The nature of public speaking Bernadette G. Arnan

Public communication Is described by Monroe and Ehninger, the authors of the book titled Principles and Types of Speech Communication: 7th Edition as “ involving a single speaker who, relatively formal tone and manner, presents a continuous, uninterrupted, informative, persuasive or entertaining discourse of supposedly general interest to sizeable number of other persons. This is commonly known as public address which is an interaction between one speaker to many listener.

Buerkel- Rothfuss IDENTIFIES THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONTHAT DISTINGUISH IT FROM OTHER LEVELS OR TYPES OF COMMUNINICATION The speaker must understand that the perspectives of a large number of receivers which may range in size from a dozen to thousands, These receivers may compose of either individuals with many similarities or individuals with a large range od occupations ,interests, and expectations. The speaker must adapt the simultaneous “ intra-audience influence” and audience feedback Rules that speakers follow are formalized; thus creating a well- established set of communicative behaviors that are appropriate and effective in public communication context.

The purpose of combination of purposes (i The purpose of combination of purposes (i.e informing, clarifying, reinforcing changing, or entertaining) of the speech is well- defined so that a speaker may identify specific outcome(s) to be met with the speech. The message is preplanned and consciously strategic (which means that the audience, topic, situation, and your abilities as a speaker as analyzed.)

Dealing with the stage fright Know the nature, symptoms and causes of stage fright; Develop the right attitude about public speaking anxiety Develop the right attitude about the listeners; Prepare thoroughly for your speaking assignment; Use effective bodily action; Look positively at other opportunities there might be to communicate personally

Speech preparation Choose an appropriate topic. Identify the thesis. Determine the general and specific speech purpose. Gather materials for the speech. Develop the major ideas and supporting points. Outline the body of the speech. Develop a substantial body of the speech. Develop an attention-getting introduction of speech. Develop a memorable conclusion. Rehearse the speech orally.

Choose an appropriate speech topic When searching a topic about, know these following: 1. The nature of your personal interests and experiences. 2. The nature of your audience. 3. The nature of the occasion.

Determine the general speech purpose Once you have chosen a topic, you may now determine your general and specific purpose. There are three majors or general purposes that you can choose: 1. To inform- means that you want your audience to learn a new idea about a person, a place, a field of study an activity, or an issue. 2. To persuade – means you want your audience to have a change of belief, stand or perception about a certain person, place thing, or issue. 3. To entertain – means you want your audience to simply enjoy what you are sharing to them.

Gather materials for the speech A speaker must be skillful in locating the information that shall be used for developing ideas for the presentation. At this stage you need to exhaust the possible sources of information that can help in the construction of your speech body.

Develop the major ideas and supporting details Make sure that you keep your main points to at least three to five major ideas. Ensure that your main points are supported with convincing information to provide your speech with conviction.

Outline the body of speech Your ability to outline your developed ideas plays an important role in putting together all you major points and supporting details. Outline is a tool for effective speech construction because it is a visual way to examine the relationships among the four components of your speech

Develop a substantial body of speech An important part of a presentation is a speech body which provide color and substance of your message. The speech body is composed of the main points and supported by details that explain, exemplify clarify and even expound those main points. Make sure the body does not contain too many major ideas as it would bore the audience, but does not contain very few details as well. The body of speech must have coherence through the use of certain identifiable patterns of organization.

The following are commonly used methods of organization Spatial Organization- ideas are arranged according to some geographic or three dimensional pattern specifically being used when certain aspects of a topic or problem are separated according to spatial location. Chronological organization – this pattern uses the idea of time to direct the flow of the speech. Topical organization- this method can be used for topics that can be divided into parallel components or sub-topics. Cause and effect organization –this method starts with a discussion of the events are believed to be the cause or root of a certain problem or issue and continues with the effect of circumstances. Problem solving organization- this pattern begins with the effect of the problem and then the advances with a discussion of possible solutions to that problem.

Motivated sequence organization- explains this method by introducing this sequence: Attention getter Statement of the problem Proposed solution in action Visualization of the proposed solution in action Call to action

A substantial speech body contains different types of verbal supporting materials and audio- visual aids For Verbal Supporting Materials : Illustration or a narrative of an event or incident factual illustration undeveloped factual illustration hypothetical illustrations 2. Explanations definition descriptions

3. Comparison/ Contrast the similarities and differences either literal or figurative of two entities 4. Testimony either in the form of direct quotations or paraphrase 5. Statistics or organized sets of numbers

For audio visual-aids 2. Models 3. Photographs 1. Actual Objects 2. Models 3. Photographs 4. Diagrams, sketches, and other kinds of drawings 5. Graphs and tables 6. Charts 7. Handouts 8. Blackboard and white board 9. Slides 10 Acetate transparencies

11. Video tapes and films Audio materials in the form of cassette or tape recordings, phonograph records, compact discs 13. Computer- generated graphics

Develop an attention-getting introduction speech No matter what you do, always start and end with grace. A good introduction may contain the following major parts: The introductory statements . The thesis statement or central idea of the speech. The major point that you will discuss on your speech.

Develop a memorable conclusion of the speech Your presentation will not be complete without a conclusion that gives a sense of closure to your message. A good conclusion may contain the following important parts: a restatement of your major points a one-sentence summary of the overall purpose of the speech a final punch a concluding statement

Develop transitional statements to link your major and minor parts of the speech Transitions are words, phrases or sentences that guide the speaker and audience to a smooth flow of the speech from one major point to another within a paragraph or from the introduction to the body to the conclusion of the entire speech. The transitions provide some linkage or connection among major and minor details of the speech.

Speech Body Introduction Transition a. 1st Major Point b. 2nd Major Point c. 3rd Major Point III Conclusion

Research the speech orally As you prepare the big day or the moment– that is the actual speech delivery or presentation– take into consideration what the experts refer to as principles of delivery such as being conversational, animated and direct. To achieve these master the following: voice volume, pitch, speaking rate, articulation, and vocal quality, and body movement. You may also consider rehearsing the use of visual aids to enhance your speech delivery.