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Preparing to speak

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Juan Ramos

This document provides tips for preparing and delivering an effective speech. It discusses the importance of having a strong introduction that gets the audience's attention and establishes credibility. The body of the speech should answer questions the audience likely has and prioritize key points. Effective delivery requires practicing multiple times, maintaining eye contact with the audience, and using cue cards strategically. The conclusion should signal that the speech is ending and reinforce the central idea. Humor can engage audiences if used appropriately for the context and audience. Body language also significantly impacts delivery, so speakers should communicate positively and naturally.

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PREPARING TO SPEAKPresented by COLIN PRING
Good beginning and endingFirst impressions are very important, as you know. A poor beginning may distract your audience that you may never recover. Having a good beginning is a confidence booster and will propel you into the rest of your speech.
In most speeches, just as in any essay, there are three objectives you need to accomplish at the outset: Get the attention and interest of your audience.
Reveal the topic of your speech.
Establish your credibility and good will. Getting the Attention and Interest of Your AudienceBefore beginning your speech, wait until you have the attention of your audience. Look at them and wait until all eyes are on you.
If when you did your audience analysis, you determined that this topic will be of interest to them, keeping their attention is the only worry you have.If you determined that they will have little interest, you must generate some.
Here are some methods to help you:•Relate the Topic to the Audience•State the Importance of Your Topic •Startle Your Audience•Arouse the Curiosity of the Audience•Question the Audience•Begin with a Quotation•Tell a Story
Reveal the TopicIn the process of gaining attention, be sure to state clearly the topic of your speech. If you do not, your listeners will be confused. And once they are confused, your chances of getting them absorbed in the speech are almost nil. This is so basic, that it seems silly to have to mention it, but many speakers fail to do this .
Establish Good Will and CredibilityThe last objective in the introduction is to establish your credibility, why you're qualified to speak on this subject. Give your audience some reasons to believe that you know what you are talking about.
Establishing good will is essential if you are speaking to a hostile audience. You must make an effort to ensure that at your audience will at least consider your point of view.
Ending your speech gracefully is an art. Your final impression will probably linger longer in the minds of your audience. The conclusion has two functions: To let the audience know you are ending the speech. To reinforce the audience's understanding of, or commitment to, the central idea.
Signal the EndIt may seem obvious that you should let the audience know that you have come to the end of your speech, but some speakers end so abruptly that the audience in taken by surprise.
How do you end? One way is by using phrases like, "In conclusion," "In closing,“ "Let me end by saying," "My purpose has been," or words to that effect. You can also let your audience know by the manner of your delivery, building to a climax.
Body of speechQuestions to ask to prepare: Who is the audience? Why are they coming?Can organizer provide demographics?Can you look at last year’s programs? Were there reviews of the event on blogs?What are other speakers speaking about?
2. Will this be a keynote lecture (more scripted) or small (more interactive)?3. Create a list of questions audience will want answered in the talk4. Prioritize the list and sketch out stories / ideas / points5. Budget at least 10x time to prepare ( 1 hour talk will take roughly 10 hours of preparation)
6. Develop ten minutes of rough draft material7. Practice the ten minutes. Do not procrastinate.8. Revise material when it doesn’t work, then practice again from beginning. Repeat as necessary. Do a test run in front of people who will give honest feedback (Or videotape and watch).
Practice with a clock with goal to end reliably with an extra 5 minutes.Ask for emergency contact cell#, give organizer yoursGet directions to the venue, including office-park insanity, and within building insanityIf appropriate, post slides to web, include URL at end of talk
QuotesThe following quotes are about the Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence. Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army. ~
The principal goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done.   Jean PiagetI respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education. Wilson Mizner
HumourThe use of humour in a speech may seem like an “easy” way to warm up an audience or to get a point across but if used inappropriately, it can rapidly backfire.
Many public speakers have discovered, to their horror, that what they thought was funny or silly was deemed tactless or rude by listeners.
Some good rules of thumb to follow when determining whether or not to infuse one’s speech with humour include the three noted below:Let the Speech Venue Be a GuideObviously, if you’re making a speech at a funeral or memorial service, you would be best to keep humour to a minimum.
Certainly, you might want to interject a few sweet, touching remarks to lighten a somber mood “My grandmother was one of the most giving persons in the world… except, of course, from 3:00-4:00 p.m. each weekday when she was glued to the telly watching her ‘stories’. We quickly learned never to have a crisis during that timeframe because woe to anyone who tore her away from those programmes!”
But don’t try to make a sad occasion “happy” by being overly jovial.
Sometimes it’s not always obvious as to humour’s place in a speech. For instance, if you’ve been asked to talk for two minutes at a wedding, you might be tempted to fill your time with anecdotes or jokes about the couple or their relatives.
Unfortunately, doing so might backfire, especially if the bride, groom, and guests are of a more stoical nature.
Be Honest about Your Comfort Level with HumourNot everyone is comfortable making people laugh. Sure, they enjoy a chuckle, but they usually aren’t the ones to initiate a funny story. For those persons, trying to be humourous adds an undue burden that can cause speech making to become more complicated than it needs to be.
Watch Your Language and the Type of HumourMany individuals erroneously equate humour with foul language or lewd imagery; not surprisingly, public speakers who rely on such bawdiness are usually not asked to give speeches again.
Be extremely cautious when telling or making a joke during your speech, as you could unknowingly offend audience members. What may seem like an innocuous comment to you could wind up causing someone else to walk out of your speech in a huff.
In other words we have to teach our students to present their speech appropriately for the occasion. Get them write their speech with the right words that precisely give the meaning across and teach them techniques that manage auditoriums.
EyecontactGiving a successful speech requires many things, but the most important is making eye contact. It is a must in communicating with people even one-on-one while in a crowd. Learn these tips to making successful speeches using eye contact.
CuecardsWhen you master using cue or note cards, your entire delivery is enlivened. It becomes more spontaneous and when that happens your audience appreciates it.
The best cue cards:have ONE main heading or idea per cardare written clearly using larger than usual font (so you can read them easily)have plenty of white space around each word or phrase to help them stand outuse bullet points or numbers to itemise the supporting ideas under the main heading
are written on ONE side of the card onlyare clearly numbered so that you know the order they come inare color-coded clearly showing your main idea, supporting ideas, examples and links.have where props are to be shown. For example: Main Idea One - Supporting Idea - Example - Show slide 1
have approximate timings marked so you can track yourself through your allotted time. If you find you're going over you can adjust by leaving out an extra example or conversely if you're under time, you can add one in
Body languageIt is often said that in face-to-face and even body-to-body communications, the words we speak actually account for less than 10% of the message that we convey, while body language accounts for more than half of our message (our tone of voice supposedly communicates the rest).
CommunicatewithimpactBe naturalIdentify your body language patternsCorrect the bigproblemHave more than one gesture to "get the message Direct the most positive gestures toward the listener

More Related Content

Preparing to speak

  • 2. Good beginning and endingFirst impressions are very important, as you know. A poor beginning may distract your audience that you may never recover. Having a good beginning is a confidence booster and will propel you into the rest of your speech.
  • 3. In most speeches, just as in any essay, there are three objectives you need to accomplish at the outset: Get the attention and interest of your audience.
  • 4. Reveal the topic of your speech.
  • 5. Establish your credibility and good will. Getting the Attention and Interest of Your AudienceBefore beginning your speech, wait until you have the attention of your audience. Look at them and wait until all eyes are on you.
  • 6. If when you did your audience analysis, you determined that this topic will be of interest to them, keeping their attention is the only worry you have.If you determined that they will have little interest, you must generate some.
  • 7. Here are some methods to help you:•Relate the Topic to the Audience•State the Importance of Your Topic •Startle Your Audience•Arouse the Curiosity of the Audience•Question the Audience•Begin with a Quotation•Tell a Story
  • 8. Reveal the TopicIn the process of gaining attention, be sure to state clearly the topic of your speech. If you do not, your listeners will be confused. And once they are confused, your chances of getting them absorbed in the speech are almost nil. This is so basic, that it seems silly to have to mention it, but many speakers fail to do this .
  • 9. Establish Good Will and CredibilityThe last objective in the introduction is to establish your credibility, why you're qualified to speak on this subject. Give your audience some reasons to believe that you know what you are talking about.
  • 10. Establishing good will is essential if you are speaking to a hostile audience. You must make an effort to ensure that at your audience will at least consider your point of view.
  • 11. Ending your speech gracefully is an art. Your final impression will probably linger longer in the minds of your audience. The conclusion has two functions: To let the audience know you are ending the speech. To reinforce the audience's understanding of, or commitment to, the central idea.
  • 12. Signal the EndIt may seem obvious that you should let the audience know that you have come to the end of your speech, but some speakers end so abruptly that the audience in taken by surprise.
  • 13. How do you end? One way is by using phrases like, "In conclusion," "In closing,“ "Let me end by saying," "My purpose has been," or words to that effect. You can also let your audience know by the manner of your delivery, building to a climax.
  • 14. Body of speechQuestions to ask to prepare: Who is the audience? Why are they coming?Can organizer provide demographics?Can you look at last year’s programs? Were there reviews of the event on blogs?What are other speakers speaking about?
  • 15. 2. Will this be a keynote lecture (more scripted) or small (more interactive)?3. Create a list of questions audience will want answered in the talk4. Prioritize the list and sketch out stories / ideas / points5. Budget at least 10x time to prepare ( 1 hour talk will take roughly 10 hours of preparation)
  • 16. 6. Develop ten minutes of rough draft material7. Practice the ten minutes. Do not procrastinate.8. Revise material when it doesn’t work, then practice again from beginning. Repeat as necessary. Do a test run in front of people who will give honest feedback (Or videotape and watch).
  • 17. Practice with a clock with goal to end reliably with an extra 5 minutes.Ask for emergency contact cell#, give organizer yoursGet directions to the venue, including office-park insanity, and within building insanityIf appropriate, post slides to web, include URL at end of talk
  • 18. QuotesThe following quotes are about the Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence. Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army. ~
  • 19. The principal goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done.   Jean PiagetI respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education. Wilson Mizner
  • 20. HumourThe use of humour in a speech may seem like an “easy” way to warm up an audience or to get a point across but if used inappropriately, it can rapidly backfire.
  • 21. Many public speakers have discovered, to their horror, that what they thought was funny or silly was deemed tactless or rude by listeners.
  • 22. Some good rules of thumb to follow when determining whether or not to infuse one’s speech with humour include the three noted below:Let the Speech Venue Be a GuideObviously, if you’re making a speech at a funeral or memorial service, you would be best to keep humour to a minimum.
  • 23. Certainly, you might want to interject a few sweet, touching remarks to lighten a somber mood “My grandmother was one of the most giving persons in the world… except, of course, from 3:00-4:00 p.m. each weekday when she was glued to the telly watching her ‘stories’. We quickly learned never to have a crisis during that timeframe because woe to anyone who tore her away from those programmes!”
  • 24. But don’t try to make a sad occasion “happy” by being overly jovial.
  • 25. Sometimes it’s not always obvious as to humour’s place in a speech. For instance, if you’ve been asked to talk for two minutes at a wedding, you might be tempted to fill your time with anecdotes or jokes about the couple or their relatives.
  • 26. Unfortunately, doing so might backfire, especially if the bride, groom, and guests are of a more stoical nature.
  • 27. Be Honest about Your Comfort Level with HumourNot everyone is comfortable making people laugh. Sure, they enjoy a chuckle, but they usually aren’t the ones to initiate a funny story. For those persons, trying to be humourous adds an undue burden that can cause speech making to become more complicated than it needs to be.
  • 28. Watch Your Language and the Type of HumourMany individuals erroneously equate humour with foul language or lewd imagery; not surprisingly, public speakers who rely on such bawdiness are usually not asked to give speeches again.
  • 29. Be extremely cautious when telling or making a joke during your speech, as you could unknowingly offend audience members. What may seem like an innocuous comment to you could wind up causing someone else to walk out of your speech in a huff.
  • 30. In other words we have to teach our students to present their speech appropriately for the occasion. Get them write their speech with the right words that precisely give the meaning across and teach them techniques that manage auditoriums.
  • 31. EyecontactGiving a successful speech requires many things, but the most important is making eye contact. It is a must in communicating with people even one-on-one while in a crowd. Learn these tips to making successful speeches using eye contact.
  • 32. CuecardsWhen you master using cue or note cards, your entire delivery is enlivened. It becomes more spontaneous and when that happens your audience appreciates it.
  • 33. The best cue cards:have ONE main heading or idea per cardare written clearly using larger than usual font (so you can read them easily)have plenty of white space around each word or phrase to help them stand outuse bullet points or numbers to itemise the supporting ideas under the main heading
  • 34. are written on ONE side of the card onlyare clearly numbered so that you know the order they come inare color-coded clearly showing your main idea, supporting ideas, examples and links.have where props are to be shown. For example: Main Idea One - Supporting Idea - Example - Show slide 1
  • 35. have approximate timings marked so you can track yourself through your allotted time. If you find you're going over you can adjust by leaving out an extra example or conversely if you're under time, you can add one in
  • 36. Body languageIt is often said that in face-to-face and even body-to-body communications, the words we speak actually account for less than 10% of the message that we convey, while body language accounts for more than half of our message (our tone of voice supposedly communicates the rest).
  • 37. CommunicatewithimpactBe naturalIdentify your body language patternsCorrect the bigproblemHave more than one gesture to "get the message Direct the most positive gestures toward the listener
  • 38. Say what you mean. Use your body language to help you understand how you feelTreat the cause, not the symptoms