Page 241 - Essentials of Human Communication

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

● Continue your search by getting a general overview of the topic. An encyclopedia article,
book chapter, or magazine article will serve this purpose well. This general overview will
help you see the topic as a whole and how its various parts fit together. If you search for
material on any search engine, you’ll find that Wikipedia comes up among the top search
suggestions. This is a useful first step but realize that the articles in Wikipedia are not
necessarily written by experts and are not fact-checked as they would be in, say, the
Encyclopaedia Britannica. However, most articles have extensive references that you can
and should check, especially for controversial issues.
● Follow up the general overview using increasingly more detailed and specialized sources.
Fortunately, many of the general articles contain references or links for this very purpose.
● Gather a variety of different types of research. Although what is and what isn’t appropri-
For one perspective on this issue, ate research will depend partly on your topic; a variety of different types of research will
see “Wikipedia” at tcbdevito generally prove more interesting and more convincing. Here are a few types:
.blogspot.com. How do you feel ❍ News sources are especially useful for political speeches, financial news, or reports on natural
about this?
disasters, congressional actions, international developments, or any of a host of other topics.
❍ Biographical material will help you explain the competence and background of those
you mention in your speech, present their credibility to the audience, and answer au-
dience questions about them.
❍ Academic research articles will enable you to secure the most reliable and valid research
available. MySearchLab (a part of Mycommunicationlab) will help you locate the aca-
demic research articles you need to find.
● Distinguish between primary and secondary sources as you research. A primary source is
original information about a topic or event—for example, an original
research study in an academic journal, a corporation’s annual report, and an
eyewitness report of an accident. In contrast, a secondary source discusses information
originally presented elsewhere—for example, a summary of research
appearing in a popular magazine, a television news story on a corporation’s earnings, and a
report by someone who talked with an eyewitness to an accident.

research sOurces
Here we consider just two major research sources: the library and the interview.
libraries Libraries are the major storehouses of information and focus on computerized
databases as well as print sources. Fortunately, you can access through your computer most
of the great libraries of the world—for example, the Library of Congress, the largest library in
the United States, which houses millions of books, maps, multimedia resources, and manu-
scripts. Other useful online sources are the Virtual Library, a collection of links to 14 subject
areas and the Internet Public Library, a collection of links to a wide variety of materials that
functions much like the reference desk at any of the world’s best libraries.
Your college library will likewise prove useful. Here is probably the best place to get expert
advice on databases and other resources available to you, especially nonprint resources or mate-
rials unique to your college or area. Your college library will also most likely provide you with
access to databases that you might not have available on your own computer.
interviews One research activity that you may find helpful is to interview people who have
special information that you might use in your speech. For example, you might want to interview
Explore the Exercise a veterinarian for information on proper nutrition for household pets; an eyewitness for informa-
“Electronic Research” at tion on living through a hurricane; or average people for their opinions on politics, religion, or
MyCommunicationLab
any of a wide variety of topics. In these interviews, a great part of your effectiveness will hinge on
your ability to listen actively, for total meaning, with empathy, with an open mind, and ethically—
all of the interpersonal communication skills already covered. Here are six steps you might follow:
● Select the person you wish to interview. You might, for example, look through your college
catalog for an instructor teaching a course that involves your topic. Or visit blogs and
look for people who have posted articles on your topic. If you want to contact a book au-
thor, you can always write to the author in care of the publisher or editor (listed on the