Speaking Ethically

Rona is a huge supporter of Gerry Mitchell in the mayoral campaign. Rona decides to volunteer for Mitchell’s campaign and is soon asked to speak at various rallies when Mitchell can’t attend.

One Saturday evening, Rona is asked to speak before a group of retirees at a local retirement center. As a campaign insider, Rona knows that Mitchell has privately acknowledged that he’s probably going to have to drastically cut city support for a number of programs that help the elderly. Of course, this information hasn’t been made public. Rona also realizes that the group she is speaking before would not vote for Mitchell if they knew what his future plans are.

1. If Rona attempts to persuade the retirees without divulging the information about the future cuts, is she a pure persuader or a manipulative persuader?
2. Does a political operative have an ethical obligation to be honest when the information being disseminated to a group of people isn’t complete?
3. If you were Rona, what would you do?

End-of-Chapter Assessment

1. Modern scholars generally describe the three general purposes of speaking as

   1. entertain, persuade, and debate
   2. persuade, inform, and perpetuate
   3. celebrate, perpetuate, and inform
   4. inform, persuade, and entertain
   5. deliberative, epideictic, and forensic

2. “To persuade a group of local residents to buy a car from Mitken’s Car Dealership” is an example of which type of purpose?

   1. celebratory
   2. specific
   3. systematic
   4. supplemental
   5. general

3. Benji wanted to speak on the elements of jazz music, but his instructor told the class that they could only choose from a specific list of topics. This is an example of

   1. poor topic selection
   2. constraints
   3. a bad speech
   4. poor narrowing
   5. topic shortage aversion

4. Which of the following would be a good scope for a speech that is five to seven minutes in length?

   1. the history of the United States
   2. military maneuvers in the nineteenth century
   3. women in the Battle of Lewisburg
   4. religion in Asia
   5. changes in state-sponsored militias

5. Tika is speaking on the benefits of sleep, but does not include a call for action to get more sleep. Which type of general purpose does Tika have?

   1. to inform
   2. to persuade
   3. to entertain
   4. to console
   5. to educate

Answer Key

1. d
2. b
3. b
4. c
5. a