Have you ever wondered: What is the world’s ugliest animal? HowStuffWorks did. They learned that the blobfish was declared the world’s ugliest animal by The Ugly Animal Preservation Society (yes, that is a real organization) in 2013. Shields (2022), who authored a fun and educational piece on the blobfish for HowStuffWorks, details why the blobfish is “so blobby,” what blobfish eat, and explains why the blobfish is a solitary creature.

The HowStuffWorks website and its accompanying podcast, Stuff You Should Know, is in the business of informative speaking. The website reads:

Have you ever wondered what causes that post-rain aroma (it’s called petrichor) or how often your car actually needs an oil change? HowStuffWorks answers these questions and explains the curiosities of our world, delving into everything from cyber security and housecleaning tips to the physics of black holes and the history of slang. We provide factual, unbiased content that’s fun to read. (About Howstuffworks, 2000).

The podcast averages 30 million monthly downloads and the accompanying YouTube channel boasts 683 thousand subscribers (Ha, 2017). What makes this company so successful at sharing information? In this chapter, we will teach you the art of informative speaking and sharing information. You will learn the goals of informative speaking, the different types of informative presentations, and some strategies for speaking well. And, you just might learn why HowStuffWorks has become so popular.

 

Did you know that white light is a mixture of all colors of the rainbow? Red light can make you stop. Green light can make you go. The rest of the lights can make you disco! –Bill Nye the Science Guy, Season 1, Episode 16

Bill Nye the Science Guy dances on the screen. Upbeat music blares from your television. You are 8 years old, and you laugh as he gets the lights turned out on him. You lean in as a large prism appears on your television screen. You are transfixed as you learn about light bouncing and absorbing and are shocked to know that white light is all the colors mixed together.

One of the most popular educational television programs in the nineties, the show Bill Nye the Science Guy combined humor, spectacle, and science to peak kids’ interest in science. And the show must have been doing something right because it was nominated for 23 Emmys (Schaefer & Slichter, 1993).

Simply put, to inform is to share information with others. Informative speaking should strengthen your audience’s knowledge or understanding of information, concepts, or ideas. Bill Nye, as an informative speaker, took on the role of a teacher to define, illustrate, clarify, and elaborate on science related topics. As an informative speaker, you will do the same, enhancing your audience’s understanding, capturing their interest, and working to make information memorable.

Choosing an informative presentation topic may seem overwhelming. After all, the potential topics are limitless! We will guide you through a simple process of reflecting, imagining, and narrowing to help you develop a clear and evocative topic.

Reflect: It is important to choose a topic that matters to you. In order to know what matters to you, it may help to engage in the practice of reflection. Reflection allows you to use your “life stories and experiences to understand and interpret ‘connectivity between self and others’” (Roy & Uekusa, 2020, p. 386). Consider what you enjoy. Do you have favorite sights? Smells? Sounds? Flavors? What are a few of your favorite things to do? What are things you enjoy learning about? What have you learned about recently and felt the urge to share that knowledge with others? Try journaling, or keeping a record of your thoughts and feelings, for several days and see what ideas emerge.

Imagine: After taking some time to learn about yourself and your interests, it is time to brainstorm. Without censoring yourself, make a list of every potential informative presentation topic you can imagine. It may be helpful to create categories to prompt you. Example categories may include important issues, events in the news, topics from frequently visited websites, historical events, new inventions, discoveries, or technologies. Aim to list at least 5 items under each category. You may refer back to your reflections for inspiration.

Narrow: After generating a generous volume of possibilities, it is time to narrow your options. You may begin this process by simply circling or marking the ideas that most interest you. You can also narrow your options by considering which topics will matter most to your audience. There may be items on your list that are very interesting to you but may not appeal to the particular audience with which you will be speaking. In this case, it is important to review your audience analysis (see Chapter 4) and mark topics that are more directly relevant to your anticipated audience.

Another way to narrow your informative presentation topic is by considering any constraints that have been placed on you. Your presentation may be limited by time, space, and/or occasion. For example, if you have been assigned a 5-minute presentation, selecting “the history of Europe” as your topic is not a good idea. Given your time constraints, either the topic will need to be narrowed (for example, “the history of Europe” may become “the renaissance” or, even more specifically, “the impact of the renaissance on scientific thinking in Europe”) or you should select an alternative topic from your list that is more appropriate in scope. The location you are presenting in may also create constraints. If you do not have access to a projector, you should not select a topic that will rely on visuals or videos. Or, if you want to teach your audience how to bake cookies, then you will need a space with a table for you to set and mix ingredients. Consider any limitations placed on you due to time, space, and/or the occasion and narrow your topics accordingly.

Finally, you should select a topic that lends itself to speaking aloud. Some topics, particularly ones that are highly technical, are best shared in written form where readers can move through the material slowly and have the option to reread information if needed. Make sure the topic you select is appropriate for sharing with others through a presentation. After reflecting, imagining, and narrowing, you are ready to determine your informative goal. The process of declaring your informative goal may help you further narrow your topic selection.

There are multiple types of informative presentations that span an endless number of topics. To avoid getting lost in all the options, it helps to determine your informative goal(s). An informative goal articulates the desired result of your informative presentation. For example, a presentation about Chicago’s Haymarket Square may have the goal to teach an audience about the history of U.S. labor movements. Or, perhaps the goal is to describe the various stories surrounding the Haymarket Riot. Or, maybe you want to take your audience on a virtual tour of the square and teach them how to best prepare for a trip to the location. By defining your informative goal(s), you will be able to pinpoint the type of informative presentation you need to construct. Knowing your informative goal(s) will help you determine what type of information to gather (see Chapter 8), which organizational pattern best meets your needs (see Chapter 10) and may even lead you to consider which presentational aids (see Chapter 13) are best suited for your presentation.

Although there are a wide range of informative goals, most fall under 5 categories: to define, demonstrate, illustrate, clarify, and/or elaborate.

Definitional informative presentations aim to discover the meaning of something.

Demonstrative informative presentations guide the audience through a process, usually in a practical way.

Illustrative informative presentations describe vividly to paint a clear picture of a subject.

Clarification informative presentations make a complicated topic comprehensible.

Elaborative informative presentations complicate a subject originally thought to be simple or uninteresting.

These goals are not distinct; They may overlap and/or complement each other. Definitional presentations aim to discover the meaning of something, and, in the process, may offer clarification. For example, a presentation about gaslighting would provide the meaning of the word, offer clarification on how gaslighting is distinct from other concepts such as manipulation, and may even offer advice on how to spot gaslighting.

In addition to pinpointing the goals of your presentation, it may be useful to name the category of your informative presentation topic. Are you giving a presentation about an object? A place? Event? Person? Or procedure? Or is your topic about an idea?

Objects and Places: Presentations about objects and places help audience members understand something tangible. An object may be animate or inanimate, visible or invisible, moving or still. Object presentations may cover topics ranging from engineered metamaterials to saxophones to a piece of jewelry handed down in your family. Presentations about places teach your audience about an interesting location such as a historical site, a museum, or a vacation spot. Topical, spatial, or chronological organizational patterns (see Chapter 10) are usually the best suited for presentations about objects or places.

Ideas, Theories, and Concepts: Some informative presentations explore ideas, theories, and/or concepts. Consider the following examples: What is justice (idea)? What is expectancy theory (theory)? What is detachment in yoga (concept)? Relevance is particularly important for presentations falling under this category. Speakers must make clear why it is important for their audience to learn about this and create a connection between their audience and the idea, theory, or concept. It is also important for informative speakers to make sure their presentation either clarifies or elaborates on the idea, theory, or concept. Typically, presentations in this category use topical organizational patterns, although some topics may be better served by a chronological development (See Chapter 10).

Events and People: Remarkable people and events in history capture our attention and, as such, they make for good informative presentations. A presentation about an event may cover something that happens regularly (a holiday), something that happened once (The Battle of Little Bighorn), or something that left us with a lasting impression (the Columbine shooting). You might choose to discuss an event you witnessed (March on Washington 2020) or study an event from the past (Detroit walk to freedom). Either way, your goal is to bring the event to life for your audience. Similarly, speaking about a person requires you to bring them to life for your audience and to help the audience understand the impact and importance of this person. Presentations on both events and people lend themselves to chronological, topical, or causal organization patterns (See Chapter 10).

As you consider your informative presentation topic, also think about what your informative goal is and what category of informative speaking your topic falls under. By pinpointing the primary goal as well as the category of your presentation, you are better able to apply the appropriate strategies. In the next section, we will share the various strategies for speaking well.

There are many strategies to enhance your informative speaking skills. Some strategies are implemented as you prepare your presentation at the research, outlining, and writing stage. Other strategies are implemented while delivering your presentation. In this section, we outline 8 different strategies for informative public speaking. All of these tips require you as the speaker to consider credibility, clarity, and connection:

Be Accurate: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Everyone is familiar with this Neil Armstrong quotation. You can even buy socks with this saying on it. Yet, whether this is what he actually said or even meant to say is up for debate. According to Armstrong, he said: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant step for mankind” (The Associated Press, 2022; emphasis added). Apparently the “a” was not picked up by the microphone. And yet, we continue to remember the saying without the “a.” Blunders and gaffs happen all the time in public speaking. Mistakes are part of being human. However, it is our responsibility as speakers to make sure the information we are sharing is as accurate as possible. Not only is accuracy an ethical responsibility, it also is an important part of gaining credibility. Credibility is especially important in informative speaking. You want your audience to believe and trust you. Sharing information with others is exciting but with it comes responsibility to be as accurate as possible.

Be Balanced: By balanced, we do not mean “fair and balanced,” although we will address bias in informative speaking later in this chapter. Rather, it is important to prepare the right amount of information for your audience. Consider the amount of information your audience is capable of processing in the time you have been allotted to speak. Avoid information overload, which occurs when a speaker delivers more data about a topic than an audience needs or wants. Information overload can also occur when a speaker presents information in an inaccessible manner. In either case, audience members may find themselves overwhelmed and then tune out. Information underload, on the other hand, happens when a speaker fails to share any new or challenging information with the audience. As an informative speaker, you want to offer listeners new information or provide a refreshing perspective on things they already know. If you underestimate your audience’s intelligence, you will fail to engage them.

Be Clear: Clarity is a necessity in informative speaking. As you prepare your presentation, identify points of possible confusion from the perspective of your audience. Ferguson (2008) suggests speakers answer the following questions:

What could be confusing to audience members? Has their past experience led them to believe something different from the information that I will present to them? Does my information war with common conceptions of reality? Will they accept my explanation if I do not explicitly recognize their preconceived notions on the topic? (p. 239).

By answering these questions, you can anticipate which parts of your presentation may be confusing or counterintuitive for your listeners. Then you can develop strategies to enhance understanding. For example, you may make abstract concepts concrete or overtly address misconceptions your audience may have about your topic.

Be Novel: Another strategy to use in informative speaking is to entice your listeners with novelty. Know your audience (see Chapter 4) and then craft information in such a way to rouse their curiosity. You may do this by taking on a unique point of view or approaching information from an unusual direction. The podcast Decoder Ring does this in an episode called “Mystery of the Mullet” (Paskin & Frisch, 2020). Given the topic already generates interest, the podcast hosts could have simply walked listeners through the history of the mullet, providing fun facts about how the mullet has changed over the decades. Instead, they frame the podcast as a mystery: who named the mullet? Turns out answering this question is not easy and they take their readers on a fascinating journey as they attempt to solve the mystery of the mullet.

Be Memorable: Most of these informative speaking strategies will also lend themselves to making a presentation memorable. In Chapter 5, we outlined principles for making stories memorable. They are: 1) simplicity, 2) unexpectedness, 3) concreteness, 4) credibility, and 5) emotions (Heath & Heath, 2007). The same principles apply to making an informative presentation memorable. You want to share information with your audience that they will remember and then apply to their own lives.

Be Relevant: You may notice a trend among the strategies for informative speaking: being a good informative speaker requires you know your audience (see Chapter 4). Knowing your audience is a must, but you cannot stop at knowing your audience. You need to design and deliver your information in a way that connects to your audience. Relevancy is “the importance, novelty, and uselessness of the information to the audience” (Pearson et. al, 2021, p. 327). As a speaker, you must make an audience feel like this information was specially prepared and presented for them. You can do this by crafting examples and stories with them in mind. You explain why this information is important and necessary to this audience specifically.

Be Immediate: Have you ever attended a concert where the musician begins by saying, “Good evening, Des Moines!”? By acknowledging the specific place the concert is happening, the musician is also referencing concert goers’ home city. This is an immediacy technique. Immediacy closes the psychological distance between the speaker and audience. Immediacy strategies should make your audience feel included, engaged, and present. Immediacy techniques include referencing your audience, self-disclosing or sharing personal information, asking questions, and using conversational language. These techniques involve the audience, making them active participants in the presentation and create a sense of closeness between the audience and the speaker. Use immediacy strategies as you prepare and deliver your informative presentation.

Avoid Bias: At the start of this chapter, we shared an excerpt from the website HowStuffWorks that read, “We provide factual, unbiased content that’s fun to read” (About HowStuffWorks, 2000). Informative speaking is tricky because it is not not persuasive. You have to convince your audience to pay attention and believe you. You may even coax them into seeing a topic from a perspective they never have before. And yet, there is also the expectation that informative speaking is objective and free of bias. Objectivity requires that you put aside your own personal feelings, experiences, and judgment. But research shows, “we do not see the world completely separate from our point of view” (Morales, Bax, & Firestone, 2020, p. 14873). In other words, pure objectivity is not possible. Later in this textbook, we will argue that all language has the ability to direct our attention and, as such, is persuasive.

So, what separates informative speaking from persuasive speaking? The primary goal of informative speaking is not to persuade or advocate. As an informative speaker, your goal is to locate information of value and to share it with your audience. You attempt to do this as objectively as possible, which requires a commitment to a process which avoids bias. A process of informative speaking that is committed to avoiding bias means not advocating for specific outcomes, being thoughtful about how your language might direct your listeners, sharing information about your sources, providing multiple perspectives whenever possible, and being transparent about the biases you do have. Complete objectivity may not be entirely possible, but you can commit to a process of researching, preparing, and delivering information that honors accuracy, diverse viewpoints, and is transparent in its biases.

Bill Nye the Science Guy combined his quirky sense of humor with flashy special effects and fast paced information to peak kids’ curiosity and increase their knowledge about science. In this chapter, you have learned the art of informative speaking. We have helped you select an informative presentation topic, set an informative goal, and locate the category of informative speaking your topic falls under. Then, we provided you with strategies for informative speaking that equip you with the skills to give a presentation performance as Emmy worthy as any episode of Bill Nye.