Public Speaking Practice for Your Summative Final
Giving A Speech Giving a formal speech goes beyond just reading your essay to the class For this practice speech we will focus on: Approach (the walk to the front) Expression and Delivery Eye Contact Body Language (gestures) Speaking Rate (speed and use of pauses) Nervous habits Sources cited
TED TALK
Speech Fundamentals The Fundamentals There are eight fundamentals that will impact how every speaker is perceived by an audience. Great speakers learn to excel in each area: energy, eye contact, facial expression, gestures, movement, non-words, pauses and speaking pace.
Energy *Energy: Most audiences prefer to watch a presentation where the speaker is clearly making an effort to connect with the audience. Energy comes out as vocal variety, gestures and facial expression, helping you show passion and gain positive listener response. Energy is also a great mask, effectively covering up nervousness.
Eye Contact *Eye Contact: Maintain eye contact with individual audience members long enough to complete your thought (3-5 seconds), rather than shifting your gaze from side to side. Please, no crazy eye.
Facial Expression *Facial Expression: Use smiles, frowns, and other varied expressions to keep your audience engaged. Take a tip from stage actors: bigger audiences call for bigger expressions.
Gestures *Gestures: Use natural movements of your arms, hands and body to emphasize your main points. Avoid actions such as pointing (aggression and/or deep insecurity ), arms crossed (indifference or irritation) or on your hips (aggression, self-righteousness or you forgot your belt), or playing with your fingers (anxiousness, nervousness).
Movement *Movement: Purposeful movement, such as walking around the room, stepping forward, and approaching your audience helps to create a stronger connection to the listener. To help avoid nervous movement such as rocking, plant your feet when standing in place.
Non-words (verbal fillers) *Non-words: By all means possible, work to eliminate meaningless words (such as umm, OK, uhh, so yeah, and so on ) from your presentations. They are extremely distracting to your listeners and suggest a lack of practice and preparation.
Pauses *Pauses: Taking short breaks between thoughts helps the audience focus on your message, and also helps the speaker eliminate non-words. Pause early and often, we always say!
Speaking Rate/Pace *Speaking Rate/Pace: Should you speak quickly or slowly? Both, if you want to hold your audience s attention for your entire presentation. Speed helps convey passion and excitement, while slowing down helps people focus on main points and big ideas. Just not TOO quickly or slowly!
SPEECH (TUESDAY-FRIDAY) For this practice speech, all students will be invited to come to the front of the room and demonstrate eye contact to all corners of the room. After a 15 second timer the presenter will say "Public Speaking is easy" or "Public Speaking is as easy as." The presenter will project their voice to all corners of the room using an effective volume as well as pronounce and enunciate one of the sentences above. The presenter will them remain at the front of the room to receive feedback. The audience will celebrate strengths as well as constructively identify the presenter's unconscious body language/gestures alternatively called nervous habits.
How Long Does My Speech Have to Be? For the purposes of this practice speech, you will give a speech that is as close to 2-3 minutes as possible.
How Will I be Graded? Let s take a look at the next few slides and see a progression from a non proficient speaker to a masterful speaker
Non Proficient Speaker was hard to hear or understand Voice or tone distracted from purpose of speech Excessive use of non-words (verbal fillers) Speech marginally rehearsed, distracting use of notes Little eye contact with audience Poor, slouchy, or fidgety posture Sources not cited
Proficient Speaker was easy to hear and understand Tone was conversational, purposeful Voice sounded natural, neither patterned nor monotone Speaker pronounced words clearly, correctly, with only a few verbal fillers Speech clearly rehearsed, mostly memorized Strong eye contact with entire audience Posture conveyed confidence Sources cited
Masterful Speaker was enjoyable to hear; used expression and emphasis Speaker used voice to create an emotional response in audience Speech is rehearsed/memorized; minimal use of notes Posture was commanding and purposeful Sources cited completely
Once Again, Our Process: Tuesday Speech Writing Wednesday Finish Drafting your speech/practice delivery in groups of 3 Thursday Practice your speech in groups of 4. Then we ll practice in groups of 8 and so on. Friday, if time Speech presentations Monday-Wednesday - Speech presentations in class