Deck 11: Selecting a Speech Topic and Adapting to the Audience

Question 1

Jamal was chosen by his union to update the employees about the looming strike. The hall he is to speak in holds 500 people but has poor lighting, yet is equipped with a sound and computer system. Jamal decided to incorporate PowerPoint slides of charts and graphs that show the topics being negotiated. What one factor regarding this speaking situation helped Jamal determine how he would deliver his speech? Choose the BEST answer.

A) The size of his audience
B) The demographics of his audience
C) The time limit
D) The size and shape of the room

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What is one advantage of choosing a speech topic using your own experiences?

A) It is easier to visualize your topic, making the entire public speaking experience easier.
B) You are required to do less research.
C) There is less preparation.
D) You do not need to prepare an outline.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Demographics refer to

A) age, sex, and ethnic/cultural/religious background.
B) physical characteristics.
C) demonstrating a predetermined methodology.
D) the population.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

A prominent politician spoke to a first-grade class about the importance of registering to vote. During his speech, the politician used jargon the children did not understand. The politician failed to reach the children because he did NOT do which of the following?

A) Exercise his authoritative opinion
B) Analyze his audience
C) Establish his credibility
D) Cite his sources

Question 5

Ilene was preparing her informative speech on the band "Panic at the Disco." The majority of the class consisted of returning students whose ages ranged from 42 to 65. What should Ilene have considered when deciding her speech topic?

A) Demographics
B) Geographics
C) Ideographics
D) Stratigraphics

Question 6

Maslow used a hierarchy to describe basic human

A) desires.
B) audiences.
C) orientation.
D) needs.

Question 7

Appealing to the lowest level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs can evoke sympathy and interest. This most basic human need for water and air, for example, is what Maslow identifies as _____ needs.

A) safety
B) esteem
C) physiological
D) belonging

Question 8

Discussing the dangers of texting while driving, or drinking too much caffeine, is taking which of Maslow's needs into consideration?

A) Safety
B) Belonging
C) Esteem
D) Physiological

Question 9

Jarek was to deliver a 3- to 5-minute informative speech on the history of hip-hop. In preparation for his speech, he had his MP3 player ready to play several of his favorite "classics," and PowerPoint slides of the five most influential groups in hip-hop. Before he even made it through the second main point of his speech, he had to move straight to the conclusion. What did Jarek fail to take into account when analyzing the situation?

A) The size of his audience
B) The time limit
C) The size and shape of the room
D) The lighting

Question 10

One way to pick an appropriate speech topic and be able to adapt it to the audience is to look at audience characteristics. When we think of the many different "hats" people wear, what are we taking into consideration?

A) Occupation
B) Economic status
C) Societal roles
D) Needs

Question 11

There are three ways to gather information when determining the characteristics of your audience. They are

A) examination, discussion, and opinion-poll.
B) observation, interviews, and surveys.
C) spying, intrusive questioning, and eavesdropping.
D) observation, intrusive questioning, and examination.

Question 12

One of the easiest and often least time-consuming ways we can determine some audience demographics is through

A) polling.
B) surveys.
C) observations.
D) interviews.

Question 13

An information-gathering tool, which can pose a variety of general questions such as age, group, education, marital status, and income bracket, is a(n)

A) observation.
B) survey.
C) interview.
D) Likert scale.

Question 14

What type of scale does the following question use: "Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with the following statement: Children with parents who continually fight are worse off than children whose parents are divorced."

A) Modified scale.
B) Likert scale.
C) Adaptive scale.
D) Primary scale.

Question 15

If, after you have considered yourself, the situation, and the audience, you find that you still have a difficult time deciding on a suitable topic, what should you try?

A) Rewriting your introduction
B) Picking presentational aids
C) Brainstorming
D) Analyze your goals in life

Question 16

Julianne is giving a speech at a local business about losing weight with diet and exercise. While doing her research, she realizes that there are several technical terms she would like to use but does not know if her audience will understand them. Julianne sends out a survey to the intended audience to gauge their understanding of the topic. What area of audience characteristics is Julianne taking into consideration?

A) The audience's attitude
B) The audience's needs
C) The audience's wants
D) The audience's knowledge

Question 17

The general purpose of a speech

A) decides whether your overriding goal is to inform, to persuade, or to entertain.
B) decides what you hope to accomplish, which aspect you will cover, and your intended audience.
C) includes the major ideas of your speech.
D) includes the main points of your speech.

Question 18

Discussing forensic evidence to members of the community, the crime scene investigator defined the terms, "alternative light source," "oblique lighting," and "latent fingerprints" to his audience because he felt that those terms were unrecognizable and uncommon. In doing so, the crime scene investigator

A) adapted to his audience.
B) personally connected with his audience.
C) addressed the interest of his audience.
D) provided his audience with a thesis statement.

Question 19

April told her audience, "Participating in an internship program will help you fulfill your graduation requirements for your major, add experience to your resume, and give you an opportunity to apply what you've learned to the workplace." This is an example of what kind of statement?

A) Opening statement
B) General purpose statement
C) Thesis statement
D) Specific purpose statement

Question 20

Amy decided that her _____ would be "to inform her class about the three ways to effectively discipline a preschool child."

A) thesis statement
B) specific purpose
C) general purpose
D) call for action

Question 21

The second step in choosing an appropriate topic is to analyze the situation in which you will be speaking. Specifically, you want to consider what three things?

Question 22

Tim is disappointed. He delivered a speech to a filled auditorium on practicing safe sex. Having AIDS, Tim wanted to share his experiences. He hoped to create an intimate setting so the audience would ask him questions. This did not happen. What part of the speaking situation did Tim fail to analyze?

Question 23

Officer Friendly visited a kindergarten class. One of the goals during her visit was to discuss why children should obey the rules. However, the children sat confused when she talked about misdemeanors and Class A felonies. What did the officer fail to consider when analyzing her audience?

Question 24

List the three ways to gather information that your textbook identifies.

Question 25

Identify the three kinds of surveys identified by your textbook.

Question 26

According to Abraham Maslow, people have the same basic needs, which are best understood when explained in terms of a hierarchy. Identify these five needs in their hierarchical position.

Question 27

According to Maslow, what is the highest level of what you believe your potential to be?

Question 28

When Stanley started thinking about his informative speech, he wrote down everything that came to his mind. Then he chose one topic from all of those. What is this technique called?

Question 29

The ________ includes the major ideas of your speech and refines your specific purpose.

Question 30

Identify several additional criteria besides demographic factors to assess an audience.

Question 31

When selecting a speech topic, we can look to ourselves, our concerns, experiences, knowledge, and curiosity to generate possible ideas.

Question 32

Jeff learned sign language at the age of three in order to communicate with his mother; she wore hearing aids. Because Jeff had a certain level of expertise concerning sign language, he picked it for his topic. His familiarity with the topic increased his confidence before the group.

Question 33

Lorraine's biggest mistake was picking a topic she was curious about. Curiosity can NOT be a good foundation for a speech topic choice because enthusiasm is NOT beneficial.

Question 34

Lighting, room shape, and room size are NOT important to consider when preparing for giving a speech.

Question 35

It is more important to communicate the details of your topic than to adhere to the time limit.

Question 36

To inform, to persuade, and to entertain are all general speech purposes.

Question 37

In an effort to narrow your topic, you may generate several different specific purpose statements.

Question 38

Another term for a graduated scale is the Likert Scale

Question 39

The air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink all satisfy the Maslow's safety need.

Question 40

According to Maslow, esteem needs are the desire for influence or status within the social structure.

Question 41

Maslow's physiological needs functions on two levels: physical security and personal security in social situations.

Question 42

Speech topics that fall under Maslow's safety needs include wearing seat belts and using carbon monoxide alarms in homes.

Question 43

A shared body of knowledge or interest can be found from an audience analysis of occupation.

Question 44

The graduated scale is also known as the Likert scale.

Question 45

"To inform my classmates how to make bananas Foster" is an example of a general purpose.

Question 46

Match the word or phrase with its meaning.
-Belonging needs

A) To inform my audience about the three ways to get better grades
B) Serving on a museum's board of directors
C) "How do you feel about organ donation?"… "Are you an organ donor?"
D) The two most significant fears in infants are loud noises and falls
E) Ground water contamination
F) Fraternities and sororities
G) Closed, open, graduated or Likert scale
H) Leading the volleyball team through a victorious match
I) The 40 years spent working at a steel mill
J) To inform
K) Proper fire extinguisher use

Question 47

Match the word or phrase with its meaning.
-Interview

A) To inform my audience about the three ways to get better grades
B) Serving on a museum's board of directors
C) "How do you feel about organ donation?"… "Are you an organ donor?"
D) The two most significant fears in infants are loud noises and falls
E) Ground water contamination
F) Fraternities and sororities
G) Closed, open, graduated or Likert scale
H) Leading the volleyball team through a victorious match
I) The 40 years spent working at a steel mill
J) To inform
K) Proper fire extinguisher use

Question 48

Match the word or phrase with its meaning.
-Esteem needs

A) To inform my audience about the three ways to get better grades
B) Serving on a museum's board of directors
C) "How do you feel about organ donation?"… "Are you an organ donor?"
D) The two most significant fears in infants are loud noises and falls
E) Ground water contamination
F) Fraternities and sororities
G) Closed, open, graduated or Likert scale
H) Leading the volleyball team through a victorious match
I) The 40 years spent working at a steel mill
J) To inform
K) Proper fire extinguisher use

Question 49

Match the word or phrase with its meaning.
-General purpose

A) To inform my audience about the three ways to get better grades
B) Serving on a museum's board of directors
C) "How do you feel about organ donation?"… "Are you an organ donor?"
D) The two most significant fears in infants are loud noises and falls
E) Ground water contamination
F) Fraternities and sororities
G) Closed, open, graduated or Likert scale
H) Leading the volleyball team through a victorious match
I) The 40 years spent working at a steel mill
J) To inform
K) Proper fire extinguisher use

Question 50

Match the word or phrase with its meaning.
-Physiological needs

A) To inform my audience about the three ways to get better grades
B) Serving on a museum's board of directors
C) "How do you feel about organ donation?"… "Are you an organ donor?"
D) The two most significant fears in infants are loud noises and falls
E) Ground water contamination
F) Fraternities and sororities
G) Closed, open, graduated or Likert scale
H) Leading the volleyball team through a victorious match
I) The 40 years spent working at a steel mill
J) To inform
K) Proper fire extinguisher use

Question 51

Match the word or phrase with its meaning.
-Safety needs

A) To inform my audience about the three ways to get better grades
B) Serving on a museum's board of directors
C) "How do you feel about organ donation?"… "Are you an organ donor?"
D) The two most significant fears in infants are loud noises and falls
E) Ground water contamination
F) Fraternities and sororities
G) Closed, open, graduated or Likert scale
H) Leading the volleyball team through a victorious match
I) The 40 years spent working at a steel mill
J) To inform
K) Proper fire extinguisher use

Question 52

Match the word or phrase with its meaning.
-Self-actualization

A) To inform my audience about the three ways to get better grades
B) Serving on a museum's board of directors
C) "How do you feel about organ donation?"… "Are you an organ donor?"
D) The two most significant fears in infants are loud noises and falls
E) Ground water contamination
F) Fraternities and sororities
G) Closed, open, graduated or Likert scale
H) Leading the volleyball team through a victorious match
I) The 40 years spent working at a steel mill
J) To inform
K) Proper fire extinguisher use

Question 53

Match the word or phrase with its meaning.
-Specific purpose

A) To inform my audience about the three ways to get better grades
B) Serving on a museum's board of directors
C) "How do you feel about organ donation?"… "Are you an organ donor?"
D) The two most significant fears in infants are loud noises and falls
E) Ground water contamination
F) Fraternities and sororities
G) Closed, open, graduated or Likert scale
H) Leading the volleyball team through a victorious match
I) The 40 years spent working at a steel mill
J) To inform
K) Proper fire extinguisher use

Question 54

Match the word or phrase with its meaning.
-Thesis statement

A) To inform my audience about the three ways to get better grades
B) Serving on a museum's board of directors
C) "How do you feel about organ donation?"… "Are you an organ donor?"
D) The two most significant fears in infants are loud noises and falls
E) Ground water contamination
F) Fraternities and sororities
G) Closed, open, graduated or Likert scale
H) Leading the volleyball team through a victorious match
I) The 40 years spent working at a steel mill
J) To inform
K) Proper fire extinguisher use

Question 55

Match the word or phrase with its meaning.
-Survey

A) To inform my audience about the three ways to get better grades
B) Serving on a museum's board of directors
C) "How do you feel about organ donation?"… "Are you an organ donor?"
D) The two most significant fears in infants are loud noises and falls
E) Ground water contamination
F) Fraternities and sororities
G) Closed, open, graduated or Likert scale
H) Leading the volleyball team through a victorious match
I) The 40 years spent working at a steel mill
J) To inform
K) Proper fire extinguisher use

Question 56

Define brainstorming. What are the two basic principles of brainstorming? Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write down as many ideas as you can, using one of the following topics: Education; sports; family; responsibility; politics; entertainment. Once you are finished, read over your ideas and circle the one that you believe would make the best information speech topic.

Question 57

Explain four ways to use yourself when selecting a speech topic.

Question 58

Identify the hierarchy of basic needs people have as outlined by Abraham Maslow. Provide an explanation and an example for each need.

Question 59

In the stages of preparing for a speech, once you have chosen a topic based on your analysis of self, situation, and audience, what four steps do you use to adapt your speech and delivery to the audience?

Question 60

Develop a general purpose, a specific purpose, and a thesis statement for an informative speech.