Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners. Public speaking within a group of people is a difficult activity. Because listeners have better access to information since the internet became common place, audiences expect more content from speakers today. If you would rather spend your time preparing your content than reading a book on public speaking, this is an article especially for you.

Starting Your Speech:

In modern world, Speech tends to be much less formal than they were twenty years ago. Most audience these days prefers a relatively informal approach. However, there is a certain structure to the opening of a Speech that you should observe.

• Get people's attention and build rapport

• Welcome them

• Introduce yourself

• State the purpose of your Speech

• State how you want to deal with questions

Make Friends from the Audience: 

When you stand up in front of that audience, you’re going to be really nervous. Poor speakers pay little or no attention to their audience as people. Big mistake!!

If you can see your audience as a group of individuals, you’ll be much more likely to connect with those individuals.

Start looking around your audience. Pick out ‘friends’ all round the room. If you see an ‘impress me’ person and get discouraged, switch your view back to one of your ‘friend’.

Once you are aware that there are people in your audience who want you to succeed, you’ll be much more likely to succeed.

Voice Modulation:

Microphones, if used effectively will be a great tool for Voice Modulation. Very few of us use them frequently and so, when we have to talk into them in an already nervous state, we can easily make elementary mistakes.

As a general rule, try to speak more clearly when you are using a microphone. It will probably help if you speak a bit slowly. The human voice has four major variables. To hold the audience’s interest and concentration, each of these variables should be modulated.


The variable can be described as four P’s:

Pace: The speed of delivery. A fast passage should be followed by a slow passage.

Pitch: Start deep down. Modulate between high and low.

Power: Vary the power of the voice. For a particularly important passage, drop the power - it can have surprisingly more influence than raising the power.

Pause: Make use of pauses. Give the audience time to collect and to digest a statement.


Following are few basic tips that are useful while using microphone:

• If you have a free-standing mike, step back from it a bit. This will enable you to speak louder and to vary your tone and inflection.

• Don’t turn your head away from the microphone while you are speaking.

• Any little movement you make, such as shuffling your papers, will be amplified by the mike. Cut out the nervous gestures!

• If you are wearing a clip-on mike, make sure it is not rubbing up against some clothing or jewellery. The noise this makes could ruin your presentation.

• If you have a radio-mike, make sure it is switched on when you are presenting and switched off at all other times. This particularly applies when you go to the restroom!


Dealing with Nerves:

Almost everybody is nervous when they stand up to speak. There’s no shame in being nervous. However, if you are too nervous, your anxiety will spread to your audience, making them nervous in turn.
So how can you stop yourself from feeling too nervous?

Here are a few tips:

• Don’t get hung up about being nervous. It’s a normal human reaction.

• Walk off your excessive nervousness. If possible, walk outside and get some fresh air at the same time.

• Don’t let your legs go to sleep. Keep both feet on the floor and lean forward.

• Work your wrists, arms and shoulders to get the tension out of them. Gentle movements, not a major workout, will remove that tension.

• Work your jaw. Gentle side-to-side or circular motion will help to loosen it.

• Repeat positive affirmations quietly to yourself. “I am a good presenter.” It may seem corny but it works.

• Above all, breathe deeply. Make sure your stomach is going out when you breathe in.

Don’t be self-conscious about these warm-up activities. Most good speakers do them. Most people won’t even notice that you are doing them.


Stand Up When You Speak:

First impressions are of critical importance. We know that the listener’s pattern of concentration, whatever his starting level will soon sink drastically.

For most purposes, when you give a presentation you should stand. Not clutching the back of your chair for support, not leaning against the podium but two feet on the floor facing your audience.

Stating Your Purpose:

It is important to state your purpose clearly at the beginning of your talk. Here are some ways to do this:
Talk about: To speak about a topic/subject

• Today, I'd like to talk about our new construction project.
Report on: To tell you about what has been done.

• I'm going to report our quarter results.
Take a look at: To examine

• First, let's take a look at what we have achieved so far.
Tell you about: To speak to someone to give them information or instructions

• When I have finished, Mr. Sharma will then tell you about what is happening in south.
Outline: To give the main facts or information about something.

• I will only give you a brief outline and explain how it affects you.
Give an overview of: To give a short description with general information but no details.

• Firstly, I would like to give you a brief overview of the situation.
Highlight: Draw attention to or emphasize the important fact or facts.

• The results highlight our strengths and our weaknesses.
Discuss: To talk about ideas or opinions on a subject in more detail.

• I'm now going to go on to discuss our options in more detail.


Emphasizing:

Make your presentation more persuasive by making your points stronger. When we are giving lots of information, we often use visuals to give an overview. However, we often need to highlight only one or two key points or figures and then comment on them.

Softening:

Emphasizing is an important part of any speech but sometimes you want to soften the impact of what you are saying and give them less importance.

Here are some ways to do that:

Compare:

We made a huge loss.
We made a loss.
We made a slight loss.
We can soften the impact of negative ideas by responding using a positive word with a negative form of the verb. For example, compare:
The results are disappointing.
The results certainly aren't very encouraging, I'm afraid.

Focusing attention:

When we really want to focus the attention of our audience on an important point, we can use this "What ……. is …."
Look at these examples:
• We must cut costs.
• What we must do is cut costs.
• We need more reliable suppliers.
• What we need are more reliable suppliers.

Cause and effect: 

When you are giving a presentation, your job is to not only present the facts but also to give the reasons (why), the purpose (objectives) and the results.

In a presentation, the language used is often very simple, much simpler than if we were writing.

For example:

Reason:

• We sold the land because we needed to release the cash.

Purpose:

• We set up the team to look at possible ways to improve efficiency.

Result:

• We sold the land and had enough cash to invest in new equipment.

Rhetorical questions:

Presentations are more interesting if you use a conversational style. They are livelier and you establish a rapport between you and your audience. You can do this by using a question and answer technique – you ask a question and then answer it. Your questions create sense of participation and guide your audience to your point of view.

For example:

Late delivery is a big problem. What is the best solution?
There can be three two possible solutions. First …
Dealing with questions
At the end of your talk, you are likely to get questions. You don't have to answer all the questions - they may not be good questions!

• If it is a good question, thank the person and answer it.

• Some of the questions may be irrelevant and not connected to what you want to say. Say so and get another question.

• Some may be unnecessary because you have already given the answer. Repeat the answer briefly and get the next question.

• And some may be difficult because you don't have the information. Again, say so and offer to find the information later on.

When you get a question, comment on it. This will give you time to think. Here are some useful expressions to help you do that:

• That's a very interesting question.
• I'm glad you've asked that question.
• A good question.
• I'm sorry but I don't have that information to hand.
• Can I get back to you about that?
• I'm afraid I can't answer that.
• I'm not in a position to comment on that.
• As I said earlier, …
• I think I answered that when I said …
• I did mention that.
• I don't see the connection.
• I'm sorry, I don’t follow you.
• I think that is a very different issue.

Often we feel that we are not in control at question time but remember it is your presentation; you need to control the questions.

Closing Notes:

One never becomes a “perfect” speaker; developing public speaking skills is a life-long experience. But the points discussed here will get you started in becoming the speaker you want to be and the speaker your audience wants to hear

by mona gupta