Prepared by Inge salsabila Suryaman

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A. Connecting self and Communication

Self-concept is a process. It is a dynamic process because it has no beginning or an end and is constantly changing. Our self-concept is further determined by the values, attitudes and beliefs we possess, how we attribute these qualities to others and how they connect them to us. Personality theorists such as the lab carl rogers believe that our self-concept is the single most important aspect of our personality, which in turn determines our style of communication. It is generally agreed that people with high social self-concepts function better in interpersonal situation than do these with low social self-concepts. The question here is “who are you when you are with your best friend, your mother, your father, and people you don’t know. Our expectations therefore are a powerful force for shaping our self-concept. Self-fulfilling prophecy most of us want to set positive expectations for ourselves and most of us manage to see our-selves favorably much of the time. There is however culture based limits on our willingness to grab the credit. For example, Chinese students attribute their success in school to their teachers, whereas American students attribute it to their own skills and intelligence. Conversely, when it comes to failure, Chinese students are more likely to explain their failure as stemming from their own flaws, while Americans tend to explain their failures as being due to someone else’s fault. Impression management to better understand impression management we have to know more about our self, our perceived self is a reflection of our self-concept. There are many aspects of our perceived self that we keep private, because we don’t wish to tell others. For example, regarding appearance we might see ourselves as being too fat, even though everyone else tells us we are ideal. Our presenting self is the public image or the way we want to appear to others. Most of us seek to create an image that is socially acceptable that is nice person, good student, articulate hard working, friendly, wild, ambitious, truthful, loyal friend, funny competent,

highly motivated, likeable and so on. Because, sometimes how we portray ourselves to others on the internet maybe very different from who we really are. In doing so, what risks do we take and how might our internet portrayal affect how we communicate with others and others with us.

B. Connecting Listening and Thinking

Listening skills, analyzing, processing and recording information are often neglected during formal education. Listening is consistently high on all lists. Listening has been identified as one of the top communication skills employees seek in entry level employees as well as those being promoted, in numerous surveys and research projects. In the global community in which we live and work, listening carefully to the messages conveyed by people of other cultures and backgrounds. It is a skill that required for success in many areas of life, indeed our very economic, technological, political and social lives depend on listening quality. Most of us take listening for granted, we tend to think of it as a simple task. You don’t have to work at hearing, it just happens. People can have excellent hearing and be a terrible listening. For example, students provide their instructors with feedback, both consciously and unconsciously some students, however might not always be completely honest in their responses. Even though they might be totally confused, they might indicate through verbal and nonverbal cues that they are listening to, understanding and agreeing with everything being said. Even if they don’t 100% understand with the communication that has being said to them. The listening process is often taking for granted, because people think that it is just happens. However, listening actually is a complex process crucial to effective communication. To be competent, you must work out at listening. And listening scholars assert that the listener is 51% responsible for effective communication, you can learn to be a better listener,

overcome bad listening habits and develop effective attitudes behaviors and mind sets. As a listener our goal is more than simply understanding a message, we also try to become critical listeners. Practicing critical listening involves analyzing and assessing the accuracy of the information presented, determining the reasonableness of its conclusions and evaluating its presenter. Critical thinking and critical listening are closely linked. The critical thinker knows how to analyze and asses’ information, the critical listener knows how to make connections between messages and issues. The critical listener also uses the ability to analyze and evaluate messages to determine whether ideas are logically presented and whether the speaker is well informed and exhibits clear thinking. A competent listener should be prepared to listen and learn to control internal and external distraction, behave like a good listener and ask question to clarify information. Many students around the world report that listening is “just something we do” and we aren’t really taught to listen in schools. Although we don’t have the answers to the similarities and differences in listening in every culture in the world, we do know that communicators need to be aware of both. The best advice for communicating with people from other culture is to respect and be aware of the cultural differences. Because listening requires energy and commitment with whomever we communicate.

C. Connecting in the Public Context

Making presentations is only one of the communication skill required for many careers, it is necessary for those who wish to achieve success. The ability to give effective presentations called Public Speaking, what you learn about and apply toward making effective presentations will help you in all your roles the rest of your life. The speech making process will help you develop, researching, organizing, listening and thinking skills for both oral

and written communication. The first step in preparing a speech is by sketching a speech topic. When you selecting an appropriate topic you should gain your listeners attention, choose a relevant topic, evaluate your topic and think like a listener and also use brainstorming to generate topics you might use for your next information speech. Once you have determined that your topic is appropriate to your audience and yourself, the next step is to decide whether it is narrow enough to fit the time limit and accomplish the goal of the assignment. Each time you narrow your topics, you increase its potential depts. And after you narrowed your topic, you need to begin thinking about how the final presentation will be structured. By preparing a clear idea of general purpose, the specific purpose and a specific thesis statement. Overall, the general purpose of a speech is usually including three overlapping functions; that is to inform, persuade and entertain. While the focus of an informative speech is to convey information and understanding by explaining, reporting or demonstrating your point of view, the purpose of a persuasive speech is to change beliefs or attitudes or motivate listeners to act in a specific manner. When the general purpose of your speech is to inform you are expected to convey your knowledge of a particular subject. The content of the speech depends on heavily on what you think the audience knows and how much you know or able to learn the topic. An entertainment speech provides enjoyment and amusement speeches. To entertain may be dramatic or humorous in nature and often occur on special occasions, such as after a dinner or a roast. How to connect with the listener, an audience becomes actively involved in a speech and reacts to the speaker, if the speaker knows the methods for researching audiences and adapting the speech to an audience. Because analyzing the audience is an essential step in developing and delivering a speech, by collecting and interpreting of data about characteristics, attitudes, values and beliefs of an

audience. The reason individuals come together to form an audience is an important point that every speaker should consider when planning a speech. It is reasonable to assume that an audio wants to hear something that is meaningful to them, and the more you know about your audience past experiences, knowledge of the subject, relationship to the subject and reason for being there, the easier it will be for you to develop a speech that is meaningful to them. Captive participants, a person who is required to hear a particular speech while Voluntary participants is a person who chooses to listen to a particular speech.

Key audience information:

- Demographic analysis. Is the collection and interpretation of basic information, such as Age, gender, cultural background, education, political affiliation, voting habits, occupation, religion, socioeconomic status, geographic location and etc.

- Physical setting. The physical setting can also affect audience members psychological disposition toward one another as well as toward the speaker, because the more relaxed and comfortable the physical setting, the audience members will feel in relation to one another and to the speaker. For example; room size, ventilation, speaker platform, setting arrangement and lighting.

- Knowledge level. The speaker must present the material in terms everyone can understand, because the extent of an audience’s knowledge about a topic has a tremendous effect on the outcome of a speech.

- Connecting with the listeners. The speaker strongly influences how a speech should be developed and delivered. By sharing a personal experience

helped the speaker connect with their listener attention. Listeners will always formulate some attitude toward a speaker and help them, from one that keeps them tuned in your presentation.

- Attitudes and values related to the topic. If audience members do not relate to a topic, the speaker will have a difficult time getting to listen. And the speaker must also examine the audience’s relationship to the overall situation in which the speech is presented.

D. Gathering information If you find an adequate amount of good, relevant, up to date information then you can create an impressive speech, and the information you gather becomes the backbone of the speech, which is only as good as your information. Most communication begins with you as the most valuable sources of information available and your own experiences also can contribute to the content of your speech. For most topics your firsthand experience and knowledge will not be sufficient. Because interview can be a valuable tool too for gathering expert opinions (ideas, testimony and the most up to date information). The library source of information, start by attending library as a useful and beneficial resource for speech preparation, you will find that library will save you a great deal and also you will find that the library is a convenient and pleasant place to locate information. Electronic information sources, electronic databases provide valuable information but you need to determine key word and phrases to use in your search before you begin. So you can maximize your time and effort. Most colleges and universities have access to the world wide web (www) a global information system that allows users access to internet information. Web searches can provide a wealth of information quickly and easily, it is important that you

check out your sources to ensure that they are reliable and accurate. There are no shortcuts to good research, but there are ways to make research more enjoyable and easier no matter what sources you choose to use. Here are several suggestions; - State a clear purpose before starting your research.

Knowing what you want to find makes the job of searching easier. You need to consider all possible areas of research in advance to keep your research productive.

- Begin your research early. Because finding appropriate materials takes time, you should start your research as soon as possible. If you wait until the last minute, you might discover that the materials you need are unavailable or that it takes longer to find them than you anticipated.

- Maintain a bibliography of sources. As you find sources on the computer, electronic catalogues, in electronic databases, and in periodical guides, copy them in the same form onto a sheet of paper index cards or into a computer file.

- Take notes. Efficient and accurate note taking is a must. Once you have located information, either record it by hand or photocopy it for later use. The more information you record, the better. You should always have more than you need to write your speech.

More than 2.000 years ago, Aristotle, a famous Greek scholar, wrote that there are essentially two parts to every speech: a statement and its proof. How a speaker clarifies and supports ideas determines the quality of the speech. For example,“Today’s students are much smarter than students for every earlier generation. The reason? Students have access to

computer technology that gives them more available information than ever before”On the surface, this statement might seem valid, but is it accurate? Carefully analysis shows that we need to think carefully before accept the statement as true. Audiences generally accept information because of the perceived believability of the speaker or the information itself. Thus statement would likely be more acceptable to audiences if it were made by a well-known educator and researcher than if it were made by a student. But regardless of the source, most listeners sequent, just effective speakers justify each main idea in their speeches with a variety of supporting and clarifying materials. Supporting and clarifying materials bring life to a speech. They can make the content of a speech appealing, vivid, exciting, meaningful, acceptable, and more useful to listeners. Testimony, the use of testimony usually adds trustworthiness to what a speaker says a necessity for all speakers who are not yet established as experts on their chosen speech topic. The speaker’s own experience can be an excellent form of testimony as in the previous example. When are the speaker’s reputation and experience are insufficient, the use of a recognized and trusted authority can be invaluable in gaining listeners’ acceptance. For maximum credibility, testimony should also come from objective sources. The objectivity and neutrality of authorities are particularly important when your subject is controversial. And listeners tend to be suspicious of opinions from biased or self-interested source. Examples, an example is a simple, representative incident or model that clarifies a point. Examples are useful when you are presenting complex information to listener who are unfamiliar with a topic and when your purpose is to inform or instruct. Brief examples, illustrations, and analogies are three kinds of examples that help things clear for an audience. Brief examples, is a specific

instance used to introduced a topic, drive home a point, or create a desired information. “outsourcing has become an almost hated and concept to many in the American workforce”. Illustrations, an illustration, or extended example, is a narrative, case history, or anecdote that is striking and memorable. An illustration lends depth and explanation to the point a speaker is trying to make. It also gives the information more meaning. A factual illustration, tells what has actually happened, a hypothetical illustration, tells what could happen, given a specific set of circumstances or asks listeners to use their imaginations. The more realistic the situations, the more likely it is that the listeners will become involved. A speaker should always specify whether an illustration is factual or hypothetical. Analogies, an analogy is a comparison of two things that are similar in certain essential characteristics. Analogies explain or prove the unknown by comparing it to the known. Most topics offer opportunities to use analogies. Figurative analogies make ideas vivid and clear, whereas literal analogies supply evidence to support points. Analogies are effective, efficient and creative means of supporting and clarifying information. Restatements, speakers can and should use a variety of strategies to make their speeches memorable. Effective speakers have often used both restatement and repetition to support and clarify their ideas. A restatement is the expression of the same idea using different words. It may take the form of a summary, synonym, or rephrasing. Definitions, you must define all unfamiliar words and concepts, especially technical terms, if you want your listeners to understand and accept your speech. Nothing is more bothersome to listeners than a speaker who uses terminology they do not understand. In most cases, it is better to offer too much explanation than too little. A local definition, the most common form used by speakers, usually contains two parts, a term’s dictionary definition and the

characteristics that distinguish the term from other items in the same category. An operational definition, explains how an object or concept works, gives the steps that make up a process, or states how conceptual terms are measured. A definition by example, clarifies a term not by describing it or giving its meaning but by mentioning or showing an example of it. A key to effective speaking is the quality and currency of material you gather to support and clarify your ideas. Listeners appreciate worthwhile information that is presented so that they can remember the main ideas. Just as communications begins with you, your views and experiences. You can also find a wide variety of useful information in the library. The research process can be both interesting and entertaining if you begin the process early, know what you need to look for, take careful notes and write down all necessary information about your sources. A good speaker knows that effective research that supports and clarifies main points can make the difference between a good and a poor speech. Testimony, examples, definitions and statistics are the four basic types of supporting and clarifying materials. The materials you use will vary greatly depending on the topic and purpose. Your goal should always be to clarify your ideas so that your listeners will remember and even make use of them at some time, either now or in the future.

E. Organizing and outlining your speechThe body of a speech presents the main content and organizing it will help you formulate your thesis statement. Organizing your speech involves arranging its parts into a systematic and meaningful whole. To ensure that the body of your speech is well organized, your content must be divided into main points that are thoughtfully selected and stated limited in number and carefully ordered, connected and supported. Developed the main points,

the main points serve as the basis for the thesis statement. Together the specific purpose and the thesis will determine the direction of the speech. Present the main points, main points like the specific purpose and thesis, should be carefully developed and written. They should also be specific, vivid, relevant, and parallel in structure. Be specific, the more specific the main points, the less confusion they will create and the more meaningful they will be to an adventure. Use vivid language, the more vivid the main points the more likely they are to create interest. Main points should be thought-provoking, attention-grabbing ideas that standout from the supporting materials. Show relevance, main points that are relevant to the audience interest, encourage greater involvement and empathy. Once you have identified your main points, you must decide the order in which to present them. This takes serious analysis, because the order determines the structure and strategy of your speech. Whatever organizational pattern you choose, you can make that pattern work for you when you make the speech compelling, in the paragraph above we noted mind mapping as an organizational strategy. This is a strategy where you visually map out how the various ideas connect. A conversational can move from one unrelated topic to another without losing meaning or impact. But for a speaker to communicate effectively with an audience, the thoughts in the speech must be systematically connected. The four most common connecting devices speakers use, singly or in combination, are transitions, signposts, internal previews and internal summaries. Transitions, phrases and words used to link ideas are called transitions. They form a bridge between what has been presented and what will be presented next. Transitions are typically used between the introduction and the body of a speech, between main ideas, between supporting materials and visual aids and between the body and the conclusion. For example, “let me

move on to my next point” etc. Signpost, just as a traffic sign informs drivers about travel conditions, signposts are words, phrases and short statements to let the audience know what is ahead. For example, “next”, “finally”, “as you look at my chart” etc. Internal previews, short statements that give advance warning, or a preview of the points to be covered. “next we’ll look at possible solutions to the problem of budget shortfalls” Internal summaries, a short review statement given at the end of a main point. Support the main points, main points by themselves are nothing more than assertions. An audience needs supporting and clarifying material to accept what a speaker says. It is crucial that each main point be supported and that the support be relevant and logically organized. When supporting materials are included, the body of a speech expands to outline form, in which the main points are followed by sub points. Supporting materials should be clearly related to the specific purpose, thesis and main points of the speech. Organize the introduction of your speech, an introduction includes opening statements that serve two important functions: motivating the audience to listen and orienting them to the subject. Therefore, your introduction should be based on the information you gathered in your audience analysis. Orient the audience to the topic, several approaches can be used to gain attention and arouse the interest of your audience, including referring to the subject or occasion, using personal references or narratives, asking rhetorical questions, presenting a startling statement, using humor, or using quotations. You should choose these devices carefully to fit the audience, occasion and context. None is always effective, and each has limitations. Overall all parts of the speech must fit together well to achieve your desired purpose. Refer to the subject or occasion, “it is truly a privilege to speak at this convocation. I am honored to be a part of the celebration honoring you for

completing all of the requirements leading up to your admission into the teacher education program”. Use personal references or narratives, as a child, I was always forced to drink milk. I never wanted to drink it, and I never asked for milk at meals or for snacks”. Ask rhetorical questions, “do you think people can lose weight and be heart-healthy if we eat prepared low-cal, low-fat fare?”. Present a startling statement, can be used when you want to shock or surprise your audience. “The harsh reality is this: Party time is now!”. Use humor, “now, you’ve probably wondering why I chose to talk about procrastination today. I’m not really a procrastinator, but there are times when we should when we should all take a bit more time before we jump into things. Use quotations, lee Iacoca once said “it’s important to talk to people in their own language. If you do it well they’ll begin to respect you, and they’ll follow you to the death”. State the specific purpose and thesis, once you have your audience’s attention, you need to state the specific purpose and thesis statement of your speech. Both the specific purpose and thesis statement were discussed in detail earlier in this chapter. By stating the specific purpose and thesis, you are orienting your topic to the audience and giving them a clear indication of where you are headed with your speech. Motivate the audience to listen, design your introductory comments to gain the attention and interest of your audience. You must hold their interest and attention throughout the entire presentation, but that task will be easier if you can capture them by making the topic significant and important to them and by establishing your credibility. Credibility, refers to a speaker’s believability based on the audience’s evaluation of the speaker’s competence, experience, and character. For example, Madonna, who is a singer, entertainer, and actor, were to speak on health care or violence in our society, she would have to establish her credibility on the

subject by relating the subject to herself and by indicating how she became an expert on the topic. Organize the conclusion of your speech, your conclusion should focus your audience’s thoughts on the specific purpose of your speech and bring your most important points together in a condensed and uniform way. Your conclusion should relate to your introduction, helping your audience make the connections between the various parts and points of the message. Because your conclusion is as important as any other part of your presentation, you should give it the same amount of attention. Also, remember that you, as a speaker, have only one chance to get your message across to your audience. Repetition is an important strategy for helping listeners recall the important information you have presented. Show that you are finishing the speech, you need to prepare your listeners for the end of your speech; otherwise, they are left hanging and uncomfortable, sensing that something is missing. An example might be, “as you have seen in this speech, there are ways we can become better listeners.” Make your thesis clear, repetition is important when you have only one chance for the listeners to hear your message. Be sure you creatively remind your listeners of your central idea “you’ve already heard me tell you early in my speech that effective listening is a highly valued skill that can be learned”. Review the main points, repeating the main points of a speech is particularly helpful any time you want your audience to remember your main points. For example, “let me review the barriers that have the most impact on our listening. They are language, factual, mental, and physical distractions. If you remember these and how they affect listening, you will be a more effective listener. End with a memorable thought, a memorable thought may include referring back to an attention-getting device, citing a quotation, or issuing a challenge or appeal. Citing a memorable quotation can be a good way to leave a lasting

impression on your audience. Signal your audience that your speech is nearing its end by using phrases such as “today, we have examined…”, “in the past minutes, we have examined…”, “finally let me say”. The following conclusion lets listeners know that the speech is nearly finished, and it summarizes and synthesizes the major points covered.

F. Managing anxiety and Delivering your speech

Competent communicators are prepared, knowledgeable, confident speakers who are ethical. Ethical speakers always provide oral foot notes within the speech, and they provide fair and accurate information. By cultivating certain personal qualities, you can enhance the likelihood that your listeners will accept your message. Ethics, an individual’s system of moral principles, plays a key role in communication. As speakers, we are responsible for what we tell others and should always hold the highest ethical standards. Furthermore, ethical speakers do not distort or falsity evidence to misrepresent information, do not make unsupported attacks on opponents to discredit them, do not deceive and audience about their intention or objective in and attempt to persuade or take advantage, do not use irrelevant emotional appeals to sensationalize the message and divert attention from the facts, and do not pose as an authority when they are not. Any time you use information and ideas that are not your own, you are obligated to cite the originator or source. The use of another person’s information, language, or ideas without citing the originator or author, thus making it appear that you are the originator, is referred to as plagiarism. Similarly, listeners are also responsible for determining the truth. Knowledge, is a speaker’s greatest asset. Knowing your subject is essential if you plan to connect with your listeners. Noted speakers are almost

always avid readers. To enhance your understanding of events, people, and values, you must read and observe things around you. As an educated person, you should know about past international, national, regional and local events, as well as current events. You should read all kinds of books, at least one trade (professional) magazine, and one daily newspaper, in addition to listening to news broadcasts and documentaries. Preparation, people rarely make speeches without at least some preparation, and the most successful speakers are very well prepared. A successful speech is somewhat like a successful business meeting or athletic event-all require planning, preparation, and work. Preparation means more than practicing the speech ahead of time. It also means that speakers will think through situation and possible snags or problems. Managing speech anxiety, it is perfectly normal to encounter some anxiety before, during, and sometimes even after a speech. I fact, even the most experienced speakers confess to having some anxiety about speaking before a group. There is no evidence to suggest that discussing stage fright either increases or decreases it, but it is commonly accepted that the more we know about stage fright and how to cope with it, the better able we are to manage it. You should keep in mind that anxiety is normal. Most of us have some degree of anxiety when we speak in front of others. Communication apprehension, can be seen in individuals who either consciously or subconsciously decide to remain silent. They perceive that their silent offers them greater advantages than speaking out or that the disadvantages of communicating outweigh any potential gains they might receive. Symptoms of speech anxiety, speech anxiety refers more specifically to the fear of speaking before an audience or group. Anxiety is a condition during which our bodies secrete hormones and adrenaline that eventually overload our physical and emotional responses. Behaviors associated with speech anxiety;

breathing heavily, monotonous, awkward pauses, rolling eyes, facial muscles, etc. Treating speech anxiety, most successful people will tell you that, before they were successful, they had some failures and moments of embarrassment. Their drive and self-confidence pushed them to try again. There are no cures for speech anxiety, only ways to reduce, manage, or control it so anxiety does not interfere with your presentation. Select a topic you know, the more you know about a subject, the easier it will be for you to talk about it. Be prepared, know your audience and become familiar with the physical surroundings in which you are going to speak. This will help create confidence by reducing the unknown. We advised that careful organization of your speech will help you be more effective. The work you put into research, organization, and practice will also help you be more confident. Think positively, visualize yourself giving a successful speech. Positive thought does work. There is ample proof to suggest that those who think positively and visualize themselves doing well often surpass their own expectations. Practice, the better you know the content of your speech and your delivery plan, the more comfortable you will feel about your presentation. Remember; most of us are somewhat nervous before a speech and that nervousness is perfectly normal. Methods of delivery, effective delivery conveys the speaker’s purpose and ideas clearly and interestingly so the audience attends to and retains what was said as the speaker intended it. The effectiveness of a speech therefore depends both on what is said and how it is conveyed. A poorly written speech can be improved by effective delivery, and a well written speech can be ruined by ineffective delivery. Although a speech may be delivered in many ways, the four most common methods of delivery are impromptu, manuscript, memorized and extemporaneous. Impromptu delivery, the delivery of a speech with little or no formal planning or preparation. You have used

this method many times, perhaps without even realizing it. The lack of preparation time distinguishes the impromptu method from other methods of delivery and forces speakers to depend solely on their ability to think on their feet. Manuscript delivery, reading the speech word for word. Speakers who use this method are never at loss for words. But in learning how to give a speech, manuscript delivery is often discouraged because it invites the speaker to concentrate more on the script than the audience. Memorized delivery, requires that you memorize your speech in its entirety, usually from a word for word script. This kind of delivery is used for short presentations, such as toasts, acceptance speeches, and introductions, and is commonly used by speakers in contests and on lecture circuits. Extemporaneous delivery, the speaker uses a carefully prepared and researched speech but delivers it form notes, with a high degree of spontaneity. Extemporaneous delivery is situated somewhere between memorized or manuscript delivery and impromptu delivery. Extemporaneous delivery also allows audience members to become more involved in listening to the message. Vocal aspects of delivery, many beginning speakers overlook the important role voice plays in delivery. As you speak, your voice should be pleasant to listen to, relate easily and clearly to your thoughts and express a range of emotions. Three aspects of voice that determine the effectiveness of delivery are vocal quality, intelligibility and vocal variety. Vocal quality, voices may be harsh, nasal, thin, mellow, resonant or full bodied. Attitude can affect the quality of the voice and reveal to listeners whether the speaker is happy, confident, angry, fearful or sad. Vocal quality is a highly accurate indicator of the presenter sincerity. Also, listeners tend to believe that speakers whose vocal delivery is interesting and easy to listen to are more credible speakers and will probably be more willing to listen speakers who use their

voices effectively. Intelligibility, the degree to which an audience can hear and understand words, is determined by vocal volume; distinctiveness of sound; accuracy of pronunciation; articulation; and stress placed on syllables, words and phrases. Vocal variety, the combination of rate, force, and pitch variations that add to a speaker’s overall vocal quality is called vocal variety. Your voice allows listeners to perceive subtle differences in the intent of your messages by altering rate, force, and pitch, promoting a genuine understanding between you and your audience. Rate, is the speed at which a speaker speaks- usually between 120 and 175 words per minute. Speaking at the appropriate rate requires self-awareness. We must learn to control and breathing deeply before we begin speaking and by purposely using pauses to help us slow down and concentrate on the message. Force, is the intensity and volume of the voice. You must choose a volume level that is comfortable for your audience. By learning how to use force, you can greatly increase your effectiveness as a speaker. Pitch, refers to how low or high the voice is on a tone scale. Variety in pitch contribute to greater conversationalist and thus makes it easy for the listener to maintain interest in and attention to the speaker and message. Physical aspects, we discussed nonverbal communication in depth. You are encouraged to review the information about nonverbal communication will aid you in your speaking performances. Among the physical factors that can affect delivery are personal appearance, body movement, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact. Each of these must be well coordinated and relevant to the purpose of your speech. Personal appearance, research in nonverbal and relational communication suggest that personal appearance plays a role in communication. Appearance can have an impact on a speaker’s self-image and thus affect how the speaker communicates with others. Body

movement, is closely related to personal appearance. It includes posture, which should be relaxed and natural.; avoid slouching. Because an audience’s attention instinctively follows moving objects, your motions should be easy and purposeful. Gestures, you can use gestures- movements of the head, arms, and hands to help illustrate, emphasize, or clarify a point. Gestures should be spontaneous, not forced. Summary, competent communicators are prepared, knowledgeable, confident speakers who are ethical. Ethical speakers always provide oral footnotes within the speech, and they provide fair and accurate information. Speakers who suffer from too much anxiety will have trouble giving speeches and keeping the audience’s attention. The best way to overcome your anxiety is to understand it, manage it, and be so well prepared that you are ready to share your ideas and know you will do well. Students from other cultures and co-cultures have additional anxiety because of cultural or language concerns. If you are seriously anxious about communicating with others, you might have communication apprehension and will need special strategies to help you manage your fears. Most communication professors say that an extemporaneous delivery is best. This means you are fully prepared but present your speech in a conversational manner, using note cards to help you stay organized and on track. Vocal and physical delivery should enhance your message. Although a speech is a formal presentation, you should not be rigid or mechanical, either vocally or physically. Instead, you should look and sound as if you really want to share your ideas with your listeners and you care about what they think.

G. Informative speaking

We live in an information-oriented society where the ability to present and receive information is vital. Now, as in the past, the people who possess information and communicate it effectively are the ones who possess power and command respect. Informative speeches are one of the most common we’re asked or requires to present. The goal of an informative speech is to increase understanding while the goal of persuasive speaking is to change attitudes or behaviors. Information can be presented without attempting to persuade, but persuasion cannot be attempted without information. Topics for informative speeches are almost limitless. You should choose something that interests you, that you already have some knowledge about, and that you can find additional information on through your research. Your topic should also be of interest and potentially useful for your listeners. Your specific purpose and the type of topic you choose will determine how you present the speech. To increase your listener’s knowledge of the topic, you must gain their attention, motivate them to listen, and increase their understanding of the topic. The more meaningful the topic and the perspective, the more listeners pay attention to the speaker’s message. Listeners want novel ideas and want to now “what’s in for me?” the audience will listen if you give them reason to listen. Language choice and organization are both critical to audience understanding. The speaker must carefully plan the presentation. Language choice is very important in getting your message across and in helping listeners remember. Think about the ways your professor present information. Some of them are more interesting than others. What do the ones you label as “interesting” do that others do not? The sample evaluation criteria should make you aware of the characteristics of an effective informative speech and speaker. Competent communicators analyze their listeners so they know their choices will work. They find ample sources from

a variety of references, and they work to show their listeners the importance of the topic.