Stand up and support your topic with either an example, testimony or statistic

The testimony and the statistic can be made up

Activity

Rachel HibnerErin Davidson

ShaneEvelyn

Supporting Your Ideas

Examples

Statistics

Testimony

Introduction

• Specific case referred to in passing to illustrate pointBrief examples

• Longer and more detailed to illustrate point

Extended examples

• Describes an imaginary or fictitious situation

Hypothetical examples

Examples

Changes in technology have made it possible for doctors to work wonders that once seemed impossible. Roger Charter, for example, lost both his feet when they were crushed in a truck accident. Now he has new feet – made of a springy plastic alloy that duplicates a normal arch.

Brief examples

In the history of the Olympic Games, there have been many shining stars. Among them was a European girl. With the lapse of time, her name was faded from memory, yet her unbending spirit shall never perish. It was she who highlighted the Olympic Creed…

Extended Example/Narrative

It’s a brisk fall morning. The leaves are beginning to fall and the smell of the grill is in the air. You can hear the band playing faintly in the distance and the sight of the crisp green field is on your brain. It’s college game day here at Purdue and you could not be more excited.

Hypothetical Example

As a group come up with an example for each of the points below:

• Receiving the new iPhone can be quite the task.- extended example/narrative

• Going to a carnival can be a fun experience. - hypothetical example

• The food options offered at Purdue dining halls are less than ideal- brief example

Activity

Use to clarify

Use to reinforce

Use examples to personalize

Make your examples vivid

Practice delivery so you can maintain eye contact

Tips for Using Examples

Can clarify and support ideas

Often cited in passing to

strengthen points

Can be stacked in order to show

magnitude of an issue

Statistics

To show the dangers posed by running red lights: “According to the U.Sdepartment of

Transportation, 200,000 people are injured and more than 800 are killed every year in the U.S.

due to motorists who run red lights.”

Example of Statistics

To show the dangers of chewing tobacco a speaker could site the American Cancer Society

with a statistic of how many people receive cancer from doing so

Stacked Statistic

Are the statistics representative?

Are statistical measures used

correctly?

Are the statistics from a reliable

source?

Questions to answer when using statistics

Sample should be big enough

Sample should represent the whole population

Example: A student chooses to randomly ask 10 other students if they favor or oppose the appointment of Governor Mitch Daniels as our new president. If 6 approve and 4 oppose, could you state that 60% of students approve of Daniels?

Is the statistic representative?

Mean

Average value of a group of numbers

ModeNumber that occurs most

frequently in a group of numbers

MedianMiddle number in a group of numbers (arranged highest

to lowest)

Statistical Measures

Apply the mean, median and mode to both sets of numbers

Group A Group B 7,500 5,400 6,300 5,400 5,000 5,000 4,400 2,300 4,400 1,700

Statistical Activity

• Group A– Mean:5,520– Media: 5,000– Mode: 4,400

• Group B– Mean: 3,960– Median: 5,000– Mode: 5,400

Answers

Use statistics to quantify your ideas

Use statistics sparingly

Identify the source

Explain your statistic

Round off complicated statistics

Use visual aides to clarify

Stats can be found in many places

Tips for Using Statistics

The quotations or paraphrases used to support a point

Testimony

Expert testimony

Peer testimony

Difference between quoting & paraphrasing

Tips for using testimony

Testimony from people who are

recognized experts in the their field

Helpful to students who

are rarely looked at as

experts

Important to use when topic is controversial

Expert Testimony

In Julia Wang’s speech about how to make Social Security more equitable for younger taxpayers, she want to convince her audience to accept her ideas. As she is not an expert on this subject, she quoted a wide range of experts who agreed with her—Arizona Senator John McCain; Jeffrey Sachs, a Harvard economics professor; former U.S. Social Security Commissioner Dorcas Hardy, and so on. By citing the views of these experts—some of whom might be expected to disagree with her point of view—Julia made her speech much more persuasive.

Testimony from ordinary people with firsthand experience

Gives a more personal viewpoint on an issue

Conveys feelings, knowledge and insight

Peer Testimony

Which testimony is more persuasive on the subject of barriers faced by people with physical disabilities?

• “I believe that people with physical disabilities have tough life. They usually be discriminated by others and suffer unequal experiences.” — from a doctor

• “When you are in a wheelchair, people don’t talk to you. Perhaps they think crippled legs mean a cripples mind. But whatever the reason, they treat you like a thing.” —from a person whose legs are paralyzed

Quote- testimony that is presented

word for word

Paraphrasing- testimony that

restates or summarizes sources

ideas

Quoting vs. Paraphrasing

More effective than

paraphrasing when brief

More effective than

paraphrasing when conveys the speaker’s

meaning

More effective then

paraphrasing when the quote

is eloquent, witty or

compelling

Quote

Use when wording of quotation is obscure or

cumbersome

Use when quotation is

longer than two or three

sentences

Paraphrasing

Quote or paraphrase accurately

• Don’t misquote• Do not violate the

meaning of your paraphrase

• Do not quote out of context

Use testimony from qualified sources

• Example: not all celebrities are qualified to endorse certain products

Tips for Using Testimony

Use testimony from unbiased sources

• Careful listeners are suspicious of opinions from biased sources

• Using testimonies from credible, competent, objective sources could persuade your audience

Identify the people you are quoting/ paraphrasing

• Name the person & sketch their qualifications before presenting the testimony

• This is an important ethical responsibility

Tips for Using Testimony

John Silber, Chancellor of Boston University and Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education, remarks: “It is quite clear that remarkable competence in a language could be achieved in three years—if these years are the ages three, four, and five.”

Decide which points on the given hand out are examples, testimony or statistics

There may be some points that are not a good use of example, testimony or statistic at all!

Activity

Each of the statements on your paper violates at least one of the criteria for effective supporting materials discussed in the chapter. As a group, identify the flaws (or flaws) in each statement.

Activity

Examples – help draw vivid

images to ideas

Brief examples

Extended examples/narrative

Hypothetical example

Statistics – numerical data

Effective way to clarify & support

ideas

Make sure they are representative,

correct & reliable

Review

Testimony – quotations/paraphrases used to support a point• Expert testimony• Peer testimony• Quoting vs. paraphrasing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTjaYaORCKo

Review