Chapter Twelve

What Is Good Delivery?

Methods of Delivery
Reading from a Manuscript
Reciting from Memory
Speaking
Impromptu
Speaking Extemporaneously

The Speaker's Voice

Volume

Pitch

Rate

Pauses
The Speaker's Body
Personal Appearance
Movement

Gestures

Eye Contact

Practicing Delivery

Answering Audience
Questions

Preparing for the Question-and-

Answer Session

Managing the Question-and-Answer

Session
Vocal Variety
Pronunciation

Articulation

Dialect

DELIVERY

*
*
 *
294
CHAPTER 12

nonverbal
communication

Communication based on a
person's use of voice and
body, rather than on the
use of words.
Delivery

I
f you were to tape-record one of David Letterman's comedy routines,
memorize it word for word, and stand up before your friends to re- cite it,
would you get the same response Letterman does? Not very likely. And
why not? Because you would not deliver the jokes as Letterman
 does. Of course, the jokes are basically funny. But David Letter- man
brings something extra to the jokes-his manner of presentation, his
vocal inflections, his perfectly timed pauses, his facial expressions, his
ges- tures. All these are part of an expert delivery. It would take you
years of practice as it took Letterman-to duplicate his results.
No one expects your speech class to transform you into a multimillion- dollar talk show host. Still, this
livery can be to any public
example demonstrates how important de-
speaking situation. Even a mediocre speech will be more effective if it
is presented well, whereas a wonderfully written speech can be ruined by poor
delivery.
This does not mean dazzling delivery will turn a mindless string of non- sense into a triumphant oration. You cannot
make a good speech without having something to say. But having something to say
is not enough. You must also know how to say it.
Speech delivery is a matter of nonverbal communication. It is not based on your words, but on how you use your
voice and body to convey the message expressed by your words. There is a great
deal of research on non- verbal communication in general and on speech
delivery in particular. That research shows that the impact of a speaker's
words-whether in a formal speech or in daily conversation-is powerfully
influenced by the speaker's nonverbal communication. In this chapter, we will
explain how you can use your nonverbal communication to deliver your
speeches effectively and to increase the impact of your verbal message.

What Is Good Delivery?

Wendell Phillips was a leader in the movement to abolish slavery in the

United States during the 1800s. Some people considered him the greatest
speaker of his time. The following story suggests one reason why:

Shortly before the Civil War an Andover student, learning that Phillips was to lec- ture in Boston, made a
22-mile pilgrimage on foot to hear him. At first the trip seemed hardly
worthwhile, for the student discovered that Phillips was not an orator in the
grand manner, but spoke in an almost conversational style. He stood on the
platform, one hand lightly resting on a table, talked for what seemed to be
about 20 minutes, concluded, and sat down. When the student looked at his watch,
he found to his astonishment that he had been listening for an hour
and a half!2

Good delivery does not call attention to itself. It conveys the speaker's ideas clearly, interestingly, and without
distracting the audience. If you mumble your words, shuffle your feet,
gaze out the window, or talk in a monotone, you will not get your
message across. Nor will you be effective if you show off, strike a
dramatic pose, or shout in ringing tones. Most audiences prefer delivery
 that combines a certain degree of formality with
the best attributes of good conversation-directness, spontaneity, animation,
vocal and facial expressiveness, and a lively sense of communication.
When you begin speaking in public, you will probably have many ques- tions
about delivery: "Should I be strong and aggressive or low-key?"
"Where should I stand?" "How should I gesture?" "How should I
handle my notes?" "How fast should I speak?" "When should I pause?"
"Where should I look?" "What do I do if I make a mistake?"

There are no hard-and-fast answers to these questions. Speech delivery is an art, not a
science. What works for one speaker may fail for another. And what succeeds with
today's audience may not with tomorrow's. You cannot become a skilled speaker
just by following a set of rules in a textbook. In the long run, there is no substitute
for experience. But take heart! A textbook can give you basic pointers to get you
started in the right direction.
When you plan your first speech (or your second or third), you should
concentrate on such basics as speaking intelligibly, avoiding
distracting mannerisms, and establishing eye contact with your listeners. Once
you get these elements under control and begin to feel fairly comfortable in front of
an audience, you can work on polishing your delivery to enhance the impact of
your ideas. Eventually, you may find yourself able to control the timing, rhythm,
and momentum of a speech as skillfully as a conductor controls an orchestra.
Methods of Delivery
295

Methods of Delivery
There are four basic methods of delivering a speech: (1) reading verbatim from a
manuscript; (2) reciting a memorized text; (3) speaking impromptu; and (4)
speaking extemporaneously. Let us look at each.

Reading from a Manuscript

Certain speeches must be delivered word for word, according to a meticulously
prepared manuscript. Examples include a Pope's religious proclamation, an
engineer's report to a professional meeting, or a President's message to
Con- gress. In such situations, absolute accuracy is essential. Every word of the
speech will be analyzed by the press, by colleagues, perhaps by enemies. In
the case of the President, a misstated phrase could cause an international incident.
Timing may also be a factor in manuscript speeches. Much of today's
political campaigning is done on radio and television. If the candidate buys
a one-minute spot and pays a great deal of money for it, that one minute of speech
must be just right.

Although it looks easy, delivering a speech from a manuscript requires great

skill. Some people do it well. Their words "come alive as if coined on the spot."
Others seem to ruin it every time. Instead of sounding vibrant and conversational,
they come across as wooden and artificial. They falter over words, pause in the
wrong places, read too quickly or too slowly, speak in a monotone, and
march through the speech without even glancing at their audience. In
short, they come across as reading to their listeners, rather than talking with them.
manuscript speech A speech that is written out word for word and read to the audience.
|
296
CHAPTER 12

View an excerpt
from Ann Richards's
eulogy to Barbara
Jordan.

CD 1: VIDEO 12.1

impromptu speech
A speech delivered with
little or no immediate
preparation.
Delivery

Among current public figures, few are better at avoiding these problems than former Texas governor
Ann Richards. Through years of practice, she has learned to sound
spontaneous and to communicate heartfelt emotion. even though she
is delivering the speech word for word. You can see this in the excerpt
from her eulogy to Barbara Jordan on CD 1, Video 12.1. Speak- ing before a
packed audience of 1,500 people at Houston's Good Hope Mis- sionary
Baptist Church, Richards spoke movingly of Jordan's life and
achievements. She communicated as directly with the audience as if she
had been speaking informally to a small group of friends.
If you are in a situation where you must speak from a manuscript, do your best to follow Richards's
 lead. Practice aloud to make sure the speech sounds natural. Work on
establishing eye contact with your listeners. Be certain the final manuscript is
legible at a glance. Above all, reach out to your audience with the same
directness and sincerity that you would if you were speaking extemporaneously.

Reciting from Memory

Among the feats of the legendary orators, none leaves us more in awe than their
practice of presenting even the longest and most complex speeches en- tirely from
memory. Nowadays it is no longer customary to memorize any but the shortest of
speeches-toasts, congratulatory remarks, acceptance speeches, introductions, and
the like. If you are giving a speech of this kind and want to memorize it, by all
means do so. However, be sure to memo- rize it so thoroughly that you will be able
to concentrate on communicat- ing with the audience, not on trying to remember
the words. Speakers who gaze at the ceiling or stare out the window trying to
recall what they have memorized are no better off than those who read dully
from a manuscript.

Speaking Impromptu
An impromptu speech is delivered with little or no immediate preparation. Few people choose to speak impromptu,
but sometimes it cannot be avoided. In fact, many of the speeches you give
in life will be impromptu. You might be called on suddenly to "say a few
words" or, in the course of a class dis- cussion, business meeting, or
committee report, want to respond to a pre- vious speaker.
When such situations arise, don't panic. No one expects you to deliver a perfect speech on the spur of the
moment. If you are in a meeting or discussion, pay close attention to what the
other speakers say. Take notes of major points with which you agree or
disagree. In the process, you will automatically begin to formulate
what you will say when it is your turn to speak.
Whenever you are responding to a previous speaker, try to present your speech in four simple steps: First, state
the point you are answering. Second, state the point you wish to make.
Third, support your point with appropriate statistics, examples, or
testimony. Fourth, summarize your point. This four- step method will help
you organize your thoughts quickly and clearly.
If time allows, sketch a quick outline of your remarks on a piece of paper before you rise to speak.
Use the same method of jotting down key words and phrases
followed in a more formal speaking outline (see Chapter 10). This
will help you remember what you want to say and will keep you from
rambling.
In many cases, you will be able to speak informally without rising from your
chair. But if the situation calls for you to speak from a lectern, walk to it
calmly, take a deep breath or two (not a visible gasp), establish eye con-
tact with your audience, and begin speaking. No matter how nervous you are
inside, do your best to look calm and assured on the outside.
Once you begin speaking, maintain strong eye contact with the audi- ence.
If you are prone to talking rapidly when you are nervous, concentrate on speaking at
a slower pace. Help the audience keep track of your ideas with signposts
such as "My first point is... ; second, we can see that...; in conclusion, I
would like to say...." If you have had time to prepare notes, stick to what
you have written. By stating your points clearly and concisely, you will
come across as organized and confident.
Whether you realize it or not, you have given thousands of impromptu
"speeches" in daily conversation-as when you informed a new
student how to register for classes, or explained to your boss why you
were late for work, or answered questions in a job interview, or tried to
persuade your roommate to lend you $20 until next week. There is no
reason to fall apart when you are asked to speak impromptu in a more
formal situation. If you keep cool, organize your thoughts, and limit
yourself to a few remarks, you should do just fine.
As with other kinds of public speaking, the best way to become a bet- ter
impromptu speaker is to practice. If you are assigned an impromptu
speech in class, do your best to follow the guidelines discussed here. You
can also practice impromptu speaking on your own. Simply choose a
topic on which you are already well informed, and give a one- or two-
minute im- promptu talk on some aspect of that topic. Any topic will do—
no matter how serious or frivolous it may be. Nor do you need an
audience-you can speak to an empty room. Better yet, you can speak to a
digital recorder or
Methods of Delivery
297
 Extemporaneous speeches are pre-
pared ahead of time, but the exact
words are chosen at the moment of
presentation. This allows for more
direct delivery than does reading
from a manuscript.
298 CHAPTER 12

extemporaneous
speech
A carefully prepared and
rehearsed speech that is
presented from a brief set of
notes.

conversational

quality
Presenting a speech so it sounds
spontaneous no matter how
many times it has been
rehearsed.

View excerpts from

Elizabeth Dole's speech
at the Republican
National Convention.

CD 1: VIDEO 12.2
Delivery

a tape recorder and play the speech back to hear how you sound. The purpose is to gain experience in
pulling your ideas together quickly and stating them succinctly. Over the
 years, many people have found this an effective way to improve their
skills of impromptu speaking.

Speaking Extemporaneously
In popular usage, "extemporaneous" means the same as "impromptu." But
technically the two are different. Unlike an impromptu speech,
which is totally off-the-cuff, an extemporaneous speech is carefully
prepared and practiced in advance. In presenting the speech, the
extemporaneous speaker uses only a set of brief notes or a speaking outline
to jog the memory (see Chapter 10). The exact wording is chosen at the moment
of delivery.
This is not as hard as it sounds. Once you have your outline (or notes) and know what topics you
are going to cover and in what order, you can begin to practice the
speech. Every time you run through it, the wording will be slightly
different. As you practice the speech over and over, the best way to
present each part will emerge and stick in your mind.
The extemporaneous method has several advantages. It gives more pre- cise control over thought
and language than does impromptu speaking; it offers greater
spontaneity and directness than does speaking from memory or from a
full manuscript; and it is adaptable to a wide range of situations. It also
encourages the conversational quality audiences look for in speech
delivery. "Conversational quality" means that no matter how many times a
speech has been rehearsed, it still sounds spontaneous to the audience.
When you speak extemporaneously and have prepared properly-you
have full control over your ideas, yet you are not tied to a manuscript. You
are free to establish strong eye contact, to gesture naturally, and to concentrate
on talking with the audience rather than declaiming to them.
There is no better example of the power of extemporaneous delivery than Elizabeth Dole's renowned
speech to the 1996 Republican National Conven- tion in support of her
husband's bid for the White House. Speaking to the delegates assembled
in San Diego and to a national television audience, Dole broke 150
years of tradition by leaving the lectern and presenting her speech while
walking among her listeners on the floor of the auditorium. Speaking
extemporaneously, with no notes (and no teleprompter), she was able to
break through the physical and psychological barriers that would otherwise
have separated her from the audience. As numerous observers commented, it
was more like listening to a conversation than to a formal speech.
Dole, of course, is one of the most accomplished speakers in the United States. You can't be
expected in your speech class to reach the same mas- tery that she has
worked years to achieve. Yet like thousands of previous students, you can
become quite adept at speaking extemporaneously by the end of
one student
the term and have a solid foundation to build on in the future. As
commented in looking back on his speech class, "At the start, I never
 thought I'd be able to give my speeches without a ton of notes, but I'm
amazed at how much progress I made. It's still a bit nerve-racking to speak
extemporaneously, but I'm confident I can do it, and I know I'll con- nect
better with the audience as a result. This is one of the most valuable things I
learned in the entire class."
Most experienced speakers prefer the extemporaneous method, and most teachers
emphasize it. Later in this chapter (pages 310-311), we'll look at a step-by-
step program for practicing your extemporaneous delivery.
The Speaker's
Voice
299

The Speaker's Voice

What kind of voice do you have? Is it rich and resonant like James Earl Jones's?
Thin and nasal like Willie Nelson's? Deep and raspy like Al Sharp- ton's?
Soft and alluring like Catherine Zeta Jones's? Loud and irritating like Dick Vitale's?
Whatever the characteristics of your voice, you can be sure it is unique.
Because no two people are exactly the same physically, no two people
have identical voices. This is why voiceprints are sometimes used in criminal
trials as guides to personal identity. The human voice is produced by a com- plex
series of steps that starts with the exhalation of air from the lungs. (Try talking
intelligibly while inhaling and see what happens.) As air is exhaled, it passes
through the larynx (or voice box), where it is vibrated to generate sound. This
sound is then amplified and modified as it resonates through the throat,
mouth, and nasal passages. Finally, the resonated sound is shaped into
specific vowel and consonant sounds by the movement of the tongue,
lips, teeth, and roof of the mouth. The resulting sounds are combined
to form words and sentences.
The voice produced by this physical process will greatly affect the success of
your speeches. A golden voice is certainly an asset, but you can manage
without. Some of the most famous speakers in history had undis- tinguished
voices. Abraham Lincoln had a harsh and penetrating voice; Winston
Churchill suffered from a slight lisp and an awkward stammer. Like them,
you can overcome natural disadvantages and use your voice to the best
effect. If you speak too softly to be heard, constantly stumble over words,
spit out your ideas at machine-gun speed, or plod along as if you were read- ing a
grocery list, your speeches will fail. Lincoln and Churchill learned to
control their voices. You can do the same thing.
 The aspects of voice you should work to control are volume, pitch, rate,
pauses, variety, pronunciation, articulation, and dialect.

Volume

At one time a powerful voice was all but essential for an orator. Today,
electronic amplification allows even a soft-spoken person to be heard
in any setting. But in the classroom you will speak without a microphone.
When you do, be sure to adjust your voice to the acoustics of
the room, the size of the audience, and the level of background noise. If you
speak too loudly, your listeners will think you boorish. If you speak too
softly, they will not understand you. Remember that your own voice
always sounds louder to you than to a listener. Soon after beginning
your speech, glance at the people farthest away from you. If they look
puzzled, are lean- ing forward in their seats, or are otherwise straining to hear,
you need to talk louder.
volume

The loudness or softness of the

speaker's voice.
300
CHAPTER 12
Delivery

pitch
The highness or lowness
of the speaker's voice.

inflections

Changes in the pitch or tone of a

speaker's voice.

monotone

A constant pitch or tone

of voice.
 rate

The speed at which a

person speaks.
Pitch

Pitch is the highness or lowness of the speaker's voice. The faster sound waves
vibrate, the higher their pitch; the slower they vibrate, the lower their pitch. Pitch
distinguishes the sound produced by the keys at one end of at piano from that
produced by the keys at the other end.
In speech, pitch can affect the meaning of words or sounds. Pitch is what makes the difference
between the "Aha!" triumphantly exclaimed by Sherlock Holmes upon
discovering a seemingly decisive clue and the "Aha" he mutters when he
learns the clue is not decisive after all. If you were to read the preceding
sentence aloud, your voice would probably go up in pitch on the first "Aha"
and down in pitch on the second.
Changes in pitch are known as inflections. They give your voice luster,
warmth, and vitality. It is the inflection of your voice that reveals whether
you are asking a question or making a statement; whether you are being sin- cere
or sarcastic. Your inflections can also make you sound happy or sad,
angry or pleased, dynamic or listless, tense or relaxed, interested or bored.
In ordinary conversation we instinctively use inflections to convey
meaning and emotion. People who do not are said to speak in a monotone- a trait
whose only known benefit is to cure insomnia in one's listeners. Few people
speak in an absolute monotone, with no variation whatever in pitch, but many
fall into repetitious pitch patterns that are just as hypnotic as a
monotone. You can guard against this problem by recording your
speeches as you practice them. If all your sentences end on
the same inflection- either upward or downward-work on varying
your pitch patterns to fit the meaning of your words. As with breaking any
other habit, this may seem awkward at first, but it is guaranteed to
make you a better speaker.

Rate

Rate refers to the speed at which a person speaks. People in the U.S. usu-
ally speak at a rate between 125 and 150 words per minute, but there is
no uniform rate for effective speechmaking. Daniel Webster spoke at
roughly 90 words per minute, Franklin Roosevelt at 110, John Kennedy at 180.
Martin Luther King opened his "I Have a Dream" speech at a pace of 92
words per minute and finished it at 145. The best rate of speech
depends on several things-the vocal attributes of the speaker, the mood she
or he is trying to create, the composition of the audience, and the nature of
the occasion.
For example, if you wanted to convey the excitement of the Daytona 500 car race, you would
probably speak rather quickly, but a slower rate would be more
 appropriate to describe the serenity of the Alaskan wilder- ness. A fast
rate helps create feelings of happiness, fear, anger, and surprise, while a
slow rate is better for expressing sadness or disgust. A slower tempo is
called for when you explain complex information, a faster tempo when the
information is already familiar to the audience.
Two obvious faults to avoid are speaking so slowly that your listeners become bored or so quickly that
they lose track of your ideas. Novice speak- ers are particularly prone
to racing through their speeches at a frantic rate. Fortunately, once a
speaker begins to work on it, this is usually an easy habit to break, as is
the less common one of crawling through one's speech at a snail's pace.
The Speaker's Voice
301

The best rate of speech

depends partly on the mood a
speaker wants to create. To
communicate the ex- citement of
kayaking, you would probably speak
at a faster-than- normal rate.

The key in both cases is becoming aware of the problem and concen- trating
on solving it. Use a digital recorder to check how fast you speak. Pay
special attention to rate when practicing your speech. Finally, be sure to
include reminders about delivery on your speaking outline so you won't forget to
make the adjustments when you give your speech in class.

Pauses

Learning how and when to pause is a major challenge for most beginning
speakers. Even a moment of silence can seem like an eternity. As you gain
 more poise and confidence, however, you will discover how useful the pause
can be. It can signal the end of a thought unit, give an idea time to sink in,
and lend dramatic impact to a statement. "The right word may be effective," said
Mark Twain, "but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause."
As Twain knew, the crucial factor is timing. "For one audience," he cau- tioned, "the
pause will be short, for another a little longer, for another a shade longer
still." Looking back on his own career as a speaker, he recalled: "When the
pause was right the effect was sure; when the pause was wrong.. the laughter was
only mild, never a crash."
Developing a keen sense of timing is partly a matter of common sense, partly a
matter of experience. You will not always get your pauses just right at
first, but keep trying. Listen to accomplished speakers to see how they use
pauses to modulate the rate and rhythm of their messages. Work on pauses when
you practice your speeches.
pause
A momentary break in
the vocal delivery of a
speech.
302
CHAPTER 12

vocalized pause
A pause that occurs when a
speaker fills the silence
between words with
vocalizations such as "uh,"
"er," and "um."
 vocal variety Changes in a
speaker's rate, pitch, and
volume that give the voice
variety and expressiveness.

View an excerpt from Sajjid

Zahir Chinoy,
"Questions of
Culture."

CD 1: VIDEO 12.3
Delivery

When you do pause, make sure you pause at the end of thought units and not in the middle.
Otherwise, you may distract listeners from your ideas. Most important, do
not fill the silence with "uh," "er," or "um." These vocalized pauses, as
they are called, are always annoying, and they can be devastating. Not
only do they create negative perceptions about a speaker's intelligence, but
they often make a speaker appear deceptive.*

Vocal Variety
Just as variety is the spice of life, so is it the spice of public speaking.
A flat, listless, unchanging voice is just as deadly to speechmaking as a
flat, listless, unchanging routine is to daily life.
Try reading this limerick aloud:

I sat next to the Duchess at tea.

It was just as I feared it would
be:
Her rumblings abdominal Were simply abominable
And everyone thought it was
me!

Now recite this passage from James Joyce's "All Day I Hear the Noise of Waters":

The gray winds, the cold winds are

blowing
Where I
go.

I hear the noise of many

waters
Far below.

All day, all night, I hear them

flowing
To and fro.5
 Certainly you did not utter both passages the same way. You instinctively varied the rate, pitch,
volume, and pauses to distinguish the light-hearted limerick from the
solemn melancholy of Joyce's poem. When giving a speech, you
should modulate your voice in just this way to communicate your
ideas and feelings.
For an excellent example of vocal variety, look at CD 1, Video 12.3. The speaker is Sajjid Zahir Chinoy, who
was born and raised in Bombay, India, before coming to the United States to
attend college at the University of Richmond. At the end of his senior year,
Chinoy was selected as the stu- dent commencement speaker in a
campuswide competition. He spoke of the warm reception he received at
Richmond and of how cultural differences. can be overcome by attempting
to understand other people.
At the end of his speech, Chinoy received thunderous applause-partly because of what he said, but
audience of 3,000 people
also because of how he said it. Addressing the
without notes, he spoke extemporaneously with strong eye contact
and excellent vocal variety. The speech was so inspiring that the
main speaker, Harvard psychiatrist Robert Coles, began his presen- tation
by paying tribute to Chinoy. "I've been to a number of commence- ments,"
said Coles, "but I've never heard a speech quite like that!"
How can you develop a lively, expressive voice? Above all, by ap- proaching every speech
as Chinoy approached his-as an opportunity to
The Speaker's Voice
303

THE
INTERNE
T
Connection
Do you want to learn more about speech delivery?
Perhaps gain additional experience after
your speech class is over? You can do
both by joining an organization such as
Toastmasters International, which has more than
175,000 members and 8,800 clubs in 70 countries around the
mation about Toastmasters, log on
world. For infor-
to its website at [Link].
If you are a non-native speaker of English and want to work on your skills of spoken
English, you will find a number of excellent resources at
the English as a Second Language student website
([Link]
[Link]/handouts/esl/[Link]).
You can link to these websites at [Link]/
lucas8.
 ONLINE LEARNING CENTER

share with your listeners ideas that are important to you. Your sense of con- viction and
your desire to communicate will help give your voice the same spark it has in
spontaneous conversation.
Diagnose your present speaking voice to decide which aspects need
im- provement. Record your speeches to hear how they sound. Try them
out on members of your family, a friend, or a roommate. Check with your
teacher for suggestions. Practice the vocal variety exercise at
the end of this chap- ter. Vocal variety is a natural feature of ordinary
conversation. There is no reason it should not be as natural a feature of
your speeches.

Pronunciation

We all mispronounce words now and again. Here, for example, are six words with
which you are probably familiar. Say each one aloud.

genuin
e

arctic

theater
err

nuclear

February

Very likely you made a mistake on at least one, for they are among the most
frequently mispronounced words in the English language. Let's see:
Word

genuine
Common Error

gen-u-wine
Correct Pronunciation

gen-u-win

arctic
ar-tic
arc-tic

theater
 thee-ate'-er
thee'-a-ter

err
air
ur

nuclear
nu-cu-lar

February
Feb-u-ary
nu-cle-ar

Feb-ru-ary
304
CHAPTER 12 Delivery

pronunciation
The accepted standard
of sound and rhythm for words in
a given language.

articulation

The physical production

of particular speech
sounds.
Every word leads a triple life: it is read, written, and spoken. Most peo- ple recognize and understand
many more words in reading than they use in ordinary writing, and about three
times as many as occur in spontaneous speech. This is why we occasionally
stumble when speaking words that are part of our reading or writing
vocabularies. In other cases, we may mis- pronounce the most commonplace
words out of habit.
6
The problem is that we usually don't know when we are mispronounc- ing a word; otherwise we would
say it correctly. If we are lucky, we learn the right pronunciation by
hearing someone else say the word properly or by having someone
gently correct us in private. If we are unlucky, we mis- pronounce the
word in front of a roomful of people, who may raise their eyebrows, groan,
or laugh. Even experienced speakers sometimes fall into this trap. In
reporting about a recent presidential election, a local TV news anchor referred
several times to the number of votes needed to capture a majority in the e-lec-tor'-e-al
college. When he had finished, his coanchor said (on the air!), "And it also takes
270 votes to win a majority in the e-lec'-tor-al college." The first announcer tried
to shrug it off, but he was noticeably embarrassed.
All of this argues for practicing your speech in front of as many trusted friends and relatives as you
can corner. If you have any doubts about the proper pronunciation of certain words,
be sure to check a dictionary.

Articulation

Articulation and pronunciation are not identical. Sloppy articulation is the

failure to form particular speech sounds crisply and distinctly. It is one of
several causes of mispronunciation; but not all errors in pronunciation stem from
poor articulation. You can articulate a word sharply and still mispro-
nounce it. For example, if you say the "s" in "Illinois" or the "p" in
"pneumonia," you are making a mistake in pronunciation, regardless of
how precisely you articulate the sounds.
Errors in articulation can be caused by a cleft palate, by an overly large tongue, by a misaligned
jaw, even by a poorly fitted dental plate or braces. on the teeth. Serious
problems require the aid of a certified speech thera- pist. But most of the
time poor articulation is caused by laziness-by fail- ing to manipulate the
lips, tongue, jaw, and soft palate so as to produce speech sounds clearly
and precisely. People in the U.S. seem particularly prone to poor
articulation. We habitually chop, slur, and mumble our words, rather than
enunciating them plainly.
Among college students, poor articulation is more common than igno- rance of correct
pronunciation. We know that "let me" is not "lemme," that "going to" is not
"gonna," that "did you" is not "didja," yet we persist in articulating these
words improperly. Here are some other common errors in articulation you
should work to avoid:

Word

ought to
didn'
t
Misarticulation

otta
 dint

for
fur
don't know
dunno

have to
hafta

em
The Speaker's Voice
305

them

want to

will you
wanna

wilya

If you have sloppy articulation, work on identifying and eliminating your most
common errors. Like other bad habits, careless articulation can be bro- ken only by
persistent effort-but the results are well worth it. Not only will your speeches be
more intelligible, but employers will be more likely to hire you, to place you in
positions of responsibility, and to promote you. As Shake- speare
advised, "Mend your speech a little, lest you may mar your fortunes."

Dialect

Most languages have dialects, each with a distinctive accent, grammar, and
vocabulary. Dialects are usually based on regional or ethnic speech patterns. The
United States has four major regional dialects-Eastern, New England, Southern, and
General American. These dialects affect the way people talk in different parts of
the country. In Boston people may get "idears" about "dee-ah" friends. In Alabama
parents tell their children to stop "squinching" their eyes while watching
television and to go clean up their rooms "rat" now. In Utah people praise the
"lard" and put the "lord" in the refrigerator."
States, including Black
There are also several well-established ethnic dialects in the United
English, Jewish English, Hispanic English, and Cajun English. In recent years
we have also seen the emergence of newer dialects such as Haitian English and
Cuban English. As the United States becomes more diverse culturally, it is
also becoming more diverse linguistically.
Over the years linguists have done a great deal of research on dialects. They
have concluded that no dialect is inherently better or worse than an- other. There is
no such thing as a right or wrong dialect. Dialects are not linguistic badges of
superiority or inferiority. They are usually shaped by our regional or ethnic
 background, and every dialect is "right" for the com- munity of people who use
it."
When is a given dialect appropriate in public speaking? The answer depends above all on
the composition of your audience. Heavy use of any dialect-regional or ethnic-can
be troublesome for a speaker when the audience does not share that dialect. In such
a situation, the dialect may cause listeners to make negative judgments about
the speaker's personality, intelligence, and competence. This is why
professional speakers have been known to invest large amounts of time (and money)
to master the General American dialect used by most television news broadcasters. This
dialect has become so widely accepted throughout the United States that it is
suitable for almost any audience.
Does this mean you must talk like a television news broadcaster if you want to be
successful in your speeches? Not at all. Regional or ethnic dialects do not
pose a problem as long as the audience is familiar with them and finds
them appropriate to the occasion. When speaking in the North, for
dialect

A variety of a language
distinguished by
variations of accent,

grammar, or
vocabulary.
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CHAPTER 12 Delivery

example, a southern politician will probably avoid heavy use of regional di-
alect. But when addressing audiences in the South, the same
politician may intentionally include regional dialect as a way of creating
common ground with his or her listeners.
Although not strictly speaking a matter of dialect, the proficiency of non-native speakers of English
often arises in the speech classroom. Fortu- nately, teachers and
students alike usually go out of their way to be helpful and
encouraging to international students and others for whom English is
not the primary language. Over the years many non-native speakers of
Eng- lish have found speech class a supportive environment in which to
improve their proficiency in spoken English."

The Speaker's Body

Imagine you are at a party. During the evening you form impressions about the people around you.
Jonte seems relaxed and even-tempered, Nicole tense and irritable. Megan
seems open and straightforward, Bekah hostile and eva- sive. Amin seems happy
to see you; Seth definitely is not.
How do you reach these conclusions? To a surprising extent, you reach them not on the basis of
what people say with words, but because of what they say with their
 posture, gestures, eyes, and facial expressions. Suppose you are sitting next
to Amin, and he says, "This is a great party. I'm really glad to be here with
you." However, his body is turned slightly away from you, and he keeps looking
at someone across the room. Despite what he says, you know he is
not glad to be there with you.
Much the same thing happens in speechmaking. Here is the story of one student's first two
classroom speeches and the effect created by his physi- cal actions on each occasion:

Sean O'Connor's first speech did not go very well. Even though he had chosen an interesting topic,
researched the speech with care, and practiced it faithfully, he did not
take into account the importance of using his body effectively. When the time
came for him to speak, a stricken look crossed his face. He got up from his
chair like a con- demned man and plodded to the lectern as though
going to the guillotine. His vocal delivery was good enough, but all the
while his hands were living a life of their own. They fidgeted with his notes,
played with the buttons of his shirt, and drummed on the lectern.
Throughout the speech Sean kept his head down, and he looked at his
watch repeatedly. Regardless of what his words were saying, his
body was saying, "I
don't want to be here!"
Finally it was over. Sean rushed to his seat and collapsed into it, looking enor- mously relieved.
Needless to say, his speech was not a great success.
Fortunately, when Sean's problem was pointed out to him, he worked hard to correct it. His
next speech was quite a different story. This time he got up from his
chair and strode to the lectern confidently. He kept his hands under control
and con- centrated on making eye contact with his listeners. This was truly an
achievement, be- cause Sean was just as nervous as the first time. However,
he found that the more he made himself look confident, the more confident he
became. After the speech his class- mates were enthusiastic. "Great
speech," they said. "You really seemed to care about the subject, and you
brought this caring to the audience."
In fact, the wording of Sean's second speech wasn't much better than that of the first. It
was his physical actions that made all the difference. From the time he left his
seat until he returned, his body said, "I am confident and in control of the situation. I
have something worthwhile to say, and I want you to think so too."

Posture, facial expression, gestures, eye contact-all affect the way listen- ers respond
to a speaker. How we use these and other body motions to com- municate is the
subject of a fascinating area of study called kinesics. One of its founders, Ray
Birdwhistell, estimated that more than 700,000 physical signals can be
sent through bodily movement. Studies have shown that these. signals have a
significant impact on the meaning communicated by speakers. Research has also
more than 2,400 years ago:
confirmed what the Greek historian Herodotus observed
"People trust their ears less than their eyes." When a speaker's body
language is inconsistent with his or her words, listeners of- ten believe the
body language rather than the words.10
Here are the major aspects of physical action that will affect the outcome of your
speeches.

Personal Appearance
If you were Jennifer Lopez, you could show up to make an Academy Award
presentation speech wearing a bizarre creation that left little to the imagi-
nation. If you were Albert Einstein, you could show up to address an in-
ternational science conference wearing wrinkled trousers, a sweater, and
tennis shoes. While the members of your audience would certainly com- ment
on your attire, your reputation would not be harmed. In fact, it might be enhanced.
You would be one of the few, the very few, who live outside the rules, who are
expected to be unusual.
Now imagine what would happen if the president of a corporation showed up to
address a stockholders' meeting attired like Jennifer Lopez, or if the President
of the United States spoke on national television wearing wrinkled clothes and
tennis shoes. Both presidents would soon be looking for work. Barring the
occasional eccentric, every speaker is expected by her or his audience
to exhibit a personal appearance in keeping with the occa- sion of the speech.
The President of the United States can be photographed in hiking clothes for a quick
weekend interview at Camp David, but that same president will don a
conservative suit and tie to address a joint session of Congress. Similarly,
a business executive speaking at a winter sales conference in Acapulco would
probably wear slacks and a casual shirt or blouse because a business suit, in this
atmosphere, would seem too formal. But back home in San Francisco, Chicago, or
New York, the same executive will be immac- ulately dressed in a well-tailored suit.
A number of studies have confirmed that personal appearance plays an
important role in speechmaking.11 Listeners always see you before they
hear you. Just as you adapt your language to the audience and the occasion,
so should you dress and groom appropriately. Although the force
of your speech can sometimes overcome a poor impression created by personal
ap- pearance, the odds are against it. Regardless of the speaking situation,
you should try to evoke a favorable first impression-an impression
that is likely to make listeners more receptive to what you say.
The Speaker's Body

kinesics

The study of body

motions as a systematic
mode of communication.
307
308
 CHAPTER 12 Delivery

gestures
Motions of a speaker's
hands or arms during a
speech.
Movement
Novice speakers are often unsure about what to do with their body while
giving a speech. Some pace nonstop back and forth across the podium,
fear- ing that if they stop, they will forget everything. Others are perpetual-
motion machines, constantly shifting their weight from one foot to the
 other, bobbing their shoulders, fidgeting with their notes, or jingling
coins in their pockets. Still others turn into statues, standing rigid and
expressionless from beginning to end.
Such quirks usually stem from nervousness. If you are prone to dis- tracting mannerisms, your
teacher will identify them so you can work on controlling them in later
speeches. With a little concentration, these man- nerisms should disappear
as you become more comfortable speaking in front of an audience.
As important as how you act during the speech is what you do just before you begin and after you
finish. As you rise to speak, try to appear calm, poised, and confident,
despite the butterflies in your stomach. When you reach the lectern, don't
lean on it, and don't rush into your speech. Give yourself time to get set.
Arrange your notes just the way you want them. Stand quietly as you wait
to make sure the audience is paying attention. Establish eye contact with
your listeners. Then-and only then-should you start to talk.
When you reach the end of your speech, maintain eye contact for a few moments after you stop
talking. This will give your closing line time to sink in. Unless you are
staying at the lectern to answer questions, collect your notes and return to
your seat. As you do so, maintain your cool, collected demeanor. Whatever you
do, don't start to gather your notes before you have finished talking; and
don't cap off your speech with a huge sigh of relief or some remark like,
"Whew! Am I glad that's over!"
people need it. When practicing
All this advice is common sense; yet you would be surprised how many
your speeches, spend a little time rehears- ing how you will behave at
the beginning and at the end. It is one of the easiest and one of the most
effective-things you can do to improve your image with an audience.

Gestures
Few aspects of delivery seem to cause students more anguish than
deciding what to do with their hands. "Should I clasp them behind my
back? Let them hang at my sides? Put them in my pockets? Rest them
on the lectern? And what about gesturing? When should I do that-and
how?" Even people who normally use their hands expressively in everyday
conversation seem to re- gard them as awkward appendages when
speaking before an audience.
Over the years, more nonsense has been written about gesturing than about any other aspect of speech
delivery. Adroit gestures can add to the impact of a speech; but there is
nothing to the popular notion that public speakers must have a vast
repertoire of graceful gestures. Some accomplished speakers gesture
frequently, others hardly at all. The primary rule is this: Whatever
gestures you make should not draw attention to themselves and
distract from your message. They should appear natural and
spontaneous, help clarify or reinforce your ideas, and be suited to the
audience and
 occasion.
The Speaker's Body
309

Good speakers use a lively voice to help bring their ideas to life. They also use gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions to
create a strong bond with members of
the audience.

At this stage of your speaking career, you have many more important things to concentrate
on than how to gesture. Gesturing tends to work itself out as you acquire
experience and confidence. In the meantime, make sure your hands do not upstage
your ideas. Avoid flailing them about, wringing them together, cracking your
knuckles, or toying with your rings. Once you have eliminated these
distractions, forget about your hands. Think about communicating with your
listeners, and your gestures will probably take care of themselves-just as they do in
conversation.

Eye Contact
The eyeball itself expresses no emotion. Yet by manipulating the eyeball
and the areas of the face around it-especially the upper eyelids and the
eyebrows we are able to convey an intricate array of nonverbal messages. So
revealing are these messages that we think of the eyes as "the windows
of the soul." We look to them to help gauge the truthfulness,
intelligence, attitudes, and feelings of a speaker.
Like many aspects of communication, eye contact is influenced by cul- tural
background. When engaged in conversation, Arabs, Latin Americans, and
Southern Europeans tend to look directly at the person with whom they are
talking. People from Asian countries and parts of Africa tend to engage in less
 eye contact. In Kenya a discussion between a woman and her son- in-law
may well be conducted with each person turning her or his back to the
other!12
eye contact
Direct visual contact with the eyes of another
person.
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CHAPTER 12

View an excerpt from

Kristin Berg, "A
Family Tradition."

CD 1: VIDEO 12.4
Delivery

In
When it comes to public speaking, there appears to be fairly wide agree- ment across cultures on
the importance of some degree of eye contact.13 most circumstances,
one of the quickest ways to establish a communicative bond with your listeners
is to look at them personally and pleasantly. Avoid- ing their gaze is one of the
surest ways to lose them. There is a great deal of research to show that
speakers in the United States who refuse to estab- lish eye contact are perceived
as tentative or ill at ease and may be seen as insincere or dishonest. It is no
wonder, then, that teachers urge students to look at the audience 80 to 90
 percent of the time they are talking.
You may find this disconcerting at first. But after one or two speeches, you should be able to meet the gaze
of your audience fairly comfortably. As you look at your listeners, be alert
Do they understand you? Are
for their reactions. Can they hear you?
they awake? Your eyes will help you answer these questions.
It isn't enough just to look at your listeners; how you look at them also counts. A blank stare is almost as
bad as no eye contact at all. So is a fierce, hostile glower or a series of
frightened, bewildered glances. Also beware of the tendency to gaze intently
at one part of the audience while ignoring the rest. In speech class some students
look only at the section of the room where the teacher is sitting. Others
avoid looking anywhere near the teacher and focus on one or two
sympathetic friends. You should try to establish eye contact with your whole
audience.
Look at CD 1, Video 12.4 for an excellent example of eye contact. The speech is by
Kristin Berg, a student at the University of Wisconsin. Kristin's assignment
was to interview one of her classmates, Reva, and to give a brief talk
introducing her to the rest of the class. In her speech, Kristin explained
how Reva's parents had worked to help their growing family adapt to a new
culture after immigrating to the United States. As you can see from the
CD, the impact of Kristin's speech was greatly enhanced by her strong
eye con- tact (as well by her vocal variety and communicative gestures).
When addressing a small audience such as your class, you can usually look briefly, as
Kristin did, from one person to another. For a larger group, you will
probably scan the audience rather than try to engage the eyes of each
person individually. No matter what the size of your audience, you want your eyes
to convey confidence, sincerity, and conviction. They should say, "I am
pleased to be able to talk with you. I believe deeply in what I am saying, and I
want you to believe in it too."

Practicing Delivery

Popular wisdom promises that practice makes perfect. This is true,

but only if we practice properly. No matter how long and hard you practice
playing the piano, you will never make beautiful music if you don't know
the difference between a sharp and a flat. By the same token, you will
do little to improve your speech delivery unless you practice the right
things in the right ways. Here is a five-step method that has worked well
for many students:

1. Go through your preparation outline aloud to check how what you have written translates into spoken
discourse. Is it too long? Too short? Are the
Answering Audience Questions
311
main points clear when you speak them? Are the supporting materials dis- tinct,
convincing, interesting? Do the introduction and conclusion come across
well? As you answer these questions, revise the speech as
needed.

2. Prepare your speaking outline. In doing so, be sure to follow the guide- lines
discussed in Chapter 10. Use the same visual framework as in the
preparation outline. Make sure the speaking outline is easy to read at a
glance. Keep the outline as brief as possible. Give yourself cues on the out-
line for delivering the speech.

3. Practice the speech aloud several times using only the speaking outline. Be sure to
"talk through" all examples and to recite in full all quotations and statistics.
If your speech includes visual aids, use them as you practice. The first
couple of times you will probably forget something or make a mis- take,
but don't worry about that. Keep going and complete the speech as well as you
can. Concentrate on gaining control of the ideas; don't try to learn the speech
word for word. After a few tries you should be able to get through the
speech extemporaneously with surprising ease.

4. Now begin to polish and refine your delivery. Practice the speech in front of
a mirror to check for eye contact and distracting mannerisms. Record
the speech to gauge volume, pitch, rate, pauses, and vocal variety. Most
important, try it out on friends, roommates, family members-anyone who
will listen and give you an honest appraisal. Don't be shy about asking.
Most people love to give their opinion about something. Since your
speech is designed for people rather than for mirrors or recorders, you
need to find out ahead of time how it goes over with people.

5. Finally, give your speech a dress rehearsal under conditions as close as

possible to those you will face in class. Some students like to try the
speech a couple of times in an empty classroom the day before the speech is
due. No matter where you hold your last practice session, you should
leave it feeling confident and looking forward to speaking in your class.

If this or any practice method is to work, you must start early. Don't wait until
the day of your speech, or even the night before, to begin work- ing on
delivery. A single practice session-no matter how long-is rarely
enough. Allow yourself at least a couple of days, preferably more, to
gain command of the speech and its presentation. No matter how
brilliant your preparation outline, what counts is how the speech comes
across when deliver it. Give yourself plenty of time to make sure it comes
across well.
you
 Answering Audience Questions

As superintendent of the city's municipal building, Delia Sedano was

responsible for presenting its new security plan to the public. City
employees, citizens, and reporters gathered in the auditorium to hear her
describe the plan. After outlining the main points she would cover, she
assured the audience that she would be happy to answer questions at the end of
her presentation.
Delia realized the plan was expensive and potentially controversial, so she was not
surprised to see a number of hands go up as soon as she finished speaking.
An employee
312
CHAPTER 12 Delivery

from the coroner's office asked, "Will the new system create long lines to get
into the building, like the lines at airport security checks?" Delia had
anticipated this question and had an answer ready. After repeating the
question so everyone could hear it, she explained that a sufficient number of
security guards would be working at peak hours to speed things along.
The next question was more confrontational: "Where will the money come from to pay for all of this?"
The journalist who asked the question seemed hostile, but Delia was
careful not to adopt a defensive tone. She stated that the money would come
from the city's general budget. "I know these are tight times," she
added, "but every- one agrees on the importance of safeguarding our
employees and members of the public who come into the building."
The third question inquired about the training of security guards. After clarifying the gist of the
question, Delia introduced the city's director of security personnel and asked
him to provide additional information.
Near the end of the 25 minutes she had allotted, Delia said she would take two more
questions. When those were finished, she concluded the session with a brief
restatement of how the new system would improve security and peace of mind
in the municipal building. After Delia closed, Art Shafer, a member of the
security committee, came forward to congratulate her on a successful briefing.
"Your presentation was great," he said, "but the Q&A was especially
impressive. It showed the audience that we've looked at this from all
angles."

If you have ever watched a press conference or heard a speaker answer questions after a talk, you know
the question-and-answer session can make or break a presentation. A
speaker who handles questions well, as Delia. Sedano did, can
enhance her credibility and strengthen the impact of her speech. On
the other hand, a speaker who evades questions or shows
annoyance will almost certainly create the opposite effect.
The question-and-answer session is a common part of public speaking, whether the
occasion is a press conference, business presentation, public
hearing, or classroom assignment. Depending on the situation,
 questioning may take place throughout the presentation, or it may be
reserved until after the speaker has completed his or her remarks. In either
case, an answer to a question is often the final word an audience hears and is
likely to leave a lasting impression.

Preparing for the Question-and-Answer Session The first step to doing well in a question-and-
answer session is to take it as seriously as the speech itself. Even
experienced speakers have been known to stumble if they fail to
prepare thoroughly for the question-and-answer part of their presentation.
The two major steps in preparing are working out answers to possible
questions and practicing the delivery of those answers.

Formulate Answers to Possible Questions

Once you know your presentation will include questions from the audience, you should be thinking about
possible questions even as you are writing your speech. If you
practice your speech in front of friends, family, or coworkers, ask
them to jot down any questions they may have. Keep track of all the
questions and take the time to formulate answers. Write your answers
in full to make sure you have thought them through completely.
Answering Audience Questions
313

If you are giving a persuasive speech, be sure to work out answers to objections
the audience may have to your proposal. No matter how careful you are
to deal with those objections in your speech, you can be sure they will
come up at some point in the question-and-answer session.
If you are speaking on a topic with technical aspects, be ready to answer
specialized inquiries about them, as well as questions that seek
clarification in nontechnical terms. You might even prepare a handout
that you can dis- tribute afterward for people who want more information
than you can provide in the question-and-answer period.

Practice the Delivery of Your Answers

You would not present a speech to a room full of people without
rehearsing. Neither should you go into a question-and-answer session
without practicing the delivery of your answers. As many speakers have
discovered, writing out answers in the privacy of your home or office
and vocalizing them coherently under the pressure of an open forum are
two different matters. Since you will be presenting your answers out
loud, you should rehearse them out loud.
One possibility is to have a friend or colleague listen to your presenta- tion,
ask questions, and critique your answers. This method is used by political
candidates and business leaders, whose staff members grill them with
 questions before debates or press conferences. Another possibility is
to record your answers to anticipated questions, play them back, and
revise your answers until you get them just right.
As you rehearse, work on making your answers brief and to the point. Many
simple questions can be answered in 10 or 15 seconds, and even. complex ones
should be answered in a minute or two. If you practice an- swering questions
beforehand, you will find it much easier to keep to these time limits.
Of course, no matter how much you work ahead of time, there is no way to predict
every question you will receive. Some people will ask questions you had not
anticipated, and some of the questions you did anticipate may not get asked at all.
But if you go into the question-and-answer period fully prepared, you will find
it much easier to adapt to whatever occurs.

Managing the Question-and-Answer Session

If you have ever watched a skillful speaker field questions from the
audi- ence, you know there is an art to managing a question-and-answer
session. Entire books have been written on this subject, but the
following sugges- tions will help get you started on the right foot.

Clarify the Format

If there is any doubt about when you will entertain questions, take time early in
your speech to clarify the format you prefer. You can do this by
saying something like, "Feel free to ask questions throughout my speech,"
or "I'll be happy to answer questions at the end of my talk." Of course, if the
ground rules are already clear, there is no need to say anything about them.
314
CHAPTER 12 Delivery

Many speeches are followed by

a question-and-answer session.
 Here Los Angeles police chief
William Bratton explains his
policies prior to answering
ques- tions from the press.

Approach Questions with a Positive Attitude

A positive attitude will help you answer questions graciously and
re- spectfully. Try to view questions from the audience as signs of
genuine interest and a desire to learn more about your subject. If someone
asks a question about material you feel you have covered or a point that
seems clear to you, don't respond by saying, "I discussed that at the
beginning of my talk," or "The answer seems obvious." Instead, use
moments like these to reiterate or expand upon your ideas. If
you insult a questioner by dismissing his or her inquiry, the audience is
likely to make negative judg- ments about your character.
Similarly, a speaker who adopts a sharp or defensive tone while an- swering questions will
alienate many people in the audience. Think of the question-and-answer
session as another opportunity to communicate your ideas rather than as
a challenge to your competence or personhood.
Even if you are asked a hostile question, keep your cool. Avoid the temp- tation to answer defensively,
sarcastically, or argumentatively. Most people in the audience will
respect you for trying to avoid a quarrel.

Listen Carefully
It's hard to answer a question well if you don't listen carefully to it. Give
the questioner your full attention. Look directly at her or him
rather than glancing around the room, at the floor, or at the ceiling. If
an audience mem- ber is having a difficult time stating the question,
you might even nod in encouragement to help him or her along.
Answering Audience Questions

When faced with an unclear or unwieldy question, try to rephrase it by saying

something like, "If I understand your question, it seems to me that you are
asking..." Another option is simply to ask the audience member to
repeat the question. Most people will restate it more succinctly and clearly.
If you still don't understand, ask the questioner to give an example of what he
or she means.

Direct Answers to the Entire Audience

When you are being asked a question, look at the questioner. Direct your
answer, however, to the entire audience. Make occasional eye contact with
 the questioner as you answer, but speak primarily to the audience as a
whole. This will help you keep everyone's attention. If you speak just to the
ques- tioner, you may well find the rest of your audience drifting off.
When speaking to a large audience, be sure to repeat or paraphrase each
question after it is asked. This helps ensure that you understand the
ques- tion properly. It also involves the entire audience and guarantees that
they know the question you are addressing. In addition, repeating or
paraphras- ing the question gives you a moment to frame an answer before
you respond.

Be Honest and Straightforward

Some speakers dread question-and-answer sessions because they fear
being derailed by a question they can't answer. The world won't end if
you can't answer every possible question. If you don't know the answer, say so.
Don't apologize, don't evade, and most important, don't try to bluff. Do,
however, let the questioner know that you take the question seriously.
Offer to check into the answer as soon as possible after the speech. If a
more knowledge- able person is at hand, ask if she or he knows the answer.

Stay on Track
It's easy to get diverted or lose control of time in the give-and-take of a lively
question-and-answer session. Unless there is a moderator for the session,
the speaker is responsible for keeping things on track. Sometimes that
means preventing a single questioner from dominating the session. Allow
one follow-up question from each person, and don't let yourself be dragged
into a personal debate with any questioner. If someone attempts to ask more than
two questions, respond graciously yet firmly by saying, "This is an inter-
esting line of questioning, but we need to give other people a chance to
ask questions."
Sometimes, a listener will launch into an extended monologue instead of posing a
question. When this happens, you can regain control of the sit- uation by
saying something like, "Those are very interesting ideas, but do you have a
specific question I can answer?" If the person continues, offer to talk individually
with him or her after the session.
On some occasions, the length of the question-and-answer session is
predetermined by the moderator or by the schedule of the audience. On
other occasions, it's up to the speaker to decide how much time to
devote to answering questions. Often this requires adapting to the kind
and num- ber of questions you are receiving. Make sure you allow
enough time to get through issues of major importance, but don't let
things drag on after the
315
316 CHAPTER 12
 Summary
Delivery

momentum of the session has started winding down. As the end approaches,
offer to respond to another question or two. After answering them, wrap
things up by thanking the audience for its time and attention.14

Speech delivery is a matter of nonverbal communication. It is based on how you use your voice
and body to convey the message expressed by your words. You can't
make a good speech without having something to say, but you also
need to know how to say it. Rather than calling attention to itself,
effective delivery conveys the speaker's ideas clearly, engagingly, and
with- out distracting the audience.
There are four basic methods of delivering a speech: reading verbatim
from a manuscript, reciting a memorized text, speaking impromptu,
and speaking extemporaneously. The last of these-speaking
extemporaneously- is the method you probably will use for classroom
speeches and for most will speeches outside the classroom. When
speaking extemporaneously, you have a brief set of notes or a
speaking outline. You will choose the exact wording of your speech at the
moment of delivery.
To use your voice effectively you should work on controlling your volume, pitch, rate, pauses,
vocal variety, pronunciation, articulation, and dialect. Volume is the
relative loudness of your voice, and pitch is the relative highness
or lowness. Rate refers to the speed at which you talk. Pauses, when
carefully timed, can add great impact to your speech, but you should
avoid vocalized pauses ("er," "um," and the like). Vocal variety refers to
changes in volume, pitch, rate, and pauses, and is crucial to making
your voice lively and animated. Most of us speak casually in
everyday conver- sation, but for public speaking you should be sure to
pronounce words correctly and to articulate them distinctly. You should also
avoid heavy use of dialect in situations where the audience does not share the dialect or
will find
it inappropriate to the occasion.
Posture, personal appearance, facial expression, gestures, and eye con- tact also affect the way
listeners respond to speakers. You can do little to change your face or
body, but you can dress and groom appropriately for the situation at
hand. You can also learn to control gestures and bodily movements
so they enhance your message, rather than distract from it.
Making eye contact with listeners is one of the quickest ways to establish a
communicative bond with them.
You should practice all these aspects of delivery along with the words of your speech. Start your
 practice sessions early so you will have plenty of time to gain
command of the speech and its presentation.
If your speech includes a question-and-answer session, you will need to prepare for that as
well, since it can have a strong impact on the audience's final impression.
Anticipate the most likely questions, prepare answers to them, and
practice delivering those answers. Once the question-and-answer period
is underway, listen carefully to the questions, approach them posi-
tively, and respond to them briefly, graciously, and
straightforwardly. Direct your answers to the full audience,
rather than to the questioner alone, and make sure to end the session
in a timely fashion.
Exercises for Critical Thinking
317

Key Terms

nonverbal communication (294)

manuscript speech (295)
impromptu speech (296)
extemporaneous speech (298)
conversational quality (298)
volume (299)
pitch (300)
inflections (300)
pause (301) vocalized
pause (302) vocal
variety (302)
pronunciation (304)
articulation (304) dialect
(305) kinesics (307)

gestures
(308)
Review these terms by doing the Chapter 12
crossword puzzle at [Link]/lucas8.

ONLINE LEARNING CENTER

monotone (300) rate (300)

eye contact (309)

Review Questions

After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following
 questions:

1. What is nonverbal communication? Why is it important to effective pub-

lic speaking?
2. What are the elements of good speech
delivery?
3. What are the eight aspects of voice usage you should concentrate
on in
your speeches?

4. What are four aspects of bodily action you should concentrate on in your
speeches
?

5. What are the five steps you should follow when practicing your speech
delivery?

6. What steps should you take when preparing for a question-and-answer

session? What should you concentrate on when responding to questions during
the session?
For further review, go to the Study Questions for this. chapter.

CD 1: STUDY QUESTIONS

Exercises for Critical Thinking

1. An excellent way to improve your vocal variety is to read aloud selec- tions
from poetry that require emphasis and feeling. Choose one of your favorite
poems that falls into this category, or find one by leafing through a poetry
anthology. Practice reading the selection aloud. As you read, use your
voice to make the poem come alive. Vary your volume, rate, and pitch. Find
the appropriate places for pauses. Underline the key words or phrases you
think should be stressed. Modulate your tone of voice; use inflections for
emphasis and meaning.
For this to work, you must overcome your fear of sounding affected or
"dramatic." Most beginning speakers do better if they exaggerate
changes in volume, rate, pitch, and expression. This will make you
more
318
CHAPTER 12 Delivery
 range
aware of the many ways you can use your voice to express a wide of moods
and meanings. Besides, what sounds overly "dramatic" to you usually
does not sound that way to an audience. By adding luster, warmth, and
enthusiasm to your voice, you will go a long way toward capturing and
keeping the interest of your listeners.
If possible, practice reading the selection into a digital recorder. Lis- ten to the playback. If
you are not satisfied with what you hear, practice the selection some
more and record it again.
2. Watch a 10-minute segment of a television drama with the sound turned off.
What do the characters say with their dress, gestures, facial expres-
sions, and the like? Do the same with a television comedy. How do the
nonverbal messages in the two shows differ? Be prepared to report your
observations in class.

3. Attend a speech on campus. You may choose either a presentation by a

guest speaker from outside the college or a class session by a
professor who has a reputation as a good lecturer. Prepare a brief report
on the speaker's vocal and nonverbal communication.
In your report, first analyze the speaker's volume, pitch, rate, pauses, vocal variety, pronunciation, and
articulation. Then evaluate the speaker's personal appearance, bodily
action, gestures, and eye contact. Explain how the speaker's delivery
added to or detracted from what the speaker said. Finally, note at
least two techniques of delivery used by the speaker that you might
want to try in your next speech.

Applying the POWER of PUBLIC

SPEAKING

Notes
Utilizing your business degree and computer savvy, you have made a
suc- cess of the online marketing company you started after graduating
from col- lege. Now in its third year, the company has prepared a
 proposal to design the e-commerce site for a major sporting goods retailer.
In your 30-minute presentation to the retailer's management team, you will
review the home- page designs, site maps, and security protocols.
You notice on the agenda that another 30 minutes has been allotted af- ter your presentation for questions
and answers. Knowing from your previ- ous experience with clients how
important the Q&A session can be, you want to be sure you are ready
for it. What steps will you take to prepare?

1For two recent studies, see Carla R. Chamberlin, "Nonverbal Behaviors and
Initial
Impressions of Trustworthiness in Teacher-Supervisor Relationships,"
Communication Education, 49 (2000), pp. 352-364; Paul L. Witt and
Lawrence R. Wheeless, "An Experimental Study of Teachers' Verbal and
Nonverbal Immediacy and Students' Affective and Cognitive Learning,"
Communication Education, 50 (2001), pp. 327-342.
Irving Bartlett, Wendell Phillips: Boston Brahmin (Boston: Beacon Press, 1961), p. 192. 3A. Craig Baird, Rhetoric: A
Philosophical Inquiry (New York: Ronald Press, 1965),
p. 207.
*Daniel J. O'Keefe, Persuasion: Theory and Research, 2nd ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage, 2002), p. 185.
"James Joyce, "Chamber Music XXXV," in Harry Levin (ed.), Collected
Poems (New
York: Viking, 1946-1947). Reprinted by permission of Penguin Putnam, Inc. "Dorothy
Sarnoff, Speech Can Change Your Life (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970),
p. 73.

"The most authoritative guide to regional dialects in the United States is

Frederic G. Cassidy and Joan H. Hall (eds.), Dictionary of American Regional
English, 4 vols. to date (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985-2002).
*For an interesting discussion of this point, see Patrick L. Courts,
Multicultural Literacies: Dialect, Discourse, and Diversity (New York: Peter
Lang, 1997).
"For a more detailed guide on vocal communication, consult Jeffrey C. Hahner, Martin
A. Sokoloff, and Sandra L. Salisch, Speaking Clearly: Improving Voice and
Diction, 6th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002).
10See Mark L. Knapp and Judith A. Hall, Nonverbal Communication in
Human
Interaction, 5th ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2002), pp. 13-16.
"O'Keefe, Persuasion: Theory and Research, pp. 205-207.
12Knapp and Hall, Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction, p. 365. 13See, for
example, Scott D. Johnson and Ann N. Miller, "A Cross-Cultural Study of
Immediacy, Credibility, and Learning in the U.S. and Kenya," Communication
Education, 51 (2002), pp. 280-292.
14For more on managing question-and-answer sessions, consult Natalie
H. Rogers, The New Talk Power: The Mind-Body Way to Speak Without Fear
(Sterling, VA: Capital Books, 2000), pp. 195–210.
Notes
319