Speaking in front of an audience!!

speaking in front of an audience

preview during this presentation we are

going to take a look at several

different elements of speaking in front

of an audience to get us started during

the following material we will cover

public speaking we spend 30% of our

waking hours in conversation so we're

going to examine public speaking versus

conversation first then nervousness the

audience the communication process and

cultural diversity public speaking verse

conversation we spend so much time in

conversation that we have grown up

communicating and from for some of us

communicating with others comes easily

and for others of us that takes more

effort we are going to work on

communicating in a specific situation

public speaking public speaking and

conversation are very similar but as a

generalization public speaking is more

structured to begin with a speech is

more structured the structure our main

points use transitions and have an

introduction in conclusion a speech

typically is also a specific time slot

which requires more planning for the

communication to take place for example

a four to five minute informative speech

versus chatting in the halls to catch up

with a friend we also use more formal

language speeches sort of should avoid

slang and jargon and the language in the

speech should be polished finally a

speech requires a different method of

delivery during a speech we don't use

interject phrases and we try to avoid

filled pauses we'll practice these

suggestions and practice improving our

public speaking skills nervousness

feeling nervous before I giving a speech

is normal even professional speakers

feel some amount of anxiety before

giving a speech nervousness is not a bad

thing in fact they think that it shows

that something is important to you if

nothing else gaining experience is one

way to subside those nervous feelings

the more exposure you get to public

speaking the more you know what to

expect and you can be that much more

prepared each new situation that you put

yourself in the more you learn some

situations like

conversation with our family is familiar

and not something that we get nervous

for unless we approach a new topic that

has emotion for those involved for

example think back to a time when you're

nervous to ask your parents permission

to do something because you had a

feeling they would not be comfortable

with it I can remember back to high

school and I wanted to go on a big

senior trip and I went over the

conversation in my head many times

trying to come up with a persuasive way

to pitch my conversation so as you can

see even the topic or situation can

change our communication and with

practice we feel more comfortable

prepare preparing for a speech is

another way to significantly cut down

our nervousness when we know the

material we are not nervous about the

audience questioning our information

we're also not so nervous about making

mistakes because we know the information

so well that we can be interrupted and

still pick up where we left off positive

thinking positive thinking is a strong

tool for succeeding in a speech

interpersonal speech is something that

we all do but we do not normally talk

about our self-talk when we turn our

interpersonal speech to positive

thinking we change our frame of mind

most of us know the phrase the glass is

half-full or the glass is half-empty our

point of view can change how we approach

different situations for example during

a speech if I miss covering a point I

can look at it two ways one be upset

with myself and get off track trying to

fit the information back into the speech

or two I can think I will just fit that

in with the next point and not stress

over it

nerves appearing nervous was always

something that made me feel more nervous

when giving a speech you will see as you

video yourselves that nervous habits are

not that obvious the audience can't see

your sweaty palms

they can't hear your heart beating for

most of us it only takes about 30 to 60

seconds to overcome our initial nerves

you have to go in with a positive

mindset that the audience is there to

hear

what you have to say and not to look for

the mistakes that you're making even if

the people do notice that you seem a

little nervous

it is not something that they are going

to focus on we will talk about delivery

style later but one thing I like to do

is memorize my introduction so that I

know it really well and I can get off to

a good start

perfection a speech is never really

perfect we make mistakes we can always

find something later that we would have

done differently if it was something

like not missing a point or supporting

material or wishing we had emphasized a

quote in the end your audience will

never know the difference

you need to go in prepared with a

positive mindset and speaking will

improve with experience if you expect to

be perfect every time you will be

disappointed audience analysis knowing

your audience is something that is

important no matter what type of

communication is taking place in public

speaking we like to take extra time to

research and understand our audience

because it plays a big role in how

successful we are during a speech

remember as we go through the

information on audience we are making

generalizations not every group is the

same and not all people are the same but

it does help to have some place to start

age one of the first factors to consider

is age your audience is at five years

old and younger are they in their 30s or

are they in their 70s I think if we're

going into a presentation blind the one

demographic I would want to know is age

if you know your audience is age you can

make some assumptions on the topic

vocabulary and even organization if you

know the audience's age you also know

their generation which can be a great

help when you're giving you examples or

making comparisons depending on the

generation you might want to use pearl

harbor as an example or nine eleven

gender the biggest thing to remember

with gender is not to assume you

audiences male or female in fact I've

found that it is easier to describe

people as students teachers or

firefighters rather than he/she or

fireman you will notice that this shift

has taken place in books so just be

aware of this type of vocabulary in your

speeches to cultural background I want

you to remember that while the United

States is diverse there are some

differences that you need to be mindful

of depending on who your audience is

overall we can't know every little thing

about a culture but if we know we are

going to be interacting with one in

particular it does pay to do some

research and learn about the different

cultural norms a good rule of thumb is

to always be mindful of race ethnicity

and cultural background religion as we

know there are many different religions

one of the biggest differences in

religion aside from different views that

we notice in public speaking is that not

all religions have the same day of rest

there are some good examples describing

different types of situations in your

readings who is your audience the

diagram of an audience shows different

factors that we should consider of our

audience there these are just some

things that are really helpful to know

beforehand and there are others that we

can adjust or be mindful of as we

present education if you know the

educational level or degree of your

audience you may better be able to

target your information for them have

they completed elementary school the GED

or college what was their degree

depending on my topic I might present

the information differently if it is for

a group of engineers versus art students

so with their education are they

specifically informed on the topic

multicultural we just discussed some

cultural factors but how diverse is your

audience many times you will come up

with a group of specific blends of

cultures which makes the audience easier

to target vocab

the awareness many times with a specific

organization field or group there is

specific vocabulary for example there is

jargon that is specific to a sport or a

field of study you will lose part of the

audience if they don't know the jargon

but it has nothing to do with them being

able to understand the content for

example I like to run so when I pick up

a pair of running shoes I select one

with a medial post because that is best

for my foot a salesperson at the running

store would know what I meant if I were

talking about running shoes I would say

that I would select a shoe with extra

cushion because of how I run if I was

talking to someone that was not familiar

with specific running shoes singular or

plural if you are presenting to an

audience it is great information to know

how many people there were B is the

audience 5:30 or 300 that is a big

difference

subordinate peer superior or laypeople

who are you presenting to the level of

the person you are presenting to might

change your information of vocabulary

sometimes it is just nice to know and

other times it can cause you more stress

interestingly enough I typically feel

more comfortable presenting to my

superiors but only if it's on a new

topic for them I think it's harder to

present to your peers but everyone is

different and ultimately you should

prepare the same audience and the

situation the physical setting of the

speech plays a huge role in how your

speech will unfold think about how

different you would feel standing in

front of a table in a boardroom or in

front of a class of 30 at school or in

an auditorium or in a park or in a

cafeteria the situation changes the

formality how many audience members you

can have and the overall feel of the

presentation including how personal it

will feel what is your audience's

disposition towards the topic are they

interested or do they have to be there

they have knowledge on the topic and

perhaps

want to learn more and finally do they

have attitude toward the topic

especially in persuasive speeches you

want to know how your audience feels

towards your topic so you can organize

it correctly to target the attitude for

or against the topic what does the

audience's disposition towards the

speaker as a speaker your first

impression through dress or your

introduction can create a just

disposition for the audience so think

carefully about what impression you make

your audience may also have a

disposition towards the occasion if you

are speaking at a wedding or a came

campaign event your audience may have

expectations before you even arrive

adapting to the audience anticipate

before the speech many times before a

speech you can research and possibly

poll the audience before you present

I suggest questioning our class as you

develop speeches to see what everyone

thinks of your topics especially for a

persuasive speeches see if you can get a

feel for where everyone stands on the

issue and then you can better determine

what points to cover and how to organize

them adapt during this Beach during your

speech you will receive feedback from

your audience does your audience seem

receptive are they nodding does your

audience look confused with puzzled

looks on their faces take time to notice

especially during longer presentations

so you can elaborate on a point or

restate information if the audience

seems lost most likely for our short

speeches you will not need to go back

and re explain a point but as you

develop public speaking skills this may

be something that you encounter send a

receiver communication model or

communication process model this diagram

is a sender receiver model or the

communication process you can take a

communication event and pull it apart

using this model for example the context

of your speech will most likely be your

house or possible

your work or school where you video

record it the sender will be you

delivering the speech information the

receiver will be your audience the model

is simultaneous meaning you will

actually be sending and receiving at the

same time you will be speaking and

delivering your speech while at the same

time taking in your audience's nonverbal

communication your audience will also be

sending and receiving they will be

sending nonverbal messages hopefully

nodding with understanding as they

receive your verbal message the channel

in your case would be a public speaking

and face-to-face communication the

message would be the words that you use

for this Beach the noise could be

distractions that take place like the

phone ringing or dog barking during your

speech

finally the shared field of meaning is

the overlap of understanding between you

and your audience the amount that your

audience understands of what you've

presented we are all individuals and

there is really no way to a hundred

percent have shared field of meaning

communication is ambiguous

we all have connotation connotative

definitions for our vocabulary making

the shared field of meaning harder to

overlap the sender this diagram depicts

some factors that can be portrayed by

the sender the first is knowledge

intelligence is an important factor in

the United States culture because we

think highly of individuals that show

they have knowledge on a subject and

some other cultures more importance is

placed on Authority a person's title

means more than what they know speakers

I want you to earn credibility during

your speech this typically is shown

through knowledge on topic or experience

during a speech even describing a simple

situation to show I have participated in

public speaking for the last five years

helps my audience understand why I know

what I do using research is another way

to earn respect and understanding for a

topic when you incorporate research the

audience sees that you've put effort

into your speech and are not only

telling us the information but you have

the references to support it

cultural diversity remember that our

communication rules are not worldwide

rules just because it is polite or

correct in your culture to be direct or

indirect or ask questions or gesture

doesn't mean that is a worldwide

standard just keep in mind that our

rules for presenting and speaking are

for the United States perspective learn

the culture that you communicate with

for example if you're going to be giving

a business presentation in Japan or

Arabia then learn that there cultural

norms are for presenting typically

effort is appreciated

ethnocentrism is an important vocabulary

word for communication and for public

speaking ethnocentrism is the belief

that our culture or group is superior to

other groups and it is not an impression

you want to give when presenting to

other cultural groups as a public

speaker we want to be mindful of the

fact that we may be working with

different cultures or groups review in

this lecture I have provided an

introduction to public speaking so hope

you have a solid understanding of what

is to come in this course and a good

foundation to build on nervousness is

normal and in fact it can be a good

motivating factor I want you to remember

how important it is to research your

audience for a speech no matter how big

or small your speech is if you have

taken communication classes before I'm

sure you have learned about the

communication process for our class it

will help us build a foundation and

learn about public speaking be mindful

of cultural diversity as you prepare

your speech and be sure to read over the

examples in our class