Good Presentation or Public Speaking

Good Presentation or Public Speaking

Tools for Public Speaking
Learning to be a good public speaker is something that will be useful throughout a 4-H member's lifetime. Good public speakers are made, not born. The necessary skills associated with being a good public speaker have always been an important part of the 4-H experience and 4-H clubs are encouraged to foster a positive, learning-oriented environment for youth regarding this subject.
1.What Are the Benefits of Good Public Speaking Skills?
The degree of a 4-H member's public speaking skills is directly related to his or her leadership and social ability. Members who feel comfortable speaking in front of others have a greater sense of self-confidence, a feeling of respect for themselves and others, and generally have a solid feeling of accomplishment. Good public speakers are more apt to do well in a job interview or a presentation to colleagues at work.
2.How Do We Get Started?
The most important aspect of getting 4-H members interested in public speaking is making sure they are aware of their current strengths and weaknesses in the area of public speaking.
Step 1: Decide what is needed
Have the members answer a few simple questions to determine their current public speaking ability:
a.) What scares me the most about the thought of speaking in public?b.) What situations are easier for me to talk about in front of others and what situations make it more difficult? (For example, it may be easy to tell friends about your vacation, but difficult to question a teacher in front of your classmates about a bad grade you received.)c.) What goals in public speaking would I like to set for myself this year in 4-H, in five years, and/or as an adult?
Step 2: Decide what should be done
If a member is going to give a talk, one of the first decisions needs to be what to talk about. Here are questions to ask yourself as you are selecting the subject for your talk:
What topics am I interested in?
Is it interesting or useful to others?
Does it have one main idea?
Can I find enough information?
Can I cover the topic in the length of time that will be available for my presentation?
The member should then consider whether the purpose of the talk will be to inform, persuade, instruct, entertain, or inspire his or her audience on the topic that is chosen.
Choosing your audience is almost as important as choosing your topic when you are doing public speaking. In order to "choose" your audience, here are some of the questions you should ask:
Who do you want to talk to?
Where would you like to give your presentation? (Outdoors, in someone's house, at a banquet hall?)
Who would find your topic interesting?
What do you want to accomplish with the audience?
Step 3: Have the club members list what they would like to do
Once the member has a list of possible topics and audiences, he/she can start to prioritize them. An easy way to do this is to have the member list all of the ideas on a sheet of paper and rank them according to how interested he/she is regarding each idea. One would indicate the greatest interest, and five the least amount of interest. From this, the member can pick his or her top priority topic and audience.
Step 4: Decide what will be done
Now that the member has narrowed down his broad list of topics and audiences, he/she needs to decide what can be done to make it happen. Who does the member need to contact to make sure he/she can speak to a particular audience? What reference items will the member need to consult before outlining his/her talking points? It is important that the member be encouraged to outline a plan of action to make sure that giving a public talk will really happen.
After the member has outlined a plan of action, proceed by learning as much as possible about the topic of the speech. Information should be gathered from several sources, including the local library, the Extension Office, a 4-H project book, or by talking to an authority on the subject. For example, if you're speaking on fire safety, a local fire department would have information on the number of fires in the community. This information would encourage the audience to follow the fire prevention tips in the talk.
Next, it is important that the member actually outline what he/she plans to say. Detailed notes are not necessary but an opening, three main points, and a closing are three essential things that should be listed on a piece of paper.
Lastly, the member should make plans with a group or organization to give the speech. Make sure to note the date, time, place, and length of the speech. Also, ask about the audience. How many people will be there, what does this group like, dislike, etc. In most cases, the 4-H club itself would be a good group to listen to a short speech.
Step 5: Processing
After a talk is over, good speakers evaluate their presentation. An important step in the learning process is having the member take the time to evaluate himself/herself on the how well he/she feels he/she did. This is called processing. The member who gave the presentation may want to give the audience an opportunity to share what they gained individually from the talk. This can be actual knowledge gained or simply what they liked most about the presentation. Another means of assisting members who try public speaking may be to have them tape record their presentation and then listen to it themselves at a later time.
3.Public Speaking Opportunities
The best public speaking opportunities for youth are centered around a personal interest shared with the other members in the club. There are, however, several other public speaking opportunities that are offered at the county and state level.
4. Basic public speaking opportunities in 4-H:
Assuming the role of an officer
Giving a committee report at a meeting
Leading and teaching recreation
Leading pledges
Advanced public speaking opportunities in 4-H:
Camp counseling
CarTeens
Style revue commentator
Announcing a show at county fair
4-H Ambassador/Promotion roles
Peer mediation
Demonstration or illustrated talk
Health and Safety talk or skit
Speaking to civic groups about 4-H
Emceeing a program
Participating in radio/television interviews
Teaching a 4-H workshop or clinic
There are many more opportunities available in local communities. Members should be encouraged to try as many as possible.

Presentation Tips for Public Speaking
Know the needs of your audience and match your contents to their needs. Know your material thoroughly. Put what you have to say in a logical sequence. Ensure your speech will be captivating to your audience as well as worth their time and attention. Practice and rehearse your speech at home or where you can be at ease and comfortable, in front of a mirror, your family, friends or colleagues. Use a tape-recorder and listen to yourself. Videotape your presentation and analyze it. Know what your strong and weak points are. Emphasize your strong points during your presentation.
When you are presenting in front of an audience, you are performing as an actor is on stage. How you are being perceived is very important. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Be solemn if your topic is serious. Present the desired image to your audience. Look pleasant, enthusiastic, confident, proud, but not arrogant. Remain calm. Appear relaxed, even if you feel nervous. Speak slowly, enunciate clearly, and show appropriate emotion and feeling relating to your topic. Establish rapport with your audience. Speak to the person farthest away from you to ensure your voice is loud enough to project to the back of the room. Vary the tone of your voice and dramatize if necessary. If a microphone is available, adjust and adapt your voice accordingly.
1.Body language
Body language is important. Standing, walking or moving about with appropriate hand gesture or facial expression is preferred to sitting down or standing still with head down and reading from a prepared speech. Use audio-visual aids or props for enhancement if appropriate and necessary. Master the use of presentation software such as PowerPoint well before your presentation. Do not over-dazzle your audience with excessive use of animation, sound clips, or gaudy colors which are inappropriate for your topic. Do not torture your audience by putting a lengthy document in tiny print on an overhead and reading it out to them.
2. Speak with conviction
Speak with conviction as if you really believe in what you are saying. Persuade your audience effectively. The material you present orally should have the same ingredients as that which are required for a written research paper, i.e. a logical progression from INTRODUCTION (Thesis statement) to BODY (strong supporting arguments, accurate and up-to-date information) to CONCLUSION (re-state thesis, summary, and logical conclusion).
3. Do not read from notes
Do not read from notes for any extended length of time although it is quite acceptable to glance at your notes infrequently. Speak loudly and clearly. Sound confident. Do not mumble. If you made an error, correct it, and continue. No need to make excuses or apologize profusely.
4. Maintain sincere eye contact
Maintain sincere eye contact with your audience. Use the 3-second method, e.g. look straight into the eyes of a person in the audience for 3 seconds at a time. Have direct eye contact with a number of people in the audience, and every now and then glance at the whole audience while speaking. Use your eye contact to make everyone in your audience feel involved.
Speak to your audience, listen to their questions, respond to their reactions, adjust and adapt. If what you have prepared is obviously not getting across to your audience, change your strategy mid-stream if you are well prepared to do so. Remember that communication is the key to a successful presentation. If you are short of time, know what can be safely left out. If you have extra time, know what could be effectively added. Always be prepared for the unexpected.
Pause. Allow yourself and your audience a little time to reflect and think. Don't race through your presentation and leave your audience, as well as yourself, feeling out of breath.
Add humor whenever appropriate and possible. Keep audience interested throughout your entire presentation. Remember that an interesting speech makes time fly, but a boring speech is always too long to endure even if the presentation time is the same.
When using audio-visual aids to enhance your presentation, be sure all necessary equipment is set up and in good working order prior to the presentation. If possible, have an emergency backup system readily available. Check out the location ahead of time to ensure seating arrangements for audience, whiteboard, blackboard, lighting, location of projection screen, sound system, etc. are suitable for your presentation.
Have handouts ready and give them out at the appropriate time. Tell audience ahead of time that you will be giving out an outline of your presentation so that they will not waste time taking unnecessary notes during your presentation.
Know when to STOP talking. Use a timer or the microwave oven clock to time your presentation when preparing it at home. Just as you don't use unnecessary words in your written paper, you don't bore your audience with repetitious or unnecessary words in your oral presentation. To end your presentation, summarize your main points in the same way as you normally do in the CONCLUSION of a written paper. Remember, however, that there is a difference between spoken words appropriate for the ear and formally written words intended for reading. Terminate your presentation with an interesting remark or an appropriate punch line. Leave your listeners with a positive impression and a sense of completion. Do not belabor your closing remarks. Thank your audience and sit down.
Have the written portion of your assignment or report ready for your instructor if required.
References

http://ohioline.osu.edu/4h-fact/0017.html

http://www.aresearchguide.com/3tips.html

http://www.stks.or.th/blog/?tag

http://blog.eduzones.com/offy/3870

http://www.pushthekey.com/2009/01/09/good-public-
speaking-principles/