COMS 1 – Public Speaking
Professor Leach Chapter 3 Outline
Speaking Freely & Ethically
Chapter Outline
I. Ethics are -
A. Examples of ethical choices
- Refusing to cheat on exams;
- not calling in sick when healthy;
- the property ownerwho does not overstate storm damage
B. Decisions based on ethical choices
- Cloning,
- Stem cell research,
- Drug testing for doctors;
- attorneys debatingwhether to publicly advertise;
- political debates over social reform and fiscalresponsibility
II. Ethical considerations and choices also affect ______.
A. Our country has a twin heritage: ______and
______
B. The privilege of free speech carries with it the ______
______
1. Your speech goal, arguments, and evidence must take into account
______,______, &______of your audience.
2. Ethical public speaking is inherently ______.
III. Speaking Freely
A. The Federal Government has occasionally attempted to restrict free speech.
1. Congress passed the ______to limit speaking against
thegovernment.
2. In World War I, the Supreme Court tried to restrict speech that appeared
topresent a ______to the nation.
3. In 1940 Congress declared it illegal to advocate ______
______” (aimed at Nazi sympathizers in this country).
B. History reveals more efforts to protect free speech than to restrict it.
1. Concerned citizens formed the ______
aimed at organized lobbying for free speech (1920).
2. Courts and lawmakers argued that only by protecting free speech to
unpopular lengths could the free speech rights of ______&
______truly be preserved.
3. The Supreme Court narrowed the legal definition of ______
(falsespeech that harms another), by requiring that actual malice be
shown before a judgment can be made (1964).
4. Also in 1964, the ______(University of
California-Berkeley) permanently changed the political climate of
American college campuses.
a. Outspoken student activists demonstrating primarily against the
______conducted sometimes violent
demonstrations; but…
b. The courts ultimately held that ______
and ______were legitimate exercises of free
speech.
5. The Supreme Court, continuing to protect free speech, has ruled against
punishing ______(1989), and against ______(1996).
6. ______(1998) successfully defended her television
utterance about mad cow disease and not eating hamburgers (beef) when
sued byTexas cattlemen for “driving down the price of beef.”
7. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the ______
sparked newdebate over balance between national security, free speech,
andpatriotism
8. In 2010, ______, a journalist stated that the Israelis
should get outof Palestine and resigned after controversy erupted.
IV. Speaking Ethically
A. Ethical speaking requires that speakers have a ______, ______
goal.
1. Your ______goal should be made clear to your
audience, inorder to give them choices.
2. Socially irresponsible speech includes ______,
as in Adolph Hitler’sspeeches, inciting German people to genocide; and
Chinese speechesexhorting Chinese citizens to reveal the whereabouts of
student Leaders ofthe 1989 uprising in Tiananmen Square
3. ______& ______of free speech may conflict since the protection
of broad,free speech includes both ethical and unethical speech
B. Socially responsible, ethical speakers use ______skills
(analysis;evaluation) to formulate arguments and draw their conclusions.
1.Unethical speakers substitute false claims and manipulation of evidence
instead of logic such as Senator Joseph McCarthy (Wisconsin, 1950s)
whoconducted a Communist “witch hunt” by exaggerating and distorting
thetruth.
2. Both media sound bites and highly staged Presidential debates have come
under fire for shallow use of evidence and argument.
3. Ethical use of evidence requires speakers to share all evidence with the
audience, even evidence that is potentially damaging to your cause
C. Ethical speaking requires that speakers be sensitive to and tolerant of differences.
1. Senator Bill Bradley has described this dimension of ethical speaking as
“tolerance, curiosity, civility-- precisely the qualities we need to live side
by side in mutual respect.”
2. Sensitivity and tolerance is increasingly labeled as ACCOMODATION.
3. Sensitivity and tolerance, or accommodation, suggests avoidance of
language that might be interpreted as biased, or offensive.
D. Ethical speakers must try to be honest.
1. Knowingly offering false or misleading information to an audience is an
ethical violation.
2. In 2003, President Bush and his staff accepted responsibility for using
evidence based on discredited intelligence reports and President Clinton’s
1998 troubles stemmed from using false and misleading statements, as
with his denial of sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky.
V. A most serious aspect of ethical speaking is the avoidance of plagiarism, which
warrants here a separate treatment.
A. Plagiarism is typically and properly defined as: presenting the words and ideas
ofothers without crediting them (to their proper authors).
B. Plagiarism may be punished, sometimes severely.
1. Plagiaphrasing is a less-obvious form of plagiarism that involves lacing
compelling phrases from a source among the speech without properly
crediting the author.
2. Most colleges impose stiff penalties on students who plagiarize.
3. Senator Joseph Biden plagiarized the words of former British Labor Party
leader Neil Kinnock, & was forced to drop out of the 1988 Presidential
Race.
4. Hamilton College (New York) President Eugene Tobin and a school
boardpresident in North Carolina plagiarized in convocation speeches
and paidthe price with their reputation and careers
C. Do your own work.
1. Plagiarizing others does not provide you with new skills.
2. Avoid turning someone else’s speech into your own.
3. Even avoid extensive editing by a friend; your speech may turn into your
friend’s speech.
D. Acknowledge your sources.
1. Credit direct quotations, statistics, non-original visual materials.
2. Credit opinions and assertions of others, even if you paraphrase rather
thanquote directly.
3. In speaking, make sure the audience hears the credits, usually the date and
author are sufficient information for an oral citation
4. Expect your instructors to require written credits (bibliographies).
VI. Speaking Credibly
A. Credibility is a speaker’s believability, meaning that the audience finds the
speakertrustworthy and reliable.
B. Being an ethical speaker will help you to be a credible speaker