LECTURE 3

ORAL SKILLS:PUBLIC
SPEAKING

DICKENS NGICHO
 Activity
 Have you ever stood in front of a large
group to present your talk?
 Canyou think of a time when you attended
a bad presentation?
 How about a good one?
 What made them so powerfully good or
bad?
Different presentation styles

Confident speaker nervous speaker

Introduction

 Speech or spoken word is very powerful; it can stir people to mutinies and
rebellions.
 It can turn a hostile crowd to a friendly gathering. The key to success of many
politicians, industrialists, managers, and salesmen lies in their ability to
speak.
 Public speaking, unlike general conversation, requires more systematic and
detailed planning.
 It also demands that an effective speaker understands the audience, the
context and other constraining factors that could affect the quality of
delivery and the subsequent impact.
 objectives
By the end of the lecture, a student should be able to:
 Select an appropriate topic for a selected purpose, audience and
occasion.
 Conduct analyses of audiences and occasions.
 Prepare speech outlines on selected topics.
 Present speeches on selected topics.
 Do post-speech analysis.
 Understand how to use language and organize thoughts to convey
messages to audiences
 Learn appropriate body language and techniques when presenting.
 Utilize techniques to control anxiety.
Definition of public speaking
Public speaking is the process of
speaking to a group of people in a
structured, deliberate manner
intended to inform, influence or
entertain the listeners.
Speech Making Process
 Speechmaking is a process that
involves various stages.
1. Selecting topic of the talk
2. Narrowing the topic
3. Organizing Your Ideas
4. Speech presentation
5. Post speech evaluation
1.Selecting and narrowing the topic selection
 Always see every subject through the eyes of your listeners/audience. It is
important to tailor every topic to suit your particular audience. This should be
reflected in the topic wording, among other things. Use the following criteria:

Criteria Question to ask

Apparent worth Is it important to you and to your

audience?

Appropriateness To your personal interests, the

audience, and the occasion

Availability of material Do not embark on a topic if researching

the content will be a problem no
matter how interesting it is to you.
cont’
 Sometimes the topic is prescribed, but on a number of occasions, you will need to
come up with your own.
 A good topic requires that you consider the audience, the purpose of your speech,
and the speech situation, because these factors influence the success of your
presentation.
Audience analysis
 Audience analysis is your attempt at gaining some working knowledge of your
prospective audience. There are at least three main areas to consider when doing
audience analysis: demographics, psychological, and content factors. Read to get
more information on audience analysis.
● Purpose
 Your purpose is what you want your audience to carry with them and what you
want them to do with it. As Iacocca says:
There is no way around it – you have to do your homework. A speaker may be very
well informed, but if he hasn’t thought out exactly what he wants to say today, to
this audience, he has no business taking up people’s valuable time (Quoted in Gamble
and Gamble, 1993:304).
 cont’
 Remember, your listeners are going to invest their valuable time and other resources, so the
purpose of your speech should be worth their efforts. Some communication experts give three
main purpose categories: to entertain, inform, and persuade, but there are many more direct
and subtle ones such as motivate, challenge, inspire, demonstrate, congratulate, educate and
advise.
 Remember to tailor your speech to meet the needs of the audience, which are quite diverse.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is one way of representing human needs.
● Situation
 This may also be referred to as context or occasion. Speech situation refers to the physical
surroundings and the whole setup of the speech. You may find it necessary to visit the venue of
the presentation ahead of time to know what to expect. It is possible that you will require
certain adjustments to the physical setting or your speech.
● Speech situation checklist
 ● Date of the presentation
 ● Length of the presentation
 ● Venue/Location
 ● Nature of the occasion
 ● Size of the audience
 ● Any other relevant detail
2.Narrowing the topic
 Consider the situational constraints such as time and the nature of the
audience as you go through the process. Start with a broad subject and
brainstorm for ideas to make it manageable: The universe-the galaxy-the
stars-the type of star
 Consider the topic ladder in the following example:
● Poverty eradication in developing countries
• Poverty eradication in Kenya
● Poverty eradication in the arid and semi- arid areas
 After narrowing the topic, do the following to make it easier for you to write
out the speech:
● Formulate a purpose statement: This is a general statement, which gives an
idea of what your speech is about and it is usually stated in the infinitive. E.g. To
inform the audience about the economic steps the government is taking in
eradicating poverty.
● Write out the thesis statement: The thesis statement focuses more on the
content and the direction of the presentation. E.g., the government has
instituted various economic measures as a way of eradicating poverty.
3. Organizing Your Ideas
 Organizing your ideas in a systematic way will keep confusion to a minimum
and facilitate communication between you and your audience. There are
different organizational patterns in writing: topical, temporal, spatial,
problem-solution, cause-effect and motivated sequence.
 Every good speech has three main sections: the introduction, the body, and
the conclusion. The first and the last together occupy approximately 10 to 15
% of the total speech. In other words, as the adage goes, “Tell them what you
are going to tell them, then tell them, and finally tell them what you have
told them.”
 Prepare your speech outline following the three major sections of a speech:
the introduction, body and the conclusion. The number of ideas in your
speech will depend on the time available among other things. Between 4 to 6
ideas are ideal for most speeches.
 4.Speech presentation
Characteristics of effective and efficient speakers:
● Insight
 They know their strengths and weaknesses and make no presumptions about the
topics of their presentation, the audiences or contexts. An effective speaker will take
time to do thorough research on all these elements and any other that might affect
the quality of the presentation.
● Confidence
 Research shows that a speaker who displays high confidence is perceived by the
audience as more accurate, competent, credible, intelligent, knowledgeable, likable,
and believable than one who is less confident and uncertain (Wesson, 2005).
● Connect with their audiences
● Establish eye contact with their audience
● They view the speech as if it was a performance that requires systematic planning,
designing and implementation. They know they have to work hard to keep their listeners
interested in what they have to say. However, they also need to take public speaking as a
way of communicating with their audience. This will help in overcoming stage fright
because not everything needs to be perfect to succeed.
 Cont’
● Are authentic in their presentations.
● Modulate their voices to avoid monotony and adjust their pitch to suit audience
size
● Avoid distracting body language
● Are passionate about their presentations
● Dress well for the occasion
● Know why they are speaking and what they hope to achieve.
● Prepare well for their presentations and do thorough practice and rehearsal
ahead of time.
● Make a post- speech evaluation or analyze their presentations. They believe this
will feed into the next speech and lead to a better performance.
• Always rehearse your presentation or do what is called a “dry run”. This may
show you whether you need to improve on content or on your manner of
presentation. Time yourself in order to ensure that your speech will fit in the
time allocated for that purpose. Establish the speaker -Audience -Topic S-A-T)
connection. Capture their attention. Deliver the speech with confidence.
 5.Post speech evaluation
 Evaluation after any event is important because it
helps you to identify what went well and the areas
that need more attention in future.
 This will help you make better speeches in future.
After all, the adage, “Practice makes perfect”
applies very well in all stages of the speech making
process.
Assignment

 Write a speech about the impacts of online

lecture as a teaching and learning method in
institutions of higher learning.
THANK YOU