Exploring Public Speaking Textbook Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Exploring Public Speaking, 4th edition Open Resource Textbook for Basic Public Speaking Course Authors: Faculty of Dalton State College, Dalton, Georgia Overview  Sources of ethics in communication  Legal  Cultural  Philosophical  Credibility and Ethics  Using sources and...

Chapter 3 Exploring Public Speaking, 4th edition Open Resource Textbook for Basic Public Speaking Course Authors: Faculty of Dalton State College, Dalton, Georgia Overview  Sources of ethics in communication  Legal  Cultural  Philosophical  Credibility and Ethics  Using sources and avoiding plagiarism Ethics  “the branch of philosophy that involves determinations of what is right and wrong”  A core concern for public speaking because of individual, community, and democratic outcomes Sources of Ethics in Communication  Legal  Bill of Rights, First Amendment  Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech... or of the press.”  Supreme Court decisions have addressed various situations, such as obscenity, censorship, flag burning, etc. \  Freedom of speech led to broader freedom of expression  Supreme Court generally interprets First Amendment broadly Exceptions to free expression  Threats to life of president  Communities can set reasonable requirements for public safety  Cases where the speech could likely incite violence  Defamation (slander and libel) Other sources of ethics  Cultural and Religious  Golden Rule, Religious texts  Community Standards  Family upbringing  Other sources of ethics: Philosophical  Plato: noticed the power of speakers to mislead audience  Quintillian: Rhetoric is the good man speaking well.  Utilitarianism: greatest good for greatest number  Pragmatism: consequences are the judge  Kant: Categorical imperative  Existentialism: individual choice and responsibility  Habermas: equal opportunity to fully participate  Credibility and Ethics  Aristotle: wisdom, sagacity, and character of speaker  Today: the attitude of the audience toward the speaker, based on reality and perception  Sources (main)  Similarity  Character  Competence  Good will  Others: likability, poise, appearance, humor, poise Credibility  Differs from audience to audience  Differs even within the speech  Initial  Derived  Terminal Plagiarism  Basic definition: “the act of using another person’s words or ideas without giving credit to that person”  Involves  Turning in someone else’s work as your own  Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit  Failing to put quotation marks around an exact quotation  Giving incorrect information about the source of material  Copying the sentence structure or so much that the majority of your paper/speech is verbatim from the source(s) Types of Plagiarism  Stealing: Submitting a whole work from another as your own.  Sneaking: Cutting and pasting, no sources cited  Borrowing: Some sources cited, but texts of sources not summarized or paraphrased correctly Ethically crediting sources  Full information about the source  Be sure information is in context and relevant to your points  Translate the source material into your own words by paraphrasing and summarizing (preferable)