The Communication Environment Changes. Conversation can occur in a variety of settings, and the setting can influence the communication that takes place there. One of the most profound discussions of the ethics of communication, Plato’s Phaedrus, written in ancient Greece some twenty-four hundred years ago, takes place in a woodland setting that frames and colors its message appropriately. This setting is described by Socrates as
a fair resting-place, full of summer sounds and scents. Here is this lofty and spreading plane-tree and the [flowering vines] high and clustering, in the fullest blossom and the greatest fragrance; and the stream which flows beneath the plane-tree is deliciously cold to the feet.’7
In this setting, Socrates envisions the loving nature of communication at its finest. Such communication, he argues, promotes spiritual growth for both listeners and speakers. Beyond the physical setting, the moods and immediate concerns of participants can also affect the fate of a message. Taken together, these physical and psychological factors make up the communication environment.
In public speaking, the communication environment is both simple and more complex. In public speaking classes your speeches will probably all be presented in one place—your classroom. This simplifies the problem of the physical setting: You can get used to speaking in one place. On the other hand, the move from three people to twenty-four complicates the psychological aspects of the communication environment. That many more people can bring to the classroom that many more personal distractions that may prevent them from listening fully to what you say. Moreover, you sometimes cannot control the immediate context of events that can affect the reception of your speech. For example, your carefully planned presentation attacking “oppressive campus security” could be jeopardized if a major crime occurs on campus shortly before your speech. But a campus incident demonstrating the overreaction of security forces could be a real bonanza. You must adapt to such events as you make your speech.
At times this adaptation can be difficult, if not impossible. One of your authors once ran for the U.S. Congress, and during that six-month experience spoke before many audiences. On one occasion, he was speaking at a meeting of mothers who were dependent on welfare benefits to support their families. He had a good message, and he was expecting a warm reception. But the speech fell flat. Later someone explained to him that the welfare checks were