Public Speaking and Presentations for Dummies

Malcolm Kushner, Rob Yeung

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781119997238
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Persönliche Entwicklung
• Subtopic: Kommunikation & Rhetorik

Includes memorable ways to start and finish your speech with a flourish

Straightforward advice on making your speeches sparkle

With the right preparation even the most nervous speaker can deliver a winning presentation. Public Speaking & Presentations For Dummies shows you how, from drafting your content to honing your tone for a perfect delivery. More confident speakers can find expert advice on getting visual aids right, impromptu speaking, dazzling in roundtables, and much more.

Discover how to

• Organise your speech
• Conquer your fears
• Research content effectively
• Get your body language right
• Use humour properly
• Speak to a foreign audience

Part I

Getting Started

In this part . . .

T he toughest part of preparing a presentation or speech, or doing anything, is getting started. In these chapters, we show you how to take the first steps toward doing what has to be done. You can also find out what information you need to know about your audience to craft a successful presentation. We even cover how to get started researching what you’re going to say.

Chapter 1

Giving a Presentation or Speech

In This Chapter

Examining the contents of this book

Exploring what you need to know

W hether you’re giving your first presentation or your five hundredth, this book can show you how to improve your presentation and public speaking skills. The book is crammed full of practical ideas, techniques, and suggestions; beginners can benefit just from discovering and avoiding basic mistakes, and experienced presenters may appreciate the expert tips and techniques sprinkled throughout these pages. You don’t need to read this book from cover to cover (of course, you can if you want to). You can skip chapters and even sections within chapters, focusing only on the material that suits your needs. So if you’re looking for an idea of where to start or an idea of what chapters may benefit you the most, just check out the sections that follow to find out what each chapter has to offer.

Finding Out What You Need to Know

Before you give your presentation, or even write it, you need to know a lot of basic information. Chapters 2 and 3 tell you how to get started researching the basics.

Getting down the preliminaries

Getting asked to speak begins the process of making a lot of decisions. The first decision is exactly what to talk about. Even when you’re assigned a topic, you generally still have room to shape it. How you decide on an angle depends on the audience – not just their age and gender, but also their education, attitudes, and much more. Chapter 2 tells you what you need to know and how to find it out.

Doing research

No matter what you’re talking about, you can improve your speech by doing a little research. We don’t mean just locating facts and statistics. You can also find quotes, jokes, and stories to add colour to your speech or presentation. Chapter 3 puts a wealth of research tools and techniques at your disposal, such as using both local and specialist library resources, searching Web sites, and getting other people to do your research for you – for free.

Organising your presentation

After you’ve got a topic and you’ve done some research, you need to get organised. To make your presentation flow, you can choose from several patterns: Problem and solution; past, present, and future; and cause and effect. Chapter 4 gives you lots of ideas for ways to organise your material and shows you how to create a useful presentation outline that conforms to your time limits.

Developing Your Presentation

Speaking in front of others scares a lot of people. Many people see writing a speech as a hassle. And doing it right can take a lot of time. But calm down. This part of the book shows you everything you need to know to write a speech or presentation quickly and effectively.

Selecting the right material

You’ve done research and you’ve got an outline. Now you need to put some meat on those bones. (Or leaves on those branches if you’re a vegetarian.) If you’re looking for the key to captivating an audience with statistics, quotes, stories, and examples, you’re in luck. We unlock all kinds of potential presentation material in Chapter 5.

Starting and ending your speech

Many people believe that you have to open with a joke, but asking a rhetorical question or using a quotation for the opening – or the conclusion – can involve the audience better. In Chapters 6 and 7, we discuss interesting ways to open and close your presentation, and we give you great ideas to make sure you and your audience reach your conclusion at the same time.

Polishing It Off

Anyone can throw a presentation together, but you also need to make it memorable. If you need to find just that right turn of phrase, develop the winning argument, come up with the perfect example or anecdote that an audience will never forget, or get ideas on how to deliver your speech flawlessly even if you’re nervous, Chapters 8 to 10 make polishing your speech and delivery much easier.

Making sure your presentation makes sense

Obviously, your presentation makes perfect sense to you, but the test is whether it makes sense to your audience. If you’d rather not find out that crucial fact as you deliver it, visit Chapter 8 for ideas on how to put a little spit and polish on your presentation to make it stand out from the crowd.

Adding some style

You don’t have to be a poet or literary type to put a little richness into your presentation. Certain words and phrases can make more powerful statements than others – and you just have to pick the right ones. Chapter 9 shows you how to use rh...