Unit 1 Tutorials: Introduction to Public

Speaking
INSIDE UNIT 1

History, Benefits, and Ethics of Public Speaking

History of Public Speaking

Benefits of Public Speaking
Listening and Speaking Ethically
Avoiding Plagiarism

Components of Communication

Speaker and Message

Channel
Audience
Feedback: Visual and Verbal Cues
Noise and Interference
Presentation
Context: Situation, Environment, Culture, and Bias

Effective Listening

The Importance of Listening

Stages of the Listening Process
Causes of Poor Listening
Being a Serious and Open-Minded Listener
Giving Effective Criticism

History of Public Speaking

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 by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about the history of public speaking. Our current knowledge and practice
of public speaking draws upon ancient Greek, Roman, and Western thought. Specifically, this lesson will
cover:
1. Introduction to the History of Public Speaking
1a. The Classical Period (500 BCE–400 BCE)
1b. The Romans (100 BCE–400 CE)
1c. The Medieval Period (400 CE–1400 CE)
1d. The Renaissance (1400–1600 CE)
1e. The Enlightenment (1600–1800 CE)
1f. New School (1900 CE–Today)

1. Introduction to the History of Public Speaking

Much has changed in the ways we can speak to an audience today. We have multiple modes of communication;
we can speak to others virtually across continents in real time or record a presentation to be viewed at any time
online. However, there’s an art to engaging and persuading an audience, and much of what we know and still
practice today has its origins 2,500 years ago in ancient Athens.

The Greeks and the Romans were the first to give definitive rules and models to public speaking. Since then,
others have added important insights and built on the foundation they provided. The contributions of these
scholars and orators to the study of public speaking have endured and are key to understanding and
appreciating what it takes to become an effective speaker.

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 Timeline of the History of Public Speaking

1a. The Classical Period (500 BCE–400 BCE)

The ancient Greeks highly valued public political participation, where public speaking was a crucial tool. We will
begin an overview of four ancient Greek philosophers, also known as the "fantastic four":

Aspasia of Miletus
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle

Aspasia of Miletus (469 BCE), the "mother of rhetoric," is believed to have taught rhetoric to Socrates. During
this period, Pericles, the Athenian ruler and Aspasia's partner, treated Aspasia as an equal and allowed her the
opportunity to engage in dialogue with the important and educated men of society.
Socrates (469–399 BCE) greatly influenced the direction of the Classical Period. Socrates was one of the first
advocates for free speech, and he developed a system of using questions to promote dialogue and critical
thinking. This system is called Socratic questioning or dialogue and is still used today. Most of what we know
about Socrates comes from the writings of his student Plato.

Plato (429–347 BCE) wrote about rhetoric using Socratic questioning in the form of dialogues with Socrates as
the main character. He defined rhetoric as an art to describe truth to an audience but was concerned it could be
used both for good and bad purposes.

Sophists (400s BCE) were early teachers of public speaking during the Classical Period, which flourished for
nearly a millennium in and around Greece as democracy gained prominence. Citizens learned public speaking
from Sophists, who were self-appointed professors of how to succeed in the civic life of the Greek states. Plato
criticized the Sophists for using rhetoric as a means of deceit instead of discovering truth.

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 Aristotle (384–322 BCE) is the most famous Greek scholar. He defined rhetoric as "the faculty of discovering the
possible means of persuasion in reference to any subject." Aristotle developed a structure for persuasive
arguments that is still taught today: logical reason (logos), human character (ethos), and emotional appeal
(pathos). These three means of persuasion are all deemed necessary to effectively persuade others.

Aristotle studied in Plato's Academy, where he later taught public speaking until Plato's death in 347 BCE.
During this time, he opened his own school of politics, science, philosophy, and rhetoric.

 BIG IDEA

Many jobs involve some form of public speaking, and to succeed, you need to know how to effectively
communicate your ideas. Socrates developed a system of questioning called Socratic dialogue to boost
critical thinking that’s still widely practiced today. If an audience thinks for themselves as you speak, they
are more likely to remember the information later.

Aristotle defined rhetoric as the ability to persuade and broke it into three strategies that you’ll learn in this
course: ethos (character), logos (logic), and pathos (emotion).

In this period, there was a great emphasis on the importance of truth and ethics in public speaking, an area
that continues needing emphasis today.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Rhetoric
The art of using language, especially public speaking, as a means to persuade.

Sophist
One of a class of teachers of rhetoric, philosophy, and politics in ancient Greece, especially one who
used fallacious but plausible reasoning.

1b. The Romans (100 BCE–400 CE)

Cicero (106-43 BCE) is considered one of the most significant rhetoricians of all time. He is most famous in the
field of public speaking for creating the five canons of rhetoric, a five-step process for developing a persuasive
speech that we still use to teach public speaking today.

He wrote many texts on rhetorical theory that were highly influential throughout the Middle Ages and into the
Renaissance. His De Oratore (Latin for “on the orator”) was a full statement of rhetorical principles in dialogue
form that describes an ideal orator as a leader. His text Topica (Latin for “topics”) was a rhetorical treatment of
common subjects of debate that was highly influential through the Renaissance.

Quintilian (c. 35–95 CE), a Roman rhetoric teacher, built on Cicero’s work by arguing that public speaking was
inherently moral. He stated that the ideal orator is "a good man speaking well.”

 BIG IDEA

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 Cicero gave us a five-step process for developing a persuasive speech that we still use to teach public
speaking. His writings continue to influence us today. We can learn from him how to influence others and
cultivate change through the way we listen to and speak with others who hold differing views. It’s equally
important to learn from Quintilian, who stressed the importance of truth and moral character in public
speaking.

 TERM TO KNOW

Orator
A skilled and eloquent public speaker.

1c. The Medieval Period (400 CE–1400 CE)

In contrast to the Classical Period, which saw tremendous growth and innovation in the study of communication,
the Medieval Period might be considered the dark age of academic study in public speaking. The Christian
church felt threatened by secular rhetorical works they considered full of pagan thought. However, the church
focused on persuasion and developing public presentation to improve preaching.

St. Augustine (354 CE–430 CE), a Christian clergyman and renowned rhetorician, argued for the continued
development of ideas that had originated during the Classical Period. He thought that the study of persuasion,
in particular, was a worthwhile pursuit for the church.

 BIG IDEA

This period saw a decline in the academic study of communication because secular rhetorical works were
considered full of pagan thought. However, St. Augustine argued for the study of persuasion to improve
preaching in the Christian church and continued building on ideas that came from the Classical Period.

1d. The Renaissance (1400–1600 CE)

Powered by a new intellectual movement during this period, secular institutions and governments started to
compete with the church for personal allegiances. Ideas surrounding style issues in speaking situations
received significant attention during the Renaissance period.

Petrus Ramus (1515–1572) challenged much of what early scholars thought of truth, ethics, and morals as they
applied to communication. He emphasized the importance of logic in public speaking and saw style and
delivery as separate topics subordinate to logic.

Francis Bacon (1561–1626), a contemporary of William Shakespeare, was an English philosopher and statesman
who is considered the founder of the scientific method. He was also a successful orator and wrote several
essays on rhetoric. He wrote “On Rhetoric, or the Art of Eloquence,” and it’s considered one of the most
important works on rhetoric from the Renaissance period. According to Bacon, reason and morality require
speakers to have a high degree of accountability, making it an essential element in oration.

 BIG IDEA

Renaissance speakers were known for their eloquence and style. This period saw an increased interest in
the study of delivery and style in public speaking, a focus we continue to emphasize and build on today.

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 1e. The Enlightenment (1600–1800 CE)
Neoclassicism revived the classical approach to rhetoric by adapting and applying it to contemporary situations.
Overall, the Enlightenment period serves as a bridge between the past and the present.

George Campbell (1719-1796), a Scottish minister and educator, tried to create convincing arguments using
scientific and moral reasoning by seeking to understand how people used speech to persuade others.

Finally, the elocutionary approach (mid-1700s to mid-1800s) concentrated on delivery and style by providing
strict rules for a speaker's bodily actions, such as gestures, facial expressions, tone, and pronunciation.

Political rhetoric also underwent renewal in the wake of the U.S. and French revolutions. The rhetorical studies
of ancient Greece and Rome were resurrected in the studies of the era as speakers and teachers looked to the
writings of Cicero and others to inspire their defense of the new republic. Leading rhetorical theorists included
John Quincy Adams, who became the sixth president of the United States. Adams advocated for the democratic
advancement of the art of rhetoric.

 BIG IDEA

This period was a bridge between the past and the present, reviving the classical approach to rhetoric and
developing rules for speaking style and delivery. During the Enlightenment, people started to question the
authorities and their beliefs. They wanted to have a say in how they were governed. This led to an increase
in political speeches, and speakers once again looked to the writings of the Greeks and Romans for
inspiration.

1f. New School (1900 CE–Today)

Throughout the 20th century, rhetoric developed as a concentrated field of study with the establishment of
rhetorical courses in high schools and universities. Courses such as public speaking and speech analysis trace
rhetorical development throughout history and help students learn to apply fundamental Greek theories to their
work.

The 1960s and 70s saw renewed emphasis and focus on the works of those from the Classical Period. Thus, the
60s and 70s worked to bridge the old and new schools of communication study for the first time.
Communication departments had professors who studied and taught classical and contemporary rhetoric
alongside empirical and qualitative social science.

 BIG IDEA

We find ourselves needing to speak more and more in public today, at business meetings, networking
events, interviews, conferences, and many other occasions. In the modern world, the purpose of public
speaking has three main areas of focus: to persuade, to inform, and to entertain the audience. To be
successful, speakers still use principles from the classical approach to rhetoric by adapting and applying
them to contemporary situations.

 SUMMARY

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 In this lesson, you learned that the formal study of public speaking began approximately 2,500 years
ago in Greece and Rome to train citizens to participate in society. In the Classical Period, Aristotle (384-
322 BCE), the most famous Greek scholar, defined rhetoric as the "faculty of discovering the possible
means of persuasion in reference to any subject whatever." The Romans were also critical in
developing rhetorical studies: Cicero (106–43 BCE), one of the most significant rhetoricians of all time,
developed the five canons of rhetoric, while Quintilian (c. 35–95 CE) argued that public speaking was
inherently moral.

While the Medieval Period did not see much growth in the study of public speaking, the Renaissance
helped launch a new intellectual movement. During the Enlightenment, the rhetorical studies of ancient
Greece and Rome were resurrected as speakers and teachers looked to Cicero and others to inspire
defense of the new republic. Throughout the 20th century, the New School of rhetoric developed as a
concentrated field of study with the establishment of public speaking courses in high schools and
universities. The courses in speaking apply fundamental Greek theories.

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 TERMS TO KNOW

Orator
A skilled and eloquent public speaker.

Rhetoric
The art of using language, especially public speaking, as a means to persuade.

Sophist
One of a class of teachers of rhetoric, philosophy, and politics in ancient Greece, especially one who used
fallacious but plausible reasoning.

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 Benefits of Public Speaking
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about the different ways that public speaking can benefit you. Specifically,
this lesson will cover:
1. Personal Benefits of Public Speaking
1a. Personal Satisfaction
1b. Critical Thinking
1c. Personal Development
1d. Social Connections
2. Career Benefits of Public Speaking
2a. Career Advancement
2b. Self-Promotion
2c. Networking
3. External Benefits of Public Speaking
3a. Public Leadership
3b. Global Leadership
3c. Leadership in Daily Life
3d. Influencing the World

1. Personal Benefits of Public Speaking

1a. Personal Satisfaction
Practicing public speaking can help you to overcome your fears and become more confident. Many people
have a phobia of public speaking. Jerry Seinfeld put it this way: "According to most studies, people's number
one fear is public speaking. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if
you go to a funeral, you’d rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy." Even though public speaking can be
scary, it is possible to succeed despite these fears—with preparation and practice.

Indeed, public speaking is a prevalent phobia, right up there with spiders and killer clowns. Many people would
prefer to do almost anything—even clean the bathroom—instead of standing up and talking in front of a crowd.
Delivering a speech can feel intimidating and risky.

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 EXAMPLE Fears and insecurities tend to multiply as the speech draws closer:
"What if I freeze up?"
"What if I forget my speech?"
"What if people get bored and walk out?"
"What if the audience tears me apart during the Q&A?"

If you're thinking, "Why would I want to do something so stressful?", then remember: no risk, no reward! These
fears don't have to be crippling—practice and preparation can build confidence leading up to a speech.

Overcoming these fears is an empowering experience. Public speaking is a great way to show yourself that,
with practice, you can do the things that scare you the most. What starts as a nightmare can turn into a great
self-esteem boost.

Once the nervous jitters are under control, you may discover that public speaking is actually very rewarding. It
can be satisfying to explain your views to a room full of people. Having the opportunity to share a message you
care about is actually pretty special. Overcoming the fears and insecurities that accompany public speaking is
empowering. Furthermore, connecting with audiences can be a great reminder that you have valuable insights
and opinions to share with the world.

1b. Critical Thinking

The process of writing a speech will exercise and strengthen your critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is the
application of logical principles, rigorous standards of evidence, and careful reasoning to the analysis and
discussion of claims, beliefs, and issues. When you conduct research and engage in drafting and delivering
your speech, you practice these essential skills.

Additionally, preparing a speech will force you to reevaluate the way you communicate and re-examine your
speaking habits because they impact how well your audience will receive your message. In this way, you apply
your critical thinking skills to yourself by analyzing how you deliver an argument and whether you could be
more effective in your methods. It's not enough to have a message—you also need to figure out how to tailor
the message to fit the needs of your audience. How can you make your points relevant to your listeners? How
can you help the audience understand your views? Thinking in this way is a great exercise for improving
general communication skills.

If you start thinking critically about your speaking style, you may find ways to improve your general
communication style at home and at work.

 TERM TO KNOW

Critical Thinking
The application of logical principles, rigorous standards of evidence, and careful reasoning to the
analysis and discussion of claims, beliefs, and issues.

1c. Personal Development

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 When you write a speech, you must think carefully about the best organizational framework, persuasive
strategy, and language to communicate your message to the audience. This type of thinking can help you
improve your communication skills in other areas of your life. Preparing a speech forces speakers to take a step
back and think critically about effective ways to communicate. In day-to-day life, it is easy to fall back on
communication habits we formed many years ago.

Public speaking engagements are great places to meet other people who share your interests. Many people
enjoy engaging in public speaking as a hobby!

EXAMPLE Toastmasters International is a nonprofit organization with more than 14,700 clubs in 144
countries around the world. Participants in Toastmasters clubs learn about and practice public speaking and
leadership. It’s a great way to become more comfortable as a speaker.

Here are some other examples of how people engage in public speaking as a hobby or in their everyday
lives:
Neighborhood groups or city councils: speak about a need or advocate for change.
Schools or youth groups: educate students about your job as part of a career day.
Rotary club or other professional groups: encourage members to volunteer for a cause.
Weddings or anniversaries: give a toast.
Churches, synagogues, or mosques: teach a class or give a testimony.
Social justice: speak up for change.

If communication is the backbone of the important relationships in your life, isn't it worth taking some time to
work on it? Improving your communication skills can make life more fulfilling on many levels.

1d. Social Connections

Are you looking for new ways to network and make social connections? Try public speaking. Giving a speech is
like starting a conversation with a room full of people—and you can continue that conversation as soon as you
step down from the podium. You and your audience share an interest in the topic of your speech, so you
already have something to talk about! If the schedule allows, try to mingle with the audience after your speech,
answering questions and seeking fresh perspectives on your topic.

Give audience members the option of getting in touch with you at a later date by listing contact information on
handouts or slides. If you have a website, direct audience members to find more information there. If you are
part of a speaking lineup, reach out to your fellow presenters. Congratulate them or, if you miss a talk, ask how
it went. There are lots of opportunities for networking in the realm of public speaking, so plan ahead and make
use of them.

2. Career Benefits of Public Speaking

2a. Career Advancement

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 Bryant A. Hilton, a public relations representative for Dell, giving a speech entitled "Going Green: Dell's Journey to
Sustainability."

Did you know that your public speaking skills can even help you in your career? Success in public speaking
indicates creativity, critical thinking skills, leadership abilities, poise, and professionalism—qualities that are very
valuable for the job market and sure to impress your boss. And, if you establish a good reputation as a public
speaker, your public persona will set you apart from the sea of faceless resumes and cover letters.

Public speaking is also an excellent way to expand your professional network. Success in public speaking is a
good indicator of valuable professional skills. Composing an effective speech demonstrates creativity and
critical thinking. Holding an audience's attention demonstrates a talent for leadership. Maintaining confidence
and poise during a speech and Q&A session demonstrates professionalism under pressure.

Like-minded professionals often get together to share ideas. These engagements are great networking
opportunities!

 TERM TO KNOW

Networking
The act of meeting new people in a business or social context.

2b. Self-Promotion

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 If you're seeking publicity, speaking engagements are a great place to start. Look for opportunities to discuss
your area of knowledge, and present yourself as an expert.

One caveat: you still need to do a thorough audience analysis. If you don't connect your personal story to
bigger issues that affect the audience, you will seem self-centered and irrelevant. If you spout opinions without
establishing credibility, you may come across as a charlatan.

Even if your goal is self-promotion, remember: the world doesn't revolve around you, and neither should your
speech. You want good publicity, not bad publicity!

 TERM TO KNOW

Publicity
Advertising or other activities designed to rouse public interest in something.

2c. Networking
Public speaking is a great way to connect with people who share your interests and goals. You can get more
mileage from speaking engagements if you initiate conversations with other speakers and audience members.
Find out more about their interests and take those interests into consideration when you write your next
speech.

In terms of professional networking, public speaking can help you gain an edge over the competition. A speech
will show more of your personality than a resume or cover letter. You can control the content and tone of a
speech more easily than you can dictate the content of a job interview.

The primary elements of the typical job application—the resume, cover letter, and interview—are tough to ace
since rigid formatting makes it difficult to stand out from the crowd. When you have public speaking
opportunities in a professional context, take advantage of them! Try to be memorable, make connections, and
follow up afterward. If your professional connections know you as a speaker, you will be more than just another
faceless resume and cover letter.

 TERM TO KNOW

Networking
The act of meeting new people in a business or social context.

3. External Benefits of Public Speaking

3a. Public Leadership
Have you ever wanted to find the right words to inspire change in the world? Public speaking has a long history
as a catalyst for nonviolent activism and political change. It is a powerful way to unite people under a common
cause and motivate them to take action.

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 Public speakers have the opportunity to influence others; they can use their knowledge of persuasion to
motivate others to take collective action to achieve desired goals. There is a strong correlation between
leadership and communication skills.

Leadership has been described as "a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and
support of others in the accomplishment of a common task." Public speaking skills can be used to influence
multiple people simultaneously, such as in a meeting or when addressing a large group.

Speaking skills can help when setting and agreeing to a motivating vision or future for a group or organization
to ensure unity of purpose; creating positive peer pressure towards shared, high-performance standards and an
atmosphere of trust and team spirit; and driving successful collective action and results.

IN CONTEXT

Martin Luther King, Jr., Winston Churchill, and Nelson Mandela are notable examples of effective
orators who used oratory to have a significant impact on society. The influence of the great leaders
may have been initially limited to moving an audience in person with written copies of their speeches
distributed. With the invention of the radio and television, listeners who could not attend in person
were still influenced by the words of the speaker.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Leadership
A process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the
accomplishment of a common task.

Orator
A skilled and eloquent public speaker.

3b. Global Leadership

Today, the reach of technology is pervasive and global. In the past, influencing others involved speaking directly
to an audience face-to-face or having expensive equipment for broadcasting.

Modern communication technology coupled with the internet means that speakers can share messages and
thoughts with audiences anyplace in the world for the cost of an internet connection and a camera or simply a
smartphone recorder.

3c. Leadership in Daily Life

Public speaking skills are not reserved for global leaders; anyone can use the same skills in their daily life to
speak with confidence. Aristotle defined rhetoric as the "faculty of discovering the possible means of
persuasion in reference to any subject."

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 IN CONTEXT

Imagine someone who wants to persuade their parents to give them money. Chances are that this
person will work through strategies for persuading them why they need money and why their parents
should provide it. They will reflect on what has and has not worked in the past, including previous
successful and unsuccessful strategies. From this analysis, it’s possible to construct a message that fits
the occasion and audience.

Now, imagine that the same person wants to persuade their roommate to go out to get Mexican food
for dinner. They are not going to use the same message or approach they used with their parents. The
same logic exists in public speaking situations. Aristotle highlighted the importance of finding the
appropriate message and strategy for the audience and occasion in order to persuade.

By training in public speaking and actually speaking in front of an audience, one develops a sense of self-
confidence. Public speakers learn to overcome the fear of failure and lack of confidence in order to deliver a
message to an audience. They learn to think about ideas, evaluate their truthfulness, and then organize them
into a message to share with others.

The flip side of public speaking is listening; people can learn how to influence others by learning how to listen.
Trained speakers know how to recognize sound logic, reasoning, and ethical appeals. A critical listener is less
likely to be persuaded by unsound logic and fallacies or to take action that is not in their best interest.

3d. Influencing the World

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 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an influential public speaker during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. He used his

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 ability to speak to influence and lead a nation to action.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an influential public speaker during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. He
used his experience as a preacher to move his audience with powerful words and incite action that has
influenced generations of activists. King understood the power of communication to unite people despite their
differences and often blamed poor communication for society’s ills: “Men often hate each other because they
fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because
they cannot communicate; they cannot communicate because they are separated.”

 TRY IT

Every prospective speaker should ask:

Is there a particular cause that has personal significance for me?
If I could change something about the world, what would I choose?
If studying the art of public speaking will give me the tools to influence the world around me, how will I
use them?

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned how public speaking carries many benefits. Its personal benefits can include
an increase in personal satisfaction, as it can be a great self-esteem booster. Additionally, it helps
improve critical thinking skills, personal development, and social connections.

There are also career benefits of public speaking. Public speaking engagements are great places to
meet new social and professional contacts, which can lead to career advancement by helping you
promote yourself and engage in effective networking.

External benefits of public speaking are also possible. If you want to influence the world, remember
that public speaking is an effective platform for spreading revolutionary ideas. There is a strong
correlation between communication skills and influential leadership. Speakers can use knowledge of
persuasion to motivate others to take collective action to achieve desired goals publicly, globally, and
in daily life.

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 TERMS TO KNOW

Critical Thinking

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 The application of logical principles, rigorous standards of evidence, and careful reasoning to the analysis
and discussion of claims, beliefs, and issues.

Leadership
A process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the
accomplishment of a common task.

Networking
The act of meeting new people in a business or social context.

Orator
A skilled and eloquent public speaker.

Publicity
Advertising or other activities designed to rouse public interest in something.

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 Listening and Speaking Ethically
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about the role of ethics in public speaking. Specifically, this lesson will
cover:
1. Ethics
2. Ethical Behavior in Public Speaking
3. Rules to Follow When Listening
3a. Courtesy
3b. Attention
3c. Open-Mindedness
4. Rules to Follow When Speaking
4a. Ethical Goals
4b. Full Preparation
4c. Honesty
4d. Non-Abusive Language

1. Ethics

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 American philosopher Thomas Nagel teaching an undergraduate course in ethics at New York University.

When you think of ethics, what comes to mind? Perhaps you think of words and phrases such as ethical
behavior, professional ethics, ethics boards, or code of ethics.

At its heart, ethics refers to the concept of having morally acceptable values and behaviors. When you align
your behaviors and actions with these values, you engage in ethical behavior.

 TERM TO KNOW

Ethics
The study of principles relating to right and wrong conduct.

2. Ethical Behavior in Public Speaking

Why would you need to even consider ethics in public speaking? First and foremost, your audience not only
needs to believe in your words and message, but they need to trust you as the message giver. Engaging in

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 unethical behavior when speaking only erodes that trust.

There are other reasons to engage in ethical behavior in public speaking:

To maintain your credibility and reputation

To present a fair and accurate argument of your thesis
To provide honest facts with integrity and without deception or distortion
To abide by shared or common moral values and beliefs

To speak ethically is to use your own original speech content. If you use any substantiating facts or passages
from another, you must give appropriate attribution or credit as necessary. Ethical speakers do not plagiarize
their material or try to pass off words and ideas from others as their own.
Ethical speakers do not deceive their audience. It can also be stated that ethical speakers do not distort or warp
facts, or worse yet, disguise opinions as facts in order to argue their thesis or make their point.

3. Rules to Follow When Listening

You may not always be the speech presenter or speaker. Many times, you'll be in the audience yourself. Active
listening is a skill that can make you a more effective speaker in the long run.

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 The art of active listening is more than just hearing what the speaker has to say: it's about being an engaged, attentive
listener able to paraphrase what has already been said.

 TERM TO KNOW

Active Listening
The process of attending carefully to what a speaker is saying, involving such techniques as accurately
paraphrasing the speaker's remarks.

3a. Courtesy
Being an active listener not only makes you a more engaged audience member, but, quite simply, it's polite. If
you expect people to pay attention to your words when it's your turn to speak, they expect the same from you.
There are several other courteous behaviors that an active listener should practice:

Look at the presenter.

Do not text or chat on your phone while they speak.
Remain quiet.
If taking notes, either on paper or via a laptop or tablet, do so unobtrusively.

3b. Attention

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 21
 Active listening refers to the practice of not just hearing someone but really listening and paying attention to
what they have to say. Intrinsic to active listening is the ability to feed back what has been said to the speaker,
often in the form of paraphrasing.

As an audience member, you might not have the opportunity to actually verbalize this feedback in the moment;
however, a truly active listener can summarize at the completion of the speech.

3c. Open-Mindedness
You may not necessarily agree with everything that is being said. It's important to come to the presentation with
an open mind—that is, to at least listen with respect and courtesy to ideas that may be in conflict with your own
personal beliefs and values.

Again, if you expect others to be open and receptive to your ideas, you must extend that same courtesy to
others.

 TERM TO KNOW

Open-Mindedness
Willingness to consider new and different ideas or opinions.

4. Rules to Follow When Speaking

As a public speaker, it's important to follow some basic rules as you approach the crafting and delivery of your
speech. These rules include ethical goals, full preparation, honesty, and non-abusive language.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 22
 Effective speakers engage in ethical goals, fully prepare their speeches and materials, practice honesty, and don't use
abusive language when speaking.

4a. Ethical Goals

Consider why you're speaking. Are you trying to inform? Are you trying to persuade your audience to adopt a
certain viewpoint or consider a new idea? If so, you'll want to make sure that you lead your audience to that
belief point in an ethical manner. You don't want to use tactics like intimidation.

Additionally, have the responsibility and professionalism to know whether or not you have a conflict of interest
on a given topic or with a certain audience or venue. Recuse yourself—provide your audience with a full
disclosure of said conflict of interest and adjust your speech accordingly.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Informative
An informative presentation enhances the knowledge or understanding of the material you present, be
it information, concepts, or ideas. The presenter assumes the role of a teacher.

Persuasive

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 23
 A persuasive presentation has a clear beginning, middle, and end; uses interesting supporting material;
and changes or reinforces listeners' feelings, ideas, or behavior.

Ethical
Of or relating to the accepted principles of right and wrong, especially those of some organization or
profession.

Conflict of Interest
A situation in which someone in a position of trust, such as a lawyer, insurance adjuster, or corporate
executive, has competing professional or personal interests.

Recuse
To declare oneself disqualified to act.

4b. Full Preparation

Effective speakers take the time to fully prepare their speeches, from the speech writing process to the delivery
of the speech to the very clothes they wear for the speech.

If you don't prepare, it will show and ultimately affect your credibility as a speaker to your audience and
colleagues. Respect your audience by taking thorough time to write, edit, review, and rehearse your speech
before presenting.

4c. Honesty
Honesty is an extension of the ethical goals of your speech. Don't resort to falsehoods or opinions presented as
facts to make your case.

Come from a place of authenticity instead of deception. Your credibility can become damaged when others
discover you have lied or even simply bent the truth in your speeches.

4d. Non-Abusive Language

Just as one shouldn't intimidate their audience, one should refrain from abusive language when speaking in
public. Effective speakers avoid verbally attacking the audience and opponents.

Don't resort to name-calling or bullying; instead, make your case using compelling facts and anecdotes that can
be substantiated.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned that understanding ethics is vital to maintaining your credibility as a speaker.
Ethical behavior in public speaking establishes your credibility: avoid plagiarizing, do not intentionally
deceive your audience, and acknowledge any conflicts of interest.

As an audience member, it’s important to follow the rules for listening you learned about in this lesson.
Presenters deserve your attention, courtesy, and open-mindedness if you are to expect the same of

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 24
 others once you get up to present. It is also important to practice certain rules for speaking. You know
what your ethical goals are, fully prepare for your speech, speak from a place of honesty, and always
use non-abusive language.

Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY
BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-
SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Active Listening
The process of attending carefully to what a speaker is saying, involving such techniques as accurately
paraphrasing the speaker's remarks.

Conflict of Interest
A situation in which someone in a position of trust, such as a lawyer, insurance adjuster, or corporate
executive, has competing professional or personal interests.

Ethical
Of or relating to the accepted principles of right and wrong, especially those of some organization or
profession.

Ethics
The study of principles relating to right and wrong conduct.

Informative
An informative presentation enhances the knowledge or understanding of the material you present, be it
information, concepts, or ideas. The presenter assumes the role of a teacher.

Open-Mindedness
Willingness to consider new and different ideas or opinions.

Persuasive
A persuasive presentation has a clear beginning, middle, and end; uses interesting supporting material;
and changes or reinforces listeners' feelings, ideas, or behavior.

Recuse
To declare oneself disqualified to act.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 25
 Avoiding Plagiarism
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about what it means to plagiarize and why you shouldn't do it. Specifically,
this lesson will cover:
1. What Is Plagiarism?
2. Avoiding Plagiarism When Using the Internet
2a. In Haste? Don't Copy and Paste.
2b. Yes, You Will Get Caught.

1. What Is Plagiarism?

All jokes aside, plagiarism is stealing, plain and simple.

When most students think of plagiarism, they think of outright copying another person’s work. However,
plagiarism can delve into murky territory that includes everything from wrongful appropriation to blatant
thievery.

While plagiarism may not be a crime per se, in many academic and professional contexts, plagiarism carries
serious risks, including expulsion from a school or termination from a position, organization, or company.

In its simplest form, plagiarism occurs when someone takes the words or ideas of someone else and attempts
to present them as their own. Appropriating a person's work without proper credit distinguishes plagiarism from

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 26
 mere citation or quotation. When a writer quotes or cites a person, text, image, or another piece of intellectual
property, the writer must give credit to where or from whom the quote or idea originated.

The "ideas" part of plagiarism can be especially tricky. Though unlikely, two completely different people may
produce the same idea at the exact moment. Inevitably, one person would be guilty of plagiarism. And while this
does happen, the instances are few and far between.

Students and professionals should always avoid deliberate plagiarism in academic and professional settings. To
knowingly take another person’s work and attribute it as one's own is widely regarded as unethical,
unprofessional, and illegal across most industries and organizations.

Many academic and professional services can detect whether entire sections of books, articles, and other
works are published elsewhere, particularly on the World Wide Web. Additionally, suppose a writer has a unique
writing style and author's voice. In that case, it can be even easier to identify plagiarism if the content is cut and
pasted into a work with a completely different tone and style.

However, unintended plagiarism is more common than one might think. Sometimes the problem stems from
working too closely with the source material. To avoid unintentional plagiarism, writers often develop new
content with the aid of notes, as opposed to whole sources such as books, articles, or web pages. Writers also
craft original compositions by working off their own notes and paraphrasing.

 TERM TO KNOW

Plagiarism
The act of plagiarizing; the copying of another person's ideas, text, or other creative work and
presenting it as one's own, especially without permission.

2. Avoiding Plagiarism When Using the Internet

2a. In Haste? Don't Copy and Paste.
When pressed for time with a looming deadline, you might think a quick copy and paste of a few sentences
here or maybe a paragraph there might be an easy solution. While copying and pasting your way through a
speech is easy, it's certainly not wise.

It might be tempting to fire up your browser and pick a relevant source buried deep within the search results.
"Who looks at what's on search page 10?", you may be thinking. Just because it's obscure doesn't mean it's okay
to take it and claim it as your own.

If you get caught, you could face serious academic or professional consequences. Plus—on a very plain note—
it's just not cool. It's just bad intellectual form. In the internet age, as easy as it can be to lift something from a
relevant but obscure source via Google, it's equally as easy to get caught plagiarizing the words of others.

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 As tempting as it might be to plagiarize with the vastness of available sources on the internet—don't do it. This

screenshot shows how common plagiarizing is.

2b. Yes, You Will Get Caught.

With the advent of complex, proprietary search engine algorithms has come another niche market: plagiarism
detection. If you think you can get away with borrowing a sentence here or there, beware: free and easily
accessible software is available for academics and professionals to check your work for plagiarism. Additionally,
it is commonplace for universities to automatically upload student work to plagiarism-checking software when
submitted online.

And if you think you can fool plagiarism detection software, don't count out manual checking, either. You might
pull a sentence or idea from an obscure professional or expert in the field, but remember that your professor is
an expert in this field; they are likely to have read whatever you're copying.

When in doubt, avoid the temptation to plagiarize despite the seemingly endless availability of content online.
Your speech is better served when your words are original and genuine.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned that plagiarism is copying another person's ideas, text, or other creative
work and presenting it as your own without permission. Plagiarism is an easy trap to fall into, and it’s
crucial to avoid plagiarism when using the internet. Just because you can copy and paste a few
sentences or paragraphs from an unknown internet source doesn't mean you should—and you will
certainly get caught. When in doubt, avoid the temptation to plagiarize despite the seemingly endless
availability of content online. Your speech is better served when your words are original and genuine.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 28
 Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY
BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-
SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Plagiarism
The act of plagiarizing; the copying of another person's ideas, text, or other creative work and presenting
it as one's own, especially without permission.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 29
 Speaker and Message
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about two of the elements of the basic speech communication model.
Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. The Speaker
2. The Message

1. The Speaker

President Barack Obama giving a speech in Accra, Ghana on July 11, 2009.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 30
 The communication cycle offers a model for communication. In its simplest form, the cycle consists of a sender,
a message, and a recipient. Other models include the channel, the vehicle in which your message travels. For
the purposes of speech communication, the speaker is you!

The speaker is perhaps the second most crucial factor in the speech communication model, second only to the
message (your speech) itself. Let's take a step back and look at a precise definition of the message speaker,
also known as the sender.

You're actually encoding your message when you think about how you craft your speech. Your recipient, the
audience, will have to decode your message. With their brainpower, experience, and intellect, they need to
make sense of the message you're trying to deliver. Understanding the importance of your role as the speaker
—or the initiator of communication—in delivering your message is crucial.

When you can communicate your message successfully—that is, when the audience can decode your message
—you have become a successful communicator.

 TERM TO KNOW

Sender
Someone who encodes and sends a message to a receiver through a particular channel. The sender is
the initiator of communication.

2. The Message

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 31
 What is the message that you're trying to get across to your audience?

No matter which communication model you study, every model includes the most critical element: the message.
You can't have communication without a message. The word "message" comes from the Latin mittere, "to send."
The message is fundamental to communication.

With regard to public speaking and speech communication, your speech is your message. But you may also
have other intentions for your speech: the message behind the message. Perhaps you have a singular goal,
point, or emotion you want your audience to feel and understand. Every word you use to craft your speech then
works to achieve that particular goal, point, or emotion.

As the sender, the speechwriter, and the speech giver, you may be getting messages back from your audience:
your receivers. When the receiver sends a message back to the sender in this way, it’s known as feedback. In
this way, messaging becomes a dynamic conversation of feedback as the sender sends their message to their
audience, receives feedback from the audience, and then adjusts the message accordingly based on said
feedback.

We can send messages both verbally and nonverbally. You can say one thing with your words, but nonverbal
cues such as posture, eye contact, tone of voice, and volume may send an entirely different message to your
audience. When crafting your speech, you must consider all aspects of your overall message: verbal, nonverbal,
meaning, and message.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 32
  TERM TO KNOW

Message
A communication, or what is communicated; any concept or information conveyed.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned that with regard to speech communication, you are the speaker and your
speech is the message. As the speaker, you send your message. Your audience, the receiver, may send
you a message in response through feedback. Messages consist of both verbal and nonverbal
elements. Your words and how you deliver them equally make up the balance of your message.

Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY
BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-
SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Message
A communication, or what is communicated; any concept or information conveyed.

Sender
Someone who encodes and sends a message to a receiver through a particular channel. The sender is
the initiator of communication.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 33
 Channel
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn the elements of the basic speech communication model. Specifically, this
lesson will cover:
1. The Channel
2. Face-to-Face, Co-Located Audience Channel
3. Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) Channel

1. The Channel
The four components of a basic speech communication model include the sender (speaker), message, receiver
(audience), and channel.

Claude Shannon, who developed one of the earlier communication models, defined the channel as the medium
used to transmit the signal from the transmitter to the receiver. In a face-to-face, in-person speaking situation,
the channel will be primarily audio using sound and visual using light waves; in a speaking situation with a
remote audience via video conferencing, the channel will be computer-mediated audio and visual.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 34
 In this illustration of a face-to-face channel, the speaker uses the channel, or speech, to transmit the message to the
audience.

 TERM TO KNOW

Channel
The method a sender uses to send a message to a receiver. The most common channels humans use
are auditory and visual.

2. Face-to-Face, Co-Located Audience Channel

When speaking to an audience in person, a speaker uses both verbal and nonverbal methods to communicate
the message. The sounds that a speaker makes are interpreted as words. The sounds are transmitted through
an audio (or auditory) channel as sound waves and are received by the listeners in the audience.

Speakers also use their hands to make gestures, change their facial expressions, and project images or words
on a screen. These cues are received by the listeners through the visual part of the channel: their sense of
sight. When the speaker and the audience are co-located, or in the same place at the same time, the channels
of communication are synchronous, or in real time.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 35
  TERMS TO KNOW

Co-Located
To locate or be located at the same site, for two things or groups at the same space.

Synchronous
Existing or happening at the same time; the opposite of asynchronous.

3. Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)

Channel
Speakers also use communication channels that are mediated, meaning there is something between the
speaker and the receivers. In some cases, the auditory and visual signal is mediated by a computer to convert
what the speaker says and does into a digital signal that is transmitted to remote audiences.

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is able to overcome the physical and social limitations of other forms
of communication, and therefore allow the interaction of people who are not physically sharing the same space.
Computer-mediated digital channels may be synchronous when remote audiences are listening to the speech
via computer conferencing or streaming audio and video while the speech is being delivered.

The channel might also be asynchronous, such as when audiences watch a video of the speech on YouTube.
The message delivered through CMC channels can include both audio and video; humans use their senses of
sight and hearing to decode the digital signals and process the message.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 36
 In this illustration of computer-mediated communication (using a cell phone to send a text message), the channel in
the middle links the speaker with the message receiver.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Mediated
Acting or brought about through an intervening agency.

Synchronous
Existing or happening at the same time; the opposite of asynchronous.

Asynchronous
Not existing or happening at the same time; the opposite of synchronous.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned about channels, one of the four basic components of speech
communication. In a face-to-face, co-located audience setting, a speech is delivered synchronously,

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 37
 and the channel is primarily audio and visual. When using computer-mediated communication (CMC),
such as a synchronous or asynchronous video, the channel is computer-mediated audio and visual.

Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY
BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-
SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Asynchronous
Not existing or happening at the same time; the opposite of synchronous.

Channel
The method a sender uses to send a message to a receiver. The most common channels humans use are
auditory and visual.

Co-Located
To locate or be located at the same site, for two things or groups at the same space.

Mediated
Acting or brought about through an intervening agency.

Synchronous
Existing or happening at the same time; the opposite of asynchronous.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 38
 Audience
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about one of the elements of the basic speech communication model.
Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. The Audience
2. Elements to Consider About Your Audience

1. The Audience

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 39
 The audience is the most important part in the model of communication.

At its simplest, communication consists of a speaker, a message, and a receiver. Following this model, your
speech represents the message. Naturally, this makes you the speaker. To whom you speak, then, represents
the receiver: in this case, your audience.

When looking at this most basic model of communication, your audience represents one-third of the
communication equation, proving it is one of the three most important elements to consider as you craft your
speech.

 TERM TO KNOW

Audience
A group of people attending a performance, speech, event, etc.

2. Elements to Consider About Your Audience

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 40
 Your audience may be represented by a variety of distinguishing characteristics and commonalities, often
referred to as demographics.

It is important to remember that you should not stereotype or make assumptions about your audience based on
their demographics; however, you can use these elements to inform the language, context, and delivery of your
speech. The first question you should ask yourself before you begin crafting your speech is, "Who is my
audience?"

As you begin to answer this question for yourself, here are some key elements to consider as you begin to
outline and define your audience:

Age: What age ranges will be in your audience? What is the age gap between you and your audience
members? Age can inform what degree of the historical and social context they bring to your speech as
well as what knowledge base they have as a foundation for understanding information.
Culture/Race: While these are two separate demographics, one informs the other and vice versa. Race and
culture can influence everything from colloquialisms to which hand gestures may or may not be appropriate
as you deliver your speech.
Gender: Is your audience mostly women? Men? A mix of the two? It is important to consider your gender
and your audience, as the gender dynamic between you and your audience can impact the ways in which
your speech may be received.
Occupation/Education: Just as age, culture, race, and gender factor into your audience's ability to relate to
you as a speaker, so may occupation and education. These elements also help to give you an
understanding of just how much your audience already may or may not know about your given subject.
Values and Morals: While these may not be readily apparent, they can factor prominently into your ability to
be likable to your audience. Particularly if you are dealing with controversial material, your audience may
already be making judgments about you based on your values and morals as revealed in your speech and
thus impacting the ways in which they receive your message.

 TERM TO KNOW

Demographic
A demographic criterion; a characteristic used to classify people for statistical purposes, such as age,
race, or gender.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned that before you start crafting your speech, you should identify your
audience. There are many elements to consider about your audience. For example, your audience
may share commonalities and characteristics known as demographics. You should never stereotype or
generalize your audience by their demographics, but you can use them to inform the language,
context, and delivery of your speech. Audience demographics to consider include age, culture, race,
gender, education, occupation, values, and morals.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 41
 Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY
BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-
SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Audience
A group of people attending a performance, speech, event, etc.

Demographic
A demographic criterion; a characteristic used to classify people for statistical purposes, such as age,
race, or gender.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 42
 Feedback: Visual and Verbal Cues
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about an element of advanced communication models. Specifically, this
lesson will cover:
1. Elements of Speech Communication: Feedback
2. Verbal and Visual Cues

1. Elements of Speech Communication: Feedback

Your audience might give you visual, nonverbal cues that signal how they might be receiving your message.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 43
 The simplest communication model relies on three distinct parts: sender, message, and receiver. More complex
models throw in a fourth element: the channel via which the message is sent. The most advanced
communication models include a fifth element: feedback, a return message sent from the receiver back to the
sender.

Feedback could be as formal as handing out a presentation evaluation following your speech or presentation.
Typically, you can gauge feedback as your speech is happening by paying close attention to the visual and
verbal cues your audience may be giving you while you speak.

 TERM TO KNOW

Feedback
The receivers' verbal and nonverbal responses to a message, such as a nod for understanding
(nonverbal), a raised eyebrow for being confused (nonverbal), or asking a question to clarify the
message (verbal).

2. Verbal and Visual Cues

Verbal and visual cues refer to those sounds and reactions you may hear and see made by your audience. If
you tell a joke or a funny anecdote, you expect laughter as your feedback. One good way to tell if your joke
bombed—no laughter.

As awkward as it can be in the moment, your audience will always provide you with instant feedback. Based on
their feedback, you can determine how to correct the course if needed. At times, this could mean potentially
deviating from your scripted approach in order to make a connection with your audience.

Visual cues can also include making eye contact. As you scan the room, are people returning your gaze? If so,
you have an engaged audience, attentively listening to your speech. If you see half-closed or closed eyes, try
adjusting your tone and volume: you just might need to wake your audience up a little bit.

Of course, depending on your speech topic, the lack of a smile or a chuckle doesn't mean your audience isn't
connecting to your words. Tears can indicate that your words have an incredibly powerful effect on your
audience if you're talking about a particularly moving or emotional subject.

 BIG IDEA

The key takeaway is to remember that this feedback loop of immediate audience reaction plays out in real
time as you speak, so it's up to you to be observant and think two to three steps ahead if you need to
correct course based on your audience's feedback.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned that an advanced model of communication includes a sender, a message, a
receiver, a channel, and feedback. Feedback represents a message of the response sent by the

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 44
 receiver back to the sender. Feedback happens in real time as your audience provides you with visual
and verbal cues in response to your speech. If feedback indicates that your message hasn't been
received as intended, you may need to correct the course in the moment to make that connection with
your audience.

Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY
BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-
SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Feedback
The receivers' verbal and nonverbal responses to a message, such as a nod for understanding
(nonverbal), a raised eyebrow for being confused (nonverbal), or asking a question to clarify the message
(verbal).

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 45
 Noise and Interference
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about factors that can interfere with communication. Specifically, this lesson
will cover:
1. What Are Noise and Interference?
2. Learning How to Tune It All Out

1. What Are Noise and Interference?

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 46
 Noise and interference can distort the meaning and delivery of your message.

Typically, you know it when you hear it. Noise may be jarring and unpleasant and is usually an interruption or
distraction when it occurs. Noise and interference block the sending or receiving of a message. When it comes
to public speaking, noise and interference can be a major issue for both you as the message sender and for
your audience as your message receivers. Quite simply, noise jams the signal you're trying to send as you
speak.

Noise and interference can be both external and internal. It could be your microphone feeding back through a
speaker, causing that ear-splitting, high-pitch squeal. You could be trying to talk over an auditorium full of chatty
high schoolers. Or you could be giving a speech outdoors on a windy day when you're barely able to shout
over the sound of the wind.

Internal noise and interference can be particularly challenging since this often refers to the internal monologue
you might be telling yourself before you get up on stage to speak: "I'm not good enough. I'm going to forget my
speech. They're going to boo me." Internal noise can be psychological and semantic in nature, whereas external
noise can be known as or include physical and physiological noise. Often, internal noise and interference are
the results of anxiety, nervousness, or stress.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 47
 Whether internal or external, unless you're giving your speech in a vacuum, noise is unavoidable. Noise exists
at all levels of communication, and thus no message is received exactly as the sender intends (despite their
best efforts) because of the ever-presence of noise in communication.

 TERM TO KNOW

Noise
Various sounds, usually unwanted.

2. Learning How to Tune It All Out

With regard to external noise, double-check to see if there are any ways to boost your volume. You might need
to physically project your voice a little more to be heard over a low din. You might even need to call attention to
yourself so that your audience pays attention. And it's okay to ask your audience before you speak: "Can you
hear me in the back?"

As for internal noise, fear is the enemy. If you're nervous about speaking, take a few moments before
presenting to inhale some nice, deep breaths for a count of four: in through the nose for four, blow it out
through the mouth for four. Repeat this until you can feel your heart rate slow down a little and the butterflies in
your stomach settle down. You can do this!

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned that noise and interference exist in all aspects of communication; thus, no
message is received exactly as the sender intends (despite their best efforts). Noise can be both
external and internal. External noise often relates to your physical environment, such as a noisy room,
as well as your physiological state. Internal noise includes psychological and semantic noise and is how
you prevent yourself from effectively delivering your message.

There are several methods you can use to help tune out noise. To combat external noise, speak louder
or see if you can be amplified in some way. Alternatively, see if the source of the noise can be stopped
or lowered. To triumph over internal noise, take a few deep breaths before speaking. Breathe out all of
the negative self-doubt and anxieties you may have about speaking and inhale confidence.

Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY
BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-
SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Noise

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 48
 Various sounds, usually unwanted.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 49
 Presentation
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn how the delivery of your message may be just as important as the words
you speak. There are a number of factors to consider when delivering your speech that can help or
hinder your efforts to deliver an effective overall presentation. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Appearance
2. Verbal Communication: Your Words and Ideas
3. Nonverbal Communication: Your Body Language

1. Appearance
You may have heard the phrase, "Dress to impress." This couldn't be more true when getting up to deliver a
speech. While some speech venues and settings might be more casual, chances are you should be dressed in
business attire. While fashion may change as quickly as the seasons, some basic tips regarding business
professional or formal business attire hold true.

EXAMPLE What constitutes business casual versus business professional or formal is always changing,
but here are some guidelines:

Business Professional Attire Business Professional Grooming

Suits, dresses, and pantsuits Hair should be neat

Button-down shirts and ties with or without a Keep makeup to only what’s necessary
blazer or suit coat Choose a pair of shoes in which you are
Skirts that are knee-length or longer confident you can be sturdy when entering and
Clothing that doesn’t distract from the speaker’s exiting the stage as well as standing for the
presentation duration of your speech

2. Verbal Communication: Your Words and Ideas

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 50
 The actual words that you say certainly influence your presentation. Make sure that you rehearse often so that
the words feel comfortable in your mouth as you speak them aloud.

Be on the lookout for phrases that might trip you up or leave you tongue-tied. Practice your speech in front of
another person or small group of people: ask them if what you're saying—from the ideas which you're trying to
get across to your phrasing, tone, and style—makes sense to them.

3. Nonverbal Communication: Your Body

Language
Your nonverbal communication is equally as important as the words you have to say. Your body stance,
posture, and eye contact (or lack thereof) can be crucial in making yourself relatable to your audience. You'll
want to keep an assertive body posture: stand up straight and maintain eye contact. Be mindful of gestures:
don't overdo it, but don't stand there rigidly. Gestures and movement build visual interest for your audience. If
you can get out from behind a podium or lectern, do so.

How your message comes across is just as important as the message itself.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 51
  TERM TO KNOW

Nonverbal Communication
The process of communication through sending and receiving wordless (primarily visual) cues between
people. Messages can be communicated through gestures and touch, body language or posture, facial
expressions, and eye contact.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned that when considering your appearance for a speech, remember to "dress to
impress"—when in doubt, go for business professional. It's better to be overdressed for a speech or
presentation than underdressed. Your verbal communication, in how you phrase and intonate your
actual words, is vital to building auditory interest for your audience. Try to play with the pitch and tone
of your speech; avoid speaking in a monotone. From gesture to posture, your nonverbal
communication via your body language also adds visual depth and engagement for your audience.
Maintain eye contact. Don't wander around the stage or gesture too much. Make your audience feel
comfortable by being comfortable in front of them.

Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY
BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-
SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Nonverbal Communication
The process of communication through sending and receiving wordless (primarily visual) cues between
people. Messages can be communicated through gestures and touch, body language or posture, facial
expressions, and eye contact.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 52
 Context: Situation, Environment, Culture, and
Bias
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about the different types of contexts relevant to public speaking.
Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Context
1a. Situational Context
1b. Environmental Context
1c. Cultural Context
1d. Understanding Your Context
2. Bias: How Our Differences Can Impact Public Speaking

1. Context

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 53
 The environmental and situational context in which you give a speech is important. Pictured here is a very formal

environment in which formal speech would be most appropriate.

Just as you consider your audience when crafting your speech, you'll also want to consider the context in which
your speech will be given. While context certainly includes your audience, it also encompasses many other
important factors for you to consider as you craft your speech.

Consider for a moment when you hear just the tail end of a conversation in passing. It sometimes makes little
sense. What you're missing, in this instance, is the context of that conversation. Just as you need it to
understand the conversation you missed, you and your audience need to be on the same page about the
context of your speech.

 TERM TO KNOW

Context
The surroundings, circumstances, environment, background, or settings that determine, specify, or
clarify the meaning of an event or other occurrence.

1a. Situational Context

Situational context refers to the actual reason you are speaking or presenting. How you deliver your speech,
from the words you say to how you say them, relies on the situational context.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 54
 EXAMPLE If you're campaigning for office, you might deliver what's called a "stump speech"—a speech
you repeat over and over on the campaign trail that gets at the main talking points and promises of your
campaign.

If you're at a funeral, you may be asked to deliver a eulogy. On a lighter note, you might be at your best
friend's wedding and asked to give one of the first toasts.

1b. Environmental Context

Environmental context refers to the physical space in which you're speaking. Whether you're in a classroom
presenting the findings from a lab report or in a stadium that seats thousands, environmental context can
influence both your message and delivery.

The audience will connect with you in different ways depending on the environmental context. You may need to
work harder to build individual connections with your audience members the larger the audience you have.

1c. Cultural Context

Culture refers to the customs, habits, and value systems of different groups of people. Groups of people
sharing the same culture can all belong to the same nation, geographic region, religion, or other social groups.
Some cultural groups are large, and some are very small. Culture can include distinct differences in the way a
group of people governs itself with laws and social standards. It can also be reflected in customs such as dress,
traditions, and holidays. Culture is often evident in a particular group’s art, music, cuisine, and language.

 TERM TO KNOW

Culture
The beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects that constitute a people's way of life; the art,
customs, and habits that characterize a particular group of people.

1d. Understanding Your Context

The key to understanding your context is to develop a habit of situational awareness. Situational awareness
refers to one's perception of the environment and situation around them on a moment-by-moment basis.

In being situationally aware, you can anticipate changes to your environment. In this way, you're always thinking
just one step ahead in any given situation or environment and can be able to adapt accordingly.

Cultivating this skill, which takes time and a keen awareness of your surroundings, is especially helpful when
your context shifts or changes—which can sometimes happen in the blink of an eye.

 TERM TO KNOW

Situational Awareness
The perception of environmental elements with respect to time or space, the comprehension of their
meaning, and the projection of their status after some variable has changed, such as time, or some
other variable, such as a predetermined event.

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 2. Bias: How Our Differences Can Impact Public
Speaking
Situations in which different types of people come into contact with one another can be enriching and
enjoyable for those involved. Some of the greatest cities in the world are inhabited by people belonging to a
multitude of cultures and contexts.

However, when differences between people are evident, bias can emerge. Bias refers to prejudice that people
often feel in favor of their own culture or other familiar aspects of human life.

The following list describes the different types of bias that have been studied by social scientists:

Conscious Bias. Bias is sometimes conscious, meaning that people are aware of their own bias and choose
to continue their prejudiced beliefs and practices regardless of issues that may arise.
Unconscious Bias. Bias can also be unconscious, meaning that individuals may form stereotypes or
prejudice about others that they are unaware of. There are several types of unconscious bias:
Affinity Bias. When we gravitate toward people who are similar to ourselves, we are experiencing affinity
bias. We tend to be more comfortable with things that are familiar to us.
Attribution Bias. When we judge others and their achievements, we tend to attribute their successes to
luck and their failures to personal flaws. However, when we think of our own achievements, we tend to
be more kind; we attribute our successes to our own hard work while we blame our failures on external
factors outside our control.
Beauty Bias. We tend to associate others’ appearances with their personality. Often, we judge a person
based on their perceived attractiveness and our judgment changes the way we treat others.
Conformity Bias. When we are part of a group, we tend to succumb to peer pressure. Conformity bias
occurs when we allow our views or actions to be influenced by others we identify as a part of our group.
Confirmation Bias. When we hold an opinion, regardless of whether that opinion is based on fact or not,
we tend to only pay attention to evidence we find that supports what we already believe. If we come
across evidence to the contrary, confirmation bias makes us susceptible to overlooking or outright
rejecting that evidence.

We are all biased, and we all experience the effects of others’ bias. Whether conscious or unconscious, bias can
result in significant problems in our relationships with others. Bias can cause significant harm to others and can
sometimes escalate into hateful, aggressive, or antisocial behaviors. Responsible members of society have an
obligation to discover the ways in which bias impacts their lives and make positive changes.
It’s important that you realize your own biases and acknowledge that your audience will have just as much bias
as you, albeit in different ways. As such, it is vital to know your audience well so you can anticipate not only the
biases you might bring to the podium but the biases your audience may have in return.

 BIG IDEA

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 The identity of the speaker and the audience invariably influence one another; speakers need to
understand how the biases brought into the room can impact their speech’s effectiveness.

 TERM TO KNOW

Bias
An inclination towards something; predisposition, partiality, prejudice, preference, predilection.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned that without context, your audience may not understand your message.
Conversely, you might not understand your audience. Situational context refers to the reason why
you're speaking. Think of situational context as the event itself. Environmental context refers to the
physical space and time in which you speak. Think of environmental context as the time and venue of
the event. Cultural context refers to the group or groups an individual identifies with. The key to
understanding your context is to cultivate a habit of situational awareness. It's not something you'll
learn overnight, but by being keenly aware of your surroundings, you'll learn to always think one step
ahead should the context change suddenly when you are speaking. Becoming sensitive to our own
biases and those our audience might hold is key to ensuring the effectiveness of our public speaking
practices.

Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY
BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-
SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Bias
An inclination towards something; predisposition, partiality, prejudice, preference, predilection.

Context
The surroundings, circumstances, environment, background, or settings that determine, specify, or clarify
the meaning of an event or other occurrence.

Culture
The beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects that constitute a people's way of life; the art, customs,
and habits that characterize a particular group of people.

Situational Awareness
The perception of environmental elements with respect to time or space, the comprehension of their
meaning, and the projection of their status after some variable has changed, such as time, or some other
variable, such as a predetermined event.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 57
 The Importance of Listening
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about the listening process and its importance in effective communication.
Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. Listening Is More Than Just Hearing
2. Active Listening
3. Listening and Critical Thinking
3a. Critical Thinking
3b. Connection Between Critical Thinking and Listening

1. Listening Is More Than Just Hearing

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 58
 Antony Gormley's statue 'Untitled [Listening],' which is in Maygrove Peace Park, London, England.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 59
 Listening is critical in all aspects of our lives—from maintaining our relationships to getting our jobs done, taking
notes in class, or figuring out which bus to take to the airport. Regardless of context, it's important to understand
that listening involves more than just hearing the words directed at us. Listening is an active process by which
we make sense of, assess, and respond to what we hear.

 STEP BY STEP

The listening process involves five stages. These stages will be discussed in more detail in the next lesson:
Receiving
Understanding
Evaluating
Remembering
Responding

Effectively engaging with all five stages of the listening process lets us best gather the information we need
from the world around us.

 TERM TO KNOW

Listening
The active process by which we make sense of, assess, and respond to what we hear.

2. Active Listening
Active listening is a particular communication technique that requires the listener to provide feedback on what
they hear to the speaker by way of restating or paraphrasing what they have heard in their own words. The goal
of this repetition is to confirm what the listener has heard and to confirm the understanding of both parties.

The ability to actively listen demonstrates sincerity and that nothing is being assumed or taken for granted.
Active listening is most often used to improve personal relationships, reduce misunderstandings and conflicts,
strengthen cooperation, and foster understanding.

When engaging with a particular speaker, a listener can use several degrees of active listening, each resulting
in a different quality of communication with the speaker.

This active listening chart shows three main degrees of listening:

Repeating
Paraphrasing
Reflecting

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 There are several degrees of active listening, including repeating, paraphrasing, and reflecting. Each degree requires

different actions by the listener.

Active listening can also involve paying attention to the speaker's behavior and body language. Having the
ability to interpret a person's body language lets the listener develop a more accurate understanding of the
speaker's message.

 TERM TO KNOW

Active Listening
A particular communication technique that requires the listener to provide feedback on what he or she
hears to the speaker.

3. Listening and Critical Thinking

3a. Critical Thinking

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 61
 Effective listening leads to better critical understanding. This statue by Lawrence Holofcener, entitled 'Allies,' stands in

London, England. It depicts United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill,
whose close relationship during World War II enabled an Allied victory.

One definition for critical thinking is "the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully
conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action."

In other words, critical thinking is the process by which people qualitatively and quantitatively assess the
information they have accumulated and how they use that information to solve problems and forge new
patterns of understanding. Critical thinking clarifies goals, examines assumptions, discerns hidden values,
evaluates evidence, accomplishes actions, and assesses conclusions.

Critical thinking is imperative to effective communication and, thus, to public speaking.

IN CONTEXT

Critical thinking has many practical applications, such as formulating a workable solution to a complex

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 personal problem, deliberating in a group setting about what course of action to take, or analyzing the
assumptions and methods used in arriving at a scientific hypothesis. People use critical thinking to
solve complex math problems or compare prices at the grocery store. It is a process that informs all
aspects of one's daily life, not just the time spent taking a class or writing an essay.

 TERM TO KNOW

Critical Thinking
The process by which people qualitatively and quantitatively assess the information they have
accumulated.

3b. Connection Between Critical Thinking and Listening

Critical thinking occurs whenever people figure out what to believe or what to do, and do so in a reasonable,
reflective way. The concepts and principles of critical thinking can be applied to any context or case, but only by
reflecting upon the nature of that application.

Expressed in the most general terms, critical thinking is "a way of taking up the problems of life." As such,
reading, writing, speaking, and listening can all be done critically or uncritically insofar as core critical thinking
skills can be applied to all of those activities. Critical thinking skills include observation, interpretation, analysis,
inference, evaluation, explanation, and metacognition.

 THINK ABOUT IT

Critical thinkers can:

Recognize problems and find workable solutions to those problems.
Understand the importance of prioritization in the hierarchy of problem-solving tasks; gather relevant
information.
Read between the lines by recognizing what is not said or stated. Use language clearly, efficiently, and
with efficacy.
Interpret data and form conclusions based on that data. Determine the presence of lack of logical
relationships.
Make sound conclusions and/or generalizations based on given data; test conclusions and
generalizations.
Reconstruct one's patterns of beliefs on the basis of broader experience.
Render accurate judgments about specific things and qualities in everyday life.

Critical thinkers must engage in active listening to further their critical thinking skills. People can use critical
thinking skills to understand, interpret, and assess what they hear in order to formulate appropriate reactions or
responses. These skills allow people to organize the information they hear, understand its context or relevance,
recognize unstated assumptions, make logical connections between ideas, determine the truth values, and
draw conclusions.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 63
 Conversely, engaging in focused, effective listening also lets people collect information in a way that best
promotes critical thinking and, ultimately, successful communication.

 TERM TO KNOW

Metacognition
The process by which people qualitatively and quantitatively assess the information they have
accumulated.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned that listening is more than just hearing. When we engage in active listening,
we provide feedback to the speaker on what we hear by repeating, paraphrasing, and reflecting. You
also learned that critical thinking is the process by which people qualitatively and quantitatively assess
the information they accumulate—this is the key connection between critical thinking and listening.
Critical thinking skills include observation, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation,
and metacognition. Effective listening lets people collect information in a way that promotes critical
thinking and successful communication.

Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY
BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-
SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Active Listening
A particular communication technique that requires the listener to provide feedback on what he or she
hears to the speaker.

Critical Thinking
The process by which people qualitatively and quantitatively assess the information they have
accumulated.

Listening
The active process by which we make sense of, assess, and respond to what we hear.

Metacognition
The process by which people qualitatively and quantitatively assess the information they have
accumulated.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 64
 Stages of the Listening Process
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about the stages in the listening process. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
1. The Receiving Stage
2. The Understanding Stage
3. The Evaluating Stage
4. The Responding Stage
5. The Remembering Stage

 BEFORE YOU START

The Five-Stage Listening Process

1. The Receiving Stage

The first stage of the listening process is the receiving stage, which involves two distinct elements: hearing and
attending.

Hearing is the physiological process of registering sound waves as they hit the eardrum. As obvious as it may
seem, in order to effectively gather information through listening, we must first be able to physically hear what

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 we're listening to. The clearer the sound, the easier the listening process becomes.

Paired with hearing, attending is the other half of the receiving stage in the listening process. Attending is the
process of accurately identifying and interpreting particular sounds we hear as words. The sounds we hear
have no meaning until we give them their meaning in context. Listening is an active process that constructs
meaning from both verbal and nonverbal messages.

Listeners are often bombarded with a variety of auditory stimuli all at once, so they must differentiate which of
those stimuli are speech sounds and which are not. Effective listening involves being able to focus in on speech
sounds while disregarding other noise.

EXAMPLE A train passenger that hears the captain's voice over the loudspeaker understands that the
captain is speaking, then deciphers what the captain is saying despite other voices in the cabin.

EXAMPLE Imagine trying to listen to a friend tell a story while walking down a busy street. In order to
best listen to what she's saying, the listener needs to ignore the ambient street sounds.
Attending also involves being able to discern human speech, also known as speech segmentation. Identifying
auditory stimuli as speech but not being able to break those speech sounds down into sentences and words
would be a failure of the listening process. Discerning speech segmentation can be a more difficult activity
when the listener is faced with an unfamiliar language.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Receiving Stage
The first stage of the listening process, which involves hearing and attending.

Hearing
The physiological process of registering sound waves as they hit the eardrum.

Attending
The process of accurately identifying particular sounds as words.

2. The Understanding Stage

The second stage in the listening process is the understanding stage. Understanding, or comprehension,
produces shared meaning between parties in a communication transaction. In other words, if your audience
comprehends your message, then you and your audience share the same understanding of the message
you’ve sent.

This is the stage during which the listener determines the context and meanings of the words they hear.
Determining the context and meaning of individual words and assigning meaning in language is essential to
understanding sentences—which means it is essential to understanding the entire message.

Once the listeners understand the speaker's main point, they can begin to sort out the rest of the information
they are hearing and decide where it belongs in their mental outline. For example, a political candidate listens

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 to her opponent's arguments to understand what policy decisions that opponent supports.

Before getting the big picture of a message, it can be challenging to focus on what the speaker is saying. Think
about walking into a lecture class halfway through. You may immediately understand the words and sentences
that you are hearing but not immediately understand the main idea of the speech or whether what you're
hearing in the moment is a main point, side note, or digression.

Understanding what we hear is a crucial part of our everyday lives, particularly in terms of gathering basic
information. In the office, people listen to their superiors for instructions about what they are to do. At school,
students listen to teachers to learn new ideas. We listen to political candidates give policy speeches to
determine who will get our vote. But without understanding what we hear, none of this everyday listening would
relay any practical information to us.

 BIG IDEA

One tactic to better understand a speaker's meaning is to ask questions. Asking questions allows the
listener to fill in any holes they may have in the mental reconstruction of the speaker's message and thus
increases comprehension.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Understanding Stage
The stage of listening during which the listener determines the context and meanings of the words that
are heard.

Comprehension
A person’s ability to understand something.

3. The Evaluating Stage

This stage of the listening process is the one during which the listener assesses the information they received,
both qualitatively and quantitatively. Evaluating allows the listener to form an opinion of what they heard and, if
necessary, to begin developing a response.

During the evaluating stage, the listener determines whether or not the information they heard and understood
from the speaker is well constructed or disorganized, biased or unbiased, true or false, significant or
insignificant. They also ascertain how and why the speaker has come up with and conveyed the message that
they delivered. This may involve considerations of a speaker's personal or professional motivations and goals.

EXAMPLE A listener may determine that a co-worker's vehement condemnation of another for jamming
the copier is factually correct but may also understand that the co-worker's child is sick, and that may be
putting them on edge.

EXAMPLE A voter who listens to and understands the points made in a political candidate's stump
speech can decide whether or not those points were convincing enough to earn their vote.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 67
 The evaluating stage occurs most effectively once the listener fully understands what the speaker is trying to
say. While we can, and sometimes do, form opinions of information and ideas that we don't fully understand—or
even that we misunderstand—doing so is not often ideal in the long run. Having a clear understanding of a
speaker's message allows a listener to evaluate that message without getting bogged down in ambiguities or
spending unnecessary time and energy addressing points that may be tangential or otherwise nonessential.

This stage of critical analysis is essential for a listener because what they hear will affect their future ideas,
decisions, actions, and beliefs.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Assess
To determine, estimate, or judge the value of; to evaluate.

Evaluating Stage
The stage of the listening process during which the listener critically assesses the information she's
received from the speaker.

Tangential
Merely touching; referring to a tangent; only indirectly related.

4. The Responding Stage

The responding stage is the stage of the listening process wherein the listener provides verbal or nonverbal
reactions based on short- or long-term memory. Following the remembering stage, a listener can respond to
what they hear either verbally or nonverbally.

Nonverbal signals can include gestures such as nodding, making eye contact, tapping a pen, fidgeting,
scratching or cocking their head, smiling, rolling their eyes, grimacing, or any other body language. These kinds
of responses can be displayed purposefully or involuntarily. Responding verbally might involve asking a
question, requesting additional information, redirecting or changing the focus of a conversation, cutting off a
speaker, or repeating what a speaker has said back to her in order to verify that the received message matches
the intended message.

Nonverbal responses like nodding or eye contact allow the listener to communicate their level of interest
without interrupting the speaker, thereby preserving the speaker/listener roles. When a listener responds
verbally to what they hear and remember—for example, with a question or a comment—the speaker/listener
roles are reversed, at least momentarily.

Responding adds action to the listening process, which would otherwise be an outwardly passive process.
Oftentimes, the speaker looks for verbal and nonverbal responses from the listener to determine if and how
their message is being understood and/or considered. Based on the listener's responses, the speaker can
choose to either adjust or continue with the delivery of her message.

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 EXAMPLE If a listener's brow is furrowed and their arms are crossed, the speaker may determine that
she needs to lighten her tone to better communicate her point. If a listener is smiling and nodding or asking
questions, the speaker may feel that the listener is engaged, and her message is being communicated
effectively.

 TERM TO KNOW

Responding Stage
The listening stage wherein the listener provides verbal or nonverbal reactions to what she hears.

5. The Remembering Stage

In the listening process, the remembering stage occurs as the listener categorizes and retains the information
she's gathered from the speaker for future access. The result—memory—allows the person to record
information about people, objects, and events for later recall. Memory is relevant to the listening process both
during and after the speaker's delivery.

Memory is essential throughout the listening process. We depend on our memory to fill in the blanks when
we're listening and to let us place what we hear in the context of what we've heard before.

EXAMPLE If you forgot everything that you heard immediately after you heard it, you would not be able
to follow along with what a speaker says, and conversations would be impossible. Moreover, a friend who
expresses fear about a dog she sees on the sidewalk ahead can help you recall that the friend began the
conversation with her childhood memory of being attacked by a dog.
Remembering previous information is critical to moving forward. Similarly, making associations to past
remembered information can help a listener understand what she is currently hearing in a broader context. In
listening to a lecture about the symptoms of depression, for example, a listener might make a connection to the
description of a character in a novel that she read years before.

Using information immediately after receiving it enhances information retention and lessens the forgetting
curve, or the rate at which we no longer retain information in our memory. Conversely, retention is lessened
when we engage in mindless listening and little effort is made to understand a speaker's message.

Because everyone has different memories, the speaker and the listener may attach different meanings to the
same statement. In this sense, establishing common ground in terms of context is extremely important, both for
listeners and speakers.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Remembering Stage
The stage of listening wherein the listener categorizes and retains the information she's gathering from
the speaker.

Memory

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 The ability of an organism to record information about things or events with the facility of recalling them
later at will.

Recall
Memory; the ability to remember.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned about the process of listening: receiving, understanding, evaluating,
responding, and remembering. Listening is a complex process that involves a listener attending to a
message (receiving), followed by the listener’s efforts to determine the meaning and context of a
message (understanding). After the listener understands the message, they can assess the information
and form opinions (evaluating). The audience then provides signals to the speaker that the message is
clear (responding), after which they can put the message into the context of what they already know
(remembering).

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 TERMS TO KNOW

Assess
To determine, estimate, or judge the value of; to evaluate.

Attending
The process of accurately identifying particular sounds as words.

Comprehension
A person’s ability to understand something.

Evaluating Stage
The stage of the listening process during which the listener critically assesses the information she's
received from the speaker.

Hearing
The physiological process of registering sound waves as they hit the eardrum.

Memory
The ability of an organism to record information about things or events with the facility of recalling them
later at will.

Recall
Memory; the ability to remember.

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 Receiving Stage
The first stage of the listening process, which involves hearing and attending.

Remembering Stage
The stage of listening wherein the listener categorizes and retains the information she's gathering from
the speaker.

Responding Stage
The listening stage wherein the listener provides verbal or nonverbal reactions to what she hears.

Tangential
Merely touching; referring to a tangent; only indirectly related.

Understanding Stage
The stage of listening during which the listener determines the context and meanings of the words that
are heard.

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 Causes of Poor Listening
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about the reasons behind ineffective listening. Specifically, this lesson will
cover:
1. Causes of Poor Listening
1a. Low Concentration
1b. Lack of Prioritization
1c. Poor Judgment
1d. Focusing on Style, Not Substance

1. Causes of Poor Listening

The act of listening may be affected by barriers that impede the flow of information. These barriers include
distractions, an inability to prioritize information, a tendency to assume or judge based on little or no information
(i.e., "jumping to conclusions"), and general confusion about the topic being discussed.

Listening barriers may be psychological (e.g., the listener's emotions) or physical (e.g., noise and visual
distraction). However, some of the most common barriers to effective listening include:

Low concentration
Lack of prioritization
Poor judgment
Focusing on style rather than substance

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 72
 The Causes of Poor Listening

1a. Low Concentration

Low concentration, or not paying close attention to speakers, is detrimental to effective listening. It can result
from various psychological or physical situations, such as:

Visual or auditory distractions

Physical discomfort
Inadequate volume
Lack of interest in the subject material
Stress
Personal bias

Regardless of the cause, when a listener is not paying attention to a speaker's dialogue, effective
communication is significantly diminished. Both listeners and speakers should be aware of these kinds of
impediments and work to eliminate or mitigate them.

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 When listening to speech, there is a time delay between the time a speaker utters a sentence to the moment
the listener comprehends the speaker's meaning. Typically, this happens within the span of a few seconds. If
this process takes longer, the listener has to catch up to the speaker's words if they continue to speak at a pace
faster than the listener can comprehend.

Often, it is easier for listeners to stop listening when they do not understand. Therefore, a speaker needs to
know which parts of a speech may be more comprehension intensive than others and adjust their speed,
vocabulary, or sentence structure accordingly.

1b. Lack of Prioritization

Just as a lack of attention to detail in a conversation can lead to ineffective listening, so can focusing too much
attention on the least important information.

Listeners need to be able to pick up on social cues and prioritize the information they hear to identify the most
critical points within the context of the conversation.

Often, the information the audience needs to know is delivered along with less pertinent or irrelevant
information. When listeners give equal weight to everything they hear, it makes it challenging to organize and
retain the information they need.

EXAMPLE Students who take notes in class must know which information to write down within the
context of an entire lecture. Writing down the lecture word-for-word is impossible as well as inefficient.

1c. Poor Judgment

When listening to a speaker's message, it is common sometimes to overlook aspects of the conversation or
make judgments before all of the information is presented.

Listeners often engage in confirmation bias, which is the tendency to isolate elements of a conversation to
support one's own preexisting beliefs and values. This psychological process has a detrimental effect on
listening for several reasons.

First, confirmation bias tends to cause listeners to enter the conversation before the speaker finishes her
message and, thus, form opinions without first obtaining all pertinent information. Second, confirmation bias
detracts from a listener's ability to make accurate, critical assessments.

EXAMPLE A listener may hear something at the beginning of a speech that arouses a specific emotion.
Whether anger, frustration, or anything else, this emotion could have a profound impact on the listener's
perception of the rest of the conversation.

 TERM TO KNOW

Confirmation Bias
The tendency to pick out aspects of a conversation that support one's own preexisting beliefs and
values.

1d. Focusing on Style, Not Substance

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 The vividness effect explains how vivid or highly graphic an individual's perception of a situation is. When
observing an event in person, an observer is automatically drawn toward the sensational, vivid, or memorable
aspects of a conversation or speech.

In the case of listening, distracting or larger-than-life elements in a speech or presentation can deflect attention
away from the most essential information in the conversation or presentation. These distractions can also
influence the listener's opinion.

EXAMPLE If an English professor teaching Shakespeare delivered an entire lecture in an exaggerated

Elizabethan accent, the class would likely not take the professor seriously, regardless of the actual
academic merit of the lecture.
Cultural differences (including speakers' accents, vocabulary, and misunderstandings due to cultural
assumptions) can also obstruct the listening process. The same biases apply to the speaker's physical
appearance. To avoid this obstruction, listeners should be aware of these biases and focus on the substance
rather than the delivery style or the speaker's voice and appearance.

 TERM TO KNOW

Vividness Effect
The phenomenon of how vivid or highly graphic and dramatic events affect an individual's perception of
a situation.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned about several causes of poor listening. First, low concentration can be the
result of various psychological or physical conditions, such as visual or auditory distractions, physical
discomfort, inadequate volume, lack of interest in the subject material, stress, or personal bias.
Additionally, when listeners fail to prioritize what they hear, it is difficult for them to organize and retain
the information they need. When the audience is trying too hard to listen, they often cannot take in the
most important information they need. Poor judgment is often connected to confirmation bias or the
tendency to pick out aspects of a conversation that support one's own preexisting beliefs and values.
Finally, a flashy speech can actually be more detrimental to the overall success and comprehension of
the message because it focuses on style over substance. Recognizing obstacles ahead of time can go
a long way toward overcoming them.

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 TERMS TO KNOW

Confirmation Bias

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 The tendency to pick out aspects of a conversation that support one's own preexisting beliefs and values.

Vividness Effect
The phenomenon of how vivid or highly graphic and dramatic events affect an individual's perception of a
situation.

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 Being a Serious and Open-Minded Listener
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn additional methods for improving your listening skills. Specifically, this
lesson will cover:
1. Resisting Distraction
2. Active Listening
3. Suspending Judgment
4. Exercising Empathy
5. Tips for Being an Open-Minded Listener

1. Resisting Distraction
Distractions can come in all shapes and sizes. To be serious, effective listeners, people must learn how to resist
the distractions that cross their path so they can better focus on what they are trying to hear.

Distractions and noise come in two broad types: internal and external. External distractions often come in the
form of physical noise in the physical environment. Auditory and visual distractions are often the most easily
identifiable types of external distractions. Loud or extraneous noises can inhibit effective listening, as can
unnecessary or excessive images. Think about trying to have a meaningful conversation with a friend while
someone else is watching an action movie in the same room. Pretty impossible, right?

Internal distractions often refer to psychological and emotional noise. Distractions can also originate internally
or can be physical responses to the environment. Feeling hungry, upset, or physically uncomfortable can be just
as detrimental to effective listening as extraneous things in the physical environment. If a speaker is nervous
about presenting a speech, they may have a litany of negative thoughts in their inner monologue. Internal
distractions also occur when someone is thinking about plans for after your speech or thinking about topics and
things completely unrelated to the speech at hand. These are all examples of internal distractions.

In order to best focus on a speaker's message, try to eliminate as many possible distractions as possible. Turn
off all mobile devices, relocate to a quiet space, and close unnecessary windows on the computer.

2. Active Listening

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 Active listening is a communication technique that requires the listener to feed back what they hear to the
speaker. Most often, listeners will do this by thinking about what they have heard and translating it into their
own words, either in their notes or thoughts. This activity confirms what the listener heard and, moreover,
confirms that both parties understand each other. It is important to note, however, that by paraphrasing the
speaker's message, the listener does not necessarily agree with the speaker. Paraphrasing also helps the
listener better retain that information for future access.

Active listening provides the speaker with feedback from the listener.

If someone is actively listening, then they are typically not distracted. Speakers can also cultivate the habit of
avoiding distractions (for example, by addressing questions after the presentation, not during).

In addition to internalizing what a speaker says, active listening also involves observing and assessing the
speaker's behavior and body language and relaying that information back to the speaker as well. Having the
ability to interpret a speaker's body language lets the listener develop a more accurate understanding of the
speaker's message. When the listener does not respond to the speaker's nonverbal language, they engage in a
content-only response that ignores the emotions that guide the message; this can limit understanding.

The ability to listen actively demonstrates sincerity on the part of the listener and helps to make sure that no
information is being assumed or taken for granted. Active listening is most often used to improve personal

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 relationships, reduce misunderstandings and conflicts, strengthen cooperation, and foster understanding.

 TERM TO KNOW

Active Listening
A particular communication technique that requires the listener to provide feedback on what they hear
to the speaker.

3. Suspending Judgment
Someone who listens with an open mind is willing to be influenced by what they hear. It does not mean that the
listener should not have strong views of their own, but it does require the listener to be willing to consider the
merit of what other people say. This can be difficult when listening to something one does not want to hear or
something about which one has preconceived notions.

All people have their own opinions on just about everything, so when people listen, they are tempted to
immediately judge what someone else is saying from their own perspectives. However, this kind of prejudging
can lead to misunderstanding. People who listen with an open mind avoid anticipating what they think their
conversational partners are going to say. They do not jump to conclusions but rather hear the speaker out
entirely and make an effort to understand their lines of argument.

Judgmental listening also occurs when the listener is only listening to the speaker in order to determine
whether they are right or wrong, rather than listening to understand the speaker's ideas and where they come
from. This kind of judgmental listening prevents the listener from fully engaging with the speaker on their own
terms and therefore limits the scope of the conversation.

Carrying preconceived notions about the speaker or the content of a speech into a conversation further limits
effective listening. Listeners may have overwhelmingly positive or negative associations with particular people
or ideas, and those associations can affect how listeners interpret. To listen effectively, one must work to
temporarily suspend those associations to understand the speaker on their own terms.

 TERM TO KNOW

Judgment
The evaluation of evidence in the making of a decision.

4. Exercising Empathy
Exercising empathy while listening to a speaker is related to suspending judgment because it requires the
listener to work to understand what the speaker says from their point of view. However, the listener does not
necessarily have to agree with the speaker automatically; they should simply put themselves in the speaker's
shoes and try to see the presented arguments from that perspective. One of the primary jobs of an effective
listener is to get in touch with the speaker's perspective and not to color it with their own.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 79
 Empathetic listening helps promote effective listening because it allows the listener to consider where the
speaker is coming from, both emotionally and in terms of the content of their speech. This lets the listener
assess what the speaker says and how it is presented more accurately, leading to better understanding.

 TERM TO KNOW

Empathy
The capacity to understand another person's point of view or the result of such understanding.

5. Tips for Being an Open-Minded Listener

To practice open-minded listening, take the following steps:

1. Leave your ego at the door. Come to the presentation with a mind like a blank slate.
2. When disagreeing with the speaker, write down the objections rather than tuning out the presenter.
3. Be open to new ideas or new ways of thinking.
4. Look for opportunities to share common ground with the speaker, such as beliefs, ideologies, or
experiences.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned how to be a serious and open-minded listener. You learned resisting
distractions, which can be internal or external, will help you fully receive others’ messages. Active
listening, a communication technique that requires the listener to feed back what they hear to the
speaker, can help you stay focused as a listener.

You also learned that listening with an open mind means you are receptive to being influenced by what
you hear. Suspending judgment means listening to understand and not just to determine whether the
speaker is right or wrong. When we listen, it’s vital to exercise empathy as a method for better
understanding where the speaker is coming from, both emotionally and conceptually. Being an open-
minded listener requires us to leave our egos at the door and instead strive to find common ground
with the speaker.

Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY
BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-
SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Active Listening

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 80
 A particular communication technique that requires the listener to provide feedback on what they hear to
the speaker.

Empathy
The capacity to understand another person's point of view or the result of such understanding.

Judgment
The evaluation of evidence in the making of a decision.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 81
 Giving Effective Criticism
by Sophia

 WHAT'S COVERED

In this lesson, you will learn about the importance of effective criticism. Specifically, this will cover:
1. Giving Effective Criticism
1a. Helpful
1b. Specific
1c. Objective
1d. Constructive
2. Cultural Differences in Approaching Criticism
2a. Verbal Style in Low- and High-Context Cultures
2b. Responsibility for Effectively Conveying a Message
2c. Collectivism and Individualism
2d. Reputation (Face)
2e. Eye Contact

1. Giving Effective Criticism

Knowing how to criticize effectively is a skill you will use throughout your life. Being able to give good criticism
gives you the opportunity to be positively influential both personally and professionally. Effective criticism is
useful for the following two reasons:

1. New ideas and perspectives will be discovered.

2. Argument logic is tested, possibly revealing shortcomings.

The most basic rule of effective criticism is to respect the individual and focus the criticism on the behavior that
needs changing. In other words, we should focus our critique on what people actually do or say. Ideally,
effective criticism should be helpful, specific, objective, and constructive.

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 Effective criticism is helpful, specific, objective, and constructive.

1a. Helpful
The goal of constructive criticism is to provide feedback that will improve a person’s behavior while consciously
avoiding personal attacks and blaming. This kind of criticism is carefully framed in language acceptable to the
target person, often acknowledging the critics themselves could be wrong.

Avoid insulting and hostile language; instead, use phrases such as "I feel..." and "It's my understanding that...."
Constructive critics try to stand in the shoes of the person being criticized and consider what things would look
like from their perspective.

Provide criticism that is positively intended and appropriately motivated, as you are not only sending back
messages about how you are receiving the other's message but also about how you feel about the other
person and your relationship with them. Keeping this in mind will help you to construct effective critiques.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 83
 EXAMPLE Instead of saying to a roommate or neighbor, “You’re so inconsiderate of others,” try saying,
“When you play loud music late into the night, I get anxious because it keeps me awake and I have to get
up early for work. Could you turn down the music by 10:00 PM?”

Instead of telling a co-worker, “You’re always late with what I need to finish this report,” try saying, “As I
understood it, we agreed that you would send me the final edits by tomorrow. Please confirm that we’re still
on track to meet that deadline.”

1b. Specific
Being as specific as possible about what can be improved makes it easier for the individual to understand the
criticism and see a clear path to improvement. Being specific means clearly defining or identifying what you are
providing feedback on. Avoid judgmental language that casts blame on the other person, and avoid being so
vague that the person doesn’t know what to do to improve.

EXAMPLE Instead of saying, “Don’t be so lazy. Clean your room and do a good job this time,” try saying,
“When you clean your room, make sure to hang up your clean clothes and bring any that are dirty down to
the laundry along with the sheets on your bed. Pick clutter up off the floor and vacuum and dust.”

 TERM TO KNOW

Specific
Clearly defined or identified.

1c. Objective
Provide unbiased, objective criticism so that the recipient not only gets the message but is willing to do
something about it. If your criticism is too subjective, it may be taken personally as an insult. One method is to
avoid using “you” statements.

EXAMPLE For example, instead of telling someone, “You always load the dishwasher incorrectly,” try
saying, “This is how to correctly load the dishwasher.”

 TERM TO KNOW

Objective
Not influenced by personal feelings or opinions; unbiased.

1d. Constructive
Giving constructive criticism means that you should consciously avoid personal attacks as well as blaming,
insulting, or hostile language. Limiting your use of evaluative language, such as "you are wrong" or "that idea
was stupid," reduces the need for the receiver to respond defensively.

As the name suggests, the consistent and central notion is that the criticism must have the aim of constructing,
scaffolding, or improving a situation, a goal that is usually subverted by the use of hostile language or personal
attacks.

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 Effective criticism can change what people think and do; thus, criticism is the birthplace of change. Effective
criticism can also be liberating. It can fight ideas that keep people down with ideas that unlock new
opportunities, while consciously avoiding personal attacks and blaming.

EXAMPLE Instead of saying, “Your idea will never work,” try saying, “That’s one way to approach it.
What else do we need to consider?”

 TERM TO KNOW

Constructive
Carefully considered and meant to be helpful.

2. Cultural Differences in Approaching Criticism

A culture is a system of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that form distinctive ways of life. Different cultural
groups have different ways of communicating, both verbally and nonverbally.

While globalization and media have moderated many of the traditional differences for younger audiences, it is
wise to consider five critical areas where cultural differences could play a role when giving and receiving
criticism:

Verbal style in low- and high-context cultures

Instrumental versus affective message responsibility
Collectivism and individualism in cultures
Reputation or “face”
Eye contact

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 Cultural differences can introduce barriers into communication.

 TERM TO KNOW

Culture
The beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects that constitute a people's way of life; the art,
customs, and habits that characterize a particular society or nation.

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 2a. Verbal Style in Low- and High-Context Cultures
In low-context cultures such as in the United States and Germany, there is an expectation that people will say
what is on their mind directly; they will not "beat around the bush."

In high-context cultures, such as in Japan and China, people are more likely to use indirect speech, hints, and
subtle suggestions to convey meaning.

2b. Responsibility for Effectively Conveying a Message

Is the speaker ultimately responsible for conveying a message clearly, or is the audience primarily responsible
for working to understand that message? The instrumental style of speaking is sender-orientated; the burden is
on the speaker to make him or herself understood.

The affective style is receiver-oriented and places more responsibility on the listener. With this style, the listener
must pay attention to verbal, nonverbal, and relationship clues in order to understand the message.

Chinese, Japanese, and many Native American cultures are affective cultures, whereas American culture is
often more instrumental.

IN CONTEXT

Think about sitting in your college classroom listening to a lecturer. If you do not understand the
material, where does the responsibility lie? In the United States, students often believe that it is up to
the professor to communicate the material to the students. However, when posing this question to a
group of Chinese students, you may encounter a different sense of responsibility. Listeners who were
raised in a more affective environment respond with, "No, it's not you; it is our job to try harder." This
kind of student accepts responsibility as a listener whose job it is to understand the speaker.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Instrumental
Sender-oriented speaking in which the burden is on the speaker to make themselves understood.

Affective
Receiver-oriented speaking in which the responsibility is on the listener to understand what is being
said.

2c. Collectivism and Individualism

Are the speaker and listeners from collectivist or individualistic cultures? When a person or culture has a
collective orientation, they place the needs and interests of the group above individual desires or motivations.

In contrast, cultures with individualistic orientations view the self as most important. Each person is viewed as
responsible for their own success or failure in life.

© 2025 SOPHIA Learning, LLC. SOPHIA is a registered trademark of SOPHIA Learning, LLC. Page 87
 When you provide feedback or criticism, if you are from an individualistic culture, you may speak directly to one
individual, and that individual will be responsible. However, if you are communicating with someone from a
culture that is more collectivist, your feedback may be viewed as shared by all the members of the same group.
The group members may assume responsibility for the actions of each other.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Collectivist
A philosophical, political, religious, economic, or social outlook that stresses the priority of group goals
over individual goals and the importance of cohesion within social groups.

Individualistic
The opposite of collectivism; a social outlook that stresses the priority of the individual over the group.

2d. Reputation (Face)

Reputation is usually thought of as a sense of worth, especially in the eyes of others. Research with Chinese
university students showed that they view a loss of reputation, or a loss of face, as a failure to measure up to
one's sense of self-esteem or what is expected by others. In more individualistic cultures, speakers and
listeners are concerned with maintaining their own face and not so much focused on that of others.

However, in an intercultural situation involving collectivist cultures, the speaker should not only be concerned
with maintaining their own face, but also that of the listeners.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Reputation
A sense of worth, especially in the eyes of others.

Face
Another word for reputation, which is a sense of worth in the eyes of others.

2e. Eye Contact

Rules about maintaining eye contact vary from culture to culture and influence how we approach feedback,
questioning, and criticism. In many cultures, it is a sign of respect to not look someone in the eye directly—the
exact opposite of what most North Americans expect. It is important not to misconstrue lack of eye contact as a
sign of indifference or disrespect.

EXAMPLE In many traditional Arab cultures, it is inappropriate for a woman to maintain eye contact with
a man. Additionally, in many African American and Latin American communities, it is considered respectful
for a child not to look directly at an adult who is speaking to them.

 SUMMARY

In this lesson, you learned that giving effective criticism allows for the logic of arguments to be tested
and for new ideas to be discovered. Some techniques for giving criticism are to be helpful, specific,

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 objective, and constructive, keeping in mind that criticism should be appropriately motivated and
positively intended.

You also learned that different cultures approach communication differently, which directly impacts
the reception of messages of criticism. In a low-context culture, people will say what is on their minds
directly, while in a high-context culture, people use indirect speech, hints, and subtle suggestions to
convey messages. In cultures that use an instrumental or sender-oriented verbal style, the burden is
on the speaker to make him or herself understood, whereas cultures using an affective or receiver-
oriented verbal style place more responsibility on the listener. Collectivist cultures place the needs and
interests of the group above individual desires or motivations, while individualistic cultures view the
self as most important. Finally, the importance of reputation and the use of eye contact can vary from
culture to culture and influence how we approach feedback, questioning, and criticism.

Source: THIS TUTORIAL HAS BEEN ADAPTED FROM "BOUNDLESS COMMUNICATIONS" PROVIDED BY
BOUNDLESS.COM. ACCESS FOR FREE AT oer commons. LICENSE: CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-
SHAREALIKE 4.0 INTERNATIONAL.

 TERMS TO KNOW

Affective
Receiver-oriented speaking in which the responsibility is on the listener to understand what is being said.

Collectivist
A philosophical, political, religious, economic, or social outlook that stresses the priority of group goals
over individual goals and the importance of cohesion within social groups.

Constructive
Carefully considered and meant to be helpful.

Culture
The beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects that constitute a people's way of life; the art, customs,
and habits that characterize a particular society or nation.

Face
Another word for reputation, which is a sense of worth in the eyes of others.

Individualistic
The opposite of collectivism; a social outlook that stresses the priority of the individual over the group.

Instrumental
Sender-oriented speaking in which the burden is on the speaker to make themselves understood.

Objective
Not influenced by personal feelings or opinions; unbiased.

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 Reputation
A sense of worth, especially in the eyes of others.

Specific
Clearly defined or identified.

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 Terms to Know
Active Listening
A particular communication technique that requires the listener to provide feedback on what
he or she hears to the speaker.

Affective
Receiver-oriented speaking in which the responsibility is on the listener to understand what is
being said.

Assess
To determine, estimate, or judge the value of; to evaluate.

Asynchronous
Not existing or happening at the same time; the opposite of synchronous.

Attending
The process of accurately identifying particular sounds as words.

Audience
A group of people attending a performance, speech, event, etc.

Bias
An inclination towards something; predisposition, partiality, prejudice, preference,
predilection.

Channel
The method a sender uses to send a message to a receiver. The most common channels
humans use are auditory and visual.

Co-Located
To locate or be located at the same site, for two things or groups at the same space.

Collectivist
A philosophical, political, religious, economic, or social outlook that stresses the priority of
group goals over individual goals and the importance of cohesion within social groups.

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 Comprehension
A person’s ability to understand something.

Confirmation Bias
The tendency to pick out aspects of a conversation that support one's own preexisting
beliefs and values.

Conflict of Interest
A situation in which someone in a position of trust, such as a lawyer, insurance adjuster, or
corporate executive, has competing professional or personal interests.

Constructive
Carefully considered and meant to be helpful.

Context
The surroundings, circumstances, environment, background, or settings that determine,
specify, or clarify the meaning of an event or other occurrence.

Critical Thinking
The process by which people qualitatively and quantitatively assess the information they
have accumulated.

Culture
The beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects that constitute a people's way of life; the
art, customs, and habits that characterize a particular society or nation.

Demographic
A demographic criterion; a characteristic used to classify people for statistical purposes, such
as age, race, or gender.

Empathy
The capacity to understand another person's point of view or the result of such
understanding.

Ethical
Of or relating to the accepted principles of right and wrong, especially those of some
organization or profession.

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 Ethics
The study of principles relating to right and wrong conduct.

Evaluating Stage
The stage of the listening process during which the listener critically assesses the information
she's received from the speaker.

Face
Another word for reputation, which is a sense of worth in the eyes of others.

Feedback
The receivers' verbal and nonverbal responses to a message, such as a nod for
understanding (nonverbal), a raised eyebrow for being confused (nonverbal), or asking a
question to clarify the message (verbal).

Hearing
The physiological process of registering sound waves as they hit the eardrum.

Individualistic
The opposite of collectivism; a social outlook that stresses the priority of the individual over
the group.

Informative
An informative presentation enhances the knowledge or understanding of the material you
present, be it information, concepts, or ideas. The presenter assumes the role of a teacher.

Instrumental
Sender-oriented speaking in which the burden is on the speaker to make themselves
understood.

Judgment
The evaluation of evidence in the making of a decision.

Leadership
A process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in
the accomplishment of a common task.

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 Listening
The active process by which we make sense of, assess, and respond to what we hear.

Mediated
Acting or brought about through an intervening agency.

Memory
The ability of an organism to record information about things or events with the facility of
recalling them later at will.

Message
A communication, or what is communicated; any concept or information conveyed.

Metacognition
The process by which people qualitatively and quantitatively assess the information they
have accumulated.

Networking
The act of meeting new people in a business or social context.

Noise
Various sounds, usually unwanted.

Nonverbal Communication
The process of communication through sending and receiving wordless (primarily visual)
cues between people. Messages can be communicated through gestures and touch, body
language or posture, facial expressions, and eye contact.

Objective
Not influenced by personal feelings or opinions; unbiased.

Open-Mindedness
Willingness to consider new and different ideas or opinions.

Orator
A skilled and eloquent public speaker.

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 Persuasive
A persuasive presentation has a clear beginning, middle, and end; uses interesting
supporting material; and changes or reinforces listeners' feelings, ideas, or behavior.

Plagiarism
The act of plagiarizing; the copying of another person's ideas, text, or other creative work
and presenting it as one's own, especially without permission.

Publicity
Advertising or other activities designed to rouse public interest in something.

Recall
Memory; the ability to remember.

Receiving Stage
The first stage of the listening process, which involves hearing and attending.

Recuse
To declare oneself disqualified to act.

Remembering Stage
The stage of listening wherein the listener categorizes and retains the information she's
gathering from the speaker.

Reputation
A sense of worth, especially in the eyes of others.

Responding Stage
The listening stage wherein the listener provides verbal or nonverbal reactions to what she
hears.

Rhetoric
The art of using language, especially public speaking, as a means to persuade.

Sender
Someone who encodes and sends a message to a receiver through a particular channel. The
sender is the initiator of communication.

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 Situational Awareness
The perception of environmental elements with respect to time or space, the comprehension
of their meaning, and the projection of their status after some variable has changed, such as
time, or some other variable, such as a predetermined event.

Sophist
One of a class of teachers of rhetoric, philosophy, and politics in ancient Greece, especially
one who used fallacious but plausible reasoning.

Specific
Clearly defined or identified.

Synchronous
Existing or happening at the same time; the opposite of asynchronous.

Tangential
Merely touching; referring to a tangent; only indirectly related.

Understanding Stage
The stage of listening during which the listener determines the context and meanings of the
words that are heard.

Vividness Effect
The phenomenon of how vivid or highly graphic and dramatic events affect an individual's
perception of a situation.

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