Public Speaking
The Process
Select Your Topic and Purpose
• Topic - something that is interesting
to you and your audience.
• Depends upon the type of speech you
are giving.
Select Your Topic and Purpose
• Informative - select a topic somewhat
familiar to your audience, but will
make them wanting more.
• Persuasive - choose either a topic your
audience agrees with or disagrees
with.
• Narrative - tell a story your audience
will find interesting.
Select Your Topic and Purpose
• taboo - a topic that causes conflict.
• Avoid taboos in speeches.
Select Your Topic and Purpose
• How to find your topic:
• Topic Lists
• Surveys
• News Items
• Personal Interest
Select Your Topic and Purpose
• Limit your topic - plan to cover a topic
in depth rather than a broad, general
topic.
Select Your Topic and Purpose
• Purpose
• General purpose - inform, persuade,
narrate
• Specific purpose - identifies the
information you want to
communicate to your audience.
Analyze Your Audience
• Important factors to know about your
audience:
• culture
• age
• gender
• religion/religiousness
Analyze Your Audience
• How does your audience think?
• How willing is your audience?
• How knowledgeable is your
audience?
• How favorable is your audience?
Analyze Your Audience
• Analyze and Adapt
• Focus on your listeners as message
senders
• Address audience responses
directly
Research Your Topic
• Begin searching what you already
know
• Get an overview of the topic
• Follow up with more detailed and
specific sources
Research
• How do you integrate research into
your speech?
Research
• Example:
• My discussion of the causes of
anorexic nervosa is based on the work
of Dr. Peter Rowan of the Priory
Hospital in London. In an article titled
“Introducing Anorexia Nervosa,”
Rowan notes that “this is a disorder of
many causes that come together.” It’s
these causes I want to cover today.
Research
• Introduce the quote
• Author
• Where you got the information
• Explain how it relates
• Use quote to continue your thoughts
Thesis and Main Points
• Start with your thesis - main idea
• What is your “claim”? What is the
main thought behind your speech?
What are you saying?
Thesis and Main Points
• Main Points
• These are the points you want your
audience to take away from your
speech
• Select points that are most relevant,
not just to fill space
• Shoot for around 3 main points.
Support Your Main Points
• Examples, illustrations, testimony
• Definitions
• Statistics
• Logical support
• Motivational support
• Credibility
Organize Your Information
• Time
• Spatial
• Topical
• Problem-Solution
• Cause-Effect/Effect-
Cause
• Motivated Sequence
• Structure-Function
• Compare-Contrast
• Pros and Cons
• Claim and Proof
• Multiple Definitions
• Who, What, When,
Where, Why
• Fiction-Fact
Time
• Organize major issues on the basis of
some time, or temporal relationship
• Organize into two, three, or four major
parts.
• Typically used for historical events or
topics that take place in time.
Spatial
• Patterning the main points on the
basis of space or physical location.
• Discussions of physical objects or
travel fit well.
Topical Pattern
• Divides the speech into subtopics or
component parts.
• Useful for discussing larger topics that
have multiple parts.
Problem-Solution
• Divides main topic into two main
parts: problems and solutions.
• Useful for persuasive speeches.
• You must provide solutions to
problems.
Cause-Effect/EffectCause
• Similar to problem-solution
• Useful for persuasive speeches
• Divide into causes and effects
Motivated Sequence
• Arrange information to motivate your
audience to respond positively to your
purpose
• Attention
• Need
• Satisfaction
• Visualization
• Action
Structure-Function
• Discussion of how something is
constructed.
• Useful in informative speeches.
Comparison-Contrast
• Discussion of how two things are
similar and different
• Useful in informative
Pro and Con
• Useful in informative speeches
• Objective explanations
Claim and Proof
• Prove truth or usefulness of a
proposition
• Useful for persuasive
• Used frequently in trials
Multiple Definition
• Useful in informative speeches
• Explain the nature of a concept
Who, What, Why, Where,
When
• Useful in informative speeches
• Mainly for reporting events
Fiction-Fact
• Useful in clarifying misconceptions
(think Mythbusters)
• Informative or Persuasive
Discussion
• George and Rose want to give their
speeches on opposite sides of Megan’s
law-the law requiring that community
residents be notified if a convicted sex
offender is living in close proximity. If
George and Rose were giving their
speeches to our class, what would you
advise each of them to do concerning
the statement of their thesis?
Discussion
• You’re to give a speech to your class
on the need to establish a day care
center for parents who attend college
but have no means to hire people to
take care of their children. You want
to use the motivated sequence. How
would you accomplish each step?
Practice
• Conduct a biographical search for
some famous person you’re interested
in.
• Create a one minute speech using one
of the strategies discussed about your
chosen individual.
Public Speaking
Preparation and Delivery
Word Your Speech
• Your speech must be understood
immediately by your audience.
• Be sure to use qualifiers: however,
although, perhaps, etc.
Word Your Speech
• Clarity
• Vividness
• Appropriateness
• Personal Style
• Power
• Sentence Construction
Clarity
• Be Economical - Don’t waste words.
• Use Specific Terms and Numbers
• Use Guide Phrases - first, second, also...
• Use Short, Familiar Terms - favor the
short over the long
• Carefully Assess Idioms - use words
your audience will understand
• Vary the Levels of Abstraction Combine high abstraction with low
Vividness
• Use Active Verbs
• Use Figures of Speech
• Use Imagery
Appropriateness
• Speak at the appropriate level of
formality
• Avoid Written-style expression
(former, latter, etc)
• Avoid slang, vulgar, and offensive
expressions
Personal Style
• Use personal pronouns
• Direct questions to the audience
• Create immediacy - a connectedness, a
relatedness, a oneness with your
listeners.
Power
• Avoid the following
• Hesitations
• Too many intensifiers
• Disqualifies
• Tag questions
• Self-critical statements
• Slang and vulgar language
Sentence Construction
• Favor short over long sentences
• Favor direct over indirect sentences
• Favor active over passive sentences
• Favor positive over negative
sentences
• Vary the type and length of sentences
Construct
• Build your Conclusion and
Introduction with care
• Both will determine the effectiveness
of your speech.
Conclusion
• Summarize
• Close
Summarize
• Restate your thesis.
• Restate the importance of your thesis.
• Restate your main points.
Close
• Use a quotation.
• Pose a challenge or question.
• Motivate your audience to do
something.
• Thank the audience.
Introduction
• Gain Attention
• Orient the Audience
Gain Attention
• Ask a question
• Refer to specific audience members
• Refer to recent happenings
• Use illustrations or dramatic or
humorous stories
• Use visual aids
Orient the Audience
• Give the audience a general idea of
your subject.
• Give a detailed preview of your main
points.
• Identify the goal you hope to achieve.
Avoiding Some Common Faults
• Don’t start your speech immediately.
• Don’t display discomfort or displeasure.
• Don’t apologize.
• Don’t preface your introduction.
• Don’t introduce new material in your
•
•
conclusion.
Don’t introduce new material in your
conclusion.
Don’t race away from the speaker’s
stand.
Transitions
• Words, phrases, or sentences that
connect the various parts of your
speech.
• Use
• between the introduction and the
body of your speech
• between the body and the conclusion
• between the main points in the body
of the speech.
Transitions
• Announce the start of a main point or
evidence
• Signal you are drawing a conclusion
from evidence
• Alert the audience to an exception
• Remind listeners what you have said
• Signal the next part of your speech.
Internal Summary
• A statement that summarize what you
have already discussed.
Organization
• Preparation Outline
• Template Outline
• Delivery Outline
Rehearse Your Speech
• Impromptu - speaking without
preparation
• Manuscript - write and read speech
• Extemporaneous - know what you
want to say but not reading
Deliver Your Speech
• Voice
• Body
• Notes
Voice
• Volume
• Rate
• Articulation and Pronunciation
• Pauses
Body Action
• Eye Contact
• Facial Expression
• Gestures and Posture
• Movement
Using Notes
• Only use outline (unless manuscript
speech)
• Know your notes so you don’t have to
read them
• Don’t make it obvious that you are
looking at your notes.
Evaluating Speeches
• Say something positive
• Be specific
• Be objective
• Limit criticism
• Be constructive
• Focus on behavior
• Own your own criticism
• Be culturally sensitive