The Power of Public Speaking

1. The Power of Public Speaking David Scully, School of Business, Algonquin College scullyd@algonquincollege.com

2. “I became a good speaker as other men become good skaters: by making a fool of myself until I got used to it.”George Bernard Shaw

3. Fight or Flight? Role of Persona • A “mask” that you put on to deliver something to an audience • Your social role or character when performing (speaking publicly) • Characteristics and behaviours you adopt to create a unique “you”

4. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

5. Communication really begins at level 3 (love/belonging) • Our interest in other people helps us with social and esteem needs, and lets us focus on the still higher needs How is a presentation going to enhance others’ lives? • Can a speaker appeal to a variety of needs up the pyramid? (physiology, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualisation) • Need to think about the diversity within the audience as well

6. What you should never do to an audience Never simply read your material. Yes, be organised, but unless you know people will hang off every word you say, you’ll lose your audience.

7. Be aware of the paralinguistic, or non-verbal, side of communication • A classic UCLA study (Mehrabian, 1971) found that messages received often depend little upon the words spoken

8. Left hemisphere Math Words, concepts Deductive reasoning Precise thought Logic  Conscious Right hemisphere Art Images, sounds Inductive reasoning Abstract thought Analogy  Unconscious How we take in information depends on how our brains work: i.e., on our hemispheres You need to communicate to both sides of your listeners’ brains– speak the other language

9. Body Proximity Posture Eye contact Hands Platform Voice Volume Speaking rates Pausing Articulation Pitch Pay attention to these factors in non-verbal communication:

10. Proximity • Intimate: 3” (side)  20” (front/back) • Voicing: whisper > soft voicing • Social: 20”  5 ft. • Voicing: soft > conversational • Public: 5 ft. + • Voicing: semi-full > loud Work with a variety of proximities, where possible

11. Posture • Be relaxed, but physically alert (see “karate balance”) • Good posture enables good circulation, breathing • Allows for better vocal projection • Shows confidence

12. Eye Contact • Importance of the “scan pause” • Keep distributed, meaningful • Watch for questioning faces • Speakers rated as “sincere” make three times more eye contact than those rated “insincere” • “Smiling eyes”

13. Hands • Use hands deliberately • Use for emphasis, imagery • Avoid holding anything, if possible

14. Hands Consider effective uses • Counting • Finger pause • Drawing in • Shaking off • Waving away • Pointing to a “scene”, “place”

15. Platform • Resist the urge to stay in one place (or to pace) • Note all the space for movement – use it • Use movement deliberately

16. Platform • Should be linked to content; don’t move just for the sake of moving • Remember: standing still is boring!

17. Volume • Use a strong base volume to establish credibility and confidence • Be aware of the furthest people away in the room – reach them first • Vary volumes as much as possible • Aim to “hit” key words

18. Speaking Rates • Consider the difference, in words per minute, between thinking and speaking • thinking: about 800 wpm • speaking: 140-180 wpm • Allow pauses for body language • Speaking too quickly affects other non-verbal communication • Aim for a slower rate for complex or significant information

19. Pausing • Pausing leaves space for non-verbal communication • Make time to scan-pause • Include also • Major pauses – before new material • Dramatic pauses – to emphasisepoints

20. Pausing Benefits of effective pausing: • helps avoid fillers (um, like, ah, er, you know, basically, stuff-like-that…) • shows confidence, self-respect • provides speaker with time to think, regroup, transition • provides audience with clues and opportunity to absorb information

21. Articulation ≠ pronunciation • clarity, precision of speech • Speak clearly, crisply, dramatically • Exaggerate every syllable, if necessary, for key words or ideas

22. Articulation Errors Errors of Omission • Febuary, libary, wanna, goin’, dint, an’, coulda… Errors of Addition • Acrost, hice, haudit, filum… Errors of Substitution • Lemme, didja, swedder, thum, genelmen, ax, dis…

23. Practice! Three free throws. Knapsack straps. Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks. Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.

24. ♫ Pitch ♫ • Every person has a natural pitch level • Pitch range for humans: 3-4 octaves • Vibrant speech: 1 full octave • Professional performers: 2 octaves + • Inflection: changing pitch on words, or even syllables • Monotone speakers are limited – too focused on left-brain communication

25. ♫ Pitch ♫ • Cadence: the use of tone to indicate the close of a phrase (sentence, thought) • Be careful with uptalk – an unconscious non-verbal • Friedrich Nietzsche: “In conversation, we are sometimes confused by the tone of our own voice, and misled to make assertions that do not at all correspond to our opinions.”

26. Organising Content • Memorise only your outline • Use verbal signposting • Previewing • Summarising • Changing direction • Remember your non-verbal signposts – pauses, hands, pitch (esp. cadence)

27. Remember the “rule of three” Three words, phrases, images…

28. Using Notes • Never read your notes! • Cue cards? These are distracting, and keep your hands from communicating  Use “trigger sheets” – pages with minimal information that you can leave in front of you to look down on if you get stuck

30. END