Speaking Center News
Ethical Speaking Lesson #1: Truthfulness
Every time you speak, the venial temptation exists: Through what lens can I spin researched information to better support my argument? Can I overlook the fact that my topic has garnered great opposition? Similarly, can I concede strict attention to the nuances of a dilemma to gain greater authority and obviate counterclaims?
An ethical imperative exists in the realm of communication to adhere to the rhetorical notion that truthfulness and honesty are presumed. These values should have presumption in any speaking situation, just as a defendant is presumed innocent and a shopper holding goods, we presume, will purchase them. The answer, then, to the aforementioned musings: the clearest, most honest lens you can possibly conjure, no, and no.
With each assignment, but more importantly, with each human interaction, whether direct or mediated, we are faced with the question of what it means to speak responsibly and ethically. In the Speaking Center, under Dr. David Lawrence’s guidance and with own experiences and values, we have learned that credibility is largely based on a speaker’s perceived good will.
The great Aristotle himself believed that, of the three powerful domains of rhetoric (pathos, ethos, and logos), ethos is the most important characteristic a speaker is judged by. In other words, pathos, appeals to emotion, and logos, appeals to logic, are unfounded, unwarranted, and wholly unpersuasive without the essential qualification of the speaker–credibility.
Violations of this necessary trustworthiness can have two effects on an audience. Either they will detect your dishonesty, bias, or fault and quickly "return to sender" the message and ideas contained within its parameters, or they will return unaware of your manipulation to the "real world" wronged, misinformed, and maladapted. You see, oral communication, just as written communication, acts on the world, assessing its realities in a way that seeks a better future. By deceiving an audience or giving them a misleading impression, you set them up for failure and blindness, preventing them from improving their own condition and their lives. Breaches of credibility are hard to recover from. Even with one dishonest blow, it is very difficult to ingratiate yourself again. Remember that.
Do you want to be responsible for depriving a community member of trust and betterment? Please don’t sacrifice being reasonable in order to be "right," as Dr. Lawrence would say. Instead, communicate truthfully, heighten your credibility, and own your opportunity in the world as a change agent.
Ashley Mengwasser is a junior at Agnes Scott College and has been a tutor at the Speaking Center since 2005.