Oral Skills

• The main focus of this topic is to introduce you to some basic oral skills.
• This topic is meant to help you achieve one of the course objectives: to
speak English at a level consonant with that required to study at the
tertiary level.
• This topic will help you to develop confidence to speak in small groups as
well as large groups.
• However, due to limitations with time and large classes, it seems
impossible to help each one of you practice how to speak in front of
groups.
• Therefore, you will need to use the skills obtained from this topic and
practice with your peers.
• At the end of this topic, you will write an assignment that will constitute
40% of your semester grade.
 Methods of speech delivery
1. Impromptu: speaking spontaneous
• Speaking impromptu, is a type of delivery that is unpracticed, spontaneous,
or improvised, which involves speaking on relatively short notice with little
time to prepare.
• This speech occurs when in situations, for example, your colleague is not
available and has asked you to speak on his behalf, or your lecturer has asked
you to summarise points on a topic you just covered.
• Speeches made at a funeral, parties, are usually impromptu.
• Try to anticipate situations that may require you to speak impromptu and
prepare some few remarks beforehand, for example, when you are attending
an office dinner- you may be requested to make few remarks.
• Most of the times, you would be required to maximise the little time you
have on the spot to prepare and plan what to speak.
Examples of speeches delivered impromptu

1. Valediction-formal farewell/ graduation speech.

2. Toast: at weddings/social gathering to express
goodwill.
3. Eulogy: praise a person who recently passed away.
4. Invocation: to ask for assistance or help.
2. Manuscript (speaking from manuscript): written speech that is
read to audience (e.g. parliament speech)
When speaking from manuscript, you read a speech verbatim—that is,
from prepared written text that contains the entire speech, word for word.
The disadvantages of this method are: it restricts eye contact and body
movement; it limits expressiveness in vocal variety and quality; watching
a speaker read a speech can be monotonous and boring for the audience.

3. Memorised speech (speaking from memory)

You put the entire speech, word for word, into writing and then commit it to
memory. This is rare nowadays, but some people still practice it.
The disadvantages of this method are: lack of true eye contact with the
audience and the possibility of a mental lapse or block.
Some kinds of brief speeches, however, such as toasts and introductions, can
be well served by memorization.
4. Extemporaneous (speaking extramporaneous): preparation of
notes prior to delivery, which is conversational in nature (e.g. a
lecture).
Speaking extemporaneously falls somewhere between
impromptu and written or memorized deliveries.
In an extemporaneous speech, you prepare well and practice in
advance, giving full attention to all facets of the speech—
content, arrangement, and delivery alike.
Instead of memorizing or writing the speech word for word,
you speak from an outline of key words and phrases, having
concentrated throughout your preparation and practice on the
ideas that you want to communicate.
Impromptu speaking
• Impromptu speaking is probably one of the commonest
speeches you will find yourself delivering in your university
life or life in general.
• What are the benefits of impromptu speaking?
It helps you improve oral expression of thought.
It helps you to develop confidence in public speaking.
It helps you to think quickly on your feet.
It helps you to develop leadership and communication
skills.
Techniques of Impromptu speaking
1. Give yourself time to prepare –(on the spot)
• Take deep breaths as this helps to fuel your voice.
• Rise slowly- use this time to collect your thoughts and decide
on the purpose and plan of your speech.
• Develop a simple position, action and benefit statement.
• Think about the opening sentence.
2. Speak and Act in a Confident Manner
• Posture: Stand straight but not stiff. Demonstrate enthusiasm and
show interest.
• Eye contact: keep your body facing the audience as much as
possible to maintain eye contact. This helps to demonstrate your
confidence (avoid looking at the back wall, or one spot).
• Movement: Do not stay frozen in one spot. Make an occasional step
to either side or even half step towards the audience for emphasis.
When you move always look at a person in the direction you are
going.
• Gestures: Use gestures for emphasis of important points. Between
gestures, simply relax your hands to your sides. Avoid keeping hands
in your pockets, behind your back and crossed. Avoid grasping the
stand.
• Avoid Distractive Mannerisms:
Grasping the stand.
Twiddling with a pencil.
Standing on one foot.
Keeping hand in your pockets behind your back or crossed.
All mannerisms that will show your lack of confidence or
distract the audiences’ attention should be avoided.
3. Deliver slowly/ make pauses
• Gives you time to organize your thought.
• Gives audience time to absorb and respond/react to your
speech.
• Gives you time to listen, and formulate answers to the
audience.
• Pausing and delivering slowly helps you to avoid annoying
“verbal tics” such as umm, ahh…
4. Focus
• Keep the focus on the subject while talking.
• Don't think of any negatives (e.g. being unprepared, but make
it interesting and inspiring).
• Talk directly to the audience and adapt to their feedback.
• Personalize the speech (tell your story and make it
conversational), for example, “according to my
understanding…” “the way I see it…”
• Be brief and to the point (Don't ramble or say too much on
the subject).
• Use short sentences, keep it simple so that everyone can
understand.
Impromptu Speech Structure
Opening
• Open by addressing the Chairperson or Master of Ceremonies, etc.
• Use attention grabber: joke/question/current events.
• State the question you are answering and the point that you wish
to make or your position.
Body
• Try to find one or two central themes.
• Open and close each section with clear transition. Make it easy for
your listener to follow your story.

Conclusion
• Be brief and look for an elegant closing that links back to the opening
and call to action (what you want the audience to do, believe or
understand). As you have seen…,first.., second… therefore.
• End by acknowledging the Chairperson. Master of ceremonies, etc.
 Argumentation (Debate)
• Argumentative speaking is a basic speaking skill you also need to master.
• It is an act of formal argument which involves opposing points. Thus you either
argue for or against a topic or idea.
• Argumentation is the action or process of reasoning systematically in support of
an idea, action or theory.
• First, know your position; oppose or proposer.
• Listen attentively to the person you are debating with; their arguments, points,
etc. Check on their weaknesses in the argument and also their strengths. These
may remind you of important facts about your position.
• Say a greeting at the beginning of your speech.
• Applaud each speaker.
• Present your case with facts, figures and stories.
• Be humble in victory and be gracious in general.
Don’ts for Argumentation Speaking
• Do not make it personal.
• Do not provide misleading information.
• Do not use mannerisms that are distracting.
• Do not use inappropriate language.
• Never interrupt other speakers when they are speaking.
Speech Writing and
Delivery
 Developing Speech Purpose (Types of speeches)
• Determine the reason for speaking: General Objectives include, to inform,
to persuade, or to entertain
• Specific objective: What your audience should know, do, believe, feel etc.
• Specific objectives use infinitive verbs, for example in

a) Informative speech
To explain the benefits…; To describe the differences….; To report about…

b) Persuasive speech use infinitive action verbs

To influence critics…..; to motivate listeners..; to reinforce audience
beliefs…; to change audience attitudes towards…
Persuasive versus informative speech
• The basic purpose of an informative presentation is to promote
understanding of an idea.
• The basic purpose of persuasive presentations is to influence choices.
• Often only a thin line divides informative and persuasive
presentations.
• Persuasive presentations must inform as well as persuade. How can a
speaker persuade listeners, unless they are informed of all facts?
• In the same way, many informative presentations are indirectly
persuasive. For example, it is very possible that an informative report
on a particular problem will persuade those listening that corrective
measures must be taken.
The Informative Speech
• When speaking informatively, you hope to provide a learning
experience for your listeners, sharing information they did not posses
before your talk.
• Your main goal is to inform an audience and you must be certain that
the data you provide will enhance your listeners’ understanding, and
you must find ways to help the audience remember what you say.
• If your purpose is to persuade your listeners to change their belief, then
your presentation is a persuasive one.
• However, if your intent is simply to make listeners aware of or understand
the problem then the presentation is an informative one.
• Speaker intent then determines whether a presentation is labeled
informative or persuasive. As a speaker, you must make this determination
before your preparation because the two types require very different
approaches.
• To ensure that your purpose is clear- initially to yourself and ultimately to
your listeners- you will find it helpful to develop a purpose statement.
• This means that you commit to writing a summary of what you want to
accomplish, you describe what you hope to do with your speech.
• The purpose statement of an informative speech often contains such words
as show, explain, report, instruct, describe and inform of course.
The Persuasive Speech
• The same principles used for an informative speech may be applied in
formulating a purpose statement for a persuasive speech.
• In a persuasive speech your main goal is to reinforce or change an
audience’s beliefs or to make the audience behave in a certain way.
• The words convince, persuade, motivate and act commonly turn up in
purpose statements for persuasive speeches.
Stages of Speech Making
Analysis of Important Factors in Speech Writing and
Delivery (Read pp.28-31 of the notes in PDF for details)
1. The Speaker:
• Good speakers have insight -they know their own strengths and
limitations.
• Know their audiences -they know the nature and concerns of the
people to be addressed.
• Always prepare – they conduct rehearsals of the presentation.
• Keep the audience interested in what they have to say.
• Value criticism from post analysis and apply it the next time they
are on the spotlight.
2. The Audience: A major pitfall of public speaking is the tendency to address
speaker’s interests and not the audience’s.
To address audiences’ interest, engage in Audience analysis which include
factors: age, gender, family orientation, religion, cultural background, socio-
economic status, etc. (See pp. 29- 30 of the PDF)

Your task is to understand how each of these factors influence speech

preparation and delivery. NB: This is a reading assignment and should be
completed!

3. The Occasion: Check what you need to know about the occasion (nature), date,
time, duration, size of audience, location.

4. The Subject area: The worthiness of the subject to speaker and audience,
appropriateness to occasion and audience, availability of material.
Topic Narrowing
• The following steps can be used in narrowing a topic:
Select a topic and put it at the top of a ladder.
Subdivide the topic into constituent parts that is, break the topic
down into smaller and smaller units.
The smallest unit should appear at the lowest step of the ladder.

• For details- Read p.31-32 of the notes in PDF format.

Format of Speeches

• People employ different formats in speech writing, as follows:

1. The Pyramid Form

• This form will start with the least important points and end with the most important ones.
• The advantage of this form is that it holds the audience to listen up to the end.
• The more they listen, the more they get important points.
• The speaker enjoys the attention of the audience to the very end.
2. The Upside-Down Pyramid Form

• This form will start with the most important points and end with the least important
points.
• This form is mostly employed when the speech is very long.
• The speaker makes sure the audience gets the most important part of the speech
before they get tired.
3. Two- Pyramids

• This form will start with the most important points and end with the most important points
as well.
• Less important points will be included in the middle.
• The advantage of this is that at the beginning of the speech the audience’s mind is fresh
and eager to listen and mostly what is said last sticks in the mind of the audience.
4. The Rectangular Form

• This form will mix the important and less important points.
• This form is generally good for short speeches as there is a fusion of points.
 Parts of Speech:
1. Introduction
A. Get audience’s attention
• Greet audience, introduce yourself.
• Cite a startling (shocking) fact or opinion, question, quotation, anecdote,
that makes them start thinking.
B. State your thesis statement: what the speech is about ‘I am here to
present a talk on the topic body fitness.’
• State your position and what you hope to achieve.
C. Establish your credibility
• Your experience on the topic (research, qualification, background) or why
you are speaking on the topic.
D. Provide the speech outline
2. Body
• Show clear reasoning (elaboration should include facts,
figures, examples).
• Include frequent summaries after discussing a sub-
point, to help the listener remember your message.
• Include visual aids (see pp. 34-35 of the PDF notes for
further elaboration of using visual aids effectively).
• NB: This is a reading assignment and should be
completed!
3. Conclusion
• Transition to conclusion: ‘So as you can see’, ‘to conclude,’…
• Summarise the main points of your presentation ‘first I discussed
about.., then talked about.. and lastly I explained about..’
• Call to action in persuasive speeches (ask your audience to do what
you spoke about).
• End with a memorable thought (could be linked with the opening).
Tips for an effective conclusion
• Do not end abruptly.
• Don’t ramble (do not introduce additional points, repeat reasons and
evidence).
Techniques of Oral Presentations

• Make short speeches, human attention span is short.

• Visual aids help a great deal. Use the black/white board or PowerPoint to present
key words.
• Practice/rehearse your oral presentation before you give it in front of an audience.
• Do not begin with jokes in academic presentations.
• Provide a statement of the topic that you investigated.
• Avoid misrepresentation of facts.
• Engage the audience by asking questions and giving answers.
• Choose language that your audience will understand.
• See pp. 34-36 of the PDF notes for further clarifications. NB: This is a reading
assignment and should be completed!
Speaker Ethics
1. Mannerisms: Habitual gestures/way of speaking
• Distractive mannerisms include grasping the stand, twiddling
with a pencil, standing on one foot, keeping hand in your
pockets, behind your back or crossed, etc.
• They distract audience and speaker concentration.
• Any mannerisms which prevent the free use of your hands for
natural gestures may affect your voice.
2. Dressing
• Dress descent and for the occasion; smart if it is a formal
occasion, smart casual/traditional for a social gathering.
• Maintain groomed hair, polished shoes, avoid tight clothes.
• Ladies should avoid jewelry that dangles, sparkles and makes
noise. Use simple make up.
• Men may wish to button their suits depending on level of
formality.
• Colors for the shirt and tie should not be too bright and should
coordinate the suit.
3. Misrepresentation of facts
• Avoid misrepresentation of facts.
• Present facts with evidence where possible depending on the subject
of your topic.
 Use of Visual Aids in Speech Presentations
• Only one key point per visual (slide) unless the audience is very familiar
with the subject.
• Organize material into natural categories and contrasts. E.g. Before vs.
after, problem and solution, advantages vs. disadvantages, beginning to
end, costs vs. benefits, etc.
• Use variety to increase interest: pictures, graphs and symbols.
• Maximum of 5 points under one heading.
• Use bulleted words or short phrases only, except for quotes.
See pp. 34-35 of the PDF notes for further elaboration of using visual aids
effectively).
NB: This is a reading assignment and should be completed!
Some important tips for speech delivery
• Do not block the audience's vision; limit the time your back is facing
the audience.
• Make sure you know how to operate the equipment; practice it ahead
of time; have backup cords, bulbs, adapters, etc; prepare for the
worst.
Assignment- Mid semester for Continuous Assessment grading
• Assignment Question: Write a persuasive speech to encourage fellow students to observe
COVID 19 measures at all times. In your speech demonstrate an understanding of how to
write a good persuasive speech. The speech should have all speech parts. Use of visuals is
compulsory.
• Type of assignment: GROUP ASSIGNMENT- only 10 (+1 or -1) people per group would be
acceptable. BOYS and GIRLS should make up your group.
• Choose group leader: The group leader will facilitate discussions and make sure that
everyone participates in discussions. The leader will have the power to exclude any
member who will not participate in group discussions. The leader and each member
should make sure that the names of all group members with their correct registration
numbers and programs are written on the front page of the assignment before
submission.
• Total Marks: 40
• Length: 500 words and a maximum of three visual aids.
• Format: 1.5 line spacing, 12 point, Times New Roman type of font.
• Date of submission: XXXXXXXXXXXX