DELIVERING YOUR SPEECH

In delivering your speech, there are a few major concerns that we will look at:

• Method of delivery
• Non-verbal communication
• Pronunciation and articulation
• Voice projection
• Movement
• Personal Appearance


METHOD OF DELIVERY

• Manuscript Reading

 A speech that is written out word for word and read to the audience.
 Absolute accuracy is essential.
 Requires great skill:
 Must adhere to timing.
- Don’t read too quickly or too slowly.
- Don’t pause in the wrong places.
- Don’t speak in a monotone.
- Don’t falter over your words.
- Don’t forget to glance at your audience.
- Practice makes perfect.


• Reciting from Memory

 Presenting speeches that have been thoroughly memorized.
 At the same time, you must be able to concentrate on communicating with your audience.
 Don’t gaze at the ceiling or stare out the window to recall.


• Speaking Impromptu

 A speech delivered with little or no immediate preparation.
 You decide what you are going to say just before you say it.
 Organize your main points in you head and try as best as you can to stay on track.
 Advantages:
- can maintain continuous eye contact with the audience.
- can choose to include or exclude materials depending upon the feedback from the audience.


• Speaking Extemporaneously

 A carefully prepared and rehearsed speech that is presented from a brief set of notes.
 Advantages:
- Gives more precise control over thought and language than impromptu speaking.
- Offers greater spontaneity and directness than speaking from memory or manuscript.
- Adaptable to a wide range of situations.
- Encourages the conversational quality audiences look for (spontaneous).



NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

 Communication that occurs as a result of appearance, posture, gesture, eye contact, facial expressions and other non-linguistic factors.


• Facial expression

 Vary greatly in different cultures.
 In Japan, speakers rarely vary facial expressions.
 Italian speakers tend to gesture more than other cultural groups.
 A laugh during a presentation in Japan might convey confusion, but in America it might express humor.
 If you smile before you speak, you give your listeners that you are confident and ready.


• Eye contact

 The eyes are the windows to your soul.
 Good eye contact shows that you are open and honest.
 Encourages listeners to listen to you.
 Indicates that you are confident.
 Allows you to “read” your listeners faces.
 Allows you to see feedback from your listeners.
 A good way to start a speech is by doing the smile-pause-nod combination.
 A lack of eye contact suggests that you don’t care about your audience or are afraid of them.


• Gestures

 Motions of a speaker’s hands or arms during a speech.
 Gestures also vary according to different cultures.
 Avoid distracting gestures:
 Twirling hair with your fingers.
 Fiddling with your necklace.
 Constantly push slipping eyeglasses up your nose.
 Where should you put your hands when delivering a speech?
 Don’t hide them in your pockets.
 Keep your hands at your sides, but don’t stand “frozen” in one place.
 Don’t clasp your fingers together behind you.


PRONUNCIATION, ARTICULATION AND ENUNCIATION

• People tend to judge speakers based on their ability to pronounce words correctly and clearly.
• Pronunciation involves saying words correctly.

E.g. How do you pronounce these words?

February library
secretary athlete
get development
picture colleague


• Articulation refers to the way you produce individual speech sounds.

E.g. Malaysians have trouble making certain sounds like th – substituted with d, like in words like

that this
thermometer thank
three through

Severe articulation problems can interfere with effective communication.


• Enunciation refers to the way you pronounce words in context.
• In casual conversation, it is not unusual for people to slur, but not in speeches.

E.g.
“gimme” for “give me”

“swatuh thought”

“harya?”

“howjado?”

This is what we call lazy enunciation.


VOICE PROJECTION

Voice

• The loudness or softness of a voice.
• Adjust the volume of your voice according to:
 the size of the audience.
 the acoustics of the room.
 the level of background noise.
• Remember that your own voice always sounds louder to you than to a listener!

Pitch

• The highness or lowness of a voice.
• The pitch affects the meaning of words or sounds.
• Changes in the pitch is known as inflection.
• People who do not speak with inflection are said to speak in a monotone.

Rate

• The speed at which a person speaks.
• A fast rate helps to create feelings of happiness, fear, anger, and surprise.
• A slow rate is better for expressing sadness, disgust or peacefulness.
• Research suggests that in most situations, listeners find that a speaker who has a faster rate is more competent than one who speaks slower.


Pause

• A momentary break in the vocal delivery of a speech.
• Knowing when to pause requires experience.
• A pause can function to
 signal the end of an idea.
 give an idea time to sink in.
 lend a dramatic impact to a statement.
• If you pause (because you forgot your idea), do not use vocalized pause.
• A vocalized pause is a pause that occurs when a speaker fills the silence between words with vocalizations such as
 “uh”
 “er”
 “um”


MOVEMENT

• A speaker should not be static.
• Never turn your back on the audience while you are speaking.
• If you move about on the stage, make your movements purposeful.
• Be aware (or beware) of all potential obstacles on the stage (and off if you leave it). An embarrassing fall or trip will kill your concentration (or you).
• Your gestures and movements should grow out of your response to your messages.
• They must appear natural and spontaneous.
• Make sure the gestures that you use are appropriate to the setting and cultural background of your audience.


PERSONAL APPEARANCE

• Your clothing and grooming affect how you are perceived.
• Listeners always see you before they hear you.
• How we dress can influence how we see ourselves and how we behave.
• Dress in a way that makes you feel good about yourself.
• Think of your speech as a professional situation, and dress formally.
• Your purpose is to create a good first impression to your audience.