I
t never occurred to me that this text would be read by anyone other than
English-speakers. But this year it will be translated into and published
in Chinese so that it can be used in colleges and universities in Asia. It
was selected, I have learned, because of its emphasis on overcoming cultural
differences and addressing the relationship that the speaker has with the
audience. I am especially pleased about that because those thoughts tie in
nicely with the new material I have added to this edition on finding common
ground.
In recent years we have seen a growing climate of polarization in the public
dialogue on social issues. Presidential campaigns contribute to that condition
as candidates make every effort they can to distinguish themselves from other
contenders. The result has been to encourage speakers to highlight differences
at the expense of unity. The challenge to today’s speaker is to break down the
walls that divide us and bring people together in supporting a common cause.
Students of public speaking need to distinguish between a general audi-
ence and a political rally. Candidates for public office can address selected
groups that consist of like-minded people. The speaker at a rally can pretty
much count on the crowd favoring the policies that are expressed and cheer-
ing on cue at the applause lines. That will not be the case when a student
gives a speech in class or to a general audience. Most of the time a speaker can
expect that there will be people in the audience with different points of view
and with cultural backgrounds that give them different perspectives. Speakers
need to consider how they can reach those who might not understand their
references, and how they can connect with those who may have fundamental
disagreements.
In Chapter 3, “Finding Common Ground,” I have elaborated on the prac-
tice of framing a thought in language that is inclusive rather than divisive. Too
often we rely on standard expressions such as “pro-life” or “pro-choice” that
separate people into categories that carry unnecessary baggage. I like to point
out that there are other ways of expressing beliefs on issues such as family plan-
ning that do not generate and exacerbate alienation. A meeting of minds cannot
occur when speaker and audience are on opposite sides of a fence. Somewhere
in between there is common ground that does not require one side to yield to
the other, but offers an alternative that both can accept. Finding that ground is
not so much a matter of compromise as of thinking creatively about collective
interests and unexplored possibilities.
xv
xvi PREFACE
I believe that inclusiveness in public speaking has not been given the atten-
tion it deserves. In recent years we have had too many debates and not enough
healing discussions. We have come to regard good public speaking as effec-
tively attacking the opposition rather than seeking common ground that may
bring two sides together. My hope is that this text will encourage readers to
place more stock in reconciliation.
When the first edition of this textbook was published in 1971, there was lit-
tle need to pay attention to the challenges of speaking to a diversified audience.
At Foothill College, where I taught for 27 years, almost all of my students had
the same cultural and ethnic background and were familiar with the literary,
historical, and political references I made. But as the years went by, the picture
began to change. Students came to our college from all parts of the world. In
the past decade, men and women from over 70 different nations have enrolled.
No longer can instructors assume that everyone in their classes will understand
the implications of historical events that all of us in my generation and culture
were taught in school.
In subsequent editions of the text, and in my lectures, I included consider-
ations pertaining to cultural diversity when I wrote or spoke about audience
analysis. The first rule for the speaker is to reach the people in the audience
from where they are, rather than from the place where you want them to be.
I would be pleased if all my students or people in my audience were in the
same political party as I am. I would be delighted if they all enjoyed theater
and poetry, had traveled to places where I have been, had seen the same plays
that I had seen and read the same books. I would like it if they all studied geog-
raphy, rode bicycles, and belonged to environmental protection organizations
and peacemaking groups as I do. But I know that’s not always going to be the
case. I can speak of those things and convey my own enthusiasm, but I must
recognize that my experience is not necessarily going to be the same as theirs.
Somehow I have to be able to relate what I know to something similar in their
own frame of reference.
The foundation of this text is based upon the writings of Aristotle, who
had a profound effect upon the way people in the Western world have struc-
tured their society. That is not something that everyone in this country would
acknowledge. For the most part, the average person in America knows very
little about Aristotle and would find it difficult to cite an example of how his
or her behavior was affected by any of the early Greek philosophers. Neverthe-
less, that influence is there. I suspect that the Chinese regard their philosophers
in the same way. How many people in China would be able or willing to say
that Lao-tse or Confucius has played an important role in the way they think
or act?
In considering the translation of this text from English to Chinese, I had
to wonder if it would be possible to find common ground between Eastern
and Western thinking. Is there any comparison that can be made between the
wisdom of Lao-tse and that of Aristotle? One lived three hundred years before
PREFACE xvii
the other and on the opposite side of the globe. Aristotle professed control of
the environment to meet the needs of human beings, while Lao-tse believed
in the acceptance of things the way they are to achieve peace of mind. Can we
reconcile those differences? How does a controlling philosophy equate with an
accepting one? I think both philosophers could agree that the pursuit of wis-
dom begins with understanding one’s self, taking responsibility for one’s own
actions, and accepting the reality of the physical world. Both might also agree
that things of the physical world need to be defined and classified. With that
foundation I think we can build a case to show the value that the art of public
speaking and persuasion has in both worlds.
Another commonality present in all cultures is the need for ethical stan-
dards. A chapter on that element of public speaking has been included in most
editions of this text, but in this current edition I have expressed the concepts
in contemporary language rather than in the words of the philosophers. In the
1960s students themselves came up with a phrase that summarizes the essence
of rhetorical ethics—“Tell it like it is.” That’s what I have tried to do.
My area of study includes all aspects of oral communication. Public speak-
ing is, perhaps, the most clearly defined division of the speech arts. It is the
course I recommend for those who want to develop their skills of persuasion
and teaching. But it may not be the best discipline for those students interested
in problem solving and decision making. The difference is that the former
deals with professing the best solution, while the latter addresses the process of
seeking it. My course in small-group discussion relies upon a student’s ability
to listen to the thoughts expressed by others, to weigh their value, and incor-
porate the best ideas into solutions that work for the good of all. The goal is to
reach consensus rather than to persuade others to accept the conclusion of the
leader.
The speech curriculum in many colleges includes interpersonal communi-
cation. This division of the discipline examines the motives, perceptions, and
expectations of senders and receivers. It recognizes that all face-to-face com-
munication is transactional, meaning that messages flow in both directions. It is
an effort to help people understand each other at the emotional as well as the
cognitive level, to set aside inclinations to control or to be judgmental, and to
form honest and accepting relationships. It is not part of the rhetorical tradition
but leans heavily upon the behavioral sciences.
While public speaking is the primary focus of this text, the well-rounded
student should have some exposure to the broader theories of communication.
When standing on a podium, a speaker needs to be aware and sensitive to the
way the audience is receiving the message. There are very real hazards ahead
for those who do not.
In the past decade the common ground between China and the United
States has been technology. The city where I teach in California is in the heart of
Silicon Valley. It is similar in many ways to the “special economic zones” that
were responsible for the growth of cities like Shenzhen. The development of the
xviii PREFACE
Internet and cell phone technology has made tremendous strides in bridging
the gap between our two cultures. Young people in particular have mastered
the terminology of the digital world. Now that we have the means to communi-
cate, what are we going to say to one another? The progress made by scientific
minds in providing instruments of communication must now be matched by
the intelligent thought and articulation of those who study the rhetoric of the
social sciences and humanities.
Supplements
The supplements for the eighth edition will include an Instructor’s Manual
for instructors, and Chapter Quizzes, Progress Management Checklists, and
Internet Exercises for students. All of these resources were prepared by Delois
V. Medhin of Milwaukee Area Technical College and can be found on the
Online Learning Center at www.mhhe.com/hasling8e.
ﱾ
The Audience
The Message
The Speaker
ﱻ
P R O L O G U E
Theory of Oral
Communication
O
ur Constitution guarantees our rights to freedom of speech, and we
must never take that privilege for granted. We could lose our right to
free speech in a very real sense by not exercising it. If we become con-
tent to have others speak for us and to allow the positions and interests of the
few to dominate public policy and law, we might just as well not have it at all.
An important dimension of the First Amendment is that we also have the right
to listen, if we will, and to evaluate what we hear. What free speech means is that
we will be exposed to all kinds of viewpoints. We will hear false information
as well as truth, and we must learn to separate one from the other. That is not
always easy and requires that we keep informed on significant issues. Truth
is never self-evident; if it were, there would be no need for us to study the art
of persuasion. Our Constitution can guarantee that we have the right to speak
our minds, but it cannot guarantee that anyone will listen. Although what we
say may be true, there is no assurance that it will be accepted and believed. If
we want to have influence over other people, our government officials, and
those who control our institutions, we must be able to make our perception of
the truth sound plausible. The capability for this comes more easily to some
than to others, but the opportunity is available to all, regardless of sex, reli-
gion, nationality, or economic status. It is denied only to those who choose to
remain silent.
We have been speaking and listening our whole lives. How effectively we
have been doing these things may depend to some extent on our natural ability
and inclinations, but it has a lot to do with the speaking and listening skills that
we acquire.
2 PROLOGUE
1Aristotle,On Rhetoric, trans. George A. Kennedy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991)
pp. 36–37.
2Sylvia Moss and Stewart L. Tubbs, Human Communication, 6th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill
PROLOGUE 3
to other people is in the form of nonverbal messages. When you smile and nod
your head you are saying, “I hear you, and I like what you say,” just as clearly
as you would be if you were to speak the words. Often, we forget that when
we are in the presence of another person we are sending messages, whether we
intend to or not; in fact, it is impossible for us not to communicate. When we
bring this simple observation to the level of awareness, we have a better chance
of knowing how to be intentional in what we do and say.
Noise
The interference we call noise can be of a physical nature or a psychological
nature. If it’s physical, in a private situation it might be something such as a
smoky room that is causing you discomfort or a television program that you
can see out of the corner of your eye while you are trying to read. In a public
speaking situation it might be distractions caused by members of the audience
who are rattling chairs, or a faulty sound system that squeals when the volume
is turned up. Noise can also be of a psychological nature. For example, you may
resent the fact that you have been assigned to read this chapter when there are
other things you would much rather be doing, or there may be references in
the book that remind you of experiences that are difficult for you to put out of
your mind. Psychological noise could be any emotional feeling that competes
with the cognitive reception of the message. Both the sender and the receiver
could be aware of physical noise, but only the receiver would be affected by
psychological noise.
Feedback
If I were in the same room with you and were trying to explain what I mean,
we would have two-way communication. I would be able to observe physical
noise distractions that might be interfering with your reception of the mes-
sage, and I would be able to receive your verbal and nonverbal feedback. You
might just nod your head as I talk, or you could respond verbally and say,
“I know what you mean.” If you had any difficulty in comprehending, you
could say, “I don’t understand that.” Feedback is a very important part of the
communication process because it enables the sender to correct for error or to
clarify the message.
4 PROLOGUE
Meaning
When I write I use words to convey my meaning, and my assumption is that
you as the reader will have an understanding of those words. But even if we
both speak the same language I can never be sure that we attach the same mean-
ing to the words. For example, I may talk about the folklore of the Hollywood
movie industry, meaning the popular stories that describe its development and
the people who played the principal roles. The dictionary says that folklore is
“a body of widely accepted but specious notions about a place, a group, or an
institution.” We look up the word specious, and we find that the definition is
“seemingly fair, attractive, sound, or true, but actually not so.” My intention is
to say that we can learn to understand an institution by studying its folklore;
however, you might perceive the message to be that folklore obscures the real-
ity of what actually happened, because the stories are untrue. Observations of
this kind remind us that words can mean different things to different people. In
other words, one meaning is contained in the mind of the person who initiates
the message, but a different meaning may reside in the mind of the receiver.
Lewis Carroll relates how the self-centered Humpty-Dumpty says, “When I
use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
What we (and the foolish egg) need to understand is that our attempts to com-
municate would be pointless if we did not consider the way the message is
received.
Communication Models
The two-person model is fairly easy to understand, but models become com-
plex when we add more people and vary the structure and purpose of the com-
munication. When we do that, we are changing the dynamics of the event. That
term could refer to the way people relate to one another, their communication
skills, their attitude toward the topic, the intensity of their emotions, the physi-
cal environment, or anything else that influences what they say and do. Again,
we can look at models to help us in our analysis.
Conversation Model
In an ordinary conversation, we say that the communication is unstructured—
there are no formalized requirements placed upon any of the individuals to con-
form to any particular style, topic, or sequence of expressed thought. The only
rules or guidelines imposed on people in a conversational model are those that
social convention and common courtesy require, and the interaction is often
more important than the content of the message (Figure P–1). The dynamics
become more complex, of course, as we introduce more people to the circle. In
the case of a larger group, there may be one person to whom you relate differ-
ently, and that variation may affect the way the others relate to you. From your
own experience in groups, you are probably aware that what others do and