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Giving a Speech

Public

Speaking

ABOUT THE SPEECH

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Parts of a Speech

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Introduction:  Gains the audience’s attention, introduces the listeners to your topics, prepares listeners for our speech.

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Body:  Includes 75% of the information you will speak about.  Divided into 3-5 main points with each main point clearly stated and supported by research and other material.

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Conclusion:  Reviews your main points and provides closure by ending with a powerful final statement.

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​The delivery of a speech is effective when the speaker knows the material well, keeps eye contact with the audience, uses vocal changes and appears to move naturally. 

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Types of Speeches

An informative speech, oral report, lecture or workshop is designed to explain, instruct, define, clarify, demonstrate or teach.

  • Can be formal or informal

  • While it is important to keep the audience’s attention, and audience enjoyment is a bonus, too much entertainment can be a distraction

  • Used in conferences, educational institutions and workplaces 

Persuasive speeches, debates, sales presentation and sermons influence, convince, motivate, sell products, preach or stimulate action

  • Must inspire purposeful emotion

  • Audience entertainment is irrelevant as long as they are paying attention 

The evocative speech entertains, inspires or helps listeners to celebrate, bond or commemorate

  • Is most often informal

  • Should inspire emotion; only successful if the audience enjoys it

  • Used in political contexts, wedding parties and roasts 

The impromptu speech requires you to speak on the spur of the moment with little or no preparation time

  • You can successfully do this by thinking of two to three main points on your way up to the front of the room

  • If you think you might be asked to do one, even five minutes of preparation will make these much easier

  • Used in workplaces, Q&A sessions, wedding parties and company gatherings 

The storytelling speech enhances one’s cultural identity by building a common understanding of tradition, morals, values, goals and desires

  • Entertains and amuses listeners

  • Combines informative and evocative speech styles

ANALYZE YOUR AUDIENCE

Analyze the demographics and attitudes of your audience​

  • Consider how your audience’s knowledge of your topic and point of view will affect the way you will direct your message

  • Think about your audience’s intended reaction to your message, and structure your words and ideas accordingly

  • Determine how you will address information in relation to your audience’s age, gender, ethnicity and status

  • Anticipate whether your audience will agree, remain indifferent or disagree with your message 

When possible, collect information about your audience before you begin your speech​

  • Interview selected audience members to gain insight into the views of the audience

  • Observe the audience, or draw from your general inferences

  • Use a survey questionnaire to poll your audience or a group of people with related characteristics

  • Ask whoever invited you to speak about your audience and their point of view

SPEECH TOPICS

Select and analyze your speech purpose and topic

  • Determine the purpose of your speech and decide which type of speech you are giving

  • Consider the occasion, audience, expectations, circumstances surrounding your speech, and your own background and knowledge

  • Develop a list of possible topics

    1. Some of the best speech topics are about subjects the speaker is unfamiliar with but would like to learn more about

    2. Speaking about what you know and love lets you share your passion with your audience

  • Brainstorm by making . . . 

    1. A list of everything you might want to speak about, then ask a potential audience member which one sounds most interesting

    2. A concept map, which allows you to generate ideas without evaluating them.  It helps you develop a wide variety of choices.  

  • Once you have your topic, choose two to five main areas on which you will speak

  • A thesis statement should be stated in one single sentence

THE BASIC SPEECH OUTLINE

  • Introduction

    1. Attention getter

    2. Significance

    3. Credibility

    4. Thesis statement

    5. Preview

    6. Transition into your first main point

  • The main body

    1. First main point

      1. First sub-point and supporting material

      2. Transition closing off main point one and opening main point two

    2. Second main point

      1. First sub-point of this section and supporting material

      2. Second sub-point and supporting material

      3. Transition closing off second main point and opening their main point

    3. Final main point

      1. First sub-point of this section and supporting material

      2. Transition into conclusion

  • Conclusion

RESEARCH YOUR TOPIC

Look for research material including:

  1. Visual aid to illustrate your point or capture your audience’s attention

  2. Quotations to sum up an argument

  3. Relevant stories to keep things interesting

  4. Scholarly evidence to prove you are right

  5. Information on what other people think about the topic 

Locate research material using:

  1. Library card catalogs (available online)

  2. Periodicals and other indexes

  3. Abstracts

  4. Government resources

  5. The Internet 

Common sources for speech material:

  1. Print media such as fiction and nonfiction books, reference books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, abstracts, magazines, journals, newspapers and pamphlets

  2. Electronic media such as the internet, scholarly databases, videos, television, blogs or radio programs

  3. Personal interviews with experts in the field. 

SPEECH ORGANIZATION

The purpose of the introduction is to prepare the audience to listen to the speech

  1. Attention-getter:  The very first statement that comes out of the speaker’s mouth.  The attention-getter should engage your audience and draw them into your speech

    • Rhetorical Question:  A question that does not require an answer.  Rhetorical questions are effective because they make the audience think about your topic.

    • Story:  Stories contain a set-up, climax and outcome.  Everyone wants to hear a good story, especially if it is told with suspense and conflict.  Stories can be about real or hypothetical events in the past or present.

    • Startling Statement or Statistic:  A statement or statistic intended to surprise your audience. Beginning with one of these can be effective because it jolts your audience to attention. 

    • Humor:  When you use humor, make sure it is related to a point you are going to make in your speech.  This will keep you from becoming a flop if your joke or humorous statement does not work.

  2. Significance:  Give the audience a reason to listen to your speech.  Motivate them by telling them the reason the topic is relevant to their lives.

  3. Credibility:  Tell the audience why you are qualified to give the speech.  Have you worked on the project, taken a class or conducted research on the topic?

  4. Thesis Statement:  A single, declarative statement capsuling the central idea or specific purpose of your speech

  5. Preview:  A way of forecasting your main points to your audience.  In the preview you list each of the main points you will cover in your speech.  Sometimes the thesis statement and the preview are combined. 

Your introduction should be something you are very confident with, whether it is written out word for word or memorized and planned out.​

  1. Maintain eye contact with your audience

  2. Engaging your audience in the introduction is important because audience members will decide during the first minute of your speech whether they will continue to listen

  3. This will help you set your tone to let your audience know what to expect

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Transitions

 

Form a bridge between the parts of your speech

  • Use them between your introduction and your first main point, then again between our main points and finally between your last main point and your conclusion

  • Internal transitions are used between words and sentences and tell the audience how two ideas may be related

  • External transitions tell your audience that one main idea is ending and another is beginning

  • Transitions can be a good way to save yourself from an awkward place if part of your speech doesn’t go well

The Main Body

 

Main points and their subpoints

  • The body of a speech has from three to five main points each with one or more subpoints and supporting material

  • Orally state each main point as you begin discussing it

  • Always qualify (discuss the qualifications of the person) and cite (orally state the source or expert’s name)

  • Analogy:  A comparison between two different items which referrals their likeness (example: a computer is like a human brain because they both process information)

  • Statistical evidence:  A numerical collection or fact usually works best explained or used with an analogy

    • When using statistics, it is important to know their source.  Often, statistics may be skewed depending on the source of funding for the research.  By evaluating who collected the statistics and for what purpose, we can better decide whether or not the statistics are valid

    • Graphs and charts help to make statistics meaningful

    • If you are using much statistical evidence, a handout or other visual aid helps keep the audience’s attention

  • Story:  Has a setup, a climax and a conclusion.  Suspense, conflict and description help a story hold the attention of the audience

    • Ask yourself, is my story relevant enough?  Does it add something to my speech that I can’t get any other way?

    • Is my story long enough to make its point clearly while short enough to be interesting?

    • If the story is supposed to be funny or entertaining, will it still work with an audience who doesn’t know the subject as well as you do?

  • Example:  Factual or hypothetical; used to illustrate a point

  • Definition:  From various sources - dictionary, historical, etymological, by authority, by negation

Conclusion

 

A way of bringing your talk to a close reinforcing your major ideas, letting your audience know what you expect of them, and providing a final impact.  Consists of a review and a final statement:

  • Review:  A restatement of the main points you presented in your speech

  • Final Statement:  Should leave a lasting impact on your audience and bring your ideas to a close

    • Using a powerful quotation is a good way to end a speech

    • You can also end by tying your conclusion into a story that you started in your introduction

    • Your final statement should be refined, and the language should be powerful and direct

    • Remember what emotions and ideas you want to leave your audience with 

  • The conclusion for the persuasive speech also contains a call to action

    • In the call to action, you tell the audience exactly what you want them to do. 

PRACTICE

  • Complete all research and writing at least two weeks prior to the speech date

  • Practice reading aloud using your outline.  Reduce your outline to a few key words

  • Write your key words on a divide or index card

  • Practice speaking aloud from your notes

  • Break your topics into smaller pieces for mental clarity

    • Organize your topics in your mind by creating blocks or modules of information that can be independently discussed

    • Engage your friends, family or co-workers’ conversations that allow you to discuss the section of information you have stored in your mind

    • Make sure you understand the information and its relationship to your organizational pattern before you present it in public

  • Have the basic points of your speech memorized no matter how you are delivering it, so that if something unexpected happens, you can still flow to your next item

PERSUASIVE

STRATEGIES

 

  • Clarify the goals of your speech.  Do you want your audience to:

    • Discontinue doing something they already do?

    • Adopt a new policy or behavior?

    • Continue doing something they already do?

    • Avoid doing something they have not tried?

  • Determine the kind of proposition you will support and prove

    • Proposition of fact:  It did or did not happen.  It exists or does not exist.  It is true or false.  It can be proven or disproven.

    • A proposition of value attempts to prove the worth of something

    • A proposition of policy asks the audience to support a new plan, or replace the old system or idea with the new plan you propose

  • Consider your audience’s opinion on the issue

    • Does your audience agree with your position? 

      • Use emotional appeals.  Emotional appeals motivate feelings like fear, hope, security and guilt

      • Motivate them to take action

      • Ask them to make commitments in public

    • Does your audience disagree with your position?

      • Stress common ground

      • Emphasize evidence and logic.  Logic involves your ability to validate your claims with your evidence in a systematic, believable manner

      • Establish your own credibility (Qualifications, knowledge of the topic, concern) Dynamic deliver skills make the audience more willing to listen with an open mind

  • Consider your audience’s opinions, beliefs and values

    • Opinion:  An attitude about your belief in something

    • Belief:  A faith about whether something exists or does not exist

    • Value:  A commitment to a belief that is central and acts as a life guide

  • Ethics:  All communication decisions have ethical consequences

GENERAL

TIPS

  • Understand yourself:  What motivates you?  Do you like to help others, organize things or always do things right?  Are you the one who wants to motivate or make peace?  Studying and understanding personality traits will improve your effectiveness as a public speaker

  • Understand others and the world around you?  What motivates someone to do the things he or she does?  How do things work?  Why did that happen?  Having a general curiosity about the world around you and studying topics like psychology, history, science and sociology will give you depth as a speaker. 

  • Collect quotes and ideas:  Write your quotes and ideas on a device or on index cards and file them topically

  • Rely on your own creatively:  Don’t copy others’ ideas.  Understand the issues, think about them, and develop your own ideas.  Creativity happens when crisis meets opportunity

  • Be spontaneous, but have structure:  A good way for your audience to visualize is to spin your examples, data and stories off the structure of a meaningful outline.  Ideas are more meaningful if they are organized, structured and refined

PRESENTATION

AIDS

 

Using Presentation Aids
 

  • Make sure they are relevant.  You don’t want to distract your own audience

  • They must be big enough for everyone to see

  • If things go wrong:  Be prepared to give your talk without any visual aid in case it gets lost or there are technical difficulties
     

Types of Presentation Aids 
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  • Flip charts, poster-boards or whiteboards can be used to display sketches, charts, graphs, diagrams, photographs, artwork and images from the internet

    • Making sure all of your visual aids are the same size.  This makes them easier to handle and tells the audience you are organized and professional

    • Make sure you have adequate color contrast.  Don’t mount gray artwork on a gray background or use faded or pastel colors

    • When creating text for your visual aid, use stencils or create the text on a computer for printing

    • Don’t be afraid of blank space.  The alternative is a very cluttered look

    • Plan where you will be projecting your presentation (screen or wall)

    • Have knowledge of the projector you will be using.  Make sure it is set up well ahead of time

    • Make sure you are very familiar with your notes.  You may not be able to see them in the dark

    • Consider using a program such as Microsoft PowerPoint.  Set up PowerPoint on a device such as a tablet.  Use your tablet to project your slides on an external device (computer or projector).  This allows you to see your presentation notes and slides on your tablet while displaying only your slides on an external device.  You can use the tablet to interact with your full-screen presentation

    • If you will be using a computer besides your own, load your presentation well in advance – glitches happen

    • Don’t use the sound effects

    • Rehearse all transitions in advance

  • Interactive Whiteboard:  Technology that allows the presenter or audience to write on or interact with the visual aid

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