1. Delivery: 6 Traits of Powerful Speaking
PVLEGS
Delivery:
6 Traits of Powerful Speaking

2. PVLEGS
From Eric Palmer’s book Well Spoken. PowerPoint posted in the public domain.

3. PVLEGS
POISE
VOICE
LIFE
EYE CONTACT
GESTURES
SPEED

4. APPEAR CALM AND CONFIDENT. AVOID DISTRACTING BEHAVIORS.
P = POISE
GOALS:
APPEAR CALM AND CONFIDENT.
AVOID DISTRACTING BEHAVIORS.
TIPS:
visualize
practice
long, deep breaths before
water
count backward
positive self-talk
brisk walk before

5. Noticing Our Mannerisms
A head flick to get hair out the face
Repeatedly saying “um” or “like”
Tugging at your clothes
Twirling hair
Buckling one knee or the other
Shifting weight back and forth
Happy Feet (wandering around while speaking)
Hands active in pockets
Nervous smile or giggle
Tugging on fingers
Playing with jewelry
Fiddling with glasses
Rolling and unrolling papers

6. Activity
Think of the topic of public speaking and create an argument for or against students being required to take public speaking courses in high school. This argument should be 5-7 sentences in length.
Get into the small groups assigned. Each group will have six to seven people in the group. Once in a group, everyone should write their name on a small slip of paper, fold it, and mix it up in the middle of a desk. Everyone should then draw someone else’s name. The person you draw will be the person you will be responsible for providing feedback on.

7. Activity
Take turns reading or speaking in front of the small group assigned.
When everyone has finished, meet with the person who had your name and with the person whose name you had. Discuss what you noticed in regards to mannerisms and possibly distracting behaviors during the small speech.

8. SPEAK EVERY WORD CLEARLY. USE AN APPROPRIATE VOLUME FOR THE SPACE.
V = VOICE
GOALS:
SPEAK EVERY WORD CLEARLY.
USE AN APPROPRIATE VOLUME FOR THE SPACE.
TIPS:
have volume awareness (space)
enunciate every word
avoid odd vocal patterns
no interrogative(questioning)tone unless called for
avoid the fade away (end of sentence)

9. Vocal drills: From Debate Central
Pen in your mouth:
How to do it: Hold a pen vertically in your mouth, between your teeth, while you read through cards.
Why you should do it: The pen creates an obstacle, forcing your tongue to work harder and you to over-articulate. This is good for developing the kind of exaggerated face/mouth/tongue movements that produce greater speech clarity.
Protip: This drill will only actually help you if you commit to it. Sloppily mushing through your reading while a pen in your mouth is useless. The key is to really work those facial muscles and focus on articulation. You’ll know you’re doing it right when you start to feel like your face looks really stupid.

10. Vocal drills: From Debate Central
And and and:
How to do it: Read through your cards, inserting the word “and” between every word. So, the sentence “The cat climbs the tree” would become “The and cat and climbs and the and tree and.”
Why you should do it: This one has three main benefits. The first is it stops from trying to comprehend what you’re reading and lets you focus instead on just saying words. This kind of disengaging helps most people speak faster. (You should have already read and understood all of your cards beforehand. If you didn’t, you have bigger problems than rate of delivery). This drill also encourages you to keep your speech clipped, rather than blurring the end of one word into the next. Again, this improves clarity. Finally, repeating the same word helps you find a natural rhythm, which speeds you up and helps you avoid stumbling over awkward phrases.
When you should do it: Any time. Do this one extra often if you’re someone who trips over your words or has trouble “finding your groove.”
Pro tip: Some debaters like to keep themselves in a rhythm by relying on a physical metronome, such as tapping their leg with a finger or doing the infamous “chop the air” debater gesture. During this drill is a good time to experiment with that. Just make sure you’re not doing something distracting, like pounding on the table or clicking your pen.

11. Vocal drills: From Debate Central
Backwards:
How to do it: Read through your cards backwards, starting at the end of the card and continuing backwards until you reach the tag. (This means reading the words in reverse order, not literally trying to phonetically pronounce the words backwards).
Why you should do it: This is another drill that helps you practice the technique of reading instead of thinking. The words go directly into your eyes and out your mouth, instead of taking the extra time to knock around in your thoughts. If you don’t already do this, you’ll be surprised by how much faster it’ll make you.
When you should do it: Whenever, but especially when you’re trying to get used to reading new cards, or if you’re working on ramping up your speed.
Protip: If you’re never done this before, you’re going to really, really suck at it at first. Don’t be alarmed. You’ll get better.

12. Homework
Read Thank You For Arguing chapter 7 and be prepared for a quiz on Friday.

13. EXPRESS PASSION AND EMOTION WITH YOUR VOICE.
L = LIFE
GOAL:
EXPRESS PASSION AND EMOTION WITH YOUR VOICE.
TIPS:
belief/conviction behind what you’re saying
emotions
word emphasis changes meaning
modification to represent another voice

14. Practice
Read through your paragraph once to one partner using as little emotion/life as possible.
Read through it again with the same partner, trying to give emphasis where appropriate and trying to express emotion/conviction in what you’re saying.

15. CONNECT VISUALLY WITH YOUR AUDIENCE. LOOK AT EACH AUDIENCE MEMBER.
E = EYE CONTACT
GOALS:
CONNECT VISUALLY WITH YOUR AUDIENCE.
LOOK AT EACH AUDIENCE MEMBER.
TIPS:
engage with your listeners
sense feedback
familiarize, don’t memorize
note cards--major headings, minimal notes

16. Practice
Read your paragraph in front of the class. By this point, you should be fairly familiar with your paragraph. Try to make eye contact. Tip: Avoid looking at people that you know will make you laugh. Choose two or three “safe” people to make eye contact with, and take turns with those people.

17. HAVE AN EXPRESSIVE FACE.
G = GESTURES
GOALS:
USE HAND MOTIONS.
MOVE YOUR BODY.
HAVE AN EXPRESSIVE FACE.
TIPS:
body positions change
gestures to add emphasis
descriptive gestures--size, use hands
use hands to draw the words
emphatic gestures (slap hands together, pound the table)
match face to mood
move body (lean forward to intensify message)
use eyes

18. TALK WITH APPROPRIATE SPEED. USE PAUSES FOR EFFECT AND EMPHASIS.
S = SPEED
GOALS:
TALK WITH APPROPRIATE SPEED.
USE PAUSES FOR EFFECT AND EMPHASIS.
TIPS:
pacing for power
speed affects enunciation and ability for audience to understand every word
dramatic effect to match words
adjust pace for emphasis
pausing
to help a point stick in
after a rhetorical question
to add drama

19. Practice
Get with one partner. Try to read your paragraph at different speeds (have someone time you):
10 seconds
30 seconds
60 seconds
This exercise may require reading your paragraph super fast or super drawn-out and slowly. If none of these speeds work well for your paragraph, try something in-between.
Remember—in a formal debate, you may not have unlimited time. Try to aim for a speed that allows you to talk quickly while still enunciating.

20. PVLEGS Mini project
Make a poster for your assigned PVLEGS topic. Be sure to include the following:
The word written large.
Description/definition of the word.
Description/explanation of what to do and what not to do.
Explanation of how it will help with speaking/debate.
At least one visual.