Public Speaking Elements

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Please allow some of my notes to guide you. It is a pleasure to work with you again:

Although there are many important aspects associated with effective public speaking, I created an acronym: PAP to represent the most vital aspects for my personal speech style. PAP stands for Preparation, Audience Analysis, Purpose, and Pacing.

First, preparation is one of the most vital parts of public speaking. A speaker cannot just "wing it" and improvise. Effective speeches involve careful planning or preparation. Research maintains that "all it takes is practice. Even they had to start somewhere. The more speeches you give, the more confident you become" (http://members.aol.com/cajctrainer/speaking.htm). By conducting careful research about a topic, a speaker is more prepared in order to face the audience and deliver the speech.

Besides preparation, please note that audience analysis is another important element. It is important to remember "that we are speaking to an audience and not just to ourselves. Whether the goal is to entertain, to inform, or to persuade, we should try to reach our listeners and tailor the speech to them" (faculty.baruch.cuny.edu/shannah/blsci2/publicspeaking.pdf).

In other words, audience analysis is extremely important to make speeches effective and memorable. Research specifies that speakers must "engage the audience in a dialogue in which the audience members interact mentally with your ideas. For this purpose, choose a topic, examples, and language appropriate to your listeners" (faculty.baruch.cuny.edu/shannah/blsci2/publicspeaking.pdf).

In order to know an audience, it is important to assess various factors such as age, educational background, family or marital status, political beliefs, culture, race, interests, dislikes, etc. "If your audience is predetermined, however, you may want to gather information through surveys or other research and tailor your speech to the exact needs ...