EFFECTIVE SPEAKING
Rumessa Naqvi
AIM
• To discuss the art of Communication with
special emphasis on Public Speaking
Speaking Opportunities
• At work
– Selling your ideas
– Technical presentations
– Customer Presentations and Reviews
• Daily Life
– School Board Meetings
– Town Zoning Board Meetings
– PTA Meetings
– Dramatic/Debating/… Society Meetings
Differences between Public Speaking (PS)
and Conversation
• PS is more structured
– Usually time limited
– Questions not allowed to interrupt the speech,
• usually left for at end (time permitting)
• PS requires more formal language
– No slang, jargon or bad grammar
– Speeches should be something special so that they qualify
as life events and are remembered
• PS requires a different method for delivery
– More formal delivery
• No vocalized pauses – “uh”, “ah”, “um”
• Don’t use stock phrases repeatedly – “you know”, “basically”,
“I mean”
FOCUS
• Unifying your talk around a central theme or
idea.
Concentrate on:
• What is most important?
– What is the exact problem?
– What is the “bottom-line”?
Content
Choosing the content
1. Choose a topic you can handle
2. Strictly define the topic
3. Gauge the audience
4. Determine the kind of occasion
5. Check out the setting
Organization
Brainstorming
is
essential!
Clustering
Organization
For every ten bad ideas,
there is one good one;
and for every ten good ones,
there is one that is practical.
--Michael Eisner
Former CEO, Walt Disney Company
ORGANIZE
• Structure your talk
1. State the main issue
2. Develop your viewpoint with specifics
3. Handle any questions
4. End with a clear summary
5. Make a last statement or request
Organization
Organize into 3 parts
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
Preparation
• Always plan the closing first.
• Sequence of preparation:
Closing
Body
Opening
Organization
The Introduction
• Introduce the message—focus the
audience
• Anecdote, fact, quote—grab their attention
• State your intention
Beginnings
• Some ways of beginning that should be
avoided:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Apology
Complaint
Webster’s dictionary
Reference to the title
Organization
The Body
• Deliver the message—
convince the audience
• 3-5 main points, covered
equally
• Clearly identify the
points as you make them
Organization
The Body
• I will present three approaches to
protecting endangered species.
• The first approach is captive breeding…
• Now, the second approach,
reintroduction...
• The third is my favorite—habitat
protection…
Organizing a Speech:
Supporting Materials
• Supporting Materials
– The “flesh” that fills out the skeleton of your speech
– By themselves main points are only assertions.
– Listeners need supporting materials to accept what the
speaker says
– Three major types of supporting materials:
• Examples
• Statistics
• Testimony
– Always provide sources to give credibility to the
supporting materials
Organization
The Conclusion
• Synthesize the main points
• Motivate the audience
• Give the audience a specific challenge
• Strong finish, so audience knows when you’re
done!
Practicing
Practice is a process, not an event
• Practice is not rehearsing the night before
• Practice is not memorizing the talk
• Practice IS gradually getting to know and
love the talk
Performing
Like it or not, you are
a performer!
• Listeners judge you by
performance, more than
content
• Listeners decide to
like/dislike you in the
first few minutes.
DRAMATIZE
Don’t just tell it, show it
• What is your main idea?
– Find a vivid memorable way to make your
point
– Can you tell the story visually?
• Chart, graph, photo, demonstration
Use your creative imagination
HUMANIZE
People are more important than things
• Don’t get lost in numbers
• Cut the jargon
• Think: how does my main idea relate to
real people in their own day to day lives?
Strategies For Getting Started
With Confidence
• Prepare and Practice
• Visualize Success
• Use Relaxation Techniques
Strategies for Getting Started With Confidence:
Freedom to Walk
• Walk around as you make
some of your points
Movement relieves
tension, and it helps
to hold the audiences
attention
Strategies for Getting Started With Confidence:
Natural Gestures
• Practice some
controlled, natural
gestures that might
be useful in
enhancing your
speech, such as
holding up your index
finger when starting
your first main point
Strategies for Getting Started With Confidence
Gestures
•
•
•
•
•
Don’t…put hands in pockets
Don’t…wave the pointer like a conductor
Don’t…lean on the podium
Don’t…stare at the floor, window, screen
Don’t…hide behind the podium
Avoid
11 deadly dangers
while speaking publically
1. No clear objective
2. Forgetting the audience.
3. Anticlimactic ending.
4. Mysterious opening.
5. Loss of focus.
6. No script.
7. Poor delivery.
8. Bad visuals.
9. Weak evidence.
10.Negative attitude.
11.No follow-up.