1. INFORMATIVE SPEAKING

2. Informative Speaking What is information? “That which reduces uncertainty.” (DeVito, 2002) “Information speaking is discourse that imparts new information, secures understanding, or reinforces accumulated information.” (Berko, et al.,2004)

3. Informative Speaking What, then, is the theoretical basis for the argument that ALL PUBLIC SPEAKING IS PERSUASIVE?

4. TYPES OF INFORMATIVE SPEECHES Explanations – answer How? Descriptions – person/place/thing Definitions – what is? Narratives – tell a story

5. SPECIALIZED FORMS OF INFORMATIVE SPEECHES Briefing Question & Answer Introduction

6. Informative Speaking An informative speaker Defines Describes Explains Narrates In order to accomplish his/her goal.

7. Methods of Defining Comparison/Contrast Synonym exampleexample Antonym Etymology Conceptually Operationally

8. Definitions: Conceptual Vs. Operational Conceptual: Lies in the verbal (abstract) universe.

9. A good conceptual definition possesses: – Parsimony: conciseness; uses as few, but specific, words as possible – Clarity: divides the word into two halves – Scientifically heuristic: explains; defines; and predicts phenomena; promotes further investigation

10. Operational Definition Describes what is to be observed by specifying HOW to observe. A method of observation must satisfy two criteria: reliability and validity

11. Reliability: the consistency of a measure with itself Validity: the degree to which a measure actually measures what is claimed – Face validity: it looks good; common sense says it is a good measure – Expert validity; a group of “experts” have judged its merit – Criterion validity: compares the measure with (1) previous measures, or (2) allows prediction between known groups – Construct validity: New measure is administered alongside two other measures, at least one of which already had proven validity.