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Ten Timeless Lessons from the Ancient WorldFigure 1.1 ethnocentrism The tendency of any nation, race, religion, or group to believe that its way of looking at and doing things is right and that other perspectives have less value. Public Speaking, Eighth Edition, by Michael Osborn, Suzanne Osborn and Randall Osborn. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. 12 Part One The Foundations of Public Speaking seeing and doing things is essentially correct and is the standard against which other cultural worldviews and behaviors are to be judged. There is nothing inherently wrong, of course, with being a proud American, a proud Mexican American, or even a proud Southerner. But when we allow these feelings of pride to manifest themselves as cultural arrogance that belittles outsiders, they block communication in a multicultural society. Had you attended college just a few decades ago, you likely would have encountered the unquestioned assumption that this country is a melting pot that has fused the cultures of various minority and native groups into a superior alloy called the American character. Still encountered in some quarters, the melting pot may seem harmless enough in providing the image of the ideal American. The problem, of course, is the way this metaphor projects ethnocentrism. Its ideal American has too often been painted with a white male face. At least historically, women and minority groups have not been admitted as equal participants to public discussions, and their distinct identities and contributions are depreciated by the presumption that there is a single dominant American character. No less important to our purposes, the melting pot metaphor simply fails to adequately characterize the diversity of audiences you will encounter both in school and in later life. Elizabeth Lozano summarizes the shortcomings of the melting pot and proposes an alternative view of American culture: The melting pot is not an adequate metaphor for a country which is comprised of a multiplicity of cultural backgrounds.... [W]e might better think of the United States in terms of a cultural bouillabaisse in which all ingredients conserve their unique flavor, while also transforming and being transformed by the adjacent textures and scents.12 A public speaking class is an ideal place to savor this rich broth of cultures. As we hear others speak, we often discover the many flavors of the American experience. And as you examine your own identity and that of the people around you, you may well discover that most of us in this country are indeed multicultural. In either case, if you want to speak effectively and ethically before American audiences, then a sensitivity toward and appreciation for cultural diversity is increasingly necessary. A second barrier rises in the form of stereotypes, generalized assumptions that supposedly represent the essential character of races, genders, religious affiliations, sexual orientations, and so on. Before we get to know the individual members of our audience, we may invoke stereotypes to anticipate how they will react to our words. Even seemingly positive stereotypes Asian Americans are good at math, Mexican Americans have a strong devotion to family can be hurtful if they block us from experiencing the unique humanity of someone who just happens to be an Asian or Mexican American. As a general rule, nobody likes to feel that he or she is being addressed as an other by another other. So pack your stereotypes away as you enter the public speaking class. You may discover that they are not that useful after all. One of our favorite metaphors for the complex culture of the United States was introduced in the conclusion of Abraham Lincoln s first inaugural address, as Lincoln sought to hold the nation together on the eve of the Civil War: The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.13 stereotypes Generalized pictures of a race, gender, or group that supposedly represent its essential characteristics. Public Speaking, Eighth Edition, by Michael Osborn, Suzanne Osborn and Randall Osborn. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1 Public Speaking and You 13 Have students identify film or television characters that stereotype race, ethnicity, or gender. What is accurate and inaccurate in these stereotypes? Might they be damaging if applied to individuals? Ask ESL students how Americans are stereotyped in their cultures. Lincoln s image of America as a harmonious chorus implied that the individual voices of Americans will not only survive but will create a music more beautiful than that of any one voice alone. Lincoln s vision holds forth a continuing dream of a society in which individualism and the common good can not only survive but can also enhance each other. In your class and within these pages, you will hear many voices: Native Americans and new Americans, women and men, conservatives and liberals, Americans of all different colors and lifestyles. Despite their many differences, all of them are a part of the vital chorus of our nation. Public speaking gives you the opportunity to hear these voices and add yours to the chorus. Powerful Knowledge In addition to significant practical and personal growth benefits, your public speaking class offers you the opportunity to develop knowledge of communication as an interactive and dynamic force in shaping our lives. Knowledge of the public speaking process arises from the rich rhetorical tradition we have sketched, going back to the time of Aristotle and Plato. But it also arises from more recent quests for knowledge. Public Speaking as an Interactive Process. At times, beginning speakers think of a speech as though it were a product or object that one produces on occasion to receive the admiration of onlookers. Just a little reflection, however, convinces us that this is the wrong approach. Instead, a speech is an interactive process that attempts to do some work on a specific occasion: to introduce the speaker to listeners, to share knowledge with them, to convince them of the rightness or wrongness of certain attitudes and actions, or to celebrate with them some special moments. The speech is not so much a product as it is an act performed with and for the sake of listeners. The speech realizes its purpose when the audience responds in accordance with its message. The interactive nature of speaking becomes clear when we realize that there can be no speech without a speaker, a listener, an occasion that calls it forth, and a situation in which it is presented. A speech is a dynamic interplay of all these factors and others. To help us grasp this complexity of interacting factors, we turn to some groundbreaking work performed by scientists at the Bell Telephone Laboratory around the middle of the twentieth century. As this work has been applied and adapted by scholars of communication, it identifies the following factors:14 I Source (or speaker): the originator of the message. The importance of establishing yourself as a credible person is discussed in Chapter 3. I Encoder (or transmitter): the speaker s voice. We deal with developing the speaker s voice as an instrument of communication in Chapter 13. I Message (or speech): the words, nonverbal cues, and presentation aids that convey the speaker s ideas, motives, and feelings toward a subject. We discuss message factors throughout this book. I Channel (or medium): air or medium through which the message flows; becomes important only when there is a problem (bad acoustics in room, microphone not working, etc.). We consider such problems in Chapters 5 and 13. I Receiver (or audience): listeners who receive the message those for whom the message is intended and in anticipation of whom the message is shaped. We develop advice for analyzing your audience in Chapter 5. To help students appreciate the uniqueness of their personal heritage, ask them to develop a selfintroductory speech (see Chapter 3) on how their gender, race, or ethnicity has helped shape their identity. source The originator of a message. encoder The speaker s voice. message The words, nonverbal cues, and presentation aids that convey the speaker s ideas, motives, and feelings toward a subject. channel Air or medium through which the message flows. receiver The audience; those for whom the message is intended and in anticipation of whom the message is shaped. Public Speaking, Eighth Edition, by Michael Osborn, Suzanne Osborn and Randall Osborn. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. 14 Part One The Foundations of Public Speaking decoder Process by which the listener determines the meaning of the speaker s message. I Decoder: works when listeners can hear and understand the speaker s words. We talk about problems of translating technical language in Chapter 13. I Noise (or interference): can indicate a range of problems from physical noise, such as distracting sounds in the room, to psychological noise (stereotypes, distractions, cultural barriers, etc.) in listeners that interferes with and possibly distorts the reception of the message. We cover coping with interference problems in Chapters 4 and 13. I Feedback (or response): how audience members react to the speaker s message both during and after its presentation. The nods, frowns, and puzzled looks that audience members sometimes provide during a presentation allow speakers to make on-the-spot adjustments and give their messages a better chance to receive a favorable hearing. Speeches sometimes conclude with a question-and-answer session that gives audience members a chance to offer feedback directly. We discuss these issues in Chapter 13. In addition to these factors, public speaking occurs within a physical and psychological setting that often affects the way messages are constructed, presented, and received. The physical setting includes such factors as the actual place where the speech is to be presented, the time of day the speech is given, and the size and arrangement of the audience. Plato s Phaedrus takes place in a woodland setting that frames and colors its message appropriately. In this lovely pastoral context, Socrates envisions an ideal communication that promotes the spiritual growth of listeners and speakers alike. The psychological setting of a speech includes such factors as the occasion for speaking, the expectations that audiences members bring to the speaking situation, and the context of recent events. When audience members expect an informative presentation on investing in the stock market but are instead subjected to a sales pitch for mutual funds, they may feel exploited and come away with a negative impression of both speaker and speech. Finally, recent events can change the psychological setting of a speech. For instance, if you have planned a speech attacking oppressive campus security measures, and right before your speech a frightening and well-publicized crime is committed on your campus, the setting for your speech may suddenly be less receptive. A typical critique we might write for a student speech illustrates the interplay of these various factors and the usefulness of grasping the interactional nature of the speech process: You were right to emphasize your personal experience with this subject at the beginning of your speech [establishing the validity of the source]. However, you need to speak louder so that listeners in the back of the room can hear clearly [improving the quality of encoding]. Your speech is well organized and makes effective use of examples [praising the quality of the message]. You did need to explain more clearly some of the technical terms you used [to help listeners decode]. physical noise such as distracting sounds in the room to psychological noise (stereotypes, distractions, cultural barriers, etc.) in listeners that can distort or even block the reception of the message. feedback Speaker s perception of how audience members react to the message both during and after its presentation. Have students describe a speaker they have heard (perhaps another instructor in a lecture class) who neglected audience feedback and did not make needed adjustments. Discuss how such insensitivity to feedback can impair understanding. setting Physical and psychological context in which a speech is presented. Arrange for students to speak in different settings (such as outdoors or in a large auditorium) during the term to foster flexibility in adapting their messages and presentation styles. noise Sometimes called interference, this can indicate a range of problems from This charismatic speaker seems dynamic and likeable. Public Speaking, Eighth Edition, by Michael Osborn, Suzanne Osborn and Randall Osborn. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 1 Public Speaking and You 15 Figure 1.2 offers a visual model of the interactional process. Public Speaking as a Dynamic Process. Kenneth Burke, one of the major communication theorists of our time, suggested that speakers are constantly confronting the problem of listeners who feel divided and weak and who lack effective definition as groups. The challenge that speakers must meet is to bring these listeners together into action communities who know what they are and what they wish to become. In the process, speakers also define themselves. The first day you enter your public speaking class, you encounter twentyfive or so other individuals. Perhaps a few of them know each other, but most are strangers. Many are secretly frightened about the ordeal they believe they will soon have to endure. So on the day you first stand to speak, your main task may be to tear down all those invisible walls that separate people, to bring listeners together around your ideas and personality. You will have begun Burke s work of identification, creating the feeling among people that they share the speaker s experiences, values, fears, desires, and dreams and that they are, in effect, bound together in community.15 Public speaking, when it is successful, changes the relationships among people the distances that separate them disappear, the boundaries that confine them are lifted. This is why public speaking is a dynamic process: it changes people and the relationships among them. Figure 1.3 offers a picture of this process when it works successfully. In Source Encoder Channel Message Communication Setting Feedback Decoder Noise Noise Receiver Figure 1.2 Date: 2015-02-16; view: 1792
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