Public Speaking

What is Public Speaking?

• Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners. It is closely allied to "presenting", although the latter has more of a commercial connotation.

BENEFITS OF A PUBLIC SPEAKING COURSE

Many college  graduates look  back  on  all the  courses  they took  in college  and say that  public  speaking  was one  of the  most  valuable.3  Here  are  some  of the reasons  why this course  is considered so important.

1.    You learn how to speak to a public audience.    Knowing how to stand up and give a talk to a group of people is a rewarding skill you can use through- out your life. Imagine yourself in these public speaking scenarios:

• For a research project in one of the courses in your major, you must explain your findings in a 30-minute presentation to faculty and students.

• To 50 colleagues at work, you give a brief speech appealing for contributions to the United Way charity drive.

• In court you explain to a jury why a traffic accident was not your fault.

• At a retirement banquet for a co-worker, you give a brief talk praising her accomplishments.

• To a gathering of neighbors, you explain your ideas for curbing crime in the neighborhood.

You will encounter many such occasions that require public speaking ability.

2.    You learn skills that apply to one-on-one communication.  Although the emphasis of this course is on speaking to groups, the principles that you learn also apply to communication with individuals. Throughout your life- time you will be obliged to talk in situations such as these:

• In a job interview, a human resources manager says, “We’ve got 50 applicants for this job. Why should we hire you?” If you know how to give a reply that  is brief,  interesting, and  convincing, you obviously improve your chances  of getting  the  job (assuming, of course,  that  your qualification  are  as good  as those  of the  other 49 applicants). In a public speaking course, you learn how to organize and present persuasive messages.

• You sit down with a bank executive to ask for a loan so that you can buy a new car. The  skills of nonverbal communication (such  as eye contact  and  facial expression) that  you learn  in a public  speaking course  should  help  you convey to the  banker that  you are  a trustworthy and  reliable  person who will repay  the  loan.

After taking  a public  speaking  course,  many students report that  their new skills help  them  as much  in talking  to one  person as in addressing a large  audience.

3.    You develop the oral communication skills that are prized in the job market.   When you go to a job interview, which of the following is most likely to impudence the employer when he or she decides whether to hire you?

• The reputation of your school

• Your grade-point average

• Letters of reference

• Technical knowledge in your field

• Oral communication skills—speaking and listening

• Written communication skills —reading and writing

4.    You practice and gain experience in an ideal laboratory.   Just as carpenters become experts in their trade by learning woodworking skills and then practicing them, effective speech makers become adept by learning certain skills and then practicing them.  The classroom is a good laboratory for practicing your skills because it is an unenlightening setting no  one  will deny you a job or a raise on  the  basis of your  classroom  speeches, and your audience is friendly  and  sympathetic through the  same  experience.

Extremely valuable to you are the critiques given by your instructor (and, in some cases, by fellow students). If, for example, you say “um” or “uh” so often that it distracts your listeners, you are probably unaware of this unconscious habit.  Being told of the problem is the first step toward correcting it.

5.    You gain self-condense.   Giving a public speech is a challenging task, so if you learn to do it well, you gain an extraordinary amount of self-assurance. The situation is similar to the experiences of many participants in Outward Bound, the program that teaches city dwellers to climb mountains and survive in the wilderness.  “After Outward Bound,” one graduate of the program told process a speaker me, “I can take on any challenge.” Many students have the same feelings of conveying a message pride and self-worth after completing a public speaking course.

6.    You develop an ability that can provide pleasure and satisfaction for yourself and others. While attending a funeral service for a beloved  aunt, Karen  Walker heard the  minister  give a brief  eulogy  and  then  say, “Would anyone  like to say a few words at our  ‘open  mike’?” A few people went to the microphone and shared some reminiscences, but most audience members were silent.  “I wanted to pay tribute to my aunt, but I was too scared,” said Walker.  “Most of my relatives had the same reaction. I felt really bad because there were a lot of important things about my aunt and her life that were never said.” A few years later, Walker took a public speaking class and a year or so after wards, she attended another funeral for her grandfather. “This time I vowed that I would not pass up the opportunity to honor a wonderful person. I asked to be part of the service, and I spoke about my childhood memories of my grandfather.”

The eulogy, said Walker, was enjoyed and appreciated by her family. “A lot of my relatives  told  me that  I expressed beautifully  what they would have said if they had  had  the  courage and  skills to stand  up  and  speak.  It gave me a good feeling to know that I could represent the family in this way.”

Being able to speak in public offering a toast, sharing information, providing encouragement, attempting persuasion can bring pleasure and joy to you and to others.  Walker said that her success was possible because of what she had learned in her public speaking class.

ELEMENT OF THE PROCESS

Speech communication can be viewed as a process, with seven distinct components.

1.    Speaker

When you are a speaker, you are the source, or originator, of a message that is transmitted to a listener. Whether you are speaking to a dozen people or 500, you bear a great responsibility for the success of the communication. The key question that you must constantly ask yourself is not “Am I giving out good information?” or “Am I performing well?” but rather “Am I get—ting through to my listeners?” And when you get through to your listeners when you engage  their  hearts and  minds make  sure  you give them  a worthwhile  message,  not  torrents  of words that  are  quickly forgotten.

2.    Listener

The listener is the recipient of the message sent by the speaker.  As we have noted, the  true  test of communication is not  whether a message is delivered  by the  speaker,  but  whether it is accurately  received  by the  listener. “A speech,” says management consultant David W. Richardson of Westport, Connecticut, “takes place in the minds of the audience.”12  In  other words, no  matter how eloquent the  speaker,  no  matter how dynamic  the  speaker’s  deliver y, if the  listeners  don’t  receive  and  interpret the  message  correctly,  the  desired  communication has failed  to take  place.

Who is to blame for such failure:  the speaker or the listener?  Depending on the situation, the blame could be placed on either, or both.  While speakers share  part  of  the  responsibility for  communication, listeners  also  must  bear some  of the  burden. They must  try hard  to pay attention to the  speaker,  fighting off the  temptation to  daydream or  think  about  personal  concerns. They must listen with an open mind, avoiding the tendency to prejudge the speaker or discount a speaker’s views without a fair hearing.

3.    Message

The message is whatever the speaker communicates to the listeners.  The message is sent in the form of symbols-either verbal or nonverbal.

Verbal symbols are words. It’s important for you to recognize that words are not things; they are symbols of things. 

Channel

The channel is the medium used to communicate the message.  A speech can reach an audience by means of a variety of channels: radio, television, the Inter- net, a public-address system, or direct voice communication.

4.    Feedback

Feedback is the response that the listeners give the speaker.  Sometimes it is verbal, as when a listener asks questions or makes comments during a lecture. In most  public  speeches  and  certainly  in the  ones  you will give in the  classroom, listeners   refrain   from  giving  verbal  feedback   until  the  question-and-answer period at the  end  of the  speech.

Listeners also give nonverbal feedback. If they are smiling and nodding their heads, they are obviously in agreement with your remarks.  If they are frowning and sitting with their arms folded, they more than likely disagree with what you are saying. If they  are  yawning  and  looking  at  you  with a glazed  expression, they  are  probably   bored or  wear y. (“A  yawn,” wrote  English  author G.  K. Chesterton “is a silent shout.”)

If you receive negative feedback, try to help your listeners.  If, for example, you are explaining a concept, but some of your listeners  are shaking  their  heads and  giving you looks  that  seem  to  say, “I don’t  understand,” try again,  using different words, to make  your ideas  clear.

While some audience feedback, such as a bewildered look, is easy to under- stand, there are times when audience behavior is difficult to decipher. If a couple of listeners are dozing, it does not necessarily mean that your speech is boring. It could  mean  that  the  room  is stuffy or that  these  listeners  stayed up late the  night  before  and  are  drowsy.

5.    Interference

Interference is anything that blocks or hinders the accurate communication of a message.  There are three types:

• External interference arises outside  the  listener:  someone coughing, a baby crying, people talking  loudly in the  hall,  or an air-conditioning breakdown that  leaves the  listeners  hot  and  sticky and  preoccupied with their  discomfort.

• Internal interference comes from within the listener. Some listeners might be daydreaming or worrying about a personal problem. Some might be too tired to expend mental energy on listening.  As a speaker, you can help listeners overcome internal distractions by making your speech so lively and interesting that the audience feels compelled to listen to you.

• Speaker-generated interference occurs when the speaker uses words that are unfamiliar to the audience, or that are interpreted in a way that the speaker did not intend. If the  speaker  wears bizarre  clothing, some listeners  might  scrutinize  the  attire  instead  of concentrating on  the speech.