Slide 1 : Copyright @ 2011 IILM Institute of Higher Learning. All rights Reserved. Business Communication DEVELOPING PERSUASIVE SPEECH
INTRODUCTION : INTRODUCTION Besides flow of information, speaking involves persuading others to a common goal as that is the ‘core purpose’ of communication. Sales persons persuade potential buyers to partake their products and services. Potential employees try to sell their skill sets and competence to future employers. Managers and leaders motivate their employees to reorient their mindsets leading to change in their attitude to the work and to the firm, resulting in higher performance and rewards.
When speakers try to persuade, motivate and guide listeners to a goal, the speeches are persuasive. All speakers must learn the importance of:
How they physically present themselves?
How they say things?
What things they say?
Slide 3 : Since managers / leaders have to be good speakers, it will be very beneficial to them if they learn and master the following important elements for becoming effective, persuasive speakers:
(1) Demonstrated skills in public speaking and attentive listening and ability to articulate and use body language to the best effect
(2) Understanding of elements of persuasion
(3) Identification of elements of personal credibility
(4) Ability to analyze other speakers’ speeches
(5) Confidence to outline the main ideas and thoughts on a subject
(6) Creating and crafting persuasive speeches
STRATEGIES FOR PERSAUSIVE SPEECHES : STRATEGIES FOR PERSAUSIVE SPEECHES Everyone seems to be talking to every other person. It is human nature to be communicating, negotiating and marketing all the time with the aim of persuading others to own point of view. The sole purpose is to change the mind or way of thinking about a topic. Budding managers / leaders must become aware of the role of different elements that go to make a person an effective, persuasive speaker:
Articulation :Everyone should have a basic appreciation how the speech mechanism works in humans. He should be able to adjust the faculty of speech to suit the occasion.
Pronunciation:The speaker should be able to pronounce each word clearly and avoid slang to make a point. He should not slur the words and avoid speaking filler phrases like ‘I think’ or ‘you know’ etc.
(3) ToneOne should avoid speaking in one tone, without varying it, as it will make the speech very monotonous and dull. One should modulate one’s voice to make it sound interesting.
Slide 5 : Pitch: One should vary the wavelength and frequency of the voice. A good speaker keeps the listeners on their toes by continually changing tone and pitch of voice. This precludes speeches becoming boring.
(5) Speed of delivery:An effective speaker has a control on his pace of delivery. A speed of 150 to 200 words per minute is normal. A faster delivery may appear insincere and a lower pace may sound like ‘lecturing’!
It is possible to count words spoken per minute by tape-recording the speech. A human brain can easily hear up to 400 words per minute. If speaker is slow, listeners’ mind may wander away.
Pauses:Pause in speech is a critical tool. When speakers want to highlight any word, a pause just before that word would ensure that. If they want to emphasize the importance of a word, a pause just before and after the word would do it effectively.
(7) Body language:The powerful language of gestures, sounds and expressions never tells a lie and does not mislead those who have a deep knowledge of it. A proper posture is very important – saggy shoulders and cross-legged sitting postures will not appear to be honest.
Slide 6 : Volume:If one is screaming throughout one’s speech, it may sound jarring and monotonous. On the other hand, a few well-meaning shouts so as to throw your voice to the last row, may energize a speech and electrify the situation. It can be an effective tool for persuasion but should be used very carefully.
Quality of voice:Quality of voice can be measured by the impact it has on the audience. Every one must try to keep the vocal quality high because it is what distinguishes one speaker from another!
(10) Variety in speaking :A seasoned speaker keeps varying the voice of delivery – tone, pitch, speed and volume, to make it sound interesting. Change should be brought in every 30 seconds or after every paragraph!
Variety in speech delivery keeps the listeners locked in to it as it sounds interesting. The speaker should let the words speak for themselves as listeners reflect on them through his voice.
INVOLVEMENT FOR EFFECTIVE PERSUASIVE SPEECH : INVOLVEMENT FOR EFFECTIVE PERSUASIVE SPEECH The main purpose of speech is to influence the behaviour of listeners to a common aim. A few important strategies are:
Be the change you want to see in others:A person must sell himself before he can sell his message. If audience feels that the speaker is not reasonable, there is a remote chance of his being able to convince them. The speaker must be committed to the goals of the speech himself. Avoid use of words like ‘may be’ or ‘might’. Replace them by using positive and action words like ‘will’ and ‘must’.
Speaker is usually the ‘power figure’ in a speech – he should have enough material to support his claims. Audience can usually spot the pretender or the person who is faking or winging the speech. He should be honest and truthful. He should be able to show emotions that add to the credibility of the speech. His words must match with his gestures, sounds, expressions and postures because body language does not lie.
(2) Speaker must exercise self-control:One cannot let the words gush out of one’s mouth to deliver the message. One has to use one’s total self and reveal one’s personality to deliver the message. Once the speaker shows a bit of his personality to the group, it becomes very supportive of the message!
Slide 8 : (3) Reaction of the audience as a group :In order to measure the effectiveness of a persuasive speech, speakers must collect the reaction of the listeners as a group. It has two aspects:
(i) Delivery of speech:Listeners often pose a question to themselves – whether there was a gap between what is said and the body language or were they in agreement with each other?
(ii) Listeners find if speaker is faking:To avoid being assessed negatively, speakers, instead, find out what changes can be brought about in the speech to make it more convincing and persuasive.
ACTIVITY
Students must stop to ponder over the merits of a good persuasive speech. They should be formed in to teams of no more that 2 or 3 members who should be asked to prepare a speech that should last for at least five minutes on some of the compelling topics from India’s socio-economic problems. A few suggestions for topics to be assigned to team members are:
Critical importance of women education in India
India is not an underdeveloped country; it is an under-managed country.
Importance of cleanliness and hygiene in everyday life
POWERPOINT PRESENTATION SKILLS : POWERPOINT PRESENTATION SKILLS Power-point’ software, created by Microsoft, is a very useful tool and is being used extensively as an essential aid to oral presentation. ‘Power-point’ can be used in conjunction with Over Head Projector (OHP) or Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) or as a vehicle for multi-media presentation.
Multi-media presentation is becoming popular very fast. It uses a compact disc that contains the entire subject in suitably prepared MS ‘Power-point’ slides.A few important guiding principles are:
Know the subject material:Speakers must have authentic material on the subject of their presentation. Ideally, it should be audience-tested and modified taking in to account the feedback. To the audience, they are the experts.
Know the audience:To customize the presentation for the audience, speakers must know them and their learning objectives. Speakers need to check out if the material available is adequate for meeting the learning objectives.
(3) Understand time constraints of presentation:Presentations are made in the limited time frame available. The challenge before the speakers is to complete the presentation within the time slot available and still make it very effective.
Slide 10 : (4) Keep presentation simple :Three important rules are:
Use as few words as possible
Assume your audience can read
Don’t let words run-off the page
Many a times, speakers read all the words and lines in the presentation – it is almost ‘insulting’ to the audience! This can be achieved better when speakers use ‘speaker notes’ and audience does not have to go through the entire matter on the screen.
(5) Use speaker notes
For each power-point slide, speakers must create own dialogue. It is a detailed script of what they are going to say when the slide is projected on the screen. The entire presentation is prepared and printed before making the presentation. Once it is ready, it becomes easier for the speakers as they can make the presentation by working from the speaker notes.
SKILLS FOR CREATING THE POWER-POINT PRESENTATION : SKILLS FOR CREATING THE POWER-POINT PRESENTATION The objective of creating power-point presentation is to ensure and achieve a uniform standard of presentation. The look of the slides should also be consistent and of uniform standard. It involves the followings:
(1) Using slide master:The users should be familiar with the facility of ‘Slide Master’ in the Power-point software. It is much like the sliding scales used on a drawing board as it helps to get X-coordinates and Y-coordinates correctly. Besides, it can draw many types and sizes of boxes for writing in properly aligned and sized matter.
(2) Editing master title and styleBefore preparing slides, they must choose the title and the text styles. These can be defined for various levels as a number of levels, as below, are available:
First level BIG
Second level NOT SO BIG
Third Level SMALL
Fourth level SMALLER
Fifth level SMALLEST
Usually three or four levels are adequate for a speaker.
Once the size and style of ‘font’ is chosen, speakers should stick to it for all the slides on a subject matter.
Font size and style are very important for preparing good slides in this software.
Slide 12 : Using graphics, tables and charts :Graphics, table and charts are relatively new facilities but are being used increasingly in power-point presentation. These can enhance the quality of presentation if following ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’ are observed:
Do’s:
Ensure that graphics etc relate to the topic
Make graphics etc secondary to the material
Place graphics etc properly in the text
(ii) Don’ts
Don’t use animations
No background ‘colours’ or ‘fills’ should be used
Don’t let graphics etc overwhelm the presentation
Slide 13 : (4) Watching grammar and punctuations:The software has many features that help to achieve good quality slides:
Use online dictionary
Use software for ‘spell check’ with some reservations as most software check for American spellings whereas we, in India, follow British spellings.
Use writing style guide or sentence construction software – it is a good help.
Use thesaurus for selecting the correct synonyms
Use the power of punctuations to embellish your language
(5) Using guides and rulers :These two facilities in Power-point software need to be learnt and used properly.
(i) Guides
Setting up guides is easy – they help in aligning text and graphics
Guides make presentation seamless
(ii) Rulers:Rulers allow accurate measurement of spaces, boxes etc
SKILLS FOR INTERACTING WITH AUDIENCE : SKILLS FOR INTERACTING WITH AUDIENCE Speakers should not only use slides prudently by pointing out the salient aspects of topic under discussion but also interact with the audience and maintain a reasonable eye contact with the listeners. It ensures that audience interest is kept at a higher level.
To enhance the effectiveness of the Power-point presentation, speakers must:
Get comfortable with the subject
Run through the slides at a reasonable pace
Read ‘speaker notes’ while rehearsing
Learn to ‘time’ the presentation especially the impact points.
If the above guidelines are followed, there is no doubt that, with practice, speakers gain confidence, poise and power. Acquiring the skills to influence others to work to own point of view or to achieve the common goals of the team, department or the firm, can be very fascinating and satisfying.
Thus, Power-point software is a powerful tool in the hands of modern, global managers and leaders.
Slide 15 : Acknowledgments We wish to acknowledge the people who actively contributed to the writing and delivery of the learning material
Author
Prof. Manohar L. Gulati
Presenter
M.Sadiqur Rahman, Fullbright Scholar, Lecturer, Employability Skills & Business Communication
A special thanks to the technical support team who were instrumental in the design and implementation of this presentation.
Slide 16 : Contact Details For further information, please contact:
IILM Institute for Higher Education
3, Lodhi Institutional Area,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi- 110003
Email: learning@iilm.edu
Web : www.iilm.edu
THANK YOU : THANK YOU