1.
The PPPPPP
Golden Rule of
Public Speaking
University of Essex 22nd Feb 2017
Daniel Sandars ACS ALB
speechcraft@sandars.org.uk
District 71 Speechcraft Chair

2.
Preparation
and practice lead
to excellence.
1

3.
Become familiar with
 Lectern and audience location
 Microphone usage
 Room conditions
 Visual aids
2

4.
Become familiar with
Lectern and Audience Location
 Speaking area
 Audience configuration
 Stage location of platform steps
or ramp
3

5.
Become familiar with
Microphones
 Groups of 100+
 Audience over the age of 50
 Poor acoustics
 Voice strain
4

6.
Become familiar with
Room Conditions
 Temperature
 Appropriate lighting
 Discreet entry for latecomers
 Competitive outside noise
5

7.
Become familiar with
Visual Aids
 Located where all can see
 Appropriately sized viewing
screen
 Handout distribution
6

8.
Extra Considerations
Provide an introduction
 Prepare yourself physically
 Have a mental rehearsal
9

9.
Rehearsing the
Speech
 Practice ideas, not words.
 Prepare a mental draft of the
speech.
 Finish each rehearsal session.
7

10.
Improving Your
Speech
 Add improvements gradually
 Arrange for feedback
8

11.
How do you learn if…
1

12.
Starting late allows…
1

13.
Starting early allows…
Time to find what you don’t know
Time to ask questions
Time to identify support resources
Time to identify coaches and mentors
Time to obtain training
1

14.
Conclusion
Good luck happens
when preparedness
meets opportunity.
– Anon
10

15.
The Golden Rule
1

16.
The first use of the phrase piss poor itself is
found in the archives of the OED, where it is
recorded in the writing of A. L. Hench in 1946:
Piss-poor… Jim Constantine (...formerly
sergeant in Air Corps in West Indies) told me
this morning that this word was used by all the
soldiers he came in contact with as descriptive
of a thing in its lowest condition…
E.g. This is a piss-poor outfit. My job is a piss-
poor one.
1