What is the most commonly used delivery method in public speaking?
There are many ways to deliver your speech. Each one has some specific things to know. In this chapter, we will cover impromptu speaking, extemporaneous speaking, manuscript speaking, memorized presentation, and finally group or team presentations. Show
It is likely that each of you reading this book will be called to give an impromptu speech in your life. It is that sudden and often unexpected call to give a speech. In public speaking classrooms and in speech clubs, a topic is offered, and you have a few minutes to prepare.
Impromptu Like a Pro
Extemporaneous SpeechExtemporaneous speaking is speaking with brief notes and careful practice. When doing this type of speech, you have written most of the main ideas of your speech in an outline, but the speech is delivered from brief notes. The main ideas are developed but the exact wording of the point is decided at the moment. The advantage of this type of speaking is you can prepare, plan, and practice. Not having every word scripted helps the speech feel fresh, alive, and real. In addition, the fact every single word isn’t written allows you wiggle room to add new information that seems relevant during the speech. It also can provide a buffer if you mess up. Since it is not scripted, it is easier to pick up and recover. Steve Johnson who gave a Ted Talk on Where Good Ideas Come gave this commentary on why he decided not to memorize his speech:
The process for developing an extemporaneous speech is as follows:
The key advantage of extemporaneous speaking is it tends to feel more natural. Salman Khan, of Khan Academy learning programs, made several TED Talks on educational principles and says,
Extemporaneous –Always Have This Speech Ready to GoThere are a few speeches that you should always have ready to go
In the early days of rhetoric, students would learn the art of speaking by memorizing the speeches of others and delivering them in public places. The Greek rhetors placed a great emphasis on the skill of memorization and it is even considered one of the canons of rhetoric. The most common times you will see a speech memorized is for toast speeches and acceptance speeches. After all, it ruins the moment if you have a wine glass in one hand toasting the groom and your speech notes in the other. Memorizing your toast helps you to be in the moment. In addition, many sales companies require their salespeople to memorize the company sales script. These tested formulas often pay off in larger sales, so they expect associates to deliver word-per-word scripts in their sales presentations. Some politicians have memorized stump speeches or at least memorized answers to standard questions. While not as prevalent as it was in ancient Greek and Rome, memorized speeches are making a comeback. The biggest place of resurgence is on the Ted stage. Chris Anderson, Ted Talk curator said, “Many of our best and most popular TED Talks have been memorized word for word.” TED speaker and voice artist Rives says,
Pamela Meyer, TED speaker says,
The advantage of memorizing your speech is you can plan every word making the most of your speech time. Not having to look at notes frees you up to make good eye contact. The disadvantage of memorizing your speech is you might not sound fresh and your audience may perceive it more as a performance than a speech. Some speakers take on a machine gun tone with their voice giving away the memorized format. Sometimes eye contact is lost as the speaker reads off the “invisible notecard in the sky.” The biggest disadvantage is that you risk going blank and forgetting what to say. If you do decide to memorize your speech, be sure you know it well. TED curator, Chris Anderson says, “Most people go through what I call the ‘valley of awkwardness,’ where they haven’t quite memorized the talk. If they give the talk while stuck in that valley, the audience will sense it … Getting past this point is simple, fortunately. It’s just a matter of rehearsing enough times that the flow of words becomes second nature. It is important,” according to Anderson ” that, you are not supposed to recite your talk, you’re supposed to live it. Embody it. It must come across as if you are sharing these ideas for the first time.” Have a backup plan. If you decide to memorize your talk, keep a notecard in your pocket. If you forget what to say, pause and say, “Let me refer to my notes” and then pull them out or pause for a moment and have a sip of water. No matter how well you know your talk, have a backup plan. Examples
Greek poet Simonides of Ceos is the first recorded use of the method of loci (loci being Latin for places). It is more recently called the memory palace. If you have ever watched BBC’s Sherlock, you may have noticed that Sherlock uses the memory palace to remember things. Individuals who compete in memory competitions often use the memory palace or memory journey technique to remember long lists of times–Clemons Mayer memorized 1040 random digits by using a 300-point journey through his house and Gary Shang used the technique to memorize pi to 65,536 digits. Brain scans of these super memorizers show the region of the brain involved with spatial awareness is activated when using this technique. So how does it work? In short, this technique suggests that you remember things in familiar spatial environments. For example, you might imagine each part of your speech being located in one of your kitchen cabinets. When you open the cabinet door, you can see the speech part. Speaker Irina Elena Antonescu found images and cut and pasted them on big sheets of paper in a kind of journey to help her memorize her talk. Heather Hanson learned from Grandmaster of Memory, Nishant Kasibhatla how to think in pictures and how to find pictures that make sense to her in some way.
In the video How to Memorize and Give a Speech Without Notes, Jim Kwik gives a step-by-step tutorial to apply this to memorizing a speech. There will be times when reading from a manuscript is helpful. When giving a eulogy you are likely to experience strong emotions. Having your words written out will be very helpful. Politicians often speak from manuscripts because there will be people weighing the meaning of each word. They often have speech writers who take their ideas and make them sound fancy and they likely have several people help them omit words that might offend. The advantage to speaking with a manuscript is you have your speech in front of you giving you an opportunity to plan interesting wordplays and advanced language techniques. Another advantage to a manuscript is you can share your speech with others. For example, many people like to have written copies of the toast given to them at a special occasion or family members might want to keep a copy of the eulogy. Politically speaking, a manuscript can be helpful to help keep you on track and make sure you only say things you meant to say. The disadvantage to a manuscript is if not done properly, your speech may feel like merely an “essay with legs.” Speaking from a manuscript is a skill. I would argue that it is one of the most difficult of all the delivery types because your goal is to read without appearing to read. It can be so tempting to lock your eyes on the page where it is safe and to never look up. Speakers who lack the skill of manuscript reading will have very little eye contact. It is usually sporadic and rarely long enough to lock eyes with anyone in the audience. Finally, it is very difficult for most people to make gestures when reading a manuscript. Many people run their hands down the page to keep their place and worse yet, many speakers clutch both hands over the podium and never let go. There is an entire chapter written on how to use a manuscript Several years ago, I was on a charter bus headed to teaching camp. I often use that time to learn more about other teachers and their specialties. This time the person seated next to me was a professor from the Walton School of Business. I asked him, “In your opinion, in what area are students not properly prepared when it comes to communicating in a corporate environment.” He said, “Group presentations.” He went on to explain that the model in most speech classes is four people each prepare a speech on a similar topic and then one at a time, they stand up and give their speech. They may share slides and put them all together, but often there is not a lot of group in a group speech. He said, “That is not a group speech in the real world where each person plays to their strengths. In that setting, team members talk for different amounts of time. In the presentation, they tag team, they interact, and they are involved with the content from the other group members. The whole thing looks like a seamless presentation, not four speeches glued together by a shared slideshow. Once I was working on a team presentation with another teacher. Originally, we had the typical I talk for five minutes and then she talks for five minutes set up, but then we decided there was no team in that model. We reworked the presentation where she might present a point, and then I might give some supplemental information on a point and one of us would introduce the next point. Since there was a lot of turn-takings, we coded our slides by putting a red dot or a blue dot in the corner of the slide to remind us of whose turn it was to present. One person held the clicker and we had practice signals to know when to advance. We even had it worked out where when one person would talk, the other person would walk around and be ready to give out handouts or to ask an interactive question to the audience. We worked as a unified team moving towards the goal of educating teachers about how to talk about difficult subjects in the college classroom.
In summary, there are many considerations when picking a way to deliver a speech. The context of the speech, the need for precision or flexibility, and the personal preference of the speaker will all influence which delivery method works best. Key TakeawaysRemember This! There are several ways to deliver speeches each with advantages and disadvantages. It is important to pick your delivery mode based on audience, occasion, and personal style preference.
I want to hear from you. Do you have an activity to include? Click here to share your feedback. References Hansen, H. (2018). The memorization trick that saved my TEDx talk. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/memorization-trick-saved-my-tedx-talk-heather-hansen/ Jameson, S. (2005). Reading for college PowerPoint. Drew University. https://www.nwmissouri.edu/trio/pdf/sss/study/Reading-for-college.pdf Madrigal, A. (2016). The weird, wonderful, sometimes awful world of bots. TED Talk. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUosXSJf-9E Standard YouTube License. Maguire, E.A., Valenrine, E.R., Wilding, J.M., & Kapur, N. (2002). Routes to remembering the brains behind superior memory. Nature Neuroscience. 6 (1): 90–95. doi: 10.1038/nn988. PMID: 12483214. Memory Town System for Languages – Memory Techniques Wiki https://artofmemory.com/wiki/Main_Page Raz, A., Packard, M.G., Alexander, G.M., Bulhe, J.T., Zhu, H, Yu, S. & Peterson, B.S. (2009). A slice of π An exploration neuroimaging study of digit encoding and retrieval in a superior memorist. Neurocase. 15 (5): 361–372. https://doi.org/10.1080/13554790902776896 Stout, S. Eulogy to Papa with the Theme of Dancing. Delivered in Lynn Meade’s Advanced Public Speaking Class at the University of Arkansas. Used with permission. van As, T. Tribute to Nelson Mandela. Delivered in Lynn Meade’s Advanced Public Speaking Class at the University of Arkansas. Used with permission. Winfrey, O. Eulogy to Rosa Parks. A slice of π An exploration neuroimaging study of digit encoding and retrieval https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cfhtfNfIPE Standard YouTube License. What is the most common method of delivery in public speaking?The four most common delivery styles for public speaking include speaking from memory, speaking impromptu, speaking from a manuscript, and extemporaneous speaking. Before writing became a common practice, orators would memorize their speeches, sometimes for months, before presenting to an audience.
Which is the most effective method of public speaking?Pay Attention To Gestures And Tonality
While good public speakers deliver effective speeches, great public speakers are actively aware of their body and their voice at all times. Use open body language and practice allowing your tone to help dictate the audience's emotional response to your talk.
|