SlideBlog

Whenever we speak in front of an audience the way we use our body can have an impact on how well we are able to communicate our message. This is the non-verbal communication part of speaking. Today we will be looking at one of the things we can do with our body and how it can help us get our message across to our audience.

Body Movements

Body movement is to change your position or location during a speech; moving around. This is a very broad and highly visible non-verbal communication. Because of this it can be very powerful; a real asset or a real liability. Body movement can reinforce what you say. For example if you are talking about getting close to someone you can move your body closer to the audience.

Body movement can attract audience attention. Since body movment is so broad and visual it is sure to attract people’s attention if you move around a lot. Body movement can also help you burn up nervous energy and release physical tension.

However, body movement can also be a liability. If you move in a way that is inconsistent with what you are saying it will be confusing for the audience. For example if you are talking about getting close to someone but you move away from the audience. This is inconsistent and confusing.

One rule is: Don’t move without a reason. Moving without a reason or randomly will attract attention and your audience will likely search for meaning in your movement. This will distract their attention away from your spoken words. By moving with your spoken words you will attract attention and alertness from your audience and enhance what you are saying.

When speaking or presenting in front of an audience it is always challenging to connect with them. Connecting with you audience is difficult. One way that can help is to actively use eye contact.

What does that mean?

Eye contact is a powerful tool for communicating, non-verbally. It can help make your presentation direct, personal and conversational. Direct because it feels like you are speaking directly to the audience. Personal because it feels like you are speaking directly to the person you are looking at, tailoring your message directly to that person. Conversational because of the closeness between you and your audience. It feels just like you are one of them having a conversation.

If you don’t look at your audience you will break the communication bond. Each person, no matter how big the audience, wants to feel important.

So whenever you speak or present use your eyes actively by going around the room and look each person in the audience in the eyes. Hold the person’s eyes long enough to establish a bond, maybe 5-10 seconds or the time it takes to finish a sentence. But don’t hold it so long that it becomes uncomfortable and you appear to be staring at the person.

If you are presenting for a large audience, pick one or two individuals in each section of the room and make eye contact with them. Each person in that section will get the impression you are talking directly at them.

So next time look them in the eye

Last week we started looking at rhetorical devices, specifically what is know as simile. Today we will continue our discussion about rhetorical devices by looking at metaphors.

From Wiktionary we have the following definition of a Metaphor:

The use of a word or phrase to refer to something that it isn’t, invoking a direct similarity between the word or phrase used and the thing described, but in the case of English without the words like or as, which would imply a simile.

Metaphors are great for getting your message across. A very good example is from Isac Newton:

If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Obviously Newton wasn’t literally standing on the shoulders of giants. The example clearly shows how powerful a metaphor can be for making a point. It conveys so much power, information and meaning and really gets the audience attention.

Some other examples are:

• He was big. vs. He was a whale.
• She looked so old. vs. She was a raisin.
• That linebacker is massive. vs. That linebacker is a tank.

On the left side we just describe the person without using a metaphor and that works well. But when using a metaphor to say the same thing on the right side, we create images in the reader’s or listener’s mind that are much stronger and more vivid. Great imagery creates great stories. Using metaphors challenges the audience’s imagination and keeps their minds active and engaged.  Strong metaphors can really enhance a message and its memorability.

So think about how you can integrate metaphors into your speeches and presentations to really help get your message across.

Read more about metaphors here and here.

Rhetorical devices are a collection of techniques that an author or speaker can use to convey to the listener or reader a meaning. From Dictionary.com we have the following definition:

Rhetorical Device: a use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance)

Or from Wikipedia we have this explanation of what a rhetorical device is:

A rhetorical device is a technique that an author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or reader a meaning with the goal of persuading him or her towards considering a topic from a different perspective.

There are several different kinds of rhetorical devices, and today we will be looking at one that is called simile.

Again we will turn to Wikipedia for an explanation of what a simile is:

A simile is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things, often introduced with the words “like”, “as”, or “than”.

A simile is very similar to a metaphor; both are forms of comparison. Metaphors compare two things without using “like” or “as,” while a simile allows the two ideas to remain distinct.   For example,  a simile could be “John was like a sun, warming up the room with his presence.”  While a metaphor would be, “John was a sun, warming up the room with his presence”.   In the simile John and Sun are separate ideas, while in the metaphor John is the Sun.

Now that we have a sense of what a simile is and how it is different from a metaphor, the question is:  how can we use it?

As any rhetorical device, it is used to convey your message and emphasize your point.  It is used to paint a picture for the audience to allow them to see things from a different perspective or really understand the point.  It can be used to create a powerful opening for your speech and really get the audience attention.

So think about how you can spice up your speech by adding a simile or two to create powerful imagery.  Use of simile in your speech can be like water, giving life to your message.

More resources and examples on similes can be found here.

When does your speech or presentation start? The moment you start to talk? No, it actually starts much earlier. It probably starts before you even get to the stage. I would say that it starts when you get up from your chair. I can just hear you go “what are you talking about?!”.

The point here is that you need to be in speaking mode before you enter the stage.  You must have shaken off all signs of nervousness; you must have wiped your sweaty hands before people can see you. If people see you sigh or wipe your hands or exhibit other signs of nervousness, you will immediately lose credibility and respect. The audience will instantly notice your lack of confidence. You won’t be able to grab people’s attention. You won’t be able to draw the audience in to your speech or presentation, and it will be difficult for you to make your point and get your message across.

It is therefore extremely important to appear confident from the moment you get up to give your speech or presentation -  even if you are nervous or don’t feel particularly confident.  Or maybe I should say especially if you feel nervous.   So next time, walk straight; walk with confidence.  Enter the stage with authority and take control of the space.

When speaking in front of an audience it is quite common to be nervous. Today we are going to talk about owning the space; this can help to make you confident, reduce nervousness and appear in control. I recently heard someone give a speech during which they appeared very nervous. When this was commented on after the speech, the speaker said she always appeared nervous in front of an audience even though she was never nervous. An experienced speaker suggested that owning the space could be a solution to that problem.

What does owning the space mean? It means taking control of the stage. How can you do this?

One very common technique is to come early to the venue you are speaking at and walk around the room and the stage. You might even move some things around or add your own items to the stage or room. This gives you ownership of the room, it makes you feel that you are in control of the room so that when you are on the stage speaking you can see those items you moved around or changed and that will remind you that you own this room.

Another way to take ownership of the space is to take your starting position by really plant your feet down before starting to speak. This will make you stand tall and straight and thus exude confidence. It will make you appear powerful and in control.

Using the space you have available to its fullest is one more way to own the space. Instead of staying in one spot, utilize the whole stage. Avoid confining your movements to a small area or using small hand gestures. . This will allow you to own the space instead of the space owning you. It makes you appear in control of the space and not afraid of being in front of an audience. It will show the audience that you are confident and in control.

Many more techinques exist for owning the space. These will make for great discussion later. However, these three techniques are an excellent starting point. Implementing these techinques will allow you to take ownership of the space, be in control, appear confident and reduce nervousness.

Last week (part 1) we took a brief look at the importance of finding the one main point of your presentation. Today we are going to go a little bit deeper and look at some different things to think about when creating your presentation or writing your speech that relate to your point.

First there is something known as the general point. This is an overarching point, like a classification of your speech. It is about what purpose your speech has. It can be:

• To Inform
• To Entertain
• To Persuade
• To Inspire

It is obviously possible to combine some of these so that you can have an entertaining and informative speech or you can have an inspiring and persuasive speech or presentation. The important thing is to be clear about what you want the purpose of your speech to be. This will allow you to choose the right words, stories, rhetorical devices etc. to achieve that goal or reach that purpose.

The other part of getting to the point is what we talked about last week, a specific point. The main takeaway from your speech, the one thing you want your audience to remember. It could also be a call to action so the one thing you want your audience to do after your speech, be it donate money, invest money, volunteer, buy your product etc.

So always decide what your general and specific purpose, goal or point is when creating your presentation or writing your speech.

When writing a speech or preparing for a speech it is important to remember or realize that you can’t say it all. It is likely that you have tons of knowledge about the topic for your presentation and so much you could talk about. But it is important to keep the audience in mind and that they will not have the capacity to absorb all the information you want to give them in the time that you have been given to present or speak. Therefore you must find the one main, most important, point you want to make. What do you want your takeaway to be? The one thing you want you audience to remember after you are done. Once you decide on this you can build your speech around it and make sure that you convey that point clearly.

(part 2)

Before writing a speech it is useful to take a moment to think about who the speech is for, to do some research on your audience. It is like going on a trip somewhere and researching your destination so you can get the most out of your visit. When preparing your speech you want to be sure that it is tailored to fit your audience and their unique characteristics.

If you are speaking to an audience of scientists you want to make sure that your speech isn’t too simple and trivial, that it reflects their level of knowledge about the subject. If on the other hand, you are speaking to an audience of high-school kids about the same topic, you may want to use less scientific words and explain the topic in contexts they are familiar with.

Thus it is important to learn about who your audience so you can write a speech that fits their needs and meets their expectations. It will help you choose the right words, the best stories, the best structure, the most appropriate message. It will help to keep your audience engaged.

Some questions to ask are:

• Who is in the audience?
• What is their background?
• What are their values?
• Are they part of an organization? What organization?
• What do the audience have in common?
• How big is the audience?
• What message for the audience?

So before you write your speech, take some time to analyze your audience and customize your message.

When speaking or presenting it is important to make it easy for the audience to follow along with what you are saying. It is important to make sure that you and your audience are on the same page, that the audience knows where you are in your speech and what point you are currently making. To achieve this you must structure your speech.

The classic way of thinking about structure is Beginning, Middle, and End. Your speech should have a beginning where you explain to the audience what you are going to talk about so they know what to look for and what to pay attention to as you get into the middle. The middle is the meat of the speech where you make your point, you talk about what you said you would, and the conclusion is a summary of your speech, re-iterating your points.

This can be summarized in the famous saying:

Tell them what you are going to tell them, Tell them, Tell them what you told them.

If we go a little bit deeper into the structure we can divide it into 5 parts.

1. Pre-Introduction
2. Introduction
3. Main Body
4. Summary
5. Conclusion

Before getting right into explaining the outline of your speech, what you are going to talk about, it is a good idea to do something to grab people’s attention. The pre-introduction is for getting people interested so they are engaged as you get into the speech.

The introduction is the part of the speech where you get into telling your audience what you are going to talk about, your outline.

Then the main body is the main part of your speech where you make your points and arguments.

It is always a good idea, as mentioned above, to summarize what you have just said to remind your audience about your main points, the summary.

Instead of finishing with your summary, it is a good idea to have a strong conclusion. This is where you really hammer your point or where you ask your audience to do something, to take action.

You can greatly enhance the impact of your speech by following the guidelines above and structure your speech or presentation.