Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Finding Facts and Stats Effective and Not as Effective
You find facts and statistics most effective in a speech when you want to “promote agreement or provide foundation for the topic’s importance”. It can have your audience pay more attention and best used during persuasive situations. Facts and statistics are not as effective when it’s “overwhelming or difficult to comprehend or subject to manipulation”. In Chapter 7, it states “sometimes speakers overwhelm audience members with facts and statistics to such a degree that listeners simply tune out”. You don’t want to include so many and what you state can be misinterpreted or interpreted in many ways. You have to keep the audience in mind when selecting your facts or statistics. Also make sure that the facts and statistics are reliable.
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I agree with this because it is easy to lose the audience’s attention. Many times when you are giving a lot of statistics the audience can’t follow along therefore they lose interest. I think it’s better to only use a few, or if you are going to use them put them in you visual aid, that way they’re able to follow along on their own. Also if you are going to use them it would be useful to explain them, instead of just saying a lot of number out loud, and leaving the audience wondering what you are talking about.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that too much facts and statistics can overwhelm the audience. It can get boring after a while if everything is just facts and numbers. If I wanted statistics I would rather just read it off a book with pictures. When teachers are lecturing in class I find myself just zoning out. Sometimes it is because I’m tired, the information they give are too boring or, too much. There are times when professors give fun information that catches my attention but most of the other days it’s in one ear and out the other. Then I have to review all the materials that were just delivered.
ReplyDeleteHello Kai! Do you have facts and statistics already planned out that you are going to use? If so, what are they? Also, are you going to use examples and narratives for this coming speech? Do you think examples and narratives are appropriate for an informative speech?
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