You use the Chicago style lecture citation when you want to include a lecture reference in your research paper. Whether the lecture was from a conference or for a course, you need to provide a citation in the notes and bibliography. Discover how to cite lectures and speeches in Chicago style lecture citation format.
Definition: Chicago style lecture citation
Chicago style lecture citation requires using footnotes for in-text citations and a list of entries in the bibliography. Since you are citing lectures or speeches, you need to describe the media.
General Format | Example | |
Chicago bibliography: | Lecturer last name, first name. “Title.” Lecture, Institution/event, location, month day, Year. | Jordan, Stephen. “The Role of Female Doctors in Crimean War.” Lecture, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, January 12, 2020. |
Full note: | First name last name, “title” (lecture, institution, location, month date, year). | Stephen Jordan, “The Role of Female Doctors in Crimean War” (lecture, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, January 12, 2020). |
Full note: | Last name, “shortened title.” | Jordan, “Doctors in Crimean War.” |
Chicago style lecture citation: Examples
General Format | Example | |
Chicago bibliography: | Lecturer last name, first name. “Title.” Lecture, Institution/event, location, month day, Year. | Elton, James. “The Effects of the Russian Civil War.” Lecture, New York University, New York, NY, March 19, 2014. |
Full note: | First name last name, “title” (lecture, institution, location, month date, year). | James Elton, “The Effects of the Russian Civil War” (lecture, New York University, New York, NY, March 19, 2014). |
Short note: | Lecturer’s last name, “Shortened title.” | Elton, “Russian Civil War.” |
Chicago style lecture citation: Google Slides, PowerPoint, etc.
When using Chicago style lecture citation to cite information in a PowerPoint presentation or Google slides, ensure you include the media. Here are the examples:
General Format | Example | |
Chicago bibliography: | Last name, first name. “Lecture or presentation title.” Powerpoint presentation, university or conference name, location, month date, Year of presentation. | Roberts, Norah. “Importance of Fish in the Ecosystem.” Powerpoint presentation, University of Dallas, Texas, June 9, 2018. |
Full note: | First name last name, “Presentation title” (Powerpoint presentation, conference or university name, location, month day, Year). | Norah Roberts, “Importance of Fish in the Ecosystem.”(Powerpoint presentation, university of Dallas, Texas, June 9, 2018). |
Short note: | Last name, “Shortened title.” | Roberts, “Fish in the Ecosystem.” |
Chicago style lecture citation: Transcription
When citing a transcribed speech using the Chicago style lecture citation, follow the format appropriate to the source, starting with the speaker’s name.
General Format | Example | |
Chicago bibliography: | Author’s last name, first name. “Speech title.” In Book Title: Subtitle, edited by editor first name last name, page range. Place of publication: publisher, Year. | Smith, John. “The Effects of Depression.” In The Penguin Book of Modern Speeches, edited by Theodore Roosevelt, 6-10. Birmingham: Penguin, 2016. |
Full note: | Author first name last name, “Speech Title,” In Book title: subtitle, ed. Editor’s first name and last name (Place of publication: Publisher, the year), page number. | John Smith, “The Effects of Depression,” in The Penguin Book of Modern Speeches, ed. Theodore Roosevelt(Birmingham: Penguin, 2016), 7. |
Short note: | Speaker last name, “shortened title,” page number. | Smith, "Effects of Depression, "7. |
Chicago style lecture citation: Recording
Using Chicago style lecture citations for recording uses the same format as the transcription.1
General Format | Example | |
Chicago bibliography: | Speaker's last name, first name. "Speech Title." Recorded at location, month day, Year. | Luther Martin. “I have a Dream” Recorded at Lincoln, Washington, September 28, 1970. |
Full note: | Speaker first name last name, "speech title," recorded at location, month day, Year, timestamp. | Martin Luther, “I have a Dream” Lincoln, September 28, 1970, 8:15. |
Short note: | Speaker last name, “shortened title,” timestamp | Luther, “I have a Dream,” 8:15. |
Chicago style lecture citation: No date
When you are citing the Chicago style lecture citation and there is no date listed for the lecture you reference, use the initials n.d. in place of the date in your citation.2
When the author or the lecturer isn’t listed in Chicago style lecture citation, start the citation with the lecture or speech title. As shown below:
Chicago style lecture citation: Author-date style
In Chicago style lecture citation, you can cite speeches, transcribed speeches and recorded lectures using the author-date style. The reference list entries are similar to the bibliography format except for the Year. Here are examples:
Lecture citation | Lecture delivered via Google Slides, PowerPoint, etc. | Transcribed lecture | Recorded lecture | |
Chicago author-date format | Speaker's last name, first name. Year. "Lecture title." Lecture, Institution name, location, month day, year. | Last name, first name. Year. “Lecture or presentation title.” PowerPoint presentation, university or conference name, location, month date, Year of presentation. | Author’s last name, first name. Year. “Speech title.” In Book Title: Subtitle, edited by editor first name last name, page range. Place of publication: publisher, Year. | Speaker's last name, first name. Year. "Speech Title." Recorded at location, month day, Year. |
Chicago reference entry | Elton, James. 2014. “The Effects of the Russian Civil War.” Lecture, New York University, New York, NY, March 19, 2014. | Roberts, Norah. 2018. “Importance of Fish in the Ecosystem.” PowerPoint presentation, University of Dallas, Texas, June 9, 2018. | Smith, John. 2016. “The Effects of Depression.” In The Penguin Book of Modern Speeches, edited by Theodore Roosevelt, 6-10. Birmingham: Penguin, 2016. | Luther Martin. 1970. “I have a Dream” Recorded at Lincoln, Washington, September 28, 1970. |
Chicago author-date citation | (Elton 2014) | (Roberts 2018) | (Smith 2016) | (Luther 1970) |
FAQs
When you are citing a recorded speech in Chicago style lecture citation, you must mention the place of recording and the website it was posted.
If the date is not listed, list n.d. in place of the date when you create a reference list using the Chicago style citation for lecture.
You can start with the speech title and stick to the bibliography or author-date format in Chicago lecture citation.
Sources
1 EasyBib. “How to Cite A Lecture in Chicago/Turabian.” Accessed January 16, 2023. https://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/chicago-turabian/how-to-cite-a-lecture-chicago-turabian/.
2 Ellis, Matt. “How to Cite a Lecture or Speechin Chicago Style.” Grammarly Blog. Accessed January 16, 2023. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/cite-lecture-chicago/.