Ethics and Public Speaking

1
CHAPTER 2

• Ethics and Public Speaking

2
The Importance of Ethics

• Ethics- The branch of philosophy that deals with
  issues of right and wrong in human affairs
• Speakers face ethical issues in every stage of
  the process
• Generally, there are no cut and dry answers
• Ethical decisions are guided by your personal
  values, conscience, and sense of right and wrong
• Considering consequences of your actions

3
Guidelines for Ethical Speaking

• Make sure your goals are ethically sound
• Ethical obligation to yourself and your audience
  to prepare thouroughly, otherwise you are wasting
  the audiences time
• You are ethically responsible for assuring that
  you are not presenting erroneous or misleading
  information
• You are ethically responsible for considering
  audience responses and outcomes

4
Guidelines for Ethical Speaking

• BE HONEST! It is the assumption of the audience
  that what you are speaking is the truth
• Avoid name calling and abusive language
• Do not abuse the free speech right
• Legality and Ethics are not the same thing, just
  because it is legal does not make it right
• Be ethical all the time!

5
Plagiarism

• Definition To present another persons language
  or ideas as ones own
• Plagiarism is a type of theft
• It is a lie or deception
• NIU policy If a student is guilty of plagiarism,
  they will receive an F on the assignment and/or
  an F grade in the course
• A note indicating academic misconduct is placed
  in your student file
• Student may be suspended or expelled from the
  University

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Plagiarism

• 3 Types of Plagiarism
• Global Plagiarism Stealing a speech entirely
  from a single source and passing it off as your
  own
• Patchwork Plagiarism A speaker takes
  information from a few sources
• Incremental Plagiarism Failing to give credit
  for particular parts of a speech that are
  borrowed from other people

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Avoiding Plagiarism

• Give credit to the source this includes quotes
  and paraphrasing!
• The more sources you consult, the less likely you
  are to come up with your own approach
• Give yourself plenty of time to research and
  think of how you can bring your own ideas into
  your speech
• Plagiarism can be accidental, but it is still
  plagiarism! When in doubt, err on the side of
  caution!
• The internet counts! You still must cite web
  sites!

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Guidelines for Ethical Listening

• Be courteous and attentive respect your fellow
  students just as you would want them to respect
  you!
• Avoid prejudging the speaker keep an open mind
  and make an intelligent judgment about the speech
  after it is over
• Maintain the open expression of ideas listeners
  have an obligation to maintain the right of
  speakers to be heard
• This does not imply agreement!!