Public Speaking as Public Dialogue

Cindy L. GriffinColorado State University

Public Speaking Online Lecture SeriesFebruary 26, 2003

Overview: Public Speaking As Public Dialogue What is public speaking as public dialogue? Service learning Invitational speaking Benefits

Public Dialogue:

The civil exchange of ideas and opinions among public groups about topics that affect the public.

The importance of dialogue:

to interact, to connect, and to exchange information with other people.

An Ethic of Civility

Care and concern for others, the thoughtful use of words and language, and the flexibility to see the many sides of an issue.

To engage in a public dialogue is:

to recognize the speaker and the audience are equally important, that both have opinions, feelings and beliefs

Reinforces an audience-centered approach:

to acknowledge your audience by listening to the unique, diverse, and common perspectives of its members before, during and after the speech.

Why We Enter the Public Dialogue

We decide to speak We are asked to speak We are required to speak

Understand that culture has a powerful affect on communication Our nationality Ethnic heritage Our gender

Public Speaking as Public Dialogue

Service Learning

Service Learning:

takes students out of the classroom, applies the concepts taught in the classroom to the outside world, and engages the material in hands-on ways.

Different Service Learning Models

Solution or problem-based service-learning (consultant model)

Activity-based service learningInformation-based service-learning

Public Speaking as Public Dialogue through Service Learning Higher caliber of speeches Students make a personal connection Wide-range of perspectives Students stay and volunteer Students see “real world” connections

Sample

Topic: Neighbor to Neighbor

General Purpose: To inform

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the programs offered by Neighbor to Neighbor.

Thesis Statement: Programs offered by Neighbor to Neighbor include mortgage counseling, rental assistance and transitional housing.

Main points:I. Mortgage counseling.II. Rental assistance.III. Transitional housing.

Public Speaking as Public Dialogue

Invitational Speaking

Invitational speaking is:

a type of public speaking in which a speaker enters into a dialogue with an audience in order to clarify positions, explore issues and ideas, or articulate beliefs and values.

Goals of Invitational Speaking

Informative Speech

Persuasive Speech

Invitational Speech

To inform my audience of the history of the Equal Rights Amendment.

To persuade my audience that we should pass the ERA.

To invite my audience to understand the powerful impact that ratifying the ERA could have on us all.

Why Give an Invitational Speech?

People have profoundly different positions Political issues Social issues Religious or spiritual issues

We are not able to persuade They are not going to change We are not going to change

Why Give an Invitational Speech?

We want to go beyond informing Gain a more complex understanding of the

issues Open up a space for dialogue

Options Stop communicating Try to persuade Communicate from an invitational perspective

Communicate from an Invitational Perspective Invite them into our world view

And try to see the world as they do

Dialogue about our differences To gain a better understanding

Willing to communicate by creating a particular type of environment

An Invitational Speaking Environment Conducive to an open dialogue

Your position is ONE viable stance

Alter traditional roles of speaker/audience Audience expresses their views

Three conditions must exist

Establishing an Invitational Speaking Environment

Condition of equality:You see the audience members as holding valid perspectives and positions that are worthy of exploration.

Condition of value:Recognize that the views of the audience, although different from the speaker’s, have inherent value.

Condition of self-determination: Recognize that the members of your audience are experts in their own lives, or that people know what is best for them and have the right to make choices about their lives based on this knowledge.

Two Types of Invitational Speeches

Invitational speeches to articulate a position.You invite an audience to see the world as you do and to understand issues from your perspective.

Invitational speeches to explore an issue. You attempt to engage your audience in a discussion about an idea, concern, topic, or plan of action.

Speeches to Articulate a Position

To invite my audience to consider the idea that women pioneers should be represented in history textbooks.

To invite my audience to consider some of the positive lessons that can be taught with the ethical use of guns.

Invitational Speeches to Articulate a Position

You share information with the audience But an open dialogue occurs

Richer understanding of a complex issue Invite the audience to enter your world

Return the gesture

An Invitational Speech to Explore an Issue Gather information to understand the subject

more fully

You have thoughts about a plan/action They are not set-in-stone They might be tentative

Invitational Speeches to Explore an Issue To invite my audience to explore, and to

explore myself, three theories of evolution and creation and their role in public education.

To invite my audience to explore, and to explore myself, the positive and negative aspects of cloning endangered animals.

Public Speaking as Public Dialogue

Benefits

Standardization: Many of the Same Skills are Learned Critical Thinking Distinguishing between different types of

speeches Organizational patterns Five canons of rhetoric Principles of Persuasion Delivery Reasoning effectively and ethically

New Skills Students Learn Audience-centered

Culture Language Listening styles

New Skills Students Learn

Facilitating an open dialogue Reasoning used in ALL types of speeches Mythos in addition to

Logos, Ethos, and Pathos Invitational speech option

To explore an issue or articulate a position Open dialogue New way of using language

Public Speaking as Public Dialogue

Benefits

Benefits

Difficult to maintain “speech files” Move beyond common speeches

Beer-oriented speeches Legalization of marijuana or hemp-oriented

speeches Lowering the legal drinking age

Benefits

Assessment of student academic achievement still present

Transferability of course to other schools Different types of speeches Reasoning Listening Language Diversity

Benefits

Service Learning Meets requirements at Universities Makes public speaking “real” Keeps instructors more engaged

Benefits

Public Speaking as Public Dialogue Teaches students to TALK about their

differences OPENLY

Teaches students and faculty to be interested in diverse standpoints and positions

It helps us all make real world connections

Public Speaking As Public Dialogue

Questions