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Begin with something to get
the attention of the audience. This might be a startling statement, statistic,
or your own story. Listeners pay close attention when a person begins with, “Two
weeks ago as I was driving to work a car pulled out in front of me….” You could
begin with a current event: “You might have read in the paper this morning about
the flood that….” A question is another way to make people listen. “How many of
you feel our society spends too much on medical care?” might be a way to begin a
presentation about curbing costs. Whatever technique you use, when you grab the
attention of the audience you are on your way to a successful speech.
Second, be energetic in
delivery. Speak with variety in your voice. Slow down for a dramatic point and
speed up to show excitement. Pause occasionally for effect. Don’t just stand
behind the lectern, but move a step away to make a point. When you are
encouraging your audience, take a step toward them. Gesture to show how big or
wide or tall or small an object is that you are describing. Demonstrate how
something works or looks or moves as you tell about it. Show facial expression
as you speak. Smile when talking about something pleasant and let your face show
other emotions as you tell about an event or activity. Whatever your movements,
they should have purpose.
Structure your speech.
Don’t have more than two or three main points, and preview in the beginning what
those points will be. With each point, have two or three pieces of support, such
as examples, definitions, testimony, or statistics. Visual aids are important
when you want your audience to understand a process or concept or understand a
financial goal. Line graphs are best for trends. Bar graphs are best for
comparisons and pie graphs are best for showing distribution of percentages.
Tie your points together
with transitions. These could be signposts such as “First,” “Second,” or
"Finally." Use an internal summary by simply including the point you just made
and telling what you plan to talk about next. “Now that we have talked about
structure, let’s move on to the use of stories,” would be an example. When you
have an introduction, two or three main points with support for each,
appropriate transitions, and a conclusion, you will have your speech organized
in a way that the audience can follow you easily.
Tell your own story
somewhere in the presentation--especially in a technical presentation. Include a
personal experience that connects to your speech content, and the audience will
connect with you. You want to help the audience link emotionally with what you
are talking about, and the personal experience does that. With almost any topic
you might choose, you have at least one “war story” to relate to the topic. When
you tell the story, simply start at the beginning and move chronologically
through the narrative, including answers to the “W” questions: “Who,” What,
“When,” "Why," and “Where.”
To add interest and
understanding to your speech, include a visual aid. A visual aid could be an
object, a flip chart, a PowerPoint presentation, overhead projector slides, or a
dry erase board. Whatever visual you are using, make sure everyone can see it.
The best way to insure this is to put the visual where you will be speaking, and
then find the seat farthest from it and determine if you can read the visual
from that seat. Introduce the visual properly rather than simply throwing it at
your audience; explain what the visual will do before you unveil it. Don’t allow
the visual to become a silent demonstration. Keep talking as you show the
visual. You are still the main event and your visual is an aid. Look at your
audience, not your visual. When the visual is not in use, hide it from the
audience. Humans are a curious lot, tending to keep looking at the object and
losing track of the speaker—you!
If you are delivering a
persuasive speech, in addition to your own stories include testimony of experts
whom the audience respects and whose views reinforce your points. Add a key
statistic when possible to show the seriousness of what you are discussing. For
example, if I were discussing the need for improved listening to better serve
your customers, I might add that although we spend half of our communication
time in listening, our listening efficiency is only about 25%. By using stories,
testimony, and statistics in your persuasive talk, you add depth to your
evidence.
Look at the audience as
you speak. If it is a small audience, you can look at each person in a short
period of time. If it is a large audience, look at the audience in small
“clumps” and move from one clump to another. One way to insure good eye contact
is to look at your audience before you start to speak. Go to the lectern and
pause, smile, look at the audience, and then speak. This will help you maintain
good eye contact throughout your presentation as well as commanding immediate
attention.
One of the ways to have
consistently good eye contact is not to read your speech. Use note cards that
have key words on them. The word or phrase should trigger the thought in your
mind and then you can speak it. If you are including a quotation or complex
statistics, reading from your note card actually lends credibility. If you write
out your speech you will tend to read it and lose eye contact with the audience,
as well as not being as enthusiastic in delivery as when you speak from note
cards.
Include a “wow” factor in
your speech. Something in your speech should make your audience think, “Wow!” It
could be a story, a dramatic point, an unusual statistic, or an effective visual
that helps the audience understand immediately. With a “wow” factor, you then
have something to look forward to in the speech that you know will have an
impact on your audience. You’ll become a more enthusiastic speaker because the
“wow” factor will get you as well as your audience pumped for the speech.
Consider using a touch of
humour in your speech. Don’t panic at this suggestion; you are not becoming a
comedian but rather lightening up a serious speech so that people will be more
accepting and interested in your ideas. Humour will help you to be perceived as
an amiable person, and it is hard for people to disagree or be bored if they are
smiling at you. Until you have lots of experience, keep your humour short.
Perhaps inject a one-liner or a quotation. Yogi Bare said a lot of funny things.
“You can observe a lot just by watching” for example. Tell a short embarrassing
moment in your life that you might have thought not funny at the time. Now that
you can laugh at the experience, you understand the old adage, “Humor is simply
tragedy separated by time and space.” Don’t poke fun at your audience; you
should be the object of any shortcoming, showing that you can laugh at yourself.
Avoid long stories or jokes. Even seasoned speakers know that funny stories soon
become unfunny if they go on too long. Probably the least risky use of humour is
a cartoon. The cartoon is separate from you and if people don’t laugh, you don’t
feel responsible. (Be sure to secure permission to use it.)
Finally, leave the
audience with something to think about. People remember best what you say last.
You might summarize your main points, or you might complete the statement, “What
I want you to do as a result of this presentation is....” But beyond that, make
your last words a thought to ponder. For example, I might end a speech on
becoming a better speaker with “As Cicero said centuries ago, 'The skill to do
comes with the doing.'”
A more modern guide to
effective public speaking was penned by some unknown sage: "Know your stuff.
Know whom you are stuffing. Know when they are stuffed."
One never becomes a
“perfect” speaker; developing public speaking skills is a life-long experience.
But the points discussed here will get you started in becoming the speaker you
want to be and the speaker your audience wants to hear.
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