when citing your sources orally in a speech you should

Module 2: Ethical Speech

Citing sources in a speech, learning objectives.

Explain how to cite sources in written and oral speech materials.

Tips on citing sources when speaking publicly by Sarah Stone Watt, Pepperdine University

Even if you have handed your professor a written outline of your speech with source citations, you must also offer oral attribution for ideas that are not your own (see Table below for examples of ways to cite sources while you are speaking). Omitting the oral attribution from the speech leads the audience, who is not holding a written version, to believe that the words are your own. Be sure to offer citations and oral attributions for all material that you have taken from someone else, including paraphrases or summaries of their ideas. When in doubt, remember to “always provide oral citations for direct quotations, paraphrased material, or especially striking language, letting listeners know who said the words, where, and when.” [1]  Whether plagiarism is intentional or not, it is unethical, and someone committing plagiarism will often be sanctioned based on their institution’s code of conduct.

In your speech, make reference to the quality and credibility of your sources. Identifying the qualifications for a source, or explaining that their ideas have been used by many other credible sources, will enhance the strength of your speech. For example, if you are giving a speech about the benefits of sleep, citing a renowned sleep expert will strengthen your argument. If you can then explain that this person’s work has been repeatedly tested and affirmed by later studies, your argument will appear even stronger. On the other hand, if you simply offer the name of your source without any explanation of who that person is or why they ought to be believed, your argument is suspect. To offer this kind of information without disrupting the flow of your speech, you might say something like:

Mary Carskadon, director of the Chronobiology/Sleep Research Laboratory at Bradley Hospital in Rhode Island and professor at the Brown University School of Medicine, explains that there are several advantages to increased amounts of sleep. Her work is supported by other researchers, like Dr. Kyla Wahlstrom at the University of Minnesota, whose study demonstrated that delaying school start times increased student sleep and their performance (National Sleep Foundation, 2011).

This sample citation bolsters credibility by offering qualifications and identifying multiple experts who agree on this issue.

• Turner, Kathleen J., et al.  Public Speaking . Pearson, 2017. ↵
• Jobs, S. (2005, June 14). "You've got to find what you love," Jobs says. Retrieved September 30, 2020, from http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html ↵
• Tips on citing sources. Authored by : Sarah Stone Watt. Located at : http://publicspeakingproject.org/supporting.html . License : CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives . License Terms : Used with Permission

COMM B1: Informative Speeches: Citing Sources Orally

• Finding Articles
• Finding Websites
• Citing Sources Orally
• Other Helpful LibGuides

What Are Oral Citations?

Oral citations : When you are delivering your speeches, you should plan on telling the audience the source(s) of your information while you are speaking. (from James Madison University Communication Center )

A good speech should be well-researched, and many times you will be using facts, statistics, quotes, or opinions from others throughout. If you do not cite your sources orally, this can be considered plagiarism and is unethical. This applies to direct quotations, paraphrasing, and summarizing. You must orally cite, even if you will be providing a bibliography,  works cited, or reference list to your instructor.  (adapted from Sante Fe College Oral Citation LibGuide )

Why Cite Your Sources During a Speech?

(adapted from College of Southern Nevada's Oral Citation LibGuide )

CREDIBILITY

An oral citation conveys the reliability, validity and currency of your information. Citing your sources orally lets your audience know that you have researched your topic.  The stronger your sources are, the stronger your credibility will be.

Bakersfield College’s Student Academic Integrity Policy defines plagiarism as “ the act of using the ideas or work of another person or persons as if they were one's own, without giving credit to the source.” This policy, along with Bakersfield College’s Student Code of  Conduct, Code #15 , prohibit plagiarism.

Failure to provide an oral citation is considered a form of plagiarism, even if you cite your sources in a written outline, bibliography, works cited page or list of references.

When you are delivering a speech, you must provide an oral citation for any words, information or ideas that are not your own.  

When Do You Cite Sources in a Speech?

(adapted from Gateway Community and Technical College COM 181 LibGuide )

• Oral citations will always be in a narrative style; you mention citation details about the work as part of your presentation.
• Place the citation before the information to give weight and authority to what you're about to say.
• You must cite words or ideas that come from another person or you will be plagiarizing their work!
• When you are providing information that is not commonly known, such as statistics, expert opinions, or study results.
• Whenever you use a direct quotation. 
• If you are unsure if a citation is required, be safe and cite the source.

Citing Sources in a Speech Video

How Do You Cite Sources in a Speech?

The best practice is to provide a full oral citation that would include the author(s) (assuming that is available), the name of the publication, the specific publication date and year, and any other pertinent information.  How you cite your information should highlight the most important aspects of that citation (e.g., we may not know who “Dr. Smith” is, but if Dr. Smith is identified as a lead researcher of race relations at New York University, the citation will take on more credibility).    (adapted from Tips for Oral Citations from Eastern Illinois University )

(adapted from  Gateway Community and Technical College COM 181 LibGuide )

The first mention of a work should include all citation elements; subsequent mentions of that work only require the author as long as source attribution remains clear (i.e. you have not used a different source in intervening narrative).

What are the elements of an oral citation.

• If the source might not be recognized by your listeners, add a comment to help establish its credibility. 
• Include enough detail to help your listener locate the work later.
• Do give the full date in citations that refer to newspaper or magazine articles.
• Particularly important if there are statistics or data that change over time.
• Mention the publication year for books and journals.
• If there is there is no date, as with some websites, state the date that you accessed the material.
• Also indicate the Author's credentials (why they are an authority on the subject).
• If there are two authors, use both names in your citation.
• If there are more than two authors, name the first author and use "and associates" or "and colleagues".
• If the full title is long, use a shortened version that makes sense and still communicates enough information for your listener to locate the work.

How do I orally cite a quotation?

• You should make in clear that you are directly quoting another person rather than paraphrasing or summarizing their work. You can use a signal phrase like "... and I quote" or "As Jonas said..." to introduce the cited material.

Examples of Oral Citations in a Speech

(adapted from Tips for Oral Citations from Eastern Illinois University )

For a magazine article

“According to an article by Ben Elgin in the February 20th, 2006 issue of Business Week, we can expect Google and Yahoo’s supremacy as the search engine giants to be challenged by new U.S. startups.  Elgin reports that  …”

 “As reported in the February 20th, 2006 issue of Business Week, many new companies are getting into the search engine business. This article explains that …”

 “A February 20th, 2006 Business Week article reported that Google and Yahoo will face stiff competition in the search engine business …” 

For a newspaper article

“On February 22nd, 2006, USA Today reported that …”

 “An article about the effects of global warming appeared in the February 22nd edition of USA Today. Todd Smith’s report focused on the alarming rate of …”

“An article on global warming that appeared in the February 22nd issue of USA Today sounded the alarm …”

For a website 

“On January 12. 2019, I visited the “Earthquakes” page of www.ready.gov , the website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. businesses and citizens …”

“According to the Earthquakes page on U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s website, …”

“Helpful information about business continuity planning can be found on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s website, located at www.ready.gov …”

“On January 12, 2019, I consulted the website maintained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to learn more about what businesses should do to plan for an emergency.  In the section entitled ‘Plan to stay in business,’ several recommendations for maintaining continuity of business operations were offered.  These suggestions included …”

For a journal article

“A study published on December 12, 2004, in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology reported that incidents of workplace aggression have increased …”

“Research conducted by Dr. Bailey and Dr. Cross at Stanford University found that incidents of workplace aggression have increased over the past five years.  Their 2004 study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology in December of that year reported that …”

“According to a December, 2004 study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, …”

“A December 2004 study by Bailey and Cross in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, …”

“In a December, 2004 study published in Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Bailey and Cross reported that …”

“A December 2004 study by Stanford University researchers found that incidents of workplace aggression …”

“Bailey and Cross, experts in workplace aggression, authored a study that shows that incidents of aggression in the workplace are increasing.  Their December 2004 Journal of Applied Social Psychology article reports that …”

“In her 2005 book, Good Health at Any Age, Dr. Gabriella Campos describes how we can maintain our health through healthy eating.  She recommends …”

“Gabriella Campos, an expert in nutrition, describes what is needed to maintain a healthy diet in her 2005 book Good Health at Any Age.  She contends that …”

“In her recent book, Good Health at Any Age, Dr. Gabriella Campos recommends …”

“In Good Health at Any Age, Dr. Gabriella Campos, an expert in nutrition, offers suggestions for …”

For a television program

“On February 21, 2021, our local PBS station aired a program called “The Insurgency.”  In this program …”

“According to “The Insurgency,” a Frontline program aired by PBS on February 21st,2021 ….”

• “Frontline, a PBS program, focused on the Iraq War in the television program entitled “The Insurgency.”  This show aired on February 21, 2021, and focused on the problems confronting …”

For a YouTube video

“The Children and Young People’s Well-being Service, a branch of the UK National Health Service, uploaded Getting a Good Night’s Sleep–Top Tips for Teens to Youtube on January 7, 2021. In the video, they explain that caffeine is a stimulant and we will get better sleep if we avoid it for at least 6 hours before bedtime.”

“Nemours Foundation is non-profit organization established in 1936,dedicated to improving children’s health. In their How to help your teens get enough sleep video, uploaded to Youtube on July 6, 2022 they explain that teens’ body clocks change during puberty and teens naturally fall asleep later at night, which often leads to sleep depravation.”

For a personal interview

“On February 20th I conducted a personal interview with Dr. Desiree Ortez, a psychology professor here at Eastern, to learn more about student responses to peer pressure. Dr. Ortez told me that …”

“I conducted an interview with Dr. Desiree Ortez, a psychology professor at Eastern Illinois University, and learned that peer pressure is a big problem for university students.”

“In an interview, I conducted with Dr. Desiree Ortez, a psychology professor, I learned that …”

“I met with Dr. Desiree Ortez, a psychology professor here at Eastern, to learn more about …   She told me that peer pressure is a major factor contributing to academic failure in college.”

“In a telephone interview I conducted with Dr. Forest Wiley, a gerontology professor at University of Illinois, I learned that the elderly are likely to feel ...”

“I emailed Dr. Forest Wiley, a gerontology professor at the University of Illinois, to get additional information on his research on the aging’s use of the Internet.  He told me  …”

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Speech: Citing Sources in APA

• Two Sides of an Issue Informative Speech
• Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Persuasive Speech
• Citing Sources in APA
• Evaluating Information
• Public Speaking Tips

How to Cite in Your Speech

• Oral Citations

To orally cite something, you will need to give sufficient information about the source. Typically, this is the author, title, and date of a source. By including this information, you allow your listeners to find your original sources, as well as allow them to hear that your sources are recent and are credible.

Source: Santa Fe College Library. (2023). Reading Scholarly Papers . https://sfcollege.libguides.com/speech/oral-citations

How to Cite in Your Outline

• More APA Help

The first thing you want to figure out when you are creating a reference is what type of material you are referencing. Depending on what your item is, the reference will look slightly different. Check out the tabs for examples of how to cite. 

Your Reference page should include the following:

• At the top, it should have the word   References  centered and in bold.
• References will be in alphabetical order by the first author's last name.
• The references will be   double spaced  and have  hanging indentation . Hanging indentation means that the first line of the reference is all the way to the left, and the rest of the lines of the reference are indented. 

Check out our APA Help Page for more in-depth information on citing in APA format. 

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Presentations, Speeches, and Projects

• Citing Your Sources in a Presentation

• Citing Sources in a PowerPoint Presentation

There are several ways to cite sources in a project depending on the source and your instructor's requirements.

Most instructors want you to cite your sources the same as you would if you were writing a paper for your in-text citations.

Some instructors instead have you number your sources on your Works Cited or References page and then use the number as the in-text citation. You would follow your instructors requirements.

For images, see Finding and Citing Images in a Project .

Citing Sources in a Presentation

• Intro to Verbal Citations
• Additional Verbal Citation Resources

When preparing your presentation, remember that all sources used must be cited in both the Works Cited page and in-text.  For a speech you will need to verbally give credit to your sources. Verbally citing a source can be as simple as stating, "Dr. Bob, a Professor at Clemson University, stated in a 2019 Forbes article, ..."   Other examples could be, "The World Health Organization published the following Zika virus statistics on April 12, 2016...," or "According to Neal's book we learned..."

By verbally citing your sources you are lending credibility to your topic and making  your position stronger. Be sure to vary the language in which you verbally cite sources to keep your presentation more interesting (don't say "According to..." every time). 

• Oral Citations Video (Video) A brief tutorial on creating and delivering oral citations in public speaking. Topics include the importance of oral citations, when oral citations are necessary, and how to create and deliver oral citations in a speech. (5 mins.)
• Orally Citing a Source in a Speech (Video) by Janene Davison This is a basic primer on how to incorporate indirect and direct quotes into your presentation. (4 mins.)
• Tips on citing sources when speaking publicly by Sarah Stone Watt Gives example of written sources versus orally attributions.

Most instructors want you to cite your sources the same you would if you were writing a paper for your in-text citations where you include an in-text on the slide where you used the information, and a Works Cited or References list of all your sources on a slide at the end of your presentation.

Some instructors instead have you number your sources on your Works Cited or References slide and then use the number as the in-text citation. Follow your instructor's requirements.

For images, see   Finding and Citing Images in a Project .

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• Oral Citation Guide

Oral Citation Guide: Home

Why cite your sources during a speech.

CREDIBILITY

An oral citation conveys the reliability, validity and currency of your information. Citing your sources orally lets your audience know that you have researched your topic.

CSN’s Student Academic Integrity Policy defines plagiarism as “intentionally using the words, creative works, or ideas of another, from the Internet or any source, without proper citation of the sources.” This policy, along with CSN’s Student Conduct Code and the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Code, prohibits plagiarism.

Failure to provide an oral citation is considered a form of plagiarism, even if you cite your sources in a written outline, bibliography, works cited page or list of references.

When you are delivering a speech, you must provide an oral citation for any words, information or ideas that are not your own.  

Understanding quoting and paraphrasing

You are quoting a source when you say the information from that source word for word. When you use a quote in your speech, you must identify the source. You also must let the audience know that you are quoting.

In an article in the November 2020 issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , Dr. Roger Giner-Sorolla, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent says, and I quote, "As an institution, our field could do more to support representation and equality, both within itself and in society at large."

PARAPHRASING

You are paraphrasing a source when you refer to someone else’s idea, but you say that idea in your own words. Before you talk about the idea, you must refer to the source.

According to the “Tourette Syndrome Fact Sheet,” last updated March 17th, 2020 by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, symptoms of Tourette syndrome include tics such as eye blinking, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging and head jerking.

What should an oral citation include?

Mention the author’s name, along with credentials to establish that author as a credible source.

In the May 7th, 2018 issue of  The Atlantic , journalist and National Book Award winning author Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote…

Say the title of a book, magazine, journal or web site. You should identify the type of publication and provide a comment regarding credibility if the publication is not widely recognized.

In the February 2020 issue of the Journal for Nurse Practitioners , a peer-reviewed official publication of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, author Tonya M Carter describes shingles as…

Titles of articles do not necessarily have to be mentioned, unless you are using several articles from the same source.

Say the date that a book, journal, magazine or newspaper was published. If you are using information from an interview, give the date when the person was interviewed.

If you are using information from a website that doesn’t clearly show a date on the document, say the date that the web page was last updated and/or the date you accessed the website.

The web page titled “The History of Figs,” dated 2019, provided by The Spruce Eats organization of recipe developers, reveals that the fig isn't actually a fruit but is called a syconium.

• Last Updated: Jul 18, 2022 11:08 AM
• URL: https://libguides.csn.edu/oral-citation