General Research Principles

Here are a few principles to help you research your speeches more effectively and more efficiently.

Examine what you know.Begin your search by examining what you already know.

Begin with a General Overview,continue your search by getting an authoritative but general overview of the topic. An encyclopedia article, book chapter, or magazine article in print or online will serve this purpose well. This general overview will help you see the topic as a whole and understand how its various parts fit together.

Consult Increasingly Specific Sources.Follow up the general overview with increasingly more detailed and specialized sources. Fortunately, many of the general articles contain references or links to direct this next stage of your search for more specific information.

Research Notes

The more accurate your research notes are, the less time you'll waste going back to sources to check on a date or a spelling. Accurate records also will prevent you from going to sources you've already consulted but may have forgotten about. The following suggestions may prove helpful to you as you take notes during the research process.

Key Your Notes.Notes are most effective when they're keyed to specific topics. For example, let's say that your speech is to be on animal experimentation. Your notebook or major folder might be titled Animal Experimentation. The notebook divisions or sub-folders might then be labeled "Basic Information" (statistics on animal experimentation, people to contact, organizations involved in this issue), "Arguments for Animal Experimentation," and "Arguments against Animal Experimentation."

Take Complete Notes.Make sure your notes are complete (and legible).

Sources of Information

The resources available to you today are rich and varied.

Libraries

Libraries are the major depositories of stored information.

General Reference Works

Begin researching your topic with general reference works, one of the best of which is the standard encyclopedia. A good encyclopedia will give you a general overview of the subject and suggestions for additional reading. The most comprehensive and the most prestigious is the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is available in print (32 volumes), on CD-ROM, and online.

Specialized Reference Works

There are also many specialized encyclopedias.

E-mail

E-mail may prove useful in public speaking in several ways. For example, you can write to specific people who may be experts in the topic you're researching.

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