430 Part 4 Public Speaking
- The King’s Speech centers on Albert’s address to the British people on September 3,
1939, at the outbreak of World War II, audio recordings of which are available
online. Listen to them, and consider how you would have received the king’s
message if you were a British citizen at that time. What do you think of his
delivery? Do you think your knowledge of his struggles with stammering affect
the way you rate his delivery? - While in class, select a partner and give a one- to two-minute impromptu
speech on a topic of your choice. Your partner will write down both negative
and positive feedback to share with you, and you will do the same in return.
Then team up with another pair of partners. You and your original partner will
take turns giving the same speeches again, incorporating improvements sug-
gested by your partner the first time around. The new partners in your group
will likely give both negative and positive feedback. Listen carefully and apply
their advice. Now add another pair of partners to your group, for a total of six
people, and give your speech one last time. Think of the feedback from all three
sessions. If you received the same negative feedback more than once, you know
where further improvement is needed. Did you feel more confident giving your
speech the third time than you did the first time? - Pay attention to how you meet people and the general first impression you
receive from them. Ask yourself what makes you feel the way you do about the
person. Does the person make you feel comfortable by smiling at you, looking
you in the eye, or coming across as sincere? If you can pinpoint the reasons
for your own first impressions, you can better understand what an audience
expects from a speaker and adjust your own behaviors in order to make a good
impression. - When practicing a speech, pay attention to your gestures and body movements.
Practice once using movements that you feel are appropriate and comfortable;
then practice in front of a friend, and ask how appropriate your movements ac-
tually look. Are you using too many gestures? Too few? - Search YouTube for a segment with a speaker giving a speech or visit TED talks
(the topic does not matter). Turn off the volume so you can only see (not hear)
the speech. Analyze the physical speech delivery of the speaker. Make lists of the
problems with his or her speech delivery and of things the speaker does well (for
example, maintains eye contact). Then watch the speech again, this time with
the volume on. Listen carefully to the speaker’s vocal delivery (such as pitch,
rate, and volume). What do you notice about the speaker’s voice? Compare your
lists and note all of your observations as you prepare for your own speech.
Activities
- LaunchPad for Real Communication offers key term videos and encourages self-
assessment through adaptive quizzing. Go to bedfordstmartins.com/realcomm
to get access to:
LearningCurve
Adaptive Quizzes.Video clips that illustrate key concepts, highlighted
in teal in the Real Reference section that follows.A
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