ch. 6 Choosing a Topic & Developing a Strategy

Question 1

what elements outside of class help you choose a speech topic?

Answer 1

• Commitment to a cause
• Reputation
• Occasion

Question 2

what are the characteristics of a good topic?

Answer 2

• importance to the speaker
• interest to the audience
• worthy of listener’s time
• appropriateness of scope
• appropriateness for oral delivery
• appropriateness to the rhetorical situation
• clarity

Question 3

what are the 3 ways for how to choose a good topic?

Answer 3

1) conduct a personal inventory
2) Brainstorm
3) Narrow the Topic

Question 4

what is personal inventory?

Answer 4

the questions you ask yourself when choosing a good topic

Question 5

what questions do you ask in personal inventory?

Answer 5

• what public issues do I care about?
• which of my experiences might be generalizable?
• which of my interests overlap with those of the audience?

Question 6

what is brainstorming?

Answer 6

a mental free-association exercise in which one identifies, without evaluation, the first thoughts that come to mind when one is presented with a given term or category

Question 7

what is a strategic plan?

Answer 7

a identification of the objectives to be sought in a speech and the means for achieving them

Question 8

what does having a strategic plan do?

Answer 8

• identifies the purpose of your speech
• the constraints on it
• and the opportunities it provides

Question 9

what are the 7 common speech purposes?

Answer 9

1) providing new info or perspective
2) agenda setting
3) creating positive or negative feeling
4) strengthening commitment
5) weakening commitment
6) conversion
7) inducing a specific action

Question 10

what is agenda setting?

Answer 10

causing listeners to be aware of and to think about a topic that previously had escaped their attn

Question 11

what is conversion?

Answer 11

the replacement of one set of beliefs by another that is inconsistent with the first

Question 12

what are constraints?

Answer 12

factors beyond your control that limit your options in your strategic plan

Question 13

what are some constraints that you may have?

Answer 13

• audiences in general
• your specific audience analysis
• your ethos as a speaker
• the nature of your topic
• the rhetorical situation

Question 14

what are opportunities?

Answer 14

the things that result from the assets that you bring to the situation and from the choices that you ARE able to make

Question 15

what are some opportunities that you may have?

Answer 15

• information advantage
• audience analysis
• justifying the limitations

Question 16

what is the specific purpose statement?

Answer 16

statement of the particular outcome sought from the audience; a more specific version of a general purpose

Question 17

what are important 3 characteristics of the specific purpose statement?

Answer 17

1) focus on the audience rather than speaker
2) it summarizes a single idea
3) it is precise and free of vague language

Question 18

what is a thesis statement?

Answer 18

the central idea or claim made by the speech, usually stated in a single sentence

Question 19

what is important to writing the thesis statement?

Answer 19

identifying the issues to make sure they are relevant to the point you wish to convey