HOW TO PREPARE FOR DEBATE AND SPEECH (part 8)

                                                  HOW TO OPEN A SPEECH
   
1.    The opening of a speech is difficult. It is also highly important, for our hearers are fresh then and   comparatively easy to impress. It is of too much consequence to be left to chance;it ought to be carefully worked out in advance.

2.    The introduction ought to be short, only a sentence or two. Often it can be dispensed with altogether. Wade right into the heart of your subject with the smallest number of words. No one objects to that.

3.    Novices are prone to begin either with attempting to tell a humorous story or by making an apology. Both of these are usually bad. Very very few people can relate a humorous anecdote successfully. The attempt usually embarrasses the audience instead of  entertaining them. The attempt should be relevant, not dragged  in just for the sake of the story.Humour should be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself ... Never apologize. It is usually an insult to your audience; it bores them. Drive right into what you have to say, say it quickly.

4.    A speaker may win the immediate attention of his audience by:

               a:     Arousing curiously.

               b:     Relating  a human interest story.

               c:     Beginning with a specific illustration.

               d:    Using an exhibit.

               e:     Asking a question.

                f:     Opening with a striking quotation.

                g:     Starting with shocking facts.

5.    Don't make your opening too formal. Don't let the bones show. Make it appear free, casual, inevitable. This  can be done by referring to something that has just happened,or something that has just been said.

              
    

HOW TO PREPARE FOR DEBATE AND SPEECH (part 7)

                                            THE SECRET OF GOOD SPEECH DELIVERY

 1.    There is something besides the mere words in a talk  which counts.It is the flavor with which they are    delivered. "It is not so much what you say as how you say it.

 2.    Many speakers ignore their hearers, stare over their heads or at the floor. they seem to be delivering a soliloquy. There isno sense of communication, no give and take between the audience and the speaker. That kind of attitude would kill a conversation; it also kills a speech.

3.    Good delivery is conversational tone and directness enlarged.

4.    Everyone has the ability to deliver a talk. If you question this statement, try it out for your self; knock down the most ignorant man you know; when he gets on his feet. He will probably say something, and his manner of saying them will be almost flawless. You need to take that same naturalness with you when you speak in public. To develop it, you must practice. Don't imitate others. If you speak spontaneously you willspeak differently from anyone else in the world. Put your own individuality, your own characteristic manner in to your delivery.

5.    Talk to your hearers just as if you expected them to stand up in a moment and talk back to you. If they were to rise and ask you questions, your delivery would almost be sure to improve emphatically and at once. So imagine that someone has asked you a question, and that you are repeating it. Say loud, ''You ask how do I know this? I'll tell you". ..... That sort of thing will seem perfectly natural; it will break up the formality of your phraseology; it will warm and humanize your manner of talking.

6.     Put your heart in to your talking. Real emotional sincerity will help more than all the rules.

7.     Here are four things that all of us do unconsciously in earnest conversation, but do you do not do them when you are talking in public? Most people do not.
             a.     Do you stress the important words in a sentence and subordinate the unimportant ones? Do you give almost every word including the, and,, but, approximately the same amount of attention, or do you speak a sentence in much the same way that you say MassaCHUsetts?
             b.     Do you vary your rate of speaking, running rapidly over the unimportant words, spending more time on the ones you wish to make stand out?
             c.     Does the pitch of your voice flow up and down the scale from high to low and back again_ as the pitch of a little child when speaking?

             d.     Do you pause before and after your important ideas?

Students Debate! Writing the Constructive Speech, Part 2

This video features a discussion of how to write a speech based on a constructive argument. The discussion prepares students to write their speech for the actual debate of the project.

For more informations on the topic please visit my next posts.