Ethical Speaking and Listening, Essay Example

It is pointed out clearly in this chapter how a public speech could be strongly influential to the public. Most often than not, a person is asked to speak to a public audience concerning specific issues and concerns that define controversial points. Relatively, such options of topics often bring about a sense of debate among the audiences addressed by the speaker. How then should public speakers handle such complications in relation to their role of addressing the matter? According to the discussions pointed out in this chapter, there are different environments to which a public speech could be held, and such environments affect the way a particular issue should be addressed. For instance, when speaking in front of a class, it is most often than not that the issues involved are common among the students; somehow, some issues could include lessons being tackled in class. Students or individuals given the chance to speak before the class should know the people in the class, who they are, what they believe in and what their perceptions are about the certain topic. Gaining such insights would provide the speaker a better grasp on how to present the topic without necessarily invoking wild or violent reactions to the issue.  No matter what the setting is, it is presented in the chapter that there are three specific attitudes a speaker must develop towards his audience. These three attitudes include respect, assumption of their position on the issue and the capacity to manage how to use words that will not increase commotion of ideas that the audience might react negatively upon.

At the end of this chapter, it is important to ask what else is there in public speaking that makes it a valuable source of information that could change or shape the society? How strongly should a public speaker take charge in the capacity he is given to influence the thinking of his audience?