Study Guide & Sample Test Answers
Sample speech: "Acupuncture" (Student CD-ROM Guidebook, CD#2, Speech #9). Note
that there is an outline for the speech on the CD, plus a written out copy of the speech
starting at p. 392 in Lucas, Art of Public Speaking, 9th ed.
1. What is the speaker's General Purpose? What is the speaker's Specific Purpose?
What is the speaker's Central Idea?
Resources to review: T pp. 93-105.
A good answer: Is accurate and follows the correct form & guidelines for the GP, SP and
CI.
Sample answer:
GP: to inform.
SP: to inform my audience how acupuncture works.
CI: The ancient Chinese art of acupuncture, involving the insertion
of tiny needles into the skin, works by improving the flow of energy
in the body, is effective to treat a wide range of medical conditions,
and is increasingly being used in combination with Western
medicine.
2. What, if anything, does the speaker do to achieve each of the functions of a
Speech Introduction? If the speaker misses one, what could he/she have done to
fulfill it?
Resources to review: T pp. 228-242; Lecture 3M.
A good answer: Deals with each of the CARRP functions, and states accurately and in
detail how the speaker fulfilled or failed to fulfill them.
Sample answer:
1. Earns attention by telling the story of her grandmother's cure.
2. Reveals the topic by identifying acupuncture as what cured her
grandmother, and by briefly stating the history of acupuncture.
3. Establishes credibility by describing her own treatment, and her
research on the topic.
4. Does not do much after the attention-getter to relate the topic to
the audience. She could have encouraged her audience to start
thinking about how acupuncture might help them feel better.
5. Previews her four main points (what happens, how it works, its
uses, and its recent spread).
3. What are the speaker's Main Points? What Pattern of Organization is the speaker
using?
Resources to review: T pp. 206-217; W p. 23; Lecture 4F.
A good answer: Accurately captures the speaker's main points, states them in proper
preparation outline format, and identifies accurately the pattern of organization they
represent.
Sample answer:
I. Acupuncture involves the insertion of needles into the skin.
II. Acupuncture works by improving the flow of energy in the body.
III. Acupuncture is effective in treating a wide range of medical
conditions.
IV. Acupuncture is being used in combination with Western
medicine to provide patients the benefits of both.
Pattern: TOPICAL.
4. Give one example from the speech of three different kinds of Connectives. If the
speaker fails to use a Connective between any of his/her Main Points, identify the
gap and suggest how the speaker could have filled it.
Resources to review: T pp. 219-222.
A good answer: Captures and identifies three different connectives accurately, noting
any gaps. Note that word-for-word accuracy is not required, although you should be able
to state the main idea of the connective.
Sample answer:
"Now that you know what happens in an acupuncture treatment,
you're probably wondering how it works." TRANSITION linking one
point to the next.
"Let's start with a typical acupuncture treatment." SIGNPOST
marking the first point.
INTERNAL SUMMARY/PREVIEW: None (although there is a
summary in the conclusion).
The speaker doesn't use much of a Connective before her last
point; she just says, "because of all this…" It probably would have
been better to add a bit of an internal summary there, since
otherwise points III (the diseases that can be cured) and point IV
(the ways acupuncture can be used) sort of flow into each other.
She could have said, "So that's what acupuncture is like, how it
works, and what we know about it. Given all this, it's not surprising
to find it used in combination with Western medicine."
5. Identify three Sources which the speaker refers to (if possible). If the speaker
neglects to cite orally the source of any quotation, statistic, or other technical
information, identify the gap, and suggest how the speaker could have filled it.
Resources to review: T pp. 41-47; W pp. 21-22; CD#1 clips 6.1 & 7.6; Lecture 4W.
A good answer: Accurately identifies the sources, noting any missed sources. Note: that
word-for-word accuracy is not required, although you should be able to capture key
details about the source being used.
Sample answer:
A doctor who is the President of an Acupuncture Society, and who
wrote a book on the scientific basis of acupuncture.
The World Health Organization.
The director of a pain program at a children's hospital at UCLA.
6. What functions does the speaker use his/her Visual Aid to perform?
Resources to review: T chap. 13; W p. 35; Lecture 5M.
A good answer: Briefly describes the visual aid, and identifies the function(s) it is
performing.
Sample answer:
The actual NEEDLES were especially useful to interest the
audience by satisfying their curiosity.
The DIAGRAM of the energy "meridians" helped provide more
accurate information than the speaker could have done using
words alone.
7. Identify three different ways the speaker engages the audience in the body of the
speech.
Resources to review: T pp. 383-391; Lecture 5M.
A good answer: Briefly and accurately describes three passages in the speech, and
explains how they served to engage the audience.
Sample answer:
1. When talking about the needles, the speaker directly addresses
"you" the audience, re-assuring us that we shouldn't be grossed out
by the thought of getting stuck with needles.
2. When talking about the energy channels, the speaker uses
simple language, a visual aid and a Chinese proverb to make this
technical subject understandable to all.
3. When talking about the diseases which acupuncture can help,
the speaker avoids abstractions by mentioning a wide variety of
familiar conditions, like asthma.
8. What, if anything, does the speaker do to achieve the functions of a Speech
Conclusion? If the speaker misses one, what could he/she have done to fulfill it?
Resources to review: T pp. 242-248; Lecture 3M.
A good answer: Deals with each of the conclusion functions, and states accurately and in
detail how the speaker fulfilled or failed to fulfill them.
Sample answer:
The speaker signals that she's coming to an end and
reinforces her Central Idea at the same time, by giving a quick
summary of what she'd covered in her speech: what happens
during acupuncture, how it works, what diseases it helps with, and
how it can be integrated with Western medicine. She closes the
speech with a "bang" by referring back to the beginning of the
speech—the story of her grandmother.
9. What is the one positive comment about the speech that this speaker most needs
to hear now? (Not including delivery.)
Resources to review: T pp. 372-373; W pp. 7, 18-20; "How to give feedback"
(WebCT); Lecture 4F.
A good answer: Uses good judgment to select the one most important piece of feedback
this student needs to hear, and conveys that feedback in a specific, personal and civil
fashion. To judge which comments are the most important, keep in mind the general
goals of an Informative speech and the grading standards for all speeches.
There will be up to three possible "right" answers to this question--three things which in
our judgment are the most important things given the expectations of this assignment.
Feedback which is accurate, but focused on a minor point, will only receive partial credit.
Since we'll be viewing the speech on a recording, do not comment about delivery. Note
that every test will include one or both of questions 9 and 10.
Sample answer: Any ONE of the following:
1. One of the basic responsibilities of an informative speech
is to provide accurate information. I was impressed at the way you
drew from a large variety of high quality sources, including
quotations from doctors, information about research studies, and
explanations of the science behind acupuncture. I think I heard as
many as eight different sources cited. This meant that your speech
was exceptional for its full development of information.
2. You were working with a complex subject, but you met
very well your obligation to convey your information clearly by your
excellent organization. I thought that your topical pattern of
organization was effective in allowing you to cover a lot of different
points (what acupuncture is, how it works, what it works for, and
how it's being used now) in a short amount of time. In addition,
your preview in your introduction and your summary in your
conclusion helped keep your audience oriented to your
organization. And except for one minor slip-up between the third
and fourth points, I also saw you using transitions very well to tie
each point to the one before it.
3. I enjoyed your speech for your clear engagement with the
topic, evident in your very thorough research (with up to eight
different sources) and in your personal experience, which you
shared in your introduction. One of the responsibilities of an
informative speaker is to engage the audience, and you helped us
be engaged by being engaged yourself. Your speech was a
genuinely individual contribution to our knowledge. Good job!
10. What is the one negative comment about the speech that this speaker most needs
to hear now? (Not including delivery.)
Resources to review: (same as *9)
A good answer: (same as *9)
Sample answer: Any ONE of the following:
1. One of the basic responsibilities of an informative speech
is to engage the audience in the topic. You got off to a good start in
your introduction by telling your grandmother's story, but I'm
wondering whether the body of the speech couldn't have included
more engaging content. Since you yourself have had treatments,
could you have used your experience to personalize your
discussion of what the treatments are like, or how they can be
combined with Western medicine. Or you could have continued
your grandmother's story, or found through research other personal
stories about acupuncture. Any of these strategies could help you
adapt your speech even better to your audience's interests.
2. You should consider whether visual aids could help you
meet your responsibility to engage your audience even better. Both
the needles you showed and the diagram of the meridians were
useful to interest your audience and help them understand your
topic. But the subject of acupuncture seems to call out for more
illustrations of what the treatments look like and can do. Could you
have found pictures of people having treatments? Or perhaps
photographs of the way that acupuncture can be combined with
traditional Western medicine? Since you were already using
Powerpoint, it would probably have not been too difficult to show
more images. These would have helped make your speech even
more vivid and engaging.
3. Although your organizational scheme was good and also
clearly indicated, I thought that given the complexity of your subject
you might have been able to meet your responsibility to fully
develop the information on your topic by trying to cover less.
Instead of four points, you might consider focusing just on three,
selecting just one of your two final points (what diseases
acupuncture can help with, and how it can be combined with
Western medicine). This could have allowed you to talk in more
detail about either the Western or Eastern explanations about how
acupuncture works, helping us gain a more in-depth understanding
of this topic.