Page 237 - Essentials of Human Communication

216 CHAPTER 11 Public Speaking Preparation (Steps 1–6)

Your specific purpose in a persuasive speech might be:

● to persuade my audience that all cigarette advertising should be abolished;
● to persuade my audience that the college should establish courses on the
prevention of AIDS and other STDs; or
● to persuade my audience to contribute time to working with students
with disabilities.

Whether you intend to inform or to persuade, limit your specific purpose
so you’ll be able to go into it in some depth. Your audience will benefit more
from a speech that covers a small area in depth than one that covers a broad
topic superficially.

YOur thesis
The thesis is the main idea that will be conveyed to an audience. In fact,
terms such as “central idea” or “controlling idea” are often used instead
of thesis. The thesis of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address was that
northerners and southerners should work together for the good of the
entire country. The thesis of many science fiction movies is that work-
ing together, people—often from very different cultures and different
walks of life—can repel any conquering force and achieve just about
anything.
Let’s say, for example, you’re planning to present a persuasive speech in
favor of the election of Senator Winters. Your thesis statement might be,
VieWPOints
defining Purpose “Winters is the best candidate.” This is what you want your audience to be-
lieve, what you want your audience to remember even if they forget every-
Izzie is considering developing her 10-minute persuasive thing else. In an informative speech, on the other hand, the thesis statement
speech around one of the following purposes that will focuses on what you want your audience to learn. For example, for a speech
persuade her listeners (1) to vote for the pro-life candi- on jealousy, a suitable thesis might be: “Two main theories of jealousy exist.”
date in the upcoming election, (2) to contribute $250 to
the college’s scholarship fund, or (3) to attend a religious The thesis and the purpose of a speech are similar in that they both
ceremony of a religion other than the listeners’ own. guide you in selecting and organizing your materials. In two major ways,
Assuming that the audience was your human communi- however, they are different:
cation class, what do you see as the advantages and ● Form of expression: Thesis and purpose differ in how they are phrased.
disadvantages of each purpose?
The thesis is phrased as a complete, declarative sentence. The purpose is
phrased as an infinitive phrase (“to inform . . .,” “to persuade . . .”).
● Focus: The thesis focuses on the message; the purpose focuses on the audience. The
thesis succinctly identifies the central idea of your speech. The purpose identifies the
Explore the Exercise change you hope to bring about in your audience—for example, to learn information,
“How Are Cultural Beliefs to change attitudes, or to influence people to act in a certain way.
and Theses Related?” at
MyCommunicationLab
Objectives self-check
● Can you select and narrow an appropriate speech topic, phrase a general and specific purpose,
and state your thesis or central idea as a simple declarative sentence?

Step 2: Analyze Your Audience

If you are going to inform or persuade an audience, you must know who they are. What are
their beliefs, attitudes, and values? What are their interests? What do they already know?
See “Change and Audience Analy- What would they want to know more about? Where do they stand on the issues you wish to
sis” at tcbdevito.blogspot.com address? We can group these various questions into two general categories: sociological and
for an additional perspective on psychological characteristics. We’ll then look at some of the things you can do during the
audience analysis. speech to help you analyze and adapt to your audience.