The Art of

Public Speaking

“One who forms a judgment on any point but cannot explain [it clearly] might as well never have thought at all on the subject.” � - Pericles

Some of the greatest orators of all time�have been of the greatest influence.�

But, I am not going to be the president,

a preacher, a CEO...

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What does public speaking have to do with ME?

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Think about the following scenario:

You are one of seven management trainees in a large corporation. One of you will get the lower-management job that has just opened. There is to be a large staff meeting at which each of the trainees will discuss the project he or she has been developing. One by one your colleagues make their presentations. They have no experience in public speaking and are intimidated by the higher-ranking managers present. Their speeches are stumbling and

awkward. You, however, call upon all the skills you learned in your public speaking course. You deliver an informative talk that is clear, well reasoned, and articulate. You get the job.

In a survey of 480 companies and public organizations, communication skills—including public speaking—were ranked first among the personal qualities of college graduates sought by employers. In another survey, college graduates in the work force were asked to rank the skills most essential to their career development. What was at the top of their list?

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Oral communication.

• Even in highly specialized fields such as civil and mechanical engineering, employers consistently rank the ability to communicate above technical knowledge when deciding whom to hire and whom to promote. �
• The ability to speak effectively is so prized that college graduates are increasingly being asked to give a presentation as part of their job interview
• Nor has the growth of the Internet and other new technologies reduced the need for public speaking. As one communication consultant states, “There are more avenues to reach people than ever before, but there’s no substitute for face- to-face communication.”

The Tradition of Public Speaking

• Nearly every culture has a word similar to the English “orator”
• The oldest known handbook on effective speech was written on papyrus in Egypt some 4,500 years ago.
• Eloquence was highly prized in ancient India, Africa, and China, as well as among the Aztecs and other pre-European cultures of North and South America.

• In classical Greece and Rome, public �speaking played a central role in education �and civic life. It was also studied extensively.
• Aristotle’s Rhetoric, composed during the third century B.C.E., is still considered the most important work on its subject, and many of its principles are followed by speakers (and writers) today.
• The great Roman leader Cicero used his speeches to defend liberty and wrote several works about oratory in general.

• Your immediate objective is to apply the methods and strategies of effective communication in your classroom speeches. What you learn, however, will be applicable long after you leave high school and college.
• The principles of public speaking are derived from a long tradition and have been confirmed by a substantial body of research. The more you know about those principles, the more effective you will be in your own speeches—and the more effective you will be in listening to the speeches of other people.

Similarities Between Public Speaking

and Conversation

• How much time do you spend each day talking to other people? The average adult spends about 30 percent of her or his waking hours in conversation.
• You may not realize it, but you already employ a wide range of skills when talking to people.

1. Organizing your thoughts logically.

2. Tailoring your message to your audience.

3. Telling a story for maximum impact.

4. Adapting to listener feedback.

Each day, in casual conversation, you do all these things many times without thinking about them. You already possess these communication skills. And these are among the most important skills you will need for public speaking.

These skills include the following:

Differences Between Public Speaking

and Conversation

• Despite their similarities, public speaking and everyday conversation are not identical. Imagine that you are telling a story to a friend. Then imagine yourself telling the story to a group of seven or eight friends. Now imagine telling the same story to 20 or 30 people. As the size of your audience grows, you will find yourself adapting to three major differences between conversation and public speaking:

• Public speaking is more highly structured. ��It usually imposes strict time limitations on the speaker. In most cases, the situation does not allow listeners to interrupt with questions or commentary. The speaker must accomplish her or his purpose in the speech itself. In preparing the speech, the speaker must anticipate questions that might arise in the minds of listeners and answer them. Consequently, public speaking demands much more detailed planning and preparation than ordinary conversation.

• Public speaking requires more formal language. ��Slang, jargon, and bad grammar have little place in public speeches. As angry as he is about industrial pollution, when Van Jones speaks to a congressional committee, he does not say, “We’ve damn well got to stop the greedy creeps who pollute low-income communities just to make a few more bucks.” Listeners usually react negatively to speakers who do not elevate and polish their language when addressing an audience. A speech should be “special.”

• Public speaking requires a different method of delivery. ��When conversing informally, most people talk quietly, interject stock phrases such as “like” and “you know,” adopt a casual posture, and use what are called vocalized pauses (“uh,” “er,” “um”). Effective public speakers, however, adjust their voices to be heard clearly throughout the audience. They assume a more erect posture. They avoid distracting mannerisms and verbal habits.

The Speech Communication Process

Speaker

• Your success as a speaker depends on you—on your personal credibility, your knowledge of the subject, your preparation of the speech, your manner of speaking, your sensitivity to the audience and the occasion.
• But, successful speaking also requires enthusiasm. You can not expect people to be interested in what you say unless you are interested yourself. If you are truly excited about your subject, your audience is almost sure to get excited along with you.
• You can learn all the techniques of effective speechmaking, but before they can be of much use, you must first have something to say—something that sparks your own enthusiasm.

Message

• Your goal in public speaking is to have your intended message be the message that is actually communicated. Achieving this depends both on what you say (the verbal message) and on how you say it (the nonverbal message).
• Getting the verbal message just right requires work. You must narrow your topic down to something you can discuss adequately in the time allowed for the speech. You must do research and choose supporting details to make your ideas clear and convincing. You must organize your ideas so listeners can follow them without getting lost. And you must express your message in words that are accurate, clear, vivid, and appropriate.
• Besides the message you send with words, you send a message with your tone of voice, appearance, gestures, facial expression, and eye contact.

Channel

• The channel is the means by which a message is communicated.
• Public speakers may use one or more of several channels, each of which will affect the message received by the audience. These may include:� - Face to face� - Internet, Television, or Radio broadcast� - Transcription of speech online or in print

Listener

• The listener is the person who receives the communicated message. Without a listener, there is no communication.
• Everything a speaker says is filtered through a listener’s frame of reference— the total of his or her knowledge, experience, goals, values, and attitudes. Because a speaker and a listener are different people, they can never have exactly the same frame of reference. And because a listener’s frame of reference can never be exactly the same as a speaker’s, the meaning of a message will never be exactly the same to a listener as to a speaker.
• To be an effective speaker, you must be audience-centered. You will quickly lose your listeners’ attention if your presentation is either too basic or too sophisticated. You will also lose your audience if you do not relate to their experience, interests, knowledge, and values. When you make a speech that causes listeners to say “That is important to me,” you will almost always be successful.

Feedback

• Most situations, however, involve two-way communication. Your listeners don’t simply absorb your message like human sponges. They send back messages of their own. These messages are called feedback.
• Do your listeners lean forward in their seats, as if paying close attention? Do they applaud in approval? Do they laugh at your jokes? Do they have quizzical looks on their faces? Do they shuffle their feet and gaze at the clock?
• As a speaker, you need to be alert to these reactions and adjust your message accordingly.

Interference

• Interference is anything that impedes the communication of a message.
• Static Interference - physical noise or distractions that are external to the speaker and audience.
• Internal Interference - personal issues of individual members of the audience that hinder their ability to pay attention.

Situation

• The situation is the time and place in which speech communication occurs. Conversation always takes place in a certain situation.
• Sometimes the situation helps—as when you propose marriage over an intimate candlelight dinner. Other times it may hurt—as when you try to speak words of love in competition with a blaring stereo. When you have to talk with someone about a touchy issue, you usually wait until the situation is just right.
• Certain occasions— funerals, church services, graduation ceremonies—require certain kinds of speeches.
• Physical setting can also be important.

Developing Confidence:

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Your Speech Class

• One of the major concerns of students in any speech class is stage fright. We may as well face the issue squarely. Many people who converse easily in all kinds of everyday situations become frightened at the idea of standing up before a group to make a speech.

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What’s your greatest social fear?

• If you feel nervous about giving a speech, you are in very good company. Some of the greatest public speakers in history have suffered from stage fright, including Abraham Lincoln, Margaret Sanger, and Winston Churchill. The famous Roman orator Cicero said: “I turn pale at the outset of a speech and quake in every limb and in my soul.”
• Actually, most people tend to be anxious before doing something important in public...

Nervousness is Normal

• Actors are nervous before a play...

• politicians are nervous before a campaign speech...

• athletes are nervous before a big game...

• It is perfectly normal—even desirable—to be nervous at the start of a speech. Your body is responding as it would to any stressful situation—by producing extra adrenaline. This sudden shot of adrenaline is what makes your heart race, your hands shake, your knees knock, and your skin perspire. Every public speaker experiences all these reactions to some extent.
• The question is: How can you control your nervousness and make it work for you rather than against you?

Dealing with Nervousness

• You should aim at transforming it from a negative force into what one expert calls positive nervousness—“a zesty, enthusiastic, lively feeling with a slight edge to it. . . . It’s still nervousness, but it feels different. You’re no longer victimized by it; instead, you’re vitalized by it. You’re in control of it.”
• These are the six proven ways to turn nervousness into positive enthusiasm:

• Acquire Speaking Experience
• I am here to help you learn the skills
• Your classmates are certainly a sympathetic audience...use this as your laboratory to IMPROVE your skills

• Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
• Another key to gaining confidence is to pick speech topics you truly care about—and then to prepare your speeches so thoroughly that you cannot help but be successful.
• How much time should you devote to preparing your speeches? A standard rule of thumb is that each minute of speaking time requires one to two hours of preparation time—perhaps more, depending on the amount of research needed for the speech. This may seem like a lot of time, but the rewards are well worth it.

• Think Positively

• Use the Power of Visualization
• Just like athletes or musicians, the key to visualization is creating a vivid mental blueprint in which you see yourself succeeding in your speech. Picture yourself in your classroom rising to speak. See yourself at the lectern, poised and self-assured, making eye contact with your audience and delivering your introduction in a firm, clear voice. Feel your confidence growing as your listeners get more and more caught up in what you are saying. Imagine your sense of achievement as you conclude the speech knowing you have done your very best.

• Know That Most Nervousness Is Not Visible
• Many novice speakers are worried about appearing nervous to the audience.
• Even though your palms are sweating and your heart is pounding, your listeners probably will not realize how tense you are—especially if you do your best to act cool and confident on the outside.

• Do not Expect Perfection
• At some point in every presentation, every speaker says or does something that does not come across exactly as he or she had planned. Fortunately, such moments are usually not evident to the audience. Why? Because the audience does not know what the speaker plans to say. It hears only what the speaker does say.
• The speech is NOT a performance to be judged by the audience, but rather they are hoping to hear your ideas clearly and confidently.

• Be at your best physically and mentally. It is not a good idea to stay up until 2:00 A.M. partying with friends or cramming for an exam the night before your speech. A good night’s sleep will serve you better.
• As you are waiting to speak, quietly tighten and relax your leg muscles, or squeeze your hands together and then release them. Such actions help reduce tension by providing an outlet for your extra adrenaline.
• Take a couple slow, deep breaths before you start to speak. Most people, when they are tense, take short, shallow breaths, which only reinforces their anxiety. Deep breathing breaks this cycle of tension and helps calm your nerves.

... and a few PRACTICAL suggestions:

• Work especially hard on your introduction. Research has shown that a speaker’s anxiety level begins to drop significantly after the first 30 to 60 seconds of a presentation. Once you get through the introduction, you should find smoother sailing the rest of the way.
• Make eye contact with members of your audience. Remember that they are individual people, not a blur of faces. And they are your friends.
• Concentrate on communicating with your audience rather than on worrying about your stage fright. If you get caught up in your speech, your audience will too.
• Use visual aids. They create interest, draw attention away from you, and make you feel less self-conscious.

REVIEW

• In what ways is public speaking likely to make a difference in your life?
• How is public speaking similar to everyday conversation?
• How is public speaking different from everyday conversation?
• Why is it normal—even desirable—to be nervous at the start of a speech?
• How can you control your nervousness and make it work for you in your speeches?

Giving Your First Speech:

It is a story about YOU...think of�

• One characteristic that describes yourself�
• One exciting / interesting thing you have done that was because of, or contributed to, that characteristic�
• One exciting / interesting thing you plan to do because of that characteristic

1. Preparing Your Speech

• Ensure you conform to the time LIMIT
• Avoid trying to give TOO MUCH information
• Limit speech to 2 to 3 main points
• Be careful not to be so narrow you lose your audience

A. Development

• Audience are attracted to suspense...create a “story” that hooks their attention
• Perhaps you can include danger, adventure, or drama (all elements of good stories)
• Spice up the content with well-chosen language that intensifies the mood or setting - use imagery

• 3 main parts: � Introduction� Body� Conclusion
• The Introduction HAS to get the audience’s attention. Consider beginning with an anecdote, a story, a rhetorical question, a clever quote, a shocking statement, etc.

B. Organization

• The introduction also needs to orient the listener to the subject matter of the speech
• In most speeches, a “Preview Statement” or “Signpost” serves to tell the audience how the speech is organized...
• “Today I will tell you about...” or “We are going to cover...”

• The BODY may have its own organizational structure
• Usually stories are told chronologically or the speaker relates the three most important points of his/her topic
• In a three minute speech, you’ll have about 45 seconds per point...so keep it together!
• Use “Transitions” to segway to the next point... “Consequently,” “In fact,” “Because”

• The CONCLUSION should let the audience know you are almost finish and recapture the main point of the speech
• If possible, end on a clever, poignant, thought-provoking note

Delivering Your Speech

• Some people want to write out and �read the speech word for word...others want to have an idea but just get up there and wing it...neither is appropriate
• Speaking extemporaneously combines the careful preparation and structure of a manuscript presentation with the spontaneity and enthusiasm of an unrehearsed talk.

A. Speaking Extemporaneously

• You have to KNOW your material well, but you should only need a few note cards (with key words or data) to spur your speech
• It is kind of like talking with your friends...you do not use notes, but rather you recall key events of a story and fill in the rest on the spot. You already have an idea of WHAT you want to say...it is the HOW that is fresh and spontaneous

• A smooth delivery of an extemp speech is the result of MUCH practice
• Practice your speech out loud. Record and listen to yourself. Watch yourself in the mirror. Practice on your family or friends.
• TIME your delivery to work on getting the speech at or under the time allotted

B. Rehearsing the Speech

• Approach the front of the room confidently.
• Assume a relaxed posture.
• Address your audience and smile.
• Feel free to change your voice inflections or use hand gestures
• MAINTAIN EYE CONTACT and work to respond to feedback
• Speak slow, carefully, clearly, and loudly

C. Presenting Your Speech

Check out my sample “Personal Speech”

in the Youtube

video below