The document provides guidance on improving speech delivery skills. It discusses using proper pronunciation, avoiding filler words, varying pitch and tone, and pacing speech at a rate that allows listeners to understand. Specific exercises are presented to practice these skills, such as reading passages aloud and speaking with different emotions. The overall message is that mastering elements of voice and delivery helps ensure effective communication and a positive impression on audiences.
8. The Speech
Problem #1
When you don’t bother
to pronounce each
syllable of each word
properly and words get
slurred together, you
sound uneducated
Exercise 1: Say this list of words out loud:
• Going
• Walking
• Jogging
• Thinking
• Striking
• Selling
Exercise 2: Say the sentences out loud
• I’m going to have to rethink that bid.
• Waiting to hear back from the bank is very nerve-wrecking and
stressful.
• Before starting my business, I looked at a lot of different business
opportunities.
• There’s more to learning than just reading, writing and arithmetic.
9. Tongue-twisters
Keeping customers
content creates kingly
profits.
Success seeds
success.
Bigger business isn’t
better business but
better business brings
bigger rewards.
Wanting won’t win;
winning ways are
active ways.
Seventeen sales slips
slithered slowly
southwards.
Don’t go deep into
debt.
Ensuring excellence
isn’t easy.
Time takes a terrible
toll on intentions.
10. The
Benefits of
Enunciation
Form a better impression of you as you speak,
thinking of you as an educated, knowledgeable
person, more worthy of trust.
Be better able to focus on the message you’re
communicating, rather than being distracted by
the way you’re expressing yourself.
11. The Speech
Problem #2
Using excessive fillers
while you speak
is the most irritating
speech habit
Filler sounds
• “uh”,
• “um”
• “eh”
• “errr”
Filler phrases
• “you know”
• “anyway”
• “all right”
• “like”
• “whatever” (new)
12. The Speech
Problem #3
Speaking in a
monotonous voice
Speech Exercise: Emotion Sentences
• I just got a call saying that I won a lottery of
Rs.10 million.
• I’m going to have to change that light bulb.
• Our town now has a new recycling
program.
• My next door neighbour is moving out next
week.
• I’ll be able to retire in only two more years.
13. The Speech
Problem #3
Speaking in a
monotonous voice
Speech Exercise: Belief Sentences
• You’ll never regret buying one of these.
• This extended warranty is a great deal.
• This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.
• What I’m doing now is the best thing
I’ve ever done.
• I am the best at what I do.
14. The Benefits
of not using
fillers.
As your voice expression
increases, your listeners will:
• Be more interested in what you’re
saying and more attentive;
• Be more likely to be receptive to
you and the message you’re
communicating.
15. The Speech
Problem #4
Speaking too quickly
a.k.a. “motormouths”
Happens when we’re stressed or
excited.
• Speaking too slowly is
much less common, but...
• Trick: remembering that
you need to speak for your
listener to understand
16. The Speech
Problem #4
Speaking too quickly
a.k.a. “motormouths”
Speech Exercise: Practicing Phrasing
• Go back to the start of this speech lesson
and read it out loud, using the punctuation
to guide your phrasing. Think of a period or
semi-colon as a pause twice as long as a
comma.
Speech Exercise: Practicing Phrasing
• Speech Topics:
17. Speech Topics
How to
perfectly boil
an egg
How to plant a
tree
How to send
an email
How to handle
a customer
complaint
How to send a
fax
How to
evaluate an
employee
How to replace
a printer
cartridge
How to impress
a client
How to give a
good speech
How to make
the perfect cup
of coffee or tea
18. The Speech
Problem #5
Littered with acronyms,
buzzwords and slang
Slang
• informal language consisting of words and expressions
that are not considered appropriate for formal
occasions; often vituperative or vulgar
Buzzwords
• stock phrases that have become nonsense through
endless repetition
Acronyms
• formed from the first letters of each word of a phrase
19. Summary:
Be energetic when you speak. Emphasis is
simply the force or stress you place on
important ideas, concepts for feelings. It’s
the simplest of the tools for effective public
speaking. Make sure you use enough
energy to reach across space to your
listeners, “bringing your voice to them.”
20. Summary:
Add colour and excitement with pitch
inflection. Too many speakers “sit on” their
pitch: they start low, and then don’t go
anywhere in varying their pitch on the
musical scale. A pitch that doesn’t vary is a
“mono-tone.”
21. Summary:
Vary your rhythm and pace.
Adrenaline always kicks in when you
speak in public. And if you had a
tendency to speak too quickly before,
you’ll certainly do so in that important
presentation! To keep audiences
attentive, you need to vary your pace.
22. Summary:
Use the power of silence. Pauses and
silence are two of the most neglected
tools in public speaking. Nervousness
can make you speak as though you’re
a runaway freight train, exhausting
your audience.
23. Summary:
Vocal quality creates a richer audience
experience. Vocal quality concerns the
tone, richness, pleasantness, and
emotional connection that you achieve
when you speak. Your audience wants
a voice that reaches listeners
effectively and enjoyably.
