Previous newsletters.

• AUDIENCE INVOLVEMENT IN A PRESENTATION
• GOOD NONFICTION: POSSIBLE MATERIAL FOR YOUR NEXT SPEECH
• QUESTIONS OFTEN ASKED
• POLISHING THE PRESENTATION

AUDIENCE INVOLVEMENT IN A PRESENTATION

An effective tool in public speaking is getting the audience to contribute information.  Speakers often hesitate to do this because of the risk that is involved.  Once you open your speech to audience participation, you can never really predict what will happen,  yet it helps to keep the audience attentive and remembering key principles in your talk.   Active audience involvement is always worth the risk if you use the right techniques.  Here are some ways of successfully involving the audience.

Ask questions to which you really want answers..  Make it clear by nodding your head and raising your hand that you want a response when you ask the questions.  Ask a specific question to which you know the answer, thus keeping the audience on the topic.  For example, I know that listening is the most frequently used skill out of speaking, writing, listening, and reading, so I ask, "Which of the following do we use most frequently--speaking, writing, listening, or reading?" I know the right answer and can use audience responses to stress my topic of listening.  Audience involvement helps me make my point with little risk.  Unless there is no wrong answer to the question, be careful about open-ended questions in a speech because you may get off topic and get answers that are hard to deal with.

Have the audience repeat something in your speech.   In showing the value of vocal variety in speaking, I have volunteers speak a sentence such as, "That is the ugliest dog I have ever seen."  Having three or four different people say the sentence, emphasizing a different word in the sentence each time, helps illustrate the point and also helps the audience be more attentive to that section of the speech.

Include an activity that all audience members can do together.   Let's say you are talking about effective use of email.  Have the audience pair off and ask them to share with a partner one frustrating thing about their use of email.  Then ask for volunteers to share those frustrations.  You are assuring specific answers because they have already practiced their responses with partners. Since everyone is doing this together you will have good attention and an informal atmosphere for discussion that you can use to make your point about good ways to use this important medium.

Finally, give a simple true/false or multiple-choice set of questions.   Perhaps during your introduction you could present five statements about your topic, having your audience write true or false for each statement that you give.  You can make the statements to dramatically illustrate the point you will make in your speech.   With listening, I might have as my opening statement, "Communication is the responsibility of the talker, not the listener," or "Listening is a passive activity."  Both are false, and I could use their answers to help show how important good listening is.  You could also do this at the end, covering the content you've presented. 

Used carefully and with planning, audience involvement can add much to your speech with little risk.  People will leave with more content when they have helped provide it to the speaker and the group.

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GOOD NONFICTION:  POSSIBLE MATERIAL FOR YOUR NEXT SPEECH

Two recent books that are rich with illustrative material for speeches are   Seabiscuit:  An American Legend, by Laura Hillenbrand, and  Nothing Like It In the World,  by Stephen Ambrose.  Seabiscuit is about a racehorse during the Depression that overcame great odds to become one of the most successful winners in sports history.  In addition, there are chapters about the life of the jockey; these feature the determination, perseverance, and self-discipline that jockeys must show to keep their weights down in order to race and to find trainers willing to give them a chance to ride.

Nothing Like It In the World   is a fascinating history of the building of America's first transcontinental railroad.  There are some great examples of people willing to take chances on a new form of transportation that would eventually change the way  Americans and their products were transported.

These are great reading for anyone, but especially for the speaker looking for new and original historical examples for a speech.

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 QUESTIONS OFTEN ASKED

A question I'm often asked is, "How do you know how long your speech will be before you actually deliver it?"  One important way is actually to have a dress rehearsal before you give the talk.  If possible, go to the room where you will speak, taking all your visuals and props, and deliver it exactly as you plan to in the actual speaking situation.  Time it and you will be pretty confident about the length of your presentation.  Another way of helping you determine time is to practice out loud sections of your talk and time each section.  If you are an experienced speaker, you will soon learn to gauge how much time a page of notes will take.  Look back over the pages or cards, total the time it usually takes you for each section, and that will give you a good estimate.  One thing to determine by past experience is whether you usually run longer or shorter in the actual presentation.  Thus you can adjust accordingly with each new presentation.  I tend to go short in practice and longer in the specific presentation with a live audience.

If you are using a manuscript, there is a rule of thumb for 8½" x 11" sheets of paper, double-spaced and with an inch margin:  each page will take about two and a half minutes to deliver.

Having a good idea of how long your actual speech will take and adapting accordingly will give you more confidence and poise in delivering your final presentation.

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POLISHING YOUR PRESENTATION

Knowing how to dress for a speech involves more than knowing about style.  There are three steps we can take to insure appropriate attire for a speaking engagement. 

First, seek to dress just a little above the level of the audience.   To do this, of course, you must know how the audience will dress.  Ask the person in charge of your speaking to answer that for you.  For example, if you are a man and the men in the audience are wearing casual clothes, you might wear a sport coat and tie.  If you are a woman and the women in the audience are wearing business casual, you might wear a scarf or other accessory that is a little dressier than the audience members are wearing.  Both  men and women should avoid wearing clothing or jewelry that will be distracting to the audience.  Be careful about wearing pins or insignia that indicate a specific organization or group because people might become too interested in figuring out what your pin stands for and not be listening to you.

Second, wear what is comfortable to you.   If you wear heavy clothing, you might get hot and become distracted by being too warm.  Don't choose shoes just because they look good; they should also be comfortable.   Wear shoes, shirts, blouses, and pants that are not too tight or too loose because this can hinder your well-being.

Finally, wear clothing that gives you confidence.    We all have a favorite tie or blouse or scarf and really feel secure and confident in those items.  When speaking, always wear clothing that makes you feel "like a ten."  I have a favorite green tie that looks good, in my opinion, with a dark suit.  It is a regular part of my speaking apparel.

If you feel good in your clothing, you will speak with more confidence and poise, and your listeners will be more likely to enjoy your presentation.

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