Date

12-16-2025

Department

School of Communication and the Arts

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Communication (PhD)

Chair

Marie Mallory

Keywords

public speaking success, framework for public speaking success, qualitative content analysis

Disciplines

Communication

Abstract

The qualitative content analysis aimed to discover whether Maxwell’s 16 undeniable laws of communication are applied to the top 20 TED Talks of all time based on view count catalogued on the TED website and inform a framework for public speaking success. Through the lens of Fisher’s narrative paradigm of coherence and fidelity, while situated in Craig’s rhetorical tradition, which builds on ethos, pathos, and logos, the study examined the gap in workplace competence moving beyond theory to practical guidance. Additionally, the study was guided by three research questions that were answered in the study. Through an immersive multimodal examination of the videos, transcripts, and audio versions of the TED Talks, transferable principles emerged. The employment of an a priori deductive reasoning approach to content analysis and codebook capture, resulted in the emergence of eight laws. These eight laws provide a roadmap for speakers to garner attention, foster shared meaning, enhance comprehension, while building trust to achieve desired outcomes. Storytelling, Simplicity, Connecting, Visual Expression, Credibility, Preparation and Content form the core that when incorporated lead to speaker acumen. The study advances the McIntyre Model (Authenticity, Authority, Audience Current Understanding(ACU), Clear, Concise, Compelling, Imagery, and Intent) which frames the eight laws that support the design and delivery of a talk.

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