Public Speaking

Cristiano FuriassiUniversità degli Studi di Torino

SSST

Dynamic Presentations

Powell, Mark. 2010. Dynamic Presentations. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Preparing to present

• Presenting is a skill• Preparing to perform• Impact on the audience• Rely on facts and figures• Ready for questions

Key issues

• How to start• How to finish

• What to put in• What to leave out

• When to stick to your plan• When to depart from it

Connecting with the audience

• Language skills• Voice management• Visual aids• Body language

– questionnaire p.5

Opening

• Capture the audience’s interest

• Explain it’s worth listening

• Show authority

• Provide a map of the presentation

ABCD

• ATTENTION

• BENEFIT

• CREDIBILITY

• DIRECTION– https://www.llas.ac.uk//video/6097– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXVoT7VMCpM

ATTENTION

• Give (an object)• Tell (a story, an anecdote)• Quote (someone authoritative)• Show (a picture, a video)• Ask (something, to do something)• Disprove (a myth, a theory)

Key sentences for opening

• ex. 5 p.7• ex. 7 p. 7

Closing

• Summary (academia)– Conclusions (and desiderata)

• Action (business, politics, charity)– Call for action

• Wisdom (business, politics, academia)– Famous wise words

• Emotion (business, politics, charity)– Heart-felt message

Key sentences for closing

• ex. 2 p. 8• ex. 4 p. 8

Smooth structure

• Presentation = journey• Smooth presentation achieved via textuality• Textuality (both speech and writing)– Cohesion (form)– Coherence (content)

“Colorless green ideas sleep furiously”

Key sentences for proceeding (1)

• ex. 2 p. 10• ex. 3 p. 11

Aims/Goals

• Targeting the audience– Topic– Competence/expertise– Logical links between parts/stages

• ex. 2 p. 12• ex. 4 p. 12

Key sentences for proceeding (2)

• ex. 6 p. 12

Multimodality

• Verbal– Writing– Speech

• Non-verbal– Visuals– Body language

Multimodality and ELF

• Variety of modes leads to improved performance

• Reliance on visuals may compensate for verbal (language) deficiencies– ELF (English as a Lingua Franca)

Voice

• ex. 1 p. 14

Voice power

• Fluency• Accuracy• Speed– Pauses

• Clarity• Interest

Delivery

• ex. 2 p. 14• ex. 8 p. 15

Delivery and style

• Tempo• Volume• Expressiveness• Articulation• Sentence length• Register/style• Linkers• Emphasizers/minimizers

• ex. 1 p. 16• ex. 6 p. 17

Visual aids:ornamentation vs credibility

• Data load• Visual impact– bullets

• Color contrast• Legibility• Font size• Scale• Aesthetics– real objects or props

Effective slides

• p. 18, 19, 83: comment on slides• ex. 7 p. 19: comment on props• ex. 5 p. 20

Key phrases for visual aids

• ex. 7 p. 21• ex. 8 p. 21

The 666 rule

• No more than 6 words per bullet

• No more than 6 bullets per slide

• No more than 6 bullet-point slides in a row

The 10-20-30 rule

• 10: total number of slides

• 20: total time allowed

• 30: minimum font size

Facts and figures

• Figures should be in your brain, not (just) on the screen

• Show the audience you’ve done your homework

• You can’t say everything in your talk• Less useful figures should be in the handout

Key phrases for facts and figures

• ex. 5 p. 23• ex. 7 p. 23• ex. 4 p. 24• ex. 5 p. 25• ex. 6 p. 25

Body language

• Natural vs artificial• Face to face vs face to faces• You are your most important visual aid• People believe what they see, not what they

hear

Key moves for body language

• ex. 3 p. 26• ex. 5 p. 27• ex. 1 p. 28• ex. 3 p. 28• ex. 6 p. 28

Rapport building

• Know and target the audience• Be open and listen to the audience• Connect with the audience– Tag questions

• Be passionate about the topic• Detect intelligence types• Humor– a fun person creates opportunities for laughter to

emerge

Key phrases for rapport building

• ex. 3 p. 30• ex. 5. p. 31

Intelligence types

• Visual• Auditory• Logical• Physical/spatial• Interpersonal• Intrapersonal

Key notions for intelligence types

• ex. 4 p. 33• ex. 6 p. 33

Impact techniques

• Repetition– ex. 4 p. 34

• Mantra: repeated phrase• Alliteration: repetition of the same sound– ex. 6 p. 35

• Rhetorical questions– ex. 3 p. 36

• Groups of three (plus one)– ex. 7 p. 37

• Opposites– ex. 2 p. 38

• Intensifiers– ex. 4. p. 39

• Metaphors– ex. 5 p. 39

Storytelling:at the beginning or at the end

• Telling stories/anecdotes– ex. 2 p. 42– ex. 4 p. 44

• Exaggeration– gradability– ex. 7 p. 45

• Simile– ex. 9 p. 45

Q&A session

• Deal with• Define• Defuse• Divide• Deflect• Defer• Disarm• Decline

Dealing with Q&A

• Anticipate plausible questions from the audience

• Make sure key themes are explained and linked

• A second (powerful) close after the Q&A session– ex. 10 p. 49