FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH

Unit 1. Topic 2
ETHICS IN PUBLIC SPEAKING Activity
Sheet #1

Name: ______________________________________ Course & Section:______________________

PERFORMANCE TASK
Instruction: These are the 3 example situations of unethical behavior in public speaking. Decide how you can
make changes to create ETHICAL public speaking behavior. Think about these following scenarios involving an
ethical dilemma. How would you react?
*******************************************************************************************

a) You attend a political debate on campus. The candidate’s speech contains many ideas that you don’t
agree with. How can you be an ethical listener during the speech?
I do believe that if there's any argument or debate that I don't really agree with, First of all, I will let the
speaker talk about her or his ideas about the speech, listen carefully, and act in a professional way. When we talk
about ethical listener, it pertains to a behavior where there's a proper manner of responding to the speaker. The
question is, if I don't agree with the speech, what should I do?. I just simply voice out my ideas so that they will
be understood by other listeners. Also, I'll take some suggestions and other opinions from the speaker and the
listener. I want open suggestions, for it will help me broaden my knowledge about the speech.

b) You are preparing to give a speech on a topic and realize that you have lost the citation information for
one of your important sources. You can’t seem to find this source again. What would you do to ethically prepare
for the speech?

Being open and honest with the audience is the ethical thing to do if I misplace my citation before giving
a speech. Recognize the value of the source and admit that I misplaced the citation. Offer to recite the citation at
a later time or provide an overview of the key ideas without mentioning the particular source. In this case it
upholds the audience's trust by displaying honesty and integrity.

c) When practicing your speech on influential sports figures, you realize that you refer to the audience, your
coed classmates, quite often as “you guys.” Is this ethical language use? What changes would you make?
It might not be the most inclusive language to address a coed audience as "you guys" in a speech on
prominent sports figures, as it can be interpreted as discriminatory and gender-specific. Consider using more
neutral phrases like "everyone," "folks," or "audience members" to ensure ethical language use and inclusivity.
This modification creates a more inclusive atmosphere and prevents potentially offending or excluding any
person based on gender.