COMM-2500 Chapter 2: Textbook Notes
Document Summary
Public speaking needs to be guided by a strong sense of integrity. The goal of public speaking is to gain a desired response from listeners but not at any cost. Speechmaking is a form of power and therefore carries with it heavy ethical responsibilities. Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with issues of right and wrong in human affairs. Questions of ethics come into play whenever a public speaker faces an audience. In an ideal world, public speakers would be truthful and devoted to the good of society. Yet history tells us that the power of speech is often abused. As a public speaker, you will face ethical issues at every stage of the speechmaking process from the initial decision to speak through the final presentation of the message. In complex cases, the age-old ethical dilemma of whether the ends justify the means has no cut-and-dried answers.