Speak with Substance: a Guide to Finding and Using Information Effectively
How to use this guide
This series of lessons can be followed sequentially or you can jump to the page with the topic that most interests you. Each page displays a series of boxes that have text, interactive slides, and videos. Some interactive slides contain an audio option, which repeats the content by reading aloud the text on the slide; all audio has been created by an AI voice generator. All of the content in these lessons can be found in this Google Document version, Speak with Substance: a guide to finding and using information effectively.
Welcome to Speak with Substance, a guide to finding and using information effectively! This guide has been written by PCC Communications instructors and Librarians in order to share our advice for how to go about researching when preparing a speech.
In these lessons, we will first discuss why to use a variety of information or evidence in a speech. You will then practice identifying and evaluating four different types of information: (1) background information, (2) data and statistics, (3) lived experiences, and (4) analysis. Throughout these lessons there will be opportunities to practice and see examples of each type of information and how it can be used effectively in a speech.
At the end of these lessons you will be able to:
- Identify and find relevant and useful information that is appropriate to the topic, audience, setting, and purpose of a speech.
- Evaluate information for credibility and usefulness in your speech.
- Give specific examples of the available types of information, and describe when and why you would use background information, data or statistics, lived experiences or testimony, and expert analysis as evidence in a speech.
Four types of information to include in your speech
We will next introduce four types of information and why each can serve a different purpose when communicating with your audience.
Through a series of examples, you will practice evaluating what information to include in your speech and why.
Let's start exploring together!