Repetition is a fundamental part of most good public speeches. By the end of your speech, your audience should have absolutely no question about what your central idea or main claim is. To make sure that happens, you need to state that idea clearly in the introduction of your speech, tie the information and arguments of the body to it in explicit ways, and restate the idea again in your conclusion. Audiences are more likely to miss or forget important information if you do not repeat and restate it.
Clarity of structure means that your ideas are logically grouped into categories that your audience can easily pick out. In addition, just as paragraph indents and underlining alert your reader to new or important ideas, transitions and signposts help listeners to recognize new 'paragraphs' and key points of the speech. making a brief pause can signal to your listeners that you are about to say something important or are moving onto the next main point. Phrases like "most important," "I am claiming that," "the crucial point is this," call your listeners' attention to what follows them and act as verbal underlining. (For more on organization, signposts, and transitions, see Structuring Your Speech)
Oral discourse differs from written in its use of language. Oral discourse is often best when it uses the first person, I and we. Such language gives the speech a sense of immediacy and helps the speaker to connect with the audience. In addition, good speeches will often use less formal language--contractions, sentence fragments, selected slang expressions. Finally, oral language needs to be less dense and jargon-laden then some kinds of written language, especially academic language. When written papers are read out loud, they almost never make effective speeches.
While there are several effective modes of delivery, extemporaneous speaking is the most adaptable and time efficient. Learning it is also an excellent way of sharpening your thinking. Extemporaneous speeches are developed through outlining your ideas, not writing them out word-for-word. They are practiced ahead of time, rehearsed and re-rehearsed (extemporaneous speeches are not impromptu), using a keyword outline of single words and short, 3-5 word phrases. The speech isn't memorized but instead you are concentrating on the main ideas; each time you practice and deliver the speech, you word it a little differently. Extemporaneous delivery gives your speech freshness, for it doesn't sound canned and over-rehearsed. It allows you to make adjustments to your message in response to non-verbal signals from the audience--signs of confusion, displeasure, curiosity, or excitement, for example.
Extemporaneous delivery allows you to make eye contact with your audience, one of the best ways to connect with them and keep them involved in your speech. Eye contact is an important way to establish a speaker's credibility and make a speech compelling; when a speaker relies too much on notes, he is potentially losing his audience and running the risk of looking unprepared.
Voice
and
body
are important in public speaking, helping to make a speech
clear and compelling to an audience. Developing good vocal delivery means
focusing first and foremost on clarity: you need to speak loud enough to
be heard by everyone, articulate your words clearly so that you can be
understood, and speak slowly enough so that your audience can easily take
in your thoughts. In addition, avoid monotone delivery and be engaged enough
with the speech to communicate interest. Effective bodily delivery begins
with this simple maxim: don't distract your audience with what you are
doing in front of them. Nervous pacing, standing cross-armed or hands-in-pockets
for long stretches, turning your back to your audience and talking into
a visual aid, gestures unrelated to your verbal message--all of these are
ways to distract from the content of your speech, and they should be avoided.