Public Speaking 101 Final

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Critical Thinking and Listening

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Making conscious effort to comprehend and evaluate meaning of speaker’s message

Examining others critically will help you become better speaker

Main points
Concentrate on the message
Evaluate evidence and main parts
Listen closely to delivery
Assess overall qualities of speech
Compare and contrast main ideas to own and other audience members

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Analyzing audience:

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Analyze Audiences prior knowledge and opinions on subject can affect how they receive it

Understand audience’s interests, education, and attitudes when selecting topics

Main points
--Compare and contrast audience to hypothetical universal or ideal audience and to general public
--Holds to ideal set of values you hope to find in all rational people
--Use demographic information to analyze audience
--Age, gender, race, income, education
--Consider developing psych profile of audience
--Examines values, beliefs, attitudes towards subject…why they might have convictions
--Develop sense of audience cultural characteristics
--Sensitivity to different genders, income levels, ethnicities, and racial backgrounds. How might different people react?
--Avoid ethnocentricism
--Presupposing that your culture is the best
--Consider where audience obtains information and how sources would influence thinking about your subject
Newspaper, tabloids, news websites, news
magazines, television, other

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Selecting Your Topic:

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Thought and effort
--Good topics address issues not only important and timely, should be relevant and interesting to audience.
Main points
--Begin brainstorming
--List as many ideas as possible. Don’t criticize. Topics of personal interest to you
--Discover more topics. Check reference indexes, internet, --newspapers, periodicals, academic journals
--Generate new topics from those listed
--Narrow them down
--After making big list, select most significant and --appealing to audience
--Use methods in part B (analyzing audience)
--Identify topics best fit speech assignments
--Understand main topics?
--Consider ways to modify topic to fit requirements of assignment
--Clearly explain evidence?
--Do I know enough to make arguments?
better ways to introduce/conclude?
--Do main points lack supporting evidence?
--Do parts of speech fit together?
--Have I chosen best words, phrases, structure?

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Researching Your Topic

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Main points:
--develop list of key terms to gather information
people?
--Definition of topic?
--Controversy?
--Etc…
--Gather information on topic, consult sources
--All types of sources
--Document information and its sources
--Begin evaluating evidence and organizing outline

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Electronic Research

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Databases/internet

Main points
--Use key terms in searches
--Consider where in document term is likely to appear
--Consider ways to expand/narrow search topics
--Use library’s computer informational systems. Call up databases with info on subject
--Look for information by searching internet
--Other sources: databases and webzines
Document source origin and cite when giving speech

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Research Sources

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--Newspapers
--News and current events periodicals
--Economic and business periodicals
--Science, tech, environ. Periodicals
--Encyclopedias
--Biographies
--Almanacs
--Books of quotations
--Dictionaries
--Gov’t documents and indexes
--Databases
--News/current events
--Special topics
--Academic/professional journals
--Non-subscription databases

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Evaluating Source Credibility

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Evaluating Source Credibility
main points
--uncover presuppositions a source may have about topic
--check credibility
--should come from RELIABLE sources
--avoid sources with an agenda
--verify source claims by double-checking facts and comparing with other sources
--interpret, but never distort, falsify, or state evidence out of context.

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Principles of Interviewing

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Who you interview?
What you ask?
Main points
--Set up interview by contacting and explaining your intent
--Prepare by researching topic and interviewee before
--Create open-ended questions as to not limit responses
--Create set of questions that cover various aspects of topic
--Arrive on time and be courteous
--Even if you tape interview, take notes on quotes
--Adapt your prepared list of questions based on previous answers
--Encourage interviewee to elaborate on answers with nonverbal clues
--do not be confrontational or ask critical questions until end of interview
--ending…summarize main points, give opportunity to discuss what he/she believes important
--do not take statements as absolute truth

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Modes of Proof

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Logos
Ethos
Pathos
Normos

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Logos: Logical Proofs

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Logical Proof (logos):
o Logos" is the appeal to logic. Logos isn't logic like the formal logic in math, philosophy, or even computer science; it is the consistency and clarity of an argument as well as the logic of evidence and reasons.
o Because arguments are based on values and beliefs as well as facts and evidence, it is logical that the argument must coincide with accepted values and beliefs
• Both reasons and evidence are used in an appeal to logic; however, reasons cannot be your only support.
o Logos appeals to patterns, conventions, and modes of reasoning that the audience finds convincing and persuasive
• These also include how the information is presented, not just what the information is.

Example: Provide both of the theory underlying theme and then provide specifics relating to and backing up underlaying theme.

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Ethos: Ethical Proof

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• Ethical Proof: (ethos)
o ethos meant the degree of credibility or trustworthiness that authors establish with the audience through their writing
o Through tone an author's character and attitude toward his/her audience and subject becomes clear to the audience: this forms the basis of the author's ethical appeal.
o The author's character is what gives value to the ideas in the argument and thus provides support for the arguments since the audience trusts the speaker.
o A person can have enormous credibility about a subject despite what you think of him or her as a person. President Clinton
o Writers can build ethical appeal with an audience by stating their beliefs, values, and priorities regarding the subject clearly from the beginning.
o Examples:
• Just as one must adjust his or her language to communicate effectively with a child, so too the writer must be able to communicate in the specific type of language used by the audience.

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Pathos: Emotional Proof

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Emotional Proof (pathos)
o Pathos, also called the pathetic or emotional appeals, persuades audiences by arousing the emotions
o Pathos is often associated with emotional appeal.
• Appeal to the audience's sympathies and imagination.'
o An appeal to pathos causes an audience not just to respond emotionally but to identify with the writer's point of view--to feel what the writer feels.
• In this sense, pathos evokes a meaning implicit in the verb 'to suffer'--to feel pain imaginatively.... Perhaps the most common way of conveying a pathetic appeal is through narrative or story, which can turn the abstractions of logic into something palpable and present.
o The values, beliefs, and understandings of the writer are implicit in the story and conveyed imaginatively to the reader.
o Pathos thus to both the emotional and the imaginative impact of the message on an audience
• the power with which the writer's message moves the audience to decision or action.

Example: Commercials for the Christian Children's Fund. they use images of small children walking/playing amid dirty living conditions, while saying how the child has never attended school, hasn't received vaccinations to prevent childhood diseases, etc. they're hoping you will "pick up the phone" and sponsor a child. hope that helps!

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Normos: Normative Proof

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Normative Proof
o Based on commonly accepted social values and norms as well as myths and stories on which your audience base their understanding of themselves and society.
• Such proofs can refer to common social beliefs or guidelines for personal behavior such as when you explain the enduring relationship of two people who have been separated for a long time by saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder”
o The purpose is to tie the story’s characters and its moral lesson to your subject so that you represent your subject as familiar or morally worthy.
Example:
Explain why someone does something that seems bizarre but is normal to them because of a unique purpose.

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Types of Evidence:

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• Explanation
o A combination of facts and statistics to clarify a topic or process mentioned in a speech.
• Definition
o A definition provides a precise description of the thing we are discussing
o Using a definition in a speech insures that everyone is working from the same basic set of assumptions.
• Description
o A statement that depicts a person, event, idea, and the like with clarity and vividness.
• Statistics
o Statistics include raw numbers, averages, statistical probabilities, and statistical trends
o In public speeches, statistics have the advantage of seeming objective, authoritative, and factual, but critical audiences will want to know about the sources and methods for determining your statistical evidence.
• Example
o an example is a sample of something. Ideally, the example will be representative of the class. That is, the example will have features typical of thing it represents.
o An example may be atypical.
o A specific example may be an anomaly and would not normally be expected to represent that class of items.
• Narrative
o Narrative writing relates a series of events. These events may be real or fictional. Some narratives also presents a mixture of real events and people interlaced with fictional events and characters.
o Narrative is valuable as evidence because it shows rather than tells what happened.
• Abstractions and generalizations are made concrete and specific.
• People and events are made real through descriptions of their appearance and actions. Such8 visual definition conveys emotional force.
• Analogy
o This type of proof is quite useful to a speaker. In general, an analogy relates something familiar to an audience with something unfamiliar. Thus, the audience is able to grasp something about the topic that was previously vague or incomprehensible.
• Testimony
o This type of proof is used to provide the audience insight into an event/topic from someone who has direct knowledge of that event/topic. The persuasive impact of someone who has direct knowledge of a topic is often viewed as highly credible. Such testimony lends personal knowledge or insight into a topic, thus making it more real to the audience.

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General Speech Structure

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• Introduction
• Body
• Conclusion

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Introduction

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• Introduction
o The first thirty seconds of speech are probably the most important. In that period of time must grab the attention of the audience, and engage their interest in what you have to say in your speech. This can be achieved in several ways. For example you could raise a thought-provoking question, make an interesting or controversial statement, recite a relevant quotation or even recount a joke. Once you have won the attention of the audience, your speech should move seamlessly to the middle of your speech.

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Body

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o The best way to set out the body of your speech is by formulating a series of points that you would like to raise. In the context of your speech, a "point" could be a statement about a product, a joke about the bridegroom or a fond memory of the subject of a eulogy.
o The points should be organized so that related points follow one another so that each point builds upon the previous one. This will also give your speech a more logical progression, and make the job of the listener a far easier one.
o Don't try to overwhelm your audience with countless points. It is better to make a small number of points well than to have too many points, none of which are made satisfactorily.

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Conclusion

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Conclusion
o Like your Opening, the Closing of your speech must contain some of your strongest material. You should view the closing of your speech as an opportunity. It is an opportunity to:
• Summarize the main points of your speech
• Provide some further food for thought for your listeners
• Leave your audience with positive memories of your speech
• End with a final thought/emotion

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Introductory and Concluding Statements

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Shock
Statistics
Testimony
Narrative
Current Event
Analogy
Humor
Rhetorical Question
Affirming a Value
Stating Your Thesis

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Shock

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• Shock
o Use a startling statement, story, or other piece of evidence to spark your audience’s interest and stir their emotions
• Introductory: create an atmosphere of controversy
• Conclusion: may create lasting impact on audience

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Statistics

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• Statistics
o Presenting statistics frames your subject in a clear and rational way. Thus, beginning or ending your speech with statistical evidence may add to your credibility
• Introductory: Show scope of subject
• Conclusion: surprise or even shock audience with data they are unaware of

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Testimony

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• Testimony
o By using a testimony you transition their credibility to your own. Testimony can also lend authority to your speech when you provide statements from individuals who have real life experiences with your subject

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Narrative

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Narrative
o A narrative can create concrete evocative images through which your audience may experience your subject

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Current Event

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• Current Event
o Relating topic to current event helps establish your topic’s significance by associating it with events that most likely are on your audience’s mind.
• Speech-outside world-back to speech

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Analogy

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• Analogy
o Put complex ideas in terms that your audience in terms that your audience can more easily understand

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Humor

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• Humor
o Effective way of capturing your audience attention and putting them at ease
• Tie humor direct to point
• Use sparingly

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Rhetorical Question

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• Rhetorical Question
o A rhetorical question is a question whose answer is often readily apparent.
• Beginning with one entices your audience into thinking about the purpose of your speech without stating it directly
• Closing speech with one is an effective way to keep your audience thinking about your speech’s purpose long after you conclude.

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Affirming a Value

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• Affirming a Value
o Intro and concluding with a value supported by your audience increases the likelihood that they will accept your thesis
• Beginning can effectively and quickly win over a potentially unreceptive audience
• Concluding by affirming a value may leave your audience with a lasting positive image of you and your topic.

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Stating Your Thesis

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• Stating Your Thesis
o You do not want to begin or end you speech with your thesis statement. When you want to create a sense candor and directness, stress your opinion, or when amount of evidence leaves little room/time for intro and conclusion.

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Thesis Statement and Preview Summary

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Thesis Statement and Preview Summary
• When creating your thesis statement, ask yourself questions about your speech’s subject matter and intent
• Consider the rhetorical purpose of your speech
• Determine the specific purpose of your speech
• Create a working thesis that reflects rhetorical purpose, your specific purpose, the areas of the topic you want to discuss, and your potential conclusion
• State your thesis in a simple, declarative sentence that makes clear what you will discuss and how you will discuss it.
• Make sure the wording of your thesis presents your speech’s intent in the clearest, most effective way possible
• Directly follow your thesis statement with a preview summary of the organization of your speech
• Repeat of rephrase your thesis statement throughout your speech

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Patterns of Organization

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chronological
spatial
Topical
deductive
inductive
parallel
climatic
anti-climatic
cause and effect
Problem and Solution

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Chronological

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• Chronological
o organizes speech according to a time sequence.

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Spatial

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• Spatial
o Organizes a speech according to the geography or physical structure of the subject. Best for topic dealing with parts of an object (i.e. the parts of a gun), or a place (Grocery Store, Museum)).

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Topical

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• Topical
o organizes a speech according to aspects, subtopics, or topics.

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• Deductive

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• Deductive

o Speech arrangement that begins with the statement of the point or points in the introduction, then develops and supports the points, one by one, in the body of the speech.

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• Inductive

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• Inductive
o Based on the process of inductive reasoning. You present the audience with several specific cases that serve as the bias for a generalization

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• Parallel

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• Parallel
o When a writer repeats the same grammatical unit—the same word, phrase, sentence structure, or even paragraph structure—she's employing parallel structure.

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Climactic

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• Climactic
o items are arranged from least important to most important. Typical transitions would include more important, most difficult, still harder, by far the most expensive, even more damaging, worse yet, and so on

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• Anticlimactic

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• Anticlimactic
o Items are arranged from most important to most least.

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Cause and effect

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Cause and effect

Expository or persuasive speech arrangement that begins with the reasons why or circumstances under which something happens (causes) and then attempts to establish probable consequences or results (effects).

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Problem and solution

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Problem and solution
o A pattern of organization that analyzes a problem in terms of
• 1. harm,
• 2. significance,
• 3. cause; ant that proposes a solution which is
1. Described
2. feasible,
3. advantageous.

Identifies and analyzes a problem and proposes a solution.

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Types of Transitions

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Preview Transition
o Announces what you will be discussing next
• Used after initial summary to introduce main point or to cue conclusion

Review Transition
o A review transition brings logical coherence and clarity to your speech by summarizing what you have just said

Signpost transition
o Sign post transitions simply enumerate the various points of the speech

Chronological transition
o Indicates the temporal characteristics of a point or the temporal relationship between two points.

Spatial transition
o Conveys the spatial relationship between elements in the speech

Qualifying transition
o Clarifies the significance of a point or characterizes the relationship between points

Relational transition
o Provides a link between points having the same or a similar significance, function, or meaning
o Use a relational transition to show the relationship between your main points or to show how evidence supporting one point is similar to evidence supporting another.

Oppositional transition
o Relates two points having a different meaning or significance
o Use to show different perspefctives of the same topic

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Principles of Outlining

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Design your outline or manuscript so that it is easy to read when you are delivering your speech


Clearly distinguish between main parts of your speech and between your main points, sub-points, and sub-sub-points.

Main parts: use roman numerals to indicate the main parts of speech

Main points: Indicate using capital letters

Transitions: represent any transitions by separating them with an extra line, by indenting or italicizing them, or by naming them

Sub-points: Indicate using Arabic numbers 1,2,3

Sub-sub-points: indent twice and indicate using lower case letters

Use your outline to reflect a clear symmetrical relationship among your speech’s various parts

Use each main point to discuss a different issue relating to your topic

Use a combination of complete sentences, short phrases, and separate words in your outline

Place your oral citations within your outline, and place a bibliography of your sources at the end of your outline

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Principles of Informative Speaking

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Arouse and maintain your audience’s interest in your topic and speech

Consider ways to employ the four modes of proof to inform your audience about your subject

Less is More

Strike a balance between the old and the new

Be consistent, yet use variety

Use evidence and language that is specific and concrete

Use transitions, qualifiers, and your vocal delivery to represent your speech’s organization, and content

Be energetic and enthusiastic

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Types of Informative Speeches

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Speech of Explanation
The speech of Explanation defines a process. This is NOT a “how to” speech; it explains how and/or why some process occurs.

Speech of definition
the definitive speech is a vastly different speech from the mood speech in that it deals with hard facts and precise data in a very analytical way.

Speech of Description
Descriptive – in the most general sense, you are trying to get the audience to experience something through you. There are 2 approaches to do this:
1) The “real” speech- this is the description of a real, tangible, and physical that is so vivid and precise that the audience can picture it in their mind
2) The “mood” speech- this is where you attempt to convey just how a particular emotion or feeling feels; and the successful mood speech has the audience actually experiencing that emotional state.

Speech of Demonstration
This IS the traditional “How to” speech, and this is where the process is actually performed, or we are taught how to do it. This has a ‘hands-on’ feel to it

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Principles of Ceremonial Speaking

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Create a ceremonial speech that is short and eloquent

Adapt your speech to the occasion and to the person place, or event you are celebrating

Establish your personal relationship with the honoree

Consider the emotional needs of your audience, and attempt to fufill these needs with your speech

Unify your audience through shared emotions and sentiments

Amplify the virtues of the honoree by specifically referring to his accomplishments with praise for his or her personal accomplishments

Do not understate or exaggerate your emotions or praise of the honoree

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Types of Ceremonial Speeches

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Types of Ceremonial Speeches (6 to remember)

Speech of Introduction
The speech of introduction welcomes the speaker, establishes his or her ethos, and tunes the audience for the message to follow. The introduction should place the speaker within the context of the topic to be presented, the occasion, or the context that has special meaning for the audience

Speech of presentation
The person presenting the award summarizes the purpose of the award and the accomplishments of the recipient.

Speech of acceptance
The speech of acceptance conveys gratitude to those who have bestowed the award and to those who supported the recipient to help him achieve the accolade.
Speech should express gratitude, an
acknowledgement of the group presenting you
with the award, and recognition of the underlying
principles and values the award or tribute
represents.
Toast
Toasts are short speeches of tribute which praise a person, people or occasion. Toasts are used in many different types of situations. You may propose a toast to honor someone's birthday, graduation, wedding, promotion, special achievement, anniversary, retirement, or wake

Testimonial
It is a speech about somebody or something that has affected you in some way. It could be your grandfather, mother, uncle even a stranger.

Eulogy
Eulogies are speeches given at or for a person's funeral. They reflect on and praise the good the deceased person did during her life. Eulogies generally begin with an introduction about how the deceased entered the speaker's life, include a brief memory that captures the nature of the departed person, and concludes with an account of the legacy the deceased person leaves.

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Principles of Style

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The two most important elements of a good style are clarity and appropriateness

Use a speaking style consistent with the type of speech you are giving

Depending on your abilities, choose either the plain style or a combination of the plain, middle, and grand style of speaking

Create a title that presents your speech’s topic and thesis statement in a clear and inviting way

To help your audience remember your speech’s main ideas, repeat your main points and key evidence more often than you normally would in written composition

Make suggestions and ask questions to extend goodwill to your audience

Develop a secondary theme or motif or repeat an engaging phrase throughout your speech to embellish your thesis statement and add a literary flair to your speech

To maintain your audience’s attention, add some uncertainty to your speech

When speaking, never start discussing one idea and then begin another, tangential idea before completing the first idea

Create a unified, coherent, and emphatic speech

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Grammar, Composition, and Word Choice

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Although you should speak in a conversational manner, follow the basic rules of grammar and composition when writing and delivering your speech

Use terms that present your ideas clearly and effectively

Try to use evdiecne in the most direct and concise way

Use active and passive voice and the imperative mood to emphasize ideas in your speech

Although you may use contractions, do not overuse them

Use gender-neutral and inoffensive terms

Always qualify your terms and statements to reflect their size, strength, and importance

Avoid using phrases such as I think, in my opinion, or I believe

Avoid mixing metaphors and exaggerating claims

State a name of an institution before using its common abbreviation or acronym

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Oral Citations

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Cite those sources that you quote directly, summarize, or paraphrase

Use an oral citation, the trustworthiness or timeliness of your source

Be as brief as possible

Acknowledge your source either before, after, or in the middle of a statement or quotation

Avoid saying quote and unquote

Refer to information gathered from a website by giving the website’s title.

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Figures of Speech

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Alliteration
The repetition of the same initial letter, sound, or group of sounds in a series of words.

Anadiplosis
Anadiplosis is the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause. The word is used at the end of a sentence and then used again at the beginning of the next sentence.

Anaphora
A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. By building toward a climax, anaphora can create a strong emotional effect.

Antanaclasis
A type of verbal play in which one word is used in two contrasting (and often comic) senses.

Antithesis
A rhetorical term for the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases or clauses

Assonance
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in neighboring words. Adjective: assonant.

Asyndeton
A rhetorical term for a writing style that omits conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses

Chiasmus
In rhetoric, a verbal pattern (a type of antithesis) in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed

Climax
In rhetoric, mounting by degrees through words or sentences of increasing weight and in parallel construction (see auxesis), with an emphasis on the high point or culmination of an experience or series of events.

Enallage
A figure of syntactic substitution in which one grammatical form (person, case, gender, number, tense) is replaced by another, usually ungrammatical form.

Epanalepsis
A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at regular intervals: a refrain.

Epistrophe
A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses.

Hyperbole
An exaggeration that is so dramatic that no one would believe the statement is true.

Malaproprism
Absurd or humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound.

Metaphor
The metaphor states a fact or draws a verbal picture by the use of comparison.

Metonymy
Metonymy is also the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it, as in describing someone's clothing to characterize the individual.

Onomatopoeia
The use of a word to describe or imitate a natural sound or the sound made by an object or an action

Parallelism
Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

Polysyndeton
A rhetorical term for a sentence style that employs many coordinating conjunctions

Pun
A play on words, either on different senses of the same word or on the similar sense or sound of different words.

Rhetorical question
A question asked merely for effect with no answer expected. The answer may be obvious or immediately provided by the questioner.

Simile
A simile uses the words “like” or “as” to compare one object or idea with another to suggest they are alike.

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Modes of Delivery

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Extemporaneous delivery

Manuscript delivery

Impromptu delivery

Memorized delivery

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Extemporaneous delivery

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Extemporaneous delivery

speakers prepare outlines of the ideas of their speeches beforehand, but do not memorize an exact pattern of words. They choose the words with which to clothe their ideas as they are speaking. Outlines or note cards may or may not be used.

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Manuscript delivery

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Manuscript delivery

Reading from a manuscript is the most formal type of delivery. It is also an effective choice when you want to have the greatest control of the wording of your speech.

You will probably use a manuscript when speaking on a highly sensitive topic for which it is important to have precise wording. Or, if you have spent special effort embellishing your speech with stylistic elements, reading from the manuscript will ensure that you speak the phrases just as you wrote them.

Often, however, reading your speech will rob the presentation of spontaneity and the conversational dynamics that effective speakers strive to achieve.

To compensate for that, you will need to practice your reading to give it the feeling of being spoken for the first time.

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Impromptu delivery

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Impromptu delivery

Used on occasions when people must speak "off the cuff", with no chance for previous preparation. This method demands that the speakers both organize their ideas and choose their words as they proceed through their speeches

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Memorized delivery

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Memorized delivery
Unless you have had training and practice memorizing long passages of text, the memorized mode is the hardest to pull off.

Freed from a manuscript or notes, you are likely to have the added anxiety of forgetting what you wanted to say.

A memorized speech can also sound "canned" and lacking in spontaneity. After many months of campaigning, a politician's talk will become a memorized talk.

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Elements of Vocal Delivery

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Register
The range of pitch, rate, volume, pauses and enunciation used when delivering a speech

Tone
Tone should be a bit more formal than normal conversation, pitch slightly lower, rate slightly slower, volume slightly higher, pauses slightly longer and enunciation slightly clearer

Rate
Refers to how quickly you speak (in words per minute)
--Slow rate when stressing important points, abstract explanations, significant facts or crucial statistics
--Increase rate when presenting familiar examples or analogies and short narratives

Volume
Refers to how loudly/softly you speak
Raise your volume when making important points, emphasizing definitions or expressing strong conviction

Enunciation
The distinctness and clarity that a speaker pronounces words within a sentence

Pauses
Serve a variety of functions including:
1. Indicate grammatical marks that are not evident in an
oral medium, such as colons, semicolons and commas
2. Give your audience an opportunity to consider what you
have just said and will say next
3. Allow your audience to absorb the impact of an
important point or supporting material
4. Help create a smooth, intelligible rhythm by providing
breaks between units of thought
5. Give you a chance to breathe and collect your
thoughts

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Elements of Nonverbal Delivery

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Dress
Consider the occasion of your speech
Dress comfortably

Posture
Reflects your attitude toward your speech and audience
Stand straight, but not rigidly and square your shoulders even when moving from side to side
Keep you feet shoulders' width apart and avoid shuffling your feet and locking your knees

Gestures
Motions of your body or limbs that express meaning
Can indicate which point you're discussing, represent (dis)unity or emphasize a point
Can mimic an action or feeling
Don't be overly theatrical or use gestures redundantly or unnaturally

Movement
Be aware of overall body movement: Control nervous habits ( fumbling fingers, swaying, touching hair ) Use the space around you, don’t stand like a statue

Facial expression
Facial expressions, eye behavior, gestures and general body movements Use natural, animated facial expressions to represent the emotion of your speech

Eye contact
Eye contact is crucial in keeping you and the audience connected. The audience forms understanding and makes judgments about your material based on their ability to see your eyes. You can see if you are making sense to the audience by looking at them and gauging their nonverbal feedback.

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Enhancing Your Memory

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Build your memory by concentrating first on your speech’s overall organization, and then on its individual parts

Do not try to memorize every word of your speech

To maintain consistency in your speech, remember what you have already said when deciding what to say next

Use parallel sentences, mnemonic devices, and other rhetorical techniques to help recall your points

Develop distinctive sub-points that are easy to recall

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Practicing You Speech

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Begin by simply reading over your presentation and making revision or mental notes as to how you want it to sound

Practice your delivery

Use a key word outline in some of your early practice rounds to help you memorize parts of your speech and practice explaining ideas and formulating sentences

Attempt to relate the whole ideas and formulating sentences

Practice your gesturing and the other nonverbal elements of your delivery

Choreograph any movements that are integral to your speech

Recognize poor speaking habits, and try to correct them

Make a conscious effort to control nervous habits

After practicing your speech several times on your own, deliver it in front of a select audience of friends

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Preparing to Speak

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Before speaking, find a place to relax and think about your speech

Prepare your voice by performing a warm up exercise or two

Prepare your body with warm up exercises

Establish a comfortable breathing pattern to become more familiar with your speaking situation

When you arrive in the room, walk around to become more familiar with your speaking situation

Once you are ready to begin, look at your audience to gain their attention

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Reducing Speech Anxiety

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You will be more confident and have less speech anxiety if you are well prepared and practice your speech a great deal

Have your introduction well prepared so that you begin strongly

When you feel yourself becoming nervous, focus on the ideas in your speech and away form the fact that you are speaking to an audience

If your speech anxiety causes you to lose your place or have a mental block, try summarizing your last point to see if your summary helps you recall your next point

Breathe comfortably when speaking

Avoid increasing your rate of delivery when you become nervous

Limit your use of filler words

If being nervous causes such symptoms as sweaty palms or shaking ahnds or legs, try to relax, breathe slowly and deeply and move your muscles

If your mouth and threat become dry move your jaw and forth, swallow several times and keep your mouth closed before speaking

Do not let distractions make you nervous

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Responding to Questions

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Prepare for potential questions by being as critical as possible about your speech

Direct your audience’s questions to a point that you were unable to discuss thoroughly in your speech

If necessary, take notes on your audience’s questions and comments

Always answer a question in the clearest, most concise manner possible

Maintain a positive demeanor when answering a question

If a question is unclear, ask the audience member to rephrase it, or try to restate it in terms that he or she accepts

Respond gracefully to counterarguments, and then show why your argument is stronger

If you do not know the answer a question simply say so.

Never allow your questioner to limit your response

When necessary, control the question-and-answer period forcefully yet discreetly.

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Types of Style in Speech

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Plain Style
In rhetoric, speech or writing that is simple, direct, and unambiguous. In contrast to the grand style, the plain style does not rely heavily on figurative language. The plain style is commonly associated with the straightforward delivery of information, as in technical writing.


Middle Style
In classical rhetoric, speech or writing that (in terms of word choice, sentence structures, and delivery) falls between the extremes of the plain style and the grand style.


Grand Style
In classical rhetoric, speech or writing that is characterized by a heightened emotional tone, imposing diction, and highly ornate figures of speech.