Brent was presenting a speech on childhood diabetes, a disease that he had suffered from for years. He decided not to mention this fact to his audience. Was he correct in deciding that? Which of the following statements about speaker credibility is most correct? A speaker...
a. should not mention personal experiences, as they sound like bragging.
b. should not mention personal experiences, as they sound self-pitying.
c. needs only facts and figures to build his credibility to the audience.
d. who shares his/her personal experience with the topic makes him more credible to his/her audience.
Short Answer--Problem Situations:
22-23: You are giving a persuasive speech on the importance of voting. You want all the members of the class to register to vote in the next election. You are passionate about the topic because you have an older cousin who is running for an office in the state of Indiana. You notice early in your speech that most people aren’t paying attention. They seem to have turned you off. They’re on their cell phones (which they attempt to hide under the desk), they’re not looking at you, and one person has even set his head on his desk. 2 or 3 people do seem to be paying attention. What are two things that you might do as you continue to give your speech to deal with this situation and not be distracted?
#24: Your instructor has indicated that you are reading too much of your speech. This has prevented you from having much eye contact with the members of the class. We talked about how you can "get away from your notes" more in class. What are two actions that you could take to "read" less of your next speech?
