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Introduction
◦ Spark the interest of your audience
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Organized, well-thought out body
◦ Make sure the speech is organized in some logical
way that the audience will be able to follow.
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Clear conclusion
◦ Review your main points and signal to your
audience that the speech is coming to an end.
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Appearance
◦ Don’t fidget.
◦ Don’t rock or sway.
◦ Keep your hands away from your face and hair.
◦ Don’t lean on the podium if you choose to use it.
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Volume
◦ Your voice must reach the back of the room.
◦ Remember that when you look down, your volume
drops.
◦ Never hold notes in front of your face. It blocks the
sound waves and detracts from your volume.
◦ Understand that you need to speak at a louder
volume in a formal speech situation than you would
in a personal conversation.
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Inflection
◦ Your voice should be expressive, but not singsongy.
◦ Aim for something slightly more formal than
conversational speech patterns.
◦ Sentences go down in pitch at the end, but don’t let
your voice go so far down that you drop off the last
word.
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Enunciation (clarity)
◦ Slowing down will improve enunciation.
◦ Speaking in public is different than personal
conversation. Public speaking requires that you
clearly pronounce each individual word.
◦ It may sound unnaturally precise to your ears, but
your audience will thank you!

Pronunciation
◦ If you are unsure how to pronounce a word, look it
up in the dictionary or ask someone.
◦ If you continually stumble over a particular word,
pick a different word!
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Make sure you are using correct grammar! If you
have a question about proper grammar, ask!
Use vocabulary appropriate to your audience. If
you use an uncommon, technical word that your
audience would not know, explain it.
Use transition words to move from point to point.
Examples of transitions are the first thing, next,
finally, however. YOU ARE ALREADY
EXPERIENCED PUBLIC SPEAKERS. AVOID THE “IN
CONCLUSION” CONCLUSION!!!

Eye Contact!!!!
◦ This is imperative! Make your audience feel like you
are including them in your presentation.
◦ If you are nervous, look above the audience’s head.
◦ Do not read from your notes! They are there only
to help you get from one point to the next. You
should only have to glance at them while speaking.
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Your pace should be brisk enough to keep us
interested, but slow enough that we aren’t
struggling to discern what you are saying.
Your delivery should be smooth. There
should not be any long pauses or stumbling
once you begin speaking. The best way to
improve smoothness is to practice out loud
often.
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No distracting gestures. These include
tucking your hair behind your ear, tapping
your fingers or toes, fussing with your
clothing. Anything that you do that we notice
over and over distracts us from what you are
saying.
No vocalized pauses. Try to clean up all the
ums, uhs, likes and so forth from your
speech.
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Some speeches may require a visual aid.
Make it interesting!
The only way you are going to fit within the
time constraints is to practice and continually
tweak your work until it is just perfect! As
always, a 15 second buffer in either direction
will apply.
Have fun!

Fairy Tale 2:00-2:30

Personal Experience 2:00-2:30

Job/College 2:30-3:00

Informational 2:30-3:00

Power Point 3:00-5:00