Presentation Formats for Public Speaking
There are many different ways to present speeches and to a large degree your choice of presentation will depend on the type of speech you are going to make, and the audience you are addressing. By the same token, you might find that certain types of public speaking presentations and formats make you feel a lot more comfortable than others.
Presentation relates to various factors including:
• The way you structure and organize your speech. A well structured speech will be easier for you to remember and therefore easier for the audience to follow. It will also be more credible and your audience is likely to enjoy it more.
• The introduction and conclusion of your speech, both of which are related to structure. While the guts of any speech, is obviously important, it is generally the introduction and conclusion that will make or break it for the audience.
• The aim of your speech. If you are speaking to entertain then you need a presentation that will make your audience laugh. If you are giving a serious speech on economic and financial matters, you want your audience to leave feeling they have learnt something or benefited in some way, although you can still introduce some humor.
• The type of speech you are going to give, for example whether it is informative, persuasive or ceremonial. For each of these to be successful, your focus, and therefore your presentation, will be rather different. For example, an informative speech will benefit most from using various visual aids to share knowledge.
• Delivery and speaking style. You can choose to read a speech, memorize it, present it spontaneously, or you can prepare a speech and adapt it as you go along, depending on audience response. The last option is by far the best in terms of keeping audience interest alive, as well as your own credibility. But sometimes circumstances require reading, memorizing and speaking off-the-cuff — so bear this in mind.
• Any additional aids you are going to use — for example a flip chart or a screen. Visual aids can be used both as a means of reminding you (the speaker) what comes next, as well as a way to reinforce what you are saying.
• The need to demonstrate tasks or methods, for example cooking demonstrations or the way machines work. Here the food or machine, or whatever else is being demonstrated and described becomes, in a way, a visual aid.
If you decide to use visual aids in your presentation, there is one very important factor to consider. That is how much to include in your presentation. Unlike a book that can be packed with pretty well every possible form of support material, a speech has a lifespan, and the audience will only be able to absorb so much.
Just as speakers are advised to compile and then cut down on speech material, so too is it advisable to see what support material is available, and then be selective. Choose graphs, pictures, tables and small chunks of text that will support and back up what you have to say, without confusing your audience. Discard what is not essential.
