Public speaking: the basics

What is public speaking? Public speaking is anytime you have to speak in public! Speaking in public scares more Americans than going to the dentist, falling, or death! This presentation will give you public speaking basics and help you realize some good multimedia presentation skills at the same time.

Fears… While most people fear public speaking there are some very simple ways to get around it… Practice By practicing you get around the reason for the fear: saying something awkward or making a mistake in front of people.

Before the presentation… Preparation is key! Figure out a thesis for your paper. Write down the structure for your presentation. Introduction, body, and conclusion. Read it out loud. Edit your writing. Read it out loud again. Put it into your presentation. Practice again.

Basics of Public Speaking Know your topic Your are the expert of the topic you have chosen. Nobody in the room knows more than you so make sure that you know it thoroughly so you can teach others. Know your audience What do they find funny? What are they interested in? What would they like to hear about your topic? Find a hook A hook is an interesting, funny, or creative beginning to your presentation. The first 30 seconds of a presentation are very important, so a good hook will keep your audience focused.

Basics, cont. Be yourself If you try to do what your friends would do, you will mess up. Just be yourself and you will feel the most comfortable! Stay on point Do not discuss topics that are not important to your presentation. They will distract your audience and you will lose your focus. Do not repeat yourself Do not repeat yourself.  Repeating a point more than a few times sounds as if you do not have anything else to say. So avoid repetition.

Confidence Project a calm, confident tone while speaking. You are the expert on the topic, so you have nothing to worry about! Audience members can tell when you are nervous or do not know what you are talking about. Confidence can be gained through good preparation and effective practicing.

Tips Attitude is everything! Preparation is key Confidence comes with practice Make sure to know how to pronounce names and the author’s main idea correctly. First 30 seconds are the most important! This is the hook. If you have a creative, witty, or interesting introduction, you can hold the audience’s attention for the rest of the presentation. Strong conclusion Just like the introduction, have a strong message the audience can take away from your presentation. Avoid just repeating your introduction and your thesis statement. Action statements make good conclusions.

Now… Presentation basics You have just worked your way through a multimedia presentation. Now you are going to learn how to construct a multimedia presentation!

6 Power point tips Have consistent slide backgrounds. Contrast helps people see your presentation. Animation adds some flavor. Make it large! Too many words turns your audience off. Images are important!

Consistency Having a consistent background adds to your presentation. An easy way to distract your audience is by having your slide background constantly change. You want to seem in charge of your presentation, so keep the design simple and consistent.

Contrast Can you read me now? Can you read me now? Contrast is when two colors are put next to each other which are very different from one another. For example green and blue or black and white. Look at the boxes to the right. Which one is easier to view? The greater the contrast, the better your audience will be able to read your slide. Can you read me now? Can you read me now?

Animation Animation can assist in a given situation, but too much can distract. Animation can be for an image or letters in a slide or between slides. There are two types of animation to the left; which one is more distracting? Use animation to give some flavor to a slide that is a little flat. Too many words? Animation can help improve a slide! Too many words? Animation can help improve a slide!

Large… Notice that in this slide everything is large and easy to see. Making your words and pictures large is very important when working with power point!

Wordy Slides… Multimedia presentations are visual tools. It is not a good tool to use if you have too much to say. So keep your words to a minimum. This slide has quite a few words, some may say too many. They are easy to read, however, because they are large enough. Also, the addition of the fish animation adds to the slide. A multimedia presentation is not a chance for you to write a paper. It is a chance to give a summary of the main points of a paper. Use bullet points to break up the writing.

Images… Images are important to a multimedia presentation, so do not shy away from clip art, images, or artistic designs to show off your text. The slide at right has an image, a box around the words, and a strong background. The overall effect is very professional and pleasing to the eye.

Congratulations and good luck! Hope your presentation goes well! You’re done! Congratulations and good luck! Hope your presentation goes well!