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Student Resource
Gamble, The Public Speaking Playbook, 2nd Edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Lecture Notes
Chapter 16: Physical Aspects of Delivery
Learning Objectives
1-1 Describe how a speaker’s physical cues can enhance or detract from his or her
message
1-2 Use physical cues effectively
1-3 Show how kinesic and proxemic cues can help speakers communicate with receivers
Outline
I. Speakers should approach the audience with confidence.
A. Speakers should approach the front of the room naturally and with confidence.
1. Speakers should pause and make eye contact with the audience.
2. Standing behind a podium communicates formality.
II. Proxemics, or the use of space and distance, plays an important role in the delivery of
a message.
A. The amount of space between the speaker and audience creates a sense of
closeness or immediacy.
1. Space should enhance delivery.
B. Speakers should not be confined to a lectern.
1. Moving during a speech closer to the audience can create more
immediacy.
2. Less formal occasions and content that are lighthearted provide the
speaker with more flexibility to move.
III. Audiences will pay more attention to a speaker’s body language than what a speaker
says.
A. Body language should be purposeful.
1. Pacing or moving randomly will distract the audience.
2. Speakers who use gestures meaningfully will come across as natural,
relaxed, and in touch with his or her thoughts, whereas speakers whose
Student Resource
Gamble, The Public Speaking Playbook, 2nd Edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
gestures are stiff and unnatural will be seen as uptight, non-dynamic, and
unsure.
3. Illustrators are the types of gestures that can clarify, reinforce, describe
or demonstrate the meaning of words.
4. Emblems are the nonverbal messages that have a direct verbal
translation and used and understood by the members of a culture.
5. Gestures should be natural, spontaneous, and consistent with the
message.
B. Posture or the position of your body in space conveys to the audience how a
speaker is feeling.
1. Speakers who lean toward an audience are perceived more positively
than those who lean away.
2. Speakers who stand tall with shoulders squared send a message of
strength to an audience.
C. Audiences use a speaker’s facial cues to determine the speaker’s motive.
1. Facial cues should be natural.
a. When intensifying an emotion, a speaker should exaggerate
facial expressions to reflect the degree of expression that the
audience would deem as appropriate.
b. When de-intensifying an emotion, a speaker should diminish
facial expressions so that the audience will judge the behavior as
acceptable.
c. When neutralizing an emotion, a speaker should suppress
feelings to suggest inner strength and resilience to listeners.
d. When masking an emotion, a speaker should replace one
emotion with another that you believe the audience will respond to
more favorably.
e. An expressionless face will also work against a speaker because
it will fail to communicate goodwill or sincerity.
f. Eye contact has the greatest degree of impact on the relationship
between a speaker and an audience.
i. Eye contact signals that the lines of communication are
open between the audience and speaker.
ii. Eye contact reduces the distance between speakers and
listeners.
iii. Eye contact allows the speaker to obtain information
from the audience about how the speech is coming across.
Student Resource
Gamble, The Public Speaking Playbook, 2nd Edition
SAGE Publishing, 2018
iv. Eye contact communicates the speaker’s confidence,
conviction, concern and interest.
D. A speaker’s appearance is importance in creating a first impression and
influencing a speaker’s competence and trustworthiness.
1. Attire will help make the speaker and the message more appealing to
the audience.
a. Attire should be appropriate for the occasion and type of speech.
