Oratory: features of types of public speaking | Vladimir Khmelev

May 24, 2018

Rhetoric is oratory, the art of public speaking. If you think that it has sunk into oblivion along with ancient civilization, you are mistaken. Steve Jobs went down in history not only as the leader of a corporation creating the world's leading technologies, but also as a brilliant speaker. People came to his performances from other countries and crossed continents to hear him again. In 2009, a report that Jobs would not attend the Boston company's annual Macworld Expo event led to public unrest.

For a business conversation to take place, it is not enough to know vocabulary, grammar,

stylistics of this type of communication, although they are important. If you are an entrepreneur who cares about the future of your company and plans to develop it, you need to learn how to use your speech in such a way that you can easily interest your interlocutors and win them over to your side. Could even one person refuse Steve Jobs?

Read our article and you will learn how to set up business communication with department employees, business partners and customers. Our material will help you cope with anxiety before a speech, tell you about the techniques of “white” and “black” rhetoric, and provide effective exercises for developing speech skills.

Types of public speaking by form and features of each of them

Oral public speech includes:

• Welcome . Dedicated to special or memorable events: opening of a conference, meeting of foreign colleagues, company anniversary, congratulations to the fair half of the team on International Women’s Day. She is emotionally colored. Its goal is to inspire listeners and set the right mood. Usually contains 4 stages: an appeal to the public, a brief description of the event, a discussion of achievements and prospects, wishes for the future.
• Informational . Often used for internal meetings and meetings. The speaker shares current news, reports how the workload is distributed, and notes the main and secondary tasks of employees.
• Trading . This is advertising in one form or another. The speaker’s goal is to clearly characterize the product, highlight 2-3 main qualities, emphasize uniqueness and inform the potential buyer about guaranteed and possible benefits. Before preparing, the speaker analyzes the consumer’s system of motives, thinks through which emotions are best to “play” on, how to attract and not lose the attention of listeners. Usually the statement takes the form of friendly advice, but there are other options. The main reasons for purchasing are repeated in different forms.

• Report at a meeting or meeting. This is a comprehensive message. Its goal is to form a definite opinion among the audience on any issue, to identify prospects, nuances, problem points and ways of resolution. A brief analysis of the situation is often offered. The manager can report on the company's performance over a certain period of time.

Dialogue types of oral public speaking include:

• Interview.
• Negotiation.
• Discussions.
• Meetings.
• Press conferences.

Closing a Speech: 9 Effective Techniques

Knowing how and being able to structure the beginning of a public speech is only half of your success. Completing a speech is considered an equally important skill in public speaking. If you use the techniques described below, your performance will be remembered for a long time, leave a pleasant impression and produce the desired effect. For a good completion, it is possible to use one technique, or only some of them, or all of them at once. The combination can be anything depending on your needs. Keep in mind that each subsequent move enhances the previous one. Some may seem very similar to you, but there are fundamental differences between them, although not very noticeable at first glance. Read more…

3

Reasons for fear of public speaking

According to statistics, 9 out of 10 people suffer from glossophobia. Scientists have found that the amount of adrenaline that enters the bloodstream when a person begins to speak in front of an audience is comparable to the sensations before a parachute jump. Adrenaline is an ally, but when there is too much of it, memory is paralyzed, speech is inhibited, and nervous gestures appear.

All this does not benefit the speaker. Our body equates public speaking with mortal danger: the need to deliver a short message in front of an audience is comparable to balancing on the edge of a skyscraper.

There are two main reasons for this reaction:

• Biological. For animals, exile is equivalent to death: single animals starve, freeze, and cannot procreate. Animal instinct lives in us. We are afraid of straying from the “pack”, of falling out of the team. When a person finds himself alone on stage, he unconsciously contrasts himself and the audience, feeling his loneliness and rejection.
• Psychological. If significant others are present in the room, it is more difficult for us to concentrate. This could be your boss or a girl from a neighboring department who you have liked for a long time. The unconscious self automatically associates the concept of internal censorship with the approval of people important to us: in childhood with our parents, in adulthood with the favor of a leader or mentor. It seems to us that they have “execute and pardon.”

The basis for a successful performance is getting rid of “primitive” psychological atavisms and childhood complexes. If you think that the best way to do this is by taking a sedative, you are mistaken. Any pills, including the popular valerian, inhibit brain activity and suppress it. Listeners won't notice that you're less anxious, but your slow reactions and sluggish speech will definitely catch their attention.

Alcohol should also not be used as a sedative. Not only is this unhealthy and disrespectful to the audience, it is also unhelpful. When speaking intensively, when combined with adrenaline, the stimulating substances quickly wear off and the opposite effect occurs: the person becomes lethargic, irritable and depressed.

Focus on your goal. Remember how many times in your life dates with people you like were canceled due to fear of rejection, how many interesting moments you did not experience because you were afraid of something, and understand that action is always better than inaction.

If this method does not help, remember how Professor Lupine from the third part of Harry Potter taught schoolchildren to fight a boggart - a creature that turned into what every student feared most. Connoisseurs of JK Rowling's creativity will remember the potions professor dressed as a grandmother, while others will like the method. The scary needs to be turned into funny, and the excitement will go away.

This solution is offered in various forms by many authors of popular literature on public speaking techniques. Some advise undressing the audience, others to imagine fluffy white bunnies or any other cute animals in the audience’s place. We don’t recommend using the first method: nudity is always associated with a feeling of awkwardness, and it definitely won’t help you. In addition, the brain centers responsible for procreation are activated, since, one way or another, naked people are associated with sex, but not with the presentation of the company’s product.

The option with animals is possible if you have a good imagination. But the easiest way is to consider the people who are sitting in front of you. Understand that the last thing they want is to intimidate or humiliate you. They are with you, not against you.

Don't be afraid of the audience. Imagine that you are a school teacher and in front of you are fifth graders at recess. One is trying to attract the attention of a classmate by pulling her pigtails, another is chewing a bun, the third is making a paper airplane, the fourth is hovering and staring out the window. There's nothing scary about them, they're cute and funny. When the bell rings and you start the lesson, they will stop what they are doing and listen to you carefully, but only as long as you can keep their attention.

The adults sitting in front of you are no different from children. Watch them, notice the funny moments, see who is wearing what, who is sitting how they sit. Understand that your position as a “teacher” is a winning one. You can control the audience: make people surprised, laugh, upset, draw conclusions. Use your advantage.

How to not be afraid to speak in public?

No problem, it can be fixed. Fear of public speaking is normal, everyone experiences it. It can act in different ways: make your brain work even more actively or, conversely, confuse your thoughts into a huge tangle. If fear develops into panic and freezes your mind so that you are unable to think, you need to fight it to be successful in public speaking.

Our brain is designed in such a way that the best results are achieved in the middle of the process. How can you not take advantage of this feature? Start speaking about 20 minutes before your presentation. You can give a speech, or you can say whatever comes to mind. The main thing is to speak out loud. Then the words on stage will not be born from a bundle of nerves and complete silence, they will become a continuation of speech. “I look at the blinding spotlights, what a funny guy sitting in the front row, how good it is to live... So, hello! Today we will talk about how to prepare for a public speaking.” Voila! You are already in the flow, and the words flow by themselves.

The art of public speaking: exercises to help overcome fear

1. If your knees or hands are shaking, imagine that they are covered with drops of water that you need to shake off. Make a couple of characteristic movements.
2. Rehearse in advance how you will stand. Your basic position is with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms along your body, elbows slightly tucked, palms facing the audience. The leading leg is half a foot in front. Mentally pull yourself up.
3. Invite someone you feel comfortable with: your wife or husband, a close friend or best friend, a sister. Someone who will not evaluate you, but only support you. When going out to the audience, imagine that you are telling the story for him alone.
4. Due to anxiety, public speeches are always delivered very quickly: it seems to you that you are speaking at an average pace, but the listeners will get the impression that you are chattering. To avoid this, deliberately slow down your speech for an hour before speaking. This way you normalize the pace.

And remember, the key to a successful event is careful preparation for it. Rehearse gestures, poses and, of course, the report itself. When you learn what you need to say by heart, it will be much easier to deviate from the intended plan - make a joke, address the audience, or examine some issue in more detail. The confidence that you can return to your plan at any time will help you cope with anxiety.

Useful tips

• Many experts advise to sincerely admit your fear. This is unacceptable in business communication.
• If you don't know the correct answer to a question, redirect it to the audience and explore the possible options together. The formula “I don’t know” is a bad ally.
• Don't get carried away with pointing gestures. The best gestures are those that merge with the content of speech. The movement of your hands should not distract listeners from the meaning of what is being said.
• Change your positions, but don’t walk around the room from side to side.

Development of oratory: the basics of the skill of creating speeches that change the situation in the team

• Decide what goal you want to achieve with your speech: communicate something or force the audience to change their point of view, to do what you want. These goals can be synthesized, but you must think in advance what kind of reaction you want to achieve and choose techniques based on this.
• Evaluate the listeners: how educated they are, in which area, humanitarian or technical, they are better, what interests they have. Gender and age are important. The youth audience is sensitive to flattery, negatively perceives hints of their incompetence, and they are disgusted by flirting and lisp. Be prepared to discuss sensitive issues and painful topics. Listeners with a high level of scientific training do not perceive well speakers who cannot offer them anything new: innovative technologies, fresh views and approaches to solving a problem. It's always easier to talk to a homogeneous audience: students, doctors, liberals. It will be easier for you to predict their reaction. If the audience is diverse, address specific parts of the speech to specific groups. Decide in advance what you will say to certain important people.
• Find out how many people will come to listen to you. The more, the easier it will be to manage the emotional background: the crowd divides statements into black and white, is prone to depersonalization, and is inert. You should speak simply, figuratively, and use visual aids. If you are speaking to a narrow circle of people, preliminary preparation is important: think about how each listener will react to your speeches, prepare “targeted fragments” designed for specific people.

• Use the knowledge of proxemics - the science of the temporal and spatial organization of communication. If you sit at a common table, as at conferences, you should respect the chain of command and speak in formal language. Be prepared for confrontation and opposition of opinions. Classroom placement separates the speaker from the audience, makes feedback difficult, and involves a large number of participants. The horseshoe placement gives good control and visual contact.
• Find out who you will be speaking after. For your speech to have the desired effect, it must be more interesting and imaginative than the previous one.

Effective Persuasion Techniques

• mention of authorities and references to them;
• figurative comparisons from an area well known to listeners: among film critics - from films, among doctors - from medical practice.
• poll – ask listeners to share their opinions;
• conditional consent - admit that your partner is partially right and gradually win him over to your side;
• paraphrasing - say the same thing, but in a softer form;
• Accepting a comment is acceptable if it does not significantly affect the further development of the conversation.

We told you why the head of a company needs oratory skills, and gave examples of effective exercises and methods that will help your speech turn into a work of art. But this is only a small part of what a real speaker should know. If you want to be quoted after every public speech, contact practical business coach Vladimir Khmelev. You will receive theoretical information and learn how to competently apply it in practice, learn the intricacies of communication with your team, business partners and competitors.

Difficulties

Difficulties in public speaking can be divided into 5 categories.

1. Firstly , the lack of ability to plan the time of a speech in such a way as to retain the attention of listeners as much as possible. The audience should not get tired of the information and its presentation.
2. Secondly , you need to be able to get rid of nervousness. Listeners should under no circumstances feel it. Most often it is transmitted by trembling of the voice during speech and confusion of speech. We’ll look at how to speak in front of an audience without anxiety below.
3. Thirdly , from excitement at a public speech, you can easily fail it. You may get a “dry throat” or just want to run away.
4. Fourthly , the success of the speech depends only on the lecturer himself, who has no one to count on but himself.
5. Fifthly , the difficulty is understanding the audience's attitude towards the performance. You need to clearly understand the needs and inclinations of your listeners in order to impress them.