Page 119 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Self-Assessment

Is it acceptable for a speaker to . . . ?

Read the following scenarios carefully. Put an A next to those that you think are accept-
able for a public speaker. Put a question mark next to those that are possibly acceptable
in some cases. Mark those that are unacceptable with a U. Be prepared to present your re-
sponses in class and to discuss any differences between your responses and those of your
classmates.
1. You are running out of time to write your speech. A friend who took the class last
term offers you the outline of a speech that will fulfill the assignment. You decide to
only change the name on the outline and a couple of subpoints, but otherwise give
your friend's speech.
2. You are a United States senator. A staff member hands you the draft of a speech
you are supposed to give that evening at a gathering of supporters. You jot a few
notes in the margin and return the speech to the staffer to correct and put on the
TelePrompTer for your address.
3. You find a Web site that has exactly the information you need for your speech.
But there is no way to discover who is responsible for the content posted there or
whether or not it's true. But it's exactly what you need, so you use it anyway, citing
simply the URL (www. . . ).
4. n researching your speech, you discover some very damaging statistics that un-
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dermine your case. Nevertheless, you believe firmly in the rightness of your cause.
Thus, you ignore the contradictory evidence and focus only on statistics that sup-
port your point of view.
5. You take a class in which you are required to debate a controversial topic. You
strongly believe in one side, but your teacher insists that everyone in the class has
to debate once on each side of the resolution. You decide to go ahead and do the
debate even though you don't agree with the position because you need a good
grade in the class.

In the 1st century AD , the Roman orator and rhetorician Quintilian provided
an ethical standard that many emulate to this day. To Quintilian, the ideal
citizen- orator is a good person, speaking well. As he put it, “Oratory is the science
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of speaking well.” Further, because no one “can speak well who is not good,”
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the moral quality of the speaker is not irrelevant. Rather, it is central to the ideal
orator.
Today, the issue of ethical standards for public speaking has once again be-
come a central concern for communication educators. What constitutes ethical
communication? To assess your own values, see the box “Is it acceptable for a
speaker to . . .?” Most of us would agree that speakers should not lie or distort the
truth. Beyond that, however, what are the moral obligations of speaker to audi-
ence and audience to speaker? Based on the work of the philosophers discussed,
as well as several communication scholars, we suggest the following norms or
guidelines for the public speaker: (1) Be truthful. (2) Show respect for the power
of words. (3) Invoke participatory democracy. (4) Demonstrate mindfulness of
cultural diversity. (5) Treat people as ends, not means. (6) Provide good reasons.
Let’s look at each of these more closely.
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