3. Why Study Public Speaking?
Vital life skill and a secret weapon in
career development
According to a 2006 Job Outlook Survey, it is the
number one skill that employers value.
Public speaking ranked higher than honesty, team
work, strong work ethic, analytic skills, flexibility,
interpersonal skills and motivation.
Recruiters of top graduate school programs
convey that the most sought-after students are
the ones with the “soft skills” of communication
over the “hard” knowledge of a given career path.
(O’Hair, Dan. A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking. 2007. Print.)
4. Why Study Public Speaking?
Helps you to reason and think critically
Learn how to logically construct claims and
support them with evidence.
Organizing and outlining speeches will help you
to structure ideas and strengthen ideas
Offers a way to express yourself, beliefs and
values in a public format
6. Eye Contact
Establishing good sustained eye contact is
the goal of a speaker.
Sustained eye contact is looking at all
audience members during the course of a
speech.
It is important to maintain direct eye contact
with the audience.
Avoid looking over their heads or at a spot on
the wall. The audience will be able to tell.
The goal for all speeches is to look at the
audience between 85 – 100% of the time.
7. Rate
The pace at which a speech is conveyed
The normal speaking rate for the average adult
is between 120 and 150 words per minute.
The most common problem with rate is that
speakers deliver their speech too quickly
which causes the audience to lose interest or
become confused.
How do you control your rate?
Use strategic pauses
Carefully pronounce and articulate words
8. Volume
Is the relative loudness of a speaker’s voice
The proper volume for delivering a speech is
somewhat louder than that of a normal
conversation
Loudness depends on 3 factors
1. Size of the room and number of people in it
2. Background noise
3. Microphone if present
Most common problem with volume is that
speakers are too soft and this is corrected by
projecting your voice and breathing correctly.
9. Fluency
Use of words such as like, uh, uhm, you
know, and, etc.
These words fill dead space in a speech and
must be avoided
You eliminate the use of fillers by being
prepared to deliver your speech
10. Pitch
Refers to vocal quality and the high and low
notes that a speaker produces with his voice.
It is important to vary pitch when speaking.
If a speaker has a single pitch, it’s called
monotone and sounds boring.
Rate and pitch work together to make the
voice interesting to hear.
12. Bibliography
Fraleigh, Douglas M. Speak Up: An Illustrated Guide to Public
Speaking. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. Print.
Franklin, Sharon and Clark, Deborah. Essentials of Speech
Communication. China: McDougal Littell, 2001. Print.
O’Hair, Dan. A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2007. Print.
