{"id":694,"date":"2019-09-15T19:35:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-15T19:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/improvkings.com\/?page_id=694"},"modified":"2021-05-19T06:24:19","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T06:24:19","slug":"the-birth-of-a-public-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.improvkings.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/15\/the-birth-of-a-public-speaker\/","title":{"rendered":"1. The Birth of a Public Speaker"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 13<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Irrelevant to where you might find yourself – be it a classroom, workplace setting or somewhere in the community, your ability to speak with confidence and to persuade your listeners can give you an empowering feeling. This series of articles will be dedicated to providing you with a toolkit necessary to acquire the skill set to develop and present captivating speeches, whether they be to your co-workers, classmates fellow citizens in the community or a major address on national television.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here we will explore the garden variety of techniques required to build a proper speech as well as the tools necessary in order to be able to deliver this speech in any specialized context – be it in a collage psychology class to business or professional situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACQUIRE AN IMPORTANT LIFE SKILL<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being able to speak in a confident and convincing manner in public settings is an important asset to those willing to take on an active role in our world. In today’s world, public speaking is even more valuable than ever before thanks to it being much sought after in the world of business, and can be used as a tool for developing one’s career. Those who go on to the top graduate schools in order to recruit capable candidates say that instead of looking for those who were at the top of their class in finance or physics, but who possess exceptional communication skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are literally dozens upon dozens of surveys consisting of managers and executives that show the most important skill required by them in an ideal candidate besides the hard knowledge would be that of oral and written communication. In a recent survey taken to assess what employers seek in an ideal candidate, it was revealed that oral communication skills ranked first in key areas such as teamwork, interpersonal competence and analytical skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following skills are among the most highly sought after by employers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Communication skills (verbal and written) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Robust work ethic <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Teamwork skills (to be able to work well in a group, good sense of collegiality) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Takes the initiative instead of being a loafer or leaving work to others<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Interpersonal skills (can relate well to works in a way that is conducive to the work environment)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACQUIRE PRAGMATIC KNOWLEDGE THAT CAN BE TRANSFERED TO YOUR WORK ENVIRONMENT AND COLLEAGUES<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will find that public speaking has the potential to offer the most useful and applicable knowledge when it pertains to\npersonal and professional development, more much so than any other branch of knowledge. One example includes the refinement\nof reasoning and critical thinking skills. Through the progression of the study of public speaking, one will acquire knowledge\nof how to approach the construction of a claim or accusation, together with what evidence is required and how it needs to be\npresented in order to support the claim, together with reasoning that is logically reinforcive of these claims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you sharpen your ability to organize and outline your speeches, your skills will improve when it comes to idea structuring and \nidentifying weak links in that chain that is your thinking, as well as how to apply a coat of reinforcement to those\nweak links in order to make them stronger. These types of skills are very relevant if you wanted to give an effective\nand aesthetically pleasing oral presentation, some might even say they are required, and can be applied to everything from\ngiving presentations on engineering to the history of art, or any court that requires it’s presenter to have a knowledge\nof writing, topic research, the analysis of an audience, the support and proof of various claims and the selection of\npatterns and heuristics for the organization of ideas and concepts. These skills can serve to improve and impress at your\ncareer, as well as outside of it, allowing you to lead a richer and fuller life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cultivating of public speaking skills have a proven track record for leading towards greater success in a person’s career.\nA report titled What Students Must Know To Succeed in the 21st Century writes the following: “Clarity of communication is\na crucial factor in determining success. In a marketplace where ideas can make or break a deal, a person who possesses the\nability to communicate his ideas with clarity is often seen as the person who possesses clarity of thinking. Oral and written\ncommunication are not only skills that can be used for securing a job, but holding a job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE SEARCH FOR CHANCES TO CAPTIVATE<\/b>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where public speaking skills have their perks when it comes to advancing in your career and enriching your personal life,\nthey also provide the opportunity to become a more involved member of the community by allowing you to appear in places\nto give speeches and persuade people that make a huge difference in everyone’s lives, such as in politics and the legal system.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will be able to engage and captivate people on issues such as climate change, energy, social security, immigration reform,\nthese types of issues require us to be included in their discourse in order to influence their direction. Despite our ability\nto get involved in our democracy, the vast majority of people cringe at the prospect of giving a speech, and often leave\nthe debate and decision making on these issues to the so called “experts”, which include politicians and jouranlists.\nThe number of people who regularly vote in the United States of America is a meager 35 percent of the total vote eligable\npopulation. When large groups of people speak up on an issue, people tend to listen to them and this begins the change process.\nIf such major issues as pollution and global warming are left to others to decide on and influence allows some special interest\ngroups to become involved in the change fostering process, and these groups may or may not have the general public’s best\ninterests in mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A person who studies public speaking will have the opportunity to delve into topics unfamiliar to them, as well as those that\nare relevant to their objective and interests, to think up of alternative perspectives and ways to see something, and if\napplicable, to choose a way in which to act. You will be able to distinguish between argumentations designed to be thought\nprovoking and constructive and that which is meant to be inflammatory and demeaning towards your opponents. To simplify,\nyou will learn what “the rules of engagement” are when it comes to public discourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DEVELOP ONTO WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW<\/b>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning public speaking doesn’t seem as nearly as frightening of a task if you remember the fact that you already have some\nskills that a public speaker would normally use. You could say that the planning and execution of a speech involve similar\nprocesses as that of having a conversation with somebody about an important topic. When you are having a discussion with a\nfriend or relative you will try different methods to see if they understand what you are talking about, as a sort of\naffirmation that you are getting your point across. You will also often talk about things that are important or relevant\nto the situation at hand. When a stranger is involved in this discussion, we tend to withhold information that we feel may\nbe of an intimite nature that we are comfortable with revealing to a friend or relative but not with this stranger, as your\nopinions may negatively reflect on your social experience, causing unwanted turbulance. These reactionary adaptions to different\ntypes of people, to the subject matter and the situation and atmosphere in which you find yourself are crucial parts of\nthe process when it comes to designing a speech. Despite the fact that public speaking often calls on extra necessary steps\nand more thorough forethought, both the conversationalist as well as the public speaker seek to collect data on the interests\nand wants between talking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The preparation of a speech shares a lot of similarities with the process of writing. For starters, both derive their ideas\nabout what the content should be from who the intended listeners or readers are. Both talking and writing need for a subject\nto be researched, the presentation of evidence that can generally be perceived as credible, the deployment of transitions\nthat effectively portray both the the logical order of ideas, as well their interrelationships, and the drafting of a call to\nsome action or idea, that has the reasonable capability to convince the audience to the side of the one doing the convincing.\nThe steps that one needs to take in order organize a speech comprise of mirroring similar basics as those of the drafting of an\nessay, such as thinking up of a way to captivate the reader in the introduction, clarity of thought when it pertains to the\nthesis statement, the inclusion of ideas that support the main point of the essay, and a pensive conclusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE CULTIVATION OF A POTENT ORAL STYLE<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though public speaking shares many similarities with that of casual discussions and writing, there are obvious connotations\nthat suggest it is it’s own separate thing. Effective public speakers often have a way of putting together words that are more\nsimplistic and easy to follow, are more colloquial and understandable to a wider range of audiences, sentences that are short\nand concise, and words and phrases that transition smoothly between sequences, than writers. Speakers also remember to repeat\ncertain words and phrases to draw attention to a meaning or an idea, to help listeners keep up with what the speaker is trying\nto say, and therefore end up making speeches that are short but use repetition as a noticable tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spoken language allows for greater interactivity and inclusivity between the speaker and the listener than that of written\nlanguage. Pronouns that are personal and carry a connection in the human condition, such as I, we and you show up more often\nwhen someone is talking as opposed to when someone is writing. Listeners will be more attracted to a speaker who is able to\nrelate to them on a personal level as the speaker conveys his ideas and thoughts and they relay theirs back to them. Since\npublic speaking is usually done in a setting that is more formalized at the time of this writing, listeners expectations\noften align with the idea that the speech and experience of receiving it will be more formalized. The expectation of\nlisteners when it comes to speeches is also that you speak in a clear, loud, recognizable and organized manner. So as opposed\nto casual conversation, a speech requires it’s speaker to practice the words that they will say and the way that they will\nsay them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INCLUSIVITY IS KEY<\/b>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listeners have a need to feel a connection to both the speaker and his message, in a way that relates to them on a personal and\nexperiental level and that they share the love of mutual interests and ideology. They want to be elevated to the level of the\nspeaker and his importance and reputation in the room that he is addressing. In order to devise this sense of being included,\na public speaker needs to be sensitive when addressing audiences that have a composition of garden variety interests,\npersonalities, backgrounds and mindsets. Despite a public speaker’s fanatical clinging to a certain idea, they must respect\nthe perspectives of their listeners or be doomed to ridicule, which makes them habitually ineffective. Sensitivity to the\ndiversity in the audience’s culture, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability and other factors are a mandatory requirement\nfor all public speakers to have. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating an inclusive environment and using customer service principles to appease the audience is central to creating an\natmosphere that bridges the gaps between that of the audience and of the public speaker, whatever those gaps may be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PUBLIC SPEAKING CAN BE PERCEIVED AS A STYLE OF COMMUNICATION<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the four categories of human communication, which include dyadic, small group, and mass, there is also public speaking\nas the fourth category. Dyadic communication is one in which happens between two individuals, such as when they are having\na conversation about something. Small group communications happens when a handful of people are able to see each other and\ntalk to each other without the need for an intermediary. Mass communication consists of an environment that involves many\npeople, such as in a large auditorium, and the opportunity for direct communication between the speaker and listeners is\nsignificantly diminished. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With public speaking, there is delivery of a message that has a predetermined purpose to a group of people of varying sizes\nthat are currently attending the public speaking ceremony. Public speaking generally consists of a speaker who wants to speak\nwith some intended purpose, an audience that serves to give their attention to the speaker, and a message that serves to\nget the point across in some way. Public speakers usually give speeches to a large audiences, give attention to detail when\nconsidering the nature of the content of the speech and take responsibility for any fallout over what was said. They are often\nnot interrupted and instances of direct communication with the audience tend to be rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ELEMENTS THAT ARE SHARED BETWEEN EVERY COMMUNICATION SCENARIO<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all communication scenarios, including those where public speaking is occurring, there are several elements that are\ninescapeable. Among these elements are the source of the speaking, the receiver or listener of the speaking, the channel or \nmedium through which it is being delivered, and the shared meaning or idea that is mutual between the speaker and the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The source, or sender of the message, is the one who also typically creates the message that is to be sent. The creation,\norganization and manufacturing of the message is aptly named encoding, which is a mental process for transforming thoughts\ninto language. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The listener who receives the message is the receiver, or audience of the speaker. The process through which the encoded message\nis unraveled is called decoding. Individual listeners tend to decode the meaning of the message according to their own\ninterpretation, which is largely formed by personal past experiences and attitudes towards different things. Feedback, which\nis the reaction exhibited by the audience can either be given back to the speaker in a verbal or nonverbal manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message serves as the container consisting of the subject matter that is to be communicated to the audience, which include\nthese thoughts, conceptualizations and ideas that are meant to be expressed in an effective and meaningful way, through verbal\nand nonverbal means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The channel is the means through which the sender usually sends the message to the receiver. If a speaker talks in front of\nan audience, then the air is the channel that carries the sound waves from the speaker to the members of the audience.\nExamples of other channels include through a telephone, television, writing and on a computer. Noise can be defined as anything\nthat interferes with the clarity and effective delivery of this message. Noise can disturb the process of communication in ways\nsuch as physical sounds that include the ringing of cell phones, people talking loudly among the audience to each other\nand therefore diverting attention away from the speaker, especially those that are in close proximity but this can also be\ndistracting for the speaker as well, psychological diversions such as when emotions run wild, or through environmental means\nsuch as a room that is too cold or too hot, or by the arrival of uninvited guests, especially ones that are not welcome there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shared meaning can be defined as an understanding of the message that is carried by both the speaker as well as his audience.\nAt the lowest level, this means that it’s enough for the speaker to capture the attention of the audience in order to fall\nunder the definition of shared meaning. As more is added to the message and it continually progresses being delivered to\nthe audience, the level of shared meaning grows at an exponential rate. Therefore the meaning of the speech can be “co-created”\nby both the speaker and his audience simultaneously.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When delivering a speech, there are two factors that must be taken into account – context and goals. Context typically\nencompasses things that can influence the speaker, the listeners, the circumstances or the situation at hand, and therefore\nthe speech itself. In the context of a speech given in a classroom, contextually appropriate things to say would include\nrecent events that had occurred on campus grounds or in the real world, for example, as well as the physical location where\nthe speech is being delivered and it’s physical arrangements, the order in which the speech is organized as well as it’s timing\nin relations to certain things, and the cultural backgrounds and attitudes of the audience members to which it is to be\ngiven. In order communication to be successfully executed, it must never divert from what the intended audience cares about\nor is expecting of the speech giver. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A portion of the speech’s context is the scenario that gave rise to it’s necessity to begin with. All speeches tend to revolve\naround the reaction to a hypothetical scenario, or some ongoing or pressing situation that needs to be addressed by the public.\nCentering yourself around the audience’s concerns and needs requires you to consider the context and hypothetical scenario,\nas well as the needs, attitudes, values and wants within your concentrated focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A goal that is well defined and exists to fulfill some motive is the ultimate requirement for a proper speech. What is it\nthat you want your audience to know or adopt as their own attitude as a result of your speech? Figuring out what the purpose\nof the speech should be at the outset of the speech planning process will help determine what the planning and delivery\nstages of the speech will consist of. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPEECHMAKING AND IT’S ORIGINS IN THE CLASSICAL ERA<\/b>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The practice of delivering speeches is more formally known as either rhetoric or oratory. Rhetoric was a powerful influence\nthat reached it’s pinnacle in 5th century BC Athens and was used as a reference point to the art of crafting an effective\nspeech, especially those that were meant to convince the crowds that heard them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Athens was the place in which the world’s first direct democracy was enacted. The citizens of Athens used their prowess in\npublic speaking abilities to ensure it’s systematic execution. These speeches and meetings were typically conducted in a place\ncalled an agora, similar to a town square, in which Athenians voiced their concerns and opinions on matters of public policy,\nand even in contemporary times their belief that citizens should actively participate in public affairs still holds strong.\nAfterwards, in the Roman Republic, which was the Western world’s first example of a representitive democracy, citizens could\nvoice their concerns and opinions in a place open to the public known as a forum. Ever since the beginning, public speakers\nsuch as Aristotle who lived from 384 to 322 BC, and shortly thereafter, the Roman statesman and orator who went by the\nname of Cicero and lived from 106 to 43 BC, split the speech planning process into five steps, called the canons of\nrhetoric. The “invention” step is a reference to the concept of tweaking speech content in such a way that gets your case\nand point across to your audience. The “arrangement” step is the structuring of the speech in a way that appeals to your\naudience and subject matter. The “style” step is how the speaker utilizes language and words to set a certain flavor for the\nexpression of his ideas. The “memory” and “delivery” steps are the ways in which we practice the speech as well as bring it\nto the attention and knowledge of our intended audience, but also in a way that is a functionally useful mix of subject matter,\nvoice and nonverbal expressions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though breathtaking and timeless names such as Aristotle and Cicero could never have anticipated the majestic, supreme\nand almighty PowerPoint slideshow that is used as a powerful tool to present information side by side a speech in a more visual\nas well as written manner, the speechmaking abilities and concepts they gifted to us still hold strong as being useful and\nrelevant after thousands of years. These abilities and concepts are nowadays often referred to in terminology that is not the\nsame as that used by Aristotle and Cicero, but nevertheless translated and transformed into a more modern version such as the\none you’ll find in these series of articles.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUR OPINION AND WHERE TO VOICE IT<\/b>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In ancient Greece, citizens often voiced their opinions in a public forum called an agora. The ancient Romans called it a forum.\nNowadays we’ve inherited the term and adopted it to mean a wide array of locales or settings in which a conversation or debate\ncan take place pertaining to any number of issues that concern the public collectively, including places such as city and\ntown halls, and virtual forums online in the form of discussion boards. The forums by nature allows those who participate in\nthem the chance to voice their concerns, add short comments, share ideas and to ask questions as to the clarification\nof certain sets of information. Through this, the speaker is connected to an audience and is able to build mutual trust\nand understanding over issues, striving to reach a collective consensus. In order to find a forum either online or in person,\nit is best to either check with your local government, or go to this website – https:\/\/www.nifi.org\/en<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 13<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span> Irrelevant to where you might find yourself – be it a classroom, workplace setting or somewhere in the community, your ability to speak with confidence and to persuade your listeners can give you an empowering feeling. This series of articles will be dedicated to providing you with a toolkit necessary to acquire the skill set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public-speaking-basics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.improvkings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.improvkings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.improvkings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvkings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvkings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvkings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2522,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvkings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions\/2522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.improvkings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvkings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvkings.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}