Public Speaking as Public
Dialogue
Cindy L. Griffin
Colorado State University
Public Speaking Online Lecture Series
February 26, 2003
Overview: Public Speaking As
Public Dialogue
 What is public speaking as public dialogue?
 Service learning
 Invitational speaking
 Benefits
Public Dialogue:
The civil exchange of ideas and
opinions among public groups
about topics that affect the public.
The importance of dialogue:
to interact, to connect, and to
exchange information with other
people.
An Ethic of Civility
Care and concern for others, the
thoughtful use of words and
language, and the flexibility to see
the many sides of an issue.
To engage in a public dialogue is:
to recognize the speaker and the
audience are equally important,
that both have opinions, feelings
and beliefs
Reinforces an audience-centered
approach:
to acknowledge your audience by
listening to the unique, diverse,
and common perspectives of its
members before, during and after
the speech.
Why We Enter the Public Dialogue
 We decide to speak
 We are asked to speak
 We are required to speak
Understand that culture has a powerful affect on
communication



Our nationality
Ethnic heritage
Our gender
Public Speaking as Public
Dialogue
Service Learning
Service Learning:
takes students out of the classroom, applies
the concepts taught in the classroom to the
outside world, and engages the material in
hands-on ways.
Different Service Learning Models
 Solution or problem-based service-learning
(consultant model)
 Activity-based service learning
 Information-based service-learning
Public Speaking as Public Dialogue
through Service Learning
 Higher caliber of speeches
 Students make a personal connection
 Wide-range of perspectives
 Students stay and volunteer
 Students see “real world” connections
Sample
Topic: Neighbor to Neighbor
General Purpose: To inform
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the programs offered by
Neighbor to Neighbor.
Thesis Statement: Programs offered by Neighbor to Neighbor include
mortgage counseling, rental assistance and transitional housing.
Main points:
I. Mortgage counseling.
II. Rental assistance.
III. Transitional housing.
Public Speaking as Public
Dialogue
Invitational Speaking
Invitational speaking is:
a type of public speaking in which a
speaker enters into a dialogue with
an audience in order to clarify
positions, explore issues and ideas, or
articulate beliefs and values.
Goals of Invitational Speaking
Informative
Speech
Persuasive
Speech
To inform my audience To persuade my
of the history of the
audience that we
Equal Rights
should pass the ERA.
Amendment.
Invitational
Speech
To invite my audience
to understand the
powerful impact that
ratifying the ERA
could have on us all.
Why Give an Invitational Speech?
 People have profoundly different positions



Political issues
Social issues
Religious or spiritual issues
 We are not able to persuade


They are not going to change
We are not going to change
Why Give an Invitational Speech?
 We want to go beyond informing


Gain a more complex understanding of the
issues
Open up a space for dialogue
 Options



Stop communicating
Try to persuade
Communicate from an invitational perspective
Communicate from an Invitational
Perspective
 Invite them into our world view

And try to see the world as they do
 Dialogue about our differences

To gain a better understanding
 Willing to communicate by creating a
particular type of environment
An Invitational Speaking Environment
 Conducive to an open dialogue

Your position is ONE viable stance
 Alter traditional roles of speaker/audience

Audience expresses their views
 Three conditions must exist
Establishing an Invitational Speaking
Environment
 Condition of equality:
You see the audience members as holding valid perspectives
and positions that are worthy of exploration.
 Condition of value:
Recognize that the views of the audience, although different
from the speaker’s, have inherent value.
 Condition of self-determination:
Recognize that the members of your audience are experts in
their own lives, or that people know what is best for them and
have the right to make choices about their lives based on this
knowledge.
Two Types of Invitational Speeches
 Invitational speeches to articulate a position.
You invite an audience to see the world as you do
and to understand issues from your perspective.
 Invitational speeches to explore an issue.
You attempt to engage your audience in a discussion
about an idea, concern, topic, or plan of action.
Speeches to Articulate a Position
 To invite my audience to consider the idea
that women pioneers should be represented
in history textbooks.
 To invite my audience to consider some of the
positive lessons that can be taught with the
ethical use of guns.
Invitational Speeches to Articulate a
Position
 You share information with the audience

But an open dialogue occurs
 Richer understanding of a complex issue
 Invite the audience to enter your world

Return the gesture
An Invitational Speech to Explore an
Issue
 Gather information to understand the subject
more fully
 You have thoughts about a plan/action
 They are not set-in-stone
 They might be tentative
Invitational Speeches to Explore an
Issue
 To invite my audience to explore, and to
explore myself, three theories of evolution
and creation and their role in public
education.
 To invite my audience to explore, and to
explore myself, the positive and negative
aspects of cloning endangered animals.
Public Speaking as Public
Dialogue
Benefits
Standardization: Many of the Same
Skills are Learned
 Critical Thinking
 Distinguishing between different types of
speeches
 Organizational patterns
 Five canons of rhetoric
 Principles of Persuasion
 Delivery
 Reasoning effectively and ethically
New Skills Students Learn
 Audience-centered
 Culture
 Language
 Listening styles
New Skills Students Learn
 Facilitating an open dialogue
 Reasoning used in ALL types of speeches
 Mythos in addition to

Logos, Ethos, and Pathos
 Invitational speech option



To explore an issue or articulate a position
Open dialogue
New way of using language
Public Speaking as Public
Dialogue
Benefits
Benefits
 Difficult to maintain “speech files”
 Move beyond common speeches



Beer-oriented speeches
Legalization of marijuana or hemp-oriented
speeches
Lowering the legal drinking age
Benefits
 Assessment of student academic achievement still
present
 Transferability of course to other schools
 Different types of speeches
 Reasoning
 Listening
 Language
 Diversity
Benefits
 Service Learning



Meets requirements at Universities
Makes public speaking “real”
Keeps instructors more engaged
Benefits
 Public Speaking as Public Dialogue

Teaches students to TALK about their
differences OPENLY

Teaches students and faculty to be interested
in diverse standpoints and positions

It helps us all make real world connections
Public Speaking As
Public Dialogue
Questions