citing sources in a speech

Establishing Credibility — Avoid Plagiarism

Effective and responsible oral communication in a public setting is hard work. Like writing a research paper, it requires many hours of collecting evidence to support your claims and develop your arguments. To avoid plagiarism, presenting someone else's work or ideas as your own, you should cite the sources of information in your presentation. In so doing, you demonstrate to the audience that you are knowledgeable about the topic, which enhances your credibility. In his book, the Rhetoric, Aristotle argues that a speaker's credibility, or ethos, is the most important of the three artistic proofs. Thus, avoiding plagiarism and citing your sources work together to enhance your credibility. That's a good thing.

In a speech, how do I cite...

a book?: Forty-five years ago, in her book Silent Spring, Rachel Carson warned the nation about the dangerous environmental effects of pesticides.
a journal article?: The Fall 2006 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reports a significant correlation between childhood obesity and the number of hours spent playing video games.
a newspaper?: The "National Intelligence Estimate casts strong doubts on the viability of the Bush administration strategy in Iraq," according to an article in the August 23, 2007 edition of the New York Times.
a website?: An article on the Electronic Privacy Information Center web site contends that proposed changes in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act "will leave millions of Americans subject to electronic surveillance, without court review."
a periodical?: The August 24, 2007 issue of Time Magazine reports that over 19 million Chinese-manufactured toys were contaminated with lead paint.
an interview?: In an August 2007 interview with Dr. Raymond Riley, professor of electronic music, he states that new computer software changes radically how composers approach film music.
a speech?: In her 2008 commencement address, Dr. Elizabeth Kiss encouraged Agnes Scott women to seek leadership roles in their workplace, their community and their school.

Remember: Cite accurately and provide enough information to enable your audience to locate the source.

Remember...

Keep in mind that it's easy to start falling into the "According to..." broken record. In order to avoid this routine try to change it up a bit each time with phrases like, "This is also supported by...", "April Smith, founder of ... says," etc. You can also note when large sections of your presentation come from one source (as long as it is clear to the audience).

Also, it might be helpful to include a bibliography at the end of your PowerPoint presentation or in a handout if you feel that the audience should see the full citation.

Finally, citations are important to make your speech sound credible and just like in the case of your paper, it is better to over cite than to under cite.

Questions about citing your sources? Visit the Speaking Center in McCain G37.

Number 002 in the Speaking Center Handout Series