How to Give a Speech
Posted in Communication Tuesday
Okay. You’ve analyzed your audience. You have your speech prepared and practiced. Now comes the difficult part, standing in front of a room full of people and giving the speech.
Here are some tips to help with the delivery of your speech or presentation.
- Be yourself; speak naturally.
- Whatever your natural self is: formal, “laid back,” understated, or hyper, use those traits.
- Talk—don’t lecture—about the material.
- Don’t read your speech verbatim.
- Give variety to your speaking.
- Repeat critical points immediately if you feel it necessary.
- Use your voice to emphasize the important points.
- Pause before new points.
- Have transitions to move between ideas.
- Use gestures.
- Match gestures to your voice.
- Adjust your gestures to the size of the room.
- Make sure your gestures don’t become a nervous tic.
- Make eye contact.
- Try to cover all parts of the room by dividing it into four quadrants.
- If direct eye contact is too distracting, try looking just above a listener’s head, or between two audience members.
- Tell stories.
- Use language to create pictures.
- Use metaphors, analogies, and similes.
- Avoid a dry recitation of facts.
- Model the techniques of good speakers.
- Try out the techniques you admire in others.
- Like any skill, delivery must be learned.
- Practice your delivery in front of a mirror, or better yet, a video camera. Playback the presentation and look for areas to improve.
Related Posts:
Outline template for writing a speech
How to Improve Your Public Speaking
9 Key Steps for Preparing a Speech
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