1.2 Constructing Knowledge

Do you like murder mysteries? True crime dramas? The fascination of these shows is in their deductive approach A method of learning that begins with a finished product and then breaks down its parts. . You start with the final product—let’s say, a murder—and then you reason backward. Okay, someone’s been murdered. Let’s check the crime scene and look for clues. Then let’s figure out how all the clues fit together, like pieces of a puzzle, to give us the final product—the murder. Fictional detectives, from Sherlock Holmes to Nancy Drew, were renowned for their powers of deduction. Why? Because they could look at a crime scene and then—from a footprint, a cigarette butt, a scratch mark on the door—deduce the whole crime.

In the same way, the traditional deductive approach to public speaking starts with the final product—a whole speech. Thus, “Here’s how you do the beginning part of the speech, and here’s the middle part, and here’s the ending part. Now, go and give us a whole speech.”

But here’s another metaphor: Constructing knowledge is like constructing a building. A deductive approach would say, “Look at the whole building and now ‘deduce’ all the parts that go into it.” But an inductive approach would say, “Let’s see first how the foundation is laid, then how the building frame is put up, then how the walls and the roof are put on, and then how the inside of the building is finished.”

In our case, the knowledge you’ll construct is how to compose and deliver a good speech. With a deductive approach, students construct knowledge by seeing the whole speech first, then reviewing all the parts that go into it—topic, thesis, main points, research, organizational pattern, introduction, transitions, conclusion, audience analysis, vocal delivery, audiovisual aids—and then producing whole speeches of their own.

The inductive approach A method of learning that breaks down the parts of a concept and then assembles them one at a time into a finished product. is different. First, you’ll learn how to introduce your speech—then how to conclude it, then how to speak these two-minute segments using notes, and so on. In other words, if constructing knowledge is like constructing a building, then you’ll construct your knowledge of public speaking one building block at a time. You’ll start with small “chunks” of speaking, just two minutes in length, and build only gradually toward a full speech. Taking on small chunks will reduce your anxiety and let you experience success that will build your confidence.

The inductive approach has another benefit. Again, think of how a building is constructed. A scaffold is erected to support each section of the building when it’s under construction. Only when the section is solid and stable is the scaffold is removed and placed around the next section to be built. In the same way, as you construct your knowledge about each part of a speech, your instructor and peer group will act as scaffolding In education, the idea that instructors and peers will support a student until a concept is solidly learned and the “scaffolding” can be removed. to support you until you’re ready to stand on your own.