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March 29, 2024, 01:16:56 pm

Author Topic: The Parts of Public Speaking that aren’t the Words  (Read 3534 times)

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Bri MT

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The Parts of Public Speaking that aren’t the Words
« on: January 23, 2020, 11:09:57 am »
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With IA1 assessments coming up for many of you, this seems like a fitting time to deliver advice on delivering your speech. If you want feedback on the content of a speech please head over here.

Confident body language
Alright, so you’ve probably been told before body language is important and to “fake confidence” but people tend to be light on the details of how exactly to do that. One component of this is the head – you don’t want to be staring at the floor like you’re embarrassed of your speech (even if you are) or staring at the ceiling like you’re making it up on the spot (even if you are). Instead, try looking at the audience (if you have friends spread throughout the classroom you can alternate looking at them) or at the wall slightly above or behind the audience. Looking at your teacher occasionally is good, but try to avoid staring at them like they’re the only person in the room.
Another important consideration is that you don’t need to protect your internal organs, so avoid the primate instinct to do that in uncomfortable situations. This means you should avoid: hunching over like you can hide, crossing your arms over your chest (yes, this includes crossing one arm over), and pulling your shoulders in. You should also avoid hiding in other ways, e.g. don’t pull your sleeves down to hide your hands & if you get a choice on where to stand somewhere open and bright is a good idea.

Animation
This is the one I had to work hardest on when I did competitive public speaking so if you struggle with this you have my full sympathy. The idea is that the audience wants to listen to a person - not a text-to-speech program – so you should show some emotion and animation. Your tone can convey a range of emotions and it should vary throughout your speech. If you’re talking about a situation of desolation and despair maybe convey sadness, anger, or fear in your voice (which one is appropriate will depend on the role describing that situation has in your speech). One thing to note here is that having strong control of emotions in your speech takes a lot of practice so if you go for a single dramatic tear or similar practice first to see how well you can pull it off.
Another important component of animation is supporting your points with body language. This can mean things like: physically shrugging, counting on your fingers, stomping, gesturing with you arms, temporarily changing your posture, wiping imagined sweat off your brow, holding your face in mock-horror, and/or countless other options. The important thing is to pick what suits your speech at that time. You don’t need to be moving constantly but when your arms are still try resting them casually near your sides rather than doing your best Neville-after-trying-to-stop-Hermione-leaving-the-Gryffindor-tower-impression (don’t pin your arms to your sides).

Pace & projection
Particularly if people are anxious, they have a tendency to talk fast in an oral presentation. This isn’t great if it gives insufficient time for your audience to process what you are saying or appreciate your dramatic pauses and changes of tempo. Consider the difference between “… which is precisely why we need to save water, because Every. Drop. Counts. “ and “…whichispreciselywhyweneedtosavewaterbecauseeverydropcounts”. Your audience doesn’t have the benefit of being able to go back and reread what you’ve said, so each word needs to be clear, and having a rushed pace is one way to undermine that. On the other hand, you don’t want to be doing the I-have-nothing-left-to-say slow crawl to the end of your time. Point is, practise your timing and make sure you have control of it rather than letting it control you.
Projection is one of those things were some people have it come to them easily and others need to really work at it to develop it. I probably don’t need to tell you why it’s a god idea for your audience to hear you so I’m going to jump straight to the how. 1. When you practice your speech, practice with projection rather than just “talking” your speech. 2. If you struggle with projection think about your breathing and if breathing deeper might help you project more. 3. You can also practice projecting more in everyday conversations or in music.


Hopefully you find all of these tips useful! As usual, if you have ay questions or comments please feel free to leave them & to do so you’ll need to have an ATAR Notes account (registering is free)
« Last Edit: January 24, 2020, 06:41:14 pm by Joseph41 »