Ethics and Public Speaking
Material from
Lucas, the Art of Public Speaking,
Gregory: Public Speaking for College and Career,
Beebe, the Concise Public Speaking Handbook
Ethics - the branch of philosophy that deals with issues of right and wrong in human affairs.
Questions of ethics arise whenever we must ask whether a course of action is moral or immoral, fair or
unfair, just or unjust, honest or dishonest.
Ethical Decisions - Sound ethical decisions involve weighing a potential course of action against a set of ethical
standards or guidelines.
Ethics and public speaking
Plato - all public speakers should be truthful and devoted to the good of society.
Guidelines for Ethical Speaking
1. Make Sure Your Goals Are Ethically Sound. Ethical concerns always exist, no matter how large or small the
audience. Always assess the ethical soundness of your goals.
2. Be Fully Prepared For Each Speech
- "A speech is a solemn responsibility" Jenkin Lloyd Jones
- You have an obligation - to yourself and your listeners - to prepare fully every time you stand in front of
an audience. The better you prepare, the better your speech will be for you and your audience
- A bad 30 min. speech to 200 listeners wastes 100 hours of audience's time - more than 4 full days.
- Being prepared involves everything from visual aids to audience analysis to rehearsal to delivery
- Your message will have a major impact on the listeners and they accept your message as truth.
(CPR/First Aid example)
3. Be Honest in What You Say
Public speaking rests in the unspoken assumption that "Words can be trusted and people will be truthful"
Without this assumption, there is no basis for communication, no reason for one person to believe
anything that another person says. Once the bond of trust between a speaker and listener is broken, it
can never be fully restored.
Plagiarism and Research Ethics also come into play here.
4. Avoid Name-Calling and Other Forms of Abusive Language
Name-Calling - the use of language to defame, demean, or degrade individuals or groups
"Our identities, who and what we are, how others see us, are greatly affected by the names we are
called and the words with which we are labeled."
Name- Calling and Personal Dignity
Derogatory names: those terms used to debase people based on ethnic background, religious beliefs, or
sexual orientation.
Sexist Language: Language that promotes the stereotyping of people based on gender.
Name-Calling and Free Speech As a public speaker, you have an ethical obligation to help preserve the right of free speech by avoiding
tactics such as name-calling that automatically impugn (deny, attack as false) the accuracy or
respectability of public statements made by groups or individuals who voice opinions different from
yours.
Name-Calling is protected under the free-speech clause of the bill of rights but it is still considered
unethical for public speakers. However, unethical practiced threaten free-speech - (possibility of
censorship laws, etc.)
Legality and ethics, though related, are not identical. - There is nothing illegal about falsifying statistics in a
speech, but it is considered unethical.
In addition, it may not be illegal to cast racial, sexual, or religious slurs at people in a speech, but is
unethical. Not only does is demean the dignity of the groups or individuals being attacked, it
undermines the right of all groups in the U.S. to be fairly heard.
5.
Put Ethical Principles into Practice
Ethics are easy to talk about, difficult to apply.
"Being ethical means behaving ethically all the time, not only when it's convenient."
Take ethical decisions seriously.
6.
Follow the Guidelines for Ethical Listening
Be Courteous and Attentive
Avoid Prejudging the Speaker
Maintain the Free and Open Expression of Ideas
Plagiarism
Comes from plagiarius, the Latin word for kidnapper. To plagiarize means to present another person's
language or ideas as your own - the give the impression you have written or thought something yourself
when you have actually taken it from someone else.
Three Types of Plagiarism
• Global Plagiarism - stealing an entire message and passing it off as one's own.
• Patchwork plagiarism - taken ideas or language from two or three sources and passing them off as one's
own.
• Incremental Plagiarism - Failing to give credit for particular parts of a speech that are borrowed from
other people. (citations for quotations, etc.)
Credit should also be given when you paraphrase another's ideas or words.
How to protect yourself from committing accidental incremental plagiarism
1. Be careful when taking research notes to distinguish direct quotations, paraphrased material, and your
own comments.
2. When in doubt, always cite your source.
Checklist for Ethical Public Speaking
1. Have I examined my goals to make sure they are ethically sound?
a. Can I defend my goals on ethical grounds if they are questioned or challenged?
b. Would I want other people to know my true motives in presenting this speech?
2. Have I fulfilled my ethical obligation to prepare fully for the speech?
a. Have I done a thorough job of studying and researching the topic?
b. Have I prepared diligently so as to not to communicate erroneous or misleading
information to my listeners?
3. Is the speech free of plagiarism?
a. Can I vouch that the speech represents my own work, my own thinking, and my own
language?
b. Do I cite the sources of all quotations and paraphrases?
4. Am I honest in what I say in the speech?
a. Is the speech free of any false or deliberately deceptive statements?
b. Does the speech present statistics, testimony, and other kinds of evidence fairly and
accurately?
c. Does the speech contain valid reasoning?
d. If the speech includes visual aids, do they represent facts honestly and reliably?
5. Do I use emotional appeals ethically?
a. Are emotional appeals appropriate to the speech topic?
b. Is the speech built upon a firm foundation of facts and logic in addition to employing
emotional appeal?
6. Do I use the power of language ethically?
a. Do I avoid name-calling and other forms of abusive language?
b. Does my language show respect for the right of free speech and expression?
7. Have I made a conscious effort to put ethical principles into practice in preparing my speech?
Ethics and Research
Copyright
The creator of the item/material owns the rights. Permission must be granted to use any copyrighted material in
which the user will receive any personal or financial gain.
Defined: the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something (as a
literary, musical, or artistic work)
Fair Use
“Fair Use” permits students and scholars to use copyrighted visual images in presentations for educational purposes
where no money is exchanged.
Defined: a legal doctrine that portions of copyrighted materials may be used without permission of the copyright
owner provided the use is fair and reasonable, does not substantially impair the value of the materials, and does not
curtail the profits reasonably expected by the owner
(Merriam-Webster.com)
Royalties:
A royalty is an agreed-on fee paid for each use of a commercial item. For example, a radio station may pay royalties
based on the number of times a song is played on the air or a company may pay royalties for software based on the
number of computers on which the software is loaded. Similarly, a newspaper or magazine may pay a photographer
a fee for an image and also pay a royalty each time the image is reproduced in other media, such as the publication's
website or a special-issue publication. (http://smallbusiness.chron.com/)
Royalty-free
An image such as a drawing or photograph is typically protected by copyright. If you want to use an image that you
did not create, you generally must obtain specific permission from the copyright-holder and agree on the terms of
use. One common commercial agreement is known as a royalty-free license to use an image.
(http://smallbusiness.chron.com/)
Royalty-Free Images (http://smallbusiness.chron.com/)
A royalty-free (RF) image license is much less restrictive than an RM license. A user typically pays a onetime fee for a royalty-free image license and can then use the image as many times and in as many places as
he chooses. The "free" in royalty-free does not mean there is no cost for the license, but instead refers to
being able to freely use the image without paying additional royalties. A small-business owner, for
example, may opt to pay a one-time fee for RF images for his website.
Sources of Royalty-Free Images
Many companies sell RF licenses for stock images from their collections. Corbis Images and Getty Images
are two of the oldest and most well-known image supply houses. Many online services, such as istockphoto
and shutterstock, also supply RF photos, artwork and other images. Businesses can also contract with an
individual copyright-holder, such as a photographer or graphic artist, for an RF license for an image.
Copyright-Free Images
Not all images require a fee or a license before using them in your business product. Images in the public
domain are not copyright-protected and can be used by anyone for any purpose. Any image created prior to
1923 is no longer protected by U.S. copyright and is in the public domain. Images created by the U.S.
government are also public domain regardless of the date of creation. Some copyright holders voluntarily
place images in the public domain in collections such as The Commons at Flickr, and these can also be
freely used without obtaining a license.
Public Domain
The status of a literary work or an invention whose copyright or patent has expired or that never had such
protection.( http://dictionary.reference.com/)
Public Domain Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/public-domain-faq
What is the public domain?
Public domain works are not restricted by copyright and do not require a license or fee to use. Public domain status
allows the user unrestricted access and unlimited creativity!
There are three main categories of public domain works:
 Works that automatically enter the public domain upon creation, because they are not copyrightable:
 Titles, names, short phrases and slogans, familiar symbols, numbers
 Ideas and facts (e.g., the date of the Gettysburg Address)
 Processes and systems
 Government works and documents1
 Works that have been assigned to the public domain by their creators
 Works that have entered the public domain because the copyright on them has expired
(Note: Use of some works, such as ideas and symbols, may be restricted by other laws, such as patent, trademark, or
trade secret.)
What works have expired into the public domain?2
 All works published in the U.S. before 1923
 All works published with a copyright notice from 1923 through 1963 without copyright renewal
 All works published without a copyright notice from 1923 through 1977
 All works published without a copyright notice from 1978 through March 1, 1989, and without subsequent
registration within 5 years
Congress has passed a series of laws extending the term of copyright. Currently, the default term is life of the author
plus 70 years. That means that most of the copyrighted works created from the late 1970s to the present may not
become public domain during your lifetime.
In general, works published after 1977 will not fall into the public domain until 70 years after the death of author, or,
for corporate works, anonymous works, or works for hire, 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from
the date of creation, whichever expires first.
Where can I find public domain works?
The sites below will guide you to a cultural wealth of public domain books, images, illustrations, audio, and films
where the copyright term has expired or the creator has not renewed the license. Remember, public domain works
are free and available for unrestricted use. Enjoy and be creative!
 Smithsonian Institution Public Domain Images
 New York Times Public Domain Archives
 Project Gutenberg, a collection of public domain electronic books
 Librivox, public domain audio books
 Prelinger Archives; a vast collection of advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur films.
How does a creator dedicate a work to the public domain?
One way to dedicate a work to the public domain in the U.S. is to use the Creative Commons Public Domain
Dedication. Note that interpretation of a dedication may vary in countries outside of the United States.
Creative Commons also offers “CC0,” a method of waiving all copyrights and a number of other related rights.
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1.More specifically, "a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that
person’s official duties" is in the public domain, but there are situations in which copyright does apply to a
government document. For example, works produced by contractors working on behalf of the government can be
protected by copyright, depending on the terms of the contract. There may be disclaimers on ".gov" sites that cover
exceptions or discrepancies.
2.Cornell University, “Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States 1 January 2009”