Page 297 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

264 Part 3 Putting Theory Into Practice

Use Credibility-Enhancing Language

In Chapter 4 we discussed credibility in terms of the relationship between ethi-
cal conduct and perceptions of the speaker’s trustworthiness. Here we want to
emphasize that credibility also depends on whether audience members perceive
that a speaker is a competent source of information. Does the speaker appear to
know what he or she is talking about?
How speakers use language infl uences perceptions of competence in the eyes
of audience members. For example, a number of researchers have documented
that there is a difference between “powerful” and “powerless” speech. Power-
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less speech is characterized by the use of language such as hedges (I kind of
agree with you), qualifi ers (I could be wrong), hesitations (uhs and ums), and tag
questions (That’s right, isn’t it? ). On the other hand, powerful speech is fl uent
and direct and avoids these types of phrases. Messages containing a signifi cant
amount of powerless language produce lower ratings of a speaker’s competence
and attractiveness, whereas powerful speech produces higher ratings on these
dimensions.
Therefore, the third rule to follow in constructing the text of our speech is
to use powerful, credibility-enhancing language, words that emphasize
credibility-enhancing
language rather than undermine audience perceptions of our competence. Language that
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enhances perceptions of competence avoids verbal qualifi ers. Verbal quali-
Words that emphasize
rather than undermine fi ers erode the impact of what we say in a speech.
audience perceptions of Beginning speakers often use verbal qualifi ers without thinking of them as
a speaker’s competence. such. They say, for example:
“It’s just my opinion, but . . .”
verbal qualifi ers
Words and phrases “You’ll probably disagree, but . . .”
that erode the impact of
“This is my belief, but you may think otherwise.”
what a speaker says in a
“I’m pretty sure, though I could be wrong in stating . . .”
speech.
“Of course, your opinion counts at least as much as mine.”

Credibility-enhancing language emphasizes the significance of what we say
in a speech. Whether giving an informative, persuasive, or testimonial speech,
we should be the expert on the subject or person. Not only does this require that
we do our homework, it also requires that we choose language that illustrates
the fact. Using language such as the following is one way of accomplishing this
without appearing to be a “know-it-all” to the audience.
“Ten years of research demonstrates that . . .”
“For the past four summers, I’ve been involved with . . .”
“I recently was certifi ed to . . .”
“Scholars tell us . . .”
Each of these statements begins with a phrase that emphasizes the speaker’s
credibility. They imply that through either research or experience, the speaker
knows his or her subject well. We should not exaggerate claims beyond what
we know to be true, but we should take full credit for the facts as we know
them. This is not to say that we should never qualify what we say. In persuasive
speeches, especially, the evidence may demand that we temper the claims we
make. It is unethical to make an absolute claim in a persuasive speech when the