PREPARING A SPEECH OR ORAL REPORT

Some students do not like the idea of speaking in public, whether in front of small or large groups. Just the thought that
they will facing people already makes them jittery. However, that is a normal part of life. When you become
professionals, there will always be a time that you will face your audience. It may come as an unplanned activity in which
you will be forced to speak impromptu or it may be a previously planned event that has given you sufficient time to
prepare. Whatever the case may be, you need to exude some degree of confidence as presentation of oral reports or
speeches can be very threatening.

As a students, you should take seriously any opportunity that comes your way and that requires you to deliver a talk. For
example, in class, there will be an instances when you will be asked to make an oral report of a topic assigned to you.
You may be asked to deliver a speech as classroom activity. Though you may find these task difficult, you need to take
them seriously as they will certainly benefit you when you become professionals.

Being able to speak effectively in front of an audience will always be an advantage. Some professionals become most
sought-after speaker because of their good oral communication skills. They are invited to give keynote speeches or give
lectures on a select topic in conferences or give trainings in seminar-workshops. Sometimes, they are also tapped to give
sales pitch or a product demonstration. Likewise, they are asked to deliver inspirational or motivational speeches during
graduation ceremonies or in similar communication setting.

So how do you prepare for this difficult task? Consider the following so you can render an effective speech and be a good
public speaker:

1. Audience- Know the profile of your listeners. It is important that you know who will listen to you-their age, gender,
educational background, religion, economic status, and interests. Also, know how much the audience knows about the
topic. That way you can avoid discussing points that would run contrary to their beliefs and practices and thus prevent
miscommunication and misunderstanding. Further, you can introduce new things for them to learn and not simply
repeat things that they may have already learned from previous speakers. Know how to read the posture and the
gesture of your audience members as these will signal to you what kind of an audience they are. Be ready to face
different kinds of audiences as there may be some who are questioners, hecklers, disrupters, hostile, or
unresponsive/bored audiences. Know how to deal with any unpleasant incident or conflict with your audience and
always stay in control of the situation.

2. Logistics- It is something basic or essential for every speaker to know who is organizing the event. Know who
will be introducing you and who will be speaking before and after you. That way, you will be able to tie up the earlier
presentation with your own resulting in a more coherent presentation. You may even give the audience an idea as to
what the next talk is going to be.

2.1. Venue- The venue is equally important. Locate the lights and if you have movable visual aids, know where to
position them. As a speaker, you should also know how to position yourself and how you should move in front to get
the attention of the listeners. Remember to work on your posture and avoid bad habits when speaking. Do not block the
view of your visual aids as you present them. Employ a balanced posture by not standing on one leg only. Do not lean
on any object that will give support to your weight. These postures give the impression that you lack confidence and
authority.

2.2. Facilities- Ask beforehand about the pieces of equipment available for you. These facilities should match
the presentation aids that you will use. If there is no available projector, find a way to have one especially if your visual
aids are highly complex. If there are any electrical problems or technical glitches you encounter, know how to trouble-
shoot them.

3. Content of report/speech/lecture- Since you have been invited as a speaker, the organizers might have sought
you because of your reputation as an effective speaker. If the purpose of the event is to inform just like in a
convention, conference, or a training seminar, it is expected that you are able to contribute new information. If the
purpose is to entertain, your speech should be light-hearted, amusing, and lively. If the purpose is to persuade, your
presentation should sound convincing enough. Note, however that any communicative event may have more than one
purpose but there is always a more dominant one.

Preparing an Effective Presentation

An effective presentation is more than just standing up and giving information. A presenter must consider how best to
communicate the information to the audience. Oral presentations require a good deal of planning. Scholars estimate
that approximately 50% of all mistakes in an oral presentation actually occur in the planning stage (or rather, lack of a
planning stage). Use these tips to create a presentation that is both informative and interesting:

1. Organize your thoughts. Start with an outline and develop good transitions between sections. Emphasize the real-
world significance of your research.

2. Have a strong opening. Why should the audience listen to you? One good way to get their attention is to start with a
question, whether or not you expect an answer.

3. Define terms early. If you are using terms that may be new to the audience, introduce them early in your
presentation. Once an audience gets lost in unfamiliar terminology, it is extremely difficult to get them back on track.

4. Finish with a bang. Find one or two sentences that sum up the importance of your research. How is the world better
off as a result of what you have done?

5. Design PowerPoint slides to introduce important information. Consider doing a presentation without
PowerPoint. Then consider which points you cannot make without slides. Create only those slides that are
necessary to improve your communication with the audience.

6. Time yourself. Do not wait until the last minute to time your presentation. You only have 15 minutes to speak, so you
want to know, as soon as possible, if you are close to that limit.

7. Create effective notes for yourself. Have notes that you can read. Do not write out your entire talk; use an outline or
other brief reminders of what you want to say. Make sure the text is large enough that you can read it from a distance.

8. Practice, practice, practice. The more you practice your presentation, the more comfortable you will be in front
of an audience. Practice in front of a friend or two and ask for their feedback. Record yourself and listen to it
critically. Make it better and do it again

Presenting Effectively

When you start your presentation, the audience will be interested in what you say. Use these tips to help keep them
interested throughout your presentation:

1. Be excited. You are talking about something exciting. If you remember to be excited, your audience will feel it
and automatically become more interested.

2. Speak with confidence. When you are speaking, you are the authority on your topic, but do not pretend that
you know everything. If you do not know the answer to a question, admit it. Consider deferring the question to your
mentor or offer to look into the matter further.

3. Make eye contact with the audience. Your purpose is to communicate with your audience, and people listen
more if they feel you are talking directly to them. As you speak, let your eyes settle on one person for several
seconds before moving on to somebody else. You do not have to make eye contact with everybody, but make
sure you connect with all areas of the audience equally.

4. Avoid reading from the screen. First, if you are reading from the screen, you are not making eye contact with your
audience. Second, if you put it on your slide, it is because you wanted them to read it, not you.
5. Blank the screen when a slide is unnecessary. A slide that is not related to what you are speaking about can distract
the audience. Pressing the letter B or the period key displays a black screen, which lets the audience concentrate
solely on your words. Press the same key to restore the display.

6. Use a pointer only when necessary. If you are using a laser pointer, remember to keep it off unless you need
to highlight something on the screen.

7. Explain your equations and graphs. When you display equations, explain them fully. Point out all constants and
dependent and independent variables. With graphs, tell how they support your point. Explain the x- and y-axes and
show how the graph progresses from left to right.

8. Pause. Pauses bring audible structure to your presentation. They emphasize important information, make transitions
obvious, and give the audience time to catch up between points and to read new slides. Pauses always feel much longer
to speakers than to listeners. Practice counting silently to three (slowly) between points.

9. Avoid filler words. Um, like, you know, and many others. To an audience, these are indications that you do not know
what to say; you sound uncomfortable, so they start to feel uncomfortable as well. Speak slowly enough that you
can collect your thoughts before moving ahead. If you really do not know what to say, pause silently until you do.

10. Relax. It is hard to relax when you are nervous, but your audience will be much more comfortable if you are too.

11. Breathe. It is fine to be nervous. In fact, you should be all good presenters are nervous every time they are in front of
an audience. The most effective way to keep your nerves in check aside from a lot of practice before hand is to
remember to breathe deeply throughout your presentation.

12. Acknowledge the people who supported your research. Be sure to thank the people who made your research
possible, including your mentor, research team, collaborators, and other sources of funding and supports.

Other Tips:

1. Read a lot. Research on the topic assigned to you. With the fast changing times, it is certain that there are new
developments that have occured in the field. As a speaker, you should be kept abreast of these new development by
reading a lot.

2. Prepare your oral presentation with an introduction, body, and conclusion. There are techniques to open and close
your presentation: (a) using a startling or shocking statements; (b) beginning with question; (c) using a quotation; (d)
narrating an anecdote or a story; (e) singing a line from a song; and (f) presenting a statistics. The strategy you will
employ should match the topic that you will present. For example, you cannot sing a happy song if the the topic has
something to do with a tragic event. Remember that your introduction and concluding parts will leave a lasting
impression on your audience.

As regards the body of your presentation, emphasize the major points you wish to make baacked up with supporting
statements to further elucidate your main points. Arrange your thoughts in a logical sequence so your listeners can
easily follow through your talk. You can do this by employing transitional or cohesive devices to make your ideas
coherent.

3. Rehearse by practicing aloud and getting feedback of those who will act as your audience during the rehearsal stage.
You may invite your family and friends to listen to you by rehearsing. Their comments and suggestions can be useful for
you to improve your presentation before the big day.

For the introduction, use gambits such as:

a. I would to talk about....

b. I believe that the topic....

c. Let me relate a .....

For the conclusion, use gambits or expression such as:

A. Summarizing up the points I discussed earlier...

B. To summarize

C. In conclusion

D. To conclude

E. Finally

F. To end my talk or speech ....

Then restate the highlights you mentioned. You may also challenge the listeners to act on the ideas you presented if the
purpose of the oral presentation is to convince or persuade.

4. Use technology. In this day and age, most speakers use technology. Technology forms part of their audio and visual
aids. Through these tools, listeners can easily follow discussion because they not only hear but also see the highlights of
the presentation.

Paralinguistic cues are intentionally used to express real thoughts and emotions alongside the verbal message. In a
sense, paralinguistic cues such as facial expressions, gestures, proximity, posture and echoing are all part of the way
individuals communicate with each other in face-to-face conversations.

Paralinguistic communication” has been defined as “not WHAT you say, but THE WAY you say it.” Paralanguage,
sometimes known as nonverbal communication, is communication by means other than words, although (usually)
operating alongside language.

Prosodic features are features that appear when we put sounds together in connected speech. It is as important to
teach learners prosodic features as successful communication depends as much on intonation, stress and rhythm as on
the correct pronunciation of sounds. Intonation, stress and rhythm are prosodic features.

Prosodic Features and Prosodic Structure presents an overall view of the nature of prosodic features of language -
accent, stress, rhythm, tone, pitch, and intonation - and shows how these connect to sound systems and meaning.

Presenting in Groups

When making a group presentation, everyone should be a team player and members should not compete with each
other. Note that since you are working with a team, there should be coordination among you. Guidelines should be
followed especially if it is a group task. Planning is the essence so that your presentation is coherent and does not
become fragmented. As you prepare your presentation, note the following tips.

1. Assign a specific task to each member.

2. Divide the work accordingly. Each should know the part assigned to him/her as well as the time allotted to each.

3. Decide on a strategy as to how you will begin and end your group presentation.

4. Prepare your audio-visual aids to hold the attention and increase the interest of the listeners.

5. Practice on your own. Then come up with a schedule acceptable to the team in which you can rehearse as a group.
6. Get feedback from team mates as to how you can still improve your presentation in particular and the presentation of
the group in general.

7. As individual and group presenter, think of possible questions that may arise after the presentation. If you cannot
think of any answer, seek the help of your groupmates.

8. As individual and group presenters, respond to questions effectively during the question time. If it happens that
nobody from the group knows the answer, be honest to admit that you will find time to research on that matter.

Overcoming Anxiety and Stage Fright

Stage fright is a common type of anxiety that refers to feeling anxious when presenting before an audience. These
anxiety symptoms may be either physical or emotional. In severe situations, they can feel incredibly debilitating. Stage
fright can affect anyone—it may even impact people who seemingly appear comfortable in front of a crowd.

Stage fright is a type of anxiety that describes feeling anxious when speaking or performing in front of a group of people.
It isn’t just limited to literal stages. In general, stage fright is a colloquial term used to describe performance anxiety,
presentation anxiety, or the fear of public speaking.

Try these 10 tips to reduce your stage fright:

1. Shift the focus from yourself and your fear to your true purpose—contributing something of value to your audience.

2. Stop scaring yourself with thoughts about what might go wrong. Instead, focus your attention on thoughts and images
that are calming and reassuring.

3. Refuse to think thoughts that create self-doubt and low confidence.

4. Practice ways to calm and relax your mind and body, such as deep breathing, relaxation exercises, yoga, and
meditation.

5. Exercise, eat well, and practice other healthful lifestyle habits. Try to limit caffeine, sugar, and alcohol as much as
possible.

6. Visualize your success: Always focus on your strength and ability to handle challenging situations.

7. Prepare your material in advance and read it aloud to hear your voice.

8. Make connections with your audience: Smile and greet people, thinking of them as friends rather than enemies.

9. Stand or sit in a self-assured, confident posture. Remain warm and open and make eye contact.

10. Give up trying to be perfect and know that it is OK to make mistakes. Be natural, be yourself.

Stage fright can be minimized. It is not also a negative feeling all the time. Learn how to convert this social fear into
something positive so that you can aspire for top performance.
 hen we hear the word speaking what
comes in our mind might be the
president of the nation
giving a speech, politicians, and
guest speakers in an event. We speak
to express our feelings
and thoughts; one can share his/her
experience. He/she can appreciate
and be grateful through
his/her speech, might as well you
can roast someone and entertain
everyone, speaking is so
applicable in all we do. It is also
used in school when a student
delivers an oral report; it
develops the confidence,
vocabulary, pronunciation, and
even the speaking skills. In fact
speaking is a norm that we all
share. We hear a lot of great and
influential speakers from
different countries. Through
speaking we achieve world peace
and through speaking it creates
partnership with other nations.
Having the confidence to speak in
front of numbers of people
can be both courageous yet critical.
Amazing how powerful your
message yet critical that leads
to conflict. That is why you need to
be direct and clear with your ideas
on how you will deliver
it. That also applies with the
students.