Why Improve Your Public Speaking Skills?

Why improve your public speaking skills?

• All of your teachers will be holding you responsible for your public speaking skills. Every teacher will be using the same rubric to assess your presentations.
• By learning how to effectively speak in public, you'll be able to increase your own self-confidence. Since public speaking is one of the most prevalent fears in the western world, by enabling yourself to master this difficult skill you'll have the confidence that you need to meet and greet future challenges.
• Every year, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) surveys employers to see what qualities they want most from college students they are considering for employment. What’s the number one “soft” skill employers are looking for? Verbal communication skills. Strong work ethic, teamwork skills, analytical skills, and initiative, while all critical skills, followed verbal communication in importance. If you master speaking, you chances of success increase dramatically.
• When 104 Silicon Valley employers were asked, “What additional business communication skills would you like to see in your recent college graduate new hires?” employers sought improved oral presentation skills more frequently than they did written skills. Their comments expressed a need for stronger skills in public speaking, enhanced interpersonal skills, increased confidence, and improved interviewing skills. Several wrote that students needed more presentation skills, highlighting the ability to use software tools like PowerPoint.

Hatboro-Horsham Oral Presentation Rubric

NON VERBAL SKILL SET
Distinguished / Proficient / Apprentice / Novice
Eye Contact / Presenter holds attention of entire audience with the use of direct eye contact. Student relies on notes for prompting only. / Presenter holds attention of entire audience with the use of direct eye contact most of the time. Student relies on notes for prompting only. / Presenter displays minimal eye contact with audience. Student sometimes reads from notes. / Presenter makes no eye contact with audience. Entire presentation is read from notes.
Poise / Presenter stands up straight and displays a relaxed, self-confident nature with no mistakes. Movements seem fluid, enhance the audience’s understanding, and help the audience visualize. / Presenter stands up straight. Makes minor mistakes, but quickly recovers from them; displays little or no tension. Movements seem fluid and help the audience visualize. / Presenter sometimes stands up straight. Displays mild tension; has trouble recovering from mistakes. Very little movement or descriptive gestures. / Presenter slouches. Tension and nervousness is obvious; has trouble recovering from mistakes. No movement or descriptive gestures.
VERBAL SKILL SET
Distinguished / Proficient / Apprentice / Novice
Volume / Presenter's voice is loud enough to be heard by all audience members throughout the whole presentation. / Presenter's voice is loud enough to be heard by most audience members throughout the whole presentation. / Presenter's voice is low. Audience members have some difficulty hearing presentation. / Presenter’s voice is often too soft to be heard by the majority of the audience members.
Clarity / Presenter uses a clear voice and precise pronunciation of words. / Presenter uses a clear voice and pronounces most words correctly. / Presenter mumbles at times and/or incorrectly pronounces some words. / Presenter mumbles and/or cannot be understood. Student mispronounces many words.
Rate / Presenter speaks at a steady pace; changes in rate are purposeful. / Presenter speaks at a steady pace for most of the presentation but at times is too fast or too slow. / Presenter speaks at an inconsistent rate throughout most of the presentation. / Presenter speaks at an inconsistent rate throughout the whole presentation.
Tone / Presenter’s delivery matches the emotion of the topic. The presenter establishes the appropriate atmosphere for the audience toward the topic. / Presenter’s delivery matches the emotion of the topic most of the time. The presenter establishes the appropriate atmosphere for the audience toward the topic most of the time. / Presenter’s delivery rarely matches the emotion of the topic and/or is rarely establishes the appropriate atmosphere for the audience toward the topic. / Presenter’s delivery does not match the emotion of the topic and/or does not establish the appropriate atmosphere for the audience toward the topic.
DEMONSTRATION OF CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
Distinguished / Proficient / Apprentice / Novice
Focus / Presenter demonstrates a clear purpose and ability to stay on point. / Presenter has some success defining purpose and ability to stay on point. / Presenter attempts to define purpose and to stay on point. / Presenter’s purpose and points are not clearly defined.
Content / Presenter shows a full understanding of the topic; offers unique, insightful perceptions; provides sophisticated analysis when appropriate; develops ideas with engaging supporting details that are specific, necessary and thought provoking; makes no errors or omissions. / Presenter shows a good understanding of the topic; includes perspective, persuasive analysis when appropriate; develops ideas thoroughly with supporting details that directly relate to focus; makes few errors or omissions, if any. / Presenter show basic understanding of the topic; provides basic analysis; includes supporting details which relate to focus, but could be more thorough; makes some errors or omissions. / Presenter shows minimal or no understanding of the topic; provides inadequate analysis; requires additional supporting details, or needs to clarify the relationship between detail and focus; may make significant errors or omissions.
Organization / Presenterarticulates information in logical, interesting, and creative sequence, which audience can follow. / Student addresses information in logical sequence, which audience can follow. / Audience has difficulty following presentation because the information is not in a logical sequential order. / Audience cannot understand presentation because there is no sequence of information.
VISUAL ENHANCEMENT
(Based upon Assignment Requirements)
Distinguished / Proficient / Apprentice / Novice
Visual
Enhancement / Visual enhancement is carefully prepared and supports the presentation effectively. It clarifies and reinforces the spoken message while adding impact and interest to the presentation. / Visual enhancement supports the presentation effectively. It clarifies and reinforces the spoken message. / Visual enhancement is attempted; but it provides minimal support to the presentation. It relates to the spoken message. / Visual does not enhance or support the spoken message and/or is not appropriate.
–OR-
Visual not provided.

Revised 5-3-12

Mrs. Ulmer’s 10 Tips for Successful Public Speaking

Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech or presentation is natural and healthy. It shows you care about doing well. But, too much nervousness can be detrimental or harmful. Here's how you can control your nervousness and make effective, memorable presentations:

1. Know the room. Be familiar with the place in which you will speak.

/ 2. Know the audience.
3. Know your material. If you're not familiar with yourmaterial or are uncomfortable with it, your nervousness will increase. Practice your presentation and revise it if necessary.

4. Relax. Ease tension by doing exercises.

5. Visualize yourself giving your presentation. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear, and assured. When you visualize yourself as successful, you will be successful.

6. Maintain eye contact with your audience and speak up!

Your audience needs to know that you are speaking to them and they need to be able to understand what you are saying.

/ 7. Turn nervousness into positive energy. Harness your nervous energy and transform it into energy and enthusiasm.
8. Don't apologize. If you mention your nervousness or apologize for any problems you think you have with your speech, you may be calling the audience's attention to something they hadn't noticed. Keep silent.

9. Concentrate on the message -- not the medium.Speak to your audience -- not to the floor or your presentation/visual. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties, and outwardly toward your message and your audience. Your nervousness will disappear.

NO! YES!

10. Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want youto be interesting, stimulating, informative, and entertaining. They don't want you to fail.

The Five Most Important Elements to a Great Speech

These are the elements you will be graded on when it comes time to speak in front of the class.

1. Poise – Look at the way you are standing. Are you leaning back on the white board? Are your arms crossed? Are you playing with your shirt? Your body language expresses more about you sometimes than what you’re saying, so make sure you are sending the message you are intending to send.

2. Eye Contact – Are you lking at your audience? By looking straight into your listeners’ eyes, you will be telling them that you are confident and know what you are talking about.

3. Volume –MAKE SURE YOU ARE SPEAKING LOUD ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE TO HEAR YOU. Look around the room for items that may cause hearing problems (carpet, air conditioner/heating vents, construction, etc.). These items all play a role in how well you are being heard, so adjust your volume accordingly.

4. Rate –Pleasemakesureyou’respeakingataratethatisunderstandbletoeveryone. Often times when we are nervous, we uncontrollably speed up our rate of speech. You should feel like you’re speaking slower than usual when you are speaking publicly.

5. Clarity –Do ot umble or eech. Or in clearer words, do not mumble your speech. Be aware of how you are pronouncing and enunciating each word and syllable.

How to Cure the "Verbal Virus"

A Five-Step Treatment Plan

Warning! You may be infected with a virus that could be lethal to your grades, your presentations, and even your social life. I call it a "Verbal Virus."

Questions you may have about this are:

• What is a verbal virus?
• What harm do they do?
• How can they be corrected?

This handout will answer those questions.

Meaningless fillers

Verbal viruses are meaningless verbal fillers that speckle our speech, distract from your message, drain our impact and annoy listeners. I call them verbal viruses because they seem to be contagious and we pick them up without being aware of it.

Common ones

The most common verbal viruses are: "uh" "um" "like" "you know" "well" "okay" and "sort of." They also include annoying mouth sounds and lip smacks.

You sound unsure

Verbal viruses are jarring to the ear and inconsistent with the formal image you may be trying to exhibit when presenting a formal speech. They can make you sound unsure, unprepared and poorly educated. The good news about verbal viruses is that they are easily cured.

5-step plan

Here is a 5-step plan for prevention, treatment and cure:

1. Diagnose the problem

Since verbal viruses are unconscious, the only way you'll hear them is on tape. Record yourself speaking to a friend to quickly determine if you are suffering from a verbal virus infection. Or ask a friend to observe you speaking and tell you what verbal fillers you tend to use, when you use them, and how often you use them.

2. Pause

Whenever you catch yourself saying a non-word, just stop talking. Say nothing. This gap of silence will feel scary at first, but if the pause is no longer than 5 seconds, the listener will scarcely notice. A pause will help you gather your thoughts while giving the listener time to
reflect on what you have just said.

3. Record the voicemail messages you leave for others

Listen to them note whether or not unwanted fillers have crept into your messages.

4. Enlist the help of a friend or parent

Explain what you are trying to do and invent a code word he or she can use every time you use a filler word. The constant reminder will help you break the habit fast.

5. Take a breath

When you feel you are about to use a non-word, take a breath, hold it for a moment and then begin to speak. The focus on your breathing will occupy your mind, keep you calm and centered and make the silence between the words seem much less scary.

In conclusion

You should try to avoid using meaningless fillers when you speak. They can distract from our message. A plan to prevent using these "verbal viruses" is to diagnose the problem and take steps like pausing or taking a breath before speaking.

Using Your Tone of Voice

by Stephen Boyd | January 31, 2003

In speaking, we know that what we say may not be as important as how we say it. When my children were small, the tone of my voice when I called their names told them whether I was angry or happy with them. If I called them for dinner, they could tell by my tone of voice whether they should have been at the table ten minutes earlier or if they had another ten minutes to play. The tone of voice says everything. As editorial columnist and debater James J. Kilpatrick wrote about speaking in a column entitled, "Thinking About 'Like and As,'" "We have one tone for a eulogy, another tone for an address to the 20th Precinct Democratic Club. Depending upon our audience, we shift keys like a pickup pianist at a homecoming party."

We tell an audience by our tone of voice whether we are in fun or are passionate about our topic. The tone of voice shows our concern for the audience and determines in the minds of the audience whether or not we are sincere. The audience may say a speaker is boring even though the content in very stimulating. It's the monotone voice that makes them think the presentation is dull.

So as speakers we must be concerned with exhibiting the appropriate tone of voice for our content and have the appropriate tone for the message we want to communicate. Here are some suggestions for making our content more impactful by the tone of voice we use.

• Pause before emphasizing an important word or concept. Doing that will make you punch out what comes next to show the audience this is important.
• Speed up your rate to show excitement. Speeding up will invariably make the tone of voice more urgent and compelling.
• See in your mind the story you are telling.This will translate into your vocal quality. That is why a person who retells a story of an event that just happened will tell it with more excitement in the voice because the picture of the event is still fresh in his/her mind. Talk to a child at the end of a school day and he/she will give a more excited and animated summary of the day than if you ask about the day later in the evening or the next day. Train yourself to relive the story as you tell it and you will see a difference in your tone of voice.
• Define a place in your speech that might be considered a "wow" factor for the audience. When you get to that point, the audience will think, "Wow! I did not realize that!" If you can anticipate that point in the speech, you will be more likely to put punch into the tone of voice as you speak and your content will impact your audience with greater effect.
• Include vivid facial expression or bigger gestures when you get to an emotional or dramatic part of your presentation. More expressive body movement body will often be reflected in the tone of your voice.

During World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave us hope by the tone of voice in his famous Fireside Chats. Today, we communicate fun, excitement, passion, anger, and enthusiasm by our voices. Set the tone for your next speech by preparing your tone of voice.

Really Bad PowerPointBy Seth Godin, author, marketing expert, and award-winning public speaker January 29, 2007

It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to champion at a church or a school or a Fortune 100 company, you’re probably going to use PowerPoint.

PowerPoint was developed by engineers as a tool to help them communicate with the marketing department—and vice versa. It’s a remarkable tool because it allows very dense verbal communication. Yes, you could send a memo, but no one reads anymore. As our companies are getting faster and faster, we need a way to communicate ideas from one group to another. Enter PowerPoint.

PowerPoint could be the most powerful tool on your computer. But it’s not. Countless innovations fail because their champions use PowerPoint the way Microsoft wants them to, instead of the right way.

Communication is the transfer of emotion.

Communication is about getting others to adopt your point of view, to help them understand why you’re excited (or sad, or optimistic or whatever else you are.)If all you want to do is create a file of facts and figures, then cancel the meeting and send in a report.

Our brains have two sides. The right side is emotional, musical and moody. The left side is focused on dexterity, facts and hard data. When you show up to give a presentation, people want to use both parts of their brain. So they use the right side to judge the way you talk, the way you dress and your body language. Often, people come to a conclusion about your presentation by the time you’re on the second slide. After that, it’s often too late for your bullet points to do you much good.