Public speaking is a skill that can be trained, practiced and utilized to provide benefits in accordance with the needs of the audience, among others, to convey information, motivate, persuade and influence others, achieve mutual understanding and agreement, reached for a promotion, direct the work of the staff, improve product sales / business profits and share the knowledge of a person.
The purpose of public speaking can not be separated from the communication objectives, namely to convey the message or idea to the public at the appropriate methods so that the public can understand the message or idea, and then benefit from the message. In connection with this a public speaker are also required to be able to choose the right method to deliver his message.
A. Speaking to Public
According by Dan O’Hair, Hannah Rubenstein, Rob Stewart. Speaking to inform is to communicate knowledge. An informative speech provides new information, new insights, or new ways of thinking about a topic. Your speech might be an explanation of a concept or practice; a description of a person, place, or event; or a physical demonstration of how something works. As long as the audience learns something, the options.
The Purpose of Speaking to Public
James O. Loghlin, speakers to public can inspire, they can move, they can cause the listener to laugh, cry and give money. Sometimes they can even change a listener’s life.
(taken in part from The Challenge of Effective Speaking by Rudolph Verderber) The purpose of any speak to public or presentation is to facilitate the learning process. We can do this in three ways:
Help listeners to become receptive to new information. Listeners are quick to judge whether or not they will listen to new information. Our goal as speakers is to show listeners that being receptive is vital to learning.
Help listeners to understand the material. Speakers can help listeners relate information to their own experience. Speakers can also help listeners apply that information in their work and personal lives.
Help listeners retain the material they have received. As soon as we take in information, we begin to lose it—unless we can learn to hold on to it.
According by Mark Butland’s, although the overarching goal of an informative speech is to communicate information and ideas so the audience will understand, there are other goals of informative speaking. Whether you are giving a speech to explain, describe, or demonstrate, the following five goals are relevant: be accurate, objective, clear, meaningful, and memorable.
Accurate
Informative speakers strive to present the truth. They understand the importance of careful research for verifying information they present. Facts must be correct and current. Research is crucial to attaining this goal. Two strategies will help you present accurate information
1. Objective
Present information fairly and in an unbiased manner. Purposely leaving out critical information or “stacking the facts” to create a misleading picture violates the rule of objectivity.
2. Clear
To be successful, your informative speech must communicate your ideas without confusion. When a message is not organized clearly, audiences can become frustrated and confused and, ultimately, will miss your ideas.
3. Meaningful
A meaningful, informative message focuses on what matters to the audience as well as to the speaker. Relate your material to the interests, needs, and concerns of your audience.
4. Memorable
Speakers who are enthusiastic, genuine, and creative and who can communicate their excitement to their listeners deliver memorable speeches. Engaging examples, dramatic stories, and tasteful humor applied to your key ideas in agenuine manner will make a long-lasting impact.
B. Speaking to Persuade
According to Stephen E. Lucas, when you speak to persuade, you act as an advocate. Your job is to get listeners to agree with you and perhaps, to act on that belief. Your goal may be to defend an idea to refute an opponent, to sell a program, or to inspire people to action. Because persuasive speakers must communicate information clearly and concisely, you will need all the skills you used in speaking to inform. But you will also need new skills that take you from giving information to affecting your listeners’ attitudes, beliefs, or actions.
How to Motivate Listeners
Motivation is the underlying internal force that drives people to achieve their goals. Persuasion works because listeners are motivated to respond to a message. An audience is more likely to be persuaded if you help members solve their problems or otherwise meet their needs. They can also be motivated if you convince them that good things will happen to them if they follow your advice, or that bad things will occur if they don’t.
Use Dissonance
According to dissonance theory, when you are presented with information inconsistent with your current attitudes, beliefs, values, or behavior, you experience a kind of discomfort called cognitive dissonance.2 The word cognitive refers to thoughts; dissonance means “lack of harmony or agreement.” So cognitive dissonance means that you are experiencing a way of thinking that is inconsistent and uncomfortable. Most people seek to avoid feelings of dissonance; thus, creating dissonance with a persuasive speech can be an effective way to change attitudes and behavior. The first tactic in such a speech is to identify an existing problem or need. Then, the speaker ethically describes the problem to listeners in a way that arouses cognitive dissonance. Finally, the persuasive speaker suggests a solution to the problem that can help listeners reduce dissonance. Listeners can react in several ways to your use of dissonance, only one of which serves your purpose.3
Listeners may discredit the source (you). You need to ensure that your audience will perceive you as competent and trustworthy so that they will accept your message.
Listeners may reinterpret the message. They may choose to focus on the parts of your message that are consistent with what they already believe and ignore the unfamiliar or controversial parts. To counter this tendency, make your message as clear as possible.
Listeners may seek new information. Audience members may look for additional information to negate your position. Be sure your own evidence is trustworthy, making it harder to refute.
Listeners may stop listening. Some messages are so much at odds with listeners’ current positions that they may decide to stop listening. The principle of selective exposure suggests that we tend to pay attention to messages that are consistent with our points of view and to avoid those that are not. Being aware of listeners’ existing attitudes, beliefs, and values can help you ensure they don’t tune out.
Listeners may change their attitudes, beliefs, values, or behavior as the speaker wishes them to do. If listeners change their attitudes, they can reduce their dissonance and restore their sense of balance.
C. Speaking to Entertain
The purpose of an entertaining speech is not to educate, inform or inspire, it is to make the audience smile, relax, enjoy, and maybe even get a good laugh.
According to Joann Babin, A speech to entertain may be either informative or persuasive in nature, but the supporting materials are selected primarily based on their entertainment value. The speech still must make a valid point or argument, but it can be done using humor.
An entertaining speech is a speech designed to captivate an audience’s attention and regale or amuse them while delivering a message. Like more traditional informative or persuasive speeches, entertaining speeches should communicate a clear message, but the manner of speaking used in an entertaining speech is typically different. Entertaining speeches are often delivered on special occasions (e.g., a toast at a wedding, an acceptance speech at an awards banquet, a motivational speech at a conference), which is why they are sometimes referred to as special-occasion speeches.
However, they can also be given on more mundane occasions, where their purpose is primarily to amuse audience members or arouse them emotionally in some way. Remember, when we use the word “entertain,” we are referring not just to humor but also to drama. The goal of an entertaining speech is to stir an audience’s emotions.
Other speeches that fall into the entertaining category are designed to inspire or motivate an audience to do something. These are, however, different from a traditional persuasive speech. While entertaining speeches are often persuasive, we differentiate the two often based on the rhetorical situation itself. Maybe your school has hired a speaker to talk about his or her life story in an attempt to inspire the audience to try harder in school and reach for the best that life has to offer. You can imagine how this speech would be different from a traditional persuasive speech focusing on, say, the statistics related to scholastic achievement and success later in life.
A speech to entertain can be a fun endeavor. I hope I have shown that one does not have to be hilariously funny to take on this type of speech and that it is a speech and not a stand up act.
funny, just pick a naturally funny topic. Involve your classmates in your topic and joke selection; if your instructor holds a workshop in class, your classmates can give you feedback and input, which will give you more confidence when facing that audience.
How do you make a speech entertaining?
Tell jokes
Tell humorous stories
Dramatize an anecdote or story
Tell a scary story
Share a moving or touching tale
When it comes down to it, there are probably as many ways to entertain an audience as there are people to entertain them.
Regardless, here are some guidelines to creating an entertaining speech:
Chose an appropriate topic. The topic should be too dense, complicated or heavy. You’re not trying to give your audience a greater understanding of anything. You’re there to help them have a good time.
Enjoy yourself. Believe it or not, an audience can find it difficult to enjoy your presentation if it looks like you are not enjoying giving it.
Keep it simple. Make it easy for your audience to follow along. Keep the content simple to understand. This is not the time to go deep.
Make it visceral. Use vivid word pictures. You cannot be lazy with your descriptions. Make your words pop with strong images that fill their minds with sights, smells, textures and more.
Say it like a roller coaster. Add unexpected twists and turns to your presentation. When you surprise your audience with where your story is going, that increases the entertainment factor.
Finally
All speeches do a combination of three things: entertain, inform and persuade. Getting the right balance between these three aims depends on the purpose of your speech. Make sure you know what you are trying to achieve before you start.
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