Verbal Citations

Tell your audience the source of the research you are citing in your speech by verbally citing your sources. Verbal citations are similar to what you would do in writing a research paper when you cite your sources. It works a bit differently in a speech, though, because speeches don’t use a standard verbal pattern for citations, unlike written source citations. How you cite the source will depend on your speaking style, your audience, the kind of information you are citing, and where in the speech you are placing the cited information.

Here is a short video offering an example of a speaker verbally citing a source (and using an overhead projector [!]):

You can view the transcript for “Informative Speech–Using Citations and Examples” here (opens in new window).

Here is the video with accurate captions: Informative Speech–Using Citations and Examples (opens in new window).

Generally, when citing a source you will want to let your audience know the name of the document itself (book, website, publication, etc.), the author who wrote the document you are citing or the organization that published it, the qualifications of the source, and the date (or year) the document was posted or published. This information is what you include when making any citation. However, when giving a speech, you should verbalize the citation.

Tim needs to give citations for his speech on changing a tire. He decided to use information from the Bridgestone Tire website. When speaking, Tim will tell the audience what he learned from the Bridgestone Tire website. Here is what he might say: “I learned from the Bridgestone Tire website that the best tools to use when changing a tire are . . . . The first step in changing a tire is to pull over and make sure you are in a safe place. Safety should always be the first consideration according to AAA.” These citations will really bolster the trust the audience has in Tim’s information.

There are different ways to make citations. You can paraphrase what was said by the source or you can directly quote the source. Above, Tim paraphrased what he learned in his citation. To deliver a direction quotation in the speech, Tim might say this: “Bridgestone Tires agrees with AAA when they write the first step is ‘find a safe location’ on their updated 2020 website.”

Always keep in mind that, when citing supporting materials, it’s not enough just to provide the citation. You must also explain why the information you are citing is relevant to the topic of your speech. If connections are not made between your speech content and supporting materials, it only serves to make the audience confused and lose confidence in you as a speaker.

In the following video, a public speaking instructor identifies the most common errors speakers make with verbal citations, and explains how to correct them.

You can view the transcript for “Orally Citing a Source in a Speech” here (opens in new window).

Here is the video with accurate captions: Orally Citing a Source in a Speech (opens in new window).