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Speeches in Oral Communication

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Embark on a transformative journey into the realm of Speeches in Oral Communication with our comprehensive guide. Unlock the art of effective communication through enlightening examples that vividly illustrate each principle. From honing your communication skills to navigating various styles, this guide is your key to mastering the craft. Elevate your understanding with real-world Communication Examples, ensuring a seamless blend of theory and practical application in your oral communication endeavours. Dive in for a holistic exploration of impactful speeches and communication strategies.

What are Speeches in Oral Communication

Speeches in Oral Communication encompass verbal expressions designed for effective interpersonal communication. Simply put, they are structured talks delivered orally, aiming to convey information, persuade, or entertain. In essence, these speeches serve as a vital tool in conveying thoughts and ideas directly, fostering a deeper connection between the speaker and the audience. Explore the fundamental definition and significance of Speeches in Oral Communication in this insightful exploration.

Best Example of Speeches in Oral Communication

Among the myriad of impactful speeches, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” stands as an epitome of eloquence and inspiration. Delivered during the 1963 March on Washington, this iconic speech advocated for civil rights and equality. King’s masterful use of rhetoric, powerful metaphors, and unwavering passion left an indelible mark, transcending time. This example of Speeches in Oral Communication showcases the profound impact a well-crafted speech can have in shaping history and stirring societal change. Explore the nuances and brilliance of this timeless address.

30 Examples of speeches in Oral Communication

Uncover the richness of effective communication with these 30 Speeches in Oral Communication examples. From historic addresses to modern talks, this diverse collection offers a holistic view of impactful verbal expressions. Elevate your communication skills by studying these instances, each a masterclass in connecting with an audience, navigating various styles, and delivering messages with resonance.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream”: King’s eloquent call for civil rights resonates with timeless power, showcasing the impact of passionate rhetoric.
Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Address: Jobs’ speech is a testament to the art of storytelling, inspiring graduates with personal anecdotes and wisdom.
Malala Yousafzai’s United Nations Speech: Malala’s courageous words advocate for education, exemplifying the transformative power of conviction.
Winston Churchill’s “We Shall Fight on the Beaches”: Churchill’s wartime oration is a model of resilience and leadership in the face of adversity.
Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globes Speech: Oprah’s empowering address emphasizes the importance of truth and inclusivity, leaving an indelible mark on her audience.
Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: Lincoln’s succinct yet profound speech memorializes sacrifice and commitment to a united nation.
Emma Watson’s He For She Campaign Speech: Watson’s advocacy for gender equality showcases the impact of using celebrity influence for a noble cause.
Barack Obama’s Farewell Address: Obama’s farewell speech combines reflection and hope, offering a compelling narrative for the nation’s future.
J.K. Rowling’s Harvard Commencement Speech: Rowling’s candid revelations about failure and resilience make for a memorable lesson in life’s challenges.
Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural Address: Mandela’s speech embraces reconciliation, embodying the spirit of unity and forgiveness.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System Presentation: Musk’s visionary talk on interplanetary travel blends technical details with futuristic optimism, showcasing effective communication in complex fields.
Susan Cain’s “The Power of Introverts” TED Talk: Cain’s speech challenges societal perceptions, emphasizing the strengths of introverted personalities in a world that often celebrates extroversion.
John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address: Kennedy’s iconic speech inspires with its call to civic duty and cooperation, setting the tone for a new era.
Sheryl Sandberg’s TED Talk on “Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders”: Sandberg’s frank discussion on gender and leadership offers practical insights, making it a landmark in the dialogue on workplace equality.
Ronald Reagan’s Challenger Disaster Address: Reagan’s empathetic and consoling speech during tragedy showcases the role of leadership in times of crisis.
TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on “We Should All Be Feminists”: Adichie’s eloquent advocacy for gender equality serves as a compelling example of using speech to challenge societal norms.
Abdul Sattar Edhi’s Acceptance Speech for the Nishan-e-Imtiaz: Edhi’s humble and heartfelt speech reflects his dedication to humanitarian causes, leaving a lasting impact on listeners.
Bill Gates’ Harvard Commencement Address: Gates’ speech combines humour and wisdom, offering valuable insights on success, failure, and the pursuit of knowledge.
Michelle Obama’s Democratic National Convention Speech (2016): Obama’s emotional and powerful speech emphasizes unity and hope, resonating with a diverse audience.
TED Talk by Simon Sinek on “How Great Leaders Inspire Action”: Sinek’s Golden Circle concept provides a unique perspective on effective communication, urging leaders to start with “why.”
Harvey Milk’s “Hope” Speech: Milk’s historic address advocates for LGBTQ+ rights with a message of hope and solidarity, showcasing the power of conviction.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech: Suu Kyi’s graceful and composed speech underlines the importance of nonviolent resistance and human rights.
Al Pacino’s “Inches” Speech from “Any Given Sunday”: Pacino’s impassioned locker room speech illustrates the importance of determination and teamwork in the face of challenges.
Temple Grandin’s TED Talk on “The World Needs All Kinds of Minds”: Grandin’s speech demystifies autism, fostering understanding and acceptance through her personal experiences.
Robin Williams’ “Carpe Diem” Speech from “Dead Poets Society”: Williams’ portrayal of a teacher inspires students to seize the day and embrace individuality.
Indira Gandhi’s “Emergency” Speech: Gandhi’s announcement of a state of emergency demonstrates the complexities of political communication during crises.
Stephen Hawking’s TED Talk on “Questioning the Universe”: Hawking’s speech combines scientific insight with humour, making complex concepts accessible to a broad audience.
Charlie Chaplin’s Speech from “The Great Dictator”: Chaplin’s powerful plea for humanity transcends comedy, delivering a timeless message of peace and compassion.
George W. Bush’s 9/11 Address to the Nation: Bush’s speech during a pivotal moment in history conveys strength, resolve, and a call for unity in the face of adversity.
Greta Thunberg’s United Nations Climate Action Summit Speech: Thunberg’s passionate address on climate change exemplifies the impact of youth activism and urgency in communication.

Speeches in Oral Communication at Universities

Immerse yourself in the realm of Speeches in Oral Communication at universities, where eloquence meets academia. Navigate the nuances of addressing diverse academic audiences, honing persuasive techniques, and conveying complex ideas with clarity. This guide unravels the art of university-level oration, providing insights into captivating speeches that leave a lasting impact on both students and faculty.

Professor’s Inaugural Lecture: In university settings, professors often deliver inaugural lectures, setting the tone for their academic journey. A well-crafted speech here outlines their research focus and educational philosophy.
Student Council Election Speech: Student leaders use these speeches to articulate their vision, showcasing their communication skills and persuading peers to entrust them with leadership roles.
Convocation Address by Guest Speaker: Invited speakers deliver commencement speeches, offering wisdom and inspiration to graduates as they embark on their professional journeys.
Research Symposium Presentation: Academic conferences feature speeches where researchers present their findings, emphasizing the significance of their contributions to the field.
Dean’s Welcome Speech: Deans welcome new students, providing insights into the university’s ethos and fostering a sense of community among the academic cohort.
Alumni Success Story Speech: Alumni share their experiences and accomplishments, motivating current students and illustrating the transformative power of a university education.
Student Research Showcase: Students present their research projects in speeches, showcasing their investigative skills and contributing to the academic discourse within the university community.
International Guest Speaker Lecture: Universities often host renowned speakers, enriching the academic environment with diverse perspectives and fostering global awareness.
Graduate Thesis Défense: Grad students defend their theses in speeches, demonstrating their mastery of the subject matter and engaging with faculty in scholarly dialogue.
Interdisciplinary Symposium Keynote: Speeches at interdisciplinary events bridge gaps between academic fields, encouraging collaboration and showcasing the interconnectedness of knowledge.

Speeches in Oral Communication for Students

Explore the dynamic landscape of Speeches in Oral Communication tailored specifically for students. From interactive class presentations to extracurricular speeches, this guide illuminates the importance of effective communication in fostering academic growth, personal development, and future success.

Class Presentation on a Literary Analysis: Students enhance their speaking skills by delivering analyses of literary works, fostering critical thinking and articulation of ideas.
Debating Club Opening Statement: Engaging in debates sharpens students’ persuasive abilities, allowing them to present compelling arguments and counterpoints.
Peer Collaboration Workshop Speech: Students lead workshops, demonstrating effective collaboration techniques and emphasizing the value of teamwork.
Student-led Diversity Forum Address: Speeches in forums cantered on diversity and inclusion empower students to express their perspectives, fostering a more inclusive campus environment.
Public Speaking Course Final Presentation: Students showcase their progress in public speaking courses by delivering polished and impactful speeches on topics of personal interest.
Leadership Development Program Speech: Aspiring student leaders share their visions, emphasizing their commitment to enhancing campus life through effective leadership.
Extracurricular Club Recruitment Pitch: Students hone their persuasive skills by delivering pitches to recruit new members for various clubs and organizations on campus.
Volunteer Project Reflection Speech: After engaging in community service, students deliver speeches reflecting on their experiences, promoting a culture of civic responsibility.
Internship Experience Presentation: Students share insights gained from internships, emphasizing the practical application of classroom knowledge in real-world settings.
Study Abroad Reflection Speech: Those returning from study abroad programs share their transformative experiences, encouraging others to explore diverse cultures for personal and academic growth.

What is Speech Style in Oral Communication?

Speech style in oral communication refers to the unique manner and approach individuals employ when delivering spoken messages. It encompasses a spectrum of elements, including tone, pace, pitch, and choice of words. Understanding the nuances of speech style is pivotal for effective communication, as it directly influences how a message is perceived and received. Let’s delve into the key components that define speech style and explore its significance in various contexts.

The tone of speech reflects the speaker’s attitude and emotional state. Whether it’s assertive, empathetic, or persuasive, the tone sets the overall mood of the communication. Inflection, or variations in pitch, adds dynamism and emphasis to key points.
The speed at which words are delivered contributes to the overall impact of a message. A well-modulated pace, coupled with a rhythmic flow, enhances listener engagement. Strategic pauses can also emphasize important ideas.
The selection of words and the precision of diction play a crucial role in conveying the intended message. Whether using formal language for a professional setting or employing colloquial expressions for a casual talk, the choice of words shapes the communication style.
Nonverbal communication, including gestures, facial expressions, and body language, significantly influences speech style. These cues complement spoken words, adding layers of meaning and aiding in the interpretation of the message.
Effective speakers tailor their speech style to suit the preferences and understanding of their audience. Adapting to cultural nuances, educational backgrounds, and expectations ensures that the message resonates with listeners.
The context in which a speech occurs greatly influences speech style. Whether it’s a formal presentation, an informal discussion, or a celebratory toast, being attuned to the context allows speakers to strike the right balance in their communication approach.
Speech style is most impactful when aligned with the overarching purpose of communication. Whether aiming to inform, persuade, inspire, or entertain, a purposeful and well-crafted speech style enhances the effectiveness of the message.
Cultural differences can significantly impact speech style preferences. Awareness of cultural norms regarding directness, formality, or informality helps speakers navigate diverse audiences with sensitivity.

In conclusion, the power of speeches in oral communication cannot be overstated. They serve as a conduit for ideas, emotions, and information, influencing audiences and shaping perspectives. For those keen on exploring further, resources like TED Talks offer a vast array of speeches from experts in various fields, providing inspiration and insight into the art of effective communication. Additionally, for practical guidance and skill development, the Toastmasters International website is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to hone their public speaking and leadership skills. These platforms not only provide examples of exceptional speeches but also offer tools and techniques to improve one’s own communication abilities.

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Speeches in Oral Communication at universities

Speeches in Oral Communication for students

Speeches in Oral Communication in classroom

Speeches in Oral Communication for teachers

Speeches in Oral Communication in the classroom

Additional resources related to main supporting points

University of Hawai'i Maui Community College Speech Department : general guidelines related to main points and other supporting material.
Calvin University—What Not to Do : a document about what not to do with speech main points.
Lumen Learning : a variety of topics relating to main points, from how many should you have to how to highlight them as main points. Start about half way down the page at the “How Many Main Points?” section. While Lumen Learning also covers different ways to organize your main points, we recommend using our organization page first.

It will help you to prepare the introduction after preparing the main points. Just consider how challenging it is to introduce a speech if you don’t know what the main ideas of your speech are.

The introduction has two main purposes: to capture the audience’s attention and to state your thesis. Introductions also preview the speech so that the audience knows where it’s headed.

There are many ways to capture the audience’s attention: quotes, statistics, examples, a short story, a fascinating topic, a gracious mention of the event that brings you together, or even a question.

Once you have the audience’s attention, state your thesis. Stating your thesis will inform the audience of the speech’s direction and will focus their attention throughout the speech.

For tips regarding introductions, we recommend the Oral Communication Center, Hamilton College . The tips are short, helpful, and if applied, will improve your introductions.

Finally, it’s also critical throughout the introduction to establish your credibility. For this reason, your introduction should be well practiced and should allow you to communicate confidence. In addition, if you have any expertise on the subject material that you believe your audience needs to know, inform them without being snooty.

Conclusions are the final remarks your audience will hear, so they’re the part that’s most likely to be remembered. So make sure you take the time to craft a clear and memorable conclusion.

In general, a conclusion should restate your central point, though in a new way. This is important because in speeches the audience can’t reread your message; they simply have to rely on memory. Restating your central point—and, depending on what your professor wants, reviewing your main supporting points--will help your message to stick.

Another way to make your speech stick is to use the conclusion to reemphasize your purpose. For example, in a persuasive speech, call people to action. In other words, be blunt about what you want them to do. If you want them to vote, tell them how they can register. If you want them to pick up painting as a hobby, then show them where they can buy painting materials.

Try to make your conclusion memorable.

By this, we mean it’s important to carefully consider your final remark to make sure it concludes on a strong note that fits your purpose. Speakers often trail off in the end, undermining their earlier work.

As a foundational resource, we recommend the Oral Communication Center, Hamilton College .

Style refers to the way words, sentences, and groups of sentences create tone and personality.

How is speech writing different than writing a paper?

Though they share many principles (ex: the preference for active voice verbs), they have different principles of style: people perceive style differently when listening than when reading.

The differences arise because the formats are different: written word and spoken word. For an analysis of the key differences between spoken and written language, we recommend the Oral Communication Center, Hamilton College .

This handout by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program contains fundamental public speaking tips. Luckily, it also contains an encompassing look at the basics of an eloquent oral style. Read the section titled “Writing for Speaking”; the list will be useful when creating sentences that sound better in oral rhetoric.

The following stylistic choices are particularly helpful with the spoken word :

Brevity. Be as brief as possible. This article by Judith Kilborn (The Write Place, St. Cloud State University) provides a few ways to reduce wordiness.
Prefer shorter sentences to longer ones. Long sentences are harder to follow.
First person pronouns are widely accepted in speeches.
Repetition helps the audience remember (ex: think of the repetition in King’s “I Have a Dream.” In a paper the audience can go back and reread; they can’t do that when listening to a speech, so repetition helps the audience connect ideas and follow the argument.
The audience doesn’t have a dictionary with them; use words that are more tuned for the vernacular ear.
Make sure you can pronounce every word you plan on using.
Use transitions or “ signposts ” to announce, signal, and recap. This allows the audience to know where you’re and what to expect.
Abstract : There are several possible outcomes that this decision can lead to.
Concrete : Our choice to intervene in the Middle East can lead to destabilized elections, political turmoil, and religious conflict.
Dry sentence : A family member was hit by an animal.
Descriptive sentence : Grandma got run over by a reindeer.
The use of contractions is generally preferred in public speaking; contractions are more conversational, which tends to be preferred in public speaking. Say these two sentences aloud and you’ll agree: “I do not think that is a good idea” or “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Parallelism and alliteration create rhythm in a speech; use them wisely.
Use inclusive language .

For further style advice, though not specifically for the spoken word, use our written style resource.

For further direction, please stop in the Rhetoric Center.

Additional resources and tips related to oral style

Stand up, Speak out (University of Michigan Libraries) : An extensive and comprehensive resource on effective oral communication. Pay particular attention to the following sections: “Imagery,” “Rhythm,” “Parallelism,” “Alliteration,” and “Assonance.”
Oral Communication Center, Hamilton College : A list of phrases to avoid for various reasons in oral rhetoric.
Oral Communication Center, Hamilton College : A list of characteristics that help make every speech successful. Warning: the article uses language to make it sound like a checklist for an A on every speech; this is not the case. However, the list is helpful nonetheless.
Oxford Dictionaries Blog, Avoid cliches : Evoking images for an audience helps them to understand and remember your speech, but using a cliché allows the audience to listen without visualizing. A creative example of effective imagery was when on the campaign trail Bill Clinton said “I will be with you until the last dog dies.”
Contrast, figures of speech, examples, and triads : How Winston Churchill spoke.

In the speech “Bridges should be beautiful,” Ian Firth demonstrates an awareness of oral style. For starters, his sentences are short and easy to follow. His opening is the perfect example, “The world needs bridges.”

Look at the following excerpt from Firth’s speech:

“In this case, this is in Peru. This is using grass which grows locally and is woven into ropes to build these bridges. And do you know they rebuild this every year? Because of course grass is not a durable material. So this bridge is unchanged since Inca times.”

This could’ve very well been two or three sentences in a written text, but Firth uses five short sentences. This makes him easy to follow. However, it’s not perfect. The phrase “In this case, this is in Peru,” could be shortened to simply “This is in Peru.”

At the same time, he limits the speech to three main points: bridges should be functional, safe, and beautiful. This ensures the audience won’t get lost.

Firth carefully chooses his words. He uses descriptive language to paint pictures for the audience: “Or sometimes up in the mountains, people would build these suspension bridges, often across some dizzy canyon, using a vine .” He also uses alliteration in an effective manner: “Or Robert Maillart's Salginatobel Bridge in the mountains in Switzerland —absolutely sublime .”

And he is able to easily pronounce the words he uses, even foreign phrases like “Pont Du Gard.”

Since Firth is an engineer who has designed bridges for years, this speech could’ve used highly technical language, but Firth used the vernacular to adapt to his more general audience. On occasion, when technical language was inevitable, Firth swiftly defined the technical terms.

In addition, Firth uses first person pronouns (“I firmly believe”). This makes him more conversational and personable.

This next example, a Boise State University commencement address, is more of a mixed result than Firth’s speech: it embodies both good and bad oral style.

Let’s start with what Tiara Thompson does well. In the beginning, she uses descriptive language that invokes images. The following are examples: “As my fingers fly over the keys,” and “spacebar still blinking.” She also uses parallelism, as you can clearly hear around 3:25.

However, the style can be improved (amongst other aspects of speech writing).

Towards the end of the speech, she uses more abstract language and seldomly gives examples. The speech would’ve been more effective if she kept using descriptive language and if more examples were used towards the end. Her language becomes vague and abstract when she thanks the teachers for their hard work, not recognizing any one of them individually. As an alternative, consider: how much more effective would it have been if she gave an example of a teacher working hard and afterhours to help her succeed on an assignment ? After that example, she could’ve generalized it to include all the teachers at her college.

In addition, the language she uses at the end of the speech gradually becomes more and more clichéd. For example, at 5:08, she says, “make this moment last” and “we are so fortunate to be where we are.” Clichés make imagery harder, as we mentioned in the oral style section.

Though not necessarily related to oral style, this speech focuses on the speaker more than the average commencement. If she focused on something else, her audience would’ve been able to connect with her more. (What works better: a political speech with a politician rambling on about themself or one where the politician identifies with problems larger than themselves, such as a Detroit congressperson sympathizing with the victims of the Flint water crisis?)

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Public Speaking and Presentations: Tips for Success

This resource includes tips and suggestions for improving your public speaking skills.

Even if you’ve never spoken in front of a large group before, chances are you will encounter public speaking sometime during your life. Whether you’re giving a presentation for your classmates or addressing local politicians at a city council meeting, public speaking allows you to convey your thoughts and feelings in clear ways. Having the right tools can prepare you for successful public speaking and equip you with high-quality communication skills.

Know Your Audience

Different audiences require different modes of public speaking. How you address a room full of preschoolers will vary from how you address a group of professors at an academic conference. Not only will your vocabulary change, but you might alter your pacing and tone as well.

Knowing your audience also helps you decide the content of your speech. For example, if you’re presenting research to a group of scientists, you might not need to define all your scientific language. However, if you present that same research to a group of individuals who are unfamiliar with your scientific field, you may need to define your terms or use simpler language.

Recognizing the extent to which your audience is familiar with your topic helps you center your presentation around the most important elements and avoid wasting time on information your audience either 1) already knows or 2) does not need to know for the purpose of your speech.

Knowing your audience also means tailoring your information to them. Try to keep things straight and to the point; leave out extraneous anecdotes and irrelevant statistics.

Establish Your Ethos and Feel Confident in Your Subject

It’s important to let your audience know what authority you have over your subject matter. If it’s clear you are familiar with your subject and have expertise, your audience is more likely to trust what you say.

Feeling confident in your subject matter will help establish your ethos. Rather than simply memorizing the content on your PowerPoint slides or your note cards, consider yourself a “mini expert” on your topic. Read up on information related to your topic and anticipate questions from the audience. You might want to prepare a few additional examples to use if people ask follow-up questions. Being able to elaborate on your talking points will help you stay calm during a Q & A section of your presentation.

Stick to a Few Main Points

Organizing your information in a logical way not only helps you keep track of what you’re saying, but it helps your audience follow along as well. Try to emphasize a few main points in your presentation and return to them before you conclude. Summarizing your information at the end of your presentation allows your audience to walk away with a clear sense of the most important facts.

For example, if you gave a presentation on the pros and cons of wind energy in Indiana, you would first want to define wind energy to make sure you and your audience are on the same page. You might also want to give a brief history of wind energy to give context before you go into the pros and cons. From there, you could list a few pros and a few cons. Finally, you could speculate on the future of wind energy and whether Indiana could provide adequate land and infrastructure to sustain wind turbines. To conclude, restate a few of the main points (most likely the pros and cons) and end with the most important takeaway you want the audience to remember about wind energy in Indiana.

Don't be Afraid to Show Your Personality

Delivering information without any sort of flourish or style can be boring. Allowing your personality to show through your speaking keeps you feeling relaxed and natural. Even if you’re speaking about something very scientific or serious, look for ways to let your personality come through your speech.

For example, when Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek announced in March of 2019 that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer, he still let his trademark dignity and professionalism set the tone for his address. He began his announcement by saying “it’s in keeping with my long-time policy of being open and transparent with our Jeopardy! fan base.” Later, he joked that he would need to overcome his illness in order to fulfill his contract, whose terms required him to host the show for three more years. Though the nature of Trebek's announcement could easily have justified a grim, serious tone, the host instead opted to display the charm that has made him a household name for almost thirty-five years. In doing so, he reminded his audience precisely why he is so well-loved.

Use Humor (When Appropriate)

Using humor at appropriate moments can keep your audience engaged and entertained. While not all occasions are appropriate for humor, look for moments where you can lighten the mood and add some humor.

For example, just two months after the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan, Reagan was in the middle of giving a speech when a balloon loudly popped while he was speaking. Reagan paused his speech to say “missed me,” then immediately continued speaking. This off-the-cuff humor worked because it was appropriate, spontaneous, and did not really distract from his message.

Similarly, at the end of his final White House Correspondents Dinner, Barack Obama concluded his speech by saying “Obama out” and dropping the mic. Once again, the humor did not distract from his message, but it did provide a light-hearted shift in his tone.

Don't Let Visual Aids Distract From Your Presentation

Visual aids, such as PowerPoints or handouts, often go alongside presentations. When designing visual aids, be sure they do not distract from the content of your speech. Having too many pictures or animations can cause audience members to pay more attention to the visuals rather than what you’re saying.

However, if you present research that relies on tables or figures, having many images may help your audience better visualize the research you discuss. Be aware of the ways different types of presentations demand different types of visual aids.

Be Aware of Your Body Language

When it comes to giving a presentation, nonverbal communication is equally as important as what you’re saying. Having the appropriate posture, gestures, and movement complement the spoken element of your presentation. Below are a few simple strategies to make you appear more confident and professional.

Having confident posture can make or break a presentation. Stand up straight with your shoulders back and your arms at your sides. Slouching or crossing your arms over your chest makes you appear smaller and more insecure. However, be sure you’re not too rigid. Just because you’re standing up tall does not mean you cannot move around.

Eye contact

Making eye contact with your audience not only makes them feel connected to you but it also lets you gauge their response to you. Try to look around the room and connect with different audience members so you’re not staring at the same people the whole time. If you notice your audience starting to nod off, it might be a good time to change your tone or up your energy.

Avoid distracting or compulsive gestures

While hand gestures can help point out information in a slide or on a poster, large or quick gestures can be distracting. When using gestures, try to make them feel like a normal part of your presentation.

It’s also easy to slip into nervous gestures while presenting. Things like twirling your hair or wringing your hands can be distracting to your audience. If you know you do something like this, try to think hard about not doing it while you’re presenting.

Travel (if possible)

If you are presenting on a stage, walking back and forth can help you stay relaxed and look natural. However, be sure you’re walking slowly and confidently and you’re using an appropriate posture (described above). Try to avoid pacing, which can make you appear nervous or compulsive.

Rehearse (if Possible)

The difference between knowing your subject and rehearsing comes down to how you ultimately present your information. The more you rehearse, the more likely you are to eliminate filler words such as like and um . If possible, try practicing with a friend and have them use count the filler words you use. You can also record yourself and play back the video. The more you rehearse, the more confident you will feel when it comes time to actually speak in front of an audience.

Finally, Relax!

Although public speaking takes time and preparation, perhaps one of the most important points is to relax while you’re speaking. Delivering your information in a stiff way prevents you from appearing natural and letting your personality come through. The more relaxed you feel, the more confident your information will come across.

10 Tips for Improving Your Public Speaking Skills

Few are immune to the fear of public speaking. Marjorie North offers 10 tips for speakers to calm the nerves and deliverable memorable orations.

Marjorie North

Snakes? Fine. Flying? No problem. Public speaking? Yikes! Just thinking about public speaking — routinely described as one of the greatest (and most common) fears — can make your palms sweat. But there are many ways to tackle this anxiety and learn to deliver a memorable speech.

In part one of this series, Mastering the Basics of Communication , I shared strategies to improve how you communicate. In part two, How to Communicate More Effectively in the Workplace , I examined how to apply these techniques as you interact with colleagues and supervisors in the workplace. For the third and final part of this series, I’m providing you with public speaking tips that will help reduce your anxiety, dispel myths, and improve your performance.

Here Are My 10 Tips for Public Speaking:

1. nervousness is normal. practice and prepare.

All people feel some physiological reactions like pounding hearts and trembling hands. Do not associate these feelings with the sense that you will perform poorly or make a fool of yourself. Some nerves are good. The adrenaline rush that makes you sweat also makes you more alert and ready to give your best performance.

The best way to overcome anxiety is to prepare, prepare, and prepare some more. Take the time to go over your notes several times. Once you have become comfortable with the material, practice — a lot. Videotape yourself, or get a friend to critique your performance.

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2. Know Your Audience. Your Speech Is About Them, Not You.

Before you begin to craft your message, consider who the message is intended for. Learn as much about your listeners as you can. This will help you determine your choice of words, level of information, organization pattern, and motivational statement.

3. Organize Your Material in the Most Effective Manner to Attain Your Purpose.

Create the framework for your speech. Write down the topic, general purpose, specific purpose, central idea, and main points. Make sure to grab the audience’s attention in the first 30 seconds.

4. Watch for Feedback and Adapt to It.

Keep the focus on the audience. Gauge their reactions, adjust your message, and stay flexible. Delivering a canned speech will guarantee that you lose the attention of or confuse even the most devoted listeners.

5. Let Your Personality Come Through.

Be yourself, don’t become a talking head — in any type of communication. You will establish better credibility if your personality shines through, and your audience will trust what you have to say if they can see you as a real person.

6. Use Humor, Tell Stories, and Use Effective Language.

Inject a funny anecdote in your presentation, and you will certainly grab your audience’s attention. Audiences generally like a personal touch in a speech. A story can provide that.

7. Don’t Read Unless You Have to. Work from an Outline.

Reading from a script or slide fractures the interpersonal connection. By maintaining eye contact with the audience, you keep the focus on yourself and your message. A brief outline can serve to jog your memory and keep you on task.

8. Use Your Voice and Hands Effectively. Omit Nervous Gestures.

Nonverbal communication carries most of the message. Good delivery does not call attention to itself, but instead conveys the speaker’s ideas clearly and without distraction.

9. Grab Attention at the Beginning, and Close with a Dynamic End.

Do you enjoy hearing a speech start with “Today I’m going to talk to you about X”? Most people don’t. Instead, use a startling statistic, an interesting anecdote, or concise quotation. Conclude your speech with a summary and a strong statement that your audience is sure to remember.

10. Use Audiovisual Aids Wisely.

Too many can break the direct connection to the audience, so use them sparingly. They should enhance or clarify your content, or capture and maintain your audience’s attention.

Practice Does Not Make Perfect

Good communication is never perfect, and nobody expects you to be perfect. However, putting in the requisite time to prepare will help you deliver a better speech. You may not be able to shake your nerves entirely, but you can learn to minimize them.

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About the Author

North is a consultant for political candidates, physicians, and lawyers, and runs a private practice specializing in public speaking, and executive communication skills. Previously, she was the clinical director in the department of speech and language pathology and audiology at Northeastern University.

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Speech Writing and Types of Speeches

This publication about speech writing and types of speeches is the second of a three-part series about developing effective public speaking skills. This series also covers an introduction to public speaking and public speaking tools.

Introduction

This article focuses on structuring the speech and utilizing proper writing techniques. Each speech should be structured with three major parts: introduction, body, and conclusion . Before writing the speech, you should prepare an outline. An outline provides a framework that organizes the main and supporting points into an order you believe will have the greatest impact on your listeners.

Figure 1. An outline provides a framework that arranges the major points and supporting materials.

Writing the Speech

After you have analyzed your audience, selected the topic, collected supporting materials, and written an outline, it is time to write the speech with an introduction, body and conclusion. These major parts follow the broadcaster’s maxim: (1) Tell them what you are going to tell them. (2) Tell them. (3) Tell them what you have told them.

The Introduction

Tell them what you’re going to tell them: A good introduction serves as an attention getter, previews the topic and main points, and establishes your credibility as a speaker (O’Hair, Rubenstein, & Stewart, 2007). Good ways to grab attention include using a quotation, telling a story, posing questions, using humor, using startling facts or statistics, providing an illustration or anecdote, and referencing historical or recent events. The introduction helps the audience focus on the key points that you want them to remember. Science communicators recommend adding the impact of your speech—often reserved for the conclusion—to the introduction of the speech.

The audience determines your credibility based on the introduction: They want to know why they should believe what you have to say. Therefore, establishing yourself as a credible speaker in the introduction is imperative, especially for a persuasive speech, so that the audience will want to be persuaded by you. You should include some experience or knowledge that shows why you are credible on the topic as well as using credible sources.

Tell them: The body is the largest part of the speech, where you will use credible sources, such as science journal articles, and mention those sources during the speech. The main points of the speech are contained in this section and should flow from the speech’s goal and thesis statement. It is advisable to limit your content to between two and five main points, with a maximum of seven main points. Science communicators recommend using three main points for speeches about science (AAAS, n.d.). If you have too many main points, your audience will forget them. Focusing on three main points and providing effective supporting points for each main point makes your speech more memorable. Supporting points justify your main points, and help substantiate your thesis.

The Conclusion

Tell them what you told them: The conclusion wraps up the presentation by providing a summary of what the audience was supposed to have learned or to have been persuaded to do during the presentation. You can signal that the conclusion is approaching by using key phrases, such as “finally,” “let me close by saying,” and “in conclusion.” Because the conclusion is the last opportunity to motivate your listeners, it should end strongly with an impact statement. For a persuasive speech, a strong ending is a call to action , where you tell the audience what they should do with the information they have learned.

Many times, you can use a mirrored-conclusion that ties back to, or “mirrors,” the information you provide in the introduction. For example, if you use statistics as an attention-getter in the introduction to a speech about recycling on campus, your speech’s beginning and ending might sound something like this:

Introduction : "According to the University of Florida's Office of Sustainability, the campus used more than 4 million trash bags in 2006 alone, weighing 163 tons without the trash. Altogether, UF generates over 14,000 tons of trash per year."

Mirrored Conclusion : "Each time you are about to throw a bottle, can, or newspaper in the trash, decide to recycle it instead and help reduce the 14,000 tons of waste we create each year at UF."

Conversational Speech

You should write the speech like you talk and then edit it for grammar. Follow these writing tips to make your speech as conversational as possible:

Use short sentences of 20 words or fewer . We usually do not use long sentences in a conversations. Short sentences—even sentence fragments—are fine for a speech.
Avoid complicated sentence structures . Simple sentences that have a subject, verb, and object are perfect for public speaking.
Use contractions . "Do not" and "cannot" can be too formal for most speeches. "Don't" and "can't" are fine. Be careful of contractions ending in "-ve" (e.g., "would've," "could've") because they sound like "would of" and "could of."
Avoid jargon or technical language . Use words that your audience already knows and define any unfamiliar terms that you must use.
Round large numbers . Detailed numbers should be avoided.
Use repetition . The same word or phrase used repeatedly can help emphasize major points and help your audience remember your speech.
Write with visual imagery . Use vivid language to help your listeners “see” what you are saying and visualize the situation you are describing. Visual aids are especially effective in helping listeners understand complex topics.

Types of Speeches

Speeches can be divided into the following categories: the informative speech, the persuasive speech, and speeches for special occasions.

Informative Speech

If the speech's purpose is to define, explain, describe, or demonstrate, it is an informative speech. The goal of an informative speech is to provide information completely and clearly so that the audience understands the message. Examples of informative speeches include describing the life cycle stages of an egg to a chicken, explaining how to operate a camera, or demonstrating how to cook a side dish for a meal. The organization of the speech depends on your specific purpose and varies depending on whether you are defining, explaining, describing, or demonstrating. Informative demonstration speeches lend themselves well to the use of visual aids to show the step-by-step processes with real objects.

Persuasive Speech

Persuasive speeches are given to reinforce people’s beliefs about a topic, to change their beliefs about a topic, or to move them to act. When speaking persuasively, directly state near the beginning of the speech what is good or bad and why you think so. This is your thesis statement, which you should give early in the speech. One way to structure a persuasive speech is to use the five-part argument:

The introduction attracts the attention of the audience, sets the tone, and describes what the persuasive speech is about. The introduction usually includes the thesis statement—the specific sentence that explains the main point of the argument.
The background provides the context and details needed for a listener to understand the situation being described, as well as the problem or opportunity being addressed.
Lines of argument make up the body of the speech. Here is where you include all your claims, reasons, and supporting evidence that help make your points effectively.
Refuting objections means disproving, ruling out, and countering any potential objections before the listeners can think of reasons not to be persuaded.
The conclusion is where you present your closing arguments. To be effective, the conclusion should restate your thesis statement and summarize the main points of your argument. If you are advocating a particular solution to a problem or a decision to be made, you should close by asking your listeners to adopt your point of view.

Speeches for Special Occasions

Speeches for special occasions are prepared for a specific occasion and for a specific purpose dictated by that occasion (O'Hair et al., 2007). Speeches for special occasions can be informative, persuasive, or both, depending on the occasion. Two of the more common types of speeches for special occasions are the speech of introduction and the speech of welcome.

The speech of introduction is a brief speech that provides the main speaker’s qualifications. This speech prepares the audience for the main speaker by establishing the speaker’s credibility and helps make the speaker feel welcome. To write the speech of introduction, gather biographical information about the speaker. Try to find out one or two pieces of information about the speaker’s background or credentials that would establish a relationship with the audience. The speech of introduction is usually from one to three minutes in length.

The speech of welcome acknowledges and greets a person or group of people. The speech of welcome expresses pleasure for the presence of the person or group. The purpose is to make the person or group feel welcome and to provide information about the organization you represent. Find out something about the person or group beforehand that you can include in the speech of welcome. The speech of welcome typically lasts between three and five minutes.

Additional Information

AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) (n.d.), Communication toolkit . https://www.aaas.org/resources/communication-toolkit

DiSanza, J. R., & Legge, N. J. (2005). Business and professional communication: Plans, processes, and performance (3rd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Hamilton, C. (2012). Essentials of public speaking (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Koch, A. (2007). Speaking with a purpose. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

O'Hair, D., Rubenstein, H., & Stewart, R. (2007). A pocket guide to public speaking (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Publication # WC116

Release Date: November 16, 2021

Reviewed At: September 4, 2024

Related Experts

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Related Units

Agricultural Education and Communication

About this Publication

This document is WC116, one of a series of the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, UF/IFAS Extension. Original publication date August 2011. Revised November 2021. Visit the EDIS website at https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu for the currently supported version of this publication.

About the Authors

Ricky Telg, professor; and Linda Perry, lecturer; Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, UF/IFAS Extension, Gainesville, FL 32611.

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Oral presentation tips: how to deliver a speech for school or work.

Jerz > Writing > [ Academic | Technical ] This document briefly describes how to write and deliver a formal oral presentation on an academic or professional subject. It should be useful for anyone who wants to know how to speak in public.

Note: by “formal presentation,” I don’t necessarily mean a Shakespeare monologue or a scientific treatise on robot-assisted microsurgery. Giving an oral presentation on any subject–your favorite book, current events, a family story–can be “formal” and “technical” whenever its primary purpose is to communicate complex information.

The content is the most obvious component of any oral presentation — after all, if you are talking, you had better have something worthwhile to say. But a presentation is only as effective as its delivery .

Part 1: Planning the Content

1. Determine your goals. 2. Prepare your material. 3. Study a model. 4. Arrange with your strongest points first . 5. Practice, practice, practice .

Part 2: Delivering the Content

6. Make eye contact with your audience. 7. Engage actively with the audience. 8. A slide show is not a speech. 9. Watch the time! 10. Take questions in the middle, not the end?

1) Determine Your Goals as a Speaker

2) Prepare your material

Plan. Practice. Keep what’s good and try again.

Good speakers usually aim to look like they are speaking effortlessly, tossing off words as they come to mind. What you don’t see is the preparation that paved the way for the polished performance. It’s all an act! You can do it too, if you plan ahead.

Once you know what your goal is, and you know what your audience wants, you can start strategizing. There is no single strategy that will guarantee success. How you plan depends on many variables.

How many minutes long is your speech? About how many words do you speak per minute?

Will your audience be lost if you use jargon? Will they feel talked down to if you spend time defining terms they already know?

Do you expect that your audience will disagree with you? (If so, you might need to give more examples and more evidence and spend more time addressing reasonable objections in order to sound convincing, which may mean talking a little faster.)

Do you expect your audience already agrees with the position you will take? (If so, they may check out if your speech simply rehashes arguments they already accept without question. What can you say to an audience that already agrees with you? Why would you listen to a speaker who is restating things you already accept as the truth?)

Graphics, inspirational quotations, and anecdotes are all well-respected methods of maintaining audience interest. However, Pinterest clip art, fancy computer transitions between slides, and vaudeville tricks get old pretty quickly (see Don McMillan’s hilarious “ Death by Powerpoint “), and they eat up time that you could use more effectively.

	“ “. Most inexperienced speakers who approach a professional oral presentation this way end up cutting themselves off from their audience.
Whether your goal is to convince your audience to accept your position on a complex topic, to provide as much useful information as you can to the decision-maker who needs to know it, or something else, keep that goal in mind first. How will the words you say help you and your audience to reach some mutual goal?

Instead, think about “ “.TV talk show hosts don’t think about talking to millions of people at once… they think of talking directly to one individual person who wants to be part of a conversation. Make your audience feel welcome.

. Many, many speakers spend too much time on background, which forces them to rush through their final statements. , your demonstrations of software, or your visits to web pages just as thoroughly as your introductory and concluding statements. When you “wing it”, you will tend to eat up too much time. . Find out how to shut off the lights, to lower the screen, to focus the overhead projector, etc. . The network may crash, your monitor may start to flicker, or you may drop your notes. These things happen. Prepare a low-tech backup — overhead projections or paper handouts, a discussion question to engage the audience, whatever.

3) Study a Model

The internet is of course full of examples of good speeches, but the YouTube users who vote on videos may not have much in common with the audience who will hear your oral presentation.

Do you have access to speeches that your discourse community values? Your instructor or supervisor may not have ready access to video recordings from last year’s class or last quarter’s budget meeting, but you can pay attention to the speaking techniques deployed by people with authority in your field.

For instance, I have a colleague who never says, “This is taking too long, and I’m watching the clock, so let’s get on with it already.” Instead, this person says, “I’m conscious of everyone’s time, so shall we move on to the next item?”

Bear in mind that

if you have been assigned to deliver a speech that defends a position on a topic (such as, whether Huckleberry Finn should be taught in middle school)…
but your instructor usually refrains from stating any one answer is the best (preferring instead to present several viewpoints and letting the students decide for themselves)…
then your instructor’s open-ended lecture (intended to spark a discussion) is not a good model of a position statement (intended to showcase your ability to latch onto a specific solution).

While this handout aims to provide general tips, you should ignore any general tip that contradicts something specific you learn about the goals, context, or genre of the specific speech you are preparing.

General Model

Successful oral presentations typically share some basic characteristics, owing to the nature of the spoken word.

Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
Tell them what you told them.

When we read, we can go back and reread passages we skimmed over the first time, and we can skip ahead when we’re bored. In a live oral presentation, the audience can’t re-read or skip ahead. If the audience doesn’t know why they are listening to your anecdote about winning the spelling bee, or why they should care what version of the software was installed on the computer that you used to crunch your numbers, their attention will wander and it will be hard to get it back.

When we listen, we gratefully cling to orientation phrases that help us understand what the whole shape of a speech is, where we are within the overall structure, and when we are transitioning from one section to another.

Your specific occasion for delivering a speech may involve specific contextual details that don’t mesh with the general advice I’m providing here.

Introduction : "I am Pinky J. Witzowitz from the U.S. Department of Bureaucracy, and I have been asked to speak for 20 minutes on 'The Government's Plan for Preventing Situation X in America's Heartland.'"
"Situation X is the worst thing that can happen to you and your family." [ Startling claim ; follow up by citing the source of this quote, or giving evidence that supports it.]
"It happened once to a family in Dubuque, and they were never heard from again." [ Anecdote ; follow up with details.]
"I am here today to tell you how to prevent this terrible tragedy from striking you." [ Demonstrates relevance ; move directly to your road map ]
Main Content : Put up a slide with topics to cover, a specific problem to solve, or a series of questions to answer. Promise that your talk will address the material on that slide. You might even return to that slide each time you start a new subsection, with the current place in the talk highlighted.

Questions/Comments from the Audience? Even though most people save the question period until the end, they lose the opportunity to modify their conclusion to address the interests of the audience.
Recap : Our earnest “Situation X” speaker might give microencapsulated answers to all the questions on the main road map: "We have learned that Situation X is a blah blah blah; that we should all care about it because yada, yada, yada..."
Wrap it up : After reminding the audience how all these factors fit together, the speaker might say, "Now that you understand how the U.S. Department of Bureaucracy helps you keep Situation X out of your life, please take one of our pamphlets home to your family and put it by the telephone where you can get it in an emergency; your family will thank you."
Invite Questions : If there is time, and if you haven’t already done so.

4) Arrange with Your Strongest Points First

In rare cases — such as when you are facing a hostile audience, you might want to start out by emphasizing where you agree with your audience, and then carefully working your way towards your most divisive, most daring claims.

If the question is actually important to your talk, you’ll probably be able to answer right away.
If you can’t answer right away, or you don’t want to take the time, just promise you’ll follow up via e-mail , and then go right back to your presentation. Most audience members will probably have been annoyed by the interruption. They will be delighted that you didn’t take the questioner’s bait .

5) Practice, Practice, Practice.

Set a timer, and deliver your speech to a willing co-worker or family member, your pet fish, or the bathroom mirror.

My students are often surprised at how hard it is to fill up 3 minutes for an informal practice speech early in the term, and how hard it is to fit everything they want to say into a 10-minute formal speech later in the term.

Once you have the right amount of content, make a video recording of yourself practicing. If you plan to show a video clip, or ad-lib an explanation of a diagram, or load a website, or pass out paper handouts, or saw an assistant in half, actually do it while the camera is rolling, so that you know exactly how much time it takes.

Time it out.

Script out a powerful introduction and conclusion.
Know how long each section of your speech should take.
which example or anecdote you will cut if you are running long?
what additional example you can introduce if you need to fill time?

If you know your conclusion takes you 90 seconds to deliver, make sure to start your conclusion when you have at least 90 seconds left.

At several key points during your speech, maybe while you are playing a video or while the audience is taking in a complex image, glance at the clock and check to see — are you on track?

If you notice you’re starting Section 3 60 seconds later than you had intended, try to make up for time by rushing through your second example in section 3 and cutting the third example in section 4, so that you still have the full 90 seconds at the end to deliver that powerful conclusion.

Technological Considerations

Do you know how to connect your computer to the overhead projector? (If you don’t know, who does?)
What will you do if you can’t get your computer connected to the projector? (Back in 2003, when I applied for my current job at Seton Hill University, I was asked to give a teaching demonstration. I couldn’t get my laptop to work with the overhead projector, but I had posted the most important links on my blog, and I had brought along a printout of my speech, just in case. My preparations have paid off, because I got the job.)
In the room where you will be speaking, will you be using a microphone, or relying on your unamplified voice?
Will you be able to walk around with the microphone — perhaps to gesture at details in the slides — or is the mic attached to a stand? (Do you need to borrow a laser pointer, or get a volunteer to advance slides for you?)

6) Make Eye Contact With Your Audience.

I once sat through a four-hour training session, during which this was all I could see of the instructor.

Go ahead and write your whole speech out so you can read robotically if you blank out, but you should practice your speech so you know it well enough that you can glance up from your notes and look at your audience as you speak.

	when you run your PowerPoint presentation.
	, either; your audience isn’t down there.
	Position your visual aids or keyboard so that you .

7) Engage with the audience.

Pay attention to the audience, and they will pay attention to you.

Don’t try to recite from memory . If you spend your energy worrying about what you’re supposed to say next, you won’t be able to pay attention to whether the audience can hear you, or whether the overhead projections are focused.

Preparation : Set up before the audience files into their seats. If you have scheduled a presentation for a class, don’t sit in your seat like a lump while your professor calls the roll and hands out papers. Few things are more boring than watching a presenter log into the computer, fiddle with the video data projector, hunt around for the light switches, etc.

Introduction : As the audience files into their seats, have a title card displayed on the screen — or at least write your name and the title of your talk on the whiteboard. In a formal setting, usually a moderator will usually introduce you, so you won’t need to repeat everything the moderator says. Avoid canned introductions like “Principal Burch, members of the faculty, and fellow students, we are gathered here today…”

Hashtag : If it’s likely that many people in your audience use the same social media network, consider encouraging them to post their thoughts there. When you introduce yourself, give your social media handle and suggest a hashtag.

Handouts : Consider distributing handouts that present the basic facts (names, dates, timelines) and your main points. You can keep the conclusion just slightly mysterious, if you don’t want to give everything away immediately, but the idea is to free the audience from the feeling that they have to write everything down themselves. (Note: Simply printing up all the overhead slides wastes a lot of paper.)

Grabber : Grab the attention of your audience with a startling fact or claim, an inspiring quotation, or a revealing anecdote. This is not the time to try out your nightclub act; the “grabber” is not just comic relief, it also helps you set up the problem that you are going to address. If the audience will be diverse and general, you can use the “grabber” as a metaphor, helping the audience see why the topic is so important to you, and how it might be important to them, too. If your audience shares your technical specialty, and thus needs no special introduction to the topic, feel free simply to state your purpose without much to-do; but bear in mind that even technical audiences don’t want to be bored.

Road Map : Once you have established the problem or the main point of your talk, let the audience know how you are going to get to a solution. You might put up a series of questions on a slide, then as your talk progresses, proceed to answer each one. You might break each question down into a series of smaller questions, and answer each one of these in turn. Each time you finish a subsection, return to the road map, to help your audience keep track of where you have been and where you are going.

Conclusion : To give your presentation closure, return to the “grabber”, and extend it, modify it, or otherwise use it to help drive home your main point. Recap your main points, and demonstrate how they all fit together into a thought that the audience members can take with them.

8) A Slide Show Is Not a Speech

Don’t read word-for-word with your nose buried in a stack of papers . If you bother to show up to hear a person speak, how do you feel when the speaker mumbles through page after page of written text? Do you feel you should have just asked for a copy of the paper in the mail?

When you present, make every effort to include your audience; after all, they are the reason you are speaking in the first place.

If you do feel that you must write out your speech word-for-word, you should be familiar enough with it that you don’t need to look at the paper all the time. (And hold the page up when you glance at it, rather than bending down to look at it.)

Your slides should present an (not just the bare framework) of your talk.

If you begin with a slide that lists a series of topics or questions, your audience will expect the rest of your talk to work through that list in more detail (just as this web page began with a list of tips, then followed up with details about each tip.)

If each page throws up more lists, your talk will seem random.

Larry Lessig (an ethicist, open-source culture activist, and politician) has developed a very sparse PowerPoint style that assists his spoken voice. His slides sometimes contain just a single word, and he times the slides so that the written words (and occasional images) emphasize the spoken words. (See:

Vague and pointless slides are alienating.

A slide that simply presents the bare structure of your talk is pointless.

Rather than a slide labeled “Introduction,” ask a question that actually introduces some idea.

Rather than a slide labeled “Case Study 1,” give a startling fact from the case study.

Cluttered and wordy slides can be overwhelming.

People can read faster than you can speak, so don’t bore the audience by reading a slide full of text word-for-word.

By the time you get to the end of the slide, we will already probably be liking cat pictures on Instagram.

Spinning and bouncing text impresses nobody (and fools nobody).

The people in your audience probably see dozens of slide shows every month. They want to evaluate your ideas.

Proving that you can select a cool transition from a drop-down list is not going to earn you any points or win you a contract.

9) Watch the time!

To help pace yourself, at the top of each page of your notes, write down what time it should be ; as you turn each page, you can glance at the clock and see whether you are on track.

(The first time I gave this advice to a technical writing class, I mimed the action of “looking at the clock” — and noticed that I was running ten minutes behind, eating into time that I had promised to a student for an in-class testing session. That was a rather humbling experience!)

See the “preparation” section above. If you have already practiced your speech and timed out the various sections, you’ll know whether you are running long. If you are, don’t talk faster — cut something that you already marked out as optional.

Decide in advance which examples, which anecdotes, which subsections you can drop, without damaging the whole presentation.

I was at a conference in 1998 where the first speaker talked for 40 minutes — double her allotted time. (Why the moderator allowed this is a mystery to me.)

None of the other speakers on the panel felt like cutting their talks to compensate.
The result was that the last scheduled speaker — who had paid for an international plane ticket and a week in a hotel — did not get to speak at all.

10) Take questions in the middle, not at the end?

The benefits include:

If you spark a good Q & A session, your audience will remember and appreciate it.
If nobody has any questions, you can just fill up the space with more of your own material . That would be much harder to do if you have already wrapped up your talk and had nothing left to say.
If you really know your material, you can adjust your conclusion to address the questions raised by the audience. Even if someone in the audience steals a little of your thunder by bringing up points you were saving for your big finish, you will appear smart for having predicted that audience response. At the same time, someone in your audience will feel smart for having anticipated what you were going to say.

Dennis G. Jerz , 01/27/2009 07:24:28 Oct, 1999 — first written 03 Dec, 2000 — posted here 03 June 2003 — tweaked and updated 30 Oct 2011 — updated and added video links 31 May 2016 — major update; separated into “preparation” and “presentation” sections. 26 Jan 2018 — blackboard -> whiteboard

Many writers have no trouble the content of a conversation or facts, but they they freeze up when asked to formulate a theory or critique an argument. Writing Effective E-Mail: Top 10 TipsThese ten tips will help teach you how to write effective, high-quality e-mails in today’s professional environment. Write a meaningful subject line; keep the message short and readable; avoid attachments; identify yourself; don’t flame (and more).

What can you do to increase your chances of having a successful group project?

50 thoughts on “ Oral Presentation Tips: How to Deliver a Speech for School or Work ”

Thanks alot for your teachings

Thank a lot , really great tip for oral presentation, i’ll implement these tips, and will let you know.

Very helpful tips.

this is awfully helpful. I am a teacher in France and my students have to do presentations in English. I wish they could read this and understand.

Thank you for these very useful tips on Oral presentation. I am taking an Organizational Behavior class and need to do a 5 minute oral presentation on a real life situation about Conflict Management in the Workplace. I am not sure how to structure or begin the presentation.

I like it Really helpful for me

Thank you for helping me to do my presentation…..and I have learned so much from oral presentation.

thankyou thankyou thankyou this helped me so much!!! : )

thankyou thankyou thankyou this helped me so much in english!!! : )

Thanks. Really helpful

Hi, I going to do 3 minute presentation and my topic is My son. what is a best tips to talk about the this topic. I am not sure where to start. Any tips to help me with.

Is that the topic you were assigned? Are you taking a public speaking class, a child development class, a class in writing personal memoirs, or are you learning English as a second language? I don’t know how your instructor will evaluate your work, so I am not sure how to help.

You might find it useful to look at this handout on writing personal essays. http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative1/personal-essays/

Hi, I going to do minute presentation and my topic is My son. what is a best tips to talk about the this topic. I am not sure where to start. Any tips to help me with.

This sort of helped

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Thanks so much will follow your instruction tomorrow where I will be having presentation with 180 Head masters about suplimetary feeding on their hunger striken ares

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The tips are totally handy until now I am still applying it.

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I have learned a lot on this…thanks

Thanks a lot I have learned so much on this

I suppose to give out a presentation on Monday on someone or something in either an athlete or an actor and I don’t know how to start

i have a question i am supposed to give a speech but it has to have a power point or a drama thing the only problem is that i can’t have a power point because it won’t work into my speech and neither will a drama thing what should i do?

I suggest you talk to whoever set up the requirement for a slideshow/drama component. Maybe there is some flexibility, or maybe you’ll find a way to work that component into your speech.

Thank you heaps this really helped a lot

that is such good information and i believe im going to pass my speeches.

wow!!this are really helpfull stuff..but im just not confident enough to stand infront of all those people..wish i could do it without them looking at me

blind fold them! just joking…I’m getting ready to do mine and I’m having the same problem as you.

this is a helpfull site

this isn’t helping me with how nervous I am!! bye!!

love it really helped

thanks you are good

I have to do a presentation about “Importance of learning English”. There are 6 people in my group including myself. The presentation has to be exactly 8 minutes. We can’t use PowerPoint. Can you give us any unique, memorable and creative idea?

What are some lessons or life experiences that you find unique and memorable? I’d probably do a play, with a character who gets into trouble because he/she doesn’t know English, and then has a chance to correct those problems by demonstrating how learning English can fix the problems.

Hello mr.Dennis,I go straight to it.how can I become the most sought after Master of Ceremony(M.C.)/tv show presenter extra-ordinaire in my country before going international?any useful tips?

Sorry, that question is not something I cover on this page.

really well writen loved how you added steps so its easy to follow clear easily can be understaned and really helps us and gives us tips that we should actually think about and use at times

Yeah! I found it quite impressive. I hope it’z gonna be helpful for me to develop my speech techniques.

Nice tips….i think it will help me. but it’s too lengthy,it takes so much of time to read.

This really helps to prepare for all sort of things, Thanks a lot

Really helpful! Thank you

Pingback: Oral Presentation Readings « readwriteredroom

i love this helpful tips of oral presentation.. hope to visit this again or i just make a hard copy of this… thank you very much for that…

it was quite helpful

thank you for the great tip, but my problem is actually that I have a presentation on ‘All About Me’ and I have to keep the audience ‘engaged’ like by making a guessing game or something. If anyone has any other ideas please help!!

This may help: http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative1/showing/

This really helped me prepare my oral presentation…thanks very much!!!!

How to Outline a Speech

how to outline a speech (view pdf), introduction.

Your introduction sets the stage for the rest of your speech. As the first thing the audience hears from you, it is also one of the most remembered parts of a speech. It should contain three main elements.

A. Hook: This will grab your audience’s attention and make them interested in your speech. For example, you might ask a question, tell a story, or cite a shocking statistic. Generally, you don’t need to tell the audience your name.

B. Thesis: Just like in a paper, your speech has a thesis. It is what you are here to prove to your audience.

C. Road map: In a speech, you want to signal where you are going to be going and how you’re going to get there; it helps your audience follow you, since they can’t go back and re-read anything like they could in a paper. Your road map previews your main points.

The main section of your speech, where you make your main points. These are what you to laid out in your road map, and this is where transitioning is particularly important. For most speeches, 2-3 main points will give you sufficient content while also being easily followed by the audience. You want to think about the logical order of your points, which would easily flow into one another.

A. First point: _________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ Transition: ____________________________________________________________________________

B. Second point: _______________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ Transition: _____________________________________________________________________________

C. Third point: _________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ Transition: _____________________________________________________________________________

Use your conclusion to summarize your main points, but don’t restate them word for word, similar to the conclusion of an essay. There’s a tendency to end speeches by saying “and that’s all I have,” but this is the last impression you’re giving your audience, and it’s an opportunity to drive home why your message is important.

A. Paraphrase your thesis and main points: _____________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________

B. Tell your audience why your message is important: ___________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________

Office / Department Name

Oral Communication Center

Contact Name

Amy Gaffney

Oral Communication Center Director

Help us provide an accessible education, offer innovative resources and programs, and foster intellectual exploration.

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Oral Communication in Context Module: Principles of Speech Writing

This Self-Learning Module (SLM) is prepared so that you, our dear learners, can continue your studies and learn while at home. Activities, questions, directions, exercises, and discussions are carefully stated for you to understand each lesson.

Each SLM is composed of different parts. Each part shall guide you step-by-step as you discover and understand the lesson prepared for you.

Pre-tests are provided to measure your prior knowledge on lessons in each SLM. This will tell you if you need to proceed on completing this module or if you need to ask your facilitator or your teacher’s assistance for better understanding of the lesson.

In the previous lesson, speech was classified according to purpose: the expository or the informative speech, the persuasive speech and the entertainment speech. The manner of delivery was also discussed such as: reading or speaking from the manuscript, memorized speech, impromptu speech and extemporaneous speech. Knowing all these will lead you to be able to learn the basics of preparing a speech. But what makes the best speech. How do we deliver the speech we prepared effectively? All our questions will be answered by understanding by heart the principles of speech writing.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. identify the principles, techniques and process in writing;

2. set clear objectives in writing speech;

3. use the principles of effective speech writing in developing one’s speech.

Oral Communication in Context Quarter 2 Self-Learning Module: Principles of Speech Writing

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We are here to help - please use the search box below.

Module 7: Refining your Speech

Oral versus written style, learning objectives.

Explain the difference between oral and written style.

In a public speaking class, you will likely be asked to turn in an outline rather than a manuscript because speeches should not be considered oral presentations of a written text.

It takes a lot of practice to make reading from a teleprompter (or a manuscript) sound natural. It takes even more practice to write in a style that sounds like speech.

Although we’ve seen many speeches delivered from a teleprompter, it is important to remember that those speeches are usually written by professional speechwriters, who are familiar with the differences between written and spoken communication. For newer speakers who are writing their own speeches, identifying the differences between oral and written style is an important key to a successful speech.

Oral communication is characterized by a higher level of immediacy and a lower level of retention than written communication; therefore, it’s important to consider the following adaptations between oral and written style.

Personal Pronouns

Example: In her acceptance speech for the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize, activist Berta Cáceres says “¡Despertemos¡ ¡Despertemos Humanidad¡ Ya no hay tiempo. . . . El Río Gualcarque nos ha llamado, así como los demás que están seriamente amenazados. Debemos acudir.” (Let us wake up! Let us wake up, humanity! There is no time. . . . The Gualcarque River has called upon us, as have other gravely threatened rivers. We must answer their call.)
Written Style: Infrequent use of personal pronouns, most commonly uses third person such as one , they , and he/she/they .

Grammar and Sentence Structure

Example: Ashton Applewhite begins her TED talk “Let’s End Ageism” with a series of questions and short sentences, many starting with and : “What’s one thing that every person in this room is going to become? Older. And most of us are scared stiff at the prospect. How does that word make you feel? I used to feel the same way. What was I most worried about? Ending up drooling in some grim institutional hallway. And then I learned that only four percent of older Americans are living in nursing homes, and the percentage is dropping. What else was I worried about? Dementia. Turns out that most of us can think just fine to the end. Dementia rates are dropping, too. The real epidemic is anxiety over memory loss.” [1]
Example: “In many modern nations, however, industrialization contributed to the diminished social standing of the elderly. Today wealth, power, and prestige are also held by those in younger age brackets. The average age of corporate executives was fifty-nine years old in 1980. In 2008, the average age had lowered to fifty-four years old (Stuart 2008). Some older members of the workforce felt threatened by this trend and grew concerned that younger employees in higher level positions would push them out of the job market. Rapid advancements in technology and media have required new skill sets that older members of the workforce are less likely to have.” [2]

Repetition is a great strategy in speaking . . .

Example: Winston Churchill, speech to the House of Commons, June 4, 1940: “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” [3]

. . . but boring in writing.

Where Churchill’s speech uses the verb fight seven times, this excerpt about the Battle of Britain from a biography of Churchill uses a variety of words and formulations to describing the fighting. “The Luftwaffe’s [German Air Force’s] first object was to destroy the RAF’s [the British Royal Air Force’s] southern airfields. Had this been accomplished there is no doubt that a seaborne invasion would have been launched with a good prospect of establishing a bridgehead in Kent or Sussex. After that the outlook for Britain’s survival would have been bleak. But the RAF successfully defended its airfields and inflicted very heavy casualties on the German formations, in a ratio of three to one. Moreover, the German aircrews were mostly killed or captured whereas British crews parachuted to safety. Throughout July and August the advantage moved steadily to Britain, and more aircraft and crews were added each week to lengthen the odds against Germany. By mid-September, the Battle of Britain was won.” [4]

Colloquialisms and Tone

Example: Simon Sinek, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” said, “As we said before, the recipe for success is money and the right people and the right market conditions. You should have success then. Look at TiVo. From the time TiVo came out about eight or nine years ago to this current day, they are the single highest-quality product on the market, hands down, there is no dispute. They were extremely well-funded. Market conditions were fantastic. I mean, we use TiVo as verb. I TiVo stuff on my piece-of-junk Time Warner DVR all the time.” [5]
From an academic article about TiVo: “Our analysis of the longitudinal data on TiVo and the TV industry ecosystem generated three themes that we develop in this paper. First, a disruptor confronts three coopetitive tensions—intertemporal, dyadic, and multilateral. Second, the disruptor continually adjusts its strategy to address these coopetitive tensions as they arise. Third, as the disruptor’s innovation and relational positioning within the changing ecosystem coevolve, the disruptor has greater latitude to frame its innovation as sustaining the operations of ecosystem members. Overall, these themes contribute to an understanding of strategy as process.” [6]
Note how Sinek, in the example above, uses everyday words in simple sentences. The thesis of his speech is stated equally simply: “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”
The academic article cited above uses a number of words most non-expert readers would have to look up to understand. Coopetitive is a made-up word combining cooperative and competition. Intertemporal describes a relationship between past, present, and future events. Dyadic describes the interaction between two things. And multilateral means three or more parties are involved. In a speech—unless it’s a speech to experts—a sentence containing all four of these words will cruise over the heads of most audience members.
https://www.ted.com/talks/ashton_applewhite_let_s_end_ageism ↵
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-introductiontosociology/chapter/ageism-and-abuse/ ↵
https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/we-shall-fight-on-the-beaches/ ↵
Johnson, Paul. Churchill . United Kingdom, Penguin, 2010, 118. ↵
https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action ↵
Ansari, Shahzad, Raghu Garud, and Arun Kumaraswamy. "The disruptor's dilemma: TiVo and the US television ecosystem." Strategic Management Journal 37.9 (2016): 1829–53, 1830. ↵
Teleprompter. Authored by : Paolo Margari. Located at : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Teleprompter_in_use.jpg . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Pillars. Authored by : StockSnap. Located at : https://pixabay.com/photos/pillars-shadows-architecture-924982/ . License : Other . License Terms : Pixabay License
Oral vs. Written Style. Authored by : Anne Fleischer with Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

Humanities ›
English Grammar ›

What Is Communication?

The Art of Communicating and How to Use It Effectively

ThoughtCo / Ran Zheng

An Introduction to Punctuation
Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
B.A., English, State University of New York

Communication is sending and receiving messages through verbal or nonverbal means, including speech , or oral communication; writing and graphical representations (such as infographics, maps, and charts); and signs , signals, and behavior. More simply, communication is the creation and exchange of meaning .

Media critic and theorist James Carey defined communication as "a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired and transformed" in his 1992 book "Communication as Culture," positing that we define our reality via sharing our experience with others.

All creatures on Earth have developed ways to convey their emotions and thoughts to one another. Humans can use words and language to transfer specific meanings, setting them apart from the animal kingdom.

Components of Communication

To break it down, in any communication there is a sender and a receiver, a message, and interpretations of meaning on both ends. The receiver gives feedback to the message's sender, during the message's conveyance and afterward. Feedback signals can be verbal or nonverbal, including nodding in agreement, looking away, sighing, and other gestures.

There's also the context of the message, the environment it's given in, and the potential for interference during its sending or receipt.

If the receiver can see the sender, he or she can obtain not only the message's contents but also nonverbal communication that the sender is giving off, from confidence to nervousness, professionalism to flippancy. If the receiver can hear the sender, he or she can also pick up cues from the sender's tone of voice, such as emphasis and emotion.

Rhetorical Communication: The Written Form

Another thing that sets humans apart from their animal cohabiters is our use of writing as a means of communication, which has been a part of the human experience for more than 5,000 years. In fact, the first essay—coincidentally about speaking effectively —is estimated to be from around 3,000 B.C., originating in Egypt though it wasn't until much later that the general population was considered literate .

Still, James C. McCroskey notes in "An Introduction to Rhetorical Communication" that texts like these "are significant because they establish the historical fact that interest in rhetorical communication is nearly 5,000 years old." In fact, McCroskey posits that most ancient texts were written as instructions for communicating effectively, further emphasizing early civilizations' value of furthering the practice.

Through time this reliance has only grown, especially in the Internet age. Today, written or rhetorical communication is the favored and primary means of talking to one another, whether it's an instant message, a text, a Facebook post, or a tweet.

As Daniel Boorstin observed in "Democracy and Its Discontents," the most important single change "in human consciousness in the last century, and especially in the American consciousness, has been the multiplying of the means and forms of what we call 'communication.'" This is especially true in modern times with the advent of texting, email, and social media as forms of communicating with others. With more means of communication, there are more ways to be misunderstood than ever.

If a message contains just the written word (such as a text or email), the sender needs to be confident in its clarity so that it cannot be misinterpreted. Emails can often come off cold or clipped without that being the intention of the sender, for example, yet it's not considered professional to have emoticons in formal communication to help convey the proper meaning and context.

Before You Open Your Mouth or Hit 'Send'

Consider your audience before preparing your message, whether it's going to be in person one-on-one, in front of an audience, over the phone, or done in writing. Which way will be the most effective? What will you have to do to ensure it's conveyed properly? What do you want to make sure that you don't convey?

If it's important and going to be relayed in a professional context, maybe you'll practice beforehand, prepare slides and graphics, and pick out professional attire so that your appearance or mannerisms don't distract from your message. If you're preparing a written message, proofread it to ensure the recipient's name is spelled correctly, and read it aloud to find dropped words or clunky phrasing before sending it.

The Basic Elements of Communication
What Is Register in Linguistics?
Definition and Examples of Language Varieties
Politeness Strategies in English Grammar
Definition and Examples of Function Words in English
Choose, Chose, and Chosen: How to Choose the Right Word
Southern Slang Dictionary
Whoever vs. Whomever: Choosing the Right Word
Transferred Epithet Definition and Examples
Generative Grammar: Definition and Examples
English Language Sentence Structure
What Is a Phoneme?
Over 300 Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs
Digraphs in English: Definition and Examples
What Is Nonverbal Communication?
Definition and Examples of Discourse

Teaching Oral Communication Online

Main navigation.

When teaching oral communication online, it's important to think carefully through the affordances and challenges of mediated presentations -- and adjust your pedagogy importantly.

For a fully online writing & speaking class, our expectations about what a presentation look like need to shift. Instead of requiring students to perform (and possibly record) a TED-talk style conversation, where we see their full body, large presentation screen behind them, we need to adjust to the parameters of mediated presentations through live Zoom or pre-recording:

Narrated PowerPoint/Keynote with no speaker visually present (i.e. zoom or google slides pre-recorded)
PowerPoint with speaker window/webinar (i.e. zoom pre-recorded)
Multimedia with visuals of speaker interspersed (i.e. video edited footage of speaker with animations, audio, slides, images, photo stills, zoom background visuals or video cut into the presentation)

This type of presentation is one they might already be familiar with from YouTube bloggers, webinars, or other online presentation moments, so in that sense, we're helping them develop a particular type of delivery strategies that they might draw on in many academic and non-academic contexts.

Some Beat Practices

Oral Communication lecturer Helen Lie has offered some of the following suggestions for teaching oral communication online (courtesy of Helen Lie):

Remember that students presenting online still experience speech anxiety, so scaffold the major presentation assignments by offering many low stakes opportunities for students to practice their presentation skills

Students may also suffer from tech anxiety in preparing or delivering their presentations.

Be sure to integrate technological skills incrementally into your scaffolding assignments (i.e., for one assignment, have them practice sharing a screen in Zoom; for another assignment, layer in recording a short speech, etc.)
Don't grade low-stakes assignments, and make sure students are aware that they won't be graded down on major assignments for unavoidable technological issues

Help students also understand their responsibilities as an audience

Consider having all student audience members activate their video, if they have access to video, for the presentations and speaking activities so that presenters get the benefit of seeing their live audience
Talk to students about ways to think about nonverbal feedback that they can give as audience members (such as nodding, making eye contact, giving complete attention), which might be particularly vital in online spaces
If your students are pre-recording major presentations, give them the benefit of a live audience in small group dress rehearsals or through a live Zoom Q&A after everyone has watched the presentations on their own
Balance synchronous and asynchronous feedback; create a space on a Canvas discussion forum for students to comment on each other's presentations, whether they have watched them live or recorded; offer a live Q&A or feedback opportunity on Zoom

Help students think about the specific dynamics of digital presentations

Encourage them to think about their "presentation stage" when delivering remotely -- Where will they sit? What will they wear? What sort of lighting is available. Suggest that they try to find a place with good lighting (i.e. a light behind you casts a shadow on your face), free of clutter, connecting with a stable connection if possible (sitting close to a router or connected to the router with an ethernt cable), away from distractions (i.e., people who might walk behind the presenter or otherwise interrupt)
However given that students sometimes do not have much control over their environments in online learning contexts, make sure they also understand that they are not graded on their ability to have a polished "presentation stage" and that everyone in the class will be understanding if their "stage" is less than ideal.
Think about whether you want students to read off a script or not, which might be their inclination even more than in in-person presentations. If you don't want them script-bound, consider implementing short scaffolding assignments that require them to speak rather than just read.
Engage them in vocal delivery activities designed to help them understand the importance of voice in digital presentation contexts

Activity idea - watch a TED talk - transcribe it, mark it for pauses, and then practice in the same way ias the speaker and present (imitatio)

See Helen's Full Slidedeck from her March 14 Presentation on Teaching Digital Presentations.

Technological Recommendations

If students are sharing their presentations asynchronously:

Ask students to record themselves at their screen, using a web camera, the built-in microphone on their computer, and screen sharing software combined to capture both their faces/persons as well as the slides on the screen.
If students want to use presenter notes while recording in Zoom in particular, they can follow the instructions to use two monitors with screen sharing . If students do not have access to two monitors, they can also use the screen sharing function in Google Slides by selecting to share only the window with the final slidedeck and NOT to share the window that pops up with the presenter notes. (i.e. "squish" both windows so they could appear side-by-side).
Voiceover narration in slidedeck creation software can also be used via Keynote (Mac), PowerPoint (Mac or PC), or Quicktime (Mac).
If students submit the recording via Canvas Assignments, the file will only be visible to the instructor. If students submit the recording via Canvas Discussions, the file will be visible to the full class community.
If using Discussions, students can use an audio-video recording tool built directly into Canvas to record audio-video content. Note that with this tool, only the students’ web camera content will be recorded and saved, not the students’ screen (or their slidedeck). Given this constraint, a short reflection or oral presentation without slides or visuals would be most appropriate for recording with Canvas’ recording tool.
If students submit the recording via Stanford Box, make sure the appropriate share settings have been enabled for students to upload their own files to a Box folder that you have created. See Folder and Account Sharing Settings in Box for more details.
If students do not have access to a laptop computer or webcam, they can also use the voice memo feature on a phone to record audio, save audio files, and upload the audio files to either Canvas or Stanford Box. Invite students to share their slidedecks and audio/video files separately if necessary.
Ask students to use Zoom to give a live presentation for their peers. See Advice for Using Zoom For Synchronous Class Sessions for suggestions and technical tips for using Zoom to this end.

Student-Facing Handouts About Presenting Online

See these tech-oriented handouts developed by Jenae Cohn, Sarah Pittock, and Jennifer Johnson, ready for distribution to your students or adaptation to suit your own specific class needs:

Handout: Delivering Your Presentation Live on Zoom
Handout: Pre-Recording Your Presentation
Handout: Instructions for Sharing Streaming Video Content Over Zoom

Oral Communication Program Video Workshops

The Oral Communication Program created several student-facing video workshops that instructors can incorporate into their classes.

Check out the list of available video workshops

Main navigation

About oral communication support.

The Oral Communication Program provides opportunities for undergraduates, graduate students, and instructors to improve their presentation and communication skills.

Tom Freeland lecturing CTL 115/215, Voice Workshop

In these courses in Oral Communication, students refine their public speaking skills and enhance their general facility and confidence in oral expression

OCT Teresa Nguyen conducts a speaking skills workshop

We work directly with departments and campus organizations to offer specialized workshops. We also conduct regular workshops including T.E.A. and Vocal Yoga.

See a Tutor

OCT Tessa Smith welcomes students to the center while seated on a large couch.

Meet with an Oral Communication Tutor (OCT) to: brainstorm, rehearse your presentation, videotape your speech, design effective visual aids, reduce speech anxiety, or practice your job interview

Become a Tutor

A tutor helps a student, motioning toward her computer screen.

Oral Communication Tutor applications for the 2023-2024 academic year are currently closed but please check back in Winter 2023 for 2024-25 academic year applications.

IMAGES

Principles of effective speech writing| Oral communication in Context
Speeches in Oral Communication
Q2 SHS Oral Comm Module 3
Lesson 10: Principles of Speech Writing
Oral Communication in Context Quarter 2
Oral Communication In oral communication, Spoken words are used. It

VIDEO

OUMH1303 ENGLISH FOR ORAL COMMUNICATION- SPEECH PRESENTATION
Principle of Effective Speech Writing: Grammatical Correctness || SHS Oral Com || Quarter 2/4 Week 5
Writing an Effective Speech: Oral Communication (Quarter 2)
OUMH 1303
Oral Communication Speech Context
Oral Communication Final Speech

COMMENTS

Speeches in Oral Communication
Speech style in oral communication refers to the unique manner and approach individuals employ when delivering spoken messages. It encompasses a spectrum of elements, including tone, pace, pitch, and choice of words. Understanding the nuances of speech style is pivotal for effective communication, as it directly influences how a message is ...
Lesson 10: Principles of Speech Writing
What are the different parts of a written speech? How do we write an effective speech? What do we need to consider in crafting effective speeches?Credits:Cre...
Writing Speeches
Writing a speech consists of composing the central point or thesis, the main-point sentences, the introduction and conclusion, and planning effective oral style. ... For tips regarding introductions, we recommend the Oral Communication Center, Hamilton College. The tips are short, helpful, and if applied, will improve your introductions. ...
6 techniques for clear and compelling speech
Building block #5: Exaggeration. In the same way that we get breathless when they're speaking with passion, our speech distorts in another significant way. We exaggerate. So when we're sitting down to a meal after having eaten little that day, we tell our family and friends: "I love this pizza.".
Introduction to Oral Communication
Introduction to Oral Communication. Learn foundational concepts and best practices for communicating orally. Communicating orally is a cyclical process that requires you to assess and prepare in order to deliver your message. Assess: Assessment is determining the 'who' (understand your positionality and biases, know your role; consider the ...
Principles of effective speech writing| Oral communication in Context
Principles of effective speech writing | Public speaking1. Choosing a subject and topic2. Know your audience3. Sourcing information00:00 Introduction01:09 Le...
Public Speaking and Presentations
Whether you're giving a presentation for your classmates or addressing local politicians at a city council meeting, public speaking allows you to convey your thoughts and feelings in clear ways. Having the right tools can prepare you for successful public speaking and equip you with high-quality communication skills.
10 Tips for Improving Your Public Speaking Skills
Create the framework for your speech. Write down the topic, general purpose, specific purpose, central idea, and main points. Make sure to grab the audience's attention in the first 30 seconds. 4. Watch for Feedback and Adapt to It. Keep the focus on the audience. Gauge their reactions, adjust your message, and stay flexible.
WC116/WC116: Speech Writing and Types of Speeches
This publication about speech writing and types of speeches is the second of a three-part series about developing effective public speaking skills. This series also covers an introduction to public speaking and public speaking tools. ... Business and professional communication: Plans, processes, and performance (3rd ed.). Needham Heights, MA ...
Oral Presentation Tips: How to Deliver a Speech for School or Work
Jerz > Writing > [ Academic | Technical] This document briefly describes how to write and deliver a formal oral presentation on an academic or professional subject.It should be useful for anyone who wants to know how to speak in public. Note: by "formal presentation," I don't necessarily mean a Shakespeare monologue or a scientific treatise on robot-assisted microsurgery.
Outlining Your Speech
There are three types of outlines. The first outline you will write is called the preparation outline. Also called a working, practice, or rough outline, the preparation outline is used to work through the various components of your speech in an inventive format. Stephen E. Lucas [1] put it simply: "The preparation outline is just what its ...
Oral Communication Definition, Skills & Examples
Oral communication relates to the verbal exchange of information or ideas from one person or group to another. They can be used either formally or informally. Formal oral communication takes place ...
Tips & Guides
315-859-4401. Email. [email protected]. Webpage. Make an appointment. Social. Help us provide an accessible education, offer innovative resources and programs, and foster intellectual exploration. Make a Gift. The Oral Communications Center instructs students on how to outline a speech with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
Oral Communication in Context Module: Principles of Speech Writing
All our questions will be answered by understanding by heart the principles of speech writing. After going through this module, you are expected to: 1. identify the principles, techniques and process in writing; 2. set clear objectives in writing speech; 3. use the principles of effective speech writing in developing one's speech.
PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE SPEECH WRITING
Oral Communication In Context - Principles of Effective Speech WritingQuarter 2 - Module 3 - SHS Grade 11
Oral versus Written Style
For newer speakers who are writing their own speeches, identifying the differences between oral and written style is an important key to a successful speech. Oral communication is characterized by a higher level of immediacy and a lower level of retention than written communication; therefore, it's important to consider the following ...
What Is Communication? How to Use It Effectively
Communication is sending and receiving messages through verbal or nonverbal means, including speech, or oral communication; writing and graphical representations (such as infographics, maps, and charts); and signs, signals, and behavior. More simply, communication is the creation and exchange of meaning. Media critic and theorist James Carey ...
Types & Examples of Oral Communication
Examples of oral communication are conversations with friends, family or colleagues, presentations and speeches. Oral communication helps to build trust and reliability. The process of oral communication is more effective than an email or a text message. For important and sensitive conversations—such as salary negotiations and even conflict ...
Teaching Oral Communication Online
When teaching oral communication online, it's important to think carefully through the affordances and challenges of mediated presentations -- and adjust your pedagogy importantly. For a fully online writing & speaking class, our expectations about what a presentation look like need to shift. Instead of requiring students to perform (and ...
Speaking
Become a Tutor. Oral Communication Tutor applications for the 2023-2024 academic year are currently closed but please check back in Winter 2023 for 2024-25 academic year applications. Hume Center for Writing and Speaking.