GUIDE: Speaker Tips and Tactics

Considerations are given that may be useful as you prepare to face the challenge of public presentations.

Above all, remember that visible communication occurs between people. The basic sensitivity to and consideration of elements of "human to human" contact is essential to understanding and succeeding as a communicator.

Preparing

Assignment and Purpose

Audience Analysis

Content and Organization

Do your homework thoroughly and speak only on those topics for which you are prepared. Organize according to purpose. The purpose of the introduction is to gain favorable AUDIENCE ATTENTION and PREPARE them for your message. The main body of the speech should seldom have more than three main points which you can relate to audience needs, support, and expect them to understand and remember your message. The conclusion should serve as a brief summary or review of your message and may tell your audience what you want them to do. Don't be afraid to REPEAT main points and don't be reluctant to give your audience direction for future action.

Adaptation

Adapt your style, presentation, and your purpose to the format most acceptable to your audience's needs.

Credibility

Take the trouble to prepare properly, to ensure that you give them value in exchange for the time they are giving you.

Simple and to the Point

Semantics

USE PLAIN TALK Engineeringese, legalese, and buzz words are seldom understood by anyone even engineers, lawyers and reporters!

Words worry people. They say "I have plenty of ideas but I haven't the vocabulary to express them". This assertion is based on a fallacy. Words (or some other set of symbols such as mathematical formulae) are essential to clear thought. If you are fumbling for words, you have not clarified the thought.

Technical language and jargon incur much scorn and contempt; but they have their uses as a shorthand for the initiated. On the other hand, to use such esoteric stuff to show how clever you are or because you lack consideration for your hearers is unpardonable. Use your audience's language or explain your own. Otherwise you will waste your breath and, what is worse, waste their time.

Practice

Before a speech is given, it is advisable to practice it alone or before a friendly audience several times. During practice, the length of the speech can be timed, the effectiveness of visual aids tested, and the delivery refined. Remember the old saying in boxing, "Train hard, fight easy!"

Zest

Use your zest, imagination and enthusiasm to create a worthwhile experience for your audience. You can develop a reputation as a first-class speaker if you work at it and stop worrying about yourself. Few people will understand or appreciate the work you have done. They will say you have a flair for this sort of thing, a gift. You must not mind that. A judicious use of the five senses will help you. However, prosaic your subject, give it vigor, color-life.

Location

Determine the location and physical solutions that will be available. It is very hard to present a talk based on slides when there is no slide projector available.

The Presentation

Speaker Presence and Attitude

From the moment your audience lays eyes on you until you are gone, you are "The Speaker." Take charge and command audience attention as long as you are "on stage", but do so with a "cooperative" and not a "competitive" attitude. You have something important for them to hear, and you want them to understand your message.

Stage Fright

Every one of us suffers from stage fright in one way or another. Even the most experienced speakers have butterflies before important speeches. It is sometimes said, in fact, that some degree of anxiety is helpful when giving a speech, just as it is in athletic competition. Furthermore, anxiety and nervousness can be overcome to a large extent by preparing the presentation very carefully.

WIPE OFF YOUR PALMS, TAKE A COUPLE OF DEEP BREATHS, BE PREPARED AND REMEMBER THAT SPEAKING IS JUST ONE MORE HUMAN TO HUMAN EXPERIENCE. YOU WILL SURVIVE AND YOU PROBABLY WILL DO WELL!

Eye Contact

You probably do not believe a person who does not look you in the eye! Make contact with people . Look at individuals and be direct.

Bodily Movement

Assume a balanced position and only move your body or gesture if it serves a purpose! Unnecessary body movement will distract an audience from your message.

Vocal Variety

Your voice is a tool that can go fast or slow, loud or soft. The voice can pause for effect and it can emphasize a work. SPEAK CLEARLY, SPEAK LOUDLY ENOUGH TO BE HEARD IN THE BACK ROW, AND GENERALLY SLOW DOWN.

Human voices possess an immense range of volume, tone, pace, attack. Why be monotonous? Why be dull? Why mutter or why bawl like a bull? Why not work out beforehand how you can give variety and the appropriate vocal values to each part of your talk? Think in terms of main headlines and paragraphs and make sure that each new idea comes to the audience with a change in vocal approach. Particularly when introducing a fresh point, give your voice a lift. Watch sentence-length; see to it that a few crisp short ones intervene between a series of protracted sentences. Watch the ends of sentences: a rising pitch holds more interest than a dying fall.

It is an odd fact of speaking technique that absolute silence for a few seconds - under control - can be the most effective part of a speech. Try to find, perhaps two such moments when you can hold your audience to your thoughts during your calculated pauses.

Many novice speakers try to present too much information too rapidly. It is better to proceed slowly and to repeat major ideas several times throughout the presentation. Slides should not be flipped on and off but should be left on the screen for several minutes.

Never Read a Speech

One should never read a speech from a prepared text. Except for highly skilled actors, few people can read a text without lulling their audience to sleep.

Fortunately most speeches can be delivered without reading. If the speech is long, cue cards or visual aids can be used. The major points of the speech can be written on index cards, to which the speaker can refer during the lecture. Major statements, results, and conclusions should also be presented in visual form using slides or viewgraphs. By asking for the "next slide please" (or pressing the remote slide advance control), the speaker can trigger a reminder of the next topic in the speech. In this sense, visual aids not only serve to convey ideas to the audience, but they can also be used to prompt the speaker's memory.

Visual Aids

Use them only if they clearly aid to your message, have a definite purpose, and you understand them and how they work.

The human voice is only one of the channels through which ideas can flow. Sound, sight, touch, smell, taste all provide means of conveying thoughts to other people. A good speaker gives his audience a chance to use as many of their senses as the occasion permits. With a little ingenuity you can give their ears a rest and switch channels. One obvious way of doing this is to show them the point, to demonstrate it. The term "visual aids" does not mean only blackboard - chalk-and-talk stuff - or flipcharts or films or overhead projectors; solid physical, three-dimensional objects have much more effect. If it is practicable, show them the actual thing you are talking about. Let them handle it, smell it, taste it.

Several recommendations concerning the use of visual aids are appropriate here. One should avoid putting too much information on any given slide or viewgraph. It is also important to avoid using too many slides. Usually four to five slides for every ten minutes of presentation will suffice. One should make certain that the lettering on the slides is sufficiently large. For example, typewriter lettering photographed with normal cameras will usually not project well onto a screen.

Visual material such as slides or viewgraphs may contain statements, mathematical symbols, or charts. The use of mathematical symbols and equations should be minimized. It takes time for any audience to absorb the meaning of mathematical symbols. It is best, wherever possible, to replace equations and formulas by verbal statements. After all, the main purpose of the presentation is to get the central ideas across to the audience, unencumbered with details. Any details can be provided in written reports that accompany the talk. (See)

Timing

You should never take more of your audience's time than is necessary to do your speaking job properly. The value and interest should be as high as possible in the time they give to you.

Feedback, Discussions, and Question/Answer

Feedback

The audience's expressions, restlessness, smiles, and the like are a mirror telling you how your message is being received. WATCH FOR FEEDBACK AND ADJUST TO AUDIENCE NEEDS!

Respect for Audience

Develop a respect, even an affection for your audience. Remember that, however expert you may be, every man and woman there is superior to you in some way and could teach you something.

Listening

Concentrate on what people ask you and don't be afraid to ask a questioner a question. (You gain a minute to think about your answer and you might even get a clarification!) TAKE NOTES WHEN POSSIBLE!!!!

The Rewards

There are few things more exhilarating than an audience reacting with interest, excitement and the sheer pleasure of enjoying a first class speaker. Deserve such a reaction and your world will be that much better for having you around.

Source: Adapted from a handout received at a Toastmasters Club many years ago.