ACTIVE LISTENING /PUBLIC SPEAKING

ACTIVE LISTENING/PUBLIC SPEAKING

ACTIVE LISTENING • Pay attention • Show that your are listening • Feedback(paraphrase/repeat) • Defer judgement • Respond appropriately

PUBLIC SPEAKING( 5 ACTIVE STEPS) • Determine a specific speech goal that is adapted to the audience • Gather and evaluate material for use in the speech • Organise and develop the material in a way that is best suited to the audience and the speech goal

Adapt the material to the needs of the audience • Practice presenting the speech

Active Step 1 DETERMINING A SPECIFIC GOAL THAT IS ADAPTED TO THE AUDIENCE AND OCCASION

Identify topics (Pick a Subject) • Analyse the audience • how knowledgeable your audience members are in your subject areas • their initial level of interest in the subject • their attitude towards the subject • their attitude towards you as a speaker

Gathering Audience Data • Conduct a survey • Informally observe • Question a representative • Make Educated Guesses

Analyse the setting (Setting & occasion) - What are the special expectations for the speech? - What is the appropriate length for the speech? - How large will the audience be? - Where will the speech be given? - What equipment is necessary to give the speech?

Select A Topic Write A Speech Goal • Identify your general Goal – either to inform, entertain or to persuade. • Phrase a specific goal statement A specific goal or specific purpose of your speech is a single statement that identifies the exact response you want from the audience as a result of listening to the speaker

A specific goal statement for an informative speech usually specifies whether you want the audience to learn about understand or appreciate the topic. Example - “I would like the audience to understand the five steps to baking a cake” Persuasive speech specifies whether you want the audience to accept the belief that you are presenting Example – “ I want my audience to believe that gay marriage is wrong”

Or to act in a certain way Example – “I want my audience to donate to the Inner city missions” • Write a first draft • Revise the draft statement – ensure it has a specific form • Make sure it contains only one central idea

Active Step 2 Gather & Evaluate material to use in the speech

Create you notes from various materials and interviews Get quotes, stories and statistics that would help explain your points clearly Prepare note cards

Active Step 3 Organise your speech : Organise & Develop speech material to meet the need of your particular audience

Once you have analyzed the audience, developed your speech goal, and assembled body of information on your topic: • Determine the main points • Write a thesis statement • Outline the body of the speech • Select and order supporting materials (examples, statistics, illustration, quotations) that elaborates or supports each of its main points • Prepare sectional transitions

Determining The Main Points • List the ideas you have found that relate to your specific goal • Eliminate ideas that your audience analysis says that this audience already understands • Check to see if some of the ideas for which you do not have strong support in the sources you consulted

Eliminate any ideas that might be too complicated for this audience to comprehend in the time you have to explain them. • From the ideas that remain select 3 to 5 that are the most important for your audience to understand if you are to accomplish your specific speech goal.

Writing A Thesis Statement A thesis statement is a sentence that states the specific goal and the main points of the speech

Outlining The Body of the speech A speech outline is a sentence representative, the hierarchical and sequential relationship between the ideas presented in the speech.

State the main points as a statement . Rephrase it asking these questions. Does the main point statement specify how it is related to the goal • Are the main points parallel in structure? Points are parallel when their wordings follow the same structure pattern often using the same introductory words

Select an organisational pattern • Time – or sequential order. • Topic order – [least important to most important, general to specific]. • Selecting and outlining supporting material.

Preparing action transition How well you move from one main point to another. Transition are words, phrases or sentences that show the relationship between or bridge to ideas.

Goals of the introduction • Getting attention • Stating the thesis • Establishing your credibility • Setting a tone • Creating a bond of goodwill

Methods of gaining attention • Startling statement • Rhetorical question • Personal reference • Quotation • Stories • Suspense

Preparing conclusions • Summary of main points • Leaving vivid impressions • Story • Appeal to action

ACTION STEP 4 ADAPTING YOUR MATERIAL TO THE NEEDS OF THE AUDIENCE

Adapting to your audience verbally • Select materials that demonstrate how the speech: • Is relevant to the audience • Helps comprehension of information • Establishes common ground between you and the audience • Enhances your credibility and credibility of the material being presented • Appropriate for audience initial attitude • Culturally sensitive to diversity in the audience

Relevance • Establish timeliness • Establish proximity • Demonstrate personal impact

Information comprehension • Orient the audience • Define key terms • Illustrate new concepts with vivid examples • Personalize information • Compare unknown ideas with familiar ones • Use multiple methods for developing criteria

Common ground • This is the background, knowledge, attitudes, experiences and philosophies that are shared by audience members and the speaker. • Use personal pronouns • Ask rhetorical questions • Draw from common experiences

Speaker credibility • Demonstrate knowledge and expertise • Establish trustworthiness • Display personableness-the extent to which you project an agreeable or pleasing personality

Initial audience attitudes • These are predispositions for or against a topic, usually expressed as an opinion. Language and cultural differences • Overcome linguistic problems • Choose culturally sensitive material

Adapting to audiences visually • A visual aid is a form of speech development that allows the audience to see as well as hear information.

Types of Visual Aids • Objects • Models • Still photographs • Slides • Film and video clips • Simple drawings • Maps • Charts- word chart, flow chart • Graphs-bar graph, line graph, pie graph

Methods for displaying visual aids • Computer-mediated presentations • Overhead transparencies • Flip charts • Poster boards • Chalkboards • Handouts

Criteria for choosing visual aids • What are the most important ideas the audience needs to understand and remember? • Are there ideas that are complex or difficult to explain verbally but would be easy for members to understand visually? • How many visual aids are appropriate? • How large is the audience • Is necessary equipment readily available? • Is the time involved in making or getting the visual aid and/or equipment cost effective?

Principles for designing effective visual aids • Use a print or type size that can be seen easily by your entire audience • Use a typeface that is easy to read and pleasing to the eye • Use upper and lower case type • Limit the lines of type to six or less • Include only items of information that you will emphasize in your speech. • Make sure information is laid out in a way that is aesthetically pleasing • Add pictures or clip art where appropriate to add interest • Use colour strategically

ACTION STEP 5 • PRACTICE DELIVERING YOUR SPEECH

Public speaking Apprehension • This is a type of communication anxiety(or nervousness), the level of fear you experience when anticipating or actually speaking to an audience

Symptoms and causes • Symptoms include physical, emotional, and cognitive reactions • Physical signs maybe • stomach upset(or butterflies) • Flushed skin • Sweating • Shaking • Light-headedness • Rapid or heavy heartbeats • Verbal disfluenciese.g stuttering and vocalised pauses

Cognitive reaction • Anticipation reaction; is the level of anxiety you experience prior to giving the speech. • Confrontation reaction; is the surge in your anxiety level as you begin the speech • Adaptation reaction; is the gradual decline of your anxiety level

Managing your apprehension • Recognise that despite your apprehension, you can make it through your speech • Realize that listeners may not perceive that you are anxious or nervous • Understand that with careful preparation and rehearsal, apprehension will decrease

Techniques for reducing apprehension • Visualization(see yourself in front of the audience giving the speech) • Systematic desensitization is a method that reduces apprehension by gradually having you visualize increasingly more frightening events. • Public speaking skills training (practice,practice,practice)

Elements of delivery • Voice • Pitch • Volume • Rate • Quality • Articulation and pronunciation

Bodily action • Facial expressions • Gestures • Movement • Posture • poise

Conversational style • This is an informal style of presenting a speech so that your audience feel you are talking with them, not at them

Hallmarks of a conversational style • Enthusiasm • Vocal expressiveness • Spontaneity • Fluency • Eye contact

Importance of maintaining eye contact • Helps audience concentrate on the speech • Increases the audience’s confidence in you • Helps in gaining insight into the audience’s reaction to the speech

THE END

ACTIVE LISTENING /PUBLIC SPEAKING