Part One  Speaking and Listening

Chapter 1  Speaking in Public

1  Developing Confidence

1.1  Nervousness is normal

*Jerry Seinfeld said: "Given a choice, at a funeral most of us would rather be the one in the coffin than the one giving the eulogy."

It is perfectly normal--even desirable--to be nervous at the start of a speech. Your body is responding as it would to any stressful situation--by producing extra adrenaline.

1.2  Dealing with nervousness

Don't think of yourself as having stage fright. Instead, think of it as "stage excitement" or "stage enthusiasm." It can help you get focused and energized.

1.2.1  Acquire speaking experience

For most students, the biggest part of stage fright is fear of the unknown. The more you learn about public speaking and the more speeches you give, the less threatening speechmaking will become.

1.2.2  Prepare, prepare, prepare

Another key to gaining confidence is to pick speech topics you truly care about--and then to prepare your speeches so thoroughly that you cannot help but be successful.

A standard rule of thumb is that each minute of speaking time requires one to two hours of preparation time--perhaps more, depending on the amount of research needed for the speech.

1.2.3  Think positively

Confidence is mostly the well-known power of positive thinking. If you think you can do it, you usually can.  

For each negative thought, you should counter with a minimum of five positive ones. Doing so will not make your nerves go away completely, but it will help them under control so you can concentrate on communicating your ideas rather than on brooding about your fears and anxieties.

1.2.4  Use the power of visualization

The key to visualization is creating a vivid mental blueprint in which you see yourself succeeding in your speech. Picture yourself in your classroom rising to speak. See yourself at the lectern, poised and self-assured, making eye contact with your audience and delivering your introduction in a firm, clear voice. Feel your confidence growing as your listeners get more and more caught up in what you are saying. Imagine your sense of achievement as you conclude the speech knowing you have done your very best.

As with your physical rehearsal of the speech, this kind of mental rehearsal should be repeated several times in the days before you speak.

1.2.5  Know that most nervousness is not visible

Your nervous system  may be giving you a thousand shocks, but the viewer can see only a few of them.

1.2.6  Don't expect perfection

• Several tips for dealing with nervousness：

• Be at your best physically and mentally. A good night's sleep will serve you better.

• As you are waiting to speak, quietly tighten and relax your leg muscles, or squeeze your hands together and then release them. Such actions help reduce tension by providing an outlet for your extra adrenaline.

• Take a couple of slow, deep breaths before you start to speak.

• Work especially hard on your introduction. Research has shown that a speaker's anxiety level begins to drop significantly after the first 30 to 60 seconds of a presentation. Once you get through the introduction, you should find smoother sailing the rest of the way.

• Make eye contact with members of your audience.

• Concentrate on communicating with your audience rather than on worrying about your stage fright.

• Use visual aids. They create interest, draw attention away from you, and make you feel less self-conscious.

2  The Speech Communication Process

2.1  Speaker

Your success as a speaker depends on you—on your personal credibility, your knowledge of the subject, your preparation of the speech, your manner of speaking, your sensitivity to the audience and the occasion. But successful speaking also requires enthusiasm.

You can't expect people to be interested in what you say unless you are interested yourself. If you are truly excited about your subject, your audience is almost sure to get excited along with you. You can learn all the techniques of effective speechmaking, but before they can be of much use, you must first have something to say—something that sparks your own enthusiasm.

2.2  Message

Getting the verbal message just right requires work. You must narrow your topic down to something you can discuss adequately in the time allowed for the speech. You must do research and choose supporting details to make your ideas clear and convincing. You must organize your ideas so listeners can follow them without getting lost. And you must express your message in words that are accurate, clear, vivid, and appropriate.

Besides the message you send with words, you send a message with your tone of voice, appearance, gestures, facial expression, and eye contact.

One of your jobs as a speaker is to make sure your nonverbal message does not distract from your verbal message.

2.3  Channel

The channel is the means by which a message is communicated.

2.4  Listener

Because people have different frames of reference, a public speaker must take great care to adapt the message to the particular audience being addressed. To be an effective speaker, you must be audience-centered. You will quickly lose your listeners' attention if your presentation is either too basic or too sophisticated. You will also lose your audience if you do not relate to their experience, interests, knowledge, and values. When you make a speech that causes listeners to say “That is important to me,” you will almost always be successful.

2.5  Feedback

In public speaking there is plenty of feedback to let you know how your message is being received. As a speaker, you need to be alert to these reactions and adjust your message accordingly.

Like any kind of communication, feedback is affected by one's frame of reference.

2.6  Interference

Interference is anything that impedes the communication of a message. In public speaking there are two kinds of interference, external and internal

2.7  Situation

The situation is the time and place in which speech communication occurs.

Chapter 3  Listening

1  Four Causes of Poor Listening

• Not concentrating

• Listening too hard

• Jumping to conclusions

• Focusing on delivery and personal appearance

2  How to Become a Better Listener

2.1  Take listening seriously

Like any other skill, good listening comes from practice and self-discipline. Check your current skills as a listener by completing the Listening Self-Evaluation Worksheet. Once you have identified your shortcomings as a listener, make a serious effort to overcome them.

2.2  Be an active listener

Active listeners give their undivided attention to the speaker in a genuine effort to understand his or her point of view. In conversation, they do not interrupt the speaker or finish his or her sentences. When listening to a speech, they do not allow themselves to be distracted by internal or external interference, and they do not prejudge the speaker. They take listening seriously and do the best they can to stay focused on the speaker and his or her message.

2.3  Resist distractions

Whenever you find this happening, make a conscious effort to pull your mind back to what the speaker is saying. Then force it to stay there. One way to do this is to think ahead of the speaker—try to anticipate what will come next. In this case you will listen—and measure what the speaker says against what you had anticipated.

Another way to keep your mind on a speech is to review mentally what the speaker has already said and make sure you understand it. Yet another is to listen between the lines and assess what a speaker implies verbally or says nonverbally with body language.

2.4  Don't be diverted by appearance or delivery

2.5  Suspend judgment

Does this mean you must agree with everything you hear? Not at all. It means you should hear people out before reaching a final judgment. Try to understand their point of view. Listen to their ideas, examine their evidence, assess their reasoning. Then make up your mind. The aim of active listening is to set aside "one's own prejudices, frames of reference, and desires so as to experience as far as possible the speaker's world from the inside." It has been said more than once that a closed mind is an empty mind.

2.6  Focus your listening

2.6.1  Listen for main points

2.6.2  Listen for evidence

2.6.3  Listen for technique

As you listen, focus on the speaker's strengths and weaknesses. If the speaker is not effective, try to determine why. If he or she is effective, try to pick out techniques you can use in your own speeches.

2.7  Develop note-taking skills

Most students find the key-word outline best for listening to classroom lectures and formal speeches.