What Is Public Speaking

What Is Public Speaking :


1. What to Say and How to Say It
The selection of material to include in a talk, and how it is arranged and presented is crucial to success.

• Communicate the Key Ideas
Make sure that your talk emphasizes the key ideas and skips over what is standard,
obvious, or merely complicated.

• Don’t get Bogged Down in Details
Details are out of place in an oral presentation. This rule cannot be over-emphasized. The audience generally wants an overview of the work so that they can determine whetheradditional details are worth pursuing.

• Structure Your Talk
A good speaker always lets the audience know exactly where they are and where they are headed. Your presentation should be broken into several distinct parts, each with its own objectives and style. Each part should be dearly delineated. The audience should be
steered gently from one part to the next.

• Know Your Audience
Make sure that your talk is prepared at the right level. Think through the average level of expertise in your audience and present your results accordingly. Don’t try to impress unless it is a job interview.

• Use an Organized Approach
A simple three-part template for producing a talk is as follows:
A. Introduction
B. Body
C. Conclusion
The suggestions below include “common knowledge” tips as well as some ideas that you may want to try that will set your talk apart from the others. Be imaginative in yourpresentation style. Try new things and see if they work. Your goal is to discover what works best for you and your audience so that they will understand and retain your message. If you are successful with your presentation, you’ll be successful in your career.

The Introduction
This first section is possibly the most important part of your presentation. It sets the tonefor the entire talk. It determines whether the audience will prick up their ears, or remainslumped in their chairs. A lot of snap decisions about your competency are made before the Introduction is over. First impressions are very important.

• Define the Problem
An amazing number of speakers forget this simple point. No matter how difficult and technical the problem; it can usually be described succinctly and accurately in ess than five minutes. If the audience doesn’t understand the problem being attacked, then they won’t understand the rest of your talk. For your slides, condense the problem into a very few carefully chosen words.

• Motivate the Audience
Explain why the problem is so important. How does the problem fit into the larger picture? What are its applications? What makes the problem nontrivial? Avoid broad statements such “Membranes are good for the environment and therefore
we studied the impact of pH on performance.”

• Introduce Terminology
The use of terminology and jargon should be kept to a minimum, but is impossible to avoid entirely. All terms must be introduced early.

• Discuss Earlier Work
There is nothing more frustrating than listening to a talk that covers something that has already been published. But this happens a lot today. Don’t let this happen to you. Come prepared and explain why your work is different from past work.

• Emphasize the Contributions of your Paper
Make sure that you explicitly and succinctly state the contributions made by your paper. The audience wants to know this. Often it is the only thing that they carry away from the talk.

• Consider putting your Conclusion in the Introduction
Take a bold step and put a short conclusion in the introduction. Let everyone
know up front the direction you are headed so that the audience can focus on the details.

B. The Body
This contains the meat of your presentation, and is the point at which the attention of the audience will start to waver if you messed up your Introduction. Consider the following
suggestions.

• Abstract the Major Results
Describe the key results of the presentation. You will probably have to get a little technical here but do so gradually and carefully.

• Explain the Significance of the Results
Focus on anything unexpected or crucial to supporting your conclusions

• Sketch a Proof of the Crucial Results
The emphasis is on the word “sketch.” State the hypotheses and experimental design as simply as possible.

• Use Props and Pictures
“Things seen are mightier than things heard.” - Alfred Lord Tennyson
Bring something to show the audience (e.g., a membrane device), if possible. Be sure to add figures and photos to your slides, where appropriate. Digital photos
are an easy way to share with the audience the physical arrangement of your
experimental setup

• Don’t Inflict Pain on the Audience
“The secret to being a bore is to tell everything.” - Voltaire circa 1718
Some presenters feel that the audience should fully appreciate the pain it too them to reach their conclusion. Never waste an audience’s time taking them
through a step-by-step history of your project if it is for no other reason than to document the great challenges you had to overcome. Save that for your boss.

Only emphasize the lessons learned. Don’t try to convince an uninterested
audience that you were a superhuman.

• Avoid Complex Tables
Don’t cram a lot of numbers into small tables on your slides. Never.

• Have a Purpose and Conclusion for Each Slide
Always ask yourself “Why do I need this slide?” Does it help support my
conclusion or is it peripheral to the talk? Consider putting a written conclusion at the bottom of each key slide. Each slide should have a point that is being made.

Don’t force the audience to conclude for themselves. They may get it wrong!
C. The Conclusion
Your aim here is to restate the lessons learned in a short, concise manner.

• Hindsight is Clearer than Foresight
You can now make observations that would have been confusing if they were
introduced earlier. Use this opportunity to refer to statements that you have made
in the previous three sections and weave them into a coherent synopsis.

• Be Open About Problems
Be open about any uncertainties in your work. This way you may defuse
antagonistic questions during question time.

• Indicate that your Talk is Over
An acceptable way to do this is to say “Thank you. Are there any questions?”

2. Getting Through to the Audience

Once you have selected and organized your material, the next major hurdle is when you
find yourself actually standing in front of the audience. Faulty delivery can ruin even a wellprepared talk.

• Practice Your Talk
This is true with speakers of all experience levels. It is amazing how much better a presentation can be when it is practiced. The practice must be verbal, not just mental. It
does not have to be done in front of an audience. Practicing forces you to chose your words carefully. For many reasons, a couple verbal practice rounds is one of the most effective ways to improve your communication effectiveness.


References : http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/what- ... g/17343135