DELIVERY OF SPEECH
SHOULD OPEN WITH A GREETING
The formal opening greeting should be a "Madam Chairman" or "Mister Chairman"
or a simple address of the Chair.
If the speaker is a guest and the speaker of the
evening, she/he should also address any distinguished guests who may be on the
platform, then the assembly at large.
Psychological Aspects Involved. If you get your audience to laugh
at a humorous story, pun or joke during the first three minutes of your appearance,
you are on the road to attracting and maintaining the interest of your listeners
during the body of your address. Yet, it is important that the speaker knows
how to pause and get the attention of her/his listeners whenever a story is related.
The speaker may use the narrative style of opening with a human interest appeal
that always holds the attention of any audience.
QUALITIES OF A GOOD PRESENTATION
ORIGINALITY:
A good presentation has a central idea which, though not an absolutely brand-new
thought, has some degree of uniqueness to it. It is virtually impossible to
say something which has never been said before - "there is nothing new under
the sun" is
probably true. However, the writer's idea should evolve from her/his own thought,
emotions, experiences; that is, from her/his own observation or thoroughly digested
knowledge of other human experience. It is in the development of that idea that
freshness and originality may be achieved because no two speakers will develop
an idea in precisely the same way.
We react with pleasure to the speaker who came to tell something, directly, simply,
earnestly and naturally. People are moved by the speaker who has concern for them
and conveys her/his ideas to them. Nothing puts the audience to sleep quicker than
the speaker who runs on in a monotone or manages no more than a three-tone scale.
Vocal variety puts interest into a presentation. It shows a spontaneous nature of
the material being presented as against the dull drone of a speaking machine
mouthing words prepared in advance. The speaker should work with a tape recorder
occasionally to her/himself as others do. The only caution is - don't play a
recording over and over and memorize the speech!
SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSIONS
The final success of your speech (and the most lasting one) is determined by the
type of conclusion you use. It is absolutely essential that the conclusion have a
tie-in with the opening . . . something to wrap up the subject and put a bow on top!
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