The Art of Public Speaking

This paper provides a practical deconstruction of the act of public speaking into some of its most salient linguistic and behavioral aspects. Seven specific features are addressed, namely, pause, stress, pace, enunciation, stance, engagement, and authority. The paper also provides a number of concrete pedagogical implementations of these features. The ultimate goal is to provide teachers with a set of tangible resources with which to improve the instruction of presentation skills. Public speaking is a skill, a learned ability that develops over time through practice and experience. Public speaking is also a skill that is rarely addressed and hardly ever mastered. The outcome is that most people are simply unable to speak in public and consequently perceive public speaking as being a very challenging activity. Public speaking in a foreign language is understandably harder and, for simplicity, it can be said that the degree of additio nal difficulty is inversely proportional to the degree of fluency attained. Capable orators have the option to continue applying their knowledge of public speaking regardless of the language they use and they will do so more or less successfully. Yet, those that have not learned to speak in public in their first languages find that the intrinsic difficulties of partial fluency in a foreign language only serves to make a challenging activity even more complex, demanding, and daunting. It is also important to remark that, within the context of language learning, the absence of public s peaking skills has deleterious effects on the learning process itself. Clearly, it is possible to learn a language without the ability to speak in public. Outside of naturalistic settings, however, language instruction generally takes place in one-to-many learning environments (classrooms) where there is a very real need for open, public practice. Students that shy away from speaking up in class are students that deprive themselves of precious practice time. Furthermore, and directly arising from this absence of skill, feelings of anxiety about speaking in public are commonplace an d, in fact, the very idea of addressing an audience is often a cause for discomfort. In the field of psychology, Beck (2010) explains that insecure speakers tend to mistakenly perceive themselves, rather than the subject of their discourse, as the target of scrutiny. Pollard and Henderson (2008) observe that even individuals who do not experience anxiety in other social situations can experience feelings of anxiety when it comes to having to speak in public. I posit that this negative self-perception is often caused by lack of competence in public speaking, rather than originating elsewhere, and can be mitigated indirectly through adequate training in the skill itself. The components of the deconstruction Pause Simply put, pause refers to the absence of speech. When untrained speakers (e.g. students) are asked to think of communication, the role pause plays in delivery and processing is not usually consciously acknowledged. However, it is an aspect of performance that is easy to identify and manipulate, that helps organize discourse, and that allows listeners to better process the narrative aimed at them. Pause has a concrete function as a discourse organizer. It is used to group ideas and thoughts together in order to help signal the relationship between ideas and phrases. These thought groups, or chunks, identify sequences of words that form 'a semantically and grammatically coherent segment of discourse' (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin, 1996, p. 175). In the absence of pause, listeners must break up speech into thought groups on their own rather than as intended by the speakers. This opens the possibility that they will give a different interpretation to what is said. In short, pause is a key element i n the decoding of the speech stream. Without pauses, it is increasingly likely that some of content will be lost because the listener's processing resources will be diverted to surplus guesswork. Pause can also make speech more expressive and engaging. In English, the terms 'dramatic pause' and 'pregnant pause' are used to refer to those occasions when pause is used to build suspense and anticipation in the mind of the listener. We often rely on dramatic pauses when telling jokes and stories. Effective public speakers use pause to package their message into easily processible segments, often repeating these chunks throughout their speech to reinforce key ideas. 'I have a dream', 'Let freedom ring'...Some 60 years later, the words of Martin Luther King Jr. are still widely recognizable in part due to his oratorical skill. Pause can be used to make a talk more meaningful to all involved.

IJREE, 2023

The art of public speaking comes into play in many places. It is important not only in the delivery of speeches and public talks, but also in professional presentations, training events, and motivational speaking. ELT teachers, teacher trainers, lecturers and university professors, all have a reason at times to speak in front of others. A lackluster speaker can make a topic or proposal seem less than enticing, while a polished speaker can add allure to an otherwise mediocre proposition. Stephen E. Lucas' "The Art of Public Speaking" is the leading public speaking textbook in the field. Whether a novice or an experienced speaker when beginning the course, every pageturner will learn how to be a better public speaker through Lucas' clear explanations. Vivid examples, creative activities, annotated speech samples, and foundation of classic and contemporary rhetoric provide learners a strong understanding of public speaking. Lucas' book which is under review in this paper reminds us that the most ordinary person can become extraordinary by developing their God-given potentials and unique gift of speech to be an inspiration and positive influence in the lives of others.

Res Rhetorica, 2020

Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 2014

The chapter is a case study of a particular kind of speech-for-self produced by a preschool-aged girl, characterized as "externalized dramas. " Unlike most such records of vocalized thought, this speech is not involved with guiding ongoing behavior, but rather with acting out problems of interpersonal relations with peers. Using two or more voices in dialog, the speech is full of insults and denials, claims and counter-claims, promises, excuses -all of the continuing struggles to define social roles and one's own position. Externalized dramas practice and refine pragmatic devices of prosody, lexicon, and speech acts, while dealing with underlying problems of emotional states, violence, fantasy and reality, and other minds. It is suggested that audible inner speech goes inward to become silent speech that continues to be concerned with social dynamics and individual status and roles. Speakers use language to present themselves. Eve V. Clark (2003, p. 352) [C]hildren can and do affect one another's talk in complex ways, away from adult supervision, models, or intrusion. Marjorie Harness Goodwin and Charles Goodwin (1987, p. 227)

isara solutions, 2017

In the current century work place, when tech communication is on the rise, the need to speak clear, concise language has also gained significance. Communication skills are closely associated with personality development. The power of spoken word is unparalleled as it has the potential to instil enthusiasm even in feeble hearts. Clear and impressive speech germinates from clear thinking. Clarity of thought reflects a personality that is in complete harmony. Effective communication skills can be cultivated through hard work and constant practice. One has to believe in his efforts with positive frame of mind. Magical words 'I Can and I Will' will open new chapters in the annals of life that will ultimately lead to success and appreciation. The paper highlights the aspect that effective communication skills are key to development of holistic personality Power of Word in Self Development In the wide array of soft skills, communication plays a very integral part. This medium is important not only for human beings but also for the animals as it is directly linked with their survival and sustenance. It is very necessary for human beings to communicate because man is described as social animal. Without communication or without putting the ideas forth man cannot survive. His mode of communication has evolved from the paintings on the walls of caves to current Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp mediums. In 1960, English philosopher John Locke in his famous 'Essay Concerning Human Understanding', said: "God having designed man for a sociable creature made him not only with the inclination and under a necessity to have fellowship with those of his own kind; but furnished him with language, which was to become the great instrument, and common type of society". In other words Locke saw that human beings are social by nature and use language as the basis of their group life. Locke concluded in his essay that the use of speech and language is a necessary condition for organizing human society on the one hand and for engaging in the imagination and individual thought on the other. Helen Keller is regarded by world as a role model but her journey of success started when she realised that her teacher Ann Sullivan was trying to teach her to communicate. It was her strong urge to reach out to other people that she could overcome her physical limitations and became a source of inspiration. The progress of the nation is also determined by the ability of its citizens in expressing themselves. It is the right to speech and expression that gives meaning to the democratic form of the government and because of these two factors it is regarded as one of the best form of governance. It is indeed impossible to think of a society without any mode of expressions. Social relations, communities and societies are founded on man's capacity to express him and to share ideas and emotions. The insight that speech and language provide the foundation of human thought and the basis of societal life is as old as man. In the modern technology savvy world demand for balance between communication skills and complete all-round personality as gained momentum. The same has been highlighted by

Atlantic Journal of Communication, 2019

This essay proposes a view of public speaking as "interventional" that incorporates and subsumes the traditional speaking goals of informative, persuasive, and invitational. Additionally, this approach to public speaking reorients attention to the fundamental process of constituting symbolic "reality" that underlies and is generated in human communication. It argues that speeches should be reconceptualized as attempted interventions in ongoing conversations that shape how participants construe needs, power, and worldview symbolically. It introduces the rhetoric of social intervention model as a framework for "entering" the rhetorical process, developing speeches that attempt to promote and hinder shifts in naming patterns, and reflecting on potential side effects and ethics of one's own and others' naming choices. The essay explores how a speaker would develop a speech from an RSI perspective and discusses the implications of an interventional approach to public speaking. In a review of 1990s disciplinary issues, Goulden (2002) highlighted a way that public speaking is ripe for changediscarding the long-standing tradition of approaching speeches as "informative" and "persuasive." Scholars frequently have questioned the reality and function of such a division, maintaining that all speeches are "arguments" (e.g.

Basic Communication Course Annual, 1992

A study investigated the principles included in basic public speaking texts and the relativo importance given to each principle. Content analysis was used to examine 12 of the most popular introductory-level college public speaking textbooks. The unit of analysis was selected, categories were constructed, and the data were coded and weighted. Results indicated that: (1) although the information contained in the texts was often very different, the topics discussed were the same; (2) the 24 principles identified were grouped into overall categories of communication theory, speech preparation, speech delivery, activities and elements in public speaking, and a taxonomy of public speaking; and (3) the authors shuwed increased attmition to persuasive speaking, language, informative speaking, and the audience, and decreased attention to modes of delivery, eatermining a speech purpose, the thesis statement and main points, ethics, and speech practice. (Two tables of data are included; 56 references are attached.) (RS)

Training the students on public speaking is not a superfluous activity; it is a priority nowadays because communication has become the key for success in business and in almost all careers. How the students can express their ideas clearly counts a lot, and for this reason they need to practice public speaking as early as possible and with a public as restricted and confined as their own classmates.

Over the last 15 years or so, my major interest has been in trying to spell out in some detail, what life is like for us from within the “interactive moment,” what it is like for us to be acting dialogically, to be reacting in a spontaneous and bodily way to the expressive-responsive activities of the others and othernesses around us. Today, however, I want to focus on just one aspect of our lives within such dialogical involvements: what is life like for us as speaker-actors within them? What is going on inside us as speaker-actors within the moment of speaking and acting? How might we chart or map the ‘inner movements’ occurring within us as we give ‘shape’ to the contributions we make to the activities in which we are participating?