Essential Terms

These explain the meaning of a word or concept to ensure audience understanding.

These are characteristics about a group that are easily observed, such as age, gender, or occupation.

This type of meaning refers to a word's literal, objective definition, often called its dictionary definition.

These principles are used to evaluate the effectiveness of visual aids and include unity, emphasis, scale and proportion, balance, and rhythm.

A communication theory that posits that public speaking should be viewed as a dialogue between the speaker and the listeners, even though the listeners often have limited feedback.

These include relaxation techniques that the speaker can use during their presentation to reduce anxiety.