Giving your First Speech: Developing Confidence

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Giving your First Speech Developing Confidence
AL AKHAWAYN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND
SOCIAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATIONS STUDIES

• Lecture by Prof. Dr. Mohammed Ibahrine
• based on
• Clella Jaffes Public Speaking

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Communication apprehension (CA)

• Is the fear of negative reaction you might
  experience because you speak out
• A specific type of CA is public speaking anxiety
  (PSA)
• (PSA) has two dimensions
• 1. Process anxiety
• 2. Performance anxiety

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1. Process anxiety

• 1. Process Anxiety
• You are experiencing process anxiety when you
  feel unsure about the how-to of speechmaking,
• when you lack confidence that you
• Can choose a topic
• Do research
• Organize your ideas

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2. Performance Anxiety

• 2. Performance Anxiety
• You are experiencing performance anxiety when you
  worry about actually presenting your ideas, when
  you fear you will forget your speech

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Develop Skills to Overcome Process Anxiety

• To an extent, you can decrease dread by
• Studying speech principles
• Observing others speak
• Speaking yourself

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Arabic Canons of Rhetoric

• While studying the How-to of speech-making,
  educators of speech divided the entire process
  into five major categories (five canons of
  rhetoric)
• 1. Creating the speech
• 2. Organizing speech materials
• 3. Choosing effective language
• 4. learning the major ideas
• 5. Delivering the speech

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Creating the speechThe Canon of Invention

• The principles of invention help you
• Analyze your audience
• Select an appropriate topic and purpose
• Gather evidence
• Develop reasonable and logical arguments
  explanations

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Creating the speechThe Canon of Invention

• 1. Consider Your Audience and the Setting
• Think of your audience as a mini-culture
• Consider your audience in terms of
• Beliefs
• Values
• Attitudes
• Look around and note factors that might influence
  your speaking choices
• Notice obvious categories such as gender and age

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Creating the speechThe Canon of Invention

• 2. Choose a Topic
• Be sure you understand what is expected
• Choose to reveal something unusual
• Select a significant topic
• Consider a story format
• Consider your listeners sensibilities
• Try out your ideas on people you trust

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Creating the speechThe Canon of Invention

• 3. Identify your Purpose
• Identify your reason for speaking
• What do you expect from them
• Is your purpose to inform
• Is your purpose to persuade
• Is your purpose to entertain

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Creating the speechThe Canon of Invention

• 4. Gather Speech (Verbal/Visual) Materials
• Definitions
• Facts
• Examples
• Quotations
• Primary material
• (Interview, learn its techniques)
• Secondary material
• (Encyclopedia, handbooks, books, magazines,
  newspapers and online resources)

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Organize Your IdeasThe Canon of Disposition or
Arrangement

• 1. Arrange the ideas
• Introduction where you orient your audience
  toward the subject
• Body where you explain and develop your major
  ideas
• Conclusion where you leave your listeners with a
  memorable conclusion (Koran)

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Organize Your IdeasThe Canon of Disposition or
Arrangement

• 2. Connect your Ideas
• Use simple connectives such as
• First, next and finally
• Have logical divisions
• Connectives have a function
• They help your listeners keep their place in the
  speech by linking the various points to one
  another and to the speech as a whole

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Choose Suitable languageThe Canon of Style

• 1. Consider Your Style (use language effectively
  in both speaking and writing)
• Choose appropriate vocabulary and grammar for
  both the occasion and the audience
• Omit offending language that demeans people on
  the basis of their sex, race, or age (sexist,
  racist)
• Either define technical terms or eliminate them
• Choose more familiar language
• Use formal language

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Learn and Present Your SpeechThe Canon of
Memory and Delivery

• 1. Consider Your Memory
• Memorized delivery is highly risky
• Stay away from manuscript delivery (read it to
  audience)
• Avoid spur-of-the moment impromptu delivery (with
  little preparation)
• Use extemporaneous delivery (you determine in
  advance the organizational outline and the major
  ideas)

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Learn and Present Your SpeechThe Canon of
Memory and Delivery

• 1. Consider Your delivery
• Make eye contact with your listeners
• Have pleasant facial expressions
• Avoid a monotone voice
• Smile at appropriate times
• Assume a posture of confidence
• Incorporate appropriate gestures
• Be conversational
• Stay within the time limits

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Develop Strategies to Overcome Performance Anxiety
AL AKHAWAYN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND
SOCIAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATIONS STUDIES

• Lecture by Dr. Mohammed Ibahrine
• based on
• Clella Jaffes Public Speaking

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Develop Strategies to Deal with Physiological
Responses

• To manage your communication apprehension
• Engage in some forms of physical exercise before
  the speech
• Focus on relaxing your muscles
• Breathe slowly and deeply

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Develop Strategies to Deal with Physiological
Responses

• To manage your communication apprehension
• Focus on the speech
• Use visual aids
• Deliver your introduction from notes rather than
  reading it or reciting it

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Develop Strategies to Deal with Psychological
Anxiety

• To manage your communication apprehension
• Control internal monologue by cognitive
  modification
• Identify negative internal monologue
• Replace it with positive internal monologue

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Develop Strategies to Deal with Psychological
Anxiety

• To manage your communication apprehension
• Think positively in three areas
• The message
• The audience
• The speaker

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Develop Strategies to Deal with Psychological
Anxiety

• Think positively about the message
• Select a topic that interests you
• Is beneficial to your audience
• Give yourself time for research and organization
• Be sure of your pronunciation

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Develop Strategies to Deal with Psychological
Anxiety

• Think positively about the audience
• Think that the audience does not consist of
  expert
• Focus of the purpose of your speech
• Think of how your audience would feel if they had
  to give a speech in your native language

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Develop Strategies to Deal with Psychological
Anxiety

• Think positively about yourself
• Maintain a positive self-image by focusing on the
  things you do well
• Remind yourself that your worth as a person is
  unrelated to your skill as a novice public
  speaker and that competence develops with
  experience

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Develop Strategies to Deal with Psychological
Anxiety

• To manage your communication apprehension
• Use visualization
• Visualization is a form of positive self-talk or
  mental strategizing in which you see yourself
  successfully performing a complex task

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Develop Strategies to Deal with Psychological
Anxiety

• To manage your communication apprehension
• Rehearse
• Find a place where you can deliver your speech
  loud
• Find a private audience (friend, classmates,
  family)
• Focus on communicating in a conversational manner
• The more prepared you are, the better you will
  feel

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Cultures guide the "How-to" of speaking
AL AKHAWAYN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND
SOCIAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATIONS STUDIES

• Dr. Mohammed Ibahrine

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American Communication Style

• A cultures core assumptions and norms work
  together to produce a preferred or a typical
  communication style

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Cultures guide the "How-to" of speaking

• Elements of the American communication style are
• 1. Problem orientation
• 2. Directness
• 3. Explicitness
• 4. Personal involvement
• 5. Informality

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1 Problem orientation

• Problem orientation Speeches are considered as
  solving-problem oriented speeches

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2. Directness

• 2. Directness speeches moves in a logical way.
  
• first nextand finally

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3. Explicitness

• 3. Explicitness the use of clear, concise and
  precise language instead of indirect statements
  and allusions

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4. Personal Involvement

• 4. Personal involvement in line with cultural
  emphases on equality and individuality, speakers
  relate to their audiences by sharing personal
  experiences

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5. Informality

• 5. Informality conversational communication is
  more effective, yet some degree of formality is
  still a must