Effective Presentations / Public Speaking

Responsibility of Public Speaker

• to influence and inspire their audiences, not to

communicate information.
What makes a good speech/presentation?

The most brilliant ideas are worthless if the

speaker can’t deliver them.

So, how a speech is performed may be more important

than how it is built. If the speaker cannot deliver the
speech well, no one will ever notice how well it was written.

As Chris Witt points out, ‘Knowledge isn’t power;

communicating knowledge is”.
What Business wants?
According to recent NACE Job Outlook surveys (2013),

“the ability to verbally communicate with

persons inside and outside the organization
has consistently ranked in the top 4 skills
employers most desire in job candidates”.
Remember:

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well

enough

Albert Einstein
Getting Started: Point 1

Have a captivating opening slide/Title

Bad: A Critical look at the History and Production of

Fireworks

Good: Bang! – Making Fire Work.

Point 3
Begin with a question; or a surprising statistic
or statement; or a story

• Asking your audience a question gets them thinking

straight away. E.g., Darren Le Croix’s “ Can you
remember a moment when a brilliant idea flashed into
your head?”
• A well told story is interesting and captures audience
attention.
Point 3
• Do something unexpected
Point 4
• Focus on a few key points

I am honored to be with you today at your

commencement from one of the finest
universities in the world. I never
graduated from college. Truth be told,
this is the closest I've ever gotten to a
college graduation. Today I want to tell you
three stories from my life. That's it. No big
deal. Just three [points] stories.

• Check: What are the key points in your

speech/presentation? Limit the number of points you make
so that you don’t overwhelm the audience.
Point 5
• Use Anchors to make key points memorable.

Effective anchors are:

• Stories
• Analogies and Metaphors
• Acronyms
• Anecdotes
• Activities
Analogies and Metaphors

• Useful because they link your idea to a concept that the

audience is familiar with
Acronyms
• Acronyms are also effective anchors especially when
delivering ‘informative’ presentations

E.g.,
PVLEGS

( in reference to Public speaking)

Anecdotes
Defined as a short and interesting story or an amusing
event often proposed to support or demonstrate some point
and make readers and listeners laugh.

E.g., At the beginning of a speech about fire safety, the

speaker tells a short cautionary tale about a serious injury
that occurred as a result of not following protocol.
Activities
• Activities that emphasize your key points will make the
points more memorable.
(e.g., Chinese Whisper in
Effective Communication
lecture)
Point 6
• Do not end with Q & A

• Take questions first and then make a Final Conclusion

• Tell audience in advance, “ I’ll take questions now, and
then I’ll wrap up with the Final Conclusion. So, who has
the first question?”
•
Point 7
Practice – Feedback Loop
• The best way to improve at public speaking is to Practice,
Practice, Practice. The more you do it, the more confident
and comfortable you’ll be in front of an audience.
Point 8
Concluding your speech

• Summarize the key points, and

• Make a clear call for action. Let your audience know what
you would like them to do after listening to your speech.
Give them a clear next step to follow.
Conclusion

• Craft an interesting Title

• Begin with a Bang!
• Limit your points
• Anchor your points
• Create a compelling closing
• Practice, Get feedback, Improve
Study good public speakers
The phrase that changed the mind of the Queen of
England.

“The people's princess."

(Articulating the public mood after Diana's death in August

1997.
What’s their approach?

“The only communication that works is real

authenticity”. Alastair Campbell (Tony Blair's Chief
Strategist)

"The speaker's got to work out what the main objective is of

their speech. That's all about the central argument".
• Most people will listen to a well structured argument: So
make sure your argument is founded on factual
analysis, values, your own experiences, history,
colour. In this way, you can usually persuade somebody
closer to your case, even if ultimately they're not going to
necessarily agree with you.
• Therefore, persuasion is key to most speeches, ensuring
that an audience is on the speaker's side.
• Non-verbal communication is as important to a speaker
as the words they are delivering.
We've been receiving non-verbal messages longer than
we've been receiving language.
Non-verbal communication comes naturally to some
people, but other people are not very good at it, and
therefore not very persuasive.

A confident speaker should exude an air of credibility as

there's a certain amount of authoritarianism in it.
Persuasion ultimately boils down to
• Behaviour
• Emotion
• Cognition (mental process of knowing, including aspects
such as awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment.)
• The speaker/presenter must get the audience in the mood,
that they're going to be receptive; you've got to deliver the
cognitive idea and have them accept that; you then need to
get them to do something. Once the audience begins to
commit you've not only got your argument across but they
are following that argument and it now becomes their
argument - and they will take it somewhere else.
Things to Remember

• Define your main objective

• Use factual analysis, values, experiences, history and
colour
• Confidence breeds confidence
• Consider what you body's saying
• End with a practical outcome