Chapter 11 and 12: Delivering your Speech and Using Language

• FOUR KINDS OF DELIVERY
  • extemporaneous
  • manuscript
  • memory
  • impromptu
• VOCAL CONSIDERATIONS

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• USING LANGUAGE
• MEANING
• ACCURACY
• CLARITY
• CONCRETE words
• APPROPRIATENESS

PREVIEW:

• good delivery is seamless
• does not call attention to itself
• conveys speaker's idea more effectively, forcefully and clearly
• formal yet conversational
  • combines best of both
  • directness, spontaneity, animation, emphasis
• good delivery is an art, not science

FOUR KINDS OF DELIVERY

1) extemporaneous speaking

• carefully planned and a rehearsed
• not memorized
• delivered from brief notes
• every time you delivery speech, wording will slightly different (refined)
• advantages
  • more control
  • greater spontaneity and flexibility
  • adaptable to wide range of situations
  • encourages conversational quality
  • no matter how many times rehearsed, still sounds spontaneous
  • allows stronger audience connection

2) reading from a manuscript

• reading word for word from prepared prose text
• problems:
  • often sounds read
  • flattened dynamics
  • lack of eye contact
  • weak connection with audience

3) reciting from memory

• toasts, congratulatory remarks
• problems:
  • forgetting! Losing your thread with be a horrendous moment
  • can sound "canned" or insincere

4) impromptu

• on-the-spot speeches
• four step approach
  • state the point you are answering
  • state the point you wish to make
  • support the point with appropriate stats, examples; testimony
  • summarize the point

VOCAL CONSIDERATIONS

• volume: you need to be heard
  • be aware of room acoustics
  • be aware of proximity to audience
  • respond to feedback
    • listeners will "tell you" if they cannot hear
  • don't let ends of sentences or phrases trail off
• projection: resonance of the voice
  • inverted megaphone
  • how to improve it
    • breath from diaphragm
    • fell resonant quality to voice
    • relax your throat
• rate: speed
  • nervousness makes us rush which leads to garbled words
  • write notes to yourself to "slow down" if you tend to rush
• pitch: high to low tone
• vocal variety: dynamics
  • changes in rate and pitch an volume and intensity makes speech more dynamic
  • helps with keeping our attention
  • remember: "low intensity of the message" makes it very hard to attend
  • loosen up when we do the vocal warm-ups

NONVERBAL CONSIDERATIONS

• strong channel of communication
  • kinesics: 700,000 physical messages
  • when body language is at odds with our words; listeners will believe body language
• appearance: affects audience greatly
  • we have expectations about appearance and "formality" of speech event
  • we set expectations about your speech based on your appearance
  • affects your credibility
    • strengthen your speeches!
    • pay attention to dress and grooming
    • try to evoke favorable first impression
• bodily action should be purposeful, not habitual
  • habitual movements show nervousness
  • I will identify them in written feedback
• what to do before and after
  • walk to front of room confidently
  • take command of space
    • rearrange to suit your needs
  • think about relaxation
    • use visualization
    • breath
  • pause before beginning
  • establish eye contact with a friendly demeanor
  • pause at the end of your speech
  • have confidence in demeanor after your speech
  • don't comment on your own performance
• gestures
  • hands and arms might feel conspicuous
    • try not to draw attention to them
    • don't put in pockets
  • try to feel the freedom of gesturing you naturally use when conversing
  • loosen up when we do the vocal warm-ups
• eye contact
  • most expressive body language we have
  • look us in the eye personally and pleasantly
  • look for feedback in our eyes
  • don't glare or flitter around the room
  • sweep the audience; include us all in your speech
  • personal request:
  • don't keep your focus intently on me alone
  • it is a small class; talk to each of us

PRACTICE!

• go through speech preparation outline aloud
  • how does it translate?
  • is supporting material interesting? convincing?
  • do the introduction and conclusion work well? easy to speak? interesting?
• prepare speaking outline
  • include delivery notes
• practice aloud! (rehearse)
  • visualize the classroom and your audience
  • talk in full sentences
  • rehearse with your visual aids
  • get control of your ideas but don't memorize
• polish and refine
  • use mirror?
  • use tape recorder?
  • take note of vocal quality
• use an audience: friends, family
  • do a dress rehearsal
  • as close to speaking conditions as you can approximate
  • start today if you want to excel

USING LANGUAGE

GUIDELINES: good speakers respect language

• language is the basic tool you have to work with
• language creates our sense of reality
• language is not neutral
• the language we use to label an event determines our response

MEANING

• meanings of words highly subjective and dependent on our fields of experience
• double life of words: connotative and denotative
  • denotative: precise; literal; objective
    • describes
    • dictionary definition
  • connotative: associations
    • variable, figurative, subjective
    • intensity and feeling

ACCURACY

• using the right words in a speech is as important as the right numbers are to an accountant
• avoid the inaccuracy that can occur from misguided attempts to sound elegant or technical
• avoid malapropisms
• don't use it if you're not sure!
• look it up in the dictionary
  • words have shades of meanings
  • what do you really want to say?
  • what do you really mean?

CLARITY

use FAMILIAR words

• complicated words won't impress
• they confuse you and your audience
• come off stuffy and pretentious

use CONCRETE words

• avoid abstract, ambiguous words
• more descriptive in a literal sense
• more precise
• sensory imagery

eliminate clutter

• don't use long phrase where one word will do
• watch out for redundant or repetitive adjectives and adverbs
• look for it in your prep outlines and revise as needed
• avoid verbal fillers: like, you know, really

VIVIDNESS: using animated language

• imagery: concrete and descriptive words
• literary imagery
  • similes: explicit comparison using like or as
  • metaphors: implicit comparison
• rhythm: created by choice and arrangement
  • creates moods and effects
  • special kinds of rhythm
    • parallelism : similar arrangement of words, phrases, sentences
    • repetition : repeating the same word or phrase at the beginnings or ends of clauses
    • alliteration : repetition of same vowel in adjacent or close words
      • Spiro Agnew: His most famous line came in a 1970 speech, when he attacked the news media as "nattering nabobs of negativism" and "the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history."
    • antithesis : juxtaposing of contrasting ideas, often with parallelism
      • John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

APPROPRIATENESS

• don't alienate through offensive language
• avoid potentially racist or sexist language
• make it appropriate to topic and speaker
• difference between personal style and developed style