{"id":1527,"date":"2026-06-05T18:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T18:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=1527"},"modified":"2026-07-22T17:28:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T17:28:41","slug":"3-1-ethics-today","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/chapter\/3-1-ethics-today\/","title":{"raw":"3.1 Ethics Today","rendered":"3.1 Ethics Today"},"content":{"raw":"<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">3.1 Ethics Today<\/h2>\r\nEvery day, people make ethical choices about how they communicate. For example:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Is it ever okay to lie to an audience if you believe it\u2019s for their benefit?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Should you use evidence that might be inaccurate if it supports your message?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>As a listener, should you ignore speakers you strongly disagree with?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThese are just a few ethical dilemmas that speakers and listeners face. In this chapter, we\u2019ll explore what it means to be ethical in public speaking\u2014both when giving a speech and when listening to one.\r\n\r\nWe\u2019ll start by introducing the <strong>[pb_glossary id=\"537\"]ethics pyramid[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong>, a model that helps explain ethical communication. Then, we\u2019ll look at how the <strong>National Communication Association\u2019s Credo for Ethical Communication<\/strong> applies to public speaking. Finally, we\u2019ll discuss the role of <strong>[pb_glossary id=\"539\"]free speech[\/pb_glossary]<\/strong> in ethical communication.\r\n\r\nEthics can mean different things to different people. Whether it\u2019s a business scandal, a political controversy, or a debate about medical decisions, ethical issues are everywhere. In public speaking, ethical questions often come up around things like:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>What sources and evidence are okay to use?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>How much should a speaker adjust their message for the audience?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What makes a speech truly ethical?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Licenses and Attribution<\/h3>\r\n<h4>CC Licensed Content, Original<\/h4>\r\n<em>Speech Communication<\/em> was created by Lana Iapicco and Marie Torres. Independently created original and AI-assisted content developed specifically for this book is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License<\/a>, except where otherwise noted.\r\n\r\nThis educational material includes content generated or revised with the assistance of large language models. Lana Iapicco and Marie Torres reviewed, edited, and take responsibility for the final published content.\r\n<h4>CC Licensed Content, Previously Shared<\/h4>\r\n<h5><strong>\u201cEthics Today\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\r\nAdapted in part from <a href=\"https:\/\/louis.pressbooks.pub\/publicspeaking\/chapter\/the-ethics-pyramid\/\">\u201c5.1 The Ethics Pyramid\u201d<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/louis.pressbooks.pub\/publicspeaking\/part\/ethics\/\">Chapter 5: Ethics<\/a> by Douglas Marshall, James Yeargain, June Pulliam, Sara Kim, and Victoria VanNest, published in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/louis.pressbooks.pub\/publicspeaking\/\">It\u2019s About Them: Public Speaking in the 21st Century<\/a><\/em> by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network.\r\n\r\nThe source material is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License<\/a>. The material was revised, reorganized, condensed, and supplemented with original and AI-assisted content for this edition.\r\n\r\nAdapted portions derived from these sources, including revisions to those portions, are licensed under the <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License<\/a>. Independently created portions developed specifically for <em>Speech Communication<\/em> are licensed under the book\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License<\/a>, except where otherwise noted.\r\n<h4>Third-Party References and Links<\/h4>\r\nLinked webpages, professional codes, scholarly publications, legal materials, trademarks, and other third-party resources referenced in this section remain the property of their respective authors, organizations, publishers, and copyright holders. Their inclusion as citations or links does not place them under the Creative Commons licenses applied to <em>Speech Communication<\/em>.\r\n\r\nUnless a separate license is specifically identified, third-party content may not be copied, redistributed, or adapted independently of the permissions provided by its copyright holder or applicable law.","rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">3.1 Ethics Today<\/h2>\n<p>Every day, people make ethical choices about how they communicate. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is it ever okay to lie to an audience if you believe it\u2019s for their benefit?<\/li>\n<li>Should you use evidence that might be inaccurate if it supports your message?<\/li>\n<li>As a listener, should you ignore speakers you strongly disagree with?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These are just a few ethical dilemmas that speakers and listeners face. In this chapter, we\u2019ll explore what it means to be ethical in public speaking\u2014both when giving a speech and when listening to one.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll start by introducing the <strong><button class=\"glossary-term\" aria-describedby=\"1527-537\">ethics pyramid<\/button><\/strong>, a model that helps explain ethical communication. Then, we\u2019ll look at how the <strong>National Communication Association\u2019s Credo for Ethical Communication<\/strong> applies to public speaking. Finally, we\u2019ll discuss the role of <strong><button class=\"glossary-term\" aria-describedby=\"1527-539\">free speech<\/button><\/strong> in ethical communication.<\/p>\n<p>Ethics can mean different things to different people. Whether it\u2019s a business scandal, a political controversy, or a debate about medical decisions, ethical issues are everywhere. In public speaking, ethical questions often come up around things like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>What sources and evidence are okay to use?<\/li>\n<li>How much should a speaker adjust their message for the audience?<\/li>\n<li>What makes a speech truly ethical?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Licenses and Attribution<\/h3>\n<h4>CC Licensed Content, Original<\/h4>\n<p><em>Speech Communication<\/em> was created by Lana Iapicco and Marie Torres. Independently created original and AI-assisted content developed specifically for this book is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License<\/a>, except where otherwise noted.<\/p>\n<p>This educational material includes content generated or revised with the assistance of large language models. Lana Iapicco and Marie Torres reviewed, edited, and take responsibility for the final published content.<\/p>\n<h4>CC Licensed Content, Previously Shared<\/h4>\n<h5><strong>\u201cEthics Today\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>Adapted in part from <a href=\"https:\/\/louis.pressbooks.pub\/publicspeaking\/chapter\/the-ethics-pyramid\/\">\u201c5.1 The Ethics Pyramid\u201d<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/louis.pressbooks.pub\/publicspeaking\/part\/ethics\/\">Chapter 5: Ethics<\/a> by Douglas Marshall, James Yeargain, June Pulliam, Sara Kim, and Victoria VanNest, published in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/louis.pressbooks.pub\/publicspeaking\/\">It\u2019s About Them: Public Speaking in the 21st Century<\/a><\/em> by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network.<\/p>\n<p>The source material is licensed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License<\/a>. The material was revised, reorganized, condensed, and supplemented with original and AI-assisted content for this edition.<\/p>\n<p>Adapted portions derived from these sources, including revisions to those portions, are licensed under the <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License<\/a>. Independently created portions developed specifically for <em>Speech Communication<\/em> are licensed under the book\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License<\/a>, except where otherwise noted.<\/p>\n<h4>Third-Party References and Links<\/h4>\n<p>Linked webpages, professional codes, scholarly publications, legal materials, trademarks, and other third-party resources referenced in this section remain the property of their respective authors, organizations, publishers, and copyright holders. Their inclusion as citations or links does not place them under the Creative Commons licenses applied to <em>Speech Communication<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Unless a separate license is specifically identified, third-party content may not be copied, redistributed, or adapted independently of the permissions provided by its copyright holder or applicable law.<\/p>\n<div class=\"glossary\"><div class=\"glossary__tooltip\" id=\"1527-537\" hidden><p>developed by Elspeth Tilley; involved three basic concepts: intent, means and ends<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"glossary__tooltip\" id=\"1527-539\" hidden><p>according to Merriam Webster\u2019s Dictionary of Law, free speech entails \u201cthe right to express information, ideas, and opinions free of government restrictions based on content and subject only to reasonable limitations (as the power of the government to avoid a clear and present danger) esp. as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution\u201d (Freedom of speech)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":131,"menu_order":1,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":["liapicco","mtorres54"],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[61,62],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1527","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","contributor-liapicco","contributor-mtorres54"],"part":87,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2058,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1527\/revisions\/2058"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/87"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1527\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1527"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1527"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.hcfl.edu\/speechcomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}