Preparing for public speaking

Different types of public speeches

In the course of a person’s career, one often has to make all kinds of speeches in public: presenting a new technology to fellow students or persuading your
co-workers to change their office habits. You may have to prepare a sales, technical or financial presentation at work. Your career may demand that you conduct briefings or virtual presentations (via phone, video or web). And, last but not least, you may be required to speak to a group of foreigners at a conference. No matter what the subject matter of the speech might be, a good speaker needs to have integrity, knowledge of the subject and skill in presenting it (DLI, 1996).

When preparing any speech, you need to take into account:

• the audience and time limit allowed
• purpose of the speech
• method of speaking you want to use
• selecting and limiting the topic
• ways of collecting material and researching the topic
• writing the outline and notes for delivery
• preparing visual aids
• rehearsing the speech.