Midterm Flashcards
stage fright
Anxiety over the prospect of giving a speech in front of an audience.
Adrenaline
A hormone released into the bloodstream in response to physical or mental stress.
positive nervousness
Controlled nervousness that helps energize a speaker for her or his presentation.
visualization
Mental imaging in which speakers vividly picture themselves giving a successful presentation.
critical thinking
Focused, organized thinking about such things as the logical relationships among ideas, the soundness of evidence, and the differences between fact and opinion.
speaker
The person who is presenting an oral message to a listener.
message
Whatever a speaker communicates to someone else.
channel
The means by which a message is communicated.
listener
The person who receives the speaker’s message.
frame of reference
The sum of a person’s knowledge, experience, goals, values, and attitudes. No two people can have exactly the same frame of reference.
feedback
The messages, usually nonverbal, sent from a listener to a speaker.
interference
Anything that impedes the communication of a message. Interference can be external or internal to listeners.
situation
The time and place in which speech communication occurs.
ethnocentrism
The belief that one’s own group or culture is superior to all other groups or cultures.
ice breaker speech
A speech early in the term designed to get students speaking in front of the class as soon as possible.
chronological order
A method of speech organization in which the main points follow a time pattern.
topical order
A method of speech organization in which the main points divide the topic into logical and consistent subtopics.
transition
A word or phrase that indicates when a speaker has finished one thought and is moving on to another.
main points
The major points developed in the body of a speech.
extemporaneous speech
A carefully prepared and rehearsed speech that is presented from a brief set of notes.
demographic audience analysis
Audience analysis that focuses on demographic factors such as age; religion; racial, ethnic, and cultural background; gender and sexual orientation; group membership; and the like.
situational audience analysis
Audience analysis that focuses on situational factors such as the size of the audience, the physical setting for the speech, and the disposition of the audience toward the topic, the speaker, and the occasion.
attitude
A frame of mind in favor of or opposed to a person, policy, belief, institution, etc.
fixed-alternative questions
Questions that offer a fixed choice between two or more alternatives.
scale questions
Questions that require responses at fixed intervals along a scale of answers.
open-ended questions
Questions that allow respondents to answer however they want.
online environment
The elements of Internet communication that influence an online speech, including the remote audience, factors of technology, and unique forms of interference.
visual environment
The on-screen elements seen by the audience during an online speech.
topic
The subject of a speech.
brainstorming
A method of generating ideas by free association of words and thoughts.
general purpose
The broad goal of a speech.
specific purpose
A single infinitive phrase that states precisely what a speaker hopes to accomplish in his or her speech.
central idea
A one-sentence statement that sums up or encapsulates the major ideas of a speech.
residual message
What a speaker wants the audience to remember after they have forgotten everything else in a speech.
rhetorical question
A question that the audience answers mentally rather than aloud.
goodwill
The audience’s perception of whether the speaker has the best interests of the audience in mind.
preview statement
A statement in the introduction of a speech that identifies the main points to be discussed in the body.
crescendo ending
A conclusion in which the speech builds to a zenith of power and intensity.
dissolve ending
A conclusion that generates emotional appeal by fading step by step to a dramatic final statement.
preparation outline
A detailed outline developed during the process of speech preparation that includes the title, specific purpose, central idea, introduction, main points, subpoints, connectives, conclusion, and bibliography of a speech.
visual framework
The pattern of symbolization and indentation in a speech outline that shows the relationships among the speaker’s ideas.
bibliography
A list of all the sources used in preparing a speech.
speaking outline
A brief outline used to jog a speaker’s memory during the presentation of a speech.
delivery cues
Directions in a speaking outline to help a speaker remember how she or he wants to deliver key parts of the speech.
nonverbal communication
Communication based on a person’s use of voice and body, rather than on the use of words.
manuscript speech
A speech that is written out word for word and read to the audience.
impromptu speech
A speech delivered with little or no immediate preparation.
conversational quality
Presenting a speech so it sounds spontaneous no matter how many times it has been rehearsed.
pitch
The loudness or softness of the speaker’s voice.
inflections
Changes in the pitch or tone of a speaker’s voice.
monotone
A constant pitch or tone of voice.
rate
The speed at which a person speaks.
pause
A momentary break in the vocal delivery of a speech.
A pause that occurs when a speaker fills the silence between words with vocalizations such as “uh,” “er,” and “um.”
vocalized pause
vocal variety
Changes in a speaker’s rate, pitch, and volume that give the voice variety and expressiveness.
pronunciation
The accepted standard of sound and rhythm for words in a given language.
articulation
The physical production of particular speech sounds.
dialect
A variety of a language distinguished by variations of accent, grammar, or vocabulary.
kinesics
The study of body motions as a systematic mode of communication.
gestures
Motions of a speaker’s hands or arms during a speech.
eye contact
Direct visual contact with the eyes of another person.
graph
A visual aid used to show statistical trends and patterns.
line graph
A graph that uses one or more lines to show changes in statistics over time or space.
pie graph
A graph that highlights segments of a circle to show simple distribution patterns.
bar graph
A graph that uses vertical or horizontal bars to show comparisons among two or more items.
chart
A visual aid that summarizes a large block of information, usually in list form.
font
A complete set of type of the same design.
