The Requisite Knowledge of Real-time Presentations:

1. The Requisite Knowledge of Real-time Presentations: Using the Philosophy of Language to Advantage in Organizational Contexts Wayne Smith, Ph.D. Department of Management CSU Northridge

2. How are (Written) Compositions different from (Spoken) Presentations? Proximate (close) Physicality “Pull-based” Conferencing (remote, non-simultaneous access) Presentation Deliverable (privilege an individual over a technology) Space “Push-based” Conferencing (remote, simultaneous access) Written Deliverable (privilege a technology over an individual) Distal (far) Physicality Asynchronous (intermediated) Synchronous (real-time) Time

3. Some Basic Definitions • Elocution • The art and style of public speaking • (morpheme) stress, tone, intonation, and contour • Articulation • Physical speech production

4. “Physical” Model Sender Receiver Message Speaker (S) Hearer (H)

5. Some Advanced Definitions • Syntax • The formal rules of language • Semantics • Meaning • Pragmatics • How language is actually used • Sentence • Written form, writers follow rules – e.g., Subject-Verb-Object • Utterance • Spoken form, speakers craft meaning – e.g., “Let’s Roll!”

6. P. Grice’s Cooperative Principle • Cooperative principle (4 parts) • “Each participant…accepts a common purpose or a mutually-accepted direction” • Quantity • Don’t say too little; don’t say too much • Quality • State what is true • State what you believe to be true • Describe the evidence in support of the truth • Relation • Stay on subject; don’t digress • Be relevant • Manner • Emphasize clear and unambiguous expressions

7. The Uses of Feedback Sender Receiver Message Feedback (Quantity; Quality; Relation; Manner) Speaker (S) Hearer (H)

8. Contemporary Behavioral Psychology • Think • (your “reasoning”) • Feel • (your “senses”) • Act • (your “change”)

9. Contemporary Behavioral Psychology Think – explain your objective thoughts Feel – express your subjective emotions Act – impact on hearer’s desire Feedback Speaker (S) Hearer (H)

10. Aristotle’s Rhetoric • Logos • (your “logic”) • Pathos • (your “emotion”) • Ethos • (your “character”)

11. Aristotle’s Rhetoric Logos – mostly verbal elocution Pathos – mostly non-verbal style Ethos – mostly neither Feedback Speaker (S) Hearer (H)

12. Advantages to the “Philosophical” Model • Cross-Cultural • De-emphasizes pronunciation/elocution, emphasizes meaning and understanding • Technology • Likely works for any communication technology (in the past, and more important, in the future) • Science • Likely works regardless of how rapidly cognitive psychology or neuro-science advances (e.g., fMRI, Oxytocin) • Can reverse the Speaker/Hearer roles without change to the model • “Feedback” becomes just another type of “meaning” • Works for Writing • Intentionality, Meaning, Understanding is a complete thought in very nearly the same way as “Subject Verb Object” • Works for non-verbal (i.e., non-writing, non-speaking) actions too (see next slide)

13. A Theory of Speech(mostly J. Searle) • Intentionality • (your “belief” [to state]) • Meaning • (your “proposition” [of content]) • Understanding • (your “desire” [to act])

14. “Philosophical” Model Intentionality Understanding Meaning Speaker (S) Hearer (H)

15. “Philosophical” Model Intentionality (conscious or subconscious) Understanding (explanation or prediction) Meaning (constitutive or causal) Speaker (S) Hearer (H)

16. “Philosophical” Model Belief (statement-assertion) Desire (affirmation-statement) Prior-intention (decision) Intention-in-action (decision) Intentionality (conscious or unconscious) Understanding (explanation or prediction) Meaning (constitutive or causal) Speaker (S) Hearer (H)

17. “Philosophical” Model Belief (statement-assertion) Representation-level Desire (affirmation-statement) Prior-intention (decision) Conditions of Satisfaction-level Intention-in-action (decision) Intentionality (conscious or subconscious) Proposition-level Understanding (explanation or prediction) Meaning (constitutive or causal) Speaker (S) Hearer (H)

18. “Philosophical” Model Consciousness Consciousness Belief (statement-assertion) Representation-level Desire (affirmation-statement) Prior-intention (decision) Conditions of Satisfaction-level Intention-in-action (decision) Intentionality (conscious or subconscious) Proposition-level Understanding (explanation or prediction) Meaning (constitutive or causal) Speaker (S) Hearer (H) Reality

20. Classes of Performative Verbs • Assertive/Representative = speech acts that commit a speaker to the truth of the expressed proposition, e.g. reciting a material fact • Expressives = speech acts that express the speaker's attitudes and emotions towards the proposition, e.g. “thanks for allowing us to work on this project”; relative emphasis on one particular theory in the ethical considerations sections • Declarations = speech acts that change the reality in accord with the proposition of the declaration, e.g. leading the audience through a legal or statistical analysis which clarifies the truth/falsity of reality • Directives = speech acts that are to cause the hearer to take a particular action, e.g. “please raise your hand if you can’t hear us in the back of the room” • Commissives = speech acts that commit a speaker to some future action, e.g. “we’ll get back to you on that question”

21. Performative Verbs (“Modal Auxiliaries”) are particularly difficult • Absolute Requirement • “Must”, “Required”, “Shall” • Absolute Prohibition • “Must Not”, “Cannot”, “Shall Not” • There may exist a valid reason in special circumstances and situations • “Should” and “Recommended” • There may exist more than one valid reason in special circumstances and situations • “May” and “Optional” • You need to 1), practice and choose your words carefully, 2), practice some more (with feedback from others), and 3) slow down in your delivery

22. Sources(excerpted and adapted) • Searle, J. (1979), Expression and Meaning: Studies in the Theory of Speech Acts, Cambridge University Press. • http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~jsearle • /whatislanguage.pdf • /AnthropologicalTheoryFNLversion.doc • Meyer, C. (2009), Introducing English Linguistics, Cambridge University Press.

23. “Back Pocket” Slides

24. Characteristics of an Utterance- (Spoken Presentation) • Sentence Meaning vs. Utterance Meaning • In grammatical sentences (generally), Syntax -> Semantics • In pragmatic utterances (again, generally), (Network) Background -> Semantics • Dexis • What does the utterance refer to? • Presupposition • What is the logical meaning of the utterance? • Performative • Where is the knowledge-action boundary? • Implicature • What is the implicit or indirect meaning?

25. Performative Utterances (J. Austin, 1911-1960) • Locutionary • The act of saying something • The surface, descriptive details in the utterance • Both the speaker and hearer generally agree on the relationship • This is probably the bulk of the presentation • Illocutionary • The act in saying something • The intentionality of the utterance • The speaker needs to know (or should know) this • This is probably the bulk of the constitutive preparation (represents something done earlier) • Perlocutionary • The act by saying something • What is the actual effect of the utterance? • The hearer needs to do (or is likely to do) this • This is probably the bulk of the causal action (represents something done later)

26. J. Austin’s “Speech Act” Theory • We care about the theory and practice of “saying” and “doing” • Degree of Clarity • Explicit • Implicit • Degree of Force • Direct • Indirect • Degree of Structure • Literal • Non-literal

27. Some Examples • Degree of Clarity • Explicit • “The rationale for our legal conclusion is as follows…” • Implicit • “Our ethical considerations are as follows…” • Degree of Force • Direct • “Our strategic considerations are as follows…” • Indirect • “The results of the hypothesis test are as follows…” • Degree of Structure • Literal • “The material facts in this case are as follows…” • Non-literal • “Our team’s recommendation are as follows…”

28. Final Thoughts • Gottlob Frege (1848-1925) • Differentiate between “denotation” and “sense” (names/descriptions) • Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) • Signifier (what it is) • Signified (what is meant) • Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975) • Primary genres (everyday speech) • Secondary genres (speech in a technical community) • Michel Foucault (1926-1984) • Power-knowledge • It might be the wrong knowledge, but in any case, the two aren’t separable concepts. • Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) • “The task for us today is to learn to speak the language of the other without renouncing our own.”