Public Speaking Skills: First Principle of Great Communication
Dr Jeannette Kavanagh
Article Title:
Public Speaking Skills: First Principle of Great Communication
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Article Description:
We all need public speaking skills, even if it's only the
skill of asking a question at a local meeting of the Parents
and Teachers' Association. Over the years I have seen even
very experienced public speakers forget the most basic
principle of oral (spoken) communication.
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Distribution Date and Time: 2010-12-15 11:00:00
Written By: Dr Jeannette Kavanagh
Copyright: 2010
Contact Email: mailto:jean...@conquerpublicspeakingfears.com
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Public Speaking Skills: First Principle of Great Communication
Copyright (c) 2010 Dr Jeannette Kavanagh
Conquer Public Speaking Fears
http://www.conquerpublicspeakingfears.com/
We all need public speaking skills, even if it's only the skill
of asking a question at a local meeting of the Parents and
Teachers' Association. Over the years I have seen even very
experienced public speakers forget the most basic principle of
oral (spoken) communication.
Before sharing with you some general advice about principles of
oral or spoken communication, I am assuming that you know that
great presentations take hours, sometimes days, of dedicated
preparation. I do realize that if you make presentations to
clients on a regular basis and it's only the actual content that
changes, you won't have to spend a great deal of time preparing
after the first couple of times.
However, I base all my seminars on the principle that to present
at your best, you must be prepared to prepare. Both your material
and your self.
First Principle: Aural and Visual Communication Are Very
Different
The saying that 'a picture is worth a thousand words' can be
true. Keep that saying in mind when using visual aids. Use a
picture, diagram, flow chart or other image to convey visually
what you'd need a thousand words (or so) to say. Your use of
visuals in a presentation should illuminate the meaning of your
spoken words.
Great presenters support their visual images by speaking in
detail about what is being conveyed visually. That tactic is very
useful and extremely powerful. It focuses the minds of the
listeners simultaneously on the message which they're receiving
both visually and aurally (by listening).
When you show a slide of a rose but you talk about lemons - not
that you'd dream of something as silly as that - but when there
is a conflict between the visual image and what you're talking
about, I need hardly spell out for you the sort of confusion that
follows. Human beings find it difficult to combine aural and
visual media of communication. That is, we find it difficult to
listen to your words (aural communication), while simultaneously
being asked to take in even slightly different information which
you're conveying using on visual aids.
Yet, time and again that is precisely what even the most
experienced public speakers do.
They spend their preparation time really well by distilling some
complex information into a great diagram. By 'great diagram' I
mean one that is clear and easy to understand. They prepare by
creating that great visual and then go on and on and on -about
something else.
Once again, I've often been astounded to pay a huge entry fee to
hear great public speakers present their information to a
targeted audience of people keen to hear them. I'm just relaxing
into the presentation when up on the screen comes a diagram that
looks like a circuit for a computer. Boxes all over the place, a
few arrows going both ways or in circles and a colour scheme that
confuses the listeners even more.
Given my background I'm sorry to have to say this, but
University lecturers have been the worst offenders to date. The
others are the people whose information is extremely up-to-date
and very valuable but they haven't ever invested even a second
of their lives learning how to present their gems.
To quote Dorothy Sarnoff, one of my favourite writers on the
subject of public presentations:
"Speechmaking confidence comes from knowing that you have
something worth saying, and that you can say it in a way that's
worth listening to". (Sarnoff 1981: 42)
My approach to public presentations is inspired by something
Albert Einstein is alleged to have said:
"If you really understand something, you can make it
understandable to a ten year old."
So, be like Einstein: keep it simple. Your words and your
visuals.
There's a related rule I use in my own presentations. You don't
have to follow it, it's just my advice. That rule is:
If your visual aids don't stand alone, or make sense by
themselves, dump them. If you don't discard them, please at
least have a very good second look at them. If your visual
material is going to require lots and lots of verbal explanation,
sorry sweetness, but they're too complex for a public
presentation. You can of course include them in your conference
paper. That's a different medium of communication altogether.
So to sum up that fundamental principle of good oral
communication: never confuse your eager listeners by presenting
difficult-to-follow visuals which in turn, are out of synch with
what you're actually talking about.
Public Speaking Fear Can Mar Your Presentation
A big reason for under par presentations is one with which we all
feel some empathy. The person speaking is a world expert on the
topic but....s/he is has such high levels of fear of public
speaking that it becomes easier to hide in visuals. Worse still,
some very nervous speakers resort to standing there and reading
their presentation. I know from having worked with even the most
nervous people imaginable that everyone can conquer their public
speaking fear. If fear of public speaking is more of an issue for
you than preparing your talks and presenting them using clear and
simple visual and verbal language, I urge you to get the help
that will conquer that fear.
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Dr Kavanagh works in Melbourne, Australia to help people
overcome their public speaking fears. Jeannette has helped
thousands of people overcome their fear of public speaking.
For more information, visit her website:
http://www.conquerpublicspeakingfears.com/
Sign up for a FREE Public Speaking Success program.
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