Public Speaking

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Public Speaking

The Speech Making Process
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Preparing for a Speech

• Select a topic
• Know the audience
• Consider the occasion
• Establish the purpose
• Write a Thesis

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Selecting the Topic

• Choose a topic this is both familiar and
  interesting to you.
• Dont choose topics that.
• Require too much detail and understanding for a
  speech.
• Not significant enough or interesting enough to
  make a speech about it.
• Too broad or too narrow for the amount of time
  available.

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Limiting a Topic

• Limit your topic to a specific aspect so that you
  can effectively cover it in one speech
• Recognize your own strengths and weaknesses
• Do you have enough experience with the topic to
  speak in a knowledgeable manner?
• Do you have strong enough interest in the topic
  to make it interesting for the audience?

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Knowing the Audience

• Demographics
• Age
• Education
• Religion
• Physical Aspects
• Size
• Other speakers

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Demographics

• Age
• Affects what you know and the experiences that
  youve had.
• A topic must be approached differently for
  different age groups because language varies and
  interests change.

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• Educational Level
• Affects knowledge, vocabulary and attitudes
• Avoid speaking above their heads or down to
  them
• Religious Background
• Religion is very personal. Speakers must be
  sensitive to the religious background of their
  audience and avoid anything that could be
  interpreted as an insult.

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Physical Aspects

• Size - affects how formal or informal the speaker
  can be.
• Other speakers - affects subject choice and time
  restraints, you want to avoid duplicating
  information and the amount of time you are
  allotted.

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Consider the Occasion

• It is important to consider why the members of an
  audience have gathered.
• What is the occasion?
• What do they have in common?
• How much interest will they have in your topic?
• Does this group have established attitudes about
  the topic?

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Establishing A Purpose

• Types of speeches
• Specific purpose

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Types of Speeches
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Types of Speeches

• Informative - to share information, to enrich the
  listeners mind
• Persuasive - to change the audiences mind about
  an issue, to prove something, or take action
• Entertainment - to get the listeners to relax,
  have a good time, to look on the lighter side
• Special Occasion - delivered on special
  occasions, to introduce, to accept an award, or
  entertain

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Specific Purpose

• Specific Purpose of a speech is its goal stated
  in a complete sentence. It is designed to focus
  attention on a specific area of a topic.
• A. the purpose sentence specifies the audience to
  be addressed and the desired results
• B. A good purpose sentence also serves to narrow
  your topic.
• Example - The purpose of this speech is to give a
  humorous review of the swimming season for team
  members and fans (to entertain)

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Thesis Statements

• Purpose statements sound awkward in a speech, so
  you convert it into a thesis statement.
• A thesis statement is your point of view on the
  subject, along with your three main points,
  reduced into a single statement.
• For Example
• Purpose statement The purpose of this speech is
  to convince members that selling calendars is a
  good way to raise money.
• Thesis Statement In order to understand why we
  should sell calandars, one should first consider
  that calendar sales return high profits, have
  minimal up front investment, and calendars are
  items everyone needs.

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Gathering Information
Where to find it?
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Where to Look for Information

• Yourself
• Other people
• Reference materials

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Information from Yourself

• Start with your own knowledge and experience
• Personal Experience
• What experiences have you had with this topic?
• Observation
• You can acquire amount of info by observing
• It is especially helpful when gathering
  information for and how to approach

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Information from Others

• Other people can be valuable resources when
  gathering information for your speech
• Three ways to gather information from others
• Interviews
• Surveys
• The request letter

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• Interview - In almost any topic you can obtain
  information by interviewing. Good interviews do
  not just happen, but a result of careful
  planning.
• Survey - Random or Select. Used as a tool to
  measure attitudes or opinions. The results of a
  survey can be used to support points in your
  speech.
• Request Letter - Unusual or specialized topics
  may require you to send away for information.

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Request Letter

• Allow enough time for the recipient to answer
• Depending on the size and nature of the company
  allow several weeks for reply
• Be clear about what information you need
• Make sure your request is reasonable and be exact
  on the information you want.
• Help to make the response easier to send
• Sending a self-addressed stamped envelope makes
  it easier for person or company to reply

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Reference Materials

• In most cases especially in informative and
  persuasive speeches you will need to research and
  read about your topic
• By researching, you will be able to...
• verify facts that you have already discovered
• find new information that gives your speech depth
• provide background for your topic

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Current Topics/Current Resources

• For current topics, the best sources of
  information are newspapers, magazines, the
  internet, or anything published at least in the
  last year.
• Books are usually three years old before they are
  even published.

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Identifying your Sources

• How many sources should you have for a speech?
• You should not have fewer than three sources to
  give a broad range of viewpoints.
• You should strive for two sources per point.
• Information you use from various sources needs to
  be credited in your speech

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Plagiarism

• Careful of Plagiarism
• General information does not need to be credited
• However, you must quote exact facts, opinions,
  and information gained from the research or
  insight of others.
• A brief statement giving credit is all you need.
• According to an article about interest in last
  weeks Newsweek.
• Jim Hawkins, in his book entitled Cheerleading Is
  for Me, suggests that...