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What is public speaking?
Why is public speaking useful for students? What techniques can we teach our students? What is public speaking? Public speaking involves talking in front of a group of people, usually with some preparation. It can be in front of people that you know (e.g. at a family celebration) or a crowd of strangers. Unlike a presentation there normally isn’t a lot of opportunity for interaction between the audience and the speaker – the speaker speaks, and the audience (hopefully) listens. Speeches have different functions. These include being persuasive, informative, entertaining or celebratory (e.g. to introduce the winner of an award). Some speeches may have more than one of these aims. Why is public speaking useful for students? Most people, at some point in their life, will need to stand up and speak in front of a group of people. Teaching students the necessary skills for doing this will therefore help them to do this more successfully. As a result of the practice, students often report an increase in general confidence as well as a marked sense of achievement. Many students get incredibly nervous the first time they have to do a speech in front of their classmates but with practice the nerves subside and they usually begin to enjoy the whole process. Working on public speaking also helps to develop students’ overall fluency and requires them to consider how they speak as well as what they say. This is useful for speaking in any situation, public or otherwise. What techniques can we teach our students? 1. Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say. 2. Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected. 3. Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers. 4. Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids. 5. Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. ("One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm. 6. Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence. 7. Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you. 8. Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it. 9. Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience. 10. Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you — as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment. What do you want the audience to learn or do? If you are making an argument, why do you want them to agree with you? If they already agree with you, why are you giving the speech? How can your audience benefit from what you have to say? What do they have in common? Age? Interests? Ethnicity? Gender? Do they know as much about your topic as you, or will you be introducing them to new ideas? Why are these people listening to you? What are they looking for? What level of detail will be effective for them? What tone will be most effective in conveying your mesage? What might offend or alienate them? Practicing for effective presentation Which pieces of information are clearest? Where did I connect with the audience? Where might listeners lose the thread of my argument or description? Where might listeners become bored? Where did I have trouble speaking clearly and/or emphatically? Did I stay within my time limit? |
| Speech Analysis Questions |
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Questions to Ask Why is the speaker giving this speech? Who will be the audience for the speech? How did the speaker prepare for the speech? Was it extemporaneously delivered or written before the event? Who wrote the speech? Was it the speaker or someone else? Did s/he have assistance from others? Were there models for the speech that the speaker read in preparing the speech? On the day of the speech, what events preceded the speech? What events followed? |
| Here are further guidelines. |