Use an engaging, lively style so that the audience will enjoy listening to you. Your audience should hear your enthusiasm for the topic. Your voice should convey that you are presenting on something meaningful and important.
Be sure to use straightforward language that’s easy on the ear, not too complicated or too abstract. Keep your sentences short and direct so that listeners can easily keep up with your presentation. In the following example, the speaker adapts a single essay sentence for a speech by breaking it into smaller chunks, engaging the audience with a question, and using plainer language.
SENTENCE FROM AN ARGUMENT ESSAY
In 2006, the enormous contributions of citizen journalists were recognized when the New Orleans Times-Picayune received the Pulitzer Prize in public service for its online coverage—largely citizen-generated—of Hurricane Katrina.
ESSAY MATERIAL ADAPTED FOR A SPEECH
The New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in public service. Why? For its online news about Hurricane Katrina—news generated by ordinary people.
If you are using sources, be sure to cue the audience with signal phrases. Just as when you are using sources in an essay, you must acknowledge the sources—but you can do so in a slightly less formal way in a speech (“According to David Brooks in the New York Times . . . ,” “Roland Smith has a good suggestion . . .”). If you have slides, you can include citations on the slides. While it’s not possible to cite page numbers as you are speaking, if you provide handouts along with your speech you can include a list of sources that your audience can refer to.
Remixing a paper for a presentation