Abstract
Public speaking classes should ideally produce students whose speeches are favorably received by an audience. Unfortunately, we actually know very little about how non-expert audiences assess such speeches. Given this information gap, the present study asked untrained public speakers to watch and rate a variety of speeches. Participants were also asked to provide qualitative comments to justify their speech ratings. These qualitative comments were content analyzed, and the content analysis results revealed that participants’ evaluative observations: (1) focused much more on speech delivery than on speech content; (2) referenced specific nonverbal channels (e.g. eye contact) more than combined nonverbal clusters (e.g. confidence), and (3) highlighted some nonverbal behaviors (eye contact, movement, vocal fluency, and verbal fillers) more than others. Study results suggest that our public speaking pedagogy should devote considerable attention to developing students’ speech delivery skills. Suggestions for focusing such developmental work are offered.
Recommended Citation
Levasseur, David G. and Munz, Elizabeth A.
(2025)
"Speech Delivery Versus Speech Content: How Do Non-Expert Audiences Assess Public Speeches?,"
Basic Communication Course Annual: Vol. 37, Article 6.
Available at:
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/bcca/vol37/iss1/6