Speech Delivery
Learning the art of delivery in public speaking

It is important to come into your public speaking engagement well-prepared. You need to have done your research, organized your thoughts well, and prepared your visual aids. But all of this is only one small part of the public speaking equation. Your audience will expect you to not only be knowledgeable in your subject area, but to be charismatic and entertaining. Regardless of how important or fascinating your subject may seem to you, your audience will require a reason to keep listening. Don't make the mistake of losing your audience in a poor delivery.

The Voice of Authority

Your message will never be conveyed if you do not speak intelligibly. Pace yourself well; don't speak too quickly or too slowly. Remember that the pace at which you would speak in normal conversation with a friend is typically too fast for a large group to understand. Take the time to enunciate. Don't saying "turnin'" instead of "turning or "gonna" instead of "going to."

If you feel that you are having a difficult time enunciating your words, you may benefit from vocal exercises with a speaking coach. It is also important to stay away from slang, especially if it has the potential to feel inappropriate to your audience. Be conscious of your use of "filler" words like "um" and "uh." The less you use these, the more professional you will sound.

Your volume is also integral to your overall intelligibility. Consider the physical distance between you and your audience as well as any background noise that will compete with you. You may also want to ask ahead of time to see the room in which you'll be speaking so that you can get a sense of the room's acoustics, how sound travels around the room and whether or not there is an echo. If you will not be provided with a microphone than obviously projecting your voice will be necessary. If you can get into the room early, ask a friend or colleague to stand at the back of the room and listen to part of your speech. He or she will be able to tell you if you will need to speak up or if any of your words sound distorted.

Delivery is all about variety. If you don't vary yourself, your audience will perceive you as monotonous, and you'll lose their interest completely. Keep in mind that as sound travels from you to your listeners, your voice will sound differently to them than it does to you. You will need to stress certain words or phrases to show their importance, increase your rate of speed a bit to show excitement or slow it down to add a serious tone to your speech.

Body Language Speaks For Itself

The culture of the United States values straightforwardness. Typically, people who will look others right in the eye are considered self-assured and truthful; they are people you can trust. This is one reason why making eye contact with your audience is so important. It will establish your credibility.

Making eye contact also requires a bit more of your audience - no one wants to look like they're not paying attention. When they see the speaker actually looking at them, searching for their reaction to the content of the speech, they will perk up and listen more intently. Vary those with whom you choose to make eye contact and be sure to connect with several people in various sections of the room.

Finally, be aware of your facial expressions. The expressions you make will let your audience know the tone of your message and exactly how you feel about the points you are making. If you are discussing your involvement in Habitat for Humanity, you will want to vary your expression from one of a somber nature - families who cannot afford quality housing is a serious problem - to one of excitement over the work being done and the potential for continued progress.

Using Your Space

A speaker who stands in one position the entire time and never moves is boring. He or she appears nervous or lacking in personality. Use the space provided to you! Walk around the stage, get out from behind the podium, or walk down to the audience and address them one-on-one. A speaker who is constantly moving and using their space well will hold their audience's attention.

Gestures can also be an excellent way to take advantage of the space available. Use your hands to emphasize your points. Gestures can be descriptive, as when you use your hands to show the general shape or size of an object, or they can show excitement, anger, fear or any other manner of emotion. Just be conscious of the ethnic and cultural background of your audience - many gestures that are considered positive in our culture or that are widely known may be offensive to people from other parts of the world or may just be meaningless.

Enhancing Your Delivery With Visual Aids

There are a number of potential visual aids available to you including actual objects, models, drawings, photos, slide shows, videotapes and flipcharts. Some speakers also choose to give their audience hand-outs to complement their talk. Depending on the subject matter of your talk and the resources you will have available to you, you may choose to use one or several. In some cases, using no visual aid at all is a better choice.

Use a visual aid only when you feel it will enhance the understandability of your talk. If you are explaining how to bake a pie or parallel park, visual aids will help your audience to understand what you are saying. If your talk is a simpler informational speech during which you're not explaining a process, then visual aids may actually be overkill. If you do choose to use them, keep them as simple as possible. Don't overload your Power Point presentation with flashy animation, clip art, sounds and color. It will distract your audience from you and what you are trying to say. It may also look amateurish or unprofessional to some audiences. The exception here would be when you are addressing a group of children, who react well to lots of visual stimulation. Children will be entertained and far more engrossed in your speech if you use a lot of variety in your visual aids.

They way you choose to deliver your speech is as important, if not more so, than the research you do to prepare for it. A speaker who can engage his or her audience and inspire interest will always succeed in getting their point across. You central idea will be well received if care is taken in its delivery.