4. At one point in this chapter, we asked you to think of a time when an instructor presented a viewpoint that went against one of your deeply held beliefs. Now it’s time for you to be the speaker.

c Choose a topic that you feel very passionate about (a controversial topic would work best here).

c Now imagine that you are presenting the topic to a receptive audience, a neutral audience, and a hostile audience. What do you as a speaker need to do in order to prepare to present your topic to each type of audience?

What do you know about your listeners’ dispositions? What do you know about their needs? What is most relevant to them?

c Particularly when dealing with neutral and hostile audiences, what are some ways that you can bridge the gap between your beliefs and those of your audience members? How can you generate goodwill and understanding?

c Is there a particular organizational pattern that would best suit you, your topic, or your audience? For example, are you sufficiently comfortable with and knowledgeable enough about your hostile audience’s counterpoints so that you are comfortable refuting them using the refutational organizational pattern?