The art of public speaking

HOW TO DELIVER A SPEECH

(The art of Public Speaking & Business Presentation)

If you want to develop your public speaking skills you must undergo a strong practice of speaking before people.  You should be interactive, friendly in nature, serious in thoughts and a good attention getter.  Your personality and image should be effective to the audience.  You must have a believable and trust worthy image.  You must have good control over your emotion and ability to express yourself.  But whatsoever, an effective study of gaining knowledge on ‘the art of public speaking’ is a must for you.  The following discussion and list of points will guide you to be a successful lecturer. 

Remember, public speaking is an art.  But it’s very easy to become a successful public speaker.  Proper ideas and random practice can gift you this skill.  Yes, it’s true..., some people gain this quality as a part of their usual life; and without applying any special effort they can present ideas and thoughts before people spontaneously.  But still, not everyone is an in born good public speaker.  So, start practice.  Oh! One thing, general public speaking like – speeches, lectures, addresses, and business presentations are more or less same but some specific differences are also found in structure.

Preparation & Planning:

1. OCCASION: Points in a lecture always vary and get changed on occasions.  Preparation in advance is a must to get success as a lecturer.  Successful speakers always take an advance study on the occasional importance.  They also take a short tour of the place (venue and stage) where the lecture is to be delivered.  Once they understand the occasion make a short research on it and find most enterprising points that match the occasion or actually required for the occasion.  There are various social occasions – like marriage party, annual competition in a school or college, a cultural function, farewell party, felicitation programs, welcome party etc.  In case of business presentation occasions are little different in nature as they possess some particular aims which differs from the nature of social occasions.  Some of these types of occasions are – launching products, motivational speeches, training new employees, business proposal explanation, budget proposal, marketing or campaigning proposal explanation etc.

2.    AUDIENCE: Study and research enough on your listeners (audience).  Understand their psychology and nature.  Why have they come to listen to you?  Why will they believe you or put trust on you?  Like these, numerous questions may appear in your mind and answers should have been prepared by yourself well.  Only then a study on audience finds the completeness in nature.

3.    PURPOSE: Sure there is a purpose that you have decided to open your mouth before people, isn’t it?  If yes then carefully understand the purpose… it will help you to design or plan the points for your lecture… Remember, by your lecture you want to get a perfect purpose served; it may be teaching your listeners or influencing them on an idea, making them conscious or developing their awareness on any fact; whatever, sure a purpose is there.  The purpose of your lecture should be clear to you.  What actually you want your listeners to do after listening to your lecture?  Why are you making this lecture?  What benefit you want to gain?  Find the answers of these questions…

SOME COMMON PURPOSES:

a)     To educate people… as a teacher or trainer, as a motivator etc.

b)    To draw attention to a particular situation (political, business, social even family related)…

c)     To inform people about their works (duties and responsibilities)

d)    To inspire people (motivating, inspiring, skill developing etc)

e)     To alert people on something (danger, social injustice etc)

f)     To present findings before a court, a committee, an assembly etc…

g)    To establish an image

h)     To attract interest (people, media, government, etc)

i)      Explaining importance (implementations, changes, etc.)

j)      To dispel rumours, misconceptions…

k)     In short – to educate, to inspire, to inform, to alert, to influence, to amuse/entertain, to convince, to give news etc. are the common purposes in both public speaking and in business presentation.

4.   RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT:

a)     Study enough on your lecture topic.  Research, collect and develop ideas.

b)    You should also make a study on your listeners – their age, qualification, profession, relation with you, social status or position etc…. These are very important to a good lecturer to have a clear conception about his/her listeners… specially their choices, tests, patience etc.  All those information about your listeners will enrich your advance preparation.

c)     One thing more – feel it… who you are?  You are either a teacher, a boss, a motivator, an instructor, a leader or a common very common person who is lecturing at a tea stall… but in every of the aforesaid characters one thing is common that everyone is trying to make the listener believed that he/she is true to his knowledge and speech.  Every lecturer wants that listeners believe him/her without any doubt… So, the responsibility is yours.  You have to create belief in the mind of the listeners about the authenticity of the served information.  Simply it means, you are expected to be enough believable to the listeners.  Now care for the source of information.  No one believes without proof.  So you should be sure about the source of information.  Remember if once a doubt developed in the mind of the listeners it spreads like infections.

5.   MATERIAL: List of points, prompt cards, charts, diagrams, photos, photocopies, documents, paper cuttings, printouts, handouts, models, samples etc.

6.   STRUCTURING: Once all these aforesaid things get clear before you, the rest of the preparation is only the STRUCTURING the lecture.  From the very beginning of the lecture to the last salutation the total lecture should be structured with utmost care and love.  Because, no one pays time to a bad film.  And to make it a good one structuring should be good. Remember, preparation has no substitute… at the end of the day we all want appreciation not angry criticism.  So, pay time to structure your lecture well.

Commonly a lecture can be divided into three parts – 

1. Introduction

2. Main-speech (body)

3. Conclusion.

Fix a TITLE for your lecture.  A subtitle may also be required.  To attract the attention to the lecture a strong and effective TITLE and subtitle works better.  Interested audience can take a preparation in advance, and this act helps both the listeners and the speaker.  A suitable title helps the listeners to feel the theme of the subject; even it helps the listeners to remember the lecture for long.

7.   Rehearsal Go for rehearsal or practice; take a mock test.  Remember – ‘practice pays’.

INTRODUCTION:

INTRODUCTION is the most important part of a lecture.  Remember the English proverb – ‘The first impression is the last impression’.  If the introduction is wrong – the whole practice may go in vain.   Your introduction sets the tone of the entire speech. An effective introduction helps the speaker to prepare the audience for the rest of the lecture.  It draws the interest of audience in your topic.  Please be careful…

Even introduction can be divided into few parts… as follows…

1.     Greet the audience…welcome them… It should be done from the core of your heart; audience should feel you are cordial enough to them.  Remember – Swami Vivekananda won the heart of the audience just by a fabulous greeting – ‘My sisters and brothers of America…’  There should be enough warmth in your voice.

2.     Introduce yourself.  It is a must… no one wants to listen from an un-known.  So get introduced.

3.     Introduce the topic… Tell the importance of the subject/topic.  Why should audience listen to the lecture?  What will they gain?  Remember, audience won’t pay attention if they are not convinced about some sort of benefits.

4.     Convince them about the benefits of listening to the lecture from you.

5.     Tell about the source of information.  Serious listeners never believe anything until they are satisfied about the source of information.  Never try to make a castle in air.

6.     Explain why the listeners should believe on the served information.  (Prove credential)

7.     MOST VITAL: Tell the points you are going to discuss in the main speech. (it helps listeners to prepare themselves for the lecture)

8.     Thank them again, and get into the main speech.

MAIN SPEECH (MAIN BODY):

1.   Introduction of the main speech: Something special should be done as the introduction of the main speech.  Something that draws attention of your audience to the lecture, something that helps the audience to feel attached to the lecture subject matter, whatever, give something special.  We simply can call it attention-getter.  ATTENTION-GETTERS: a story, a question, a quotation, a startling statement, Humours, reference to audience, reference to occasion.  A speech on any of the aforesaid ideas can be an attention drawing introduction to the main speech.  It also makes the platform on what the speaker lands with his/her ideas.

2.     Explain the points/ideas one by one.  Create a distinct gap between points. (It helps listeners to understand that you are switching over to a new point.)

3.     Create various angels.  Like – Socio-economy-political angels or national-regional-international angels etc.

4.     Share your own experience or whatever.

5.     Add short stories, examples, anecdotes in support of your lecture.

6.     Cause & effect must be discussed.

7.     Discuss the impacts on society and people.

8.     Problems & Solutions.  Solutions recommended by various persons, or organization (govt. non govt.).

9.     Your own suggestions / recommendations.

10.  Future prospects or possibilities.

Aforesaid points are the suggestions only.  The arrangement of points depends entirely to the speaker’s research on the occasion, purpose of lecture, type & quality of audience, and expected results of the lecture.  Success of a lecture depends on the rigorous study and practice of the subject. The speaker must have a perfect desire to enjoy a perfect outcome of the lecture.

CONCLUSION:

The conclusion of a lecture / public speaking / presentation is as important as its introduction.  It helps the listeners to recall the ideas they received in the lecture; by doing that the listeners find a completeness of the discussion in their way.

Even conclusion can be divided into few parts… as follows…

1)     Signalling the End - Let the audience understand that you have reached at the end of your lecture.

Examples (Verbal):

a)     In the end, I would like to say…

b)    Now I would like to summarize by emphasizing…

c)     Let me share with you one last thought…

d)    Let me conclude by saying…

e)     In a nut-shell…

f)     We have reached the end of the discussion…

Non-verbal:

a)     A change in the tone of your voice…

b)    A particular expression which helps the audience to understand that they have reached the end…

           

2)     Thank your listeners.  Make a review of the lecture.  Once again revise all the main points in summarized form. (It helps the listeners to recall their experience.)

3)     INTERACTION – Invite audience if they have any question to ask you. Make an interactive session.

4)     Final closing – a strong impressive closing statement helps the speaker to create a lasting impression in the mind of the listeners.  Congratulate them, wish for them and finish.

ACCESSORIES OR PROBES:

A lecture or presentation can be made more attractive if some accessories are used.  Nowadays many speakers are habituated to use various types of accessories or probes in their lecture.  These can be divided into two parts like – i) accessories which supports the speaker to manage the lecture well, and ii) the accessories which helps the listeners (audience) to understand the lecture well.

List of points, prompt cards, charts, diagrams, photos, photocopies, documents, paper cuttings, printouts, handouts, models, samples etc.

TAKE FEEDBACK:

Sure it was not your first and last public speaking in your life.  So, don’t take it as a final one.  Every lecture or presentation is a good preparation or practice for the next.  You may gain success; even may be highly appreciated.  You may fail either.  Whatever the result may be; you should take feedback of your own performance.  Make a list of failure, lacunas, faults etc. Also make a list of good points you put to your lecture.  All these will help you to do better.  Remember practice makes a man perfect.

If you liked the essay

Please leave a comment...

ARINDAM CHANDRA