Exam 15: Speaking to Inform

Using Walter Fisher's Narrative Theory, identify and discuss four questions you can ask yourself to assess a story's probability. Additionally, identify and discuss three questions you can ask to assess the fidelity of a story.

Your textbook describes three good sources of stories. Select two of those sources and briefly describe the kind of story you could tell using that source.

According to Katherine Rowan's Theory of Informatory and Explanatory Communication, which of the following topic areas is best suited for an informatory presentation?

If you wanted to use humor in a presentation about public speaking, which of the following examples would you use? Justify your choice and explain why you would not use the other examples. Example #1: The last time she spoke, she had the audience glued to their seats…which was a clever idea. Example #2: Most people don't drink coffee during his presentations. They're afraid it will keep them awake. Example #3: Mark Twain wrote, "It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech."

Most good stories follow an effective organizational pattern, as illustrated in the textbook's story-building chart. Which phase of the story-building chart answers the questions, "What did you or the characters see, hear, feel, smell, or taste?" and "How are the characters reacting to what's happening?"

Informative presentations can be used to clear up an audience's misconceptions or confusion about a topic.

Which of the following is not a technique for involving the audience in your presentation?

What is the best order for using the strategies for overcoming confusion and misunderstanding in an informative presentation?

In the textbook's Story-Building Chart, character development should come before the climax of the story.

When clarifying a difficult term in an explanatory informative presentation, you should use analogies and metaphors to overcome confusion and misunderstanding.

Informative presentations can

When asking for volunteers from the audience, cooperation is very difficult to achieve.

Which type of explanatory communication may require elements of persuasion to achieve its purpose?

When explaining a quasi-scientific phenomenon in an explanatory informative presentation, you should use analogies and metaphors and, if appropriate, presentation aids.

Your textbook authors note, "A joke that evokes laughter in Louisiana may insult an audience in Lebanon-and vice versa." Explain what the authors mean by this statement. In your response, discuss the boundaries of humor as they relate to culture, including addressing how humor can backfire on a culturally-diverse audience or an opposite-gender audience.

Your textbook describes four good sources of stories: front page newspaper stories, another person's most embarrassing moment, reference books of stories for speakers, and children's books.

The clear dividing line between informative and persuasive presentations is the speaker's purpose.

Explain how you would use the four strategies for overcoming confusion and misunderstanding about one of the following topics: (a) contracting AIDS; (b) moving to a new city; (c) caring for an elderly parent; (d) popular movies; (e) creationism; (f) exercise; or (g) a sport.

As long as your overriding purpose is to instruct, explain, clarify, or correct-rather than to persuade-your presentation is informative.

Which of the following examples calls for explanatory communication strategies in an informative presentation?