Ethic in Public Speaking

Understanding Ethics

It is high time for us to understand the use of ethics in speech making.

Ethics, one of the most important aspects of human lives, however not all of us are adhere to that as we get too comfortable getting rid of it.

 As public speakers, one of the first ethical areas we should be concerned with is information honesty. While there are cases where speakers have blatantly lied to an audience, it is more common for speakers to prove a point by exaggerating, omitting facts that weigh against their message, or distorting information.

 We believe that speakers build a relationship with their audiences, and that lying, exaggerating, or distorting information violates this relationship. Ultimately, a speaker will be more persuasive by using reason and logical arguments supported by facts rather than relying on emotional appeals designed to manipulate the audience.

 It is also important to be honest about where all your information comes from in a speech. As speakers, examine your information sources and determine whether they are biased or have hidden agendas.

 Secondly, information honesty is to fully disclose where we obtain the information in our speeches. As speakers, it is important to always cite our sources of information within the body of a speech. Whether we have conducted an interview or read a newspaper article, we must tell our listeners where the information came from. Remember, using someone else’s words or ideas without giving credit is called plagiarism.

Let us understand plagiarism and the THREE main types of plagiarism in public speaking.

1.       Global plagiarism: taking an entire speech or work and passing it off as one's own.

2.       Patchwork plagiarism: using two or more sources and passing it off as one's own.

3.       incremental plagiarism: failing to give credit for a specific part of the speech either a quote or paraphrasing.

NCA Credo for Ethical Communication

National Communication Association Credo for Ethical Communication

Ethical communication enhances human worth and dignity by fostering truthfulness, fairness, responsibility, personal integrity, and respect for self and others. NCA Credo for Ethical Communication is designed to inspire discussions of ethics related to all aspects of human communication.

NCA Credo for Ethical Communication believes that unethical communication threatens the quality of all communication and consequently the well-being of individuals and the society in which we live.

Therefore, the following principles of ethical speaking have been introduced, and how it is impactful for public speaking.

1.       We advocate truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason as essential to the integrity of communication.

2.       We endorse freedom of expression, diversity of perspective, and tolerance of dissent to achieve the informed and responsible decision making fundamental to a civil society.

3.       We strive to understand and respect other communicators before evaluating and responding to their messages.

4.       We promote access to communication resources and opportunities as necessary to fulfill human potential and contribute to the well-being of families, communities, and society.

5.       We promote communication climates of caring and mutual understanding that respect the unique needs and characteristics of individual communicators.

6.       We condemn communication that degrades individuals and humanity through distortion, intimidation, coercion, and violence, and through the expression of intolerance and hatred.

7.       We are committed to the courageous expression of personal convictions in pursuit of fairness and justice.

8.       We advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings when facing significant choices while also respecting privacy and confidentiality.

9.       We accept responsibility for the short- and long-term consequences of our own communication and expect the same of others.

Thus far we have gone through the basic need of ethics in public speaking, it is important to being an ethical speaker by putting the knowledge together into practice by thinking through possible ethical pitfalls prior to standing up and speaking out!