Public speaking = roby

Public speaking
ARISE TRAINING & RESEARCH CENTER
- ROBY

The skills and confidence of
public speaking come from
two things: hard work and
practice.
 So how do you go about the hard work and
practice?
 Let’s deal with the practice first.

 It is true that no amount of reading
and learning techniques from a book
will turn you into a competent,
confident speaker.
 Sachin Tendulkar then and Sachin
now is a living example of what hard
work and practice can do.

‘But how can I get
practice’
 Speak whenever you get the opportunity
 This will help you find your own particular
strengths and weaknesses
 Then learn to exploit your strengths and
avoid your weaknesses

Preparation
 There are techniques we can learn from
experienced speakers
 Many a speaker has used Thesaurus for
word selection
 Many a speaker who speak impromptu,
do not.
 work has been done long before they
reach the platform.

First questions
 As with any other
communication, it is back to
Why? Who? What? When?
Where? And How?

When will it take place?
 Be sure that you have
adequate preparation time-
for both written material and
visual aids.

How long?
 Are you to speak for?
 Is the time adequate for your
subject?
 Remember that, contrary to what
may seem the case, the less time you
have to speak, the more carefully
planned your talk must be.

As one speaker said:
‘ If you want me to speak for five
minutes- I need two weeks to
prepare. If you want me to speak for
an hour- I need a week to prepare. If
you don’t mind how long I speak, I’ll
get up now and do it now,’

Where is it to take place?
 In surroundings familiar to your audience?
Familiar to you? If not, try to visit the venue
before you speak and in any case check before-
hand the type and size of the room, tiered
seating or flat floor, acoustics, lighting,
equipment available, etc. don’t hesitate to ask
if particular arrangements are possible

Who are to be present?
 Number, age and type of people,
male or female, intellectual level,
their current knowledge of the
subject, their reasons for attending
and their attitudes. These will, of
course, influence the ideas and the
language you use.

Why me?
 What special knowledge or
position have you?
 What will the audience expect
from you?

How?
 Are you expected to give a formal speech or
lecture, or an introductory talk to provoke
discussion? Will there be a question session?
 If there is to be a discussion or a question
session then you might like to leave some
things unsaid so that you leave your
audience with some questions to ask and
yourself with something fresh to say in
answer to them.

Adjust to circumstances
 In many a case there is likely to be a
conflict between the desired
circumstances and the given
circumstances
 Hence usually some modifications or
compromises will be necessary.
 It could be time, audience size,
equipment…

Developing the material
 Stage one –Think
you have selected your subject,
now give the time to grow.
# take time to gather and
arrange your thoughts..

 Think about the talk at any convenient
moment; a good time often presents itself
when you are doing some other, usually
manual job, like digging the garden,
decorating your flat, or perhaps traveling to
work or college.
 Discuss the theme with friends and
colleagues.
 Carry a notebook or a card, on which to note
ideas as they occur to you.

Stage Two- Read
 Read as much as time permits
 Gather more material than you can
possibly use, not only on the subject but
also, for example possible quotations
 Collect anecdotes and stories from
newspapers and magazines.

Stage Three- construct your
outline
 As with any carefully presented
message, it will require an
introduction and a conclusion
 However you do it, it should be
logical and systematic.

 ‘look after the beginning and the
end…and the middle will take
care itself.’
 Of course the middle needs to be
well structured if you are to
achieve your goal
 ‘men perish because they cannot
join the beginning with the end.’

Opening the talk
 The first few minutes are very crucial
because:
-you may have to follow a speaker who for
whatever reasons has had a great
acceptance
-you may be the first or only speaker on that
occasion and you have to cut the ice, so to
speak, make the audience feel immediately
that their attendance is worthwhile
-you may, like most other people, feel far more
nervous during the first few minutes

Check points: creating a
good opening impression
 Arrange the ‘stage’ on which you are to
perform. Take a little time before you start
speaking to position your notes and visual aids
so that you can use them comfortably. Make
sure you have room to move between the table
or lectern and the blackboard or OHP, that your
notes are high enough to you to see without
continually dropping your head

 Don’t hesitate; start as soon as the
audience is settled, but take a few
seconds to survey the audience and let
them stock of you.
 Don’t open with clichés or hackneyed
expressions, e.g. ‘it gives me great
pleasure…’I want to thank you…(do
this a little later or even towards the
end of your talk)

 Don’t apologize. You may not that your
knowledge, subject, ability or even presence
is Upto the occasion but the audience will be
confident, if you start with the confidence
that stems from being well prepared.
 The opening must be something original and
interesting enough to make them want to
hear what you have to say

 Avoid too early a climax- interest will fall
if the high standard of the opening
cannot be sustained.
 Remember it is only an opening- an
introduction. Don’t make it too long. Keep
it in proportion to the total length of the
talk.

Check-points: A Dozen Ways
to Start.
 Statement of subject or title- not very inspiring:
they probably know your subject anyway.
 Statement of your objective and the plan of
your talk- a good safe way to start if you have
adopted a deductive sequence, but if you are
trying to persuade , you don’t want to give the
game away too early.

 Informal – for informal
occasions.
‘only the other day when I was
with Yuookta M…’
This has avoided giving the
impression of ‘making a speech’

 Question- anticipate the type of questions
your audience might want answered in
connection with your subject: ‘ are the
days of kapoors’ over’?
The audience instinctively tries to arrive at
an answer- and gives you an opening

 Mind reading- similar to the use of
question. Anticipate the audiences
preconceived ideas; bring these in to
the open and correct them if
necessary
“if I were a member of the audience
today I would be expecting to sit
through another boring lecture on
communication. But I have
something more interesting …”

 Anecdote – must be well told,
relevant to the subject, brief and,
if possible, personal ( the
willingness to laugh at yourself
will usually win an audience)

 Joke- if your experience tells you that you
can do this well, then it may be worth
risking it. But peoples sense of humor
differs radically, and if the joke falls flat
you are worse off than before. Again, it
must be well told, relevant and brief

 Facts and statistics – used sparingly they
can get the audience to rise to the occasion.
Most business or technical subjects offer
many facts which will interest and inform
your audience.
choose them carefully, make sure they are
accurate and keep them simple.
Contrasting facts can be particularly
interesting: ”In 2003,an average of15000
people died of heart attacks while 25000
died in road accidents”

 Quotation – perhaps the easiest
method to use and often most
effective.
the quotation should be from a well
known person or author known to the
audience, and strictly relevant to
your subject

 Shock – not just the gimmicky opening, firing
revolvers or letting off explosions, which can
often go wrong and are always to sustain.
shock can be created through effective use of
words: ‘MBA is a waste of time and money…
only fools do it…’
pause to allow the shock to take effect, then:
‘ unless, of course, it is aimed at…’

 Topical story – as opposed to the
humorous story. Everyone likes a
story- but only if it is skillfully chosen
and told. Ideally it should have an
intriguing twist and must lead into
the subject

Closing the Talk
 Just as you need to attract the
interest ;of the audience at the
beginning of the talk, so you must
finish on a high note. The effect of
the speech which is other wise good
can be damaged by its close

Check- points: Pitfalls to
Avoid
 Avoid wandering towards the end. End on a
high note which is relevant to all that has gone
before
 Don’t make a second speech. Even if you
suddenly think of something else which is
relevant don't be tempted. It is very easy, as the
tension relaxes, to start developing a new line
of thought which was not there in the body of
thought earlier

 Avoid repetition. In summing up the main points
you have made, don’t repeat details or labor over
points again.
 If you have finished before your allotted time- sit
down. Don’t pad it out.
 Avoid having to rely on notes for your final
remarks. Learn your closing words so that you can
look at your audience as you reach your climax

 Don’t give too many closing signals, e.g. ‘and
finally’, ‘in conclusion’, ‘one other thing before I
finish’, ‘then, before you fall asleep’,…
 In fact, it is probably best to avoid a closing signal
altogether
 Your closing remarks should round off your talk,
and therefore by implication your audience will
know that your talk is complete.

 To avoid these pit falls, you need to
have a closing plan which is an
integral part of the development of
your whole speech. In this way you
won’t get lost at the end of your
presentation.

Check-points: 10 Ways
to Stop
 Summary-a fairly standard way
to finish but nevertheless
effective. A brief review of the
important points leaves no doubt
in the minds of your audience

 Questions-send the audience
away to think of an answer. ‘This
then is what we have to do. The
question now is , how can we best
achieve it’.

 Story or anecdote-should be brief and
to the point. A story can illustrate how
your ideas have worked out in practice
 Quotations- can indicate wide
knowledge and therefore lend
credibility to your performance. Must
be relevant and must not be just
tucked in for its own sake

 Alternative- offer a choice of
alternatives, or different solutions. The
one you want accepted should be obvious
from the way you have constructed your
presentation and you can give this one
more weight than the others in the
summary.

 Dramatic- if you carry it off by the
dramatic use of your voice, or dramatic
content, can certainly end things on a
high note
 Action- you want action now, not later.
So ask for it. Many of your audience will
respond

 Incentive-if you can suggest ways in
which the audience can benefit ,some sort
of a reward or an incentive, they are even
more likely to respond. An audience is less
likely to forget your message if you offer
a reason for taking action

 Fear-use of fear to gain action is risky
because it can alienate the audience.
But since it is often difficult to provoke
the audience to action, you may be
justified in using some element of fear
if the end result is worthwhile. ‘you
must act – now ! Before it is too late!’.
 Conscience- pricking-same effect as
above but less risky

Visual Aids
 You do not have to be a
graphic artist, but it helps!
please bear in mind the
following points

How can visuals aid my
talk?
 Hand-outs and or visuals aid
during the talk
 Use pre- prepared visuals for
complex inter-related ideas/
persuasive communication

 Words alone are not visual aids- where
you do use them provide visual impact by
means of graphic devices:
-underlining and boxes or circles
-bullets and dashes
-careful lay-out
-use of space

 Don’t use overcomplicated visual aids –
everybody in the audience must
understand every aid and use by the time
you have finished with it.
 Visuals must complement what you say.
 Make sure there are no spelling mistakes

 You must have a visual for
everything you want your audience
to remember
 Don’t have a visual aid which you
don’t need
 You don’t have to be a professional
to produce good visuals
 Computers today have made things
easy

Use of Notes
 Why use notes?
-memories are faulty
-they guard against omissions
-they help to develop a complicated close-
knit argument
-they prevent loss of sequence

Practicing the Talk
 Thorough preparation
 Plenty of practice
 Practice the whole talk
-out loud
-in a similar-sized room
-using a tape recorder
-checking the timing
-do a dry run in front of friends/colleagues

Room and platform
 Room –seating plan, windows,
lighting, OHP,
blackboard/whiteboard
 Platform – room to move, supply
of clean, covered water and
glass, microphone, sit/stand

Delivery of the Talk
 Be yourself! And look at the audience!
 Concentrate on the preparation and on the
four qualities below
-conviction/sincerity
-enthusiasm
-power of speech
-simplicity
These are the basic ingredients of all effective
communication

‘All great speakers were bad
speakers once.’
-Emerson

Public speaking = roby

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