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Tips for Creating & Delivering Oral Presentations

The unpardonable sin in public speaking is the sin of inadequate preparation.

 

Creating Oral Presentations
  1. Recall the quote: "The unpardonable sin in public speaking is the sin of inadequate preparation. "
  2. Know what you want to say/share with your audience.
  3. Organize your material effectively in three major divisions:
    1. Your introduction  will
      1. clearly state what you are planning to talk about & how you will develop your talk
      2. grab the listeners' interest
      3. Seven Tips texts offer for developing an introduction
        1.  Announce the subject directly in the first sentence or paragraph
        2. Tell a story of human interest, paint a picture, or give an illustration.
        3. Use a statement that excites attention, arouses curiosity, surprises the audience, or is particularly informative.
        4. Tell a humorous story that is definitely related to the subject or to the situation under which you are addressing the audience
        5. Ask a challenging question.
        6. State facts which show the importance of the subject to the welfare of the audience.
        7. Begin with a significant quotation or idea from some other person. 
    2. Your body will
      1. logically and clearly cover a few points
      2.  move from one point to another  in an easy-to-follow manner
        1. transitions (first, second third, another point, in addition to, )
      3. be clear because you will have adequate examples, facts, figures, quotes, illustrations...
    3. Your conclusion will
      1. reflect and make a statement about your entire paper or speech
      2. invite the listeners to draw their own life lessons
      3. be an inspirational, memorable, & transformative
  4. Practice, practice, and practice again Visualize success. (affirmations)

 

The Presentation Checklist to avoid nervousness & look comfortable
Yes No Question
    Do I feel comfortable because I have adequately prepared?
    Do I feel comfortable in my attire?
    Do I repeat affirmations while walking to the lectern?
    Before talking, do I pause, take a deep breath, look at the audience, and  smile portraying self-confidence?
    Before talking, do I make sure that I  have the audience's attention?
    Do I focus on what I have to say - rather than on my fears?
    Do I look at (or slightly above and beyond) my audience, establishing eye contact?
    Do I speak at a comfortable pace in a voice everyone can hear?
    Do I conclude memorably, with confidence, inviting questions or comments?
    When my talk is done, do I hold eye contact for a few seconds, smile, and confidently await  an applause?
 

Your talk is a reflection of You! It mirrors your personality & intellect. It defines you. What you say & how you say it makes people like or dislike you & your idea.   A talk reveals that you are informed or lack knowledge; that you are prepared or not prepared; that you have taken this responsibility seriously or not; that you may or may not  receive a letter of recommendation stating "excellent oral communication skills."

Take pride in what you do & let this pride show and define you.  Be one that strives for excellence.

Intelligent, lively convincing, sincere talk is the foundation upon which leadership is built.  People will agree with you & react positively if you speak with sincerity and conviction - if you speak logically, talk clearly, and make sense.___________________________________________________________________________

Miscellaneous Bonus Tips on Speech Preparation:

Monroe's Motivational Sequence (Present information as a challenge to be solved & invite audience to think along with you)

1.  Attention :  Get people's attention
2.  Need:  Show the problem
3.  Satisfaction: Here's my plan or the   author's plan
4.  Visualization:  Picture it:  either /or
5.  Action:  Take a small step

Cicero

Five essentials in public speaking:
1. determining exactly what one should say
2. arranging the material in the proper order and with good judgment
3. clothing the speech in well-chosen words and carefully phrased sentences
4. fixing the speech in mind
5. delivering it with dignity and grace

Late Senator Robert Taft

Taft is known for  his great speeches. When asked how he prepared them, the following is what he replied:

1. I jot down ideas
2. I arrange those ideas & work them out in greater detail (notes may cover 2 pages)
3. I dictate the address
4. I correct the first draft & have it written
5. Sometimes this is followed by a second correction

It takes me 8 hours to prepare a 30-minute address - assuming I have no extensive reading & research.________________________________________________________________________________

Inspirational quotations on speech

Speech is the voice of the heart.  Chinese Proverb

I would as soon appear before an audience half clothed as half prepared.  Daniel Webster

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in
which you really stop and look fear in the face. You must do the
thing you think you can not do. Eleanor Roosevelt

  The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. Mark Twain 1835-1910

Three things matter in a speech; who says it, how he says it, and what he says -- and, of the three, the last matters the least.-- John Morley

Fear can destroy, but fear can also drive you forward. Peter  Turner

Fear can destroy, but fear can also drive you forward. By taking
action you move away from fear and towards success. Each action,
each time you make a cold call or make a speech gives you practice
and experience. This experience and the positive actions you take
will banish fear and bring you closer to your dreams.  www.potentgrowth.com.

In the right key one can say anything. In the wrong key, nothing: the only delicate part is the establishment of the key. George Bernard Shaw irish playwright and critic.

"Be sincere; be brief; be seated"
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt, Advice on speechmaking to his son James.

Speech and prose are not the same thing. They have different wave-lengths, for speech moves at the speed of light, where prose moves at the speed of the alphabet, and must be consecutive and grammatical and word-perfect. Prose cannot gesticulate. Speech can sometimes do nothing more.James Kenneth Stephens (1882–1950), Irish poet, author

A speech is poetry: cadence, rhythm, imagery, sweep! A speech reminds us that words, like children, have the power to make dance the dullest beanbag of a heart.  Peggy Noonan (b. 1950), U.S. author, presidential speechwriter.

Much speech is one thing, well-timed speech is another. Sophocles (497–406/5 B.C.)

Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel. It is to bring another out of his bad sense into your good sense. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. -Kierkegaard

Music is well said to be the speech of angels.-Thomas Carlyle

To speak, and to speak well, are two things. Ben Johnson 17th-century English dramatist

The unpardonable sin in public speaking is the sin of inadequate preparation.  Anon