Coms 1010 Final

skills for informative speaking

Highly effective informative speakers demonstrate certain skills that contribute to their effectiveness. One of these skills is defining; much of what an informative speaker does is reveal to an audience what certain terms, words, and concepts mean. Another is describing; the informative speaker often tells an audience what something looks, sounds, feels, and even smells like. A third skill is explaining, or trying to say what something is in words the audience can understand. A fourth skill is narrating—an oral interpretation of a story, an event, or a description. A fifth skill is demonstrating, or showing an audience how to do something.

how can you learn to maintain eye contact with your audience?

How can you learn to maintain eye contact with your audience? One way is to know your speech so well that you have to glance only occasionally at your notes. A speaker who does not know the speech well is manuscript-bound. Delivering an extemporaneous speech from key words or an outline is a way of encouraging yourself to keep an eye on the audience. One of the purposes of extemporaneous delivery is to enable you to adapt to your audience. That adaptation is not possible unless you are continually observing the audience's behavior to see whether your listeners appear to understand your message.

articulation

the accurate production of sounds-- the second part of enunciation

coercion

the act of forcing people to think or behave as you wish; not a form a persuasion

manipulation

the act of tricking people or using fraudulent means to gain compliance; not a form of persuasion

immediate behavioral purposes

the actions expected from an audience during and immediately after a presentation

persuasive imagery

the advertiser's method of persuading an audience with fast-paced and dazzling visualization of products You can use imagery in your persuasive presentations, with either PowerPoint or more advanced software, such as Prezi, and you can imitate some advertising techniques by studying impressive videos on YouTube. You should check with your teacher about using YouTube video clips in your presentations, because teachers are wary about too much YouTube in a presentation that is supposed to be yours. As long as you do not allow the video to dominate your presentation, you can make it more visual and more exciting for your audience.

boomerang effect

the audience likes you and your message less after your presentation than they did before

evidence

the facts that support a claim

measures you can take to resist persuasion, not only in public presentations but also on the telephone, in advertising, and when dealing with salespeople:

Remember, the best resistance is avoidance. You do not have to watch or read advertising, go into stores where you do not intend to buy, listen to telemarketers, or watch infomercials. Be skeptical about all messages. Persuaders who are seeking easy prey look for the uneducated, the desperate, the angry, the very young, the very old, and the unsuspecting. They avoid people who are educated, articulate, cautious, and careful. You should use your knowledge of argumentation, evidence, and proof to analyze claims. Page 362Check claims with other, unbiased sources. A good rule is to verify any persuasive claims with at least two other sources of information. A politician tells you that lower taxes will be good for you. What do the editorials, the political commentators, and the opposition say about that plan? Consumer magazines, especially those that take no advertising, are less likely to be biased, as are news sources that embrace objectivity. Check out the credibility of the source. Be suspicious if a business is new or changes location often or if a speaker has a questionable reputation for truth or reliability. Customers, institutions, and satisfied audiences will vouch for credible sources. The Internet offers ratings of products, businesses, and professionals on websites like Yelp, Angie's List, and Consumer Reports. However, beware because some rating services are sponsored by the vendors being evaluated. In other words, some ranking and rating services are bogus; they are just another attempt to trick you. Be cautious about accepting a persuasive appeal. Most states have laws that allow even a signed contract to be rejected by the customer in the first 24 to 48 hours—in case you have second thoughts. Accepting claims on impulse is a dangerous practice that you can avoid by never making an important decision in the context of a sales pitch. Have you ever heard of a businessperson who refused to take the money the next day? Question the ethical basis of proposed actions. Angry people are easy to turn to violence, desperate people willingly consider desperate measures, and frustrated people can easily become an unruly mob. Ask yourself whether the proposed action is self-serving, pits one group against another, or will be good for you when viewed in retrospect. Use your knowledge and experience to analyze persuasive claims. A claim that sounds too good to be true probably is. If you have a gut feeling that a claim seems wrong, find out why. Use all you know about logic, evidence, and proof to see whether the persuader is drawing a sound conclusion or making an inferential leap that is justified by the evidence. Finally, assume all evidence is open to scrutiny. Use your own values as a check against fraudulent claims. If someone is trying to get you to do something that runs counter to what you learned in your religion, in your home, in the law, or from your friends, be wary. Sales always enrich the seller but not always the buyer. You can choose to sacrifice, but you should not sacrifice unwittingly. Your values are good protection against those who would cheat you. Ask yourself, "What would my parents, my friends, my neighbors, my professor, or my religious leaders think of this decision?" Check what persuaders say against what they do. Judge persuaders more by what they do than by what they say. Talk may not be cheap, but words cost less than deeds, and the proof of what a person says is his or her behavior. We learn to trust people who do what they say; we learn to distrust those who say one thing and do another. • Learn to be wary about good deals. Use your brain to protect yourself. Use your freedom of expression and freedom of choice as protection against unethical persuaders. In the United States you can hear competing ideas, and the choice to accept or reject them is yours. You can educate yourself about issues and ideas by reading, watching, and listening. Education and learning are powerful protection against persuaders who would take advantage of you. Use your freedoms to help defend yourself

advantages and disadvantages of various types of visual resources

Remember, too, that most instructors have rules governing the use of visual resources. Few instructors allow live animals, and university policies usually forbid bringing to campus firearms, illegal substances/materials, and anything potentially dangerous to others. A good rule of thumb to follow is to always tell your teacher in advance what you plan to use as a visual resource. Prevent problems before they become problems. Remember, too, that you must practice with any visual aid you opt to use.

proposition of fact

an assertion that can be proved or disproved as consistent with reality

micro-persuasion

an attempt to change others with as few words or symbols as possible, as in a tweet

visual resources

are any items that can be seen by an audience for the purpose of reinforcing a message, from the way you dress, to words on a dry-erase board, to items you bring in for a demonstration. Setting up a computer to display images or slides is another use of visual resources. A student who wears her police uniform when talking about careers in law enforcement, one who provides a handout with an outline of her speech for the class, and yet another who brings in chemistry equipment are all using visual resources. As you can see, the options are many and diverse, and some work better than others. A handout could distract audience members, whereas chemistry equipment could bring a speech to life. Learning to use visuals effectively is a key skill for speakers.

vocalized pauses

are breaks in fluency that negatively affect an audience's perception of the speaker's competence and dynamism. The "ahhhs" and "mmhhs" of the beginning speaker are disturbing and distracting. Unfortunately, even some experienced speakers have the habit of filling silences with vocalized pauses.

rebuttal

arguing against someone else's position

information hunger

audience desire, created by a speaker, to learn information

antonym

defines an idea by opposition

operational definition

defines by explaining a process

synonym

defines by using a word similar in meaning to the one you are trying to define

manuscript method

delivery of a presentation from a script of the entire speech

fear appeal

eliciting fear to change behavior

Aristotles 3 modes of proof

ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos referred to the reputation, authority, and integrity of the speaker; pathos referred to the use of emotional means of persuasion; and logos referred to persuasion by using logical argument.

proof

evidence the receiver believes

extemporaneous

literally means "on the spur of the moment" in Latin; however, as practiced in the classroom, this method of delivery only appears to be spontaneous.

information overload

providing much more information than the audience can absorb in terms of amount, complexity, or both

rhetorical questions

questions asked for effect, with no answer expected

test of evidence

questions that can be used to test the validity Is the evidence consistent with other known facts? For instance, is the statement accurate that the top 20% of U.S. taxpayers own 85% of the country's wealth, leaving only 15% for the remaining 80%?8 Many sources specify how wealth in the United States is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, while the bulk of the population has gained little and lost much in the last decade. Just Google "wealth top 1%" for a number of links about wealth inequity. This statement is consistent with known facts about income and wealth. Would another observer draw the same conclusions? Perhaps we could find two witnesses who agree they saw someone trip and fall, but getting people to interpret facts the same way is actually a tricky business. Most experts agree that global warming is occurring, but broad disagreements occur about its extent and cause. When other observers agree with your inferences and you can cite them, your persuasive argument is strengthened. Does the evidence come from unbiased sources? The information about wealth in item 1 came from G. William Domhoff, a research professor of psychology and sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Professors are more often perceived as unbiased than are politicians and business leaders. But everyone has biases, so you should seek sources of information that are as free of conflicts of interest as possible. Is the source of the information qualified by education and/or experience to make a statement about the issue? Professor Domhoff admits that he got much of his information about wealth from Edward Wolff, senior researcher and professor of economics at New York University. Wolff earned his bachelor's degree from Harvard and his Ph.D. from Yale. He has written half a dozen authoritative books about the economy and wealth, and he and Domhoff are both experts on economic issues. But if the information you are seeking Page 352is about how undocumented people feel, the story of José Antonia Vargas, an undocumented Filipino youth, can be your best source.9 Remember that sources can be qualified by education and/or by experience. If the evidence is based on personal experience, how typical is that personal experience? Personal experience that is typical, generalizable, realistic, and relevant can be good evidence. If many people have been treated badly by the nearby bookstore, then your own bad experience there is usable evidence about its quality. If you are one of the very few people who have had a bad experience, then your story is not usable evidence. If statistics are used as evidence, are they from a reliable source; comparable with other known information; and current, applicable, and interpreted so the audience can understand them? Let's say you are going to explain tuition increases at your school over the last five years. Admissions, the registrar, and the business office all are reliable sources. You can help your audience understand the percentages of change, average increases, and amounts of increase by comparing your school's figures with those of other schools like yours. Use statistics carefully. To demonstrate how misleading they can be, a "whopping" 8% tuition increase is only $200 on a tuition bill of $2,500. If studies and surveys are used, are they authoritative, valid, reliable, objective, and generalizable? Many studies, surveys, and even Internet evaluations of products are sponsored by the very companies that benefit from the research. The easiest way to check objectivity is to see who authorized the study. If it was performed by an independent source, such as a university, an independent laboratory, or a professional survey company, such as JD Power or Gallup Poll, it is more likely to be valid and trustworthy. Are the speaker's inferences appropriate to the data presented? One instance or even a few does not allow for a generalization. If many students have been falsely accused of illegally downloading music, then you could support a generalization for that claim. Is important counterevidence overlooked? Often, in our haste to make a positive case, we ignore or omit counterevidence. Try to get a right-wing Republican to admit that the rich should be taxed at a higher percentage, or a left-wing Democrat to admit that taxes and spending must be reined in. Recognize that most complex issues include some aspects that are worthy and some that are not. What is the presenter's credibility on the topic? Has the speaker earned the right to speak on the topic through research, interviews, experience, and a thorough examination of the issue? Page 353Tell the audience about your experience with the topic, even if it is the time and effort you invested to research it. A soldier can speak with authority about healthcare for veterans, a mother or father can speak of the trials of finding decent childcare, and factory workers can address safety and sanitation issues in the workplace. The soldier, the parent, and the worker have source credibility concerning their experience.

communication apprehension (CA)

"an individual's level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons."10 This definition implies a couple of points to note. First, apprehension can stem from any type of communication. Just as some people fear public speaking, others have significant apprehension during interpersonal conversations. Second, apprehension can stem from anticipated interactions with others. In fact, much of the anxiety associated with public speaking stems from anticipation rather than from the act of speaking itself. Communication apprehension is connected to all aspects of our communication with others. Research shows that people who have higher levels of communication apprehension tend to view themselves as lower in communication competence.11 Of course, this also means that those with higher levels of communication anxiety have the most to gain in improving their communication skills. In the context of public speaking, apprehension has a more specific name: public speaking anxiety. High levels of public speaking anxiety not only can result in shaking knees, dry mouth, and other physical symptoms but also can create a self-fulfilling prophecy. People who are high in public speaking anxiety often spend less time preparing, which creates a series of cascading problems with the speech—everything that can go wrong will go wrong.

to retain yourself to maintain effective variety, Propp suggests that you

(1) read a children's story aloud at home and take note of how you naturally use vocal variety, (2) practice transferring those behaviors when reading more advanced material, and (3) synthesize those two steps to use vocal variety during your speeches.

John Takash, president of the Chicago-based Victory Consulting Firm, identified five common delivery problems in business presentations

(1) using non-words, (2) failing to pause and let audience members think, (3) failing to maintain eye contact, (4) speaking with a lack of confidence and volume, and (5) standing on one spot

summary of chapter 15

A persuasive presentation is a message strategically designed to induce change in an audience. Modest changes you can accomplish in a brief presentation represent your immediate purpose, whereas major changes your presentation may contribute to in the future make up your long-range goal. Instead of immediately revealing your purpose in the introduction, as you do in most informative presentations, you may have to delay stating your immediate purpose until you have prepared the way with persuasive strategies. An effective argument consists of a statement of fact, policy, or value backed by supporting material that meets the tests of evidence. You can use ethos (source credibility), pathos (emotional argument), or logos (logical argument) as persuasive strategies in your presentations. The Monroe Motivated Sequence is an appropriate organizational pattern for persuasive presentations, especially when the audience is reluctant to change or to accept a proposed action. It consists of five steps: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action. High ethical standards require you to cite sources accurately, respect your audience, and even respect your opponents. The chapter's annotated, detailed outline of a successful persuasive presentation by a student provides a model you can follow in preparing your own presentation. There are many ways to resist persuasion, the most important of which is to avoid placing yourself in a position to be persuaded.

discontinuance

A persuasive purpose rooted in convincing listeners to stop some current behavior

complexity

A second form of information overload is complexity: the speaker uses language or ideas that are beyond the capacity of the audience to understand. An engineer or a mathematician who unloads detailed formulas on the audience or a philosopher who soars into the ethereal heights of abstract ideas may leave the audience feeling frustrated and more confused than before the speech

Pauses

A third vocal characteristic of speech delivery is the pause—an absence of vocal sound used for dramatic effect, transition, or emphasis. Presentations are often a steady stream of words without silences, yet pauses can be used for dramatic effect and to get an audience to consider content.

Here are some generally accepted ethical standards that govern the preparation and delivery of a persuasive presentation.

Accurately cite sources. When you are preparing and delivering your speech, you should be very careful to gather and state your information accurately. Specifically, you should reveal from whom you received information. Making up quotations, attributing an idea to someone who never made the statement, omitting important qualifiers, quoting out of context, and distorting information are all examples of ethical violations. Respect sources of information. Show respect for your sources, especially people you interview, by demonstrating their credibility as completely as possible. These people are willing to share information with you, so it behooves you to treat them and their information with respect, in person and in your presentation. Respect your audience. Persuasion is a process that works most effectively with mutual respect between presenter and receiver. Attempts to trick the audience into believing something, lying, distorting the views of your opposition, and exaggerating claims for your own position are all ethically questionable acts. A presenter should speak truthfully and accurately; the best persuasive presenters can accurately portray the opposing arguments and still win with their own arguments and evidence. Audiences can be very hostile toward a person who has tricked them or who has lied, distorted, or exaggerated information simply to meet an immediate behavioral purpose or an ultimate goal. Respect your opponent. Persuasive presentations invite rebuttal. Nearly always, someone in or outside your audience thinks your ideas or positions are wrong. A good rule of thumb is to respect your opponent, not only because he or she may be right but also because an effective persuasive presenter can take the best the opposition has to offer and still convince the audience he or she should be believed. Do not indulge in name-calling or in bringing up past behaviors that are irrelevant to the issue. You should attack the other person's evidence, sources, or logic—not the person. Few issues about which people persuade are ever settled, and you may find in time that your opponent's position is better in many respects than your own. You may get the impression from these four ethical guidelines that every persuasive speaker must be part angel. Not quite. The ethical rules for persuasive speaking allow for critical analysis of arguments and ideas, for profound differences of opinion, for the weighing of evidence and supporting materials, and for the swaying of the audience to your point of view. All these strategies simply work best if you accurately cite your sources and respect them, your audience, and your opponent.

advantages of the classroom setting

After reading that years of public service campaigns have failed to change U.S. consumers' eating, exercise, and smoking habits, you might wonder why anyone should expect you to be successful in a classroom presentation. The key factor is that face-to-face persuasive efforts are more effective than public service campaigns for at least two reasons.

principles to guide you in selecting your speech content

Audiences tend to remember and comprehend generalizations and main ideas better than details and specific facts. The usual advice to speakers—to limit content to a relatively small number of main points and generalizations, say two to five—is well founded. Audiences are unlikely to remember a larger number of main points. Relatively simple words and concrete ideas are significantly easier to retain than are more complex materials. Long or unusual words may dazzle an audience into thinking you are intellectually gifted or verbally skilled, but they may also reduce audience understanding of the content. Keep the ideas and the words used to express those ideas at an appropriate level. Humor can make a dull presentation more interesting to an audience, but humor does not seem to increase information retention. The use of humor also improves the audience's perception of the character of the speaker and can increase a speaker's authoritativeness when a presentation is dull. Early remarks about how the presentation will meet the audience's needs can create anticipation and increase the chances that the audience will listen and understand. Whatever topic you select, you should tell audience members early in your presentation how the topic is related to them. Unless you relate the topic to their needs, they may choose to not listen. Calling for overt audience response, or actual behavior, increases comprehension more than repetition does. An informative presenter can ask for overt responses from audience members by having them perform the task being demonstrated (for example, two people dance after you explain the technique of the waltz); by having them stand, raise hands, or move chairs to indicate affirmative understanding of the speaker's statements (for example, "Raise your hand if you are familiar with local building codes"); or by having them write answers that will indicate understanding of the informative speech (for example, "List three ways to lower your blood pressure"). Having an audience go through an overt motion provides feedback for you and can be rewarding and reinforcing for both you and your listeners.

summary of chapter 14

Before you offer an informative presentation, you need to know The intent and goal of informative presentations The kinds of topics that are most appropriate The kinds of immediate behavioral purposes that are appropriate for informative presentations and how to determine if you have fulfilled them The strategies for informing others include Generating information hunger, an audience need for the information Achieving information relevance by relating information to the audience Using extrinsic motivation, reasons outside the presentation itself for understanding the presentation's content Shaping the informative content requires Limiting the number of main points Limiting the number of generalizations Selecting language the audience can understand Using specifics to illustrate an abstract idea Including humor or wit when appropriate Revealing how the information meets audience needs Avoiding information overload Organizing content for greater understanding The skills for informative presentations include Defining meanings for an audience Describing by using specific, concrete language Explaining by clarifying and simplifying complex ideas Narrating by using stories to illustrate your ideas Demonstrating by showing a process or procedure to your audience

the most common immediate behavioral purposes in an informative presentation

Define words, objects, or concepts. For example, after hearing my presentation my audience members can define the term foreclosure, tell what anthropologists mean by an artifact, or provide a meaningful definition for the concept of eminent domain. A statement of purpose for a presentation to define looks like this: My purpose is to have my listeners tell me upon asking that the law allows government to acquire private or commercial property as long as the government pays market rates in a concept called "eminent domain." Describe objects, persons, or issues. For example, after hearing my presentation my listeners can describe sedimentary rock formations, reveal the appearance of contact dermatitis (a common skin ailment in adults), or describe in a way we can all understand the pros and cons of the bond issue for a new school. A statement of purpose for a presentation to describe looks like this: My purpose is to have my listeners correctly explain back to me the main parts of the controversy surrounding the new athletic stadium. Distinguish between different things. For example, after hearing my presentation the audience should be able to distinguish between a counterfeit dollar and a real dollar, between a conservative position and a liberal position, or between an ordinary automobile and a luxury automobile. Page 327 A statement of purpose for a presentation to distinguish between different things looks like this: My purpose is to have my audience show me that they can tell the difference between a socialist position on state ownership and a democratic position on state ownership. Compare and/or contrast items. For example, after hearing my presentation my audience should be able to contrast a real diamond with a cubic zirconia, faux fur and actual animal fur, and Democratic and Republican positions on raising taxes. A statement of purpose for a presentation to compare and/or contrast looks like this: Upon completion of my presentation, members of the audience will be able to accurately reveal the major differences between Pentecostal churches and the so-called mainline Protestant churches.

summary of chapter 13

Delivery is how you use your voice and body to communicate your message to the audience. There are four general methods of delivering a presentation: The extemporaneous method, in which the speech is carefully prepared but appears relatively spontaneous and conversational. The impromptu method, which actually is spontaneous and without specific preparation. The manuscript method, whereby the presenter uses a script throughout delivery. The memorized method, which employs a script committed to memory. There are various vocal and bodily behaviors you can use to improve your delivery. Vocal aspects of delivery include pitch, rate, pauses, volume, enunciation, fluency, and vocal variety. Nonverbal aspects of delivery include gestures, facial expression, eye contact, and movement. Most speakers experience nervousness before giving a speech. There are five general approaches to managing your communication apprehension related to speaking: The skills approach requires taking steps to improve your competence as a speaker. By improving your skills, you will gain more confidence. Positive thinking can reframe fears into steps you'll use to improve your speaking. The visualization technique lets you mentally picture yourself doing well during a speech. The relaxation technique, usually enacted by a trained facilitator, trains you to associate public speaking with relaxing thoughts. Self-management occurs when you focus on what your actual fears are and develop techniques for addressing specific fears rather than the general condition. Using visual resources in your presentation can increase interest in your speech and help the audience retain more of what you say. Three days after your speech, audience members typically remember only about 10% of what you said if your speech does not include visuals; if you include visuals they typically remember about 65%. Most speakers create unappealing slides because they do not follow general principles of design when creating PowerPoint or Keynote slide decks. These design principles can help you make clearer and more appealing slides: Use images, not words. Apply the rule of thirds to use various areas of a slide as anchors for people and other objects. Minimize details, so that your slide does not become cluttered. Use multimedia resources to add interactivity, but practice with your materials several times to predict and avoid problems.

memorized method

Delivery of a presentation that has been committed to memory This method requires considerable practice and allows ample eye contact, movement, and gestures. However, it also discourages the speaker from responding to feedback, from adapting to the audience during the speech, and from choosing words that might be appropriate at the moment. In other words, memorization removes spontaneity and increases the danger of forgetting.

effective delivery is a learned behavior

Effective delivery is a learned behavior. Accomplished musicians must practice daily to achieve success; the same is required for excellent delivery. Fortunately, we all get chances to practice every day. Our conversations with others teach us everything we need to know to be great deliverers of speeches. Think for a moment about how you behave when you talk with others. You naturally use gestures; you naturally vary your vocal pitch, volume, and inflections; and you naturally maintain eye contact. You work hard at improving your verbal and nonverbal delivery skills, starting as an infant and continuing throughout your life.

ethical considerations

Ethics are a set of principles of right conduct. Many of our standards for ethical behavior are codified into law. We do not slander or libel someone who is an ordinary citizen. We do not start a panic that can endanger the lives of others. And we do not advocate the overthrow of our government. Many other principles of ethics are not matters of law, but violations of these unwritten rules do have consequences. No law exists against pointing out acne sufferers in the audience during your speech on dermatology or having your audience unknowingly eat cooked hamster meat, but audience members may find your methods so distasteful that they reject you and your persuasive message.

Effective Gestures

Follow your instincts. As you think about your message, your brain will naturally guide your hands. Such gestures are natural and accomplish their purpose of accentuating your spoken message. Do not restrict your hands. Keeping hands in your pockets or on a lectern will limit your ability to gesture naturally. This will decrease the effectiveness of your delivery and may even mentally distract you. Do not hide behind the lectern. If audience members cannot see your gestures, they have little or no effect. Plan important gestures. Although your gestures should be spontaneous, you can think in advance about key points that you can make with gestures. Practice those gestures as you rehearse your presentation. Invite critique. Improving your gestures requires an understanding of what you do effectively and what you can improve. Asking others to provide feedback and using video to self-critique are both strategies that can build awareness for improving your gestures

arouse audience's curiosity

For example, you might state, "I have discovered a way to add 10 years to my life," "The adoption of the following plan will ensure lower taxes," or "I have a secret for achieving marital success." Giving out a brief quiz on your topic early in the speech arouses audience interest in finding the answers. Unusual clothing is likely to make people wonder why you are so attired, and an object you created will likely inspire the audience to wonder how you made it. Asking rhetorical questions and arousing curiosity are just a few of the many ways the presenter can generate information hunger

organizing content

In an informative presentation, you can help the audience learn content by following these recommendations on how to organize your presentation: Tell an audience what you are going to tell them (forecast), tell them, and tell them what you told them. Use transitions and signposts to increase understanding. Tell your audience which points are most important. Repeat important points for better understanding.

understanding learning styles

Informative presentations take many forms. In many organizational settings, leaders and managers must give informative presentations to help employees better understand new products, initiatives, and ways of doing things. In these types of speaking situations, you must think more like a teacher and recognize that your audience members will have different preferences for learning. For example, consider these typical learning-style preferences: Visual learners prefer to learn through pictures, diagrams, and other visual resources that emphasize spatial relationships. Aural learners prefer to hear information. Verbal learners prefer to use speech and writing to process information. Kinesthetic learners prefer to use their body and touch. Logical learners prefer logic and reasoning. Social learners prefer to learn in groups through dialogue. Solitary learners prefer working in isolation through personal reflection. When preparing your informative messages, an advanced approach is to plan activities and opportunities that emphasize several of these learning preferences. Of course, presentations that teach across these various learning preferences require additional planning and take more time for the actual presentation to be completed. However, the payoff is that audience members may leave with a much stronger understanding of the information you want them to learn.

delivering on camera

Make eye contact. Audience members who watch you on video will expect to have eye contact just as physically present audience members do. You should remember to look at the camera while presenting. If your audience is mixed, with some members physically present and others watching on video, you should cycle your eye contact among audience members in the room and the camera. Be aware of timing. Many of us are accustomed to watching action-packed dramas or action movies on the screen. Keep video presentations concise so that audience members do not become restless. Also, because you cannot see audience members as easily, pace your delivery a bit slower so that you do not outpace your listeners. Dress appropriately. Certain types of dress do not transmit well on video. For instance, some bold lines on white or light-colored shirts can appear to "dance" when transmitted over video. Your best dress strategy is to wear solid colors with appropriately contrasting jackets, scarves, or other accents for variety. Excessive jewelry or other shiny objects can create reflections from lights, so use those with moderation. Speak clearly. Transmitting audio and video is easy, but the quality varies greatly. Talk slowly, clearly, and with good volume directed toward the microphone. If your listeners struggle to hear you, they will quickly lose interest. Practice. Whenever possible, plan to practice some of your presentation prior to the actual event. After your practice, have someone at the other location tell you how your listeners will see and hear you. This may give you an opportunity to adjust your volume, lighting, or other factors that will make it easier to see and hear your presentation.

using font four pitch

One technique for learning to strategically use pitch is to think about how you use bold, italics, and different-style fonts when you write. There are certain words in a written document that you may want to emphasize. When speaking, you may want to do the same thing.

these and many other topics like them increase what the audience knows and provide a path for those who wish to take it.

Unlike the persuasive presentation that presses the audience to act, the informative speech provides useful information the listener can choose to use or not. Think of the difference between commercial and public broadcasting. Commercial stations carry advertisements that end with an action step suggesting or often insisting on a purchase, but public broadcasters are allowed only to name a sponsor without pushing for an action. Similarly, informative presentations give you information on which you could act, but the primary purpose is to give you tools, not to insist that you use them. To clarify complex issues is another goal of informative presentations. Many complex issues emerge every day: increased violence in parts of the world; economic systems that do not seem to work and that sharply divide the rich and the poor; outbreaks of war; cases of widespread famine; abuse of children, the elderly, women, and men; personal privacy on the Internet. We hear about these issues, but most of us do not fully understand their causes or effects. An informative speech can tackle such complex issues and clarify them. These topics and many more are spawned by the news as it unfolds daily, weekly, and monthly. All you have to do is select a topic that leaves people scratching their heads and explain to your listeners what the issue can mean to them. Page 325 To demonstrate something useful is still another possible goal of an informative presentation. You already know listeners remember better if they not only hear what you say but also do it. That's why a demonstration presentation often has more impact on an audience than one that relies on words and images only. These and other topics lend themselves nicely to showing an audience how something looks or works. In some cases—such as the Heimlich maneuver—you can even have audience members participate to show that they understand your message. To show how things are related in space is still another possible kind of informative presentation. Much of what engineers, architects, electricians, plumbers, and fashion designers do is demonstrate how to relate items in space. Finding your way around a foreign city, showing the best-rated restaurants on Yelp.com, explaining the most useful ways to do research online at your college or university library, and locating the main features of a national park all require that you inform your listeners about spatial relationships. Even if they never go to the Caribbean, your presentation will show them its relative location in the vast expanse of the ocean. Finally, to arouse interest in topics that might at first seem uninteresting or boring is a legitimate goal of an informative presentation. Teachers often try to arouse your interest in subjects that you might find uninteresting or boring; when they are effective, they use strategies you can also employ.

some final advice on what kinds of arguments are most persuasive and where you should consider placing them for maximum effectiveness

Place your best argument first for a "primacy effect," meaning early items are remembered over middle items. Place your best argument last for a "recency effect," meaning last items are remembered over items in the middle. Middle items in a series are less remembered than those presented first or last, so avoid placing your best argument in the easily overlooked or forgotten middle.

who uses the manuscript method?

Professors, clergy, and politicians—especially those who are likely to be quoted—sometimes use this method of delivery, but students are rarely asked to, except when reading an essay, a poem, or a short story to the class. Some students essentially turn extemporaneous speeches into manuscript speeches by reading their outline, notes, or even presentation slides to the audience. Avoid this! Reading from a manuscript, whether it is prepared as a word-for-word script or a set of presentation slides, is difficult to do well. Your classmates, and particularly your teacher, will know that you are reading, not speaking, and your credibility will be diminished.

delivery tips for non-native speakers

Recognize that you are not alone. For most speakers the actual delivery of the speech is what causes the most anxiety. Even native speakers worry that they will forget what they intend to say or that they will say something incorrectly. If you have anxiety about delivery, your classmates will certainly empathize with you. Give yourself time. Most of the other suggestions on this list require that you devote some extra time to improving your delivery. This means you may need to begin working on your speeches much earlier than many of your classmates. Check pronunciation. On several online pronunciation dictionaries, you can look up words and hear them pronounced. For new and unfamiliar words or words with many syllables, such resources can help you determine and practice correct pronunciation. Talk with your instructor about reasonable goals. If you are still working on several pronunciation or grammar issues, you can use your public speaking class as an opportunity to improve. With your instructor's help, identify a short list of items that you can work on over the course of the term. Your practice efforts will be more focused, and your instructor will have a clearer idea of what to concentrate on when giving feedback. If you do not set such objectives beforehand, both you and your instructor may have difficulty concentrating on specific and attainable areas for improvement. Understand that eye contact is important. Especially if you come from a culture that does not emphasize eye contact, you should recognize that U.S. audiences tend to weight this nonverbal delivery characteristic very heavily. To improve your eye contact, first get more comfortable maintaining eye contact during conversation. As this skill improves during one-on-one interactions, you can then work on better eye contact during speeches. Practice using audio or video recordings. By listening to and/or watching yourself, you will be better able to isolate specific ways to improve your delivery. While observing a recording, make a list of two to four things you could do to improve your delivery, and then practice the speech again while focusing on those items.

Monroe motivated sequence

Step 1: Attention. You gain and maintain audience attention, and you determine a way to focus it on the content of your presentation. Step 2: Need. Once you have the audience's attention, you show audience members how the speech is relevant to them. You arouse a need for the change you suggest in your persuasive presentation. Step 3: Satisfaction. Your speech either presents the information the audience needs or suggests a solution to their needs. You satisfy the audience by meeting their needs with your plan. Step 4: Visualization. You reinforce your idea in the audience's minds by getting the audience to see how your information or ideas will help them. Page 357Step 5: Action. Once the audience has visualized your idea, you plead for action. The audience might remember your main points in an informative presentation and state them to others, or the audience may go out and do what you ask in a persuasive presentation

identifying your purpose

Students learn better if they know exactly what the instructor expects them to learn. Similarly, an audience learns more from an informative presentation if the speaker states exactly what they are expected to know or do. The results of your informative presentation will remain unknown, however, unless you make them behavioral; that is, your presentation should result in change you can observe. An instructor discovers whether students learned from a lecture by giving a quiz or having the students answer questions in class. In the same way, the informative speaker seeks to discover whether a message was effectively communicated by seeking overt feedback from the audience.

identifying your goal

The end product of informative speaking is to increase what your listeners know about a topic, to help them learn information that will be useful to them, to clarify complex issues, to demonstrate something useful, to show how things are related in space, or to arouse interest in topics that might initially seem boring or uninteresting but that really are important. To increase what your listeners know about a topic is one kind of informative speaking that is very much like what you experience in higher education every day, because it is like most teaching. Your professors are trying to increase what you know. The good news is that in your informative presentation you can use strategies you learn from watching professionals in nearly every class.

strategies for using these types of programs effectively

Use images, not words. The most common mistake speakers make when designing slides is to approach it as a writing assignment rather than a visual creativity assignment and therefore to create slides filled with words, not pictures or images. Visual aids should be visual, and very few word-based slides are visually appealing. You should look for ways to decrease your reliance on words and increase your use of graphics. Figure 5 shows two options for creating a slide about iPhone apps, one emphasizing words and the other pictures. Notice how the picture-based slide is more visually appealing yet provides the same basic information. If you do want to display words, find ways to integrate text boxes into relevant images— you will see an example of this in the next tip. Use the rule of thirds. Photographers learn that interesting photos make strategic use of composition. One element of composing a photograph is to employ the rule of thirds, which simply assumes that the shot view can be divided into three imaginary columns and three imaginary rows. Where the lines for these columns and rows intersect are hot zones where focal points can be established. By using the hot zones strategically, you can present information in a much more visually appealing way. Page 317 Notice in figure 6 how a slide was constructed using the rule of thirds. The first step shows the rows and columns on the slide. Remember that these are imaginary, although you can set PowerPoint and Keynote to show you a similar grid when composing your slides. In the second step you will see how an image was placed on the slide. The person standing in the image is placed near the lower-left hot zone, with the rest of the picture showing a rural river landscape. The final step shows how another element, in this case a text box, can be placed near another hot zone to increase impact. Using the rule of thirds helps make this slide go from being a boring text slide to a visually significant slide. Notice, too, how the person in the slide appears to be looking in the direction of the text box; this helps draw the viewer to the text and, like the person in the picture, become engaged by what the text states. Minimize rather than maximize details. It's a natural tendency to include too much information. Notice the difference between the slides in figure 7. The slide on the left includes a somewhat visually interesting set of words; the slide on the right makes the emphasis much clearer, and with more impact Capitalize on what's available. Keynote and PowerPoint are more robust when you use them to display a variety of multimedia. For instance, using a free website called www.keepvid.com, you can create a downloadable file of a YouTube video and embed the movie into your Keynote or PowerPoint file to play a short clip. You can even trim the clip down to play exactly what you want. Likewise, you can embed MP3 music files or other audio files and have them automatically play when you advance to a new slide. These are only a few of the multimedia options available. Although you should try to utilize these options if they are appropriate for your message, audience, and situation, remember that you need to practice with them. The visual interest they add also increases the complexity of your presentation, which means that more can go wrong.

more on ethos

The fact is that you can persuade some listeners because you have earned the right to speak. You have competence, trustworthiness, and dynamism, or you share common ground. Your personal power or expertise, or your charisma or personality, can gain compliance. Popular preachers build mega-churches with thousands of worshipers who thrive on the minister's message. They are persuaded not just by proofs from the Bible but by the personal authority of the preacher. They believe him because of who he is. The pope and some politicians, entertainers, and community leaders have such credibility. In jury trials the lawyer who is most liked by the jury often wins regardless of the evidence, because the jury believes the lawyer they like. But even in the classroom some presenters have more source credibility than others. For example, third-year students have more credibility than first-year students. The lesson here is that who and what you are can help you persuade others.

reducing fear in public speaking

The skills approach reduces fear by systematically improving your presenting skills. In other words, by taking a course in public speaking you can learn through the coaching of your teacher and your fellow students to reduce your anxiety. You will find that repeatedly exposing yourself to something you find threatening— such as standing in front of an audience to give a speech—reduces your fear over time. Remember that much of our public speaking anxiety occurs in anticipation of the actual speech. We often begin framing negative thoughts about what can happen, and those thoughts build negative momentum, which dramatically increases our anxiety. The positive thinking approach reframes those negative thoughts as positive ones. Table 2 provides examples. Reframing will show you how you can counteract potential sources of anxiety through preparation and planning for success rather than for failure. The visualization approach invites you to picture yourself succeeding, as the positive-thinking approach does, but with the addition of imagery.14 See yourself striding to the front of the room with confidence; see yourself speaking loud enough for all to hear without a sign of fear; and see yourself moving through the speech with an attentive audience eagerly receiving your message. Athletes often use visualization along with practice to perform better on the field or court. Visualizing the act of shooting a free throw can help improve technique and consistency. The same principle can be effective as you prepare for your speech. The relaxation approach trains you to associate public speaking with positive thoughts.15 Although you can do this by yourself, another person, such as a facilitator, usually provides the relaxation commands. The facilitator asks you to relax (actually lying down helps) and to think of a situation in which you are totally unstressed. The facilitator links your relaxed state to a word, such as calm. After repeating this process, you start relaxing whenever you hear the word (you have been conditioned). The facilitator then walks you through whatever frightens you ("You are now walking to the front of the room") and says "calm" at the first signs of fright. This approach takes time, but the procedure does work for most people with high anxiety about presenting. See figure 2 for a formula for this relaxation technique. The self-managed approach means that you reduce your fear of presenting with self-diagnosis and a variety of therapies. In other words, you attempt to uncover your fears and then decide what approach might reduce them. Dwyer points out that many therapies can reduce your fears, but no one therapy works for all people.16 You might decide that group therapy with a psychologist at the health service center would work best for you. Or you might decide that just taking a public speaking course will help you overcome your fear of presenting.

several ways to rebut an arguments

The weak points in any inductive argument are the clarity of the proposition, the quality of the individual instances, and the place where the inferential leap occurs. In the argument about local taxes, you could argue that it needs to state more clearly to what taxes the proposition refers. Does it refer to all taxes? To local or state taxes? To federal taxes only? The proposition is unclear. On the quality of the individual instances, does the presenter have any evidence that tuition goes up because taxes go down? Finally, how many instances do you have to have before you make the inferential leap? How many individual instances are needed to persuade people that violent crime is on the rise? The answer is that nobody really knows. All we know is that at some point you can quit providing individual instances, because most of the audience agrees and the remainder never will. That is why you can always question the point at which the inferential leap occurred. Likewise, you can always rebut deductive arguments by questioning the major premise, the application of the minor premise, and the meaning of the conclusion.

vocal variety

This term refers to voice quality, intonation patterns, inflections of pitch, and how you draw out spoken sounds and syllables. Public presentations encourage vocal variety, because studies show that variety improves effectiveness. One of the founders of the National Communication Association, Charles Woolbert, found in a very early study of public reading that audiences retain more information when there are large variations in rate, force, pitch, and voice quality.6 Woolbert's research is relevant even today. Having variety in your voice is consistently identified as one of the most important speaking skills, though achieving it can be challenging for inexperienced speakers.

what do different groups find convincing

U.S. businesspeople are known around the word for their bluntness, for diving for the bottom line swiftly, and for thinking their way is the only way. The dominant U.S. culture values argument, evidence, and proof as the way to convince someone to change his or her mind or behavior. In most of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, however, establishing trust by building a relationship comes before serious decision making. Native Americans tend to use stories to make their point instead of argument and evidence. Many Asian and Pacific Rim people want to have tea and talk before serious business can occur. Form and social harmony trump triumph and gain. U.S. and European adults have little difficulty saying "no" to someone trying to persuade them, but many Asian, Mexican, Central American, and South American cultures have difficulty saying "no" without "losing face." Hence, a U.S. speaker from the dominant culture may think he or she has convinced the person from Costa Rica, whose silence might indicate merely politeness and saving face. Korean students are much less likely to negotiate with a teacher over grades than are U.S. students. Persuasion works differently from culture to culture and even among marginalized groups in the United States.

volume

Volume is the relative loudness of your voice. Variations in volume can convey emotion, importance, suspense, and changes Page 306in meaning. When speaking more loudly we also tend to speak more quickly and at a higher pitch; when speaking more softly we tend to be lower and slower. Thus, changes in volume often happen in conjunction with changes in tone and rate of delivery. You can use a stage whisper in front of an audience, just as you would whisper a secret to a friend. You can speak loudly and strongly on important points, letting your voice carry your conviction. Volume can also change with the situation. For example, a pep rally may be filled with loud, virtually shouted speeches teeming with enthusiasm, whereas a eulogy may be delivered at a lower, respectful volume.

outline of a persuasive presentation

We turn now to an outline for an annotated persuasive presentation that illustrates many of the concepts introduced in the chapter. This outline was written by a student majoring in broadcasting who played the guitar at the Montreaux Jazz Festival. He composed this presentation to persuade the audience to change their behavior. Read it carefully for its strengths and its weaknesses. What methods does the presenter use to influence listeners? Do the arguments and evidence meet the tests discussed in this chapter? What could the presenter have done differently that would have made the message more appealing to you?

who does memorized method?

You have experienced this method if you ever acted in a play and memorized your part. Politicians, athletes, and businesspeople who repeatedly speak to the same kind of audience about the same subjects often end up memorizing their speeches. Even professors, when they teach a class for the third time in a week, may memorize the lesson for the day. Like the manuscript method, the memorization method is extremely difficult to pull off well. If you practice your speech several times, you will begin to memorize certain parts through repetition. However, your goal should be extreme familiarity rather than absolute memorization. Such familiarity will give you confidence but will help you avoid potential problems associated with rigid memorization.

where do you see extemporaneous method?

You have seen this method of delivery in the classroom, in some professors' lectures, sometimes in the pulpit, often in political and legal addresses, and usually in speeches by athletes, businesspeople, and community leaders who are experienced speakers. In each of these cases the speaker typically has planned several talking points but avoids reading those points to the audience, favoring instead a more natural appearance. This method is the one you will learn best in the classroom and the one that has the most utility outside the classroom.

more on pathos

You may not be dazzled by a string of statistics that show how many people slide into bankruptcy each year, but you might get tears in your eyes about a local person—very much like yourself—who was so consumed by credit card debt that she and her family had to declare publicly that they would never be able to pay their debts. Narrative—the telling of a story—is a powerful persuader. The world's holy books, such as the Koran and the Bible, and the teachings of Buddha are practically devoid of statistics but are full of stories and parables. Although logical and emotional appeals are often seen as diametrically opposed concepts, most of our behavior and beliefs are based on a mixture of emotional and rational factors. A speaker may persuade an audience to accept immediate behavioral purposes for emotional, rather than logical, reasons. A story about one person's bad experience with the campus bookstore may inspire many audience members to take their business to another store. The experience may have been a one-in-a-thousand situation or as much the customer's fault as the manager's. Such is the power of our emotions that they can persuade us to defy the law, fight another nation, or ignore the evidence.

when do you use impromptu method?

You use the impromptu method when you answer a question in class, when you introduce yourself in a meeting, and when you give people directions on the street. At a celebration or an informal gathering you may be asked to say a few remarks to welcome people or to express thanks. When executives or other visitors tour your workplace, you may be asked to talk about what you do. All these situations require your impromptu speaking skills, because you have no time to prepare but must still provide clear and relevant comments.

rate of delivery

Your rate of delivery can be strategically used to build drama during your presentation. Think about a great action sequence in a movie. Typically, the background music has a more upbeat tempo to emphasize the action. So, too, in a speech, your rate of delivery can be used to build excitement. Talking slowly at a pep rally may curb spirit, but fast delivery can get fans pumped up. Varying your rate of delivery can help you set certain moods as your speech develops.

extemporaneous method

a carefully prepared and researched presentation delivered in a conversational style

slide-deck visuals

a collection of slides, usually created with a computer program, that are displayed during a presentation

metaphor

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

captive audience

a group consisting of people who did not gather to hear about your particular topic

voluntary audience

a group that came to hear you, in particular, talk about your topic

inductive argument

a logical structure that provides enough specific instances for the listener to make an inferential leap to a generalization that summarizes the individual instances

deductive argument

a logical structure that uses a general proposition applied to a specific instance to draw a conclusion

syllogism

a logical structure that uses the major premise and minor premise to reach a necessary conclusion

explanation

a mean of idea development that simplifies or clarifies an idea while arousing audience interest

persuasive presentation

a message designed to strategically induce change in an audience

proposition of value

a proposal of a new rule

proposition of policy

a proposal of the new rule

arguement

a proposition that asserts some course of action

long-range goal

a statement of purposes that could be achieved with continuing attempts to persuade

immediate purpose

a statement of what you intend to accomplish in this particular presentation

contrast

clarifies by showing differences

facial expressions

consist of the nonverbal cues expressed by the speaker's face. Eyebrows rise and fall; eyes twinkle, glare, and cry; lips pout or smile; cheeks can dimple or harden; and a chin can jut out in anger or recede in yielding. Some people's faces are a barometer of their feelings; others' faces seem to maintain the same appearance whether they are happy or sad or in pain. Because you do not ordinarily see your own face when you are speaking, you may not be fully aware of how you appear when you give a speech. In general, speakers are trying to maintain a warm and positive relationship with the audience, and they signal that intent by smiling as they would in conversation with someone they liked. However, the topic, the speaker's intent, the situation, and the audience all help determine the appropriate facial expressions in a public speech

Pitch

highness or lowness of a speaker's voice—the voice's upward and downward movement, the melody produced by the voice

pronunciation

is the act of correctly saying words. The difference between saying "Washington" and "Worshintun" is pronunciation. If you have ever watched James Carville, a popular political commentator, speak on television, you'll notice that his Cajun dialect leads to many mispronunciations. He can get by with that because he has credibility through his experiences. If speakers have little established credibility, mispronunciations can doom their chances of building it. The best way to avoid pronunciation errors is to look up unfamiliar words. Most online dictionaries have options for hearing how a word is correctly pronounced via a small audio file.

rate

is the speed of delivery, or how fast you say your words. The normal rate for U.S. speakers is between 125 and 190 words per minute, but many variations occur. You need to remember that your rate of delivery depends on you—how fast you normally speak—and on the situation—few people talk fast at a funeral. Rate also depends on the audience and the subject matter. Audience members unfamiliar with the topic material may have a hard time following rapid delivery—the situation and topic may necessitate a slower approach.

Another way of learning to make appropriate gestures

is to practice a speech in front of friends who are willing to make positive suggestions. Actors spend hours rehearsing lines and gestures so that they will look spontaneous and unrehearsed on stage.

gestures

movements of the head, arms, and hands that illustrate, emphasize, or signal ideas in a speech. People rarely worry about gestures in conversation, but when they give a speech in front of an audience, arms and hands seem to be bothersome. The most common mistake inexperienced speakers make is holding onto a lectern, a computer, or notes. Some teachers ban the use of these devices to help students overcome the tendency to rely on them

vocal aspects of delivery (7)

pitch, rate, pauses, volume, enunciation, fluency, and vocal variety.

extrinsic motivation

reasons outside the presentation itself for listening to its content. An audience is more likely to listen to and comprehend a presentation if reasons exist outside the speech itself for concentrating on the content.3 A teacher who tells students to listen carefully because they will be tested at the end of the hour is using extrinsic motivation. A student can use extrinsic motivation at the beginning of a presentation by telling an audience, "Attention to this speech will alert you to ways you can increase energy and creativity," or "After hearing this speech, you will never purchase a poor-quality used car again." Extrinsic motivation is related to the concept of information relevance. The audience member who would ordinarily lack interest in the topic of fashion might find that topic relevant when it is linked to learning about hot new fashion trends. The audience member's interest in looking good is an extrinsic motivation for listening carefully to the presentation. Mention any external reasons for listening early in the presentation, before the message you want the audience to remember. A statement such as "You will need this background material for the report due at the end of this week" provides extrinsic motivation for the managers who hear it from their employer. Similarly, in an informative presentation, you may be able to command more attention, comprehension, and action from audience members if they know some reasons outside the presentation itself for attending to your message.

eye contact

refers to the extent to which the speaker looks directly at the audience. Staring down the audience is too much of a good thing, but staring at your notes is poor delivery. Lack of eye contact is one of the most common problems speakers have when making presentations.9 It can suggest that you lack knowledge, are unsure of your position, or are even being deceitful. Appropriate eye contact, on the other hand, creates connections with the audience.

demonstrating

showing how to do something by doing it as it is explained

comparison

shows the similarity between something well known and something less known

enunciation

the fifth vocal aspect of speech delivery, is the pronunciation and articulation of sounds and words. In everyday conversation we are informal, and our friends know how we talk. In speeches, however, you need to think more carefully about how you enunciate the syllables of words. In a large room, better enunciation may be necessary in order for people in the back to fully understand you. You can also overenunciate words to give them emphasis, the verbal nequivalent of typing "I am R-E-A-L-L-Y happy!" Enunciation is especially important for words that have similar sounds. How are its two components, pronunciation and articulation, different?

information relevance

the importance, novelty, and usefulness of the information to the audience

adoption

the listeners start a new behavior as a result of the persuasive presentation

informative content

the main points and subpoints, illustrations, and examples you use to clarify and inform

narrating

the oral presentation and interpretation of a story, a description, or an event; includes dramatic reading of prose or poetry

delivery

the presentation of a speech using your voice and body to communicate your message

fluency

the smoothness of the delivery, the flow of the words, and the absence of vocalized pauses. This quality is often more notable by its absence: a fluent speaker will present an effortless flow of words that moves along at a natural pace, which listeners may take for granted as they focus on the message. A nonfluent speaker, on the other hand, will present a speech that sounds choppy and disjointed, and these errors draw attention to themselves. To achieve fluency, public speakers must be confident about the content of their speeches. If they know what they are going to say and have practiced the words over and over, they will reduce disruptive repetition and vocalized pauses. Speakers must pace, build, and time the various parts of the speech, so that they unite in a coherent and fluent whole. Remember that you will need to stick to the time limits imposed by your teacher or the situation; failing to do so will diminish your credibility and perhaps harm your grade!

imagery

the use of words that appeal to the senses and create pictures in the mind

movement

what the speaker does with his or her entire body during a presentation. Sometimes the situation limits movement. The presence of a fixed microphone, a lectern, a pulpit, or any other physical feature of the environment may limit your activity. The length of the speech can also make a difference. If your speech is short, movement may be less important. For a speech lasting longer than a few minutes, movement can help keep audience members more engaged. Good movement is appropriate and purposeful. The "caged lion" who paces back and forth to work off anxiety is moving in a way that distracts; a speaker who stands in one spot creates boredom. You should move for a reason, such as walking a few steps when delivering a transition, thereby literally helping your audience "follow you" to the next idea. Some speakers move toward the audience when expressing points they regard as most important You can learn through practice and observation. Watch your professors, teaching assistants, and fellow students when they deliver their speeches to determine what works for them. (They may provide positive or negative examples.) Then determine what works best for you when you practice your speech.

impromptu method

you deliver a presentation without notes, plans, or formal preparation and with spontaneity and conversational language. impromptu means "in readiness"