Formats of Delivery: impromptu, extemporaneous, manuscript, memorized (Decide on the method of presentation you will use--usually extemporaneous with a few notes. Most manuscript speeches sound as if they are being read. Memorized speeches sound memorized, and there is always the danger of forgetting.)

Give an example of each of these formats of delivery (what sort of speech would suit each?) see p 45 & 243-245 in your book. IE. Bush’s speech last week which was it?

Never, never apologize or make excuses. The minute a presenter starts to apologize and make excuses, he or she robs him or herself of credibility, and the audience prepares for a mediocre or average presentation. Think of yourself as the hero or heroine and give the very best speech you can give on such short notice. You wouldn’t have been asked if you weren’t up to it.

Manuscript

Reading all – main advantage is that you can control the timing precisely – important if recording a speech. Difficult to sound natural – difficult to respond to feedback from audience. Impossible to move about.

This may lessen your speaker anxiety and help you accurately communicate your technical data, but such a speech can become monotonous, wooden, and boring to your audience. Imagine what school would be like if all your teachers read their lectures without writing on the board, creating short class projects, asking and answering questions, using the overhead projector, or ever making eye contact. Your audience will not be able to maintain interest in a speech read from a manuscript. However, if you are presenting purely statistical information, you will need to read from a manuscript.

Extemporaneous

lectures etc – preparation is important - good outline allows feedback disadvantage is that you may stumble and grope for words

have a stated clear preference for the method of delivery memorize at least three parts of your speech

1. memorize your opening lines – at least the first few lines

2. memorize your closing lines

3. memorize your major propositions and the order you will present them in

Memorized

Allows attentions to style. Disadvantage is that you may forget your speech – problems with adjusting to feedback.

The least effective type of oral presentation for technical communication is the memorized speech. This is a well-prepared speech that has been committed to memory. Although such preparation might make you feel less anxious, too often these speeches sound mechanical and impersonal. They are stiff, formal, and allow no speaker-audience interaction. Moreover, technical data, statistics, and definitions do not lend themselves easily to memorization. You might think you’ve memorized your technical information, but odds are against it.

In which way will you remember your presentation?

Voice

Your voice (see pp 246 – 249) will have a lot to do with your presentation

Our voice is a critical part of our message.

Sometimes listeners make judgements about our level of professionalism and our trustworthiness simply from the sound of our voice. If we truly want to take charge of our communication style, we must develop our verbal skills.

Your voice should express conviction, vitality and enthusiasm to seize attention. A weak voice is dull and uninteresting. As you develop your vocal power, you will improve the quality of your voice -- even for those times you choose to speak very softly.

The source of power in your voice is your diaphragm which is a group of muscles and tendons located between the chest and the abdominal cavity. The diaphragm controls the action of the lungs, the "bellows" of speech. A column of air is forced from the lungs, through the trachea and to the larynx, where tone is generated. The tone then resonates in the holes in the head and the organs of articulation further define the sound.

With proper use of your diaphragm, your upper abdomen (not your upper chest) will expand when you inhale and contract when you exhale. If you do not use your diaphragm properly, your breathing will be shallow and will not support your voice adequately.

The four steps in the production of voice are:

· Breathing

· Phonation

· Resonance

· Articulation

Voice Exercises

Before you speak, prepare your voice with the following exercises. Continued practice will permanently improve the sound of your voice.

Relax - Remember this is going to be FUN!

· Yawn a few times.

· Raise your shoulders and hold them tightly for 10 seconds - then release them and relax.

· Clench your fists (tighten your entire body) and hold your muscles tight for 10 seconds - release and relax.

Breathe - Without a continuous flow of oxygen your entire body will become extremely tense. KEEP BREATHING!

· Pant like a dog. FEEL your diaphragm muscles functioning.

· Place your hands below your rib cage and around your sides. With your thumbs pointed towards your back and your fingers around your stomach, FEEL your stomach fill with air and PUSH it out.

Project - Imagine the gas pedal on your car. You are about to accelerate.

· You can say any sentence but think of starting out slowly and then stepping firmly on the gas.

· Stand on one side of the room and say your name and address to someone on the other side.

Resonance - The depth and quality of your voice project professionalism.

· Remember Tarzan? Give a strong Tarzan yell. Let you voice create the warbling affect.

· Rattling your vocal cords - this is a very deep gargle effect. You must totally relax your throat and slowly let the air flow out. If done correctly, you will feel a deep vibration of your vocal cords. For many people this takes considerable practice but don't give up because the results are noticeable.

Slow Down, You’re Talking Too Fast!

Fast speech is like fine print. It’s easy to ignore. Radio and television commercials sometimes rely on this. At the end of an otherwise great offer you hear an announcer running through a list of restrictions and qualifications that water down the offer. This part of the commercial is spoken so fast that you can barely understand it. More importantly, you tend to tune out.

Listeners tune out if speakers don't make listening comfortable. It's the speaker's job to make it easy and comfortable for the audience to listen.

Pauses Punctuate Speech
If you habitually talk fast, you need a variety of ways to punctuate your speech, and the most natural punctuation for speech is the pause you take when you reach for a breath. Writing without punctuation is ambiguous and cumbersome. Speech, without the punctuation of pauses, is unclear and hard to listen to. It makes listeners uncomfortable, not just because of the speed itself. The unrelenting stream of sound never gives us a chance to rest and ponder the movement of the speaker's thought.

Here's how to gain some verbal punctuation:

Look people in the eye when speaking. That will slow you down because you get feedback from your listener. You can see whether or not your listener understands what you're saying. That sense of connection with your target will help you pace your words so they hit the mark.

Breathe more often. You will have more energy for your voice. You will feel calmer. You will have enough air to keep the energy in your voice right through to the end of the phrase.
Click here to read an article on breathing.

Pause between phrases. The pauses will give your listeners a chance to digest what you've said. Speech that comes from a person who is breathing deeply and regularly is easier to hear and understand. Click here to read an article on pausing.

Slowing down is a question of punctuation. Make sure you punctuate your speech by controlling and varying your pace, using focused pauses, and taking more frequent breaths. You'll not only hold the attention of your audience, you'll also deliver your points more powerfully and persuasively.

Volume You need not be loud to be heard – can be boring loud all the time a soft voice can draw the audience in as they need to listen more closely

Pitch Vocal pitch is how high or low your voice sounds. A monotone is boring.

Range You would need to tape record yourself to get a sense of pitch range

Tempo The rate at which you produce sound Most speakers average between 120 and 180 words per minute. President Kennedy spoke at 180/m whilst Martin Luther King started his “I have a dream” speech at 92 words per minute and spoke at 145/ at conclusion.

Articulation for example saying Dint instead of didn’t Lemme instead of Let me

Many errors in articulation result from a simple flaws: laziness

Pause – effectived timing can greatly enhance the impact of your message.

Of the four main characteristics of effective delivery which is most suited for you? For the others in your group?

(Natural, reinforces the message, varied, conversational)

Observation,

· Active mindfulness ~ involves the degree to which speakers and audiences are consciously aware of the transactions between them. If someone responds with a look of puzzlement – requires open-mindness to ideas contrary or unfamiliar to the way you think -

· Selective attention ~ making a conscious choice to focus on some people and some messages, rather than others

· Sensorial involvement ~ a process that involves listening with all the sense, not simply the sense of hearing ie. Audience movements

· (audience role) Comprehension ~

· (audience role) Retention

· (audience role) Bias

visual aids ~ Creating Dynamic Presentations

Use a variety of multimedia tools to get your point across – visual aids are only a tool and they will not replace what you have to say - you're reinforcing your point

Using visual aids is really a Creative Collaboration because you are sharing something more than your words with you audience – invite them into your presentation

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. Please do not leave it up during the whole speech.

Decide what you will use to illustrate your information

1.	Use a line graph to demonstrate how something has changed over a period of time. Put an appropriate amount of information and data on each chart or graph. Too much data can overwhelm the audience and be difficult to remember.
2.	Use a bar graph to compare data. Keep your bar graphs in two dimensions. Three-dimensional bar graphs are difficult to read accurately.
3.	Consider a pie chart to show how percentages relate to each other within a whole.
4.	Use an organizational chart to show chain of command, communication between departments and how different departments are related.
5.	Try a flow chart to illustrate a series of steps in a procedure, decision, or other "stepwise" process.
6.	Use video clips – no more than one-minute or photos etc. Leave each slide/photo/graph up for at least 20 seconds.
7.	Use Power Point Use dark colors (black and blue work best). Avoid using lighter colors such as yellow, orange and pink.
8.	Make your presentation memorable with props, when appropriate.

Ø PowerPoint PowerPoint presentation (more is less)

Ø If you are showing photos an easy and free way to do it is upload your pictures to a yahoo free photo album

- for example I have zillions of pictures in trillions of albums and organising them in albums and using the slide show feature makes them easy to show a few at a time… http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/restlessdancerau/my_photos if you do not have a yahoo photo id you can easily set one up then upload your photos

Ø It is not good to pass things around – there is not enough time and your audience is waiting to see what you have to show

Ø Posters can be OK – but make the print large enough for all to view

Ø Things are good – a hockey stick – tofu, etc