Part 2: SPEAKER’S REFERENCE
LearningCurve can help you review. Go to bedfordstmartins.com/speakersguide
PUBLIC SPEAKING BASICS
Understand What Makes Us Anxious about Public Speaking
- A lack of public speaking experience: It can be difficult to put into perspective the anxiety that often precedes new experiences.
- Feeling different: Remember, even seasoned speakers feel anxiety.
- Being the center of attention: The audience won’t notice things about you that you don’t want to reveal.
Pinpoint the Onset of Your Anxiety and Plan to Overcome It
- Some people become anxious upon hearing that they must give a speech (pre-preparation anxiety).
Don’t allow your anxiety to deter you from planning your speech.
- For some, anxiety occurs as they begin to prepare the speech (preparation anxiety).
Beware of avoidance and procrastination.
- Some people begin to feel anxious when it is time to rehearse the speech (pre-performance anxiety).
Practice your speech to build confidence.
- Many people experience public speaking anxiety only when they begin to deliver the speech (performance anxiety).
Practice stress-control breathing and other relaxation techniques.
Use Proven Strategies to Build Your Confidence
- Plan your presentation thoroughly.
- Rehearse often until you know how you want to express yourself.
- Lessen anxiety by using positive thoughts prior to delivery.
Use Visualization and Relaxation Techniques to Control Anxiety
Enjoy the Occasion
- You have the chance to influence others.
- Use feedback from others constructively to note your strengths and discover where your speechmaking can be improved.
Recognize the Importance of Listening
- Listening to speeches takes focus and skill.
- Listening scholars note different types of listening linked to different purposes: comprehensive, critical, empathic, and appreciative.
- Skill in listening is linked to leadership potential.
- Active listening is focused and purposeful.
- “Listenable language” is language written for the ear.
Understand the Difference between Hearing and Listening
Recognize That We Listen Selectively
- People pay attention to what they hold to be important.
- People pay attention to information that touches their experiences.
- People filter new information based on what they already know.
Strive for the Open Exchange of Ideas
Anticipate Common Obstacles to Listening
- Plan ahead in order to minimize the impact of external distractions such as noise, movement, light, darkness, heat or cold, and so forth.
- Try not to let internal distractions, such as daydreaming, time pressures, emotional turmoil, or fatigue, disrupt your concentration.
- Beware of listening defensively: Wait for the speaker to finish before devising your own mental arguments.
- Refrain from multitasking, such as checking cell phones.
- Be an empathetic listener and respect cultural differences.
Practice Active Listening Strategies
Evaluate Evidence and Reasoning
- Evaluate the speaker’s evidence for accuracy and credibility.
- Analyze the speaker’s assumptions and biases.
- Assess the speaker’s reasoning: Look for weak arguments.
- Consider alternate perspectives.
- Summarize and assess the relevant facts and evidence before deciding how you will act on the speaker’s information or argument.
Offer Constructive and Compassionate Feedback
- Be honest and fair in your evaluation.
- Do not judge the message’s content on the basis of the speaker’s communication style.
- Be compassionate in your criticism: Start with something positive; be selective in your criticism; and focus on the speech, not on the speaker.
Take Responsibility for Your Words
- Be morally accountable to yourself and your audience for your message.
- Accept responsibility for the stands you take.
Demonstrate Competence and Character
- Display good character (ethos).
- Develop a solid grasp of your subject (competence).
- Display sound reasoning skills.
- Present information honestly and without manipulation.
- Be genuinely interested in the welfare of your listeners.
Respect Your Listeners’ Values
- Consider the audience’s values as you plan your speech.
- Be aware that conflicting values lie at the heart of many controversial issues.
- When your topic is controversial, consider both sides of an issue.
Be Aware of Different Ethical Perspectives
- Three prominent ethical theories—consequentialist ethics, rules-based ethics, and virtue ethics—propose different standards and rationales for making ethical choices.
- Analyze values using the instruments in the text.
Contribute to Positive Public Discourse
- Advance constructive goals.
- Avoid introducing conversation stoppers into public discourse.
- Follow the rules of engagement for civil public discourse.
Use Your Rights of Free Speech Responsibly
- As a public speaker, you face balancing your rights of free speech with the responsibilities that accompany these rights.
- The First Amendment provides protection both to truthful speakers and to speakers whose words are inflammatory and offensive.
- Be aware that certain types of speech are illegal:
- Speech that provokes people to violence (“fighting words”)
- Speech that can be proved to harm an individual’s reputation (slander or defamatory statements)
- Words spoken with a reckless disregard for the truth
Avoid Hate Speech in Any Form
- Hate speech is any offensive communication directed against people’s racial, ethnic, religious, gender, or other characteristics.
- Avoid ethnocentrism and any hint of stereotyping.
Observe the Ground Rules for Ethical Speaking
- Demonstrate dignity and integrity in your own character and accord it to each audience member.
- Tell the truth, don’t distort information, and acknowledge sources.
- Show respect for audience members.
- Be accountable for what you say.
- Acknowledge alternative and opposing views.
Avoid Plagiarism
- Orally acknowledge any source that requires credit in written form: other people’s ideas, opinions, theories, evidence, and research; direct quotations; paraphrased information; facts and statistics.
- Know how to directly quote, paraphrase, or summarize a source.
Understand the Rules of Fair Use and Copyright
- Copyright law protects intellectual property (original authorship).
- The fair use doctrine permits limited use of copyrighted materials without permission; such material must be orally credited in your speech.
KEY TERMS
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