Chapter 15 MEDIATED PUBLIC SPEAKING

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“Effective mediated public speaking offers a new world of challenges and opportunities.”

Marshawn signed up to take his required public speaking course in an online format. His work schedule was unpredictable, and he appreciated the flexible hours that an online class would provide. Because the class would never meet face-to-face, he figured he would not be required to deliver any speeches. Besides quelling his nerves, he thought that this would make the course a bit easier to manage.

However, when Marshawn logged on to the course Web site for the first time, he received a surprise. Four speeches were required for the course, and although they would not be presented live in a classroom, students were responsible for making video recordings of their presentations and submitting them to the instructor electronically. This was not good news. Not only would Marshawn have to do all the work required to prepare and present his speeches, but he also would need to worry about recording them. “Who does my instructor think I am?” he wondered. “Steven Spielberg?”

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After the first week of classes, Marshawn began to reconsider. He had been involved in making videos for most of his life. He had recorded special events with friends and family members on his cell phone and posted them on YouTube. His church choir had made a DVD of its best work, which featured Marshawn singing a solo. And whenever he brought a new romantic interest home to meet his parents, Marshawn’s mom could not resist showing a video of his campaign speech for sixth-grade class president. Maybe he had more video experience than he’d originally thought.

Marshawn’s experience is not unique. Twenty-first-century technology has increased the ways that we can communicate with one another. Today, speeches can be presented in real time to audiences in different locations, and they can be saved for future playback. Messages transmitted through either a mechanical or an electronic medium are examples of mediated communication. You may be called on to use mediated channels for presentations on campus, in your career, or as part of your community involvement. Therefore, you will benefit from gaining skills and experience with such methods of communicating.

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Fortunately, much as you follow a set of manageable steps to prepare and deliver successful speeches in a face-to-face (F2F) environment, you can use a similar approach when called on to deliver a mediated presentation. This chapter will help you learn how to adapt when you speak to a remote audience and also how to become comfortable when speaking to a camera instead of live listeners. We begin by discussing the rise of mediated communication and the advantages and challenges of real-time and prerecorded presentations. Then we move on to strategies for optimizing delivery of effective messages in a mediated environment. Finally, we discuss the procedures for recording a classroom presentation and some special considerations for real-time presentations.