How to Speak Ethically

Summary

This video script emphasizes the importance of ethical public speaking, outlining six key principles for audience-centered communication. It advocates for clear, responsible goals, the use of sound evidence and reasoning, sensitivity and tolerance, honesty, avoidance of plagiarism, and speaking credibly. By adhering to these principles, speakers can build trust, engage their audience, and enhance their credibility.

Takeaways

• 🎯 **Audience-Centered Approach**: Public speakers should focus on the audience's needs and best interests, rather than their own.
• 🚩 **Clear and Responsible Goal**: Set a clear and ethical goal for your speech, considering the audience's perspective and avoiding manipulation.
• 🔍 **Sound Evidence and Reasoning**: Use credible sources to gather evidence and employ reasoning to support your points effectively.
• 🌐 **Cultural Sensitivity**: Be aware of cultural differences and avoid language that may offend diverse audience members.
• 🤝 **Tolerance and Respect**: Acknowledge differing viewpoints and present information in a way that respects all audience members.
• 🗣️ **Honesty is Key**: Maintain credibility by being truthful with your audience; avoid misleading or lying.
• 📝 **Avoid Plagiarism**: Give proper acknowledgement to the original sources of quotes, ideas, and content used in your speech.
• 🔑 **Credibility**: Establish your expertise and trustworthiness by being knowledgeable and presenting information confidently.
• 👥 **Dynamic Presentation**: Engage the audience with a dynamic delivery that conveys competence and believability.
• 💡 **Ethical Communication**: Ethical public speaking involves a commitment to honesty, integrity, and respect for the audience.

Q & A

What is the definition of a principle as mentioned in the script?

A principle is defined as a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as a foundation.

What are the two key words that summarize the principle audience-centered public speakers should follow?

The two key words are 'audience-centered'.

What is the first principle of ethical public speaking as outlined in the script?

The first principle is to have a clear, responsible goal that focuses on what is best for the listeners.

Why is it important for public speakers to use sound evidence and reasoning?

Public speaking should be based on accurate information, and using sound evidence and reasoning supports the speaker's points and maintains credibility.

How does the script suggest speakers should handle differing viewpoints in their audience?

Speakers should be sensitive and tolerant, considering the audience's diverse perspectives and avoiding language that may offend.

What is the significance of honesty in public speaking according to the script?

Honesty is crucial as it maintains the speaker's credibility; misleading or lying to the audience can be destructive.

Why is it important for speakers to avoid plagiarism in their speeches?

Plagiarism can lead to severe consequences and damage the speaker's reputation; it's essential to do original work and provide proper acknowledgments.

What does it mean to speak credibly as a public speaker?

Speaking credibly means being competent, knowledgeable, dynamic, and trustworthy, ensuring the audience's best interests are at heart.

How should a speaker introduce themselves to establish credibility?

A speaker should inform the audience why they can speak on the topic, showcasing their competence and knowledge.

What is the overarching principle that the script suggests public speakers should build their career on?

Public speakers should build their career on being ethical, which encompasses the six principles discussed in the script.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Audience-Centered Public Speaking

Public speakers must adhere to the principle of being audience-centered. Ethical speaking is at the core of this practice, and public speaking should be built on six key principles. The first principle highlights the importance of having a clear, responsible goal focused on what is best for the audience, rather than the speaker's personal gain. Speakers should avoid manipulation and be transparent when persuading, always prioritizing ethical behavior.

05:01

🔍 Using Sound Evidence and Reasoning

Public speakers are expected to provide sound evidence and logical reasoning to support their claims. Rather than merely stating personal beliefs, speakers should gather accurate information from credible sources, such as expert quotes, statistics, or studies. Evidence supports the main points, and reasoning connects this evidence to the speaker's arguments, enhancing the overall credibility of the speech.

🤝 Sensitivity and Tolerance in Public Speaking

Speakers must be sensitive and tolerant to differing viewpoints in their audience. Cultural and experiential diversity should be considered to avoid offending listeners. Public speakers should take care when choosing words and examples to maintain an inclusive environment, ensuring that the audience remains engaged rather than alienated. The goal is to present information thoughtfully, keeping the audience’s perspectives in mind.

🗣️ The Importance of Honesty in Public Speaking

Honesty is a fundamental aspect of public speaking. Misleading or lying to the audience severely damages a speaker’s credibility. Hypothetical examples should be clearly identified as such to maintain trust. By being transparent and truthful, speakers can ensure that they build and maintain a strong relationship with their audience, which is crucial for long-term credibility.

📖 Avoiding Plagiarism in Public Speaking

Public speakers should never plagiarize, whether it’s copying an entire speech or using ideas, quotes, or phrases without proper acknowledgment. Proper oral citations are necessary to give credit to the original sources, similar to in-text citations in academic writing. Plagiarism has serious consequences in both educational and professional settings, and speakers should always strive for originality and ethical citation practices.

💡 Speaking Credibly and Establishing Expertise

A credible public speaker is knowledgeable, dynamic, and trustworthy. In the introduction, speakers should establish why they are qualified to talk about the topic, demonstrating competence. Presenting information confidently and sincerely helps build trust with the audience. Credibility is key to effective public speaking, as it assures the audience that the speaker has their best interests in mind.

Keywords

💡Principle

A principle, as mentioned in the video, is a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as a foundation. In the context of public speaking, principles guide the speaker's approach and behavior. The video emphasizes the importance of adhering to ethical principles to ensure the speech is audience-centered and responsible. An example from the script is the discussion of the six principles public speakers should live by, which are the core of ethical public speaking.

💡Audience-Centered

Being audience-centered means focusing on the needs and interests of the listeners rather than the speaker's own interests. The video script highlights this by encouraging speakers to consider what is best for the audience, not just their own goals. This approach is exemplified when the script advises speakers to think about their audience as they prepare their presentations, ensuring the content is relevant and beneficial to those listening.

💡Ethical Speaking

Ethical speaking refers to the practice of delivering speeches with integrity, honesty, and respect for the audience. The video script discusses this concept by outlining six principles that public speakers should follow to ensure their speeches are ethical. Ethical speaking is crucial for building trust and credibility with the audience, as exemplified by the script's emphasis on not misleading or lying to the audience.

💡Clear Responsible Goal

A clear responsible goal in public speaking is an objective that is transparent and beneficial to the audience. The video script suggests that speakers should have a goal that serves the audience's best interests, rather than aiming to trick or manipulate them. This is illustrated in the script by encouraging speakers to be upfront about their intent to persuade, if that is their goal.

💡Sound Evidence

Sound evidence in the context of public speaking refers to the use of credible, accurate, and relevant information to support the speaker's points. The video script stresses the importance of gathering evidence from quality sources and presenting it to the audience to back up the main points of the speech. This is demonstrated when the script advises against merely stating personal opinions and instead using evidence like expert quotes, statistics, or study references.

💡Reasoning

Reasoning in public speaking is the process of logically explaining and connecting the evidence to support the speaker's points. The video script describes reasoning as taking the sound evidence and making it understandable to the audience so that it reinforces the speaker's arguments. An example from the script is the advice to use reasoning to connect evidence to sub-points, ensuring the audience can follow the speaker's line of thought.

💡Sensitive and Tolerant

Being sensitive and tolerant in public speaking means being aware of and respectful towards the diverse viewpoints and backgrounds of the audience. The video script touches on this by cautioning speakers to consider the potential impact of their words and examples on the audience members, aiming to avoid causing offense. The script gives an example of being careful when discussing topics like trade agreements in a multicultural audience.

💡Honesty

Honesty in public speaking is about being truthful and transparent with the audience. The video script underlines the importance of credibility by warning against misleading or lying to the audience, as this can severely damage the speaker's reputation. Honesty is exemplified in the script by the advice to use true examples and to clearly indicate when a hypothetical scenario is being presented.

💡Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of using another person's work or ideas without proper attribution, which is strongly discouraged in public speaking. The video script discusses the consequences of plagiarism, emphasizing the need for original work and proper oral citations when using quotes, phrases, or ideas from others. The script illustrates this by comparing the severity of plagiarism in both academic and professional settings.

💡Credibility

Credibility in public speaking refers to the speaker's ability to be perceived as knowledgeable, competent, and trustworthy. The video script defines credibility as a key component of ethical speaking, where the speaker demonstrates expertise in the topic, presents information confidently, and shows that they have the audience's best interests at heart. An example from the script is the advice to establish credibility in the introduction by explaining why the speaker is qualified to discuss the topic.

Highlights

A principle is a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as a foundation.

Audience-centered public speakers need to build every speech on ethical principles.

Ethical public speaking involves six key principles to live by.

Principle number one: Have a clear, responsible goal focused on the audience's best interest.

Principle number two: Use sound evidence and reasoning to support your main points.

Gather evidence from quality sources to provide support for your arguments.

Reasoning is explaining the evidence to support your points to the audience.

Principle number three: Be sensitive and tolerant to different viewpoints in your audience.

Consider the audience's diversity and avoid potentially offensive language or examples.

Principle number four: Be honest to maintain credibility; avoid misleading or lying to the audience.

Principle number five: Don't plagiarize; give proper acknowledgement for quotes, phrases, and ideas.

Providing oral citations is crucial to avoid plagiarism in speeches.

Principle number six: Speak credibly by being competent, knowledgeable, and trustworthy.

Credibility means presenting yourself as a dynamic, confident, and believable speaker.

Trustworthiness implies having the audience's best interests at heart.

Build your public speaking career on ethical foundations to be successful.

Transcripts

[Music]

a principle is a fundamental truth or

proposition that serves as a

foundation two words can sum up the

principle audience-- centered public

speakers need to build every speech

on speak

ethically let's discuss what it means to

speak ethically

we will break this important overarching

principle down into six principles

public speakers need to live

by principle number one have a clear

responsible

goal if you're thinking about your

audience as you're prepare to give your

presentation your focus is on what is

best for the listeners not

yourself of course you could have a goal

to to trick your audience or manipulate

them in some way but ask yourself is

that what you would want to have done to

you so if you are there to persuade

never be afraid to let your listeners

know this in a clear and yet considerate

way principle number two use sound

evidence and

reasoning public speaking should always

be more than just getting up and telling

others what you think you know about a

subject that may be a new way of

thinking about presentations for some so

think about that for a

second public speaking carries with it

the responsibility to give accurate

information whether informing or

persuading so gather sound evidence from

quality sources that provide support for

your main

points the evidence might be a quote

from an expert um a clear statistic or a

reference to a

study the point is that evidence is

presented you're not up there just

saying here's what I think to be true so

believe

it also you need

reasoning reasoning is where you take

the sound evidence youve gathered and

shared and then you explain this to your

listeners so that it will support your

points it is you talking about the

evidence your sub points are where you

will share your evidence and your

reasoning principle number three be

sensitive and

tolerant most likely every time you

speak there are listeners in your

audience that will have a different

Viewpoint than the one that you will

present you will see the information

that you're presenting through the lens

of your own experience and cultural

background remember the concept of

always considering the audience and

here's an important area of

application before you present your

information ask yourself if you're using

words examples or ways of presenting

that might offend someone or several

people in your

audience you might be speaking on trade

agreements and mention China only to

look up and realize that you have a

Chinese classmate that was just offended

by your North American nationalistic

approach to discussing trade

agreements it's not about not discussing

a topic it's about caring about the

audience first and trying to keep people

listening

instead of shutting down in the middle

of your

presentation principle four be

honest there is nothing more destructive

to your credibility as a public speaker

than having your audience find out that

you've misled them or out andout lied to

them why would they ever listen to you

again your examples should always be

true and if you use a hypothetical

example let the audience know this by

using words like imagine with me for a

moment principle five don't

plagiarize of course you should never

copy an entire speech and then present

it as your own without full disclosure

that what you're doing is presenting a

famous speech originally given by

another

person and you should never use quotes

phrases or even IDE ideas without giving

the proper

acknowledgement in a speech that's

called an oral

citation providing an oral citation is

the same as providing an inext citation

as if when you write a formal academic

paper the consequences for plagiarism

are often severe whether it's a school

setting or a congress person giving a

speech to the House of

Representatives the key is to do your

own writing and give plenty of correctly

composed oral

citations principle six speak

credibly I tell public speaking students

that in your introduction you should let

your listeners know why you can speak on

this topic and what I'm saying is to

tell the audience why you are a person

who can be considered a credible

representative of this

topic speaking credibly means that you

should be competent and

knowledgeable you've studied enough to

really know your

subject that you present yourself as a

dynamic

presenter meaning that you share the

information confidently and with

believability and last that you are

trustworthy this last credibility qual

quality is important put another way

trustworthy means that you have the

audience's best interests at heart and

they can tell

it a principle is a fundamental truth or

proposition that serves as a

foundation an audience-- centered public

speaker is a

princip and ethical

speaker build your career as a public

speaker on being

ethical see you in the next video

[Music]