Thin Slices of Public Speaking: A Look into Speech Thin Slices and Their Effectiveness in Accurately Predicting Whole-Speech Quality

The term "Thin Slice," first coined and defined by Ambady and Rosenthal (1992), is a brief sample of behavior, not exceeding five minutes in length, extracted from the full-length behavior stream. These thin slices are an efficient means to form judgments and predict outcomes of interpersonal relations from the full-length behavior (Ambady, LaPlante, Johnson, 2001). Previous research using the thin slice method propels the following research questions for this proposed study: can the thin slice method be applied to judge the quality of college level speeches? Communication studies professors have claimed to be able to assess the quality of the speech they are observing within only 30-seconds (Hossman & Erickson, personal communication, 2015). Is this statement true or is it only based on the experience of the observer? Hence, can an individual through only the observation of speech thin slices accurately evaluate the overall quality of a speech? This proposed study aims to establish a framework to investigate and test these claims in hopes of finding an explanation as to whether or not thin slices can be used in the communication education arena to evaluate speeches. The implications of this study, if the findings suggest that the thin slice method can be used effectively to evaluate the overall quality of a speech, would be to apply the thin slice method in assisting universities with their assessment efforts pertaining both to the improvement of students' ability to speak proficiently and communication center operations. [Paper presented at the National Association of Communication Centers (Pittsburgh, PA, 2016).]