Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with issues of right and wrong in human affairs. Questions of ethics arise whenever we ask whether a course of action is moral or immoral, fair or unfair, just or unjust, honest or dishonest.
We face such questions daily in almost every part of our lives. The parent must decide how to deal with a child who has been sent home from school for unruly behavior. The researcher must decide whether to shade her data "just a bit in order to gain credit for an important scientific break-through. The shopper must decide what to do with the $5 extra change mistakenly given by the clerk at the grocery store. The student must decide whether to say anything about a friend he has seen cheating on a final exam.
Questions of ethics also come into play whenever a public speaker faces an audience. In an ideal world, as the Greek philosopher Plato noted, all public speakers would be truthful and devoted to the good of society. Yet history tells us that the power of speech is often abused- sometimes with disastrous results. Adolf Hitler was unquestionably a persuasive speaker.
His oratory galvanized the German people into following one ideal and one leader. But his aims were horrifying and his tactics despicable. He remains to this day the ultimate example of why the power of the spoken word needs to be guided by a strong sense of ethical integrity.
As a public speaker, you will face ethical issues at every stage of the speechmaking process--from the initial decision to speak through the final presentation of the message. This is true whether you are speaking in the classroom or the courtroom, whether you are participating in a business meeting or a religious service, whether you are addressing an audience of two people or 2,000 people. And the answers will not always be easy. Consider the following example:
Felicia Robinson is running for school board in a large eastern city. Her opponent is conducting what Felicia regards as a highly unethical campaign. In addition to twisting the facts about school taxes, the opponent is pandering to racial prejudice by raising resentment against African Americans and newly arrived immigrants.
Five days before the election, Felicia, who is slightly behind in the polls, learns that the district attorney is preparing to indict her opponent for shady business practices.
But the indictment will not be formally issued until after the election. Nor can it be taken as evidences that her opponent is guilty like all citizens, he has the right to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise
Still, news of the indictment could be enough to throw the election Felicia's way, and her advisers urge her to make it an issue in her remaining campaign speeches.
Should Felicia follow their advice?
There are creditable arguments to be made on both sides of the ethical dilemma faced by Felicia Robinson. She has tried to run an honest campaign, and she is troubled by the possibility of unfairly attacking her opponent-despite the fact that he has shown no such scruples himself. Yet she knows that the impending indictment may be her last chance to win the election, and she is convinced that a victory for her opponent will spell disaster for the city's school system. Torn between her commitment to fair play, her desire to be elected, and her concern for the good of the community, she faces the age-old ethical dilemma of whether the ends justify the means.
"So," you may be saving to yourself, "what is the answer to Felicia Robinson's dilemma?" But in complex cases such as hers there are no cut-and-dried answers. As Richard Johannesen, a leader in the study of communication ethics, states, "We should formulate meaningful ethical guide-lines, not inflexible rules." Your ethical decisions will be guided by your values, your conscience, your sense of right and wrong.
But this does not mean such decisions are simply a matter of personal whim Or fancy. Sound ethical decisions involve weighing a potential course Whartion against a set of ethical standards or guidelines. Just as there as end lines for ethical behavior in other areas of life, so are there guidelines for ethical conduct in public speaking. These guidelines will not automatically solve every ethical quandary you face as a speaker, but knowing them will provide a reliable compass to help you find your way.
Guidelines for Ethical Speaking
Make Sure Your Goals Are Ethically Sound
Not long ago, I spoke with a former student-we'll call her Melissa-who had turned down a job in the public relations department of the American Tobacco Institute. Why? Not because of the salary (which was generous) or the work schedule (which was ideal). Melissa declined the job because it would have required her to lobby on behalf of the cigarette industry. Knowing that cigarettes are the number one health hazard in the United States, Melissa did not believe she could ethically promote a product that she saw as responsible for thousands of deaths and illnesses each year.
Given Melissa's view of the dangers of cigarette smoking, there can be no doubt that she made an ethically informed decision to turn down the job with the American Tobacco Institute. On the other side of the coin, someone with a different view of cigarette smoking could make an ethically informed decision to take the job. The point of this example is not to judge the rightness or wrongness of Melissa's decision (or of cigarette smoking), but to illustrate how ethical considerations can affect a speaker's choice of goals.
Your first responsibility as a speaker is to ask whether your goals are ethically sound. During World War I, Hitler stirred the German people to condone war, invasion, and genocide. More recently, we have seen politicians who betray the public trust for personal gain, business leaders who defraud investors of millions of dollars personal gain, business leaders do this at the expense of their religious duties. There can be no doubt that these are not worthy goals.
But think back for a moment to the examples of speechmaking given in Chapter 1. What do the speakers hope to accomplish? Report on a business project. Improve the quality of education. Pay tribute to a fellow worker. Protect communities against industrial pollution. Support the Social Olympics. Few people would question that these goals are ethically As with other ethical issues, there can be gray areas when it comes if assessing a speaker's goals areas in which reasonable people with well-defined standards of right and wing can legitimately disagree. But this is bit a reason to avoid asking ethical questions. If you are to be a responsible public speaker, you cannot escape assessing the ethical soundness of your goals.
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