Public speaking tips

Here are five public speaking tips that may be of value in introducing public speaking.

Communication apprehension

Some interesting advice on reducing the fear of public speaking.

Public Speaking Asides

I thought this little note on "asides" was an interesting--may I say--aside on our normal treatment of public speaking. I do wonder, though, if most instructors of public speaking would consider this type of thing an unnecessary tangent and downgrade the speaker. Asides do add a note of "spontaneity."

Communication on the Job

Here is some excellent advice on getting a promotion--to bridge the gap between academic and workplace communication theory. There is also much of interest under "Also see related WikiHows"--getting a pay raise, writing a resume, and interviewing for a job.

Acceptance Speech

Here is a good acceptance speech for which permission was not be granted for inclusion in my Essential Elements of Public Speaking. Like the Steve Jobs speech, this one is readily available on the Internet but Oprah Winfrey (like Jobs) doesn't grant permission for reprinting. I can't figure out the logic use here. Nevertheless, it's a good speech and a great example of a brief, well worded acceptance speech.

Commencement Speech

In revising my Essential Elements of Public Speaking I wanted to include an excellent speech by Steve Jobs--a commencement speech he gave at Stanford. It's really a wonderful speech with a great message. But, Apple refused permission. For some strange reason, and even after my pleading with them, they refused to grant permission to use this speech, even though it's readily available on the Internet. At any rate, it's a speech that I think you'll find useful when covering the special occasion speech in public speaking or in fundamentals of communication.

Nonverbal Communication

Here is an excellent discussion of why the formula that nonverbal communication accounts for some 90 percent of meaning is so ridiculous. Proposing any percentage is foolish because the meaning that nonverbal signals will carry will vary with the situation, the topic begin discussed, the knowledge of the individuals involved in the conversation, and on and on. This article explains the original Mehrabian study from which this formula was incorrectly generalized.