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Even if you feel you know almost everything you need to know about your topic, you should begin by reading an authoritative review of your subject. This allows you to check the comprehensiveness and accuracy of your personal information. You may find new information or discover areas of the topic you hadn’t considered.

The review also can help you focus your topic by pointing out the most important ideas. Review articles are found mainly in encyclopedias and specialized dictionaries, housed in the reference section of the library. On the Internet, go to The Page Site (http://www.thepagesite.com/encycl_p.htm) for links to most of the encyclopedias online. General encyclopedias, such as Encyclopaedia Britannica (http://www.eb.com/), contain background information, specify key words to use in your search for in-depth information, and often list references for additional research. The articles are brief and written in lay language. Specialized encyclopedias, such as the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, cover specific topics in greater detail. Specialized dictionaries, available on diverse subjects ranging from American slang to zoology, provide more than definitions and pronunciations. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary presents the origin, meaning, and history of English words.

Just as gender stereotyping and sexist language can block communication, so can racism. Although blatant racism and discrimination are no longer socially acceptable in most circles, a subtle form of such prejudice can still infect our thinking. While we may pay lip service to the principles of racial equality, we may still engage in symbolic racism, which is expressed subtly or covertly. For example, if we say, “In our [white] neighborhood we believe in family values,” the unspoken message may be, “You don’t, and therefore we are superior.” Or we might say, “We believe in hard work and earning our way,” when we really mean, “Why don’t you [blacks] get off welfare!” Thus we may excuse the vestiges of racial stereotypes by appeals to values like family stability or the Protestant work ethic. In such cases our underlying message may be, we honor such values and you don’t.
It may be helpful to view the impact that symbolic racism can have from
the perspective of someone on the receiving end. Television commentator
Bryant Gumbel commented on how it feels:
It is very hard for any white person to appreciate the depth of what it means to be black in America. . . . Racism isn’t only being called a nigger and spit on. It’s being flipped the bird when you’re driving, or walking into a store and being asked to check your bag, or being ignored at the checkout counter, or entering a fine restaurant and being stared at.
As you take the factor of race into consideration in your audience analysis, examine your thinking for biases and stereotypes that you may rationalize as value or lifestyle differences. Be sensitive about the language you use. When you are referring to a different racial or ethnic group, use the terms that members of that group prefer. Stay away from examples that cast members of a particular ethnic group in stereotypical roles that imply inferiority. And of course, avoid racist humor.
One language problem that relates to all three of these negative “isms” is marking, adding an irrelevant reference to gender, ethnicity, race, or sexual preference when none is needed. For example, if you refer to “Thompson, the African American engineer,” you may be trivializing her contribution by drawing attention to her race when it is irrelevant. Some audience members may interpret your remarks as suggesting that “Thompson is a pretty good engineer for a person of color,” whether you intend that or not. The following excerpt from a speech by Martina Navratilova, who was the world’s top-rated female tennis player for seven years, shows how marking affects people:
Labels, labels, labels—now, I don’t know about you, but I hate labels. Martina Navratilova, the lesbian tennis player. They don’t say Joe Montana, the heterosexual football player. One’s sexuality should not be an issue. .. . I did not spend over 30 years of my life working my butt off trying to become the very best tennis player that I can be, to then be called Martina, the lesbian tennis player. Labels are for filing. Labels are for bookkeeping. Labels are for clothing. Labels are not for people.

Videotapes and audiotapes can authenticate a speech and add variety to your presentation. Today’s audiences, described by Roger Williams, senior writer for Newsweek Interactive, as “the first generation that has never watched television without a remote control,” may regard such presentation aids as essential to a polished presentation. Videos are especially useful for transporting the audience to distant, dangerous, or otherwise unavailable locations. Although you could verbally describe the scenic wonders of the Grand Canyon, you could reinforce your word-pictures with actual photos of the site or, better still, with living scenes from a videotape. An effective speaker uses video clips for support, but still supplies “the live human touch needed to help move an audience of one, or of hundreds, to the desired conclusion or action.”
Using videotapes presents some special problems. Moving images attract more attention than the spoken word, so they can easily upstage you. Moreover, a videotape segment should be edited so that splices blend without annoying static. Editing videotapes takes special skill and equipment. Finally, it can be difficult to work videotapes into a short speech without consuming all of your time. If they are not carefully managed, properly cued, and artistically edited, they can become more of a handicap than an aid.

A recent study sponsored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews demonstrated that stereotypes and prejudice are present in all groups in our culture. The survey revealed that people of color see whites as “bigoted, bossy, and unwilling to share power.” Although each of the minority groups surveyed also demonstrated negative stereotypes of and feelings toward other people of color, they were united by a sense of being victims of discrimination.
Some 80 percent of African Americans, 60 percent of Latino Americans, and 57 percent of Asian Americans are convinced that their opportunities in work, housing, and education are not equal to those enjoyed by whites. On the other hand, over 50 percent of all whites believe that people of color enjoy equal opportunities. The survey concluded that “most whites simply do not acknowledge the tangible effects that discrimination has on the daily lives of minorities.”
Lest you think the situation is hopeless, we should also point out that
there were some positive results in this research. More than 80 percent of all groups polled expressed admiration of Asian Americans for the value they presumably place on intellectual and professional achievement and for having strong family ties and respecting their elders.
Similarly large majorities felt that Latino Americans take pride in their culture, work hard to attain a better life, and have deep religious and family ties. Equally sizable majorities agreed that African Americans work hard when given a chance, believe strongly in American ideals and the American Dream, are deeply religious, and have made valuable contributions to American society. Over 90 percent of all groups surveyed also agreed that learning to understand and appreciate the lifestyles, tastes, and contributions of other groups was either “very important” or “important.” The most heartening finding of the study was the indication that nine out of ten Americans from all groups would be willing to work with one another to try to solve the most pressing problems in their neighborhoods and communities. They expressed a willingness to work together to help protect their children from gangs and violence, to help improve schools, including teaching understanding and respect for the cultural heritage of all groups, and to look for ways to ease racial, religious, and ethnic tensions.
Institute for Global Ethics identified eight universal human values that transcend cultural differences: love, truthfulness, fairness, freedom, unity, tolerance, responsibility, and respect for life. Contemporary social scientific research has also demonstrated the existence of transcendent social values. Shalom Schwartz and his associates at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem conducted a study of values in twenty different countries.
They identified ten universal values: achievement, tradition, power, enjoyment, self-direction, security, universalism, benevolence, conformity, and stimulation.These universal values and shows how they appear to come together.
If you can appeal to these common values in your speeches to a diverse
audience, you can often unite your listeners behind your ideas or suggestions.