Art Of Great Speaking

There are many situations when you will not really have a choice of topic. Circumstances and situations can dictate it. But where there is no such dictate it can be difficult to choose. Outlined below are some considerations in choosing your public speaking topic.

1. Determine the subjects you know about.

Your choice is limited to the subjects you are familiar with. It is best to stick with what you know and are interested in . You can then speak with confidence on it. It is possible to choose topics you have no experience in but it will take time to gather the research. And it is more difficult to speak confidently on a topic you have no personal experience in. Can you speak with authority on the subject and will that come over in your delivery?

2. Consider your audience

The speech should fit with the type of audience you are going to speak to. A serious topic is probably not appropriate at a banquet where entertainment is what the audience will want.

Will the subject you have chosen interest the audience and will it be worthwhile to them to listen? This is the best test of your subject. Therefore get to know your audience – their age, interests, reasons for attending, who is organising etc?  

3. Choose as soon as you can.

Do not spend too much time in choosing your subject. Come up with your topic as quickly as you can so that you can swiftly move on to preparating and practicing your speech.    

In summary know your audience, choose a subject that interests them and you. Choose it as soon as you can and this will leave you time to get your speech thoroughly prepared and practiced.

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After you have completed your research and decided on the purpose and developed your theme, and before you start to write your speech, it is a good idea to prepare a working outline. This is used to plan and develop the speech. It briefly states the theme,  headings and subheadings of the speech.

Good houses are  usually built with a well prepared plan. It is the same with good speeches. They need a good working outline. The outline  will ensure the speech has harmony, sequence and completeness.

 Harmony

You are able to view the speech as a whole with out the distractions of a written speech such as the language used. This helps to check the harmony by:-

(i)   Is there an effective link between the theme of the speech and it purpose

(ii)  Do each of the headings and subheadings support and/or develop the theme

(iii) Enables all supporting information to be united into a single piece of  communication

(iv) The speaker can see and remove any overlapping portions of the speech that could be confusing to the listener.

Sequence

The outline will help you determine the best sequence for the speech. As in harmony you are able to see the sequence of the ideas without the distractions of a speech written out in full. You are able to “visualise” the speech and see the ideas in relation to each other. You can re-sequence the speech until you achieve the most effective order for your speech.

Completeness

You can readily assess the completeness of the headings and supporting information in this form. You are able to spot gaps in any missing sub headings and supporting information.  

By completing a working outline it makes the organisation of your speech easier by giving you an overview of your speech, enabling you to check the completeness of theme and supporting information and sequence your speech in the most effective way.

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Public speaking is but conversation with more people present. And the best public speaking is conversational in style. In conversation it is common to use collquialisms and addled adages to communicate.

The aim of public speaking is to effectively communicate. By using colloquialisms and adages you can sometimes communicate more in a few words than 5 minutes in foraml English.  To be effectic public speaking it is better to use common everyday English than fancy expressions because colloquial English is the language most people use privately and are most likely to grasp.

Your audience has gathered to hear you to speak in a way that they understand, not a word perfect incomprehensible oratory. Short words should be used in preference to long ones. Even William Shakespeare supported this when Hamlet asked the question ” To be or not to be” – a huge question asked in the shortest words.

In addition to colloquialisms use adages. Unlike cliches they have not become overused. They are short sentences based on long experience. A few examples are;

If at first you don’t succeed, you are like everyone else.

Too many martinis spoil the broth

Early to bed early to rise until you have enough cash to do otherwise.

When preparing your speech use simple language. Use colloquialisms and adage where they are more effective than grammatically correct English. The only caution is that it should be understood by the audience – common sayings in one part of the world may not be used elsewhere – and it should not offend the listener.

Take a look at my resource for more tips on speaking with confidence   ”The Art of Great Confidence”. To claim a free preview visit http://www.SelfConfidentSpeaking.com

Let In Laughter

Never consider your subject so serious that you won’t consider using humor in your talk. Using humor will will light up your speech and lighten the audience’s mood.  Only a small amount of humor is needed in the same way that it can be used in conversation.

A small amount practice can make your talks more entertaining.

In using humor it is useful to comment on happenings of the day, e.g. eating and talking often go together – these comments may be used to add some spice;-

Heavy eating can make a man thick at his stomach

Waiters turn your check face down to keep you from choking to death

By keeping you eyes and ears open you will soon find more humorous stories and anecdotes that can be used to brighten up your talk.

Copying

Try to avoid copying other speakers. Imitating may be a great flattery to the other speaker but it can detract from your delivery as it can appear false. 

It is great to observe other skillful speakers and study what they say and how they say it.  You can then apply those observations to improve your perfomance by using them as a model.

Using Cliches In Your Speech

Either avoid using cliches altogther or keep them ot a minimum. Using cliches leaves your listeners with the impression that you lack originality.

There are a great many factors that will determine the language that you use in your speech. Factors such as - the type of listeners, the ideas you are seeking to convey, the type of speech (informative or persuasive), your own natural style.  There is not one perfect set of language that will cover every circumstance.

There are very few rules that cover every occasion;-

Dont’ speak up to your audience

Your audience will quickly sense this and you will lose any goodwill that you had before you started to speak. The audience will think “Who does he think he is?

Don’t speak down to your listeners

Also they will quickly catch on to any inferiority behavior and interpret it as a phoney air. Your speech will be dead in the water.