Chapter 14: Speaking to Inform

Reinforce Key Ideas Verbally

Use a phrase such as "This is the most important" or "Be careful sure to remember this next point; it's the most crucial one".

Speeches about Events

A speech about a major event you have experienced firsthand or one you have researched.

Speeches about People

A speech about a person's career, personality, or other significances.

Speeches about Procedures

A speech about a procedure discusses how something works.

Speeches about Ideas

A speech about abstract principles, concepts, or theories.

Speeches about Objects

A speech about might be about anything tangible-anything you can see or touch.

Word Pictures

A vivid description that invites listeners to draw on their senses.

Pace Your Information Flow

Arrange your supporting material so that you present an even flow of information rather than bunching up many significant details around one point.

Use Humor

Be certain your humor is appropriate to your listeners, Use to make a point, Poke fun at yourself, Use humorous quotations, and Use cartoons.

Reinforce Keys Ideas Nonverbally

Gestures, Pausing before or after a statement, Raising or lowering your voice, and movement can emphasize an idea.

Build in Redundancy

If readers don't quite understand a passage, they can go back and read it again.

Creating Interesting Presentation Aids

Presentation aids can help you get and maintain audience members' attention, as well as increase their retention of the information you present.

Determine how best to organize your message, be conscious of the type of informative speech you are developing. Be mindful of strategies that will make your informative messages clear, interesting, and memorable.

Principle 1

Use supporting material such as stories, examples, and illustrations to gain and maintain attention. Create word pictures to make images and stories interesting and memorable. Pace flow of the information to increase clarity and retention. To help make your message memorable, reinforces ideas verbally. Use simple rather than complex ideas to make your message clear. Build in message redundancy to enhance message retention.

Principle 2

Use presentation aids to make messages clear, interesting, and memorable. Observe the nonverbal behavior of your audience to help you determine whether your message has been communicated clearly. Nonverbally reinforce ideas to make your message memorable.

Principle 3

Before you deliver your speech to an audience, talk and listen to audience members to help you customize your message for them.

Principle 4

To enhance message clarity, adapt the structure and flow of your speech to your listeners. To help gain and maintain interest and attention, adapt your examples and illustrations to your listeners.

Principle 5

Establish a Motive for Your Audience to Listen to You

Questioning, Engaging, and Relating

Adult Learning Principles

Relevant information that they can use immediately, Active involvement in the learning process, and Connections between the new information and their life experiences.

Simplify Ideas

The simpler your ideas and phrases, the greater the chance that your audience will understand and remember them.

Inform

To share information with others to enhance their knowledge or understanding of the information, concepts, and ideas you present.

Relate New Information to Old

When you are presenting new information to a group, help your listeners associate your new idea with something that is familiar to them.

Use Attention -Getting Supporting Material

You can increase audience interest if you first provide a simple overview with an analogy, model, picture, or vivid description.

Relate to Your Listeners' Interests

Your listeners may be interested in your topic for a variety of reasons. It may affect them directly, it may add to their knowledge, it may satisfy their curiosity, or it may entertain them.