Public Speaking Objectives:  Understand the tools of effective communication.  Examine how to become an effective communicator and the importance of doing so.

Today, we are going to begin talking about public speaking skills, about how to speak effectively.  We know each other better now. We’re all friends.  Now we need to get more serious about our speeches.  We must be willing to grow as a person and as a leader.  We must be open to working on our skills and hearing what we need to do to improve

Watch Video of a Speech  While you watch these videos, NOTICE the speaker’s hand gestures, their body movements, eye-contact, tone of voice, use of stories, articulation, and facial expressions.  John F. Kennedy’s presidential inauguration speech, January 20, 1961 John F. Kennedy’s presidential inauguration speech, January 20, 1961  Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have A Dream” speech, August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have A Dream” speech, August 28, 1963

What did you notice?  Write your responses on the worksheet.

When you speak, I will be helping you focus on things to improve.  If you can use these tools effectively, you can be an effective communicator.  After each presentation you give in Teen Leadership, think about the things you’re seeing in yourself that you could improve.  As you are speaking, think about maintaining good eye-contact with your audience.  Why is it important to maintain eye contact?  If you don’t look at me, why should I look at you or care about what you have to say?  Besides, I don’t trust you if you can’t look at me. I wonder what you are hiding.

Movement! Relax and use your body.  Remember that 55% of a message is communicated by your body, including your expressions.  When it’s appropriate, you can even walk around a little. But at the very least, turn from side to side and cover the entire room.  Use a wide stance, and don’t rock back and forth!  Remember…get bigger! The less space you take up, the less you have to say!

Why is it important what we do with our hands?  Be careful not to keep you hands in your pockets all the time.  Try not to have pencils and pens in your hands. They can distract the audience.  Learn the techniques that help you bring the audience in to you. For example: Ask them questions such as, “Are you doing okay?” Use cupped hands accompanied by soft motions that bring the audience to you. Do NOT use your index finger to point at people. It’s like a gun…pushing them away, when what you want to do is to pull them in! Be careful about swinging your arms around.  What do you do with your hands during your speeches?

Leaders must be effective communicators!  Do you have anything to say that I, as an adult, ought to listen to? Why?  Oh, really? Well…impress me!  Does it seem this way sometimes? Describe a time it felt like this for you.  It seems that adults are too busy or too important to really listen to you.  I mean, I’m an important person with lots to do! I have 170 students a day, calls to return, and a house to take care of!

We just don’t take the time to listen to you! But, there’s another problem.  You still lack many of the skills you need to communicate effectively.  For some of you, confidence may still be a problem when communicating with adults.  For that matter, some of you still struggle with these skills when communicating with each other.  Are YOU still struggling with confidence? In which area? Why?

Where are you going to be in a few years?  You’ll probably be out in the world looking for a job. Some of you may be working a bit already.  If you are going to make it as a working adult, which is where most of you will spend your life, you have got to be an effective communicator.

You, as a leader, DO have something to say, and I really DO need to hear it.  But in order to be an effective communicator, you must do two things. FIRST, you must be credible. This means you must be believable and competent. (Believable = able to be believed as true) (Competent = having the necessary ability, knowledge, or skill to do something successfully) SECOND, you must be able to capture people’s hearts and minds.

In advertising, who are some people companies use to promote their products?  Why do they use these people?  How are they credible: believable and competent?  People follow leaders who are knowledgeable about what they are doing.  There is no substitute for being competent. You either know your stuff or you don’t, so… KNOW YOUR STUFF!

Capture people’s hearts and minds.  I have watched many people with excellent ideas struggle because they were not able to convey them to others.  Your ideas are of worth.  Convey them in a way that captures people’s hearts!

Let’s think about something…  Do the people with the best ideas usually win, or is it the people with the best communication skills?  Usually, it is the people who are the most skilled communicators who win the elections, who get the sales, who receive the recognition and rewards, who get the promotions, who are the best parents, who become the leaders in their schools and communities, and who really make a difference in the lives of others!

What would happen, I wonder, if we took really intelligent, good people, and taught them great communication skills?  We would have a win-win deal!  Let’s think for a moment about impoverished inner-city kids. How will they ever get a chance to speak to people about the issues impacting their lives? Who is going to speak for these kids? Are they able to speak effectively about the concerns and problems they face? Why or why not?  I wonder how many of them will have the opportunity to participate in a program like Teen Leadership? Hopefully thousands of them will!  These kids, my kids, myself…EACH OF US has something to say! And if we intend to hold ourselves forth as leaders, then we must be able to communicate effectively.

Let me ask you something…  Where would we be today if Martin Luther King, Jr. had been a poor speaker?  Some of you may not have been here today, and we would have missed the chance to hear the wonderful thoughts and ideas inside of you. What a tragedy that would have been!  But because he could speak powerfully, a whole nation was moved by his thoughts about equality.

What would England be like today if Winston Churchill had not conveyed his passion for a free world?  Maybe Hitler and his Nazi beliefs would have prevailed in Europe and Russia, and our world would have looked much different today!

What if you had an idea or belief that we desperately needed to hear, but you didn’t know how to say it?  What if someone else had the same idea but never said it?  Then it would go unsaid, we would never hear it, and things would stay the same!  You see, Dr. King and Winston Churchill spoke for those who could not speak effectively for themselves.

The question is…whom do YOU speak for?  Strong leaders speak for those who can’t speak for themselves, and they speak for what is right!  I believe that you do have something to say, and I want you to learn how to say it well.  I want everyone who hears you to stand up and take notice!

 READ Lesson 20 on pages in your student manual.  FILL IN the notes on page 47.  WRITE a paragraph on your worksheet (or back of it) expressing your thoughts on today’s lesson. What are you thinking now? How can you put some of these ideas into work in your life? What specifically will you try to improve in your next speech?