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Public Speaking Tip of the Month
2013 October Tips coming soon! Future tips will cover entertaining speeches, answering the question - how do speaking competitions work and back to the basics - writing a simple speech. 2013 SeptemberHow do you learn to become a good public speaker? - Join a public speaking club. This will provide you with the right atmosphere and a structured learning program.
- Practice.
- Get expert feedback from a qualified critic/tutor/coach.
Rostrum speaking clubs provide all of the above as part of your membership. 2013 August To keep an audience engaged for the duration of
your speech is a mini challenge in itself. One of the tools of the trade is to signpost. That is, to provide enough information to the
audience at the start so they can follow your speech without wondering where it
is going. If they don't know where you
are going with the speech they can easily become distracted and switch off. Signposting enables the audience to keep pace
with your content.
An example of signposting is "It was an
exciting and indeed uplifting journey - for three important reasons. Firstly, I met (reason 1) and then totally out of the blue (reason 2) and finally as the journey drew to an inexplicable end (reason 3). Let me explain."
2013 July Informative speeches. Presenting an informative speech is like
walking a tight rope. Present too much
information and your audience will overload.
Presenting trivial or irrelevant material will soon bore the
audience. So how can you do it? Choose a topic or an approach to a topic that will interest as many of
your audience as possible. That means
that what interests you may not necessarily interest your audience. Know your audience! One way to do it is to ensure your speech has structure. Break it down into digestible pieces and the
audience will be happy to come for the ride.
Having found interesting material, aim to deliver it with an interesting
voice and in an interesting manner. A
flat uninteresting voice will turn people off. Use a range of appropriate volume, pitch and pace. More on this is a later tip.
2013 June
How do you protect the most important tool of the trade for a speaker or presenter, your voice?
Release tension in the throat
Practice huffing from the upper chest
Never scream or shout or strain the throat. Sing, instead.
Prior to speaking, breathe deeply, concentrating only on the breathing - not on your speech!
Hold head in a neutral position to avoid blocking the vocal chords
To discourage cough/phlegm build up
Avoid drinking orange juice an hour before speaking
Avoid consuming a lot of dairy products 24 hours before speaking
Have water at hand prior to speech and during it if necessary
2013 May
Notes. Using notes in a speech is quite OK however there is danger. If you write out your full speech you will be tempted to read from it which means you will lose so much impact. You may also lose your place and you will certainly lose eye contact with the audience. It is better to restrict your notes to dot points - one for each section of the speech e.g 4. If you find you are losing you place put an extra dot point in as a marker. It is best to practice though without notes.
2013 April
Persuasive speeches. Knowing how to present a persuasive speech is a great skill to learn. Being persuasive involves a combination of body language, the use of the voice and material, and in that order.
Body language - Look confident. Adopt a confident stance. Use simple and appropriate gesture.
The voice - you need to speak clearly at an easy pace - soft and reasurring. If you lecture or berate, the audience will turn off.
Speech content - The speech must be well reasoned, logical and to the point, Check all your facts - a simple mistake will ensure you lose all credibility.
2013 March
What is the purpose of a speech? A speech can be made on just about any topic however there are just 3 purposes to a speech - to persuade, to inform or to entertain - easily remembered using the acronym PIE. When preparing a speech the purpose must be kept firmly in mind. It is possible for a speech to have 2 purposes e.g. informative and entertaining but it is always best to focus on one main purpose.
If you want to give an informative speech, be prepared to have facts and figures organised in a logical fashion. Not too many figures though or the audience may become overwhelmed. Weaving a story into a speech is a good technique to use because information can then be presented in a chronological order which makes it easy for the audience to follow. This is why case studies are popular in presentations. Remember - always keep the audience in mind.
2013 February
A speech has 3 parts.
The opening. This is where you tell the audience what you are going to tell them.
The body. Tell them.
The end. Tell them what you told them. In other words, summarise your speech.
The opening - don't be trite, don't ask a weak question, don't open with a long and meandering statement.
Start with a startling or challenging statement or a strong and relevant quotation or a generalisation that is attention getting.
The body - get to the purpose of your speech. More of this in March's tip.
Retain the audiences attention with interesting facts, tell a relevant story, give examples.
Have a point and expound on it. In a 5 minute speech there is only room for 3 points as a maximum.
The ending. Summarise the main points, give the audience something to remember, refer back to your opening lines. Finish forcefully with confidence.
2012 December
The stance - how you stand influences the audience's perception. A confident stance with your feet at shoulder width apart conveys authority. It also provides balance so that you can use a full range of gesture to reinforce your message. Keep your knees straight, but loose and your head up so that your voice projects. You will look the part.
2012 November
November's tip is on the use of gesture in public speaking. By 'gesture' we usually mean the use of arms/hands/fingers to reinforce what you are saying. Examples include using fingers to convey a number, using the width of the hands apart to convey size, pointing to convey direction etc. When people hear a speech they are more likely to be influenced if they 'see' a speech as well. This is why body language is so important. Gesture is just one element of body language.
2012 October
For effective communication a speaker needs to use their voice a lot like a musical instrument. There should be variety in pitch, volume, pace and pauses - all appropriate to the subject matter and to the ocassion of course. There are many voice strengthening exercises available and reading passages from a book out loud will provide practice in voice variation without having to remember a speech.
Simply varying the volume of your speech will greatly enhance your ability as a public speaker. Practise by reading aloud passages from poetry or novels where
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