Ethics in Human Communication
Content
Ethics in Human Communication
Ethics: the branch of philosophy that deals with the rightness or wrongness of behavior.
Discussions of ethics in public speaking usually begin and end with a discussion about
the ethical responsibilities of the speaker to the audience. They often revolve around the
topics of plagiarism, building credibility, and acting while public speaking.
Plagiarism: The unattributed use of another person's ideas, words or pattern of
organization.
Building Credibility: Believability derived from the speaker's choices in
designing a speech.
o Initial Credibility
o Derived Credibility
o Terminal Credibility
Acting While Public Speaking: Public speaker's must recognize the difference
between acting and striving for eloquence in public speaking. Acting is
unethical. Striving for eloquence involves speaking on terms that would be
acceptable to all parties involved in the communication.
This lesson encourages you to think about your responsibilities as both the speaker and an
audience member. You will discover that ethical behavior of everyone involved in a
public speaking event enriches the experience.
Speaker's Ethics
The speaker's ethics influence the entire process of designing a speech. Ethical speakers
recognize their responsibility to an audience from the moment they conceive of a topic.
They choose a topic that satisfies the needs of an audience. They research the topic to
increase their knowledge and understanding of the topic. Ideas are then organized to
present the topic in a way that highlights ideas that are important to the audience. Finally,
the speaker strives for eloquence in his or her delivery to maintain the attention of the
audience, not to distort their values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors, without due process.
Listener's Ethics
Listeners must also accept partial responsibility for the speaker's success. Ethical listeners
avoid prejudging the speaker to listen to the speaker's message. They judge the speech
based on the logic and credibility of the speaker's ideas. Courses in public speaking
which teach effective listening skills help listeners recognize their ethical responsibilities
on public speaking occasions. Their ethical responsibility is to resist five types of noise
(physical, physiological, psychological, semantic and factual noise) to listen to the
speaker.
For many people ethical dilemmas do not revolve around what is right or wrong
behavior; they often know what is right or wrong. The ethical dilemma is in choosing
what is right when there are advantages to choosing what is wrong, without
repercussions.
"Be the change you want to see in the world."
Gandhi
Ethics: the branch of philosophy that deals with the rightness or wrongness of behavior.
Discussions of ethics in public speaking usually begin and end with a discussion about
the ethical responsibilities of the speaker to the audience. They often revolve around the
topics of plagiarism, building credibility, and acting while public speaking.
Plagiarism: The unattributed use of another person's ideas, words or pattern of
organization.
Building Credibility: Believability derived from the speaker's choices in
designing a speech.
o Initial Credibility
o Derived Credibility
o Terminal Credibility
Acting While Public Speaking: Public speaker's must recognize the difference
between acting and striving for eloquence in public speaking. Acting is
unethical. Striving for eloquence involves speaking on terms that would be
acceptable to all parties involved in the communication.
This lesson encourages you to think about your responsibilities as both the speaker and an
audience member. You will discover that ethical behavior of everyone involved in a
public speaking event enriches the experience.
Speaker's Ethics
The speaker's ethics influence the entire process of designing a speech. Ethical speakers
recognize their responsibility to an audience from the moment they conceive of a topic.
They choose a topic that satisfies the needs of an audience. They research the topic to
increase their knowledge and understanding of the topic. Ideas are then organized to
present the topic in a way that highlights ideas that are important to the audience. Finally,
the speaker strives for eloquence in his or her delivery to maintain the attention of the
audience, not to distort their values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors, without due process.
Listener's Ethics
Listeners must also accept partial responsibility for the speaker's success. Ethical listeners
avoid prejudging the speaker to listen to the speaker's message. They judge the speech
based on the logic and credibility of the speaker's ideas. Courses in public speaking
which teach effective listening skills help listeners recognize their ethical responsibilities
on public speaking occasions. Their ethical responsibility is to resist five types of noise
(physical, physiological, psychological, semantic and factual noise) to listen to the
speaker.
For many people ethical dilemmas do not revolve around what is right or wrong
behavior; they often know what is right or wrong. The ethical dilemma is in choosing
what is right when there are advantages to choosing what is wrong, without
repercussions.
"Be the change you want to see in the world."
Gandhi
