1. Practice 1

2. Formulate the main argument (topic) of your speech and its title.

Some helpful hints are presented in the table:

Audience	My fellow-students
Subject	Sport
Objectives	To inform, to debate ideas, to entertain
Time	5 minutes
Title	Children in sport
The main thesis (residual message)	Professional sport may be stressful

1. Complete the details about the presentation you are planning.

Audience
Subject
Objectives
Time
Title
The main thesis (residual message)

3. Practice 2

Identify the possible objectives of the following public presentations:

1. A lecture;

2. A pre-election speech given by a politician;

3. An after dinner speech;

4. Giving awards at a public ceremony:

5. A sermon;

6. A stand-up comedy presentation;

7. Business presentation;

8. Reading a paper at a conference.

Practice 3

Read the extract. Explain how the size of audience influences speaker-audience interaction.

It is useful to distinguish three audience sizes, each one of which demands a subtly different response from the speaker.

1.Room: an audience of fewer than 10 people. This is the most intimate setting you will speak in. Every member of your audience will be individually visible. You will probably be closer to them than you would be in a grander setting, and any reaction the audience betrays will be immediately obvious. Formality in this setting is going to seem strained and peculiar.

2. Hall: holding somewhere between 10 and 100 people. This is the most common type of address. As soon as the audience gets over 10 people, and certainly when it begins to climb close to 100, individual contact with each member will prove to be impossible. The audience, in a strange way, starts to become a single audience, rather than a group of identifiable individuals (which you should try to remember they remain).

3. Auditorium: over 100 people, all the way up to playing Madison Square Garden. This is the highest level of formality. The sort of performance required to play a larger venue in an exaggerated and heightened version of what is required in smaller settings. When you have a large audience there is a possibility of contagion. A good story can gain a laugh which can ring around a venue.

Philip Collins. The Art of Speeches and Presentations. - Wiley, 2012. - pp. 35-36

Practice 4

Consider the comments by various experts on effective public speaking presented below. Which aspects of public speaking are discussed in the extracts? Formulate the main thesis of each extract.

If there is one skill, above all others, that will help you stand out in the world of international business, it is the skill of presenting. And the further you progress in your career, the more likely it is that you will be called upon to present. In the age of technology and social networking it's easy to lose sight of this. But you'll never have more impact than when you stand up to speak in public. In professional life, competent presentations are expected. But great presentations are rare and always remembered.

Mark Powell. Dynamic Presentations. - Cambridge University Press, 2011. - p.4

How should we judge a speech? By its effect on the audience. They are the only judges. Public speaking is a uniquely “democratic” form of expression. A play or a poem or a painting can be great even if it attracts few, repulses many and bores many people. A speech that provokes confusion, repulsion or boredom in the audience, however, must be judged a failure.

A great speech will influence the audience in the manner that you want. If speaking at a protest rally, you might want to inspire your audience. If speaking in a debate, you might want to persuade your audience. If speaking at a wedding, you might want to entertain your audience. Great speaking is goal-oriented.

Dominic Hughes, Benedict Phillips. The Oxford Union Guide to Speaking in Public.- Virgin Publishing, 2004. - p.3

So you've been asked to give a speech. Do you race to the library to do some research? Do you hunt for some introductory jokes? Do you pull together some statistics. Not if you are smart.

Begin, instead, by asking yourself, “What do I really want to say?”And then be ruthless in your answer. You have to focus your subject. You can't include everything in one speech.

Let me repeat that so it sinks in:

You can't include everything in one speech. In fact, if you try to include everything, your audience will probably come away with nothing, Decide what you really want to say, and throw in any other material.

Joan Detz. How to Write and Give a Speech. - St. Martin's Grffin,1992. - p.3

Practice 5

Study the list of points to check as you prepare your presentation. What other points would you like to add?

Analysis of the audience:

- Number of people you'll be speaking to?

- General age of most of the listeners?

- Will there be all men? All women? Mixed audience?

- Found out their educational level and cultural status?

- Identified their occupation?

- Considered what they already know?

- Considered their attitude to your speech subject?

- Considered their attitude toward you as the speaker?

Analysis of the occasion:

- What's the purpose of the meeting?

- Where will the meeting be held?

- What facilities will there be for you?

- When will you give your talk?

- What else is on the program?

- What's after your speech?

Analysis of yourself as the speaker:

- Are you interested in the subject?

- Do you have enough knowledge about the subject of your talk?

- Will the audience accept you as a competent speaker?

- Do you have enough time to prepare?