Week of 10/5-11: Question 2

I think facts can be effective in a speech where you have to inform or persuade someone on a matter. You use the facts to help support your topics and make yourself look more knowledgeable on the topic and help back up your topic. I believe statistics are the same way, to reinforce and support an idea or topic. I think one of the most effective uses of facts or statistics is when you use them to grab the attention of the audience in the beginning of the speech. You normally try to find a fact or statistic that is not commonly known, but has significant meaning to try and capture the audience. If successful, most of the audience doesn’t forget that fact or statistic because that’s what you used to grab their attention. These are not as effective in things like demonstrative speeches where you don’t need so many facts and statistics to verbally support your demonstration. I believe they can also be not as effective when given in too much of a dosage. Once that happens, the audience gets lost in those, and concentrate less on what you are trying to say.