Using Ideas from Another Source

In writing, attributing sources of the information you include is an important. If you learned the information from a specific source, you are expected to show where it came from so that the original voice gets credit. In spoken English, this isn't as expected in most situations. When we speak, we are always pulling our ideas from our experiences and the experiences others have shared with us. However, there are times when it is important to reference the original source of the idea:

• When you are sharing someone's exact words 
• When the ideas are truly unique to the source
• When you want to show additional outside support for your opinion 

The way you include an outside source when you speak will depend on the context and how true to the original words you are going to be.

Quoted Speech

The person's exact words

Paraphrasing

The person's words in your own words, usually somewhat shorter than what was originally said

Summarizing

The person's main ideas and major details, much shorter explanation of what someone said

Quoted speech is used especially when the original words are powerful, the original person was influential, and/or when the words cannot be said in another way. When you are using the exact words of another person, there are two ways to signal this to the listener.

• Introduce the speaker/source + speech verb + exact words
  • Thomas Edison said, "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."
  • As William Shakespeare once stated, "All that glitters is not gold."
  • In the words of the United States Declaration of Independence, "all men are created equal."
• Use quote and end quote/unquote to verbalize quotation marks, typically only used in formal speaking settings for longer quotes. It may or may not include the name of the person who originally said the words. 
  • It is important not to become so focused on our goals that we miss the opportunities we have now. (As John Lennon said,) Quote Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans end quote.

When you are putting the ideas into your own words by paraphrasing or summarizing rather than using the exact words, you will use reported speech structures. We discuss summarizing in more detail in the lesson Speaking Strategy: Summarize, but we will introduce this idea in this lesson.

Reported Speech

Reported speech uses the ideas from the quoted speech and adjusts the noun clauses. 

While the above examples change very little from the original statements, these same reported speech patterns can be used for either paraphrases and summaries.

For example, you could say

The United States Declaration of Independence says that all citizens should be treated as equals.

This is not the exact words, but it is a paraphrase of the idea based on the second paragraph of the document.

A summary may sound more like this

The research states that the medication is unsafe. After various tests, the patients in the trials developed serious side effects. Their suggestion is to remove the product from the market.

This takes the main idea and major details from what you are referencing, but it does not include specific words/phrases or very specific examples.

In addition to the patterns above, there are two informal patterns that you should be aware of. They have slightly different meanings.

• He was like I don't want to go to school! (this is not always a direct quote)
• He was all I don't want to go to school! (this is not always a direct quote and is used with a negative connotation on what the original speaker said, usually annoyance/frustration/disbelief)

As always, consider the purpose you have as a speaker to make decisions about how you will use an outside source to support your opinion. Is it more powerful to use the exact words? Does the listener need to know the complete idea? Is the complete information more than is necessary to make your point? Based on those questions, use the reported speech style that best fits the situation.