This document provides information on preparing for different types of public speaking events. It discusses seminars, conferences, virtual events, award ceremonies, and special occasions. For each type of event, it describes the format and expectations. The document then offers tips for preparing a public speaking event, including knowing the audience and environment, outlining main points, practicing, using visual aids appropriately, anticipating questions, and managing technology. Overall, the document stresses the importance of thorough preparation, practice, and tailoring the speech based on the specific event type and audience.

1. Preparation
for public
speaking

2. Types of public-
speaking events
• Learning about the different
types of public-speaking events
helps you determine how to
prepare for your engagement.
Here are a few common types of
public-speaking events:

3. Seminars
• A seminar is a lecture to a large audience
and is usually what you think of when you
hear "public speaking." Many organizations
offer seminars to train a group of
professionals on a specific topic. For
example, a real-estate business could offer a
seminar on effective ways to stage a home.
Many seminars are accompanied by
slideshows or other visual presentations.

4. Conferences
• Conferences are gatherings where speakers present to an
audience. For example, a technology company could host a
conference about recent innovations in the industry. Most
conferences often have multiple speakers presenting in
different areas of the conference. You can expect a full lineup
of speakers over the length of the conference.
• Usually, your audience is made up of people who have come to
hear you and your panel speak on a particular topic. Your panel
consists of people presenting on something related to your
topic. At the end of the presentations, there will most likely be
a question-and-answer portion with the audience. Audience
members ask questions to you or the whole group about the
topics discussed during the panel.

5. Virtual events
• Along with telecommunication, virtual speaking events are becoming more
common. In this setting, you will present from your computer rather than
standing in front of an audience. However, this does still mean you will
have many people listening and watching you. You should present in a
professional location and dress accordingly. Well-functioning technology is
especially important for this type of event.

6. Award ceremonies
• Award ceremonies are moments of celebration and
accomplishment. At an award ceremony, you might be
receiving or giving an award. These events are more formal.
If you think or know you're receiving an award, make sure
to have your speech prepared and practiced. Keep the
speech on the shorter end, and maintain a humble
presence.

7. Special
occasions
• Retirement parties or going away
gatherings are special occasions
that often include a short speech
from a close colleague or
manager. Usually, speeches during
these events are informal and
short.

8. How to prepare
for a public-
speaking event

9. Thorough
knowledge
about the
topic to be
discussed is in
fact the key to
an effective
session.
There are speakers who prefer taking notes/bullet points
to the session.
I do not say that it is a wrong practice but reading only
from the notes is certainly not acceptable and expected
out of a good and professional speaker.
Why are you the chosen one to represent your company
in front of all the employees in case you just have to
read out notes? In fact anyone can do the same.
Understand that eye contact is a crucial aspect in public
speaking. It helps you connect with your audience
instantly and more over people also take you seriously.

10. Thorough knowledge about the topic to be discussed is
in fact the key to an effective session.
Remember, one needs to be spontaneous and it comes only when you yourself are clear as to
what you intend to speak. You can take few points just in case you have a bad memory but
always try to make your session an interactive one for better results.
Be prepared for the worst questions. Surf various informative websites, read related books,
articles, notes and gather as much relevant information as you can. Support your content with
live case studies, practical examples and authentic data.
You can also make a nice presentation to share with your audience but make sure your
presentation highlights only the key points.
Presentation is always in bullets and you just do not have to include paragraphs and stories in
it.

11. Practicing well
is another
step towards
preparing for
public
speaking.
NEVER BE OVER CONFIDENT. GIVE
YOUR PRESENTATION IN FRONT OF
EITHER A FRIEND OR COLLEAGUE
WHOM YOU TRUST AND WHO IS
CAPABLE OF GIVING YOU HONEST
AND CORRECT FEEDBACK.
INCORPORATE THE CHANGES AS
SUGGESTED .IF YOU CANNOT FIND
SOMEONE, STAND IN FRONT OF THE
MIRROR AND SPEAK.
IT WORKS! IT HELPS YOU REALIZE
YOUR MISTAKES AND
SHORTCOMINGS.

12. Practicing well is another step towards
preparing for public speaking.
Dressing appropriately helps you carve a niche of your own and leave an everlasting
impression. You really do not have to wear your bridal outfit but yes wear something you
yourself are sure of.
Wear comfortable clothes and no casual clothing to formal presentations. A white shirt
with a black fitted trouser is the ideal combination.
Wearing a tie or not is entirely your choice. Do not wear belts with a broad and flashy
buckle. Girls should not wear dresses with a deep neck revealing their cleavage.
Dress decently and most importantly neatly. You do not have to put layers of make up just
because you have to address people on a public forum.

13. Divide your
speech in
parts and be
very careful
about your
time limit.
There is no point in unnecessarily dragging a
presentation.
If your time limit is two hours, make sure you
assign some time for your own and company’s
introduction, the actual content and also for
question answer round in the end.
Be very confident and believe in yourself.

14. Know your audience
• Knowing your audience helps you figure out how to adjust your
speech and your presentation. Considering your audience aids your
decision in what kind of language you use, how long your speech is
and what topics are appropriate. Make sure the experience is
enjoyable and the information you provide is useful to your specific
audience.

15. Familiarize yourself with the environment
• Try to visualize your surroundings and how the event will look like the
day of. Try to get as much information as possible about where you
will be presenting. Check to see if you'll be on stage and if you'll have
a podium or microphone.
• Be aware of how you will need to get to the location, especially if it is
a larger event. Consider spaces such as backstage or different
entrances you might need to use as a speaker. Prepare materials and
supplies beforehand, such as water, your computer, a notebook and a
pen.

16. Outline the main points
• Outlining the main points of your speech makes your presentation
focused and organized. Try to use these main points as the foundation
of your speech.
• Consider outlining your speech with keywords. Keywords are
beneficial because they are easy to remember and work well with an
outline. You can easily glance at your notes and see specific keywords
that help you stay focused.

17. Have someone review your speech
• Once you have written down your speech, give it to a trusted friend
or coworker to read. Getting another perspective can help you
identify areas of improvement. Ask them to make notes or changes to
help with the flow and content.

18. Practice on your own
• Find out how much time you have for your speech. When practicing,
make sure to time yourself from start to finish, and read the entire
speech several times. For the first few times, feel free to use
notecards or a script, but once you get comfortable, try only using
these resources when you forget a line. This can help you make more
eye contact with your audience, which helps engage them.

19. Incorporate your hands
• Using hand gestures to explain points in your speech can be useful.
Not only will you better engage with the audience, but using hand
gestures can help you remember moments. For example, if you are
explaining audiobooks, you might point to your ears. This link
between word and movement can help you remember what to say.

20. Use a mirror
• While practicing on your own, say your speech in front of a mirror.
This will allow you to see how you will appear to the audience. You
can also more easily integrate hand gestures and facial expressions
when you can see what they look like.

21. Record yourself practicing
• Recording video is as easy as opening an application on your phone.
Take advantage of this technology, and record your entire speech
while you practice. Once you finish, you can look over your recording
and analyze your performance. Think about what you did well and
what parts you can practice again.

22. Rehearse in front of someone
• The best way to get comfortable with giving speeches is by giving
them to a smaller audience, even if it is just one other person. Getting
used to someone listening and watching you as you speak will help
you feel comfortable. At the end of your speech, invite your audience
to give feedback on your performance.

23. Make use of the stage
• Make use of the stage, especially if you are presenting in front of a
large audience. Use the space to your advantage by walking slowly
throughout the presentation. Slight movements will engage your
audience because their eyes naturally follow you. Changing your
position will also allow other sections of the audience to see you
better.

24. Anticipate questions and prepare answers
• Most likely, a few audience members will have questions regarding
your speech. Think of some items you might receive. Then write
down answers to them and practice saying them out loud. Although
your speech ends with your final point, your presentation continues
with answering questions, so you want to be prepared for this portion
as well.

25. Prepare your technology
• Consider what technology you might be using for your speech, such
as a computer or projector. Think of any digital material you need,
such as a slideshow or images. Make sure you have these items
readily available, updated and saved for easy access. You can save
those files on your desktop to find them quickly. You want to make
sure all your technology is working properly so you can seamlessly
transition through your presentation.

26. Set a practice limit
• Practicing is extremely beneficial because it allows you to get
comfortable with explaining your information out loud. However,
over-practicing or memorizing your speech could make you sound
disengaged or robotic. Practice enough to feel comfortable enough to
only rely on notecards or a short outline when you need them.

27. Where to look
• If you’re speaking to a very large crowd, Robin suggests looking just over
the crowd’s eye line.
• That will make it appear that you’re looking at everyone while giving you
the personal comfort of not having to be constantly reminded of the
crowd’s daunting size.
• In a smaller crowd, find that one person who’s looking straight at you
and hanging on to your every word. Speak to them. They’ll make you
feel confident about your speech.
• The audience member who’s looking at their phone will only end up
distracting you as well. Ignore them.

28. Where not
to look
Don’t look at a prepared script, and definitely try to avoid
writing out your speech in full. Your words won’t sound
genuine if you’re reading them verbatim from a piece of
paper instead of addressing your audience directly.
Even if you’re not reading from a piece of paper, you’ll
still sound stiff if you’re delivering a memorized speech.
This doesn’t mean you can’t write down anything. Robin
suggests using index cards with bullet points to help you
remember your big ideas.

29. Keep it simple
You don’t need to impress the audience
with your sentence structure. You need
to keep them engaged with short phrases
and quick, snappy stories.
Audiences always have limited attention
spans, and your speech better cater to
that.
That said, your speech isn’t always going
to be a hit. Robin acknowledges that
there’s not much

30. Enunciate
• Perfect diction takes some serious
practice. Robin managed to get rid of her
filler words, like “you know,” but that
took paying attention to her own speech
patterns. You first have to identify your
verbal tics before you can get rid of them

32. • This speech lesson follows a format that explains the speech problem
and presents several exercises so you can work on the problem and
learn to speak better.
• Each lesson closes with a homework assignment designed to provide
further practice eliminating or correcting the speech problem that
you’re working with that particular week. To get the most out of this
course, just follow the program, working on only one lesson each
week and completing all the exercises and homework assignments.

33. The Speech Problem: Poor Enunciation
• For listeners, one of the most irritating speech habits is a speaker that doesn’t enunciate clearly.
When you don’t make an effort to pronounce each syllable of each word properly and words get
slurred together, it can be hard for listeners, audiences, interviewers, etc., to decipher what you're
saying.
• Dropping “g”s is one of the most common examples of poor enunciation. Say this list of words out
loud:
• Going
• Walking
• Jogging
• Thinking
• Striking
• Selling
• Did you say “go-ing” or did you say “go-in”? If you said “go-in” (or “walk-in”, “jog-gin”, etc.), you’re a
G-dropper.

34. • Be warned; this was not a fair test. Pronouncing words in isolation is very
different than what you would normally do when you speak.
• Most people have a tendency towards vocal laziness and not moving the parts
of their lips, mouth, throat, and jaw to fully pronounce their words.
• Also, the faster you speak, the less distinct your enunciation; people tend to
slur syllables, words, and even whole phrases together. For instance, "What
are you doing?" becomes "What'cha doin?"

35. Say these
sentences out
loud:
I’m going to have to rethink that bid.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Waiting to hear back from the bank is very nerve-wracking
and stressful.
Before starting my business, I looked at a lot of different
business opportunities.
There’s more to learning than just reading, writing, and
arithmetic.
Did you drop any Gs? Did you enunciate each syllable of
each word?

36. Learning How to Enunciate: Exercises
• The following exercises are designed to help you learn to speak with
better enunciation and clarity over time.

37. Speech Exercise: The Mirror Face Test
A mirror is a great aid when you’re working on your enunciation. This is called the face test.
When you’re enunciating properly, your mouth, tongue, lips and jaw move.
Stand in front of a mirror and watch yourself while you say, “I’m going to have to rethink that
bid”. See how your lips purse and retract when you say “go-ing”? See how your lips jut out to
pronounce the “b” in “bid”? This one sentence is a real face workout.
Say the rest of the sentences out loud, watching yourself speak in the mirror. Now say them all
again, slowing down your rate of speech and exaggerating the facial movements.
This week, you should have a mirror session of five minutes every day. You’ll immediately notice
that this practice will carry over into your normal speaking life, causing you to be more
conscious of the way you speak and speak more clearly.

38. Speech
Exercise:
Enlist a
Speech
Monitor

39. The Benefits of Learning How to Speak Clearly
• As your enunciation improves, your listeners will:
• Form a better impression of you as you speak, thinking of you as
calculated and thoughtful in your diction
• Be better able to focus on the message you’re communicating, rather
than being distracted by the way you’re expressing yourself

40. Speech
Lesson 1
Homework
Assignment
Next week, you’ll tackle the speech problem of fillers.
This week, you have two tasks;
Set aside five minutes a day where you can
work with a mirror in a quiet place and
practice the enunciation exercises above.
Enlist at least one speech monitor to help you
catch your speech errors.
To get the most out of this course, it’s important that
you do the exercises. Your speech won’t improve
unless you work at it regularly.

41. • Break, continue at 3.51 pm