Page 121 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

88 Part 1 Foundations

Although freedom of speech is central to our democ-
racy, the courts have recognized that there are limits. As
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Oliver Wendell Hol-
mes Jr. once said, freedom of speech does not give you
the right to shout “fi re!” in a crowded theater. Although
Justice Holmes was speaking metaphorically, the princi-
ple he was expressing is as relevant to the current debate
about speech codes as it was nearly a century ago. The
fact that you can say almost anything that comes to mind
in this country doesn’t make the content of what you say
either ethical or wise. The old saying “Sticks and stones
can break my bones, but words can never hurt me” is rub-
bish. In fact, words are very powerful and can cause great
harm as well as great good. The ethical speaker recog-
nizes that words have consequences.

Invoke Participatory Democracy

Jaksa and Pritchard discuss the importance of participa-
tory democracy, which rests on a foundation of choice
20
and respect for people. Citizens must have accurate and
ample information to make informed choices. Further, the
Don Imus lost his radio and television shows golden rule of treating others as we would have them treat
for his racially disparaging remarks about the
us applies to public speaking as well as to interpersonal
Rutgers women’s basketball team
communication. Speakers should put themselves in the
shoes of listeners and ask if they are treating them as they
would like to be treated. The ethical speaker recognizes
the audience as an equal participant in the communication transaction. Simi-
larly, listeners need to show respect and tolerance for speakers, even if the speak-
ers’ views are different from their own. Shouting down a speaker, for example,
infringes on the speaker’s freedom of speech and the public’s right to hear a full
spectrum of viewpoints.
In other words, ethics in communication is a joint responsibility. For example,
there have been many complaints in recent years about negative and deceptive
political advertising. Yet political consultants say they are only giving the public
what it wants. Although that is no ethical defense for their behavior, we must
also realize that deceptive advertising succeeds only because voters fail to protest
against it and continue to vote for candidates who engage in such practices.

Demonstrate Mindfulness of Cultural Diversity

In Chapter 6 we discuss adapting to audience members from different cultures.
For now, we want you to focus on the importance of being respectful of cultural
differences, and mindful of the potential ethical concerns of those who do not
share our cultural heritage.
In our earlier discussion of cultural relativism, we mentioned what we con-
sider to be an extreme position: We should neither judge others’ cultural prac-
tices nor try and impose our own on them. We don’t agree with this position.