I gave this lecture on June 3, 2023.
Get the Facts!
INTRODUCTION With the invention of the computer, personal computer, and the Internet, the Western world vaulted into the Information Age. Like a lone bottle floating on a vast ocean, we are awash in information. We are inundated with words, ideas, images, and videos, all providing and sometimes pushing information on us. We live under flood conditions, which can sometimes be overwhelming. There is even a term for it: data deluge. There is just too much information to process.
But, despite human knowledge doubling every thirteen months or less, we have fake news, fact-checking, and deep fakes. There seems to be just as much misinformation, disinformation, and useless information—maybe more—than accurate information. And sometimes, it is difficult to tell the difference.
(And let’s not get into the subject of truth! Truth is in very scarce supply—especially when we consider that much of the academic and social world has embraced the ridiculous notion of “personal truth” rather than absolute truth. That is why we have people believing biological men can have babies.)
SPS So, when we give a speech that aims to convey factual information, we need to ensure that our facts are facts and that we express them in the most compelling and convincing way possible.
I am sure you know that the first six speeches in the Spokesman’s Club Manual are progressive or additive. That is, the authors designed the course to stack public speaking skills on one another until a speaker can give a “Complete Speech,” which is Speech # 7. So, as the apostle Peter says in II Peter 1:5-7, “. . . add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, . . . self-control, . . . perseverance, . . . godliness,” and so forth, we must add to our personality purpose, clarity, color—and now we must add facts.
Adding these things produces a more complete speech. It will not be a dry recitation of facts and statistics, making the speaker sound like some bookish nerd who somehow escaped the lab. The “Get the Facts!” speech, then, should try 1) to persuade or convince the audience of something (purpose), 2) to be unambiguous and understandable (clarity), and 3) to use illustrations or language to make it vivid, entertaining, and enlightening (color). It should be as far away from boring and pedantic as possible. The facts should integrate seamlessly into the whole so that the listener never feels overwhelmed by them.
As I mentioned, this speech is, most of the time, a persuasive one. The speaker is trying to convince his audience that his facts—say, three or four central ones—add up to an unassailable conclusion. Those few points must be rock-solid—accurate, verifiable, and indisputable. A speaker should stack them from least important to most important so that the final point drives the nail into the coffin of his argument.
Let’s say the speech attempts to convince the audience that Chevrolet trucks are better than Ford trucks. Exterior styling is relatively subjective, but perhaps a statistic shows that Chevys are more aerodynamic. It would make a fine first point—weaker than the others but one to consider in the overall argument. It might make an excellent transition to the second point: Chevys are more fuel-efficient. A third point could relate to torque or towing capacity. And a final one about durability or higher resale value might seal the deal. The actual facts may not support these points, but it is an example of how to construct this kind of speech.
This #5 Speech provides an excellent opportunity to consider plagiarism. Plagiarism happens when an author or speaker copies the words or work of someone else without giving due credit. It is a form of stealing, which God obviously forbids Christians to do. If we find a useful sentence or paragraph about our topic, we can put it into our own words. But if it is a unique insight, we should at least acknowledge the author to let the audience know it is not original to us. We do not want to steal someone’s intellectual property.
If we use another’s exact words in full or in large part, we must give the source. In a speech, it need not be an exhaustive citation—a simple who and where will do: “Dr. Marcus Welby writes in his classic paper, ‘Why Television Doctors Are Frauds,’” and then give the quotation. We do not have to provide a full citation as we would in an academic paper, but we should give enough information for a listener to check it out for himself if interested. If we wish to go the extra mile, we should have that information handy if an audience member asks for it afterward. Doing so goes a long way to increase a speaker’s credibility.
CONCLUSION I emphasized these four points:
1) Use what you have already learned to make your factual speech engaging and persuasive.
2) Use actual, verifiable facts/stats.
3) Stack your points from least to most weighty.
4) Avoid plagiarism like the plague.
Do these things, and you will become a convincing speaker.