UNIT 2 --- Public Speaking ( 2 ) - How to Give a Great Speech

Public Speaking ( 2 ) - How to Give a Great Speech

            Most successful people in the world all are very good at "public speaking". They know how to get up in front of a crowd and give a "formal speech". They know how to move people, how to get them to  take action. It's not easy to do, but we can learn the basics of  public speaking in this passage.

            To speak well, we need to start with two things. First, we must have a clear goal. We must be very sure about what we want to communicate. Second, we must know who our audience is. When we know who our audience is, we can then find a good way to communicate our message to them. We should not speak to a group of businessman the same way we would speak to a group of students.

            When we are clear about our goal and have some idea who we want to communicate the message to, we can start to be more specific. In order to succeed, most people need to spend a lot of time preparing their speech. Some few, special speakers are able to speak without a definite plan, but for almost all of us, a plan is absolutely necessary. Our plan should include every important point we wish to make to our audience. We can begin by making a list of every thing we want to say.

             We can imagine we are speaking to just one  person, having a normal conversation. What would we say to that person to convey our message? Write down every important idea until  we are sure we have everything.

            When we have a list of all the things we want to say, we can then  organize our speech. When we have a normal conversation, we might  jump from one idea to another. In a conversation, our listener can stop us and ask questions, or we can see on his or her face if we have not communicated clearly. In formal speaking, however, we must  anticipate every possible problem. The way to avoid miscommunication is to talk about one idea at a time. While planning, take each idea one at a time and write down specific examples to show what we  really mean.

            After we’ve written down examples or explanations for each point on our list, we can think about how to connect them. Our listeners  will have to concentrate for a long time. Listening to all of our  ideas can be tiring. By making clear “transitions” from one idea to the next, we will help our listeners, and be sure that they really  understand our message.

            What is a good transition? Any sentence or  expression that shows we are moving on to something new. For  example, I have used transitions in this article. I began the third  paragraph of this article with “When we are clear about our goal”, which connects the third paragraph with the second. After talking   about the list of ideas in the third paragraph, I started paragraph  four with “When we have a list...”, so we can see the connection  again.

            Now we should have a list of items that we want to communicate,  with specific examples or explanations. In addition, we know how  we want to connect each idea so that we can move smoothly while  speaking. Next we need to think of a good introduction. The opening of the speech will either get our listeners’ attention or put them  to sleep. To get people’dan attention, we need to begin with a  “hook”. A hook could be as simple as a question. Or it could be a statistic that makes them think about what we are going to say next. Another kind of hook is a joke or story that is appropriate  for our message. Without a good hook, our listeners might never  really hear what we say during the speech.

            So, we’ve gotten our listeners’ attention with a hook and  presented our points clearly, one by one, with good transitions. To finish, all we need is a strong conclusion. Too many students end a speech with “I’m finished” or “That’dan all”. They miss a chance to  leave their listeners with an idea firmly fixed in their mind.

            Psychologists have discovered that with almost any information,  people remember the first and last things the best. So, if we have a strong conclusion, our listeners are more likely to remember our  message. In a simple informative speech, a conclusion can just be a quick summary of the main points. When we are trying to persuade  our listeners, we can finish with a call to action, encouraging  our listeners to do something. (Maybe to buy our product or accept our idea.) As with the opening, a conclusion could be a story or joke that illustrates our message well.

            With a good beginning, a good middle, and a good ending, we now have a potentially great speech. Why potentially? Because we still have to go in front of people and speak! This is where many students make a big, big mistake. They write out every sentence they want to say and memorize the whole speech word for word. Then when they speak, if they remember it well, they sound like robots speaking. Instead of memorizing everything, we should just memorize the key  words from our speech. It will not only be easier to remember everything, but we will also sound much more natural when we speak. We can adapt what we say as we observe the audience’s reaction.

            Many great speakers practice their speech by speaking out loud. Some  even prepare in front of a mirror! Try it and see if it helps we. When we speak formally, we will probably have a time limit. In this case, we should practice our speech with a timer. We will probably find that the speech we prepared takes more time than we have. We will have to cut things that are not so important.  Usually, if we think about it, some ideas that we thought oure  important at first, are not really so important after all. Be sure we communicate the most important ideas first, and cut anything  else.

            One last point: when the time comes for we to speak, we may feel a  bit nervous. That is normal, almost everyone feels it. One thing we can do is realize that nobody’dan perfect. Everybody makes mistakes, so we can too. Just do our best! Another thing we can do is take three deep breaths. Inhaling brings energy to every part of our  body, while exhaling helps to relieve tension.

            Well, there we have it – the basics of giving a good speech. It’dan  not easy, but if we put in the effort and do the things mentioned in this article, we will surely succeed!