Page 279 - Essentials of Human Communication

258 Chapter 12 Public Speaking Preparation and Delivery (Steps 7–10)

Communication ● Be culturally sensitive. There are vast cultural differences in what is considered
Choice point proper when it comes to criticism. People in cultures that are highly individual-
Giving Criticism istic and competitive (the United States, Germany, and Sweden are examples)
You’ve been asked to serve as may see public criticism as a normal part of the learning process. Thus, they
a guest judge for students in a sixth-grade may readily criticize others and are likely to expect the same “courtesy” from
class who are giving their first public other listeners. People from cultures that are more collectivist and that empha-
speeches. The audience will consist of ele- size the group rather than the individual (Japan, Mexico, and Korea are exam-
mentary school students, a few teachers, ples) are likely to find giving and receiving public criticism uncomfortable. They
and the parents of the students. What are may feel that it’s more important to be polite and courteous than to help some-
some of your choices for giving criticism in this one learn a skill.
situation? Put differently, what guidelines
would you seek to follow? ● Limit criticism. Cataloging a speaker’s weak points, as in “I found four things wrong
with your speech,” will overwhelm, not help, the speaker. Mentioning one or two
items that you found especially good or that might have been improved is likely to
Communication be more effective in helping the speaker.
Choice point ● Be constructive. Give the speaker the insight that you feel will help in future public
Criticizing a Speech speaking situations. For example, “The introduction didn’t gain my attention”
After listening to a speech on doesn’t tell the speaker how he or she might have gained your attention. Instead,
the glory of bullfighting, you decide that you might say, “The example about the computer crash would have more effec-
bullfighting condones cruelty to animals; to tively gained my attention in the introduction.”
the speaker, however, this traditional spec- ● Focus criticism on behavior. Look at what the speaker said and did during the
tacle is an important part of his culture. As actual speech. Avoid mind-reading the speaker and assuming that you know why
you bristle inside, the instructor asks you to the speaker did one thing rather than another. Instead of saying, “You weren’t
critique the speech. What are your choices in interested in your topic” (a comment that attacks the speaker), say, “I would have
this situation?
liked to see greater variety in your delivery. It would have made me feel you were
more involved.”
Listening to Criticism At the same time that you are expressing criticism effec-
tively, you’ll also want to listen to criticism. Here are some suggestions for making listen-
ing to criticism a less difficult and more productive experience.
These guidelines are appropriate in a learning environment such as
a public speaking class, where criticism is used as a learning tool. In
business and professional public speaking, in contrast, listeners
don’t offer suggestions for improvement; rather, they focus on the
issues you raised.
● Listen with an open mind. If you’ve already given your first speech,
you know that public speaking is highly ego-involving. Because of
this it may be tempting to block out criticism. After all, it’s not easy
to listen to criticism, especially in a fairly public place like a class-
room filled with your peers. But if you do block out such criticism,
you’ll likely lose out on some useful suggestions for improvement.
Encourage critics to share their insights by demonstrating your will-
ingness to listen with an open mind. Don’t take criticism too person-
ally; view criticism as objectively as you can.
● Accept the critic’s viewpoint. If the critic says your evidence
wasn’t convincing, it doesn’t help to identify the 12 references
that you used in your speech; this critic simply was not con-
vinced. Instead, think about why your evidence was not convinc-
ViewPointS ing to this person.
noting an Error ● Seek clarification. If you don’t understand the criticism, ask for clari-
In listening to a speech, you note that the speaker mis- fication. If you’re told that your specific purpose was too broad but
stated an important statistic. What are some of the things
you might say? What would be inappropriate to say? it’s unclear to you how you might improve it, ask the critic how you
might narrow the specific purpose.