In Lesson Seven of the Interpersonal Communications Course, you are to prepare a persuasive speech and choose a prompt between the two documents attached below and pick a topic within those two prompts. Below will be some advice so you can find some relevant information for the speech. Also, please refer to some of the information on the first page of this guide, especially the Other Guides of Use box and the Useful databases box.
You do not need library resources for this but good academic sources. Therefore, try a good google search first for your topic before you attempt a library search. A library search requires a good knowledge of surgically chosen keywords. Unfortunately, because of the nature of both prompts the ability to select surgically chosen keywords present difficulty. Though, I will caution you, that a google search may provide just anything, so please conduct the Evaluating Websites Tutorial or go through the Introduction to Sources guide (linked on the first page of this guide) to determine the worthiness of the source.
You should also not be afraid to find a thesaurus synonym for these topics. For example, you're having difficulties finding information on the term etiquette. Your search may be more fruitful if you find a synonym for etiquette, such as manners. Perhaps you'll find more relevant research using manners instead of etiquette. The same goes for the other list, serentity's synonyms are tranquility, stillness, peace of mind, composure. Searching one of these terms (or all of them) may provide good resources too.
If you decide to use library resources, you may need to continually play around with your search terms to help you find the best resources. Don't be afraid to think outside the box. For example finding information on "a will to succeed" may require you to play around with what a will to succeed means in context to the assignment. So finding a good short two word phrase would be a good idea for terms such as "a will to succeed."
If you use library resources, don't forget the usefulness of Boolean Operators. ((The below chart written by Brian Richards in the Getting Ready for Research Guide)
| AND | OR | NOT |
| Each result contains all search terms. Using AND allows you to narrow down your search to give you more specific results that contain all the terms. | Each result contains at least one search term. Using OR allows you to broaden your search for more results. You can use this term with synonyms as well. | Results do not contain the specified terms. Using NOT allows you to narrow your search for fewer results. |
| The search Obesity and Diabetes finds items that contain both the terms Obesity and Diabetes. | The search Teenagers or Adolescents finds items that contain either the term Teenagers or Adolescents. | The search Obesity not Diabetes finds items that contain the term Obesity but do not contain Diabetes. |
You're researching the definition of those values and why society has to change the use of them or be changed by them. This is complex topic and can't be completed in one search, no matter how complex your research statement is. You will want to conduct a couple of separate searches. Say you've decided on majority rule. You may want to do a search for "Majority rule" AND development. "Majority Rule" AND change (or something similar). "Majority Rule" AND "social morals".
For this prompt, you have to persuade your audience to the value's significance and encourage them to develop this in themselves. You should use those two aspects in your search terms. Say you are using Individuality. You may want to do several different searches. Individuality as a concept (be very careful about what search terms to use). Individuality AND significance. And Individuality AND "development of." Or you may want to use individuality AND "Personal growth." Note: this prompt and the values within are the ones that the librarians have found requires more synonyms and out of the box thinking than the other.