Chapter 14.4 Practicing For Successful Speech Delivery
Importance of Conversational Quality
Good delivery involves presenting a clear, coherent, and interesting message.
Stephen E. Lucas defines good delivery as conveying ideas clearly, interestingly, and without distracting the audience.
Audiences prefer a combination of formality with conversation-like attributes: directness, spontaneity, animation, vocal and facial expressiveness, and a lively sense of communication.
Nonverbal communication (face, vocalics) significantly impacts audience understanding.
Conversational style: ability to sound expressive and natural, avoiding didactic or overly exaggerated presentation.
Tiffany Lucas defines conversational quality as the ability for a rehearsed speech to still sound spontaneous.
The audience should focus on the message, not the delivery.
Eye Contact
Eye contact: visual connection with everyone in the audience.
Without eye contact, the audience may feel invisible or unimportant.
O'Hare, Stewart, and Rubenstein state that eye contact is essential for establishing a good relationship with the audience.
Eye contact conveys sincerity, preparedness, and confidence.
Facial expressions communicate a range of emotions (sadness, joy, etc.).
Fake eye contact (looking above heads or sweeping gaze) can appear mechanical and prevents assessing audience understanding.
Alternating gaze between audience and notes is a skill in extemporaneous speaking.
Vocalics (Paralanguage)
Vocalics: how we use our voices to communicate orally.
Speak loudly and enunciate clearly for all audience members.
Maintain good vocalic technique by facing the audience with chin up, avoiding excessive reliance on note cards, and speaking at a moderate speed.
Use appropriate pitch, pauses, vocal variety, and correct pronunciation.
Volume: loudness or softness of voice.
Use volume strategically, adjusting to the physical setting.
Rate: speed of speaking.
Vary rate to communicate enthusiasm, urgency, humor, respect, seriousness, or careful reasoning.
Pitch: highness or lowness of voice.
Modulate pitch using inflections to add emphasis.
Monotone: speaking without changing pitch, which should be avoided.
Avoid pitching voice up at the ends of sentences.
Pauses: brief breaks in delivery to show emphasis and enhance clarity; use confidently.
Vocal variety: changes in volume, pitch, rate, and pauses.
Pronunciation: conventional patterns of speech used to form a word.
Mispronunciation harms credibility and can confuse the audience.
Online dictionaries can help clarify any uncertainties about the correct pronunciation of words.
Articulation: ability to clearly pronounce each syllable.
Speech therapists use the acronym SODA (substitutions, omissions, distortions, additions) for effective articulation.
Substitutions: replacing one consonant or vowel with another.
Example: water \rightarrow wuda
Omissions: dropping a consonant or vowel.
Example: Internet \rightarrow inet
Distortions: articulating with nasal or slurring sounds.
Example: pencil \rightarrow mental
Additions: adding consonants or vowels.
Avoid verbal surrogates or filler words (like "um", "uh", "like" etcetera).
Effective Physical Manipulation
Physical manipulation: use of the body to emphasize or convey meanings.
Posture: stand up straight to communicate power and seriousness.
Body movement: avoid standing in one place or pacing; move at transition points.
Gestures: use in moderation to suggest emphasis, enthusiasm, or personal connection.
Avoid distracting movements like twirling hair or jingling keys.
Facial expressions: show appropriate emotions; avoid blank or over-animated expressions.
Dress: dress one step above the audience; avoid distractions in appearance.
Self-presentation: poise or stage presence; enhances or detracts from the message.
Variety: of gestures and nonverbal components.
Practicing Effectively
Practice to identify weaknesses and build good delivery habits.
Plant feet firmly on the floor to avoid swaying.
Seek input from others for constructive criticism.
Ask specific questions about eye contact, volume, voice modulation, pronunciation, posture, gestures, and mannerisms.
Use audio and/or video to record yourself.
Good delivery is a habit that strengthens with practice.
Practice out loud in front of people, spread out over several days.
Time your speech during practice sessions.
Adjust note cards to support contact with the audience.
Key Takeaways
Conversational style: expressive and natural sounding.
Conversational quality: speech sounds spontaneous despite being rehearsed.
Eye contact: captures and maintains audience interest while contributing to the speaker’s credibility.
Vocalics: nonverbal components of the verbal message (volume, pitch, rate, pauses, vocal variety, pronunciation).
Physical manipulation: use of the body to add meaning and emphasis.
Good delivery: a habit built through effective practice.