A Short Guide to Effective Public Speaking

Written by Stephen D. Boyd


Delivering an effective presentation to 20 or to 200 people is difficult. Because listeners have better access to information sincerepparttar internet became commonplace, audiences expect more content from speakers today. In addition, because ofrepparttar 104241 entertainment slant of most media today, audiences want a presentation delivered with animation, humor, and pizzazz. If you would rather spend your time preparing your content than reading a book on public speaking, this is an article especially for you! From my experiences in delivering over l500 speeches duringrepparttar 104242 past 20 years, here is a quick guide to giving an effective and interesting presentation your very first time. Begin with something to getrepparttar 104243 attention ofrepparttar 104244 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 inrepparttar 104245 paper this morning aboutrepparttar 104246 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 grabrepparttar 104247 attention ofrepparttar 104248 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 behindrepparttar 104249 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 inrepparttar 104250 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 includingrepparttar 104251 point you just made and telling what you plan to talk about next. “Now that we have talked about structure, let’s move on torepparttar 104252 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 thatrepparttar 104253 audience can follow you easily. Tell your own story somewhere inrepparttar 104254 presentation--especially in a technical presentation. Include a personal experience that connects to your speech content, andrepparttar 104255 audience will connect with you. You want to helprepparttar 104256 audience link emotionally with what you are talking about, andrepparttar 104257 personal experience does that. With almost any topic you might choose, you have at least one “war story” to relate torepparttar 104258 topic. When you tellrepparttar 104259 story, simply start atrepparttar 104260 beginning and move chronologically throughrepparttar 104261 narrative, including answers torepparttar 104262 “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 putrepparttar 104263 visual where you will be speaking, and then findrepparttar 104264 seat farthest from it and determine if you can readrepparttar 104265 visual from that seat. Introducerepparttar 104266 visual properly rather than simply throwing it at your audience; explain whatrepparttar 104267 visual will do before you unveil it. Don’t allowrepparttar 104268 visual to become a silent demonstration. Keep talking as you showrepparttar 104269 visual. You are stillrepparttar 104270 main event and your visual is an aid. Look at your audience, not your visual. Whenrepparttar 104271 visual is not in use, hide it fromrepparttar 104272 audience. Humans are a curious lot, tending to keep looking atrepparttar 104273 object and losing track ofrepparttar 104274 speaker—you!

Starting a Software Product Company

Written by Will Spencer


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