15-1
Chapter 15
Delivering Your Speech
CHAPTER OUTCOMES
In this chapter, students will learn:
• How to deliver a speech effectively
• Ways to connect with their audience
• Ideas for managing speech anxiety
CHAPTER OUTLINE
SPEECH DELIVERY MODES
You can start step 4: rehearse by considering how you will actually deliver your speech. Will you have
time to adequately prepare? How heavily (if at all) will you rely on notes? Will factors such as the
setting, situation, or audience influence your presentation? Answering questions like these will help you
determine your delivery style.
IMPROMPTU SPEAKING
• Impromptu speaking is when you are making public remarks with little or no time for preparation or
rehearsal. There are six ways you can handle impromptu speaking:
15-2
o Keep your message brief, and don’t apologize for being unprepared. No one expects you to give a
long, detailed speech at a moment’s notice.
o Identify a central point you want to make and provide two or three illustrative points or facts to
back you up.
MANUSCRIPT SPEAKING
• Manuscript speaking is when your speech is based on a written text that you either read word for
word or commit to memory. This type of speaking allows you to correctly use more intricate,
• Manuscript speaking has three drawbacks:
o If you are focused on a written text, you lose opportunities to make eye contact with your
listeners.
15-3
EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING
• Extemporaneous speaking includes elements of both manuscript and impromptu speaking: a
structured preparation outline and a delivery outline. The resulting speech sounds more
conversational than it would if you read from or memorized a manuscript.
o A conversational tone is similar to a casual conversation; it uses a natural, spoken language style
rather than a formal, written language style, and the speaker exudes emotion and passion for the
topic.
MANAGING
YOUR
SPEECH
DELIVERY
Step 4: rehearse isn’t only about the delivery mode you will use. Practicing your delivery will help you
feel more comfortable and confident, fostering a sense of closeness with your listeners and gaining their
respect.
• Immediacy is a sense of closeness that your audience feels toward you as a speaker; it is created by
using familiar language and engaging nonverbal behaviors. Communicators who show immediacy are
often described as warm and approachable.
CONVEYING IMMEDIACY
• You can create a sense of immediacy by adopting an oral language style, which is words that are
similar to how people talk, when delivering your speech.
15-4
o An oral language style of delivery differs radically from a written language style, which is
• You also connect with your audience through the following nonverbal behaviors:
Vocal Characteristics
• Vocal characteristics create a sense of closeness or distance with the audience. When delivering your
speech, consider how these three features will help you connect with listeners:
• Vocal tone is the richness and sound quality of your voice; it also varies during natural conversations.
People who don’t vary their vocal pitch and vocal tone during a conversation or public presentation
are speaking in monotone, which doesn’t create a sense of immediacy. A monotone delivery bores an
audience, giving the impression you don’t care about what you are saying.
Eye Contact
• Eye contact shows attention, interest, affection, and even aggression; during a presentation, it signals
your interest and desire to connect with your audience.
15-5
• Watch out for two common mistakes:
• Not making enough eye contact because you are too focused on reading your notes
• Making eye contact with only those listeners who are the most interested and supportive
• For online presentations without an audience, look straight at the camera, as though you were talking
to a close friend.
Facial Expressions
• Facial expressions can tell your audience how strongly you feel about your message by reinforcing
your feelings about the message and strengthening the connection with your audience. They should
naturally arise from your feelings about specific points you’re making in the speech.
Gestures and Body Posture
• Gestures and body posture also reveal the intensity of your involvement with your
topic and thus affect the degree of immediacy your audience feels. You naturally use your hands and
move your body to help you describe something or tell a story, but often, when you give a speech,
nervousness can cause your gestures to be awkward, stilted, or even nonexistent.
15-6
stationary, swaying back and forth. Any of these changes can block you from creating a sense of
immediacy with your audience.
• Carefully monitor your gestures and posture to make sure you are producing congruent messages,
which happens when your verbal communication and nonverbal communication match.
Personal Space
• Personal Space: Presentations often involve the use of a lectern or simply occur at a physical distance
known as public space, a distance of 12 feet or more apart. Although large distances between the
o Moving purposefully around the presentation space reduces the physical distance, but there are
three common pitfalls to avoid:
1. Only move to emphasize a key point or when transitioning to another point in your speech.
PROJECTING A POWERFUL SPEECH STYLE
• During a presentation, your choice of language and other nonverbal behaviors can gain or lose the
respect of your audience. Scholars have found that expressions of power enhance perceptions of a
speaker’s competence through the following:
Language
15-7
• Hedging, or words that lessen a message’s impact, such as sorta, kinda, and somewhat. Such words
can confuse an audience and suggest you’re holding something back.
Vocal Delivery
• Vocal delivery can also project confidence or uncertainty; it influences how your audience perceives
you. Consider these four aspects of vocal delivery that affect your delivery:
• Poor articulation can cause your audience to misunderstand what you’re saying. Don’t run through
words or drop the endings of words.
• Poor pronunciation may cause your audience to question your credibility.
Dress and Physical Appearance
• Dress and physical appearance can build or undermine the impression you make on an audience. If
you want your audience to take you seriously, you should look the part.
o A few points to remember:
• Avoid dressing as though you’re headed to the beach, to sleep, or to the dance club.
15-8
o You want to look your best and ensure that there is nothing about your appearance that distracts
the audience from listening to your speech.
MANAGING YOUR DELIVERY IN ONLINE SPEECHES
• When delivering an online speech, you want to ensure that your audience stays tuned in to your
message by conveying immediacy and projecting a powerful speech style.
• Keep in mind these suggestions when making an online presentation:
o Keep your background free of visual distractions.
o
Be expressive with your face, eyes, and voice. Even if your audience can’t see your facial
expressions, using your nonverbal communication will help your vocal expressiveness.
MANAGING SPEECH ANXIETY
If you feel nervous while preparing for or while delivering a presentation, you’re not alone. Everyone—
from students to celebrities—experiences speech anxiety sometimes. The good news is that you can take
concrete steps to manage the speech anxiety that you feel.
15-9
• Speech anxiety, or being nervous about speaking in public, is a common experience for many people,
because no one wants to lose face or become embarrassed in a public setting. it can undermine all the
time you spend rehearsing.
• Self-fulfilling prophecies are predictions you make about interactions that lead you to communicate in
• Although there is no “magic pill” cure, there are several strategies to help reduce the nervousness
associated with public speaking. Here are some suggestions to try:
o Look for opportunities to speak up in large groups. Make comments and ask questions whenever
you’re in a large group. These experiences will gradually help reduce your feelings of self-
consciousness when speaking in front of large groups.
o Create a situational analysis. During the rehearsal step of your speech preparation, spend some
time learning about your speech setting and equipment needs. You will feel more comfortable
and confident if you are familiar with the room setup.
o Know your introduction. During the first few minutes of a speech, your nervousness peaks, since
this is the time when your audience is the most attentive to you. Take time
15-10
o Use visualization techniques. Visualization is effective in reducing pre-speech jitters.
To visualize a successful presentation, follow these steps:
1. Relax your body through deep, concentrated breathing.
2. Develop a vivid image of yourself confidently standing in front of your audience.
o Practice is important, yet students who have an intense fear of public speaking spend less time
practicing and more time preparing their notes. Prepared notes won’t improve your delivery—
only practice can do that.
CHOOSING
AND
USING
PRESENTATION
AIDS
Incorporating visual support for your ideas will enhance your speech. Presentational aids not only help
you keep your audience’s attention but also help your audience understand complex points. But not just
any image or slide will do. Selecting the right visuals and rehearsing with them is the key to improving
your delivery.
TYPES OF PRESENTATION AIDS
Whiteboards and Flip Charts
• Whiteboards and flip charts allow you to write or show key ideas while you deliver your speech.
15-11
Handouts
• Handouts can help your listeners follow steps in a process or remember important information, but
they may become a major distraction if handed out during a presentation. If you decide to use
Physical Objects
• Physical objects or props sometimes make it easier to explain an idea to your audience. An advantage
of using physical objects is that they can have more visual impact than a two-dimensional diagram or
• If you decide to use physical objects, be sure to consider the following:
• Will everyone be able to see your prop?
• Passing an object around the room can be distracting. Are there other options for displaying a
small object? Can you walk it through the audience? Is a document camera available for
Posters
• Though increasingly rare in our digital age, posters are another form of presentation aid. The main
advantage of using posters is that you’re not dependent on electrical or technical support for your
presentation because all you need is an easel or a wall for displaying them. Posters are usually best for
15-12
• Your poster should look as neat and professional as possible. When possible, use a computer to
Video
• Videos—either from the internet or from content created by the speaker—are commonly included in
presentations. A major benefit of video is that it will grab your audience’s attention. Yet effectively
integrating video clips takes planning and practice. Be sure to remember to do the following:
o Make sure that you can quickly access the required video clip.
Presentation Software
• Presentation software like PowerPoint is still widely used in presentations because it makes it easy to
import graphics to your slides to achieve a highly professional, polished look. By providing key
points or summary information, on your slides, you can help the audience follow your presentation.
You want to avoid letting presentation slides come between you and your listeners, thus undermining
your immediacy or powerful speech style.
o Avoid the following common design pitfalls:
• Too-small text