about speech ethics

Owing to a lack of ethics when giving their addresses, often speakers struggle to persuade or draw a large audience. According to German (2010), ethics and contact should go together like hand and glove. As a result, in order to capture the interest of their audience, public speakers must embrace ethics. According to the National Speakers Association, public speaking principles are the socially correct standards and attitudes involved in public communication (Kuddoski, 2016). It is important to talk ethically in order to protect one’s integrity and dignity, as well as to offer correct evidence with authenticity and without exaggeration or deceit. In public speaking, ethical behaviour is needed. Public speaking has several ethical dynamics that a speaker needs to observe. An effective and ethical speechmaker ought to consider the audience they are addressing and be respectable and sensitive to the crowd’s gender, race, cultural beliefs, and age (Kuddoski, 2016). Additionally, the originality of content is a fundamental issue to be considered. German (2010), explains that a speaker earns credibility when giving the speech using their thoughts and ideas; instead of copying and plagiarizing someone else’s work. The objective of the speech is also expected to be ethical and promotes moral values or activities in the society.

“How to escape the rat race game” was one of the speeches I listened by Richard Wolfgang. The title of the speech is riveting, and beyond no doubt, many people can be eager and interested in giving their attention to it. Mr. Richard, the speaker, seemed very effervescent and vivacious when delivering his message to the audience on how to be succesful. Indeed, the speech was educative and thought- provoking but it also consisted several ethical implications.

Respect, good preparation, honesty, plagiarism, and professionalism were some of the ethical implications evident in the speech. Showing respect to the audience is one of the most important things a public speaker needs to learn (Kuddoski, 2016). The speaker was respectful and sensitive to the listeners by considering all diversity aspects. His advice to all people was to work hard regardless of their education level, social status, gender, ethnicity, religion, and race (German, 2010). The content was also substantial and well prepared but the speaker spent more minutes on one topic. This at some level introduced monotony to the crowd. In addition to that, the speaker used some of the quotes by successful businessmen in the world and failed to give them credit. As a result, this affected the originality of the content and seemed to be copied. The speaker’s honest came to a test when he provided wrong statistics and information to persuade the audience. Providing misleading information is unprofessional and disappoints listeners.

To produce a positive outcome in the speech, the speaker could have followed ethical guidelines that conform to moral values of public speaking. He could have prepared his content well in advance to avoid wasting time on one point by researching on the subject and gathering all necessary facts and references (Kuddoski, 2016). This could have shown respect to the audience who sacrificed their time to attend the talk. Adherence to the allotted time avoid monotony and prevent a speaker form running overtime. Furthermore, the speaker could be honest and accurate by not misleading the audience for his selfish motive. This enhances credibility, trust, and shows the level of professionalism a speaker has. To avoid plagiarism, a speaker should give credit to whomsoever they are using their quotes.

The use of ethics in public speaking cannot be overemphasized. To be successful in public speaking, it is mandatory for speakers to observe ethical guidelines such as respect, honest, well preparation of the content, avoid plagiarism, and enhance professionalism. A speech produces more positive outcome when it follows the ethical guidelines.

References

Kuddoski, J. (2016.) The Ethics in Public Speaking: Why So Important? Retrieved https://toughnickel.com/misc/the-ethics-in-public-speaking

German, K. M. (2010). Principles of Public Speaking. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.