Introduction To Public Speaking

The Benefits! The ability to speak confidently and convincingly IN PUBLIC is an asset to anyone who wants to take an active role in his or her classroom, workplace or community. Agree or Disagree?

Advance Professional Goals! Where does the skill of public speaking fall in the list of most sought after skills by companies?

Advance Professional Goals! 12. Organizational Skills 11. Leadership skills 10. Detail-oriented 9. Computer Skills 8. Flexibility/Adaptability 7. Motivation/Initiative 6. Analytical Skills 5. Teamwork Skills (works well with others) 4. Strong Work Ethic

Advance Professional Goals! TOP 3! 3. Interpersonal Skills (relates well to others) 2. Honesty/Integrity 1. COMMUNICATION SKILLS (written and verbal)

Enhance Your Career As A Student! Preparing speeches involves numerous skills that you can use in other courses. What are they?

Enhance Your Career As A Student! Research Analyze Audiences Support and prove claims Select patterns for organizing ideas

Enhance Your Career As A Student! Diverse courses often require an oral presentation component Technical disciplines require explanation of complex information clearly. Charts, graphs and other presentation aids are an important part of such presentations

Enhance Your Career As A Student! Identifying target audiences Selection of appropriate modes of delivery The business major who must communicate with multiple audiences including co-workers, managers, clients and customers.

Explore and Share Values Occasion for speaker and audience to focus on ideas and events about which they feel strongly Public speaking offers a unique opportunity to explore values, deep-seated feelings and ideas about what is important in life.

Explore and Share Values Allows you to express and explore those of others in civil dialogue, regardless if the audience shares your viewpoint Speaking to an audience whose knowledge or opinions differ from yours can be more satisfying that addressing those with similar opinions

Hone Critical Thinking and Listening Skills Sharpens your ability to reason and think critically You will learn to construct claims and then present evidence and reasoning to logically support them Ability to recognize weak links and strengthen them

Hone Critical Thinking and Listening Skills You will become a more critical receiver of speeches You will be able to better decide what information is misinformation disguised as logic for the purpose of selling, deceiving or exploiting. Questions? Disagreements?

Public Speaking as a Form of Communication Scholars identify four categories of human communication… Four categories YOU SHOULD KNOW! (Hint, hint! TAKE NOTES!) 1. Dyadic Communication – Communication between two people 2. Small Group Communication – Involves a small number of people who can see and speak directly with one another (i.e. business meeting)

Public Speaking as a Form of Communication 3. Mass Communication – Occurs between a speaker and a large audience of unknown people. The receivers are not present with the speaker (i.e. TV, radio and mass rallies)

Public Speaking as a Form of Communication 4. Public Speaking – A speaker delivers a message with a specific purpose to an audience of people. Always includes a speaker who has a reason for speaking An audience that gives its attention A message that is meant to accomplish something Address audience without interruption Takes responsibility for the words

Similarities Between Public Speaking and Other Forms of Communication Like Small Group Requires that you address a group of people who are focused on you and expect you to clearly discuss issues relevant to the topic Like Mass Communication Requires that you understand and appeal to the audience members interests, attitudes and values Like Dyadic Requires that you attempt to make yourself understood, involve and respond to your conversational partners and take responsibility for what you say.

Similarities Between Public Speaking and Other Forms of Communication Key feature of any communication is sensitivity to the listeners. Whether speaking to one person or one hundred people, they want to feel that you care about their interests, desires and goals. Skilled speakers do it in a way that is organized, easy to follow, believable, relevant and interesting.

Differences Between Public Speaking and Other Forms of Communication Public Speaking presents different opportunities for feedback. Public Speaking offers middle ground between low and high levels of feedback. Does not permit the constant exchange of information But audience can and does provide ample verbal and non-verbal cues as to what they are thinking and feeling

Differences Between Public Speaking and Other Forms of Communication Examples of Feedback: Facial expressions Vocalizations (laughter, boos, etc.) Gestures Applause

Differences Between Public Speaking and Other Forms of Communication Differs in the amount of preparation needed Must be more careful and extensive Why? Less opportunity for feedback You must anticipate how your audience will react to your speech

Differences Between Public Speaking and Other Forms of Communication Differs in degree of formality Speeches tend to occur in more formal settings Graduations, weddings, etc., naturally lend themselves to speeches; they provide a focus and give a “voice” to the event So what is “Communication”?

The Communication Model Encoding Decoding Sender Speaker Message Feedback Decoding Encoding Receiver Audience Noise Noise

Elements of Communication The Source (Sender) – The person that creates the message The speaker transforms ideas and thoughts into messages and sends them to a receiver or audience. The speaker decides what messages are to be sent and how they will be sent. Encoding – The process of organizing the message, choosing the words and sentence structure and verbalizing the message

Elements of Communication The Receiver (Audience) – The receiver interprets the message in ways that are unique to that person Decoding – Process of interpreting the message Although the sender/speaker may intend a message to carry a specific meaning, the receiver/audiences interprets the message based on their own experiences and attitudes

Elements of Communication Feedback – The audience’s response to the message Can be conveyed both verbally and non-verbally Often indicates whether a speakers message has been understood NOTE – Feedback is actually a message whereby the receiver now becomes the sender This role reversal represents the interactive nature of public speaking

Elements of Communication The Message – The content of the communication process: thoughts and ideas put into meaningful expressions Content can be expressed verbally and non-verbally. Miscommunication can happen when the audience misinterprets the speaker’s intended message or when the speaker misreads the audience feedback.

Elements of Communication The Channel – Medium through which the speaker sends a message Live audience – Channel = air waves Telephone lines, televisions, computers, written correspondence Noise – Any interference with the message Physical sounds, psychological noise (emotions), environmental (room temp., etc.)

The Communication Model Encoding Decoding Sender Speaker Message Feedback Decoding Encoding Receiver Audience Noise Noise