Part 7: SPEAKER’S REFERENCE

• Think of your speech as a particularly important conversation.
• Rather than behaving theatrically, strive for naturalness.

• Speak about what excites you.
• Show enthusiasm for your topic and for the occasion.

• Inspire audience members’ confidence in you by appearing confident.
• Focus on the ideas you want to convey rather than on yourself.

• Establish eye contact with your listeners.
• Use a friendly tone of voice.
• Smile whenever it is appropriate.
• Consider positioning yourself close to the audience.

• Vary the rhythm of your words.
• Become familiar with the speech so you can establish some eye contact with the audience.
• Consider using compelling presentation aids.

• Brief remarks, like toasts, can be well served by memorization.
• Consider memorizing parts of your speech, such as quotations.
• When delivering material from memory, know it well enough to do so with enthusiasm and directness.

• Anticipate situations that may require impromptu speaking.
• Consider what would best serve the audience.
• As you wait your turn to speak, listen to and note what others are saying.
• Jot down a few key ideas in key-word form.
• Stay on topic.

• Prepare and practice your speech in advance of delivery.
• Speak from an outline of key words and phrases.
• Use eye contact, body orientation, and movement to maximize delivery.

• The bigger the room and the larger the audience, the louder you need to speak.
• Be alert to signals from the audience indicating problems in volume.
• Breathe deeply from your diaphragm.

• Vary your intonation to reflect meaning.
• Use pitch to animate your voice.

• To ensure that your speaking rate is comfortable for your listeners (neither too fast nor too slow), be alert to their reactions.
• Vary your speaking rate depending on topic type.

• Use pauses to emphasize points, to draw attention to key thoughts, or to allow listeners a moment to contemplate what you’ve said.
• Eliminate distracting vocal fillers, such as “uh,” “hmm,” “you know,” “I mean,” and “it’s like.”

• Use the various vocal elements—volume, pitch, rate, and pauses—to create an effective delivery.
• Use a mix of these elements throughout your speech.

• Learn to pronounce words correctly.
• If you use a dialect, make sure that your audience understands it.
• Don’t mumble or slur your words.

• In addition to the speaker’s vocal delivery (how you say something), audiences are highly attuned to the speaker’s physical actions, or body language (facial expressions, gestures, body movement, and physical appearance).
• Audience members interpret speakers’ attitudes toward the audience, speech, and occasion largely through their nonverbal behavior.

• Nonverbal behaviors such as eye contact, open body posture, and vocal variety can enhance the audience’s perception of your credibility.

• Establish rapport with your audience with a smile.

• Establish eye contact to indicate that you recognize and respect listeners.
• Scan the room with your eyes, pausing to gaze at selected listeners.

• Use gestures to clarify your message.
• Use gestures that feel comfortable to you.
• Avoid exaggerated gestures, but make them broad enough to be visible.

• Use your physical position vis-à-vis the audience to adjust your relationship with them.

  Movement toward listeners stimulates a sense of informality

  Remaining behind the podium fosters a greater degree of formality

• Be aware of your posture, standing erect, but not ramrod straight.

• Dress appropriately for the occasion.
• Choices of clothing and grooming will probably be the first thing your listeners notice about you.
• Keep your hands free of distracting objects, such as pens and notecards.

• Practice is essential to effective nonverbal delivery.
• After you’ve practiced several times, videorecord your delivery, incorporating changes and recording it again.
• Practice in surroundings made to simulate the actual speech setting.
• Time your speech practice to adjust your amount of material and rate of speaking.