Week 11 — Readings & Resources

Your primary reading is Chapter 11 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 11 items (5 readings and 6 videos). Allow 52–62 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (18–21 min total)

• Informative Speech Example — Comm Studies
• How to explain scientific ideas: 6 SIMPLE tips from a communication expert — British Council
• Don't say 'prove': How to report on the conclusiveness of research findings — The Journalist's Resource

① Teaching without taking a side

Chapter 11, Section “The informative speech: teach without taking a side” · Session 1, Segment 1, “The informative job and its three tests” · Remember: a speech informs when a listener who disagrees with the outcome would still feel fairly treated.

• Informative Speech Example — Comm Studies — a student delivers an informative speech while on-screen labels point out the parts of the speech; as you watch, write down what you think the specific purpose is and run it through the chapter's three tests, and use it while you complete the Week-11 module overview. (video, 6 min) (captions: creator)
• SPJ Code of Ethics — Society of Professional Journalists — a professional code for reporters that asks for work that is accurate, fair, and in context and that labels opinion as opinion; read the section on seeking truth and reporting it, and compare its idea of fairness with the third informative test. (reading, 5–7 min)

② Choosing a shape for your subject

Chapter 11, Section “Sort by subject: match the subject to a pattern” · Session 1, Segment 2, “Subjects and patterns” · Remember: the subject suggests a pattern, and the audience's question decides it.

• Informative Speaking Basics — COMMpadres Media — a short tutorial on who gives informative speeches, what they speak about, and the organizational patterns these speeches commonly use; match each pattern it names to one of the chapter's five subjects. (video, 4 min) (captions: automatic)
• Demonstration Speech Example — Comm Studies — a student shows how to apply a tourniquet step by step, a speech about a process told in the order you would do it; it opens with an imagined campus shooting as its attention-getter, so start at about the one-minute mark if you prefer, and notice how each step leads to the next. (video, 5 min) (captions: creator)
• Organize the information — Digital.gov — a plain-language guide's short page on putting the bottom line first and laying out a process in the order people carry it out; it is written for documents, so read it for the ordering advice and picture the steps said aloud. (reading, 2–4 min)

③ Making it clear and making it stick

Chapter 11, Section “Clarity and retention: make it clear, then make it stick” · Session 1, Segment 3, “Clarity and retention strategies” · Remember: clarity helps listeners understand the first time, and retention helps them remember afterward.

• How to explain scientific ideas: 6 SIMPLE tips from a communication expert — British Council — a science-communication trainer gives six tips for explaining complex ideas to an audience; as you watch, sort each tip under clarity or retention where it fits, and treat her figures for the best speaking rate as her own advice, since this course sets no target rate. (video, 5 min) (captions: creator)
• Informative Speeches: Role of the Speaker — Writing & Speaking Center — a speaking center's short guide to linking a topic to what listeners already know and keeping only the details that support your main points; this builds on Week 10's work designing presentation aids, since the page treats a visual as one more way to lighten the information load. (reading, 3–5 min)

④ Reporting the whole finding

Chapter 11, Section “Accuracy and objectivity: report the whole finding” · Session 2, Segment 4, “Accuracy and objectivity” · Remember: say what a study found, all of it, in words no stronger than the study's own.

• How To Read Science News — Be Smart — a science journalist shows how to read a science news story with a skeptical eye, from the headline to who stands to gain, before you trust it; use the habit on any statistic you plan to say aloud. (video, 8 min) (captions: creator)
• How To Spot Bad Science Reporting — Above The Noise — a public-media explainer that sums up four checks for a science story in one short acronym; try the checks on the chatbot's "studies show" line from the chapter. (video, 4 min) (captions: creator)
• Don't say 'prove': How to report on the conclusiveness of research findings — The Journalist's Resource — a tip sheet for reporters on why one study rarely proves anything and how to choose words that match the strength of the evidence; it is the same promise an informative speaker makes. (reading, 7–10 min)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

• Credo for Ethical Communication — National Communication Association — the communication field's ethics statement this course has used since the start; read only its first principle, on truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason, and skip the rest for now. (reading, 3–4 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

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