Introduction to speech delivery in oral skills
Standing before people and delivering a speech is a skill that takes time to perfect. Even to seasoned public speakers, delivering a successful speech before a live audience is a no mean feat. The thought of standing before others and being the source of attention is indeed intimidating. In this article, we shall be looking at how a speech is prepared and the ways of effectively delivering it to the audience.
How to prepare for a Speech Delivery
When getting ready for a presentation, one should do the following:
i. Research. To prepare
an effective speech, one should research well on the topic of the speech. This
not only enables one to prepare a credible and well thought out speech but also boosts the confidence of the one delivering the speech.
ii. Writing points of the
speech. One should note the major highlights on a notepad or flashcards for
reference while delivering the speech. The written points not only help to
deliver the speech logically but also act as an aid to the memory
iii. Rehearsing. This can
be done before a mirror or before a mock audience. Rehearsing enables one to correctly
apply gestures, facial expressions, body movement and the correct posture
iv. Grooming. One should
plan on how to groom and dress decently in a way that will suit the specific context
of the speech delivery. Good dressing and grooming also boost the confidence
of the speaker.
How to Capture and maintain the audience’sattention during speech delivery:
During presenting a
speech before an audience, the speaker needs to capture the attention of the
audience right from the introduction and hold it to the end. Failure to do this
leads to boredom on the part of the audience and lowers the effectiveness of
the speech.
Capturing and maintaining the attention of the audience can be done through the following ways:
i. Asking an interesting
question. The question asked should directly relate to the question and also
trigger the thoughts of the audience to think about the topic. For example, when
delivering a speech on the importance of focusing on the studies while in
school, the speaker can ask a question such as, “How many of you would like to
complete your secondary school education and join a good tertiary institution
of learning?”
ii. Give a short anecdote
relating to the speech. An anecdote is a short story. The speaker can use an anecdote to create interest in the
audience. Example “Before I begin, I
would like to give you a short story about a boy who always cried wolf...”
iii. Giving a famous quote that
relates to the speech. This is used to capture the audience’s attention and
create interest. For example, “Nelson
Mandela once said that ...”
iv. Giving facts,
statistics or a popular opinion. This creates interest. For, example “Of the 200,000 students who go through school, only 25% of the
students who complete high school join universities”
How to deliver a speech before the audience
The presentation stage of
a speech is very important as it determines whether the message contained in
the speech will be understood or not.
The following are thetechniques that may be useful when delivering a speech:
1. Use of meaningful eye contact. Eye contact is
very useful in giving and receiving feedback from the audience while delivering
a speech.
2. Use of appropriate gestures. Gestures are
important in speech because they are used to reinforce words and ideas that are
being discussed in the speech. Gestures include pointing, waving, pointing etc.
3. Body movements. Body movements can be used to
demonstrate, create interest and even encourage response from the audience.
4. Body posture. Use of the correct posture shows
confidence in delivering a speech, the speaker should assume an upright posture.
5. Facial expressions. Facial expressions are used
to express feelings and emotions such as happiness, anger etc through smiling,
frowning etc
6. Voice projection. The speaker should be audible
enough to be heard by the intended audience.
7. Articulation. The speaker should pronounce words
correctly to be easily understood.
8. Appropriate pauses. The speaker should use pauses at the key points to let the message sink. Pauses are used at key points to let the message sink in the audience.