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Public Speaking for the Radon Professional

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Stage 1: The Traditional Presentation Skills:

Recall a recent talk or speech that you liked. Maybe a teacher, a preacher or a speaker at this

symposium. Think about the things the speaker did that made the

speech memorable. What were they?

Now, How do You Rate Yourself?

Your Strengths?• Knowledge of topic?• Humor comes naturally?• Lots of experience

speaking?• Good voice?• Comfortable in front of

people?• Good body movements?• Good use of the eyes?

Your Weaknesses?• Fear of speaking in

public?• Lack of experience?• Don’t know what you

would say?• Don’t like your speaking

voice?• Too shy?• Afraid of confrontation?

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Let’s Use President Obama as a Good Example

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Now, How do You Rate Him?

His Strengths?• Knowledge of topic?• Humor comes naturally?• Lots of experience

speaking?• Good voice?• Comfortable in front of

people?• Good body movements?• Good use of the eyes?

His Weaknesses?• Reads his speeches?• Uses lots of “fillers”?• Hems and Haws? • Orates with the rhythm of

a church preacher?

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• Voice (important to present with a strong, clear voice).• Gestures (use gestures frequently and naturally).• Body Movement (do not anchor yourself to a

lectern/podium, stroll (cover) all parts of your audience).

• Eye Contact (in order to ensure engagement with the audience, effective eye contact is necessary). Do not look over the heads of the audience toward

the back of the room.

The Four Traditional Speaking Skills

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Elaborating the Traditional Presentation Skills

• How effectively does one use voice (rate, volume, pitch, quality, enunciation, pronunciation, fluency, conversational)?

• How effective is one’s use of body (eye contact, gestures, poise, swaying, fidgeting, motivated movement (not pacing))?

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The Three Modes of Presentation

• Extemporaneous: the presentation is given without notes, but some preparation and thought has been given to the speech. An outline may be used.

• Manuscript: the presentation is read from a prepared paper.

• Impromptu: the presentation is made up on the spot with no preparation of any kind.

We will only disucss extemporaneous speaking in the class.

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Stage 2: The Skills Needed for “Invitational Rhetoric”

• Invitational rhetoric is audience-centered rather than speaker-centered.

• It creates an invitation to the audience to be amenable to a change in attitude, receptiveness and/or activity.

• More refined skills are necessary in order for you to be successful at employing invitational rhetoric.

• We will discuss these new skills after we learn more about the theory of invitational rhetoric

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Why Do We Want to Learn How to Engage in Invitational Rhetoric?

• Because you are here today to learn how to give speeches to others which will result in them:

– Understanding the health risks of radon, or– Testing for radon, or– Mitigating for radon.

– In other words, you want your audience to be persuaded to have a change in attitude or to do something.

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What Are the Rules of Invitational Rhetoric? (Continued)

• Freedom: give your audience the power to choose or decide • Safety: when you create safety in a speaking situation,

audience members trust you and are not fearful of interacting with you. The audience feels you are working with them and not against them.

• Value: let the audience understand and feel that you value the worth of each of them as an individual. Each person is to become a critical part of the interaction.

• Openness: make sure, as the speaker, that no barriers are in place to inhibit or prohibit the disclosure of dissenting viewpoints. Seek out as many perspectives as possible.

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Applications of Invitational Rhetoric We Will Now Use

• Tone of voice: are you speaking conversationally, inviting your audience to see your perspective (rather than preaching at them)?

• Facial Expressions: Are you speaking with a smile or with a frown? Smiling exudes warmth and is inviting. A frown pushes listeners away

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Applications: (Continued)

• Body Movement: As you cover your audience physically, are you moving with enthusiasm, or are you signaling to your audience that this subject is boring by apprehensively pacing from side to side.

• Eye Contact: It is through direct eye contact that, in most American cultures, you can convey sincerity and urgency to an audience member.

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Stage 3: Putting The Talk Together

• Purdue Professor Alan Monroe suggests these five steps when framing (putting together) a persuasive (invitational) presentation. Write a few sentences, as an outline, to cover each of these steps:– Attention– Need– Satisfaction– Visualization– Action

• Fill in the outline with the details. Do not write out the speech word for word.

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Attention

• How can you grab the audience’s attention?

i.e.: “Did you realize that radon gas kills more people in this country annually than drunk drivers?”

i.e.: “I have a video here of people who have never smoked, but are dying of lung cancer”

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Establishing a Need

• The second step is where the speaker and the audience share an understanding that there is a problem that needs to be fixed.

i.e.: “Do we all fully appreciate that more than 20,000 people a year die needlessly because of radon gas?

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Satisfaction

• Provide a clear explanation on how to satisfy this need:

i.e. “If we are going to reduce the number of lung cancer deaths, we need to greatly reduce the amount of radon gas coming in to our homes. Once that is done, fewer people will die.”

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Visualization

• As the speaker, you must work cooperatively with your audience to help establish a vision of how things could be, and how life can be better.

• Like an artist, the speaker is painting a picture of the future. Instead of paint and a brush, the tools are speech and words.

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Call to Action

• Your audience is asked to take action or approve the proposed plan.

• In the case of Radon, you might ask your audience to take action now (utilizing some of the techniques you’ve outlined) to reduce or eliminate the danger this gas poses.

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Stage 4: Putting it all Together

• Audience• Setting• Delivery• Handling communication anxiety (stage

fright)

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Audience• As much as possible, learn who your audience

will be.• Tailor your speech to match the audience.• Three examples:

– Health Professionals: focus on the health effects of radon

– Homeowners Association: perhaps split the presentation between health effects and testing.

– Builders: probably talk more about radon-resistant construction and the importance of testing after occupation.

• Find out how many people are expected.

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Setting• Try to learn about the place where you will be

giving the talk. When arranging with the person in charge of the group, ask questions like:– What are the seating arrangements for the audience?– Will I have a podium and/or microphone?– Will I need an extension cord, projector, pointer? – Can I darken the room for my videos/slides?– Will there be a table for my demonstrations?– Is this a noisy place?– Will there be other speakers before me or after me

and, if so, what are their topics?

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Delivery• Practice• Using proper language• Giving the introduction to your speech• Using ideas that act as transitions• Elaborations that make your talk more

interesting• Tests for levels of engagement (did you reach

your audience?)• Giving the conclusion of your speech.

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Practice

• Practice once or twice a day the week before your presentation but do not memorize.

• You will become more familiar with your material, of course, but you will also be able to practice your timing.

• If you have a friend or spouse, practice in front of them once you are comfortable.

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Language

• Avoid “twirks” like: “…you know…”, “….umm…”.

• Avoid colloquial speech like: “dude”, “right on”, “fer sher” and other jargon.

• Avoid mispronunciation, misuse of grammar, obscenities and fillers

• Do not degrade a gender, a culture or a race, even in jest. It will backfire.

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Using Transitions in Your Speech

• Transitions connect separate ideas together, giving a fluidity to your presentation.

• Transitions can be whole paragraphs, sentences, simple phrases or single words.

• Example: “On this slide we have seen how radon is drawn into your home. Next, we will see how this radon, now in your home, will decay into different elements that can be breathed in by you and your family, possibly causing lung cancer.”

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Elaborating

• Audiovisual Aids: The primary source will be PowerPoint, but you can use videos, test devices, etc. Make sure they can be seen from the back of the room.

• Credentials: Provide some evidence of your background. This is especially important if you have experience in a given topic area.

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Elaborating (continued)

• Dreams and visions: This sounds corny at first, but they bring a sense of intimacy to the presentation. Some cultures consider dreams more vital than waking experiences.

• Humor: Can be an effective way of connecting with an audience quickly. It is not just used to entertain, but to develop and extend ideas.

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Elaborating (Continued)

• Narratives: If you are a good storyteller, this is a skill (talent) you can develop and use to great advantage. The narratives can be real or fictional. You can use stories told by others or, more personally, recount your own experiences.

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Communication Anxiety• Communication anxiety, also known as

“stage fright” is best avoided by:– Be well prepared. Make sure that you have all

of your materials and demonstrations.– Practice once or twice a day for a week prior

to the presentation.– Do not imagine your audience with their

clothes off. Who ever came up with that idea?• Some degree of anxiety can be expected.

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Communication Anxiety• Communication anxiety, also known as

“stage fright” is best avoided by:– Be well prepared. Make sure that you have all

of your materials and demonstrations.– Practice once or twice a day for a week prior

to the presentation.– Do not imagine your audience with their

clothes off. Who ever came up with that idea?• Some degree of anxiety can be expected.

Using PowerPoint• You do not have to use PowerPoint. • In fact, sometimes it is better to not use

PowerPoint.– Time too short– Room not suitable for slide show– You anticipate audience would prefer

demonstrations (school kids, for example)• But, if you do use PowerPoint, here are

some hints:

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Keep it Simple

• Only use a few bullets on each slide

• Don’t crowd text, pictures• Keep the background uncluttered• Don’t overuse animation or

special effects

Follow the Rules

• Tell us the topic and who you are• Tell us what you will be doing• Watch your voice, your “fillers”,

your stance• Be enthusiastic• When finished, summarize

Present the Slide

• Look at the slide, or the computer to see what it says, then…

• Talk to the audience, not the slide• Use your finger or a pointer, not a

laser light • Don’t stand between the projector

and the screen

Keeping Their Attention

• Move around, if able• The audience will want to look at

the slide. So, make it clear when you want their attention directed elsewhere, i.e. to you

• Try to avoid deviating from the slide too much

Finishing Up

• End on time• Leave additional time for questions• Be ready to back up through the

slides to answer a question• Remind the audience of what you

promised to say, and show them that you did.

The Last Slide

• Give credit to people who worked with you on the paper/presentation

• List references, if any• List funding sources, if any• Give additional websites, email

addresses, etc.

This Ends Today’s Program

• I would like to thank Bill Huddy, Former Primary News Anchor for TV stations in Colorado Springs, El Paso, Ft. Meyers, and Milwaukee and Former Director, Center for Excellence in Oral Communication, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs for his input into the design of this slide show.

• This slide program can be downloaded at no cost on the AARST web site: AARST.org

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