NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Introduction to Speech Communication
Alusine M. Kanu, D. A.

1. Included among the guidelines for topic selection is:

a. selecting a topic with which the audience is unfamiliar
b. selecting a topic that someone else has not done a speech on
c. selecting a topic that has a lot of research information
d. selecting a topic that is familiar and interesting to you
e. selecting a topic with which you have had success in past speeches

2. The goal of an informative speech is to

a. share information clearly and accurately
b. make the learning experience as humorous as possible for the audience
c. change the listeners’ belief and attitudes about the topic
d. entertain
e. call the audience to action

3. Audience analysis includes

a. a demographic analysis
b. a financial analysis
c. a physiological analysis
d. a psychological analysis
e. a rhetorical analysis

4. Demographic analysis is a useful tool for understanding and analyzing your potential speaking audience. According to you text, which of the following variables are culturally determined?

a. attitudes
b. genders
c. religion
d. geography
e. group membership

5. Which of the following is not a criterion for evaluating information on websites?

a. publishing body
b. currency
c. author
d. purpose
e. links

6. When Martin Luther King, Jr. in his famous “I Have A Dream” speech, repeated the statement, “I have a dream that on day…” six times, but each time he repeated the statement he provided a different example, he was using

a. analogy
b. restatement
c. brief examples
d. a series of operational definitions
e. a series of logical definitions

7. In court cases, psychologists are often asked to provide what type of supporting information?

a. a brief example
b. analogies
c. hypothetical illustrations
d. testimony
e. restatements

8. Tony, an international student, wanted to give an informative speech on his home country and culture. The best source of information for Tony would be:

a. the Internet
b. an encyclopedia
c. the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature
d. his personal experience
e. interviews with experts

9. According to Aristotle, every speech has essentially which two parts?

a. a statement and its conclusion
b. an introduction and a conclusion
c. a conclusion and its review of the main points
d. a body and a conclusion
e. a statement and its proof

10. The conclusion of a speech should:

a. establish your credibility
b. reinforce what you want your audience to remember
c. motivate your audience to listen
d. provide statistics on your topic
e. follow a chronological pattern.

11. An effective way to help your audience follow along with you is to use:

a. examples
b. statistics
c. internal summaries
d. quotations
e. external previews

12. Letting the audience know what you will cover in the speech is referred to as:

a. providing a game plan
b. highlighting
c. organizational prophesying
d. forecasting
e. feed-forward

13. According to the text, ethical speakers:

a. always cite the sources of their information
b. often pose as an authority when they are not
c. find it necessary to distort or falsify evidence to misrepresent information
d. are unconcerned with the effects their messages have on their audience
e. shy away from persuasive speeches because of the call to action

14. Suppose you were at a wedding reception and were asked to give a congratulatory speech to the bride and groom with no prior notice. You would be giving a(n):

a. manuscript speech
b. impromptu speech
c. extemporaneous speech
d. memorized speech
e. motivated speech

15. Which of the following guidelines will not help reduce your speech anxiety?

a. select a topic you enjoy and know something about
b. spend time preparing the speech
c. practice
d. focus on what other students have done wrong in their speeches
e. exert confidence


16. The delivery style that gives you more control than the impromptu method yet does not require you to construct a manuscript is called:

a. memorized delivery
b. informative delivery
c. conversational delivery
d. intuitive delivery
e. extemporaneous delivery

17. Guidelines for choosing an informative speech topic include which of the following statements?

a. choose a topic that you find to be relatively uninteresting
b. choose a topic without concerning yourself about the audience’s interest in the topic
c. choose a topic requiring a little more time than you have
d. choose a topic that you are unfamiliar with
e. choose a topic that is important to you.

18. A speaker can use _____ testimony to increase identification between listeners and a topic

a. lay
b. expert
c. competent
d. conferred

19. Your textbook points out that those individuals who control information have a great deal of:

a. uncertainty
b. power
c. communication apprehension
d. cognitive complexity
e. critical thinking

20. To persuade, to inform, or to entertain are all examples of:

a. specific purposes
b. speech purposes
c. thematic purposes
d. general purposes

21. A statement forecasting the main points of a speech is called a

a. preview
b. thesis statement
c. signpost
d. summary statement

22. In preparing a speech on retirement strategies, a speaker should probably be most concerned about the audience’s:

a. ethnicity
b. language
c. geographic origin
d. age

23. Your text calls the single sentence that captures the essence of your speech a

a. thesis statement
b. focus statement
c. central idea
d. any of the above

24. In an outline, the I, II, III points are called

a. main points
b. sub-points
c. supporting points
d. further support

25. When a speaker writes out a speech, then reads it word-for-word to the audience, he or she is engaging in:

a. manuscript delivery
b. extemporaneous delivery
c. impromptu delivery
d. memorized delivery

26. The three components of learning are:

a. ethos, pathos, and logos
b. mental, physical, and physiological
c. cognition, affect, and behavior
d. none of the above

27. An example of informative speaking in the workplace would be:

a. demonstrating a new product to the sales staff
b. giving a project report to upper management
c. showing a new employee how to use a piece of heavy equipment
d. all of the above

28. Plagiarism involves

a. using anecdotes to begin and end a speech
b. using major ideas or words of others without crediting the source
c. quoting a source verbatim in your speech
d. acknowledging your sources of information in the introduction to your speech.

29. A speech whose main purpose is to influence the attitudes or actions of listeners would be characterized as a(n) _____ speech.

a. denotative
b. persuasive
c. ceremonial
d. informative

30. The basic form(s) of supporting material is (are)

a. testimony
b. facts and figures
c. narratives and examples
d. all of the above

31. Which of the following is a factor in demographic audience analysis?

a. group affiliation
b. context
c. environment
d. nature and purpose of the occasion

32. The _____ identifies the main points of a speech.

a. conclusion
b. preview
c. general purpose
d. specific purpose

33. Gestures in speeches should be

a. dramatic
b. spontaneous
c. inhibited
d. truncated

34. In a speech that has symmetry, the introduction, body, and conclusion will:

a. all be of equal length
b. receive the right amount of emphasis
c. be disjunctive
d. include transitions

35. Which of the following is an advantage of visual aids?

a. they add variety to a speech
b. they eliminate the need to support main points with examples or testimony
c. they diminish speaker ethos
d. they can shift listener attention away from the speaker

36. The problem-solution design

a. first convinces listeners that they have a problem
b. presents a solution before expounding on a problem
c. never urges an audience to take action
d. relies on categories for structure

37. One effective technique for persuading a reluctant audience to listen is to:

a. justify actions
b. make a unilateral presentation
c. start with areas of agreement
d. start with areas of disagreement

38. A well-chosen topic is:

a. one that is interesting to you and your audience
b. one that is appropriate to the communication environment
c. one that can be handled within the time limits for your speech
d. all of the above

39. The motivations, beliefs, values, and attitudes of an audience comprise audience

a. dynamics
b. demographics
c. expectations
d. analysis

40.A speech’s ____ purpose might be “to inform” or “to persuade.”

a. general
b. objective
c. specific
d. actual

41. You can achieve clarity of language by

a. using abstract terms
b. relying on a technical vocabulary
c. using familiar words in a simple, direct way
d. using monosyllabic referents

42.Extemporaneous speaking involves:

a. preparation and practice
b. memorizing the text of a message
c. speaking off the cuff
d. reading from a manuscript

43.The First Amendment to the Constitution protects freedom of

a. speech
b. press
c. religion
d. all of the above

44.What is the first thing you should do in your speech introduction?

a. focus on your thesis
b. get the audience’s attention
c. connect with your audience
d. preview your main points

45.What is the second thing you should do in your speech introduction?

a. focus on your thesis
b. open with impact
c. connect with your audience
d. preview your main points

46.Verbally abusing yourself about your performance is called:

a. self-criticizing
b. self-pressuring
c. catastrophizing
d. negation

47.Your audience:

a. wants you to fail
b. wants you to succeed
c. doesn’t care either way
d. none of the above

48.Aristotle maintained that rhetoric consists of three modes of proof, which are:

a. speaking, listening, and understanding
b. rhetos, sophos, and pathos
c. ethos, pathos, and logos
d. ethos, pathos, and mythos

49. Ethics can be defined as:

a. a set of rules developed to guide the health-care industry
b. a set of rules designed specifically for public speakers to follow
c. a system of principles of right and wrong that governs human conduct
d. philosophy related to a speaker’s ethos

50. Which of Professor Kanu's text books will you read.
a. all of them
b. reflections in communication; an interdisciplinary approach
c. experiencing interactive interpersonal communication
d. connecting intercultural communication; techniques for communicating across cultures.
e. faculty development programs; applications in teaching and learning.