Oratory
In classical terms, the art of public speaking.
Rhetoric
The practice of oratory, or public speaking.
Agora
In ancient Greece, a public square or marketplace.
Forum
In ancient Rome, a public space in which people gathered to deliberate about issues of the day.
Public Forum
Any physical or virtual space in which people gather to voice their ideas about public issues.
Forensic Oratory
In ancient Greece, speech addressing legal matters, such as the settlement of disputes.
Deliberative Oratory
In ancient Greece, speech addressing legislative or politcal policy issues.
Epideictic Oratory
In ancient Greece, speech addressing special occasions, such as celebrations and funerals.
Canons of Rhetoric
A classical approach to speechmaking in which the speaker divides a speech into five parts; invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery.
Invention
The classical rhetorical term for the process of selecting information to illustrate or prove speech points.
Arrangement
The strategic process of deciding how to order speech points into a coherent and convincing pattern for your topic and audience.
Style
The speaker's choice of words and sentence structure.
Memory
Refers to the practice of the speech until it can be artfully delivered.
Delivery
The vocal and nonverbal behavior that a speaker uses in a public speech; one of the five canons of rhetoric.
Dyadic Commuincation
Communication between two people, as in conversation.
Small Group Communication
Communication involving a small number of people who can see and speak directly with one another, as ina business meeting.
Mass Communication
Communication that occurs between a speaker and a large audience of unknown people.
Public Speaking
A type of communication in which the speaker delivers a message with a specific purpose to an audience of people who are physically present during the delivery of the speech.
Source
The source, or sender, is the person who creates a message.
Encoding
The process of organizing a message, choosing words and sentence structure, and verbalizing the message.
Receiver
The recipient (an individual or a group) of a source's message.
Decoding
The process of interpreting a message.
Feedback
Audience response to a message, which can be conveyed both verbally and nonverbally through gestures.
Audience Perspective
A stance taken by the speaker in which he or she adapts the speech to the needs, attitudes, and values of an audience.
Message
The content of the communication process--thoughts and ideas put into meaningful expressions.
Channel
The medium through which the speaker sends a message (sound waves, air waves, electronic transmission)
Noise
Anything that interferes with the communication process between a speaker and an audience, so that the message cannot be understood.
Shared Meaning
The mutual understanding of a message between speaker and audience.
Rhetorical Situation
The circumstances that call for a public response.
Culture
The language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviors, and even material objects that are passed from one generation to the next.
Ethnocentrism
The belief that the ways of one's own culture are superior to those of other cultures.
Cultural Intelligence
The willingness to learn about other cultures and gradually reshape your thinking and behavior in response to what you've learned.
Topic
What the speech is about.
Audience Analysis
The process of gathering and analyzing demographic and psychological information about the audience members with the expilcit aim of adapting your message to the information you uncover.
General Speech Purpose
A declarative statement that answers the questions "Why am I speaking on this topic for this particular audience and occasion?
Specific Speech Purpose
A refined statement of purpose that zeroes in more closely than the general purpose on the goal of the speech.
Thesis Statement
The theme, or central idea, of a speech that serves to connect all the parts of the speech.
Main Points
The key ideas or primary points intended to fulfill the speech pupose.
Supporting Material
Information (examples, narratives, testimony, and facts and statistics) that clarifies, elaborates, and verifies the speaker's assertions.
Introduction
The first part of a speech, in which the speaker establishes the speech purpose and its relevance to the audience and previews the topic and the main points.
Body
The part of speech in which the speaker develops the main points intended to fulfill the speech purpose.
Conclusion
The part of the speech in which the speaker reiterates the speech purpose, summarizes main points, and leaves the audience with something to think about or act upon.
Coordinate Points
The alignment of points in a speech outline according to their equal importance to the topic and purpose.
Subordinate Points
The alignment of points within a speech outline that have somewhat lesser weight than main points; provide support for or extend the more central ideas or main points.
Organizational Pattern
The arrangement of speech content into a specific organizational model, such as the chronological or cause-effect pattern.
Presentation Aids
Objects, models, pictures, graphs, charts, video, audio, and multimedia, used alone or in combination within the context of a speech.
Public Speaking Anxiety (PSA)
Fear or anxiety associated with a speaker's actual or anticipated communication to an audience.
Pre-Preparation Anxiety
A form of public speaking anxiety that occurs the moment speakers learn they must give a speech.
Preparation Anxiety
A form of public speaking anxiety that arises when the speaker begins to prepare for a speech, at which point he or she might feel overwhelmed at the amount of time and planning required.
Performance Anxiety
A form of public speaking anxiety that occurs the moment a speaker begins to deliver a speech.
Visualization
An exercise for building confidence in which the speaker closes his or her eyes and envisions a series of positive feelings and reactions that will occur on the day of the speech.
Feedback Loop
The continual flow of feedback between speaker and listener.
Listening
The conscious act of recognizing, understanding, and accurately interpreting the messages communicated by others.
Selective Perception
A psychological principle that posits that that listeners pay attention selectively to certain messages and ignore others.
Dialogue
Through words
Dialogic Communication
The sharing of ideas and open discussion through words.
Active Listening
A multistep, focused, and purposeful process of gathering and evaluating information.
Listening Distraction
Anything that competes for a listener's attentions.
External Listening Distraction
Anything in the environment that distracts listeners from receiving the speaker's message.
Internal Listening Distraction
Thoughts and feelings, both positive and negative, that intrude on our attentions as we attempt to listen to a speaker.
Defensive Listening
A poor listening behavior in which the listener reacts defensively to a speaker's message.
Critical Thinking
The ability to evaluate claims on the basis of well-supported reasons.
Valid Generalization
A generalization that is supported by different types of evidence from different sources and that does not make claims beyond a reasonable point.
Overgeneralization
An attempt to support a claim by asserting that a particular piece of evidence is true for everyone concerned.
Responsibility
A charge, trust, or duty for which one is accountable.
Ethics
The rules or standards of moral conduct, or how people should act toward one another; the responsibilities speakers have toward both their audience and themselves.
Ethos
The Greek word for "character.
Values
Our most enduring judgments or standards of what's important to us.
First Amendment
The amendment to the Constitution that guarantees freedom of speech.
Free Speech
The right to be free from unreasonable constraints on expression.
Fighting Words
A speech that uses language that provokes people to violence.
Slander
Defamatory Speech
Reckless Disregard for the Truth
A quality of defamatory speech that is legally liable.
Invective
Abusive speech; accusatory and attacking speech.
Conversation Stopper
Speech designed to discredit, demean, and belittle those with whom one disagrees.
Rules of Engagement
Standard of conduct for communicating with others in the public arena, including speaking the truth, listening, and responding coherently.
Dignity
The feeling that one is worthy, honored, or respected as a person.
Integrity
The quality of being incorruptible, or able to avoid compromise for the sake of personal expediency.