Speech Preparation

Method 1: Plan your Speech

v  Identify the topic of your speech. Choose a single focused message rather than trying to cover multiple topics.

v  Pinpoint your audience. Are you speaking to children or adults? Are you speaking to people who know nothing about your topic or people who are experts on your topic? Understanding your audience will help you to target your speech appropriately.

v  Consider your motives. A good speech answers a need that the audience has. Are you trying to make your audience laugh? Are you trying to build their morale, or are you communicating a sober and direct message so that you can change their behavior? These questions will set the mood and tone of your speech.

v  Think about the setting. Is this a speech for a small group or a speech to deliver before a large audience? You can be more informal before a small audience, but write a more formal speech for a large audience.

Method 2 : Write the Speech

Write a succinct, single-sentence statement about your subject. Try to write something that will hook your audience so that you immediately grab their attention.

§  Use an anecdote or a quote. Sometimes, someone else has already said it better than you ever will. Just be sure to credit your source.

§  Be cautious about opening with a joke unless you know your audience well. You may think that a joke is funny, but your audience may find it humorless or even offensive.

§  Choose 3 to 5 supporting points for your topic. Make sure that your points are concise and direct.

§  You can start by looking at generic sources like an encyclopedia or Wikipedia, but you need to fact check your ideas with more authoritative sources after you generally understand your subject.

§  Draw on your own experience. If you have a long history with your topic, your experiences and personal stories can be great resources. Just keep these stories succinct so that you don't ramble and lose the audience's attention.

Decide whether you want to write out your speech or to outline the speech on index cards.Consider your comfort level with the topic. If you know the topic well and can improvise easily, then use index cards.

Decide whether you want to use visual aids. You may create a PowerPoint presentation to go along with your speech, or you may choose to use paper-based charts and graphs

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§  Keep the visuals to a minimum. You want them to aid your speech, not to overshadow it.

§  Make sure that the audience can read the content of your visuals. Too big is better than not big enough.

§  Check the facilities of the room in which you will be speaking. If you need Internet or you need a projection screen, be sure that the facility has the equipment.

Prepare handouts if your subject is detailed and technical. That way, you can cover the most important points in your speech while giving the audience a reference for the more detailed points that they can keep for later.

Write out a brief biographical paragraph about yourself. If someone will be introducing you before your speech, then providing the correct information beforehand will be helpful.

Method 3 : Practice the Speech

Set a timer. You should know how long your speech needs to be. If you can't deliver the speech within the given amount of time, then you may need to shorten it or lengthen it. Remember to include time for a Q&A period if appropriate.

Practice your speech in front of a friend or a mirror.Practice looking up at your audience so that your eyes aren't always on your notes.

Speak slowly and enunciate clearly. Pause between the sections of your speech so that your audience can digest the information.

Mark up your speech as you go with a pen or pencil. If words sound unnatural to you or a sentence is awkward as you speak it, mark it out and edit it to make it sound natural.

Make a video recording of yourself as you make the speech. Analyze your appearance, your body language and your delivery.

§  Make sure that your gestures are natural and not too frenetic. Alternatively, don't fix your arms at your sides or keep your hands latched to the podium.

§  If you make the speech to a friend and the friend offers constructive criticism, try to be open to what he or she has to say.

Practice more than once. If you've delivered your speech in rehearsal multiple times, then you will feel much more confident on-stage.

Method 4 : on the day of your Speech

Dress appropriately. If you need to appear authoritative, choose formal business attire. Choose a color that flatters you and keep bold accessories to a minimum.

Make sure that you have all of your materials in order. Bring your visuals, your tablet or laptop and your speech copy.

Ask for a sound check. If you're in a small room, ask someone to stand at the back of the room and see if he or she can hear you. In a larger facility, practice using the microphone so that your speech is neither too faint nor distorted.

Set up your equipment and supplementary materials. Make sure that the computer, projection screen and easels are functional and positioned so that they are visible to your audience.

Decide what to do with your handouts. You should either place them on a table for audience members to retrieve or pass them out in an organized fashion.

Ask for a glass of water. If your speech is lengthy, then you will need some water to moisten your throat.

Look in a mirror before you go onstage. Check both the front and the back of your outfit and make sure that your hair is neat and that your makeup, if you're wearing any, is not smudged.

Method 5 : During your Speech

Look around the audience and don't focus on only one focal point.

§  Make eye contact with members of your audience. If eye contact is too intense for you, look just above their heads at a point such as a clock or a painting.

§  Move your eyes around your audience so that everyone feels included in the presentation.

Speak slowly and try to breathe normally. The natural adrenaline rush that you will have in front of your audience may make you want to speak much too quickly.

Laugh at yourself if something goes wrong. Your audience will find you much more easy to relate to, and you won't lose their confidence in your knowledge of your subject.

Count up to 5 in your head before leaving the podium at the end of your speech. Acknowledge your audience with a smile, a brief nod or a slight bow, if appropriate.

Types of Speech

4 Basic Types of Speeches

            The four basic types of speeches are: to inform, to instruct, to entertain, and to persuade. These are not mutually exclusive of one another. You may have several purposes in mind when giving your presentation. For example, you may try to inform in an entertaining style. Another speaker might inform the audience and try to persuade them to act on the information. However, the principle purpose of a speech will generally fall into one of four basic types:

1. Informative – This speech serves to provide interesting and useful information to your audience. Some examples of informative speeches:
• A teacher telling students about earthquakes
• A student talking about her research
• A travelogue about the Tower of London
• A computer programmer speaking about new software

2. Demonstrative Speeches – This has many similarities with an informative speech. A demonstrative speech also teaches you something. The main difference lies in including a demonstration of how to do the thing you’re teaching. Some examples of demonstrative speeches:
• How to start your own blog
• How to bake a cake
• How to write a speech
• How to… just about anything

3. Persuasive – A persuasive speech works to convince people to change in some way: they think, the way they do something, or to start doing something that they are not currently doing. Some examples of persuasive speeches:
• Become an organ donor
• Improve your health through better eating
• Television violence is negatively influencing our children

4. Entertaining — the after-dinner speech is a typical example of an entertaining speech. The speaker provides pleasure and enjoyment that make the audience laugh or identify with anecdotal information. Some examples of entertaining speeches:
• Excuses for any occasion
• Things you wouldn’t know without the movies

Lecture Forum and Symposium

Lecture Forum

            The marketplace or public place of an ancient Roman city forming the center of judicial and public business. A public meeting place for open discussion. a medium (as a newspaper or online service) of open discussion or expression of ideas.

Symposium

            A meeting or conference for the discussion of some subject, especially a meeting at which several speakers talk on or discuss a topic before an audience. A collection of opinions expressed or articles contributed by several persons on a given subject or topic. An account of a discussion meeting or of the conversation at it.

Informative Speech

             An informative speech is one that one that intends to educate the audience on a particular topic.

Key points:

v  This type of speech uses descriptions, demonstrations, vivid detail, and the definitions to explain a subject person, or place the audience wants to understand.

v  An Informative Speech makes a complex topic easy to understand or offers a different point of view.Unlike persuasive speeches, an informative speech relies less on Pathos and more on communicating information.

v  An informative speech is one that intends to educate the audience on a particular topic. There are many different types of informative speeches, including speeches that describe the conditions of a subject and speeches that instruct the audience on how to perform an action.

v  The main goal of an informative speech is to provide enlightenment regarding a specific topic the audience knows nothing about. It may demonstrate how to use a new type of software, explain a new concept in the field of science, describe an expedition an archaeologist took, or provide details about a person of interest that the audience wants to learn more about.

v  The topics covered in an informative speech should help the audience to understand a subject better and to remember what they learned later. The goal of this type of speech isn't to sway the audience to the speaker's point of view. Instead, the details need to be laid before the audience so that they can make an educated decision or learn about a subject they are interested in.

Public Communication

           Any communication by means of television (including cable and satellite), radio, newspaper, magazine, billboard, mass mailing, telephone bank or any other form of general public political advertising. Communications over the Internet are not included in the definition of public communication.

Public communications denotes communications between persons as equals. It is the receipt and exchange of messages, ideas and opinions. Means of public communications evolved over time with the development of technology and mediums of communications. Likewise, public opinions, policies and ideas evolved as society's attitudes and opinions changed. However, the exchange or transaction of ideas remains constant. People respond and react within public groups, thereby contributing to and shaping public discourse

Nature and process of public communication Public communication is an art of sharing ideas orally coupled with financial expressions and movements in a large body of audience. Man expresses ideas, facts, and feelings, either in verbal or non-verbal manner. But the combination of the languages is the most effective means of communicating one’s message.

In public communication, verbal communication is the sound representation of language .as you communicate orally, you verbalized your ideas. As students you have to say the words according to their meaning. You must shape your voice into meaningful sounds. Sound is generally the sensation that is perceived through the ear. 

The Importance of English in Business

English: The Global Language

(The Story of English, by Robert Mccrum et.al. 1992)

·         The richest vocabulary. 500,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary with about another 500,000 technical and scientific terms still uncatalogued (versus  185,000 for German and fewer than 100,000 for French)

·         The most widespread mother tongue. About 350 million users.

·         The most widespread second language. Some 400 million users in more than 50 countries (e.g. India, Kenya, Nigeria, Singapore – where it is used for administration, broadcasting and education)

·         The official international language of the Third World. English is an official language in some 34 countries – scattered across four continents and the Pacific basin.

·         The language of communication and telecommunication. Three fourths of the world’s mail, telexes; and cables are in English.

·         The language of Science and Computers. More than half of the world’s technical and scientific periodicals are in English; likewise, the 80% of the information stored in the world’s computers, too.

·         The language of the world. English is the official language of the Olympics and the Miss Universe competition.

·         The language of the airwaves. Five of the largest broadcasting companies in the world (ABC, BBC, CBC, CBS, NBC) transmit in English to audiences that exceed 100 million.

·         The preferred language of Europe. English is most popular language among young people in European Community; in 1990, 42% of people aged between 15-24 could speak it, versus 34% in 1987.

·         The official language of Europe. 62% of young Germans and 52% of young French people could hold a conversation in English, while most Britons were ignorant of both French and German.

Communication, Components of the Communication Process

COMMUNICATION

Communication (from Latin commūnicāre, meaning "to share") is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior. It is the meaningful exchange of information between two or a group of person.

One definition of communication is “any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person information about that person's needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or nonlinguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes.”

COMPONENTS OF THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

1.    Context - Communication is affected by the context in which it takes place. This context may be physical, social, chronological or cultural. Every communication proceeds with context. The sender chooses the message to communicate within a context.

2.    Sender / Encoder - Sender / Encoder is a person who sends the message. A sender makes use of symbols (words or graphic or visual aids) to convey the message and produce the required response. For instance - a training manager conducting training for new batch of employees. Sender may be an individual or a group or an organization. The views, background, approach, skills, competencies, and knowledge of the sender have a great impact on the message. The verbal and non verbal symbols chosen are essential in ascertaining interpretation of the message by the recipient in the same terms as intended by the sender.

3.    Message - Message is a key idea that the sender wants to communicate. It is a sign that elicits the response of recipient. Communication process begins with deciding about the message to be conveyed. It must be ensured that the main objective of the message is clear.

4.    Medium - Medium is a means used to exchange / transmit the message. The sender must choose an appropriate medium for transmitting the message else the message might not be conveyed to the desired recipients. The choice of appropriate medium of communication is essential for making the message effective and correctly interpreted by the recipient. This choice of communication medium varies depending upon the features of communication. For instance - Written medium is chosen when a message has to be conveyed to a small group of people, while an oral medium is chosen when spontaneous feedback is required from the recipient as misunderstandings are cleared then and there.

5.    Recipient / Decoder - Recipient / Decoder is a person for whom the message is intended / aimed / targeted. The degree to which the decoder understands the message is dependent upon various factors such as knowledge of recipient, their responsiveness to the message, and the reliance of encoder on decoder.

6.    Feedback - Feedback is the main component of communication process as it permits the sender to analyze the efficacy of the message. It helps the sender in confirming the correct interpretation of message by the decoder. Feedback may be verbal (through words) or non-verbal (in form of smiles, sighs, etc.). It may take written form also in form of memos, reports, etc.

Communication Barriers

Barriers to effective communication can retard or distort the message and intention of the message being conveyed which may result in failure of the communication process or an effect that is undesirable. These include filtering, selective perception, information overload, emotions, language, silence, communication apprehension, gender differences and political correctness.

This also includes a lack of expressing "knowledge-appropriate" communication, which occurs when a person uses ambiguous or complex legal words, medical jargon, or descriptions of a situation or environment that is not understood by the recipient.

Physical barriers

Physical barriers are often due to the nature of the environment. An example of this is the natural barrier which exists if staff are located in different buildings or on different sites. Likewise, poor or outdated equipment, particularly the failure of management to introduce new technology, may also cause problems. Staff shortages are another factor which frequently causes communication difficulties for an organization. While distractions like background noise, poor lighting or an environment which is too hot or cold can all affect people's morale and concentration, which in turn interfere with effective communication.

System design

System design faults refer to problems with the structures or systems in place in an organization. Examples might include an organizational structure which is unclear and therefore makes it confusing to know who to communicate with. Other examples could be inefficient or inappropriate information systems, a lack of supervision or training, and a lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities which can lead to staff being uncertain about what is expected of them.

Attitudinal barriers

Attitudinal barriers come about as a result of problems with staff in an organization. These may be brought about, for example, by such factors as poor management, lack of consultation with employees, personality conflicts which can result in people delaying or refusing to communicate, the personal attitudes of individual employees which may be due to lack of motivation or dissatisfaction at work, brought about by insufficient training to enable them to carry out particular tasks, or just resistance to change due to entrenched attitudes and ideas.

Ambiguity of words/phrases

Words sounding the same but having different meaning can convey a different meaning altogether. Hence the communicator must ensure that the receiver receives the same meaning. It is better if such words are avoided by using alternatives whenever possible.

Individual linguistic ability

The use of jargon, difficult or inappropriate words in communication can prevent the recipients from understanding the message. Poorly explained or misunderstood messages can also result in confusion. However, research in communication has shown that confusion can lend legitimacy to research when persuasion fails.

Physiological barriers

These may result from individuals' personal discomfort, caused—for example—by ill health, poor eyesight or hearing difficulties.

Presentation of information

Presentation of information is important to aid understanding. Simply put, the communicator must consider the audience before making the presentation itself and in cases where it is not possible the presenter can at least try to simplify his/her vocabulary so that the majority can understand.

Top 6 Reasons for Business Communication Barriers

1.    Complex Messages:

·         The use of complex technical terms can result in a lack of communication. The remedy is to stick to the point, use clear and concise messages that are easy to understand.

2.    Withholding Information:

·         In an organization, much of the information is kept confidential due to company policies. Make sure the information that is needed is readily available and easily accessible.

3.    Different Status:

·         Management must keep employees well informed and encourage feedback.

4.    Ineffective Communication Processes:

·         The maintenance of the hierarchy in the organization is essential, but its very presence can reduce the flow of the communication. It is therefore essential to reduce hierarchical levels and increase departmental interaction and communication.

5.    Lack of Trust:

·         The most important factor behind a lack of communication in an organization is competition, which leads to a lack of trust among the various employees. Share information, communicate openly and honestly, involve others in decisions.

6.    Language barrier:

·         Language barrier is another important factor in business communication, if communication happens without a common language, it is not worthwhile.

OVERCOMING COMMUNICATION BARRIERS

1.    Eliminating differences in perception:

·         The organization should ensure that it is recruiting right individuals on the job. It’s the responsibility of the interviewer to ensure that the interviewee has command over the written and spoken language. There should be proper Induction program so that the policies of the company are clear to all the employees. There should be proper trainings conducted for required employees (for eg: Voice and Accent training).

2.    Use of Simple Language:

·         Use of simple and clear words should be emphasized. Use of ambiguous words and jargons should be avoided.

3.    Reduction and elimination of noise levels:

·         Noise is the main communication barrier which must be overcome on priority basis. It is essential to identify the source of noise and then eliminate that source.

4.    Active Listening:

·         Listen attentively and carefully. There is a difference between “listening” and “hearing”. Active listening means hearing with proper understanding of the message that is heard. By asking questions the speaker can ensure whether his/her message is understood or not by the receiver in the same terms as intended by the speaker.

5.    Emotional State:

·         During communication one should make effective use of body language. He/she should not show their emotions while communication as the receiver might misinterpret the message being delivered. For example, if the conveyer of the message is in a bad mood then the receiver might think that the information being delivered is not good.

6.    Simple Organizational Structure:

·         The organizational structure should not be complex. The number of hierarchical levels should be optimum. There should be a ideal span of control within the organization. Simpler the organizational structure, more effective will be the communication.

7.    Avoid Information Overload:

·         The managers should know how to prioritize their work. They should not overload themselves with the work. They should spend quality time with their subordinates and should listen to their problems and feedbacks actively.

8.    Give Constructive Feedback:

·         Avoid giving negative feedback. The contents of the feedback might be negative, but it should be delivered constructively. Constructive feedback will lead to effective communication between the superior and subordinate.

9.    Proper Media Selection:

·         The managers should properly select the medium of communication. Simple messages should be conveyed orally, like: face to face interaction or meetings. Use of written means of communication should be encouraged for delivering complex messages. For significant messages reminders can be given by using written means of communication such as : Memos, Notices etc.

10.  Flexibility in meeting the targets:

·         For effective communication in an organization the managers should ensure that the individuals are meeting their targets timely without skipping the formal channels of communication. There should not be much pressure on employees to meet their targets.