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Seating. Try to make sure the seats are not too comfortable. Low, soft chairs can be sleep inducing – the last thing you want from your audience.
When? Timing
How many times have you heard speakers drone on long after the expected finishing time? They seemingly do not realize the audience is getting restless. Considering the time of day and how long you have for your talk is important.
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Time of Day. This can affect the audience, after lunch is known as the graveyard session in training circles.
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Keeping to Time. Knowing how long you have got and sticking to it is crucial to good talks.
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Concentration Problems. People’s ability to concentrate hard for long periods is not too good. You need to anticipate lack of concentration in the audience.
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Our Own Best Time. Individually, you may have good and less good time of the day. Some people are better first thing in the morning; others late in the afternoon.
Preparing the Material
Any talk will almost certainly fail unless careful thought is given to the subject matter. Below are the stages which will help you through the preparation of the material and ensure that your talk is well structured and lively. Stage 1 – Brainstorming. It is essential to get all thought and ideas on your subject down on paper. A useful method for doing this is by making pattern notes. This is a highly creative method of personal brainstorming. Pattern notes enable the brain to relate to information far more naturally and efficiently, by forming an interrelated patter rather than a list. Stage 2 – Structuring and Selecting. Most people at this stage have a mass of possible ideas and information they could use – usually far too much material for the time they have for the talk. It is important to keep the number of main points to a minimum. In a 45-minute talk, you should try not to make more than seven main points. Stage 3 - Illustrating. Whenever you speak to a group of people, you are competing with their own vivid imaginations. When you are listening to people talking, you can easily find yourself drifting off into your own little world. As speakers, you need to talk in pictures and give them to the audience rather than let them drift off into their own. Stage 4 – Opening and Closing a Talk. Only when you have completely sorted out the main part of your talk should you think about opening and closing since the content of the middle will dictate these. Stage 5 – Notes. Notes should be brief and consist of key words. If you are making a particularly important speech, it is a good idea to write the whole thing out in full, practice, and then reduce it all to key notes.
4.2 Putting Yourself Across
There are various important aspects to consider relating to how you put your message across. Although our basic communication is words, it is surprising how little contribution to the message they have on their own. Some research by Albert Menrabhain reveals the following information about the percentage contribution to the total message:
7%verbal- to do with words
38% vocal- to do with tone of voice
55% visual- to do with facial expression, gesture, and so on.
Words
Use concrete, simple language. Do not talk in abstractions. Talk in sentences. Just as you would write in sentences, you should try to talk in them too. A talk which is strung together with “ands” and “buts” can be very difficult to follow.
How we say it:
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Expression. The amount of emphasis placed on particular words will focus attention on important points. You can show how enthusiastic you are by injecting expression into what you are saying.
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Pausing. Do not be afraid of pausing. You do not have to rush through it like an express train. Give the audience time to take in and digest what you are saying.
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