Since the time immemorial, people tend to deliver good and engaging speeches on several issues. But, the problem is—when you get ready to speak publicly something, you may feel—your throat is getting dried, your knees are shaking, you are forgetting the information about your speech’s topic, and many more!
It is normal for everyone, who are new in public speaking. But, following some ways you may enhance your public speaking skills dynamically. A renowned communication scholar, Joseph A. DeVito has showed some key ways in his book ‘Human Communication’ in this regard:
1. Selecting topic and purposes
Before delivering a speech publicly, you must select your topic and purposes carefully. If your topic is critical one, but you need to engage the audience as much as possible—then, you have to work on that with your innovative ideas. In this regard, you have to identify what are the main purposes of your statements first.
2. Who are the audience?
In order to deliver a speech effectively, one must indicate who are his/her audience. Then, He/she should gather enough information and follow the proper approaches, which can create audience-friendly environments.
For instance, if your audience is youth people, and you are talking about “how to escape mental stresses”—you can tell some examples related to sports as they love the matter.
3. Researching the topics
Before delivering a speech publicly on a certain issue, everyone should know the topic in details. Because, if you don’t have enough information about the topic— then, why will the audience listen your speech?
Thus, if you are going to talk about child marriage, you have to know first—who are child, what are the impacts of child marriage on societal and psycho-physical aspects, what is the recent picture of the issue and what are the solutions.
4. Collecting supporting materials
After studying the topic you are going to talk about— now, you can move to arrange some supporting materials to present the topics more realistically. It may include: relevant examples, narratives or theories, presentation aids, whiteboards, and so on.
Because, usually people pay a great attention to the things, which are occurring in front of them or the things, which are relevant to their daily life. As a result, you can visualize your examples through this path.
5. Developing main points
Eventually, your selected topic may have many focus points to discuss. But, you should not beat around the bush during delivering your speech. It will decrease your professionalism and your audience will feel boring. As a result, you have to identify what are the main points of your speech, and create some well-structured key points to discuss.
For example, during talking about ‘drug addiction’, you don’t need to discuss how drugs are produced, rather you should mention—how the drugs create complexities on the human bodies after being absorbed.
6. Organizing speech
If you dream to deliver a well-engaging and enough informative speech, you have to work on it. In this stage, to gain success—you should gather your ideas to organize a well-structured speech. It will help you to follow the speech preparation processes, through which your statements will become more understandable to your audience.
Additionally, through this path—you may build credibility and present the information, which can be memorized easily.
7. Constructing introduction, conclusion and transitions
After organizing your speech, you should take actions to construct a good introduction, conclusion and transitioning process. If your scattered audience don’t get engaged with you, it will collapse the entire situation.
Thus, at the beginning, you should seek attention of the audiences with some catchy appreciative words as introductory tones. You may also grab attention with unique visualizing ideas. Then, you may proceed to build a well transitioning techniques. Because, if you don’t relate your main points with each other, it will seem like lifeless gossips. And lately, a summarizing conlusion may provide a recalling oppurtunities to the audiences.
8. Wording speech
As you have constructed introduction, conclusion, and transitions of your speech, you may focus on wording your speech. In this regard, you have to keep in mind that your speech should carry clarified, appropriate, and vivid words. Additionally, they should be framed in a unique powerful manner. These will enhance the standards of your speech.
9. Rehearsing speech
Before delivering a speech, rehearsing is must. It will also help you to boost your confidence and enhance your time managing skills.
Thus, DeVito suggested that one should rehearse his/her speech at least three to four times in order to achieve the desired goals. You may also check errors and edit your speech in this stage.
10. Presenting speech
The last step is to deliver or present your speech effectively and efficiently. Therefore, you should make the environment comforting to yourself. Then, you should speak up with consistency following your own styles. You may have to speak with short manuscripts, or fully written documents. But, in some circumstances, you may have to speak without any preparation also.
Thus, everyone should study enough to talk anything about their relevant sphere always in order to maintain own images to the public.