Types of Supporting Material

FACTS

A fact is a verifiable observation, experience, or event known to be true. For example, this statement is a fact:

Top Gun: Maverick was the highest-grossing domestic movie in 2022.

But the statement “I think the acting in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was better” is not a fact; it’s an opinion—an evaluation or judgment that is arguable, not settled. Most presentations—regardless of their purpose—include facts.

Facts can be something you know (“It rained every day last week”) or information you’ve researched (“Taylor Swift’s Eras tour increased local earnings in Los Angeles by $160 million”). Sometimes a little-known or unusual fact can spark audience interest, such as:

Testing water in a city’s sewage treatment plant can identify the kind and amount of illicit drugs being consumed.

Use facts in your presentation when you need to establish the accuracy of a statement—especially if your audience may not believe the statement is true. Facts can help validate your ideas, enhance your CREDIBILITY (74–81), and provide a context for understanding your message.

STATISTICS

Statistics are numerical data gathered from research or experimentation, which can help you understand the extent of a characteristic or the frequency of an occurrence among a large population. Statistics are also used to analyze or make predictions, such as analyzing economic trends and predicting the outcome of a sporting event.

Statistics can be used in a presentation to show trends over time or to provide accurate comparisons. Numerical evidence often verifies facts, opinions, and claims. Surprising statistics can also generate audience interest. For example, to introduce a presentation about plastics in the ocean, you might say:

According to the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, at least 8.8 million metric tons of plastic waste enter the world’s oceans each year—the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck of plastic into the sea every minute.¹

TESTIMONY

Testimony refers to statements or opinions that someone has said or written, ranging from historical figures to experts alive today. Testimony from topic experts can be used to verify and add credibility to your claims—especially when you lack expertise about the topic. Eyewitness testimony, or a statement from someone who is not an expert but has firsthand experience, can also be used as evidence or to heighten emotion in your presentation. For example, in a presentation about skin cancer, you might offer expert testimony from a leading dermatologist alongside eyewitness testimony from a patient who is undergoing treatment.

DEFINITIONS

A definition explains or clarifies the meaning or meanings of a word, phrase, or concept. A definition can be as simple as explaining what you mean by a word or as detailed as a dictionary entry. When considering the LANGUAGE (305–22) that’s appropriate for your audience, you may need to include a definition if you know your audience may not understand a particular word, phrase, or concept. In the following excerpt, a speaker uses two very different definitions of the same term—one from a music dictionary and the other from a musician’s colloquial expression—to talk about the blues:

A formal definition of the blues identifies it as a uniquely American musical form . . . characterized by expressive pitch inflections (blue notes), a three-line textual stanza of the form AAB, and a twelve-measure form. Well, that’s okay for some, but I like an old bluesman’s definition: “The blues ain’t nothin’ but the facts of life.”

EXAMPLES AND STORIES

An example is a specific case or instance that can be used to clarify, emphasize, and reinforce key ideas. (This book uses a lot of examples!) Examples can be brief descriptions or detailed explanations. In a presentation about the value of taxpayer-funded scientific research, a speaker might provide several examples of everyday items and services that originated from research at NASA: memory foam used to make pillows and mattresses, camera technology in modern cell phones, artificial limbs, enriched baby formula, MRI and CT scans, and solar panels, to name just a few!

A specific type of example, the hypothetical example, is a fictional example that can be used to explain a complicated concept in simpler terms or to illustrate an idea when you can’t find an example that will resonate with your audience and explain a KEY POINT (153–56). Some of the most persuasive hypothetical examples ask audience members to imagine themselves in an invented situation, usually beginning with a phrase such as “Suppose you . . .” or “Imagine a situation where . . .” or “Picture this . . .” Notice how the following hypothetical example makes a point about high drug costs more memorable and compelling:

Suppose you need the rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, but—if you’re uninsured—you can’t afford the $84,000-a-year cost. For that amount of money, you could fly first class to Paris, stay at the Ritz Hotel, dine at the best restaurants, buy a one-year supply of Humira at local prices in France, fly back home, and finish with enough money to hire a registered nurse to administer the injection every two weeks and put almost $35,000 into savings. Crazy, huh? Perhaps. But what’s really crazy is how the cost of pharmaceuticals can be so different in the United States compared to other countries. Since it first hit the market 20 years ago, Humira’s price has increased by 500 percent in the United States, while European users now pay up to 90 percent less than they used to.²

Similar to hypothetical examples, stories are accounts of things that have happened or might happen. Audiences remember relevant, well-told stories, even when they can’t remember much else about a presentation. Real stories about real people in the real world can arouse attention, create an appropriate mood, and reinforce important ideas. TELLING STORIES (323–32) is one of the best ways to generate audience attention and support your key points.

ORIGINAL MEDIA AND OBJECTS

Sometimes the best supporting material is an object or an original creative work, such as a song, photograph, model, excerpt from a novel, or piece of equipment. Used as supporting material and incorporated as PRESENTATION AIDS (260–78), they can reinforce your ideas in memorable ways. For example, rather than reading a scholarly quote about the blues, play a Howlin’ Wolf or Muddy Waters recording. In a more technical presentation, a piece of sheet music for a blues song can show exactly what a three-line stanza and a twelve-measure form look like.

VARY THE TYPES OF SUPPORTING MATERIAL

Effective speakers don’t rely on just one type of supporting material. Why? Because using only one type of supporting material can make a presentation seem dull. Most audiences will become bored by an unending list of statistics. They may become frustrated by a speaker who tells story after story, particularly if there’s no clear connection among them. A presentation that is little more than a series of quotations by famous people may convince your audience that you have nothing original to say. Try using several types of supporting material to build credibility and give your presentation life and vitality.

Here’s a passage from a presentation that uses five different kinds of supporting material:

I was speaking outside to the media, and I gave them a statistic that said 190 people overdose and die every single day in the United States of America. That is about what a 737 aircraft can carry. Could you imagine the national media attention it would get if they were reporting that a plane was crashing every single day and killing 190 people? But because it’s 190 drug addicts, we don’t feel that way… I could sit here and cry for days about the caskets I’ve carried of people I loved dearly, deeply in my soul—good people, not just drug addicts. Uncles, friends, cousins, normal people. Some people just got in a car wreck and started taking a pain pill to manage it. One thing led to another and how fast it spirals out of control—I don’t think people truly understand.³