Citing Sources

• Objectives for citing sources in speeches

  • Citing Sources in Your Speech (In-Text Citations)
• General Tips for citing sources in speeches

  • Tell the audience your source before you use the information
  • Use brief pauses to indicate the start and end of a direct quote
  • Provide enough information about each source so that your audience could, with a little effort, find them. This should include the author(s) name, a brief explanation of their credentials, the title of the work, and publication date
• Example of citing a source in a speech

  • "In the 1979 edition of The Elements of Style, renowned grammarians and composition stylists Strunk and White encourage writers to 'make every word tell.'"
• Credentialing a source


  If your source is unknown to your audience, provide enough information about your source for the audience to perceive them as credible. Typically, we provide this credentialing of the source by stating the source's qualifications to discuss the topic.
• Example of credentialing a source in a speech


  • "Dr. Derek Bok, the President Emeritus of Harvard University and the author of The Politics of Happiness argues that the American government should design policies to enhance the happiness of its citizens."
• Types of sources to cite in a speech

  • Direct Quotations
  • Book
  • Periodical/Magazine
  • Journal
  • Website
  • Interviews, lecture notes, or personal communication
• Citing direct quotations in a speech

  • These should be acknowledged in your speech or presentation either as "And I quote…" or "As [the source] puts it…"
• Citing a book in a speech

  • Include title and author: "According to April Jones, author of Readings on Gender…"
• Citing a periodical/magazine in a speech

  • Include title and date: "Time, March 28, 2005, explains…" or "The New York Times, June 5, 2006, explained it this way…"
• Citing a journal in a speech

  • Include journal title, date, and author: "Morgan Smith writes in the Fall 2005 issue of Science…"
• Citing a website in a speech

  • For organizational or long-standing website, include title: "The center for Disease Control web site includes information…"
  • For news or magazine websites, include title and date: " CNN.com, on March 28, 2005, states…"
• Citing interviews, lecture notes, or personal communication in a speech


  • Include name and credentials of source: "Alice Smith, professor of Economics at USM, had this to say about the growth plan…" or "According to junior Speech Communication major, Susan Wallace…"