Page 344 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Chapter 11 Delivery: Engaging Your Audience 311

ing tone of voice, and by standing beside the lectern instead of appearing to hide
behind it.

Exciting the Audience

One way to gauge the effectiveness of a speech is by the degree to which it
stimulates the audience. The best speakers make listeners think, provoke them
to laugh, or motivate them to act. Generally, an audience’s degree of excite-
ment can be traced to the degree of excitement the audience senses in the
speaker.
The level of excitement of public speakers is most noticeable in their delivery.
This includes rate of speech, volume of speech, and vocal as well as facial ex-
pressions. Excited speakers, the research tells us, speak faster and louder than
speakers unaroused by their topic or by the transaction between them and their
audience. Excited speakers, the research also tells us, reveal more of themselves
as they speak, through changes in facial expressions as well as changes in the
pitch of their voice.
Does this mean that someone who simply is excited also is a good speaker?
Of course not. Too much excitement can be as distracting as too little excitement
can be boring. The idea, then, is to moderate your excitement for your topic or
audience rather than to inappropriately exaggerate it with your delivery.

Delivering a Powerful Speech

When it comes to public speaking, the power of words depends mightily on the
manner in which they are delivered. No doubt many speech writers have suf-
fered as the power of the words they so carefully crafted was wiped out by the
person delivering them. This shouldn’t and needn’t be the case. With care and
practice, you can capitalize on the varying dimensions of nonverbal behavior to
make the delivery of your speech powerful. Some of the ways you can do this
are obvious; others are more subtle.
Posture is an obvious way you can control the power of delivery. Standing tall
and self-assured, in and of itself, communicates power. When combined with
movement away from the lectern, this is even more the case.
You can also enhance the power of your delivery with your eyes, with your
voice, and through movement and gestures. In North America, at least, power-
ful speakers make eye contact, speak in a controlled and confi dent tone of voice,
reduce the distance between themselves and their audience by moving closer to
them, and gesture as a natural extension of their spoken message. In stark con-
trast, speakers whose delivery lacks power avoid eye contact, fail to speak up,
and usually try to tie up their hands by sticking them in their pockets, gripping
the side of the lectern, or hiding them behind their back.

Taking a Proactive Approach proactive delivery
Taking the initiative, an-
ticipating, and controlling
Knowing something about the nature and functions of nonverbal behavior
variables that will affect
should assist you in making your speech delivery proactive rather than reactive. speech delivery.
To engage in proactive delivery means that the speaker takes the initiative