Supporting your Central Idea: People

Often, when you think of support for an idea, your thoughts may go to statistical, researched support.  But support from people is useful, especially as a means of engaging your audience. Support from people can include:

• personal experience
• examples
• testimony
• interviews

Personal Experience

Have you heard the phrase, “Start with what you know”? Well, this statement is true for gathering speech material! You’ve likely chosen your speech topic because you have a personal connection to it, and including your own experiences will add meaning, personality, and personalization. Imagine working on a speech called “How to Write a Successful College Resume.” If you were gathering supporting material from personal experience, you might find different versions of your own resume, or wonder what you could have done better on your resume. You might write a short account of your experience working with an advisor at your college’s career center. Take time to consider your experiences related to your topic and how you might integrate them into your speech.

If you’re planning to talk about the experiences of someone you know, make sure you have their consent to do so, or change the details of the story enough that the person’s identity cannot be guessed. Even if you’ve concealed the identity of the person involved, it can be problematic to tell others’ stories without their involvement; some stories are just not yours to tell. This question often comes up when artists or authors portray experiences that are not theirs, thus raising the possibility that they are exploiting the story, rather than inhabiting it with artistic empathy.^[1][2] If you want to tell a story to humanize a statistical or social reality, it’s often best to create a hypothetical example, or to use a publicly available source, to avoid any sense you might be exploiting a story to make your point.

In this powerful and popular TED talk, writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice—and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding. Pay close attention from the 2:51 to the 4:05 mark as she uses a story from her childhood to make her point.

Examples

Including a variety of examples throughout your speech will add depth and specificity to your main points. Examples provide concrete illustrations to what might otherwise be abstract or vague ideas. They are also more memorable and personalized for your audience. Cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner maintained that learners are 22% more likely to retain information when it is presented as a story rather than facts alone.^[1] Because examples typically involve elements of storytelling and narrative, they engage different parts of the audience’s brains and senses to create an emotional engagement with the story and the speaker.

Examples can take different forms, and you will determine what types will best enhance your speech.

Short Examples

Short examples provide specific instances to clarify or add specificity to a point. You might use only one short example, or combine several to make your points clear. For example, for the speech topic “Writing a Winning College Resume,” you might have a main point about the importance of using powerful action verbs that show off your accomplishments. Once you’ve presented this point, you can then add clarity by sharing not one, but several examples of action verbs:

“Strong action verbs will stand out and catch the eye of hiring managers. For instance, instead of writing that you led a project, try verbs like ‘coordinated,’ ‘spearheaded,’ or ‘supervised’ the project. Instead of writing that you were responsible for daily totals, try verbs like ‘finalized,’ ‘headed,’ or ‘produced’ daily totals.”

Long Examples

Long examples include narratives and stories that add imagery and vividness to a speech. A long example might be integrated throughout a main point or throughout an entire speech. For instance, you might begin your speech on the long-term impact of concussions on cognitive, physical, and emotional functioning with the story of when you got a concussion playing basketball in high school. As you move through your speech, you will return often with specific details or moments from your own concussion and recovery. Long examples not only add structure to a main point or entire speech, but they do so with the emotion and drama of real-life, personalized illustrations.

Hypothetical Examples

Hypothetical examples are imaginary but realistic examples that allow speakers to paint a picture of a plausible scenario that the audience can put themselves into. They might begin with the phrase “imagine that” or “what if.” If you wanted your audience to understand speaking anxiety, you might use the following hypothetical example to put your audience in the shoes of the person in this situation:

You’re in your early 30s and have a decent job and apartment. You’re a college graduate and are almost done paying your college loans, but have no savings. Out of the blue, you get a devastating diagnosis: cancer. The symptoms and treatments are awful, but you are grateful for your employee-based health insurance. Except that, in the first year of treatment, you start getting bills for thousands of dollars. As it turns out, your out-of-pocket co-pays, deductibles, and premiums add up fast. You’ve maxed out your credit cards and your family has helped as much as they can. Within a few years, you’re $52,000 in debt. Not only are you dealing with a health crisis, but you’re about to lose your apartment and your car.

Hypothetical examples are effective when combined with other evidence to show that they are typical of a particular situation. The hypothetical example above should be tied to statistics about causes of homelessness and the impact of healthcare-related debt on housing instability.

In her powerful TEDTalk about a reporting system for sexual assault, Jessica Ladd effectively uses an extended hypothetical example of young college students and an assailant to both clarify and personalize her speech. Ladd consistently shows how the hypothetical situation is realistic and plausible. Please note that this video contains a discussion of sexual assault.

You can view the transcript for “The reporting system that sexual assault survivors want | Jessica Ladd” here (opens in new window).

Short, long, and hypothetical examples work well in conjunction with research and statistics to provide personalization and depth to each main point. Short and hypothetical examples can also be highly effective “hooks” to begin your speech in a personalized and engaging way.

Testimony

The final type of supporting material is testimony. A testimony is an endorsement or point of view from a person who is credible and connected to your topic. Most speeches will include expert testimony from someone who is authoritative on the topic to add weight to your points.

Peer testimony comes from a non-expert who has direct experience on your topics and is relatable to your audience. A speech about the treatment of type 1 diabetes might include expert testimony from medical professionals and other experts in the field of diabetes treatment. The experience of a family member who has type 1 diabetes but is not a medical expert is an example of a peer testimonial, where an ordinary person has firsthand experiences or points of view on the topic. Your roommate’s experience and opinions would provide a more personalized view about diabetes treatment.

Personal testimony is when you use your own firsthand experience as support for a particular viewpoint. Like peer testimony, personal testimony is not very generalizable; it speaks to a particular case, but does not represent the experience of others.

Expert testimonials will add credibility and weight to your main points. Peer or personal testimonials add specificity and personalization. In your speech, the testimonial might be presented as a short quote if the source’s wording is especially meaningful or powerful. However, in most cases, you will paraphrase the testimony in your own words to keep the tone and style consistent with your speech. In either case, make it clear that the information came from someone else, and indicate verbally if you are quoting them.

Great speeches benefit from a balance and variety of supporting material. Too many numerical statistics can be overwhelming to an audience, but simply supporting a speech with an example is not adequate. Aim to weave a variety of types of supporting evidence throughout your speech to create an interesting and tightly researched presentation.

Interviews

Students are often surprised at how they can add value to their speeches with interviews. An interview might be a formal situation where you contact an expert, a professor, etc., and schedule a time to ask them specific questions about your speech topic. Alternatively, you might email or text your questions. Contact the interviewee early in your research and be sure to ask questions that aren’t easy to find from other sources. For instance, if you interview a career advisor about resumes, it would be a waste of the advisor’s time to ask what a resume is. Instead, ask interesting questions like, “What are the most common mistakes you see students make on their resumes?” or “What’s one thing you wish more students knew about resumes?” or “How have resumes changed over the past couple years?” Be sure to take careful notes and always follow up with a gracious thank-you note.

Don’t overlook those in your personal network who might have valuable information on your topic. In your research about resumes, you might ask questions of your aunt who works in recruiting at a hospital. Or, you might ask your roommate questions about their recent resume experience applying for an internship.

Support developed by Thinking Outside the Box

As you gather materials for your speech content, be open to creative ways to gather material that can add value and interest to your speech. Throughout your  research, look for video clips, photos, gifs, memes, etc., that will add energy and interest to your speech. For instance, as you’re researching resumes, you might remember a scene from the 2001 comedy Legally Blonde in which the main character Elle Woods is proud of her resume being on pink, scented paper and the professor being taken aback. You can tie this humorous example into your introduction as a humorous way to introduce common resume mistakes.

Depending on your topic, another type of supporting material might come from polls and questions or connections on social media. You might create a poll that asks about resume experience, or simply ask for stories about good or bad resume experiences. While the results of these polls or questions are not scientific, they can often provide some anecdotes, peer testimonials, or insights you might not have considered.

These outside-the-box materials might be used as a hook in your introduction or as more colorful or personalized support for your main points.

1. Holmes, Anna, and James Parker. “Who Gets to Tell Other People’s Stories?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 May 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/books/review/who-gets-to-tell-other-peoples-stories.html. ↵
2. Loughrey, Clarisse. “Who Gets to Tell Other People’s Stories? How Madeline’s Madeline Explores Exploitation in Art.” The Independent, 13 May 2019, www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/madelines-madeline-jospheine-decker-exploitation-art-vox-lux-a8903951.html. ↵