Chap. 2Delivering Your Message

March 15th, 2010Yi-chen Chen

Delivering Your Message

• Most people are frequently more influenced by what they see than what they hear.

• Speaker’s credibility (UCLA study):7% actual words 93% vocal qualities & visual characteristics

• Example: Presidential debates btwJ. F. Kennedy & R. Nixon (1960)

Nonverbal characteristics include…

• Posture• Eye contact• Facial expressions• Gestures• Appearance• Intonation• Manner• Visual aids

Posture Talks!

• 5 ways for speaker: • Keep your spine straight and rotate your shoulders

back.• Keep your head erect.• Keep your hands at your sides with your fingers open

or slightly curled.• Keep both feet flat on the floor and slightly apart.• If you are using a lectern, be careful not to bend over it

or lean on it. Stand naturally erect and gently rest your hands on the sides of the lectern.

• 3 ways for listeners:• Sit straight while leaning forward slightly to

show interest in the speaker.• Rest your hands lightly in your lap or on the

arms of your chair,• Keep your legs together with your feet flat on

the floor or crossed at the ankles.

Look Them in the Eye

• Good eye contact can:• Show you are open and honest. • Encourage listeners to pay attention, to respond, and to

respect you.• Indicate that you have confidence in yourself and what

you are saying.• Allow you to read your listener’s faces, or to see their

body languages to get feedback on how they like your speech.

• Don’t stare!! Shift your focus to and from a person’s eyes.Practice

Nonverbal Cues

• Facial expressions• Gestures• Body Movement• Appearance

Facial Expressions

• Smile: to establish rapport with your audience and to help put both you and your audience at ease.

• “Politician-type” smile• Small, natural smile

Movement

• Hair: tie it back during your presentation so you won’t tempted to play with it or to fling it away from your face.

• Hands: don’t hide your hands in your pockets and jingle your keys. Keep them at your sides.

• Stance: don’t stand frozen. Take a few steps to your right or left while speaking.

Gestures

• Hand and arm movements.• Examples: – Size: show the width or height of an object by

using hands.– Strength: punch the air with your fist to show your

enthusiasm. – Meaning: wave hand in greeting (symbolic action).– Location: point your finger to show a specific

location.

Appearance

• Neat!! Do not distract the audience in any way.• Fit the occasion: suit or dress, never jeans and a T-

shirt.• Avoid wearing jewelry that you can play with

unconsciously• Avoid wearing caps or other accessories that might

draw attention from the speech.

Practice (p.30, 31)

Are You Asking Me or Telling Me?

• Declarative sentence / Interrogated sentence• Upward (rising) intonation: a question (doubtful)• Downward (falling) intonation: a statement (certain)– Wh-word questions:– Yes/No questions:– Statements: – Tag question: 'chat' - ; 'check' -– Lists:

falling

fallingrising

rising, rising, rising, …, fallingfalling rising

Practice (p.40)

Discard Disclaimers & Apologies

• Disclaimers• Apology• “I am sorry I don’t have more time to

prepare.”• “I am not an expert on this topic.”

Silence is Golden

• “you know?” “you know what I mean?” “Um!” “Er!” “Hum…” vocal fillers.

• The speaker is uneasy and nervous.The audience may distract from the talk.

• Use deliberate silence well!! • The speaker can think about what to say next and

recollect ideas if he temporarily forget.• The audience have time to consider what you’ve

just said.

Prepare & Get Ready!

Practice makes perfect!

• Tape record yourself and listen to your speaking.

• Audio record yourself and observe your nonverbal ques.

• Standing in front of the mirror and talk to yourself.

Exercise

• Year 2008, American Vice Presidential debates btw Palin & Biden.

• Try to analyze their ways of talking. What nonverbal characteristics do they perform?