How to give good orals? (1 Viewer)

[Redp3n]

oral = speech

Hello there. I have to present a speech in a few days and I tend to get quite nervous always looking at my palm cards.

do n e of u have n e good advice that u could gve me plz? on how to be a better speaker and more confident.


thanks

 

[Acid]

Put some vasoline on the lips, and create a tight vacuum seal over the... ok, maybe the wording of your topic was just wrong.

Basically, learn your speech well and you will be confident because you know every word that's going to come up - no surprises.

 

[Redp3n]

awesome

 

[tonberry_kun]

repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition

read your speech over and over again, u won't need palm cards, and u'll likely score more marks...

have a loud (not too loud obviously) and confident voice, look at your markers or audience (my advice is to try to look not at them, but at something right behind them, that's if you're too nervous to look at your markers)

good luck

 

[Rahul]

hmm...make eye contact. prepare your speech and practice.
if you have a problem with making eye contact, then look just above their heads and look around the room.
use hand jestures and body language too.

 

[iambored]

make sure you know your speech well so you can feel confident. remember that when you get in there it will always be slightly worse than at home, so the better you are at home the better you will be at school

and did you word the heading of this topic purposely the way u did?

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Make sure that you don't just read your speech. You should use your voice, face and body to engage the audience. Not by using wild hand gestures or anything, but by standing up properly, getting good eye contact as often as possible (as the others have said, you need to be quite familiar with your speech, otherwise you will just be reading it and won't have eye contact... unless you are an experienced public speaker that is). Eye contact is really a key to maintaining the attention of your audience. If you look someone in the eye while they are mentally napping, they will immediately actually start listening to you again.... for a while anyway. Also with eye contact it is important to not look in the same place all of the time. Look around your audience to make them all feel included in what you are saying.

As the others have said, a clear voice at an appropriate volume is also important. Make sure you don't mumble or rush over words. Keep a steady pace. If your speech has to fit in to a certain time limit, don't try and cram tons in to the time limit because you will be rushing to finish in time and your "performance" of your speech and it's intelligibility will suffer seriously because of it. Make sure the speech fits comfortably in to the set time frame without rushing. That's very important.

Also, don't let your nerves get the better of you. Think that the butterflies in your stomach are there because you are excited to give your great speech that you have prepared. You want people to hear what you have put time and effort in to preparing.

And if all else fails, just remember, most of the class isn't listening anyway lol

 

[Tenax Propositi]

Originally posted by braindrainedAsh
And if all else fails, just remember, most of the class isn't listening anyway lol

that is SO true.

And be wary of the fact that after hearing student after student after student speak... it's most likely the marker isn't listenting either. So: be UNIQUE in your INTRO and CONCLUSION. Capture people's attention from the OUTSET.

On a similar note, make is pleasureable... not painful.

 

[Redp3n]

thanks for adivce fellas

one more thing

how do u use hand gestures?

i think it is SO gay, but what exactly do u do?

 

[Tenax Propositi]

Originally posted by Redp3n
thanks for adivce fellas

one more thing

how do u use hand gestures?

i think it is SO gay, but what exactly do u do?

whenevr you make a point you're emphasising, close your right fist in front of you.

whenever you pose a rhetorical question, open you're palm and wave it out to one side - like on wheel of fortune (though less gay).

Do not overdo gestures - it should be subtled and accompany you're oral.

Don't revert to making it a hand-job. *pun intended*

Does that make any sense? It's easier for me to show you then describe it.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Hand Gestures can make a speech really bad if they look fake... i.e. does anyone remember that young girl that spoke to get the Olympics for Sydney... too many hand gestures!!!

I do a lot of public speaking, so to me it comes naturally, but a good way to practise is to perhaps do your speech in front of a mirror to see if any hand gestures you are using look overly contrived or irrelevant.

My personal advice would be that if in doubt, just use your hands to hold your palm cards!! But that's just my opinion, I have a real thing about "silly" hand gestures.

I'm sure you will be fine. It's really important to stay relaxed, so don't build it up in to a big "thing" that is scary otherwise you will be making it harder for yourself.

 

[sammeh]

well as a fairly experienced debater, and musician (believe it or not it has relevance) i'd have to say:

a) the 1st line of your speech is the most important one. make it confronting so as to get the attention of your audience. this will also make you feel more confident, if you can deliver your 1st line with panache and see the audience respond, it makes the rest of the speech a whole lot easier.

b) do NOT plan your hand gestures. seriously, dont. just do whatever feels natural with hand motion to emphasise each point. with other movements, dont pace, but u can wander a little from your starting point, unless you're behind a lectern in which case stay put. imo lecterns are bad, if you have a choice ditch it. you can turn to address different parts of the audience, as long as you never have your back to anyone. basically, whatever you do, make sure that the gestures are never the primary "focus" of the speech - ppl should be listening to what you say without being too distracted by what your hands are doing.

c) memorising your speech is good, but not necessary; dont waste time doing that as opposed to improving the content. as you write and edit it you'll become familiar enough with the matter that you wont need to read, and just use prompt cards which have the key points of your speech written in point form, 1 to a card, and possibly the linking sentence.

d) basically, what you want to do is have good "presence" - giving a speech (or an oral ) is a performance, you have to perform for the audience, and the best way to do this is to be supremely confident but without being arrogant bcos then you get sloppy.

e) this is the most important part: HAVE FUN! if you arent enjoying yourself, the audience WILL notice, and they'll respond by not having fun themselves.

good luck!

sam.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Originally posted by Asquithian
u want to be able to memorise it...and regurgitate...

That is the entire principle of the HSC summed up in 2 words lol.

I totally agree with the above poster, don't plan hand gestures!! They need to be natural.
...I also agree with the point above that when you are giving oral you need to perform well, you don't want it to be sloppy

(sorry, couldn't help myself....)

 

[bubz :D]

don't worry about what the rest of the class thinks of your speech, most of them don't give a crap anyway [and will most likely have a glazed-over look in their eyes coz they're pretending they're listening to you]. but remember you still need to make eye contact with them, not just with your teacher.

don't do what i did for every single one of my speeches [including debates, hehe] and write it the night before. make sure you prepare for it so that you have enough TIME to practise it - and i mean PRACTISE it, so that it's almost fluent. otherwise, get to know your topic very very well so that you don't need your palm cards. most teachers can tell when you're reading your speech anyway

so yes, make sure you have eye contact, your voice is loud and clear, and no matter how nervous you are - you have to try to sound confident. no matter how slow you THINK you are speaking, it's actually quite fast to the audience, something that i've learnt over the years so slow it down, don't blabber on or talk too fast coz it makes you sound nervous and unsure.

oh, and it's always best to have props. whether it's a short video clip, a photo or a diagram on the board, it gets you bonus points

good luck!

 

[Dash]

The old trick... pretend everyone is naked...
Well actually if ur a guy, picture the girls naked... etc

 

[kimmeh]

Originally posted by Dash
The old trick... pretend everyone is naked...
Well actually if ur a guy, picture the girls naked... etc

wasnt that on the simpsons? then homer started to visualise himself naked

 

[fringey]

Love what you have writted and you will pull it off or at least fool the audience into thinking you like it!! Have a funny catchy introduction (grab attention immediately!!)
be pASSIONate and DONT SAY sorry if you fuck it.
And take a deep breath

 

[= Jennifer =]

a good way to start a speech is with a quote or a rhetorical question NEVER with good morning...

too cliched

 

[CHUDYMASTER]

Go in, intoxicated with alcohol or some sort of thrill pill - believe me, when you wake up, the results will be rather surprising.

 

[bubz :D]

Originally posted by = Jennifer =
a good way to start a speech is with a quote or a rhetorical question NEVER with good morning...

too cliched

yeah, and some teachers don't like it when you say "thankyou" at the end ;;