Powerful Paul Eckert With Quotes
Powerful Public Speaking With Quotes
Powerful Paul Eckert With Quotes By: Jim Cassa
One of the most powerful ways to improve your public speaking is with quotes. A quote is a gem of wisdom contained in words. Quotes add power and impact to your public speaking. Here are some tips on the ways you can use quotes in your presentations.
Tip one. Add quotes at the beginning of your speech to get attention and listener interest. This is a great way to start your presentation because it gives you increased credibility.
Tip two. Quotes can be used when you give an example to illustrate your point. Use one from someone famous and successful. This gives your example more testimony.
Tip three. Use a quote that is relevant to your topic. For example if your speech is on computers only use a quote that is somehow linked to computers. The outcome of your speech will help keep what you have to say relevant and on track.
Tip four. Quality is better than quantity. Two well selected and relevant quotes are more powerful than eight poorly selected ones.
Tip five. A powerful yet simple resource is a book of famous quotations. Use it like a dictionary. Dip into it from every now and then. It will strengthen your speaking ability like a dictionary does.
Quotes make your public speaking more powerful. They make what you say more believable when you quote someone famous. Always mention who said the quote. Every good public speaker I know uses quotes. You can too. One extra public speaking tip is this one. Use at least one quote in every speech you make.
January 25, 2010 Comments Off
Effective Paul Eckert
Effective Public Speaking
Effective Paul Eckert By Jack Flinters.
Everyone will have to speak in public sooner or later. For a lot of people, this is easier said than done. Many of us are very scared of public speaking. As soon as they face the audience these people get so nervous that they just freeze. Because of this they may lose business opportunities or promotions and feel very embarrassed. Others however do not have any problems with speaking in public at all. Generally this is due to experience and lots of practice.
The most important thing you can do to improve your public speaking is prepare. Being well prepared will make you feel confident, something your audience will notice. Preparing may also mean making some notes to help you remember the most important points of your speech. Practicing in front of friends or relatives can also be helpful.
The first instructions most people receive when learning about public speaking are: prepare an introduction, a body and a conclusion. This advice is good, but incomplete. There is a lot more to giving a good speech than that.
Something else that may help when speaking in public is using illustrations. This not only helps you get your point across, it may also make you feel a bit more at ease by focusing the audience’s attention on something other than yourself.
One of the most important secrets to being a successful public speaker is being and acting confidently. People who are not good at it usually look nervous and uncomfortable. Experienced public speakers on the other hand always look calm and confident.
The key to becoming good at public speaking is practice. By doing it a lot you will naturally improve and enjoy the experience a lot more.
January 24, 2010 Comments Off
Paul Eckert Self Confidence
Public Speaking and Self Confidence Go Hand In Hand
Paul Eckert Self Confidence By Douglas Robert.
There is a definite link between public speaking and self confidence. You need enough self confidence to be able to get up on stage and deliver a speech. And once you get there and discover that you can actually do it, your self confidence soars. Speaking in public is a powerful way to boost your self confidence.
Public speaking can be used for motivation, influence, persuasion, informing, teaching or simply entertaining. Speaking to a group is a rewarding experience as it allows you to showcase your knowledge or expertise in a public forum. Sharing your thoughts from the podium helps enrich the lives of those in the audience who gain the benefit of your unique experience and insight.
But most of us fear public speaking only because it’s not familiar. Speaking to a group forces you to break out of your comfort zone. When the opportunity to speak is thrust upon you, it takes bravery to conquer the initial sense of fear. But for those who can do it, the rewards are plentiful. Public speaking helps you discover that you’re stronger and more capable than you ever thought you were. Deliver a stellar performance and your confidence surges forward.
When it comes to expressing your thoughts and ideas on stage, self confidence is essential. But for those who suffer extreme shyness or nervousness at the thought of public speaking, it takes some effort. If you’re one who dreads public speaking, try to understand where that fear is coming from. Chances are you’ve never had a bad public speaking experience.
You’ve got to be able to imagine yourself delivering capably and comfortably. Visualization is a huge help in overcoming fear. If you can visualize it, you can do it.
Another confidence builder is preparation. The more you prepare and practice in advance, the more natural it will feel when it’s time to perform. If you find your self confidence low or nonexistent, the best way to boost it is to — practice, practice, practice. When you’re confident about something you can do like drive a car, make dinner, or even speak in public, there’s a feeling of certainty in your capability to perform.
Most fear and anxiety about public speaking is has no basis in reality. It’s just old programming that’s controlling you. Break through the fear and you can change your life as you impact their lives of countless others. All you have to do is break the barrier one time. Learn how to be a better speaker through practice and your self confidence will increase dramatically.
January 23, 2010 Comments Off
Improve with Paul Eckert
Improve Your Public Speaking Skills
Improve with Paul Eckert By Tanner Larsson.
Public speaking is simply the act of getting up in front of people and talking about a subject. As easy as it may seem, there are important skills that are required in order to keep the audience’s attention while not straying too far from the topic at hand. Developing these skills is vital to becoming a good public speaker.
When speaking in public, it is important not to be afraid of making mistakes. Worrying about forgetting a line or not following a prewritten speech will only make you more nervous from the get go and make it more likely that you will indeed make a mistake. Making mistakes is human and understandable to the audience creating a sense of empathy. It is important to make a natural recovery from mistakes and not get down on yourself for “screwing up.”
Good public speakers usually always use humor in their presentations. Telling jokes can often be good way of “breaking the ice” with the audience. However, if joke telling is not your forte then it is best to avoid doing so. Humor can be used subtly and a willingness to poke fun at yourself makes you appear more human to the audience. Storytelling can be a useful tool for a public speaker. By relating information from the presentation to your own life, you make your topic feel more real and more applicable to everyday living.
A skillful use of the public speaking environment is quite important as well. It is important not to seem rigid when giving a presentation. You should use the space that is available and move around a bit to make you seem more comfortable with what you are speaking about. In confined spaces, public speakers should use more body language.
An appropriate use of notes is also essential when speaking in public. It is important not to read during your presentation and to only use notes as an outline and as a last resort in case you forget some information. Also, visual aids should be used to liven the presentation and in turn make it flow better.
January 22, 2010 Comments Off
Paul Eckert on Being Yourself
Public Speaking – On Being Yourself
Paul Eckert on Being Yourself By: J. Douglas Jefferys
People with a true command of The Skills know that a large part of engaging the audience is simply being you. For some reason most people think that once you get up to speak, you’ve got to take on an entirely new persona. You have to be an entirely different person at the front of the room, because you’re speaking to a group.
The reality is that people come to a presentation not to hear what you have to say, not to be impressed by your knowledge base. They’re actually there for your humanness. They want to see and hear information delivered by a human. They’re human. They know what it’s like. They want to see what value you can add to information that they could just as easily obtain by getting a copy of the handout.
The more spontaneous you can be, the less “practiced” you seem, the more likely you will come across as the genuine person you are and the more impact you will have on your audience. And when you learn to forget the fact that there’s 500 people out there, or 50 people, or even 5 people, because you’re only ever speaking to one person at a time, well, then, what you realize is that public speaking is no different from having a conversation across a lunch table. Speaking to a group never needs to be any different from talking to your colleague on the same topic.
Do you feel uncomfortable talking one-on-one to people? Most people don’t. Similarly, when you have a discussion with somebody about what’s going on at work, do you prepare for it for three or four hours ahead of time? Do you go into a lunch with a co-worker with a written set of talking points, and a practiced set of word tracks, or do you just kind of let things happen?
You will become a master of The Skills only when you convince yourself that you must approach your presentation not the least prepared way, but the least practiced way. You don’t want to be practiced, because it’s going to flatten out your delivery. A flattened delivery has less passion, and it’s passion that people come to feel and hear.
One last little bit of advice that you’ll begin to notice quickly as you observe people when they speak: people with The Skills know that when all else fails, smile.
If you can’t do any of the things that you’ve learned in your study of public speaking, if you can’t do anything else right, learn to smile. People who are known as great communicators know how effective just smiling can be. People in the audience are hard-wired from birth to be receptive to a smile – and thus more receptive to your message when you do.
Think about the first thing you do when you meet a little baby. “Oh, look. Isn’t she cute? Oh, look, [tickle, tickle] let me see a smile”.
We conducted presentation skills training for The World Bank some time ago, and the group was comprised of people from every continent except Antarctica. Whenever we talk about the way we equate eye contact with veracity, we always preface it by saying, in Western cultures, we assign a lot of value to eye contact because we equate looking people in the eye with telling the truth. Well, a woman from Kenya told us that in many cultures in Africa, a little bit of eye contact is a good thing. Too much eye contact is a bad thing.
She explained to the group that if you avoided eye contact when talking to somebody, they didn’t trust you. If you held eye contact too long, they would kill you. Evidently, the way that you ameliorate the threat from sustained eye contact is by smiling. So if you want to talk to somebody, have eye contact, but make sure that you smile. It disarms people. And when people are disarmed, they’re more receptive to your message.
In our design classes we demonstrate that human brains process different forms of information differently. Speech is a form that our brains don’t readily absorb. When we receive information in the form of speech or text or numbers or sequences, we don’t just absorb them at face value – our brain first filters the information before it stores it or acts on it. So there’s always a wall, there’s always a barrier up there.
You’ve got to overcome that barrier. One way you can do that is smile.
January 21, 2010 Comments Off
More Paul Eckert Impact
Public Speaking – Organize Your Speech For More Impact
Paul Eckert Impact By Edward Hope.
If your presentation is not organized in a useful way it will lose the audience’s interest. Your listeners will be confused and stop listening. Organizing your speech will make it clearer to the audience and strengthen its impact on them.
A well organized speech assists in the speech writing and the delivery of it. As with most endeavours in life a well thought out structure make the achievement of its objectives easier.
There are 3 components to speeches – introduction, body and conclusion. Each component has a different objective in supporting the purpose of your speech or presentation. Proper organization of each component will help achieve its’ objective, and the speech achieve its purpose.
1. Organizing the Introduction
The objective of the introduction is to catch the attention of the audience. It sets the stage for the main event – the body of your speech. The following are the steps usually found in an introduction
(i) Preliminaries – This is not always necessary. It is used when you need to respond to the master of ceremonies or acknowledge the organisers of the meeting etc
(ii) Attention Step – used to grab the attention of the audience through the use of attention grabbers e.g. a shocking statement, a funny story or joke etc
(iii) Benefit Step – a statement outlining how the speech will benefit the listeners e.g. it will make them more money, make their job easier
(iv) Preview Step – a brief outline of the speech to follow.
What is said in the introduction should be relevant to the main body of the speech and it should be brief. If the introduction is too long it can bore the audience.
2. Arranging the Body of Your Speech
The body of the speech should be arranged around main headings because this will break the speech up into manageable components. 2 – 5 main headings are the ideal numbers. If more than 5 headings are used, members of the audience will struggle to remember them all.
The main headings are best arranged in one of the ways that people commonly think about the subject of the speech. The most common patterns of thinking that people use to arrange a speech are:-
(i) Time – Divided up in the chronological order that events occurred
(ii) Location – Headings are arranged by their geographical location
(iii) Topical – arrangement by logical parts, divisions or components
(iv) Problem and Solution – the problem always precedes the solution.
Your topic will not always fit into the usual patterns. In this case the theme or central idea should be divided up into reasonable headings that support the theme. The information that you have gathered should be listed under the heading it supports. The arrangement discussed for the body of the speech applies equally to the supporting information, by the use of sub-headings.
3. Conclusion
The conclusion is important to you because this is where the audience will form a lasting impression of you. The following steps are usually found in a conclusion:
(i) Summary Step – summarize the main points of your speech
(ii) Benefit Step – it is useful to repeat this step from the introduction to remind the audience and reach the individual who may only have just started listening
(iii) Call For Action Step – this is only when an action is required from the audience. It is a last strong statement that evokes the response wanted from the audience.. Your conclusion is best when it is brief and does not introduce any new material. Otherwise you risk losing and confusing your listeners.
January 21, 2010 Comments Off
Words That Hurt Paul Eckert
Public Speaking – Avoid Words That Hurt You
Words That Hurt Paul Eckert By: Ken Okel
Sometimes it’s not how you say it but the words you use to make your point. Between the Olympics and the political conventions, there have been a lot of high profile speeches recently. A few dazzle the audience and some have them restlessly moving in their seats. In some cases, there’s something the speaker is doing wrong that creates a distance between the podium and the audience. Here some tips on ways to use your words to keep you out of trouble:
Keep It Simple: I remember a weather forecaster who used to use the phrase “shower activity.” She’d say, “We should have some shower activity later today.” I understood that she was talking about rain but why not just say the word, “showers” or “rain?” Perhaps this evolved from seeing rain showers producing activity on the station’s radar. But the phrase, “shower activity” sounded very unnatural.
To sound like a normal person, use words that you would use with your friends and colleagues. If you wouldn’t normally say it in a professional setting, then don’t use it. Otherwise you will alienate your audience and look like someone who’s trying to impress rather than inform. Unlike Scrabble, you don’t get more points for using larger words.
Needless Details Derail: Some speakers need a filter on what comes out of their mouth because they love to talk and especially talk in tangents. This can be cute with a child but tiresome in adults. Make sure you stay focused on your point and how it ties in to your greater message. There’s nothing wrong with a well placed story but it has to fit the rest of your material. Otherwise, save the tale for another day.
Jargon Doesn’t Stand for Anything: There’s nothing worse than confusing your audience with terminology that they can’t understand. Nowadays so many of our everyday tasks come with a special vocabulary. While it’s familiar and tempting to launch into these words you need to limit their use. Think of it like this: If in the place where you’re talking, 95% of the audience knows where the bathroom is located at your business, then you can use as many acronyms and jargon as you like. Take a moment to explain the concept rather than leave people wondering what you’re talking about. Otherwise, they’ll tune you out quickly.
The difference between an effective presentation and one that is forgettable can be easily bridged if you focus on your words.
January 21, 2010 Comments Off
Paul Eckert on Stress
Overcoming Public Speaking Stress
Paul Eckert on Stress Author Sean Kenaston.
For most of us, public speaking is a common source of stress and nervousness. Many people may never overcome their fear of public speaking, which can have a negative impact on their careers and overall success in life. It’s an unfortunate reality that if we wish to succeed in our professional and personal life, we will be forced to speak in front of a number of people at some time or another.
Public speaking does not need to be so hard and stressful. If you put in a bit of effort and learn its secrets, it is very possible to overcome the stress of public speaking.
Speaking in front of large gatherings doesn’t need to be too stressful, difficult, and demanding; clear your mind of this negative opinion. Every great speaker started as a novice. It was through intense effort and dedication that they turned out to be the best in the business. With the same kind of commitment, you can be just like them.
To succeed in public speaking, you do not need to be the most brilliant person on the planet. You just need to give it an honest effort. Your audience doesn’t expect you to be a master of all things known to mankind; all they want from you is dedication and determination. You’re there to present some relevant information in a way that’s easy for the audience to understand. They’re not expecting a brilliant and polished speech.
It is important to assert yourself. You want your audience to know that you understand what you’re talking about. If you feel a bit nervous and jittery when you first stand up in front of your audience, don’t worry! It is quite common and natural. All speakers feel that way, even the best! Just take a deep breath and try to relax. Try to establish eye-contact with your audience. Wait until you’re ready. Once you’ve achieved this, you’ll be well on your way to a powerful speech.
A lot of the stress of public speaking is caused by the feeling that you won’t be able to perform well when the time comes. To prepare for this, start practicing various speaking techniques in front of small groups of people during your daily routine. Tell a joke or story to a group of friends. You can even practice your speaking when talking to a sales clerk when you’re out shopping. After a while, you’ll begin to feel more confident speaking to larger and larger groups of people.
January 21, 2010 Comments Off
Impress Your Paul Eckert Audience
Public Speaking Tips to Impress Your Audience
Impress Your Paul Eckert Audience By Michael Lee.
There will come a time when a person has to effectively deliver a speech in front of a group of people, so books that teach public speaking tips have become hot sellers. The rules of public speaking are as simple as A, B, C. Captivate your listeners by knowing the background and expectation of your audience before the speaking event. That’s the most important public speaking tip you have to practice before doing anything else.
Here are other public speaking tips and strategies that will help anyone become an effective public speaker:
1) Making tiny mistakes is fine, as long as you learn from them and don’t repeat them. However, it is highly recommendable to prepare well before your speech to avoid any embarrassing instances.
You are only human and you can recover from the errors you’ve made. Anyway, bouncing back from your mistakes makes your personality as a public speaker more trustworthy.
2) Bring out your sense of humor. You may tell jokes if the topic allows you to; but if you’re not good at it, better leave the jokes from your agenda behind, for there is nothing more that can aggravate a speaking disaster than a bad punch line.
3) Master the art of telling stories. Own the stories you tell by using your real personal experience to bring life to the material you are delivering. These stories make you a real human, and animation can add color to them.
4) Use technology to sustain your momentum as a speaker but not vice versa. Your power point slides, if you are using one for your presentation, should contain visual graphics and not long sentences. Speak to your crowd and not your presentation.
5) Focus on bringing the positive thoughts to your words and not on how you are doing as a speaker. Enjoying your speech helps you deliver a compelling message.
You will enjoy speaking in front of a whole bunch of people if you always practice these effective public speaking tips.
January 21, 2010 Comments Off
Paul Eckert Speaking Skills
Paul Eckert Speaking Skills by Kishore.
Speaking skills
Preparing to talk
Speaking in front of a group is by far the greatest fear of most people. It ranks ahead of the fear of dying, riding in an airplane, or failure in other areas of one’s personal life.
Unless you are highly unusual, at some time in your life you have talked to a group of people and your knees began shaking, your voice quivered, your head ached, and the only dry place on your body was the inside of your mouth. Then the strange muscle spasms began. One eyelid began to twitch uncon-trollably. Your legs felt like soft rubber. And then it happened: Your memory, on its own and for no apparent reason, left you. At this point you promised yourself that you would never get yourself in this situation again.
Although the fear of speaking is common, studies show that one of the most admired qualities in others is their ability to speak in front of a group. Furthermore, other things being equal, the person who can communicate ideas clearly will be more successful.
Speech
A speech generally has one of three basic purposes: to inform, to persuade, or to entertain. The informative speech is a narration concerning a specific topic but does not involve a sustained effort to teach. Speeches to civic clubs, orientation talks, and presentations at commanders’ calls are examples of speeches to inform. The persuasive speech is designed to move an audience to belief or action on some topic, product, or other matter. Recruiting speeches to high school graduating classes, budget defenses, and courts-martial summations are all primarily speeches to persuade. The entertaining speech gives enjoyment to the audience. The speaker often relies on humor and vivid language as a primary means of entertaining the listeners. A speech at a dining-out may be a speech to entertain.
The Art of small talk
Conversational skills are very important in business and in life. Those who are at ease conversationally have the ability to “connect” with others which builds rapport and, eventually, relationships. Developing your skills at small talk can be an important step in your professional development and can actually help you get ahead.
Initiating small talk requires an opening line. Not the kind of “line” you might hear in a bar or nightclub, but one that sounds sincere and lets the other person know you’re interested in talking with them. Don’t open up with a complaint, make sure what you say has a positive spin. A genuine compliment about the other person can be an excellent opener. A comment about a current event can also break the ice, as well as a remark about the event you’re at right now.
The real art in small talk comes in how you keep the conversation flowing. Good conversationalists don’t monopolize the conversation, they orchestrate it. So ask a question of the other person and really listen to their response. Then elaborate on what they said with comments from your own personal experience and ask another question. Be sure your questions are open-ended and not the type which can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”. No one wants to feel like they’re being grilled by a reporter, but your goal should always be this: Be more interested, than interesting.
Here are some subjects to avoid: your health, your sex life, gossip, off-color stories. The best topics for conversations are sports, books, theater, movies, food, museums and travel. Good conversationalists are people who keep up with the news and are actively involved in life. They read, have hobbies, take classes, try new restaurants and travel. If you’ve ever found yourself in a conversation where you didn’t have anything interesting to say, it’s time to get off the couch and try something new!
The final step in small talk is the ending. A subtle way to signal that you’re ready to end the conversation is to break eye contact and look off in another direction. A transition word like “Well..” can also communicate that it’s time to stop. If you’ve truly enjoyed talking with the other person, tell them so. “I’ve really enjoyed talking with you. I hope we have the chance to talk again soon.” Leave a positive final impression with a smile and strong handshake.
Small talk may seem insignificant, but you can gather a lot of helpful information when you talk casually with someone. Start a “mental rolodex” and store the important tidbits you learn about others. When you see them again at a social gathering or in the elevator at work, you can inquire about their children or their trip to Europe and make another positive impression. Intelligence, ambition and expertise will only get you so far. Charm may be the one quality that gets you the job and promotion.
Formal Speech
A formal speech is a speech presented without visual aids. The purpose of the formal speech is to
inform, to persuade, to entertain, to stimulate action or further interest in a topic of community concern.Since it’s more difficult to hold the attention of an audience without the use of visuals, the formal speechrequires more attention to colorful language than the illustrated speech or demonstration. It contains more poetry, quotations, wit and humor, imagery, and references to books. Although you may use these things in all types of speeches, their absence will not be noticed as much when visual material is added to the presentation.
Subject
The problem of selecting a subject for a briefing or teaching lecture does not often arise in the ordinary course of business. You will seldom have to look around for something to talk about. The subjects are implicit in the work of the organization. A staff briefing, for example, arises from the need to communicate certain subject matter. A teaching lecture is given to satisfy a particular curriculum need. On the other hand, a formal speech to persuade, inform, or entertain may provide you with more latitude in selecting the subject.
Selecting the Subject
On some occasions, the subject of your speech will be determined—at least partly—by the group. A local civic club, for instance, may ask you to talk to them about a job, hobby, or community project you are heading up. At other times. the choice of the subject will be left entirely up to you. Almost always, however, you will be free to choose the particular aspect or area of your subject that you wish to emphasize. There are several questions you can ask yourself about the subject or aspect of the subject you choose to talk about:
1. Is this the best subject I can think of? Certainly this is a tough question. But you can answer it more wisely if you consider a number of subjects. As a rule, a carefully selected subject or aspect of the subject chosen after some thought will be a better choice than the ‘’straw-clutching” effect that characterizes many searches for suitable subjects.
2. Is this a subject that I already know something about and can find more? If not, then perhaps you should search elsewhere. There is no substitute for complete and authoritative knowledge of the subject.
3. Am I interested in the subject? If you are not interested in what you will be talking about, you will find preparation a dull task, and you will have difficulty in capturing the interest of the audience. Talking about a community service project on which you have spent many hours or a new program that you have helped implement on the job is probably much closer to your heart than a subject that you found while searching through a list of suggested topics.
4. Is the subject suitable for my audience? Does it fit their intellectual capacity? Is it a subject that they will be interested in? A subject may be suitable or interesting to an audience if it vitally concerns their well-being, offers solutions to a problem they have, is new or timely, or if there is a conflict of opinion about it.
5. Can the subject or aspect of the subject be discussed adequately in the time I have? One of the greatest problems many speakers have is that they fail to narrow their subject. Because of this problem, they generally do one of two things: (a) they don’t adequately cover the subject, or (b) they talk too long. Both results are bad.
Choosing a Title
The title is a specific label given to the speech—an advertising slogan or catchword that catches the spirit of the speech and tantalizes the potential audience. Generally, the exact phrasing of the title is not decided until the speech has been built. At other times it may come to mind as you work on the speech. At still other times it may come early and guide your planning. An effective title should be relevant, provocative, and brief.
Listeners do not like to be misled. If the speech has to do with communication, then some reference to communication should be in the title. On the other hand, don’t include words in the title merely to get attention if they have no relevance to the speech itself.
A speech or lecture on effective listening might simply be titled ”Effective Listening.”
Objectives
The purposes for speaking—informative, persuasive, entertaining—are important. But the general responses and specific responses you expect from the talks you give are also significant.
General Responses
The purposes of speaking suggest the general kinds of responses desired from the audience. An informative presentation seeks audience understanding. A persuasive presentation seeks a change in beliefs, attitudes, or behavior. An entertaining presentation seeks to divert, amuse, or, in some other way, cause listeners to enjoy themselves.
Specific Responses
In addition to the three broad purposes or aims, there are more specific purposes, sometimes referred to as goals or objectives, of speaking. An effective oral presentation has immediate and specific objectives stated in terms of what is expected from the listeners. These specific objectives fall within the broader purposes of information, persuasion, or entertainment. The objectives do not state what the speaker is to do. Rather they tell what the speaker wishes the audience to understand, believe, feel, do, or enjoy.
Gathering Material
With the general purpose and specific objective in mind, you are ready to gather material on the subject. The source for this material should be your own experience or the experience of others gained through conversation, interviews, and written or observed material. You may often draw from all these sources in a single presentation.
Self
The first step in researching an oral presentation is the assembly of all the personal knowledge you have about the subject. A self-inventory may suggest a tentative organization; but, even more important, it will point up gaps in knowledge where you need to do further research.
Others
The second step in the research process is to draw on the experience of others. People who are interested in the subject provide many ideas during the course of conversation. The most fruitful source, of course, is the expert. Experts help you clarify your thinking, provide facts, and suggest good sources for further research. Their suggestions for further sources can enable you to narrow your search without having to investigate a large bulk of material.
Library
The third step is library research. Modern libraries provide us with an abundance of sources—books, newspapers, popular magazines, scholarly journals, abstracts, subject files, microfilms. You must constantly be concerned with the accuracy and relevance of the material. Using material printed in 1950 to understand television today would probably lead to inaccurate, irrelevant conclusions.
Evaluating Material
The next step in the research process is to evaluate the material gathered. You will probably find that you have enough material for several presentations. If you haven’t already begun to organize the presentation, you will want to do so. Next you will want to select the best kinds of support for the points you wish to make. Then you will want to prepare a good beginning and ending for the talk.
Organizing the talk
Clear organization is vital to effective speaking. The most prevalent weakness among speakers at all levels is the failure to organize material for the audience. Speakers have the responsibility to lead listeners mentally from where they are at the beginning of a talk to where they are supposed to be at the end. The message must be organized with the audience in mind; the organization should conform to the thinking processes and expectations of the listeners.
Each speech, lecture, and briefing needs an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. In most instances the introduction and conclusion should be prepared after the body of the talk, since the material in the body is a guide for preparing the introduction and conclusion.
The first consideration in planning the body is how to organize the main points, but organization of subpoints is also important. Arrangement of the main points and subpoints will help both the speaker and the audience remember the material—the speaker while speaking, and the audience while listening.
Most oral presentations, regardless of their length, can be divided into two to five main points. Five is about the maximum number of points from one talk that listeners can be expected to remember.
The most typical ways of organizing main points or subpoints of a talk are by the patterns: time, space, cause/effect, problem/solution, pro/con, or topic. Furthermore, as illustrated throughout this chapter, certain strategies can be used with each pattern. How does a speaker decide which patterns and strategies to use? The material will often organize more easily with one pattern and strategy than with another. Consider how various patterns and strategies can be used to organize the main points.
Four Logical Steps
First, determine the purpose of your speech. Is it to entertain, to inform, or to persuade the audience?Is it a combination?
Second, write out the purpose of your speech in clear and precise terms.
Third, research your topic using your own knowledge and your own experiences related to the topic. From the very start, begin writing down your ideas.
Fourth, write your outline after your notes are made. Decide upon three or four main points to be covered. List these main headings and group your notes under the proper heading. The next thing to do is to plan and prepare your speech . Most speeches are made up of three parts— the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Although the introduction comes first, the body of the contains your real message and should be prepared first. Begin with something that is familiar to your audience. Move from the known to the unknown. As a rule if you can’t clearly summarize or restate your in three or four sentences then you have probably tried to include too much.
Beginning and ending of the talk
Once you have organized and supported the body of the talk with appropriate verbal and visual materials, you must decide how to begin and end. For many persons, beginning (or providing an introduction to the body of the talk) and ending (providing a conclusion) is most troublesome. Introductions and conclusions should fit the audience, the speaker, and the type of talk you are giving.
Although preparing a talk can be laborious, for many persons the hardest part is the actual presentation of the talk. Questions speakers most often ask are: How many notes should I use? How can I overcome nervousness? What kind of physical behavior is appropriate for me to use when I speak? What if my voice isn’t suited to speaking before a group? How can I project sincerity and enthusiasm? Answers to these questions will provide the content for this chapter.
Methods of Presentation
Speakers can use one of four common methods for presentation: (1) speaking from memory, (2) reading from manuscript, (3) speaking impromptu with no specific preparation, and (4) speaking extemporaneously with, ideally, a great deal of preparation and a limited number of notes. The fourth method usually allows us the most freedom in adjusting to an audience as we speak and is best suited.
Memorizing
Speaking from memory is the poorest method of delivering talks, and it should be used very sparingly or not at all. While this method may seem to be helpful for persons who cannot think on their feet, the memorized talk is a straitjacket. Such a talk cannot be adapted to the immediate situation or audience reactions. In other words, it does not allow the speaker to adjust to the particular situation. Moreover, the method is almost sure to destroy spontaneity and a sense of communication. The method also requires an inordinate amount of preparation, and the danger of forgetting is ever present.
Manuscript Reading
Reading a talk from a manuscript allows for planning the exact words and phrases to use. But the disadvantages of this method of presentation far outweigh the advantages. Many speakers use the manuscript as a crutch instead of fully thinking through the ideas in the talk. All too often the written talk is regarded simply as an essay to be read aloud. Therefore, the talk is too broad and has language that is too abstract to be understood when presented orally.
If you must read from a manuscript, consider the following suggestions:
Prepare the manuscript.
Spoken words should be simpler, clearer, and more vivid than writing.
Sentences should be shorter and ideas less complex than in writing.
Transitions between thoughts and ideas need to be clear. Provide signposts to keep the audience from getting lost.
Use repetition to emphasize main ideas and key points.
Use direct address when speaking about people. Personal pronouns such as I, we, our, us, you, are better than they, people, a person, the reader, the hearer.
Use concrete language where possible. Follow abstract or complicated reasoning with specific examples, comparisons, and definitions.
Prepare a reading draft.
Use as large a type as possible. Special type two or three times larger than ordinary will greatly enhance visibility.
Double or triple space to make the words stand out more clearly and reduce chance for confusion or misreading of the text.
Type on only one side of the paper to facilitate handling.
Mark your manuscript, perhaps using vertical lines between words where you wish to pause. Underscore words you want to emphasize. Some speakers use double and triple vertical lines or underlining for added emphasis.
Mark places in the manuscript where you plan to use visual aids.
Use short paragraphs to reduce the chance of losing your place.
Some speakers vary the length of line according to meaning.
Practice the talk.
Read the talk aloud to see how it sounds. Recording yourself on a cassette recorder and listening to the playback will help you to discover places where you may not be communicating effectively.
Read and reread the talk several times, perhaps once a day for several days if you have time.
Try to make your talk sound like conversation, as if you were thinking the words for the first time as you read them.
Avoid combinations of words that are difficult to say. Make necessary changes on the manuscript.
Practice looking at your audience most of the time as the manuscript becomes more familiar to you.
Provide the punctuation with vocal inflection, variety, and pauses.
Presenting the talk.
Use one of two methods for handling the manuscript. (1) Hold the manuscript in front of you with one hand high enough so that you can see it without bending your head, but not high enough to hide your face. The other hand will be free to turn pages and gesture. (2) Place the manuscript on a speaker’s stand or table so that both hands are free to gesture. Make sure, however, that the manuscript is placed high enough to read from without bending over. Whichever method is used, remember to let the eyes, not the head, drop to the paper.
Don’t explain why you choose to read the talk. If you have prepared well, you should do a good job and no apologies will be necessary.
Be willing to change the wording here and there as you go along if it will help you communicate ideas to your hearers. These changes will make delivery more conversational.
Insert comments of up to a sentence or two in length to add variety, but be careful not to deviate so far from the manuscript that your train of thought is interrupted. You should have carefully thought through and prepared the manuscript. Last minute changes and impromptu asides can be confusing both for you and your hearers.
Be flexible enough so that you can shorten the talk if necessary.
Let pauses be dictated by ideas. Pause wherever there would normally be a pause in the same language in informal conversation. You will need to pause often, even when the written punctuation does not dictate a pause.
Concentrate on the meaning and ideas rather than on individual words. If you have written your own talk, you are intimate with the ideas and the words you chose to express them. You built the talk, you should understand it. Therefore, the most helpful aid to good delivery is to recreate the feeling that helped you put the words on paper. Speak no passage until its meaning hits your mind.
Construct the next idea in your mind before uttering it.
Read with all the sincerity, enthusiasm, directness, and force that is proper to the occasion.
Use gestures and look directly at the audience when executing them.
A manuscript talk, then, is not, as someone once said, merely “an essay on its hind legs.” The manuscript should be written in a conversational tone rather than formal English. It is meant to be heard, not read. If you prepare well, practice diligently, and attend to factors of delivery, you can usually read very acceptably and spontaneously.
Nervousness
If you suffer from stage fright, nervousness, or fear of speaking, your audience may also become uneasy or anxious. Yet some nervousness is both natural and desirable. Even skilled speakers often experience the queasy feeling of “butterflies in the stomach” as they prepare to speak. The secret is to get the butterflies “flying in formation,” through practice. Just as a visiting athletic team practices on a field before game time to accustom themselves to differences in terrain and environment, so you may need to dry run or practice your talk several times, preferably in the room where the talk will be given, before actually presenting it. Practice reminds us to look up the pronunciation of a word that is new or check an additional piece of information on an important point.
Suggestions for Nervous Speakers
Consider the following suggestions for coping with nervousness.
1. Enthusiasm is the key when practice is over and you are ready to deliver the talk. At times you may talk on subjects that you find dull, but as you get more involved, the subject becomes more interesting. There is no such thing as a dull subject, only dull speakers. It is important to be enthusiastic about your subject, because enthusiasm can replace fear. And the more enthusiastic you are about the subject, the more involved the audience will be both with you and what you are saying.
2. Hold good thoughts toward your audience. The listeners in the audience are the same ones that you enjoy speaking with in a less structured environment. Most audiences are made up of warm human beings with an interest in what you have to say. They rarely boo or throw vegetables. Most listeners have great empathy for speakers and want them to do a good job.
3. Do not rush as you begin to speak. Many speakers are so anxious to get started that they begin before they are really ready. The little extra time taken to arrange your notes will generally pay big dividends. When you are ready to begin, look at various parts of the audience, take a deep breath, and begin to speak.
Physical Behavior
Communication experts tell us that over half of our meaning may be communicated nonverbally. Although nonverbal meaning is communicated through vocal cues, much meaning is carried by the physical behaviors of eye contact, bodily movement, and gestures. You need to know how these physical behaviors can improve your speaking skill.
Eye Contact
Eye contact is one of the most important factors of nonverbal communication. Nothing will enhance your delivery more than effective eye contact with your audience. Eye contact is important for three reasons. First, it lets the listeners know that you are interested in them. Most people like others to look at them when talking. Second, effective eye contact allows you to receive nonverbal feedback from your audience. With good eye contact, you can gauge the effect of your remarks. You can determine if you are being understood and which points are making an impact and which are not. You will be able to detect signs of poor understanding and signs that the listeners are losing interest. Then you can adjust your rate of delivery or emphasis. You can rephrase or summarize certain points or add more supporting data. Third, effective eye contact enhances your credibility. Speakers with the greatest eye contact are judged by listeners as being more competent.
Effective eye contact can be described as direct and impartial. You look directly into the eyes of your listeners, and you look impartially at all parts of the audience, not just at a chosen few.
Body Movement
Body movement is one of the important factors of dynamic and meaningful physical behavior. Good body movement is important because it catches the eye of the listener. It helps to hold the attention needed for good communication. But movement can also represent a marked departure or change in your delivery pattern—a convenient way of punctuating and paragraphing your message. Listeners will know that you are finished with one idea or line of thought and ready to transition to the next. Finally, aside from its effects on the listeners, movement helps you as a lecturer. It helps you work off excess energy that can promote nervousness. Movement puts you at ease.
Effective body movement can be described as free and purposeful. You should be free to move around in front of the listeners. You should not feel restrained to stay behind the lectern but should move with reason and purpose. Use your movement to punctuate, direct attention, and otherwise aid communication.
Gestures
Gestures may be used to clarify or emphasize ideas. By gestures we mean the purposeful use of the hands, arms, shoulders, and head to reinforce what is being said. Fidgeting with a paper clip, rearranging and shuffling papers, and scratching your ear are not gestures. They are not purposeful and they distract from the verbal message. Placing both hands in your pockets, or behind your back, or in front of you in a fig leaf position severely limits their use for gesturing. Holding your shoulders and head in one position during the talk will also rob you of an effective means of strengthening your communication.
Use of Voice
A good voice has three important characteristics. It is reasonably pleasant, it is easily understood, and it expresses differences in meaning. Technically we might label these three properties as quality, intelligibility, and variety.
Quality
Quality refers to the overall impression a voice makes on others. Certainly a pleasing quality or tone is a basic component of a good speaking voice. Some persons have a full rich quality, others one that is shrill and nasal, and still others may have a breathy and muffled tone or quality. Although basic aspects of quality may be difficult to change, your voice may become more breathy when you are excited, tense when suspense is involved, and resonant when reading solemn language. Listeners can often tell from the voice if the speaker is happy, angry, sad, fearful, or confident. Similarly vocal quality can convey sincerity and enthusiasm. Some speakers are overly concerned about the basic quality of their voices, but at the same time they pay too little attention to the effect of attitude and emotion on the voice. Most people have reasonably pleasant voices that are suitable for speaking.
Intelligibility
Intelligibility or understandability of your speech depends on several factors.
1. Articulation refers to the precision and clarity with which sounds of speech are uttered. A synonym of articulation is enunciation. Good articulation is chiefly the job of the jaw, tongue, and lips. Most articulation problems result from laziness of the tongue and lips or failure to open the mouth wide enough. You should over articulate rather than under articulate your speech sounds. What sounds like over articulation to you will come out as crisp, understandable words and phrases to your listeners.
2. Pronunciation refers to the traditional or customary utterance of words. Standards of pronunciation differ, making it difficult at times to know what is acceptable.
3. Vocalized pause is the name we give to syllables “a,” “uh,” “um,” and “ah” often at the beginning of a sentence. While a few vocalized pauses are natural and do not distract, too many impede the communication process.
4. Overuse of stock expressions such as “OK,” “like,” and ”you know” should be avoided. These expressions serve no positive communicative function and only convey a lack of originality by the speaker.
5. Substandard grammar has no place in speaking. It will only serve to reduce your credibility with some listeners. Research shows that even persons who have been using substandard grammar all of their lives can, with diligent practice, make significant gains in this area in a relatively short time.
Variety
Variety is the spice of speaking. Listeners tire rapidly when listening to a speaker who doesn’t vary delivery style or a speaker who has a monotonous voice. A speaker’s voice that is intelligible and of good quality may still not appeal to listeners. You may vary your voice and at the same time improve the communication by considering the vocal fundamentals of rate, volume, force, pitch, and emphasis.
1. Most people speak at a rate of from 100 to 180 words a minute when presenting a talk. In normal speech, however, we however, we vary the rate often so that even within the 100- to 180-word constraints there is much change. A slower rate may be appropriate for presenting main points, while a more rapid rate may lend itself to support material. The experienced speaker also knows that an occasional pause punctuates thought and emphasizes ideas. A dramatic pause at the proper time may express feelings and ideas even more effectively than words.
2. Volume is important to the speaker. Always be certain that all the audience can hear you. Nothing hinders the effect of a a talk more than to have some listeners unable to hear. On the other hand, the talk should not be too loud for a small room. A bombastic or overly loud speaker tires listeners out very quickly.
3. Force is needed at times to emphasize and dramatize ideas. A drowsy audience will come to attention quickly if the speaker uses force effectively. At times a sudden reduction in force may be as effective as a rapid increase. By learning to control the force of your voice, you can help to add emphasis and improve communication.
4. Pitch is the highness or lowness of the voice. All things being equal, a higher pitched voice carries better than a low pitched one. On the other hand, listeners will tend to tire faster when listening to the higher pitched voice. If your voice is within normal limits—neither too high nor too low—work for variety as you speak.
5. Emphasis obviously stems from all forms of vocal variety, and any change in rate, force, or pitch will influence the emphasis. The greater or more sudden the change, the greater the emphasis will be. As a speaker you will want to use emphasis wisely. Two things should be avoided: overemphasis and continual emphasis. Be judicious. Emphasizing a point beyond its real value may cause you to lose credibility with your listeners.
Sincerity
What is sincerity? Sincerity may be defined as a state of appearing to be without deceit, pretense, or hypocrisy—a state of honesty, truthfulness, and faithfulness.
Sincerity toward your listeners is reflected in your eye contact, enthusiasm, and concern about audience members as individuals. Sincerity toward the subject is judged by whether or not you seem involved and interested in the subject or topic of the talk. Sincerity toward self is displayed in the confidence and concern you have that you are doing the best job possible. Lack of sincerity in any of these areas will, almost certainly, directly hinder communication.
Starting a Presentation
In modern English, Presentations tend to be much less formal than they were even twenty years ago. Most audience these days prefer a relatively informal approach. However, there is a certain structure to the opening of a Presentation that you should observe.
1.Get people’s attention
2.Welcome them
3.Introduce yourself
4.State the purpose of your presentation
5.State how you want to deal with questions
Get people’s attention
If I could have everybody’s attention.
If we can start.
Perhaps we should begin?
Let’s get started.
Welcome them
Welcome to Microsoft.
Thank you for coming today.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
On behalf of Intel, I’d like to welcome you.
Introduce yourself
My name’s ___________. I’m responsible for travel arrangements.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name’s _________.
As you know, I’m in charge of public relations.
I’m the new Marketing Manager.
State the purpose of your presentation
This morning I’d like to present our new processor.
Today I’d like to discuss our failures in the Japanese market and suggest a new approach.
This afternoon, I’d like to report on my study into the German market.
What I want to do this morning is to talk to you about our new mobile telephone system.
What I want to do is to tell you about our successes and failures in introducing new working patterns.
What I want to do is to show you how we’ve made our first successful steps in the potentially huge Chinese market.
State how you want to deal with questions.
If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them as we go along.
Feel free to ask any questions.
Perhaps we can leave any questions you have until the end?
There will be plenty of time for questions at the end.
Of course, these are only suggestions and other language is possible. Even within this limited group of phrases, just choose a few you feel comfortable with and learn and use those.
Tips for Good Presentations
How to Open a Speech
• Make your opening free, casual, friendly,—and short.
• Arouse the curiosity of your audience
• Or ask a direct question
• Or open with a striking quotation
• Or start with a shocking (to the audience) fact
• Or show, quickly, how your topic affects the vital interest of your audience.
How to End a Speech
• Don’t talk about stopping. Stop.
• Always stop before your audience wants you to.
• Close with the idea that you want to be remembered longest.
• One sound ending is to summarize the main points you have covered.
• Another is to pay your audience a sincere compliment.
• Another is to leave your audience laughing—or at least smiling.
• Don’t ask, “Are there any questions?”
Secrets of Good Delivery
• Talk to your audience as though you were talking to a single person and as if you expected him/her
to answer you.
• Speak naturally, with all your heart.
• Stress the important word in your sentences.
• Let the pitch of your voice flow from high to low, and back again.
• Vary your rate of speaking, spending the most time on the important words.
• Pause before and after your important ideas.
November 4, 2009 Comments Off