12.1 – What is an Informative Speech?

Defining what an informative speech is can be both straight-forward and somewhat tricky at the same time. Very simply, an informative speech can first be defined as a speech based entirely and exclusively on facts. Basically, an informative speech conveys knowledge, a task that every person engages in every day in some form or another. Whether giving someone who is lost driving directions, explaining the specials of the day as a server, or describing the plot of a movie to friends, people engage in forms of informative speaking daily. Secondly, an informative speech does not attempt to convince the audience that one thing is better than another. It does not advocate a course of action. Consider the following two statements:

2 + 2 = 4

George Washington was the first President of the United States.

In each case, the statement made is what can be described as irrefutable, meaning a statement or claim that cannot be argued. In the first example, even small children are taught that having two apples and then getting two more apples will result in having four apples. This statement is irrefutable in that no one in the world will (or should!) argue this: It is a fact.

Similarly, with the statement “George Washington was the first President of the United States,” this again is an irrefutable fact. If you asked one hundred history professors and read one hundred history textbooks, the professors and textbooks would all say the same thing: Washington was the first president. No expert, reliable source, or person with any common sense would argue about this.

(Someone at this point might say, “No, John Hanson was the first president.” However, he was president under the Articles of Confederation for a short period—November 5, 1781, to November 3, 1782—not under our present Constitution. This example shows the importance of stating your facts clearly and precisely and being able to cite their origins.)

Therefore, an informative speech should not incorporate opinion as its basis. This can be the tricky part of developing an informative speech, because some opinion statements sometime sound like facts (since they are generally agreed upon by many people), but are really opinion.

For example, in an informative speech on George Washington, you might say, “George Washington was one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States.” While this statement may be agreed upon by most people, it is possible for some people to disagree and argue the opposite point of view. The statement “George Washington was one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States” is not irrefutable, meaning someone could argue this claim. If, however, you present the opinion as an opionion from a source, that is acceptable: it is a fact that someone (hopefully someone with expertise) holds the opinion. You do not want your central idea, your main points, and the majority of your supporting material to be opinion or argument in an informative speech.

Additionally, you should never take sides on an issue in an informative speech, nor should you “spin” the issue in order to influence the opinions of the listeners. Even if you are informing the audience about differences in views on controversial topics, you should simply and clearly explain the issues. This is not to say, however, that the audience’s needs and interests have nothing to do with the informative speech. We come back to the WIIFM principle (“What’s in it for me?) because even though an informative speech is fact-based, it still needs to relate to people’s lives in order to maintain their attention.

The question may arise here, “If we can find anything on the Internet now, why bother to give an informative speech?” The answer lies in the unique relationship between audience and speaker found in the public speaking context. The speaker can choose to present information that is of most value to the audience. Secondly, the speaker is not just overloading the audience with data. As we have mentioned before, that’s not really a good idea because audiences cannot remember great amounts of data and facts after listening. The focus of the content is what matters. This is where the specific purpose and central idea come into play. Remember, public speaking is not a good way to “dump data” on the audiene, but to make information meaningful.

Finally, although we have stressed that the informative speech is fact-based and does not have the purpose of persuasion, information still has an indirect effect on someone. If a classmate gives a speech on correctly using the Heimlich Maneuver to help a choking victim, the side effect (and probably desired result) is that the audience would use it when confronted with the situation.

12.2 – Types of Informative Speeches

While the topics to choose from for informative speeches are nearly limitless, they can generally be pared down into five broad categories. Understanding the type of informative speech that you will be giving can help you to figure out the best way to organize, research, and prepare for it, as will be discussed below.

12.3 – Guidelines for Selecting an Informative Speech Topic

While some of the guidelines for selecting a topic were discussed in Chapters 2, 4, and 5, this section will more specifically focus on informative speech topics and problems that can arise when choosing them.

12.4 – Guidelines for Preparing an Informative Speech

12.5 – Giving Informative Speeches in Groups

There are instances where you will be called upon to give an informative speech as part of a group of other informative speakers. This situation may be referred to as a panel or as a symposium. The difference is that in a panel, the focus is on a discussion by experts in front of an audience. The expert speakers may start with an opening statement, but typically the panelists are seated and their opening remarks are designed to present their basic position or stance and the bulk of time is spent in question-and-answer from the audience, from the moderator, or from each other. Some tips for panels are given here.

A symposium is more formal and the experts or presenters have put together prepared speeches on different aspects of an overall topic. For example, they may all be experts on juveniles in the criminal justice system, but they have chosen or been assigned a specific informative topic for the audience, who are probably also professionals in that field. One might speak on challenges with legal representation for juveniles, another on family reconciliation, another on educational opportunities, and so on. While there may be time for question and answers at the end, the bulk of the time is taken up by the prepared speeches.

The author has used the symposium format in her teaching of the informative speech for over 25 years. The students at first are skeptical, but usually afterward they see the benefit of the experience in the classroom. For one thing, instead of a class of 25-30 separate and unrelated informative speeches in the class, there are four sets of related speeches that explore a topic in more depth. Some popular topics have been physical and mental health issues (diabetes, breast cancer, pets, schizophrenia, phobias), the arts (musical genres, history of film), travel, and food. In those years, there have been topics that didn’t work. Serial killers and sexually transmitted infections were two of them. One speech on that is acceptable. Six or seven, not so much. Just to clarify, the author always assigns the groups but the students pick the topics.

Here are some pointers if you are assigned to give a symposium-style informative speech. 1. Spend ample time discussing the topics so that everyone is supportive of the overall topic and the way the topic is broken down into separate speech topics. Do not let one person run the show and insist on a specific topic. A strong personality can sway the rest of the group and then later the other members become unhappy about the topic and resentful of the persuasive member. 2. Try to develop topics in different ways; for example, let’s take the overall topic of phobias. The temptation is for each separate speech to be a specific phobia. While this is all right, it becomes repetitive to the audience. There are other ways to develop the subtopics (origins, different treatment options, phobias related to certain demographic groups) instead of six or seven speeches on different phobias. 3. Be in constant communication with your peers so that you know exactly what their topics are and how they are being developed. You don’t want one or two co-presenters to “go rogue” and change their topics without the knowledge of the others in the group. You also do not want to end up overlapping, so that part of your speech is actually in someone else’s speech. Share phone numbers so you can text or call each other, if the members are willing. 4. You should appoint a moderator who will introduce the speeches and speakers and close or call for questions when the speeches are completed, and possibly summarize the set of speeches at the end. This member does not have to be the first or last speaker in the group. 5. Be sure the order of speeches is logical, not random. 6. Be sure to get to the class early so you can set up and feel secure that your team members are present. 7. If you are required to have a question-and-answer session at the end, the moderator should try to make sure that the participation is balanced and one talkative person doesn’t answer all the questions. There will be questions you cannot answer, so just be honest and say, “I didn’t find that answer in my research.”

Many instructors use this format because it not only teaches informative speaking skills, but because it emphasizes team work. You will be expected to do many team projects in your educational and professional careers, and this is a good way to start learning effective teamwork skills.

Conclusion

Learning how to give informative speeches will serve you well in your college career and your future work. Keep in mind the principles in this chapter but also those of the previous chapters: relating to the informational needs of the audience, using clear structure, and incorporating interesting and attention-getting supporting evidence.

Something to Think About

Here are three general topics for informative speeches. Write specific purposes for them and explain how you would answer the WIIFM question.

1. Type 1 diabetes
2. The psychological effects of using social media
3. Guitars

Two outlines for informative speeches are provided on the following pages. They utilize slightly different formats; other outline formats are included in one of the appendices. Your instructor will let you know which one he or she prefers or will provide examples of another format.

Sample Outline: Informative Speech on Lord Byron

By Shannon Stanley

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the life of George Gordon, Lord Byron.

Central Idea: George Gordon, Lord Byron overcame physical hardships, was a world-renowned poet, and an advocate for the Greek’s war for freedom.

Introduction

1. Imagine an eleven year old boy who has been beaten and sexually abused repeatedly by the very person who is supposed to take care of him.
   1. This is one of the many hurdles that George Gordon, better known as Lord Byron, overcame during his childhood.
   2. Lord Byron was also a talented poet with the ability to transform his life into the words of his poetry.
   3. Byron became a serious poet by the age of fifteen and he was first published in 1807 at the age of nineteen.
   4. Lord Byron was a staunch believer in freedom and equality, so he gave most of his fortune, and in the end, his very life, supporting the Greek’s war for independence.
   5. While many of you have probably never heard of Lord Byron, his life and written work will become more familiar to you when you take Humanities 1201, as I learned when I took it last semester.

Body

2. Lord Byron was born on January 22, 1788 to Captain John Byron and Catherine Gordon Byron.
   1. According to Paul Trueblood, the author of Lord Byron, Lord Byron’s father only married Catherine for her dowry, which he quickly went through, leaving his wife and child nearly penniless.
   2. By the age of two, Lord Byron and his mother had moved to Aberdeen in Scotland and shortly thereafter, his father died in France at the age of thirty-six.
   3. Lord Byron was born with a clubbed right foot, which is a deformity that caused his foot to turn sideways instead of remaining straight, and his mother had no money to seek treatment for this painful and embarrassing condition.
      1. He would become very upset and fight anyone who even spoke of his lameness.
      2. Despite his handicap, Lord Byron was very active and liked competing with the other boys.
   4. At the age of ten, his grand-uncle died leaving him the title as the sixth Baron Byron of Rochdale.
      1. With this title, he also inherited Newstead Abbey, a dilapidated estate that was in great need of repair.
      2. Because the Abbey was in Nottinghamshire England, he and his mother moved there and stayed at the abbey until it was rented out to pay for the necessary repairs.
      3. During this time, May Gray, Byron’s nurse had already begun physically and sexually abusing him.
      4. A year passed before he finally told his guardian, John Hanson, about May’s abuse; she was fired immediately.
      5. Unfortunately the damage had already been done.
      6. In the book Lord Byron, it is stated that years later he wrote “My passions were developed very early- so early, that few would believe me if I were to state the period, and the facts which accompanied it.”
   5. Although Lord Byron had many obstacles to overcome during his childhood, he became a world renowned poet by the age of 24.
3. Lord Byron experienced the same emotions we all do, but he was able to express those emotions in the form of his poetry and share them with the world.
   1. According to Horace Gregory, The author of Poems of George Gordon, Lord Byron, the years from 1816 through 1824 is when Lord Byron was most known throughout Europe.
   2. But according to Paul Trueblood, Childe Harold was published in 1812 and became one of the best-selling works of literature in the 19th century.
      1. Childe Harold was written while Lord Byron was traveling through Europe after graduating from Trinity College.
      2. Many authors such as Trueblood, and Garrett, the author of George Gordon, Lord Byron, express their opinion that Childe Harold is an autobiography about Byron and his travels.
   3. Lord Byron often wrote about the ones he loved the most, such as the poem “She Walks in Beauty” written about his cousin Anne Wilmont, and “Stanzas for Music” written for his half-sister, Augusta Leigh.
   4. He was also an avid reader of the Old Testament and would write poetry about stories from the Bible that he loved.
      1. One such story was about the last king of Babylon.
      2. This poem was called the “Vision of Belshazzar,” and is very much like the bible version in the book of Daniel.
   5. Although Lord Byron is mostly known for his talents as a poet, he was also an advocate for the Greek’s war for independence.
4. Lord Byron, after his self-imposed exile from England, took the side of the Greek’s in their war for freedom from Turkish rule.
   1. Byron arrived in Greece in 1823 during a civil war.
      1. The Greek’s were too busy fighting amongst themselves to come together to form a formidable army against the Turks.
      2. According to Martin Garrett, Lord Byron donated money to refit the Greek’s fleet of ships, but did not immediately get involved in the situation.
      3. He had doubts as to if or when the Greek’s would ever come together and agree long enough to make any kind of a difference in their war effort.
      4. Eventually the Greek’s united and began their campaign for the Greek War of Independence.
      5. He began pouring more and more of his fortune into the Greek army and finally accepted a position to oversee a small group of men sailing to Missolonghi.
   2. Lord Byron set sail for Missolonghi in Western Greece in 1824. 1. He took a commanding position over a small number of the Greek army despite his lack of military training. 2. He had also made plans to attack a Turkish held fortress but became very ill before the plans were ever carried through.
   3. Lord Byron died on April 19, 1824 at the age of 36 due to the inexperienced doctors who continued to bleed him while he suffered from a severe fever.
      1. After Lord Byron’s death, the Greek War of Independence, due to his support, received more foreign aid which led to their eventual victory in 1832.
      2. Lord Byron is hailed as a national hero by the Greek nation.
      3. Many tributes such as statues and road-names have been devoted to Lord Byron since the time of his death.

Conclusion

22. In conclusion, Lord Byron overcame great physical hardships to become a world-renowned poet, and is seen as a hero to the Greek nation and is mourned by them still today.
    1. I have chosen not to focus on Lord Byron’s more liberal way of life, but rather to focus on his accomplishments in life.
    2. He was a man who owed no loyalty to Greece, yet gave his life to support their cause.
    3. Most of the world will remember Lord Byron primarily through his written attributes, but Greece will always remember him as the “Trumpet Voice of Liberty.”

References

Garrett, M. (2000). George Gordon, Lord Byron. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Gregory, H. (1969). Poems of George Gordon, Lord Byron. New York, NY: Thomas Y. Crowell Company.

Trueblood, P. G. (1969). Lord Byron. (S. E. Bowman, Ed.). New York, NY: Twayne Publishers.

Sample Outline: Informative Speech on Haunted Places in Gettysburg

By Leslie Dean

Specific Purpose: To inform my classmates of specific places in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that are considered to be haunted.

Introduction: Do you believe in paranormal activity? Have you ever been to a place that is haunted? My personal opinion on this subject matter is open to question; however, there are a lot of people that have had firsthand encounters with the paranormal. Throughout the world there are countless places that are considered to be haunted by tormented souls that still lurk among us in search of a way to free their souls. Most places that claim to be haunted are intertwined with tales of battles and as a result many fatalities. Tragic times in history make for the perfect breeding grounds for the haunted places that exist today.

Thesis/Preview: Gettysburg is a city that is plagued by historical events that play a role in the manifestations that haunt Gettysburg today. These include locations at The Devil’s Den, Little Round Top, and the Hummelbaugh House.

1. The Devil’s Den is considered a site for paranormal activity.
   1. The Devil’s Den has historical significance retained during the American Civil War.
      1. Location held heavy fighting during battle that took place on July 2, of 1863.
      2. The total death toll estimated during battle consisted of 800 for the Union and more than 1,800 for the Confederates.
   2. Some reported paranormal activity at the Devil’s Den.
      1. According to author, consultant, and lecturer Dennis William Hauck, he states in his book Haunted Places that if you stand outside at the Devil’s Den there can be the sounds of drum rolls and gunshots heard.
      2. According to many visitors there have been many people that claim to have seen and/or taken pictures of and had conversations with a friendly soldier who either disappears or doesn’t show up in photographs.

Transition: Spooky, unexplainable things happen at the Devil’s Den but there is also paranormal activity in another area of Gettysburg, Little Round Top.

2. Another location said to be haunted is Little Round Top.
   1. Little Round Top’s historical significance.
      1. A site where Union soldiers held up to maintain an advantage over the Confederate soldiers.
      2. According to James Brann, an author from Civil War Magazine, this was a site Union Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain led his 20th Maine Regiment in perhaps the most famous counterattack of the Civil War.
   2. Manifestations at Little Round Top.
      1. During filming of the movie Gettysburg (1993), extras portraying Union soldiers were greeted by a man in the uniform of a Union private.
         1. Handed them musket rounds.
         2. Actual rounds that dated back to the Civil War.
      2. Ghostly solders can still be seen marching in formation and riding horses in the fight against their enemy.

Transition: It seems that a lot of landmarks are haunted but there are also structures known to be stricken with paranormal activity.

3. Hummelbaugh House is a non-battlefield place for ghost-sightings.
   1. Historical significance of Hummelbaugh House.
      1. The house is located on the east side of the city and was just behind the Union lines.
      2. It was used for a hospital and because of the times amputated limbs would be thrown out the windows resulting in a huge pile of body parts.
   2. Paranormal activity at the house.
      1. The windows in the house often startle people with loud vibrations.
      2. The calls for help from soldiers can still be heard in and around the house.

Conclusion: In closing, according to History.com the Battle of Gettysburg was one of the biggest in the Civil War, resulting in over 150,000 causalities. With these statistics it is no surprise that lost souls still lurk the eerie grounds of this historical place. Whether it is vibrating windows or actual encounters with soldiers from 1863, Gettysburg has more than enough encounters with the paranormal to convince the biggest of doubters. Going to Gettysburg would guarantee a chance to literally step back in time and encounter something that is only remembered in history books. So believer in the paranormal or not, Gettysburg is a place to go to experience a part of history whether it be historical sites or a random run in with a ghostly soldier.

References

Brann, J. R. (1999). The full story. America’s Civil War, 12(5), 34. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=2281134&site=eds-live&scope=site

Hauck, D. (1994). The national directory of haunted places. Athanor Press. Battle of Gettysburg. (2019, May 20). History.com. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/battle-of-gettysburg

Informative Speaking Chapter Attribution:

Manley, J. A., & Rhodes, K. (2020). Exploring Public Speaking: The Free Dalton State College Public Speaking Textbook, 4th Edition. Manifold. Retrieved from https://alg.manifoldapp.org/read/exploring-public-speaking-the-free-dalton-state-college-public-speaking-textbook-4th-edition/

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