Unit Iv On Public Speaking
Unit Iv On Public Speaking
Unit Iv On Public Speaking
Learning Objectives:
Lesson Proper
When we talk about giving a speech, the first thing we imagine is someone talking. The fact
is; public speaking is more than just the act of speaking in front of an audience. It goes way
beyond that.
There are many reasons why giving a speech is important. Do not underestimate the power
of speech because a great speech can change the world. Believe it or not, a speech can make
a difference. So, what makes a speech so powerful?
opinions and views. We can stand up and fight for what we believe in. We can present our
arguments in doing what we think is right.
A speech can be a powerful tool… but there is one thing I keep telling myself;
“The power of speech can only work if it is delivered with passion, strong beliefs and with the
right intention. Without these, the speech is powerless”
-Intan Salwana –
1. Informative Speech
Anything that is visible and tangible is considered an object. Object speeches seek to impart
knowledge about this object to the audience. Whether your object is the human body or the
most recent episode of Family Guy, informative object speeches provide a comprehensive
overview of your object as topic. It's important that object speeches have a purpose: using
our previous examples, you may discuss the complex, myriad ways in which the endocrine
system functions and how it regulates metabolism; similarly, you may describe how Family
Guy serves as a modern form of satire in pop culture. It's one thing to spout off facts about
an object, but there must be a purpose to those facts.
Any occurrence that happens is regarded as an "event.” A speech about an event then,
describes the occurrence in full: the time, date, location, and circumstances of that
occurrence. Like all informative speeches, event speeches must also serve a purpose. You
may talk about how the Battles of Lexington and Concord came to be known as the "shot
heard 'round the world," or describe the experience of your first week at college. In either
case, your speech must have a purpose to it.
Concepts refer to ideas, beliefs, theories, attitudes, and/or principles. When speaking about
concepts, you may have to find concrete ideas in order to make abstract ideas more
relatable and tangible to your audience. Whether discussing the theory of the origins of the
universe to whether there's any truth to the phrase "love at first sight," concept speeches
break down complex ideas into manageable chunks of understanding for your
2. Persuasive Speech
A persuasive speech is a specific type of speech in which the speaker has a goal of
convincing the audience to accept his or her point of view. The speech is arranged in such a
way as to hopefully cause the audience to accept all or part of the expressed view. Though
the overarching goal of a persuasive speech is to convince the audience to accept a
perspective, not all audiences can be convinced by a single speech and not all perspectives
can persuade the audience. The success of a persuasive speech is often measured by the
audience’s willingness to consider the speaker’s argument.
3. Entertainment Speech
The primary purpose of a speech to entertain is to have the audience relax, smile and enjoy
the occasion. The speech should have a central theme or a focus. A series of jokes will NOT
work well for this type of speech. This type of speech aims to amuse and delight people and
offers lighter moments to people to make them run away from the usual humdrums of
everyday life.
Give a dramatic twist to normal issue
Perform dialogues and metaphors
Tell a personal experience and interrelate humorous anecdote to the main theme
Give mocking comments on perfectly ordinary things, persons, places, values or
thoughts
The easiest approach to speech delivery is not always the best. Substantial work goes into
the careful preparation of an interesting and ethical message, so it is understandable that
students may have the impulse to avoid “messing it up” by simply reading it word for word.
But students who do this miss out on one of the major reasons for studying public speaking:
to learn ways to “connect” with one’s audience and to increase one’s confidence in doing so.
You already know how to read, and you already know how to talk. But public speaking is
neither reading nor talking.
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Speaking in public has more formality than talking. During a speech, you should present
yourself professionally. This doesn’t mean you must wear a suit or “dress up” (unless your
instructor asks you to), but it does mean making yourself presentable by being well
groomed and wearing clean, appropriate clothes. It also means being prepared to use
language correctly and appropriately for the audience and the topic, to make eye contact
with your audience, and to look like you know your topic very well.
While speaking has more formality than talking, it has less formality than reading. Speaking
allows for meaningful pauses, eye contact, small changes in word order, and vocal emphasis.
Reading is a more or less exact replication of words on paper without the use of any
nonverbal interpretation. Speaking, as you will realize if you think about excellent speakers
you have seen and heard, provides a more animated message.
The advantage to reading from a manuscript is the exact repetition of original words. As we
mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, in some circumstances this can be extremely
important. For example, reading a statement about your organization’s legal responsibilities
to customers may require that the original words be exact. In reading one word at a time, in
order, the only errors would typically be mispronunciation of a word or stumbling over
complex sentence structure.
However, there are costs involved in manuscript speaking. First, it’s typically an
uninteresting way to present. Unless the speaker has rehearsed the reading as a complete
performance animated with vocal expression and gestures (as poets do in a poetry slam and
actors do in a reader’s theater), the presentation tends to be dull. Keeping one’s eyes glued
to the script precludes eye contact with the audience. For this kind of “straight” manuscript
speech to hold audience attention, the audience must be already interested in the message
before the delivery begins.
It is worth noting that professional speakers, actors, news reporters, and politicians often
read from an autocue device, such as a TelePrompTer, especially when appearing on
television, where eye contact with the camera is crucial. With practice, a speaker can
achieve a conversational tone and give the impression of speaking extemporaneously while
using an autocue device. However, success in this medium depends on two factors: (1) the
speaker is already an accomplished public speaker who has learned to use a conversational
tone while delivering a prepared script, and (2) the speech is written in a style that sounds
conversational.
Memorized speaking is the rote recitation of a written message that the speaker has
committed to memory. Actors, of course, recite from memory whenever they perform from
a script in a stage play, television program, or movie scene. When it comes to speeches,
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memorization can be useful when the message needs to be exact and the speaker doesn’t
want to be confined by notes.
The advantage to memorization is that it enables the speaker to maintain eye contact with
the audience throughout the speech. Being free of notes means that you can move freely
around the stage and use your hands to make gestures. If your speech uses visual aids, this
freedom is even more of an advantage. However, there are some real and potential costs.
First, unless you also plan and memorize every vocal cue (the subtle but meaningful
variations in speech delivery, which can include the use of pitch, tone, volume, and pace),
gesture, and facial expression, your presentation will be flat and uninteresting, and even the
most fascinating topic will suffer. You might end up speaking in a monotone or a sing-song
repetitive delivery pattern. You might also present your speech in a rapid “machine-gun”
style that fails to emphasize the most important points. Second, if you lose your place and
start trying to ad lib, the contrast in your style of delivery will alert your audience that
something is wrong. More frighteningly, if you go completely blank during the presentation,
it will be extremely difficult to find your place and keep going.
3. Impromptu Speaking
The advantage of this kind of speaking is that it’s spontaneous and responsive in an
animated group context. The disadvantage is that the speaker is given little or no time to
contemplate the central theme of his or her message. As a result, the message may be
disorganized and difficult for listeners to follow.
Here is a step-by-step guide that may be useful if you are called upon to give an impromptu
speech in public.
Take a moment to collect your thoughts and plan the main point you want to make.
Thank the person for inviting you to speak.
Deliver your message, making your main point as briefly as you can while still
covering it adequately and at a pace your listeners can follow.
Thank the person again for the opportunity to speak.
Stop talking.
As you can see, impromptu speeches are generally most successful when they are brief and
focus on a single point.
4. Extemporaneous Speaking
manuscript, the extemporaneous speaker can establish and maintain eye contact with the
audience and assess how well they are understanding the speech as it progresses. The
opportunity to assess is also an opportunity to restate more clearly any idea or concept that
the audience seems to have trouble grasping.
For instance, suppose you are speaking about workplace safety and you use the term “sleep
deprivation.” If you notice your audience’s eyes glazing over, this might not be a result of
their own sleep deprivation, but rather an indication of their uncertainty about what you
mean. If this happens, you can add a short explanation; for example, “sleep deprivation is
sleep loss serious enough to threaten one’s cognition, hand-to-eye coordination, judgment,
and emotional health.” You might also (or instead) provide a concrete example to illustrate
the idea. Then you can resume your message, having clarified an important concept.
Speaking extemporaneously has some advantages. It promotes the likelihood that you, the
speaker, will be perceived as knowledgeable and credible. In addition, your audience is
likely to pay better attention to the message because it is engaging both verbally and
nonverbally. The disadvantage of extemporaneous speaking is that it requires a great deal
of preparation for both the verbal and the nonverbal components of the speech. Adequate
preparation cannot be achieved the day before you’re scheduled to speak.
Because extemporaneous speaking is the style used in the great majority of public speaking
situations, most of the information in this chapter is targeted to this kind of speaking.
1. Choosing a Topic
Choosing a speech topic can sometimes feel harder than giving the actual speech. When
deciding on a speech or presentation topic, you might naturally want to talk about
something you know very well. Although this is important, it’s only part of the equation
when deciding on a suitable speech topic.
You need to ask yourself three questions about the topic, linking your expertise, passion and
the audience.
a) How much do I know about the topic? Your audience needs to recognise you as a
credible speaker and being knowledgeable about your topic is an easy way to do
this. A good understanding will help you explain difficult parts of the topic and give
you more confidence during the questions and answers session.
b) Am I passionate about the topic? Your passion on the topic will affect all areas of
your delivery, including body language, eye contact and energy levels. If you are
interested in the topic, you’ll engage with the audience better and generally make
for a more interesting speech.
c) Will the audience be interested in the topic? If the audience doesn’t see how they
can learn something useful from your topic, they’ll either not turn up or switch off
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early during the speech. Remember that your speech topic needs to contain value
for the audience.
What type of audience will you be speaking to? In order to talk about a topic your audience
care about, you’ll need to perform a quick analysis of your audience. There are several
methods to do this, including:
a) Find out if there are any other speakers and their topics if possible (if they are very
technical, it gives you an idea of the type of audience)
b) Look at the event social media and read through previous comments
c) Contact the event host to ask for more information about the types of audience that
usually attend (for example, how many are international)
d) Find out the size of the audience (this may determine the structure of your speech,
including where to do the question and answer session, whether to include humour
etc.)
There are a few audience characteristics which might determine the speech topic you select,
including:
Average age
Gender (will it be a mostly female audience?)
Ethnic background
Types of career (is it a business focused event?)
Knowledge of the topic
After you figured out what topic you would like to discuss to the type of audience that you
have, the next thing that you would want to do is to gather relevant information to support
your claim/s. The following are useful tips in sourcing information/data:
Make sure you find credible sources of information, whether they be from scholarly
sources that have been peer-reviewed, or irrefutable facts.
There are many places you can go to research; while the internet might seem like
the easiest place to find information, you always want to double check to make sure
those sources are accurate and credible.
Don’t use research that might be outdated, particularly with regard to scientific or
technological advances.
Make sure you acknowledge your sources. You may not directly reference them in
your speech, but if questioned afterward, you’ll want to know from where you found
your information.
Never copy information word for word and claim it as your own; this is plagiarism
and erodes the ethical integrity of you, your speech, and your reputation.
A. The Introduction
Focuses the attention of your audience. Use to command the attention of the
audience and get them interested in the speech. Avoid gimmicks and stay
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consistent with your speech topic and style of speaking. Can include
humor, startling ideas, drama, suspenseful story, quotations, etc.
Orients your audience to the topic. Give your audience a sense of why the
subject matter of your speech is relevant or important, set the stage
and prepare them for the main ideas of the speech to come.
Presents the thesis. State a single, clear, identifiable thesis in a way that is as
concrete, specific, and precise as possible.
Previews the content of the speech. Give the audience a preview of the ideas
to come and their organization. This makes your speech much easier to
follow and aids in audience retention.
B. The Body
Organized around a limited number of main ideas. Audiences have to remember all
of your ideas and their connections. Most speakers should work to limit themselves
to 3-5 main ideas which are organized in a clear pattern that is highlighted for the
audience.
Transitioning and signposting: Like in papers they help the speech hang together,
defining the connections and relationships between the major elements of the
speech. Overt and deliberate transitions are even more critical for speeches than
essays because audience cannot go back to catch a link they may have missed the
first time.
C. The Conclusion
Summarizes your main points. Remind the audience of the main ideas explored in
your speech. Paraphrase and combine in logical ways—do not just mechanically
recount the previous ideas.
Leave your audience with something to think about.
Speeches should end with a bang, not a whimper. Try to finish with a sentence or two that
leaves your audience with a sense of the significance of what they just heard. This may be
accomplished by returning to the focus of the introduction, ending with a powerful and
appropriate quotation, or concluding with your own assessment of the importance of the
topic.
“Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told
them.”
There are some (lucky!) people that seem to be born to speak in public. The rest of us,
however, may need a little coaching and prodding to deliver our speeches more eloquently.
Whilst it might take some work to feel like a polished pro, using the following practical
speech delivery tips will certainly help to get you on your way to being a more effective,
dynamic speaker.
(b) Movement - All the movements on the stage should be voluntary and warranted.
Nervousness can cause involuntary movements which can distress both the speaker and the
audience. If the speaker gets involved in the speech and trusts the audience, nervousness
can go. No movement can happen on the stage without reason. Movements driven by the
speech can help the speaker maintain contact with all the sections of the audience.
(c) Posture: A confident speaker stands straight with his arms well relaxed. Nervous
speakers sprawl on the podium and lean against the wall. There is always fear and
tension. Great speakers on the other hand take an informal posture and relax their
audience too. Informal postures get the speaker a positive reaction from the audience.
The expressions and the tone used by the speaker should go hand in hand with the message
and the emotions that are delivered. For example, the expression and tone of the speaker
should be serious when he delivers a serious message and sad when he delivers something
sad. Any deviation in this would confuse the audience.
(e) Eye Contact: It is one of the most important gestures. It not only increases the
speaker’s direct contact with the audience but also increases their interest in their
speech. Direct eye contact helps the speaker understand audience reaction then and there
and it makes the occasion less frightening.
(f) Volume: It is confirmed by the number of the audience but it should be loud enough
for the speech to reach everybody. The beginners who have stage fear are usually not
loud enough and it is they who should check it through rehearsals.
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(g) Articulation: It is the right pronunciation of all the words. The people who suffer
stage fright commit the mistake of deletion, addition, adding extra parts towards
slurring. Perfect articulation and Standard English are a must for any public speaker.
(h) Time: Time is an important factor in Speech delivery. At the outset, the speaker should
know the amount of time given for his speech and prepare accordingly. Sticking to time can
be achieved by proper rehearsals.
(i) Language: The speaker should use the language well suited for the audience. Too much
of scientific terms may not go well with the common public. The words that the speak uses
should be readily understood by the audience. It is good to stoop to the level of the
audience.
“Don’t use a big word where a small one could do.” – George Orwell.
(j) Use Short stories, Anecdotes and Quotations according to the need. It is always good to
start the speech with a small story as stories normally arouse interest. But remember, too
much of anything is good for nothing.
You can't expect to get up on stage and give a modern-day Gettysburg Address. There is no
such thing as perfection. Not in public speaking or any other venture in life.
Get past the idea that you have to deliver a flawless speech, because - as any seasoned
public speaker will tell you - it's improbable to happen.
It is good to want to do your best and to have competent public speaking skills, but don't tax
yourself with unrealistic expectations.
What you SHOULD expect is to prepare, practice and do your best. That's all you can do.
The old cliché isn't true - practice may NOT make perfect. But regardless, practicing until
your delivery is proficient will undoubtedly make your speech much better.
We do things better when we do them repeatedly. Skills are developed over time and
repetition is the best teacher there is. Take every opportunity to practice.
Practice in front of a mirror. Ask friends or family to be a small audience. Ask someone to
film you, then watch yourself (cringe) to see how you could improve. Heck, you can even
practice using your dog as an audience. The more you go through your speech, the smoother
it will go when the big day finally arrives.
Developing effective public speaking skills may not happen overnight, but it is worth
putting in the effort. There are enormous benefits to becoming comfortable with public
speaking which can influence all aspects of your day to day life.
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As you become more proficient in speaking ability, you'll find yourself overcoming the fear
that holds many people back from achieving their potential. You may become a professional
speaker or entertainer, but, even if not, mastering effective public speaking is a worthwhile
investment to make in yourself.
REFERENCES
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http://speechcommunicationmt.blogspot.com/2016/10/types-of-speeches-according-to-
purpose.html
https://publicspeakingiscool.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-power-of-speech.html Written
by: Intan Salwana Anis
@2019 Public Speaking Is Cool. All Rights Reserved
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-communications/chapter/steps-of-preparing-a-
speech/
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