ORAL AND PHYSICAL PRESENTATION
Using Notes, Transparencies, Charts, and Displays
People who have captured their listeners' attention are apt to share certain qualities. These include confidence and ease, authority, conviction, credibility, sincerity, warmth, animation, enthusiasm, vitality, intensity, concern, and empathy. They also make effective use of eye contact, conversational tone, variety of pitch, pacing, projection, and phrasing.
11.1 VOCAL DELIVERY
Pitch is the tone of sounds, ranging from high (or shrill) tones of soprano to low (or deep) tones of bass. Volume is the fullness or power of the sound, ranging from loud to soft, and rate is the speed at which words are spoken. (Most people speak about 150 words per minute, the equivalent of one-half to two-thirds of a double-spaced, typewritten page.) Quality is the characteristic tone of a speaking voice, and animation has to do with the liveliness of the presentation. A pause is a temporary stop or hesitation. All these elements set the vocal level of speech.
11.2 PRONUNCIATION
11.3 THE PHYSICAL ELEMENTS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
The physical elements of communication include personal elements such as gestures, movement, posture, and eye contact.
11.4 READING FROM THE MANUSCRIPT
11.5 LISTENING TO PRESENTATIONS
11.6 THE USE OF SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS
Do not stand between the visual aid and the audience because you will block the view.
Speak toward the audience, not toward the visual aid.
Know the visual aid well enough so that you do not have to study it while you talk.
Point to the particular place on the aid that you are discussing.
Use the aid at the point in your presentation where it will have the greatest impact.
If you do not need the aid for other parts of the speech, put it down, cover it up, or turn it over.
Using Audio and Audiovisual Aids
11.7 CULTURE AND SPEAKING STYLE
11.8 SPEAKER ANXIETY
Positive Ways of Handling Speaker Anxiety
Breathing Techniques
Expectancy Restructuring
Rehearsing
Videotaping
Stance
Organize the speaking environment
11.9 LISTENER ANXIETY
Here are some sites you can use for practice. Need some guidance in finding listening situations?
Database of audio and video files from the Library of Congress.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/mdbquery.html
A daily update of scheduled live events you can tune into using RealAudio.
Yahoo Politics.
http://www.events.yahoo.com/News_and_Politics
Most of our fears never actually come to fruition. Think back to the number of times you anticipated that bad things would happen to you. Remember the time you thought you would faint while giving a speech? It didn't happen. Fears are anticipation of what might happen. If you don't perceive they will happen, the odds are likely that they won't.
LEARNING
OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
SUMMARY
This chapter examined the oral
and physical elements of delivering a speech. For a different kind of review,
take a look at this site:
http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/inaugural/pres56.html
The major ideas presented were:
The vocal elements of communication are pitch, volume, rate, quality, animation, and pause.
To pronounce means to form speech sounds by moving the articulators of speech.
Speakers should be careful to pronounce words clearly.
The physical elements of communication include gestures, physical movements, posture, eye contact, and the use of visual aids.
Speechophobia is the fear associated with giving a speech.
Speaker anxiety can be minimized through breathing techniques, expectancy restructuring, rehearsing, and stance.
Just as speakers suffer from communication apprehension, so, too, do listeners experience such anxiety.
pitch
volume
rate
quality
animation
pause
pronounce
General American speech
gestures
movement
posture
eye contact
speechophobia
expectancy restructuring
visualization
triangle stance