a practical guide on how to prepare for speaking in presentations and public speaking

1. How to prepare for public
speaking and presentations
Abdulla I. Aziz
abdulla.aziz@ue.edu.krd
MBA in Human Resource Management
Director of the Career Development Center
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2. Objectives
 The importance of acquiring public speaking skills
 preparation as a way to deal with nervousness
 How to choose a topic and purpose of your
presentation
 How to know your audience and make them the
center of your speech
 How to research your topic, support your claims
and refer to your knowledge sources
 The knowledge of organizing a speech
 Use of visual aids
 Rehearsing before a presentation
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3. Importance of
public
speaking
 Training for public speaking is more than 4500
years old
 Universities worldwide train students in the art
of public speaking
 Communication (including public speaking) is
#1 reason for promotion at workplace
 Almost 40% of Iraqi business leaders think that
communication skills can solve the problems
facing Iraqi market
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4. Presenting is
terrifying
 Stage fright is anxiety over the prospect of
giving a speech in front of an audience
 If you have stage fright, you are not alone:
 DiCaprio was so nervous about giving an
acceptance speech that he hoped he would not
win the AcademyAward
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5. Presenting is
terrifying
(cont’d)
 If you have stage fright, you are not alone:
 A study askedAmericans to list their greatest
fears, the second scariest thing for them was
speech making
 Another study found out that 42% of people
are terrified of public speaking, while only 28%
are afraid of death
 My personal story
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6. Dealing with
nervousness
 Acquire speaking experience
 Think positively
 Confidence is the key
 Use power of visualization: imagine yourself
giving the all time best presentation
 know that most nervousness is not visible
 Don’t expect perfection
 Prepare, prepare, prepare
 For each minute of speaking, you need an hour
of preparation
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7. 1.Choosing a
topic
 Topic: the subject of your speech
 Choose a topic that:
 You know a lot about: such as special
expertise, sports, hobbies, travel, and other
personal experiences
 You want to know more about: make your
speech a learning experience for yourself as
well as for your audience
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8. Choosing a
topic (cont’d)
 Brainstorming for topics: A method of
generating ideas for speech topics by free
association of words and ideas
 Internet search
 Clustering:
 Create groups of 3-4 trainees and do clustering
 Divide a paper into nine columns as the
example on next slide.
 Then, list in each column the first four or five
items that come to mind
 Later, try to find relationships between the
topics
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9. People Places Things
Barack Obama Greece iPad
Qazi Muhamed Grand Canyon Twitter
Shex Othmani Byara the moon 3-D TV
Adnan Kareem my hometown movies
Events Processes Concepts
Graduation Making dolma Individualism
Chinese New Year Learning first aid Medical ethics
Penc Shemma Sur Writing a resume Buddhism
Jazhni Qwrban Getting a driving license Butterfly effect
Natural phenomenon Problems Plans and policies
Lightning Financial crises Education system reform
Tornados Oil Privatization
Earthquakes Terrorism Community schooling
Eclipse Election fraud
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10. Determining
the purpose of
your
presentation
 General purpose:The broad goal of a speech;
 To inform the audience, or
 To convince the audience
 Specific purpose: A phrase that states
precisely what a speaker hopes to accomplish
through the speech
 Central idea: A one-sentence statement that
sums up the major ideas of a speech
 Example: see next slide
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11. Determining
the purpose of
your
presentation
(cont’d)
 Topic: Music therapy
 General Purpose:To inform.
 Specific Purpose:To inform my audience
about the benefits of music therapy for people
with psychological or cognitive disabilities.
 Central Idea: Music therapy developed as a
formal mode of treatment during the twentieth
century, utilizes a number of methods, and is
explained by several theories that account for
its success.
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12. 12

13. 13

14. 2.Analyzing
your audience
 Audience-centeredness: keeping your
audience at the center of your presentation
throughout:
 To whom am I speaking?
 What do I want them to know, believe?
 What is the most effective way to accomplish
that?
 Effective speakers seek to create a bond with
their listeners by emphasizing common
values and experiences
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15. Analyzing your
audience
(cont’d)
 People are egocentric
 No one can force them to pay attention
 They will hear and judge what you say
based on what they know and believe
 So;
 Relate your message to your listeners and
convince them to care about it
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16. Analyzingyour
audience(cont’d)
 Your audience is demographically diverse
 Collect information about your audience
from:
 The person who invited you for the speech
 Persons who spoke to a similar group
 Application forms such as Google Forms
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17. 3. Doing
research for
your
presentation
Sources of information
 Library
 Interviewing people with specialized
knowledge
 Internet research:
 Your own knowledge and experience
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18. Doing research
for your
presentation
(cont’d)
 Not every information source is reliable
 Check for authorship
 Check for recency
 Check for sponsorship
 See the checklist for evaluating internet
documents reliability
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19. 19

20. 4.Supporting
your
statements
 Use
 Examples
Koran is packed with examples to support its
claims
 Statistics
(42% of people are more terrified of public
speaking than death) ……..
 Testimony
“If you can't measure it, you can't improve
it.” Peter Drucker
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21. Supporting
your
statements
(cont’d)
 Even numbers can be manipulated, for ex.
 The cheetah, at 70 miles per hour, is the
fastest animal in the world.
 The pronghorn antelope, at 61 miles per
hour, is the fastest animal in the world
 Which one is true?Which animal is the Usain
Bolt of the animal kingdom?
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22. 5. Referencing
your sources
 Mentioning your information sources is an
ethical act that gives more validity to your work
 Oral referencing: mention the source of your
information during your speech
 Written referencing: at the end of your
presentation slides
 Use both
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23. 6.Organizing
your speech
 Good organization enhances:
 The audience’s grasp of your ideas
 The audience’s image of you as a
competent speaker
 Like a well-written piece, speeches have
 Introduction
 Main points (3-5)
 Conclusion
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24. Organizing
your speech
(cont’d)
The purposes of an introduction
 Get the attention and interest of your
audience
 Reveal the topic of your speech
 Establish your credibility and goodwill
 Preview the body of the speech
Great is the art of beginnings, but
greater is the art of endings.
Longfellow, American poet
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25. Organizing
your speech
(cont’d)
The purposes of the conclusion
 To let the audience know you are ending
the speech.
 To reinforce the audience’s understanding
of, or commitment to, the central ideas
Great is the art of beginnings, but
greater is the art of endings.
Longfellow, American poet
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26. Organizing
your speech
(cont’d)
 The main points are the major points developed
in the body of a speech
 They are organized in:
 Chronological order
 Spatial order
 Casual order
 Topical order
 Problem-solution order
 Make sure all your main ideas are directly related
to your topic and follow the checklist next slide
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28. 7. Preparing
visual aids
 Objects and models
 Photographs and drawings
 Graphs
 Charts video
 PowerPoint
 The speaker’s own body
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29. Using visual
aids (cont’d)
Remember:
 Display visual aids where they can be seen
 Avoid passing them to your audience
beforehand
 Display visual aids only when you are
discussing them
 Explain them clearly and concisely
 Practice with your visual aids
 Talk to your audience not to your visual aids
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30. 8. Rehearsing
Rehearsing
Helps you better manage your time
 Allow for more time in the rehearsing,
people tend to speak faster when they
speak in public
Soothes your voice
Enhances your confidence
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31. Rehearsing
(cont’d)
 Rehearse in front of a mirror
 Record your voice
 Videotape your performance
 Rehearse for a small group
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32. Rehearsing
(cont’d)
 If possible, practice at the site of your speech
 Be sure to practice with your visual aids
 Rehearse in the same clothes you intend on
wearing on speech day
 Monitor your mannerisms
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33. Q&A session
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34. References
 Guedenet, C., Mason, L., & Grajek, M. (2017). Iraqi
labor market. Irex.org. Retrieved 16 February 2018,
from
https://www.irex.org/sites/default/files/pdf/labor-
market-report-university-linkages-program.pdf
 Lucas, S. (2012). The art of public speaking (11th
ed.). NewYork: McGraw Hill.
 Morgan, N. (2012). Seven ways to rehearse a speech
- PublicWords. PublicWords. Retrieved 17 February
2018, from
http://www.publicwords.com/2012/07/26/seven-
ways-to-rehearse-a-speech/
 Robbins, S., & Judge,T. (2017). Organizational
behavior. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
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