Page 391 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

358 Part 4 Contexts for Public Speaking

search to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, for example, Ron Reagan
talked about such research providing us with a “personal biological repair kit.” 5
Visual aids can also be helpful in reducing complexity. For example, we
recall a speech about a complex carbon molecule in which the speaker used a
Tinkertoy model to show what the molecule looked like. The speaker also used
an analogy, calling the molecule a “soot ball,” to help the audience visualize
what it would be like.
One fi nal way to make a speech accessible to audience members is to clearly
defi ne any terms that may be unfamiliar to some or all of them. For example,
suppose you heard a speech on bovine spongiform ecephalopathy. Unless the
speaker explained that this was commonly known as mad cow disease, you
would likely be lost and probably disinterested. Even more obscure are speeches
that only use acronyms, or letters representing key words. For example, a speech
on BSE would be confusing at best if the audience did not know that it was the
offi cial acronym for mad cow disease. Furthermore, whatever term is used for
the disease, it needs a fuller defi nition, explaining that it is a chronic, degenera-
tive disorder of a bovine’s central nervous system.

Life Enrichment

When we introduced the tools you need to get started on your fi rst speech, we
talked about the importance of connecting with your audience. If they are to
learn, audience members need to know explicitly why it is in their interest to
listen to what you have to say.
When we connect with our audience, we are in effect saying, “My topic and
message are potentially life enriching.” Life enrichment can take the form of a
more informed view on some topic or an improved way of behaving. Don’t think
that just because you have a good idea, people will necessarily see what you
see. History is replete with good ideas, the proverbial better mousetrap, that are
collecting dust for want of the public’s attention. Consider two examples from
Everett M. Rogers’s classic work, The Diffusion of Innovations. 6
If you have studied the history of science, you may recall that the disease
scurvy, caused by a defi ciency of vitamin C, was a serious problem for sailors on
long voyages. As early as 1601, it was found that sources of vitamin C effectively
inhibited scurvy. Yet it took almost 200 years for the British Navy to put this
fi nding to use on its ships and almost 75 years more for sources of vitamin C to
be made available on commercial ships.
The second example concerns the arrangement of the keyboard on typewrit-
ers and personal computers. If you have ever thought the keys were illogically
arranged, you are not alone. A far better method of arrangement of keys has
been available since 1932. The Dvorak method is more effi cient than the system
almost everybody uses and is more easily mastered. So why weren’t you taught
the Dvorak method in the beginning? Because the one you use was invented in
1873 and has been designed into almost all keyboards ever since. One of the
reasons for staying with the less logical keyboard was that the metal keys of
early typewriters stuck when the typist worked too quickly. Thus, the keyboard
we use today on computers was originally invented to slow down typists on me-
chanical typewriters.
All too often speakers assume that audience members will recognize they
have something to gain personally or professionally from a speech. What may