1. Researching Your Speech
Chapter 7
Researching Your Speech

2. Researching Your Speech: Introduction
Researching your topic and providing strong evidence for your claims can make your presentation more interesting, increase your credibility as a speaker, and help you achieve your goals.

3. Researching Your Speech: An Overview
This chapter will cover:
Why research?
Creating a research plan
Evaluating a source’s credibility
Conducting library research
Using the Internet
Interviewing sources
Presenting evidence in your speeches

4. Why Research? Research offers many benefits:
Learn about topic before you select and develop main points.
Gather evidence from credible sources that will support claims.
Gain credibility with target audience, who will perceive you as qualified.

5. Why Research?

6. Creating a Research Plan

7. Creating a Research Plan
Research plan: A strategy for finding and keeping track of information to use in your speech
The process involves:
Creating an inventory of research needs
Finding necessary sources
Keeping track of sources

8. Creating a Research Plan: Inventory Your Research Needs
Decide on your research objectives.
Make a list of the areas you need to research.
Limited knowledge on the topic requires general background research.
Some prior knowledge allows you to focus on specific aspects.
Look for information on all sides of your topic. .

9. Creating a Research Plan: Finding the Sources You Need
Mix Internet research with research from other sources.
Examples: books, newspapers, journal articles, and interviews
Consult research librarian for library's resources and hard-to-find items.
Analyze what different types of sources offer. .

10. Creating a Research Plan: Finding the Sources You Need
Books: Broad and generally synthesized information
Journal articles: Peer reviewed by experts in the field
Newspapers: People’s responses to historical events as they happen
Recent newspapers and quality online sources: Up-to-the-minute information
Interviews take advantage of local expertise.

11. Creating a Research Plan: Finding the Sources You Need
Make a list of keywords as you search library indexes.

12. Creating a Research Plan: Keep Track of Your Sources
Maintain a clear and accurate record of research resources.
Cite evidence to improve your credibility.
Keep track of citations to help you avoid accidental plagiarism or the incorrect crediting of a source.

13. Creating a Research Plan: Keep Track of Your Sources

14. Creating a Research Plan: Keep Track of Your Sources
Record full citation information or research details.
Name of author or authors, or organization
Author’s credentials
Title of the work
Title of the publication
Date and volume number of the publication

15. Creating a Research Plan: Keep Track of Your Sources
Citation information continued:
Publisher, and the city and year of publication (books)
Page number of the reference
URL, date accessed, and author of the Web page or the organization that the page represents (Internet sources)

16. Evaluating a Source’s Credibility: Expertise
Does source have sufficient knowledge to offer reliable facts or opinions on the topic?
Look at source’s educational background, experience, and reputation in the field.

17. Evaluating a Source’s Credibility: Objectivity
Be sure to check for source bias.
Using biased sources is unethical.
Always present the truth.

18. Evaluating a Source’s Credibility: Observational Capacity
The best sources are:
Close to an event
Trained with required expertise

19. Evaluating a Source’s Credibility: Recency
Newer, timely evidence is more reliable and accurate than older evidence.
With older evidence, ask if changing circumstances have invalidated claims.
Do not overlook classic and enduring evidence.

20. Conducting Library Research
Libraries offer:
Convenient access
Broadest range of credible sources
Sources not available on Web sites
Databases with indexed collections of articles relevant to topic
Librarians who can help find what you need

21. Conducting Library Research

22. Conducting Library Research: Books
Advantages of books:
They store huge amounts of information written by people with extensive experience in subject areas
They contain in-depth material and are therefore the best place to start

23. Tips for Using Books Tip: Use the library’s electronic catalogs.
Tip: Examine related books that are on nearby library shelves.

24. Conducting Library Research: Periodicals
Advantages of periodicals:
Scholarly journals provide credible information.
Peer-reviewed articles in journals provide sound research.
General and specialized periodical indexes offer full-text sources or abstracts.

25. Conducting Library Research: Periodicals
General periodical indexes: List articles on a wide variety of topics and include both:
Full-text sources
Abstracts
Example: Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature
Specialized periodical indexes: Focus on specific subject areas
Reference librarians: Help you navigate indexes

26. Conducting Library Research: Newspapers
Advantages of newspapers:
Provide a journalist’s view of current events
Read about events as they unfold
Consult both general and specialized newspaper indexes.
Consult library indexes for articles and editorials published in major national newspapers.

27. Conducting Library Research: Reference Works
Advantages of reference works
Help with introductory research on a topic
Provide specific facts (encyclopedias, atlases, dictionaries, yearbooks)

28. Conducting Library Research: Government Documents
Advantages of government documents:
Provide detailed and useful information on laws, regulations, and government activities
Subject to peer reviews, adding to their credibility

29. Using the Internet: Benefits of Internet Research
Access is convenient and searching is quick.
You can find an immense volume of information, including that found in quality sources accessed through many linked libraries.

30. Benefits of Internet Research

31. Using the Internet: Disadvantages of Internet Research
Experts in their field publish in print, not online.
Information may not be credible; anyone can post anything.
Self-published Web sites have no external checks on accuracy or reliability.
Information from advocacy or commercial groups may contain incorrect or biased information.
Many sites you’ll find do not meet your instructor’s quality standards.

32. Using the Internet

33. Using the Internet: Evaluating the Credibility of Online Sources
Can you identity the Web site’s author?
How credible are the Web sites linked to and from this site?
Does another credible source provide information similar to that found on the site you’re evaluating?
Does the site weigh arguments for both sides of an issue?
Is there advertising on the site?
Is the site’s word choice professional?

34. Using the Internet: Searching the World Wide Web
Search engines
Specialized programs to help find information on a topic
Sort results based on different criteria
Also called “crawlers” or “Spiders”
Examples: Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask

35. Using the Internet: Searching the World Wide Web
Metasearch engines:
Search several search engines at once
Require broad search terms
The results may be sponsored.
Advanced search makes searches more precise.
Web directories help you locate quality sources.
Hybrid search engines combine search engines and directories.

36. Using the Internet: The Invisible Web
Access the invisible Web by using specialized search tools instead of search engines.
Include “database” as a keyword in a search string to include databases in your results.
Use advanced search features on an engine.
Use specialized invisible Web tools like goshme.com and libraryspot.com.

37. The Invisible Web

38. Tips for Using the Internet
Tip: Be sure to use reliable sources that are credible to your audience.
Tip: Be careful not to plagiarize. It can be easy to cut and paste from a Web page and, as you learned in Chapter 3, that is plagiarism.

39. Interviewing Sources: Prepare for Your Interview
Determine your information needs based on the gaps in your library and Internet research.
Decide on useful interview subjects.

40. Interviewing Sources: Set Up Your Interview
Contact interviewee in person rather than by phone or .
Explain who you are and what purpose your interview will serve.

41. Interviewing Sources: Plan Your Interview Questions
Focus on information that you cannot get from other sources.
Ask open-ended questions.
Consider asking a candid question that the interviewee might like to avoid.

42. Interviewing Sources: Conduct the Interview
Start with friendly, easy-to-answer questions.
Stay focused, but be open to new information.
Listen carefully and maintain eye contact.
Ask for permission to tape the interview.

43. Interviewing Sources: Evaluate Your Notes
Ensure that your notes are accurate by reviewing them immediately after the interview.
Contact the interviewee for clarification, if necessary.

44. Presenting Evidence in Your Speeches
Document all sources with citations
Cite each source as evidence in speech
Paraphrase responsibly
Power wording is unethical

45. Presenting Evidence in Your Speeches

46. Tips for Researching Your Speech
Tip: As always, stay audience-centered when you are conducting your research. Find sources and reference material that will fit with your audience needs and expectations.
Tip: Be on the lookout for good attention- getting material for your introduction as you research.