Response to Public Speaking 11/14/12

Please share three areas from the lecture that stood out to you as areas you need to improve on in your personal public speaking:

1.     We talked about three areas of public speaking that included the speaker’s presence, presentation, and art of persuasion. I realized that I have multiple things to improve on in each category. As much as people are taught not to judge, they do judge presenters and therefore presence is important to the credibility of a public speaker. I didn’t realize public speakers shouldn’t wear perfume or similar scents. Also, we learned that dressing in dark colors tends to be more credible, which was an interesting note because I tend to dress in lighter and brighter colors. Demeanor was also another part of presence that we discussed. It is important to have confidence because the audience can see the confidence you may or may not have. My nervousness tends to come across while I’m speaking, so this was a good reminder to act confident even if I don’t necessarily feel completely sure of myself.

2.     The structure of presentation aspect is harder for me than the presence aspect. Key components of presentation include asking several questions about the speech being given. These questions are asking why the audience cares and what problems will be solved by giving the speech. The start and finish of the speech are the most important aspects, since that is what grabs the audience in the beginning and what the audience is left with at the end. Always remember that the audience is more important than you as the speaker. Word choice also builds or destroys credibility. The speaker offered the example of the terms the airlines use to make their audience more comfortable and not shock them with surprising word choice. Shocking word choice should be used sparingly because it can quickly discredit a speaker.

3.     He also talked about resonating with people, and even though this was in the presentation category, I have a lot to improve on in this area. He gave us four examples of things to include in our speeches or presentations that will resonate with people. Those things were testimonials, specific examples, statistics, and stories. To illustrate these concepts, he gave a mock mini-speech about goal setting and used each of the four tactics. As a class, we voted on the most effective use, and a much greater number of people voted on the story than the other elements. He pointed out that although most people identify with stories the most, there will always be people that are persuaded more by the examples, testimonials, or statistics. It’s important to include as many of these aspects as possible to reach the greatest number of audience members.