Is it okay to make up information for the DSST speech?

[dan71]

Hey everyone,

I took the Introduction to Public Speaking DSST last year and failed the speech part of it. I was a bit surprised by this and paid the fee to have it re-examined. Once again, it turns out, I still failed it.

I realized one thing I did that they may have not liked: I made up examples or data to coincide with my points. For example:

"The Milton Press Association released a study last month showing that college-age young adults are 38% more likely to get in a car wreck when the laws do not heavily enforce speed limits."

or:

"Many of you know of the deadly car crash that brought public attention and widespread debate just in our neighboring county last week."

Now I don't mean anything wrong through this, I full-well know doing such a thing with a real speech would be dishonest and wrong, yet here I am using it as an theoretical example for my theoretical audience and my theoretical need to give such a speech.

What would you say? Do all the facts, quotes, examples, narratives, and other information on the DSST test have to be true? Would that be a reason I failed it?
Or is it okay to make up some of these things for this "made-up" test speech, provided it's in the format and order they want? (As in, maybe my first speech just really wasn't that good to begin with. 

Thanks guys.

[ironheadjack]

Did you make up outlandish facts, that were obviously untrue? I highly doubt that they fact check your speech, that just seems to tedious and difficult to accomplish.

[BGSU_Alum_86]

This is the stated breakdown of scoring for the recorded speech (as listed on the Public Speaking fact sheet):
- structure/organization (25%)
- delivery (25%)
- content/supporting material (20%)
- effect/persuasive (20%)
- language/style (10%)

I wish DSST would allow for some kind of feedback for those who do not receive a passing score on the recorded speech as this could truly help guide you in your next attempt.

There are categories that also include the automatic failure of the recorded speech, but I would think if any of these applied to you they would not have allowed for the rescore.

[Tedium]

That's actually a really good question. I would guess since the speech is impromptu, that some exaggeration like that would be acceptable. I've been wrong before, though.

[cookderosa]

That doesn't seem likely that you would fail for that. My money is on something else. What kind of feedback did they give you?

Edit: I just saw you didn't get any. Honestly, it has to be something else. How would you rate your non-verbal communication? Eye contact, hand movements, gestures, poise, facial expressions?
If you retake the test instead of a class, you should video yourself and watch it back. Also, you might want to have someone who has taken speech or does public speeking give you feedback. Getting feedback from a friend or family member is generally not useful unless they do a lot of speaking.

[KingdomUnshaken12:28]

That doesn't seem likely that you would fail for that. My money is on something else. What kind of feedback did they give you?

Edit: I just saw you didn't get any. Honestly, it has to be something else. How would you rate your non-verbal communication? Eye contact, hand movements, gestures, poise, facial expressions?
If you retake the test instead of a class, you should video yourself and watch it back. Also, you might want to have someone who has taken speech or does public speeking give you feedback. Getting feedback from a friend or family member is generally not useful unless they do a lot of speaking.

This is great advice, dan71. Just wanted to point out too, though, that only the audio from your speech is recorded, so there are no "non-verbals" for this test.

[BGSU_Alum_86]

No non-verbals, but when you consider that 25% of the score is taking into account the delivery of the speech, every little bit helps. You do not want your speech to come across as someone just reading off a piece of paper. There does need to be expression. Anything you can do to make it seem like you are actually talking to a person (or group of people) rather than into a computer is beneficial. I think this is what cookderosa is talking about.

[cookderosa]

No non-verbals, but when you consider that 25% of the score is taking into account the delivery of the speech, every little bit helps. You do not want your speech to come across as someone just reading off a piece of paper. There does need to be expression. Anything you can do to make it seem like you are actually talking to a person (or group of people) rather than into a computer is beneficial. I think this is what cookderosa is talking about.

To just look at this academically, pick a topic you don't know much about and go to youtube. Watch 2-3-4-5 videos (or a few minutes of each) and notice how the speaker facilitates your learning and their message. There are always differences from one person to the next in delivery, even of the same information. Tone of voice, speed of talking, inflection, and enthusiasm are all examples of how 2 different people can say the same words but differ in their overall quality.
I just (literally, 5 minutes ago) listened to a lecture on stem cells by two different presenters. The first was more interesting, but I swear this guy didn't breath for the whole 20 minutes. He just plowed through. I don't think there was a comma or period in his entire presentation. I can't imagine if I'd been trying to take notes! Impossible! The second guy, much slower, but his accent was so thick that it required too much concentration on the words, that I had a hard time considering the meaning. Yet, both were excellent, I'm just trying to say that there must have been something, because it happened twice. You can work on what you think might have been the issue, but unless you know for sure, you might be changing something that was GOOD about it! It's too hard to speculate without more feedback from DSST!

[dan71]

Thanks for all your help, guys and gals! It appears we aren't too positive either way for theoretical examples, but at the same time you have a good point that they probably aren't going to look all of them up—provided they aren't outlandish statements. And you are also right about not sounding robotic in the voice and other stuff. I'd appreciate your prayers as I continue preparation for it and take it next Wednesday. God bless you all!

[clep3705]

It's okay to make stuff up if it happens to be true.