Page 76 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Chapter 2 Your First Speech 43

room or shifting your eyes randomly. Rather, look at one member of your audi-
ence, then shift your gaze to another member, and so on. Be alert for audience
responses to what you are saying. Are they restless, interested, puzzled? Such
feedback can help you adapt to the audience as you speak.

Use Your Body Effectively

Your body is the third tool you use to communicate your message. Your body
communicates to your audience through posture, movement, gestures, and dress.

Posture
How do you want to stand during your speech? Some speakers are comfortable
behind a lectern, whereas others prefer to move away from it or dispense with
it entirely. Choosing not to use a lectern can be an effective way of lessening
the physical and psychological distance between yourself and the audience. If
your preference is to use a lectern, do not use it as a crutch or bass drum. Avoid
leaning on or clutching the stand, as well as beating on it with your open palm.
Instead, fi nd a comfortable, erect posture and stand slightly behind the lectern.
Keep in mind that to breathe effectively you need to have good body posture.

Movement

Movement should be spontaneous and meaningful. Though good speakers avoid
pacing and random movements, it is perfectly appropriate—in fact, desirable—to
move to emphasize an important idea or a transition between points. There is

no reason a speaker’s feet have to be nailed to the floor. Use your body to com-
municate your message whenever possible.

Gestures

It is common in everyday conversation to gesture with your hands. In fact, try
this experiment: Give someone directions from your school to your home with-
out moving your hands. You will fi nd it virtually impossible. The key to effective
use of gestures in a public speech is that they should be appropriate to the point
you are making and clearly visible to your audience. The larger the room, the
larger the gesture needs to be for your audience to see it. On the other hand, too
many gestures, especially if they appear to be the result of nervousness, such
as fi d geting, can be distracting to an audience. Finally, your ges tures should be
natural extensions of what you do in every day conversation. They should never
be or appear to be forced or rehearsed.

Dress
Your dress as a speaker should be appropriate to the situation and the audience. A
good rule of thumb is business casual in a classroom. As you can see in the photos
on page 44, business casual is a step above what you normally might wear to
class, but a step below more formal dress. People make instant judgments about
other people and, as one shampoo ad proclaims, “You never get a second chance