pocketspeak4e

Practice Delivering the Speech

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Preparation and practice are necessary for the success of even your first speech in class. You will want to feel and appear “natural” to your listeners, an effect achieved by rehearsing both the verbal and nonverbal delivery of your speech (see Chapters 18 and 19). So practice your speech often. It has been suggested that a good speech is practiced at least six times. For a four- to six-minute speech, that’s only thirty to forty minutes (figuring in restarts and pauses) of actual practice time.

Practice Your Vocal Delivery

Vocal delivery includes speech volume, pitch, rate, variety, pronunciation, and articulation. As you rehearse, do the following:

Pay attention to how loudly or softly you are speaking.
Pay attention to the rate at which you speak. Aim to speak neither too fast nor too slowly.
Avoid speaking in a monotone.
Decide how you want to phrase your statements, and then practice saying them.
Pronounce words correctly and clearly.

Be Aware of Your Nonverbal Delivery

Audiences are highly attuned to a speaker’s facial expression, gestures, general body movement, and overall physical appearance. As you rehearse, do the following:

Practice smiling and otherwise animating your face in ways that feel natural to you. Audiences want to feel that you care about what you are saying, so avoid a deadpan, or blank, expression.
Practice making eye contact with your listeners. Doing so will make audience members feel that you recognize and respect them.
Practice gestures that feel natural to you, steering clear of exaggerated movements.