Page 44 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Chapter 1 Practical Speaking 11

Preserving Freedom of Speech

For some people, the way to deal with unpopular ideas is to invoke a quick fi x:
censorship. One of our goals in this book is to give you an appreciation for the
importance of free speech in a democratic society. The empowerment of more
and more citizens to express their views publicly should lead to vigorous de-
bate about those ideas. Those who have confi dence in the truth of their own
views should welcome the opportunity to debate, rather than suppress, opposing
views. Yet hardly a day goes by when we are not treated to an account of some
person or some organization trying to suppress another’s right to speak freely.

Raising the Level of Public Discourse

Regrettably, much of the public discourse of recent years in response to con-
troversial issues has degenerated into name-calling and emotional appeals.
Network and cable TV shows abound that purport to be in the “public’s inter-
est” but put uncritical thinking and verbal aggressiveness on display. The hosts
and guests of these programs confuse the quality of their rhetoric with the deci-
bel level of their emotional appeals. The same can be said for much of talk ra-
dio. The art and science of reasoned argumentation and debate have almost
been lost.
Politicians are seldom much better. They evade questions with “talking
points,” spin counterarguments to their messages rather than try and refute
them, and give public speeches replete with baseless claims and half-truths.
Rather than engaging their opponents in face-to-face debate, moreover, they’ve
been convinced by political consultants to let their TV ads do the talking
for them.
Is it possible to agree to disagree without resorting to name-calling and label-
ing people with terms that have lost their original meaning? We think it is. In
fact, we believe almost any topic—from abortion to religious zealotry—can be de-
bated without the debaters personally attacking each other’s pedigrees. Learn-
ing to focus one’s public speaking skills on the substance of a controversy rather
than the personality of an opponent is an important step in raising the level
of public discourse. As more Americans learn how to make their views known
rationally, and learn the critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate public dis-
course, the overall level of debate about issues in contemporary society is likely
to improve.

Promoting Ethics

People have studied and written about public speaking for more than 2,000
years. One of the constants we fi nd in what people have said about the topic,
moreover, is the central role of ethics in the development and presentation of
public speeches. Although we may live in a time where some people believe that
the ends justify any means, all public speakers have an obligation to embody the
practice of ethics in both their message and its presentation. In doing so, public
speakers have a unique opportunity to encourage the practice of ethics in the
audience members with whom they share their message.