Transcript Public Speaking for the Radon Professional

Public Speaking for the Radon
Professional
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Stage 1: The Traditional
Presentation Skills:
Recall a recent talk or speech that
you liked. Maybe a teacher, a
preacher or a speaker at this
symposium. Think about the things
the speaker did that made the
speech memorable. What were
they?
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Now, How do You Rate
Yourself?
Your Strengths?
• Knowledge of topic?
• Humor comes naturally?
• Lots of experience
speaking?
• Good voice?
• Comfortable in front of
people?
• Good body movements?
• Good use of the eyes?
Your Weaknesses?
• Fear of speaking in
public?
• Lack of experience?
• Don’t know what you
would say?
• Don’t like your speaking
voice?
• Too shy?
• Afraid of confrontation?
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Let’s Use President Obama as
a Good Example
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Now, How do You Rate Him?
His Strengths?
• Knowledge of topic?
• Humor comes naturally?
• Lots of experience
speaking?
• Good voice?
• Comfortable in front of
people?
• Good body movements?
• Good use of the eyes?
His Weaknesses?
• Reads his speeches?
• Uses lots of “fillers”?
• Hems and Haws?
• Orates with the rhythm of
a church preacher?
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The Four Traditional Speaking
Skills
• Voice (important to present with a strong, clear voice).
• Gestures (use gestures frequently and naturally).
• Body Movement (do not anchor yourself to a
lectern/podium, stroll (cover) all parts of your
audience).
• Eye Contact (in order to ensure engagement with the
audience, effective eye contact is necessary). Do
not look over the heads of the audience toward the
back of the room.
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Elaborating the Traditional
Presentation Skills
• How effectively does one use voice (rate,
volume, pitch, quality, enunciation,
pronunciation, fluency, conversational)?
• How effective is one’s use of body (eye
contact, gestures, poise, swaying,
fidgeting, motivated movement (not
pacing))?
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The Three Modes of Presentation
• Extemporaneous: the presentation is given
without notes, but some preparation and thought
has been given to the speech. An outline may be
used.
• Manuscript: the presentation is read from a
prepared paper.
• Impromptu: the presentation is made up on the
spot with no preparation of any kind.
We will only disucss extemporaneous
speaking in the class.
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Stage 2: The Skills Needed for
“Invitational Rhetoric”
• Invitational rhetoric is audience-centered rather
than speaker-centered.
• It creates an invitation to the audience to be
amenable to a change in attitude, receptiveness
and/or activity.
• More refined skills are necessary in order for
you to be successful at employing invitational
rhetoric.
• We will discuss these new skills after we learn
more about the theory of invitational rhetoric
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Why Do We Want to Learn How to
Engage in Invitational Rhetoric?
•
Because you are here today to learn how to
give speeches to others which will result in
them:
–
–
–
Understanding the health risks of radon, or
Testing for radon, or
Mitigating for radon.
– In other words, you want your audience
to be persuaded to have a change in
attitude or to do something.
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What Are the Rules of Invitational
Rhetoric? (Continued)
• Freedom: give your audience the power to choose or decide
• Safety: when you create safety in a speaking situation,
audience members trust you and are not fearful of interacting
with you. The audience feels you are working with them and
not against them.
• Value: let the audience understand and feel that you value
the worth of each of them as an individual. Each person is to
become a critical part of the interaction.
• Openness: make sure, as the speaker, that no barriers are in
place to inhibit or prohibit the disclosure of dissenting
viewpoints. Seek out as many perspectives as possible.
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Applications of Invitational Rhetoric
We Will Now Use
• Tone of voice: are you speaking
conversationally, inviting your audience to
see your perspective (rather than
preaching at them)?
• Facial Expressions: Are you speaking
with a smile or with a frown? Smiling
exudes warmth and is inviting. A frown
pushes listeners away
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Applications: (Continued)
• Body Movement: As you cover your
audience physically, are you moving with
enthusiasm, or are you signaling to your
audience that this subject is boring by
apprehensively pacing from side to side.
• Eye Contact: It is through direct eye
contact that, in most American cultures,
you can convey sincerity and urgency to
an audience member.
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Stage 3: Putting The Talk Together
• Purdue Professor Alan Monroe suggests these
five steps when framing (putting together) a
persuasive (invitational) presentation. Write a
few sentences, as an outline, to cover each of
these steps:
–
–
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Attention
Need
Satisfaction
Visualization
Action
• Fill in the outline with the details. Do not write
out the speech word for word.
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Attention
• How can you grab the audience’s
attention?
i.e.: “Did you realize that radon gas
kills more people in this country
annually than drunk drivers?”
i.e.: “I have a video here of people
who have never smoked, but are
dying of lung cancer”
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Establishing a Need
• The second step is where the speaker and
the audience share an understanding that
there is a problem that needs to be fixed.
i.e.: “Do we all fully appreciate that
more than 20,000 people a year die
needlessly because of radon gas?
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Satisfaction
• Provide a clear explanation on how to
satisfy this need:
i.e. “If we are going to reduce the
number of lung cancer deaths, we need to
greatly reduce the amount of radon gas
coming in to our homes. Once that is
done, fewer people will die.”
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Visualization
• As the speaker, you must work
cooperatively with your audience to help
establish a vision of how things could be,
and how life can be better.
• Like an artist, the speaker is painting a
picture of the future. Instead of paint and
a brush, the tools are speech and words.
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Call to Action
• Your audience is asked to take action or
approve the proposed plan.
• In the case of Radon, you might ask your
audience to take action now (utilizing
some of the techniques you’ve outlined) to
reduce or eliminate the danger this gas
poses.
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Stage 4: Putting it all Together
•
•
•
•
Audience
Setting
Delivery
Handling communication anxiety (stage
fright)
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Audience
• As much as possible, learn who your audience
will be.
• Tailor your speech to match the audience.
• Three examples:
– Health Professionals: focus on the health effects of
radon
– Homeowners Association: perhaps split the
presentation between health effects and testing.
– Builders: probably talk more about radon-resistant
construction and the importance of testing after
occupation.
• Find out how many people are expected.
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Setting
• Try to learn about the place where you will be
giving the talk. When arranging with the person
in charge of the group, ask questions like:
–
–
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–
–
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What are the seating arrangements for the audience?
Will I have a podium and/or microphone?
Will I need an extension cord, projector, pointer?
Can I darken the room for my videos/slides?
Will there be a table for my demonstrations?
Is this a noisy place?
Will there be other speakers before me or after me
and, if so, what are their topics?
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Delivery
•
•
•
•
•
Practice
Using proper language
Giving the introduction to your speech
Using ideas that act as transitions
Elaborations that make your talk more
interesting
• Tests for levels of engagement (did you reach
your audience?)
• Giving the conclusion of your speech.
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Practice
• Practice once or twice a day the week
before your presentation but do not
memorize.
• You will become more familiar with your
material, of course, but you will also be
able to practice your timing.
• If you have a friend or spouse, practice in
front of them once you are comfortable.
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Language
• Avoid “twirks” like: “…you know…”,
“….umm…”.
• Avoid colloquial speech like: “dude”, “right
on”, “fer sher” and other jargon.
• Avoid mispronunciation, misuse of
grammar, obscenities and fillers
• Do not degrade a gender, a culture or a
race, even in jest. It will backfire.
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Using Transitions in Your Speech
• Transitions connect separate ideas together,
giving a fluidity to your presentation.
• Transitions can be whole paragraphs,
sentences, simple phrases or single words.
• Example: “On this slide we have seen how
radon is drawn into your home. Next, we will see
how this radon, now in your home, will decay
into different elements that can be breathed in
by you and your family, possibly causing lung
cancer.”
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Elaborating
• Audiovisual Aids: The primary source will
be PowerPoint, but you can use videos,
test devices, etc. Make sure they can be
seen from the back of the room.
• Credentials: Provide some evidence of
your background. This is especially
important if you have experience in a
given topic area.
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Elaborating (continued)
• Dreams and visions: This sounds corny at
first, but they bring a sense of intimacy to
the presentation. Some cultures consider
dreams more vital than waking
experiences.
• Humor: Can be an effective way of
connecting with an audience quickly. It is
not just used to entertain, but to develop
and extend ideas.
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Elaborating (Continued)
• Narratives: If you are a good storyteller,
this is a skill (talent) you can develop and
use to great advantage. The narratives
can be real or fictional. You can use
stories told by others or, more personally,
recount your own experiences.
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Communication Anxiety
• Communication anxiety, also known as
“stage fright” is best avoided by:
– Be well prepared. Make sure that you have all
of your materials and demonstrations.
– Practice once or twice a day for a week prior
to the presentation.
– Do not imagine your audience with their
clothes off. Who ever came up with that idea?
• Some degree of anxiety can be expected.
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Communication Anxiety
• Communication anxiety, also known as
“stage fright” is best avoided by:
– Be well prepared. Make sure that you have all
of your materials and demonstrations.
– Practice once or twice a day for a week prior
to the presentation.
– Do not imagine your audience with their
clothes off. Who ever came up with that idea?
• Some degree of anxiety can be expected.
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Using PowerPoint
• You do not have to use PowerPoint.
• In fact, sometimes it is better to not use
PowerPoint.
– Time too short
– Room not suitable for slide show
– You anticipate audience would prefer
demonstrations (school kids, for example)
• But, if you do use PowerPoint, here are
some hints:
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Keep it Simple
• Only use a few bullets on each
slide
• Don’t crowd text, pictures
• Keep the background uncluttered
• Don’t overuse animation or
special effects
Follow the Rules
• Tell us the topic and who you are
• Tell us what you will be doing
• Watch your voice, your “fillers”,
your stance
• Be enthusiastic
• When finished, summarize
Present the Slide
• Look at the slide, or the computer
to see what it says, then…
• Talk to the audience, not the slide
• Use your finger or a pointer, not a
laser light
• Don’t stand between the projector
and the screen
Keeping Their Attention
• Move around, if able
• The audience will want to look at
the slide. So, make it clear when
you want their attention directed
elsewhere, i.e. to you
• Try to avoid deviating from the
slide too much
Finishing Up
• End on time
• Leave additional time for questions
• Be ready to back up through the
slides to answer a question
• Remind the audience of what you
promised to say, and show them that
you did.
The Last Slide
• Give credit to people who worked
with you on the
paper/presentation
• List references, if any
• List funding sources, if any
• Give additional websites, email
addresses, etc.
This Ends Today’s Program
• I would like to thank Bill Huddy, Former Primary News
Anchor for TV stations in Colorado Springs, El Paso, Ft.
Meyers, and Milwaukee and Former Director, Center for
Excellence in Oral Communication, University of
Colorado-Colorado Springs for his input into the design
of this slide show.
• This slide program can be downloaded at no cost on the
AARST web site: AARST.org
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