Answer the questions

CHAPTER #8 – SUPPORTING YOUR IDEAS

Good speeches need strong supporting materials. Supporting materials should be accurate, relative and reliable sources. Supporting materials are any materials used to support the speaker’s ideas. There are 3 major types of supporting materials: examples, statistics and testimony.

EXAMPLES

An example is a specific case used to illustrate or represent a group of people, ideas, conditions or experiences. Examples are introduced clarify and reinforce a speaker’s ideas.

If your topic is large skyscrapers, have the audience envision the Sears Tower, a landmark everyone id familiar with. If your topic is suspension bridges, introduce the Golden Gate or Brooklyn Bridges which are known to everyone. When talking about the immense power of water and hydroelectricity refer to the Niagara Falls which everyone can envision in their minds. If you’re talking about the problems experienced for handicapped people, personalize your topic by introducing your next door neighbor who is confined to a wheelchair.

STATISTICS

Statistics are graphs or any numerical data introduced as supporting evidence. Be sure to introduce statistics that are representative. If it’s a small sample, let us know. Use statistics sparingly and remember that statistics can be highly manipulative. A math refresher: the MEAN value is the average value of a group of numbers; the MEDIAN value is the middle number in a group of numbers arranged from high to low; the MODE is the number that appears most often in a sequence of numbers.

TESTIMONY

Testimony is any quotation or paraphrase used to support a point.

Expert testimony is testimony from people who are recognized experts or authorities in the respective field. Former coach Phil Jackson of the Chicago Bulls talking about coaching a NBA basketball team.

Peer testimony is testimony from ordinary people with firsthand experience or insight into a topic such as veteran soldier who served in Iraq or Afghanistan and suffers from battle syndrome.