Public Speaking MCQs Quiz Multiple Choice Questions & Answers

1. In public speaking, sound ethical decisions involve weighing a potential course of action against

1. A set of ethical standards or guidelines
2. The practicality of taking that course of action
3. A set of legal criteria for acceptable speech
4. The speakers goals in a given situation

2. .................... is anxiety over the prospect of giving a speech in front of an audience

1. Adrenaline
2. Visualization
3. Stage Fright

3. The process of creating a bond with listeners by emphasizing common values, goals, and experiences is called .................... by communication scholars.

1. association
2. identification
3. cooperation

4. Which of the following does your textbook recommend as a way to help you deal with nervousness in your speeches?

1. Be prepared to fail in your first few speeches
2. Tell the audience how nervous you get when speaking
3. Work especially hard on your speech introduction
4. All answers are correct

5. The messages, usually nonverbal, sent from a listener to a speaker are called

1. Cues
2. Feedback
3. Prompts

6. If you present another persons language or ideas as your own, you are guilty of

1. Defamation
2. Personification
3. Plagiarism

7. The primary purpose of speechmaking is to

1. Display your knowledge about a topic
2. Gain a desired response from listeners
3. Enhance the audience’s self-concept
4. Promote your ethical standards

8. Which of the following does your textbook discuss as major factors in demographic audience analysis?

1. Education, cultural background, and interest in the topic
2. Physical setting, religion, and audience size
3. Gender, age, group membership, and sexual orientation
4. Social status, ethnicity, and attitude toward the topic

9. Because speechmaking is a form of power, it carries with it heavy .................... responsibilities.

1. Ethical
2. Psychological
3. Sociological

10. .................... is the belief that ones own group or culture is superior to all other groups or cultures.

1. Ethnocentrism
2. Egocentrism
3. Elitism

11. What method of delivery does this chapter recommend for your introductory speech?

1. Extemporaneous
2. Impromptu
3. Manuscript
4. Memorized

12. .................... is mental imaging in which a speaker vividly pictures himself or herself giving a successful presentation

1. Focusing
2. Visualization
3. Representation
4. Channeling

13. The knowledge, experience, goals, values, and attitudes through which each listener filters a message make up the listeners

1. Frame of Reference
2. Cognitive Screen
3. Psychological Filter
4. Attitudinal Field

14. According to your textbook, stealing ideas or language from two or three sources and passing them off as ones own is called

1. Global plagiarism.
2. Patchwork plagiarism.
3. Incremental plagiarism.
4. Admissible plagiarism.

15. When a speaker ...................., she restates or summarizes an authors ideas in her own words.

1. Illustrates
2. Rationalizes
3. Paraphrases

16. .................... is a method of generating ideas for speech topics by free association of words and ideas

1. Imaging
2. Brainstorming
3. Channeling

17. When you want to change or structure the attitudes of your audience, your general purpose is to

1. Inform
2. Persuade
3. Entertain

18. When your general purpose is to .................... , you act as a teacher or lecturer.

1. Inform
2. Persuade
3. Entertain

19. According to your textbook, .................... is anything that impedes the communication of a message

1. Interference
2. Blockage
3. Distortion

20. The .................... is a single infinitive phrase that states precisely what a speaker hopes to accomplish in her or his speech.

1. Introductory statement
2. General purpose statement
3. Specific purpose statement
4. Central idea

21. .................... is the branch of philosophy that deals with issues of right and wrong in human affairs.

1. Linguistics
2. Ethics
3. Theology

22. .................... is the use of language to defame, demean, or degrade individuals or groups.

1. Name-calling
2. Ethnocentrism
3. Hyperbole

23. .................... is controlled nervousness that helps energize a speaker for his or her presentation

1. Restrained Anxiety
2. Positive Nervousness
3. Focused Nervousness

24. The .................... is a one-sentence statement that sums up or encapsulates the main points of a speech.

1. Signpost
2. Central Idea
3. Internal Summary
4. Hypothesis

25. According to your textbook, which of the following is a factor in situational audience analysis?

1. The size of the audience
2. The religion of the audience
3. The gender of the audience
4. The age of the audience

26. Audience-centeredness involves keeping your audience foremost in mind

1. When you deliver your speech
2. When you organize and outline your speech
3. When you choose a topic for your speech
4. At every step of speech preparation and presentation