The 10 Commandments of Public

Speaking

How to take your speeches from good to better

Copyright ©Sally Shalabi 2011. This work is made available under the

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The 10 Commandments

1. Thou shall prepare and practice

2. Thou shall be organized

3. Thou shall control nervousness

4. Thou shall open strongly

5. Thou shall use vocal variety

6. Thou shall use body language

7. Thou shall give a KISS

8. Thou shall use visual aids wisely

9. Thou shall listen actively

10. Thou shall end strongly

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1- Thou Shall Prepare and Practice

There are four major steps to planning and preparation:

1. Selecting Your Topic

2. Organizing and mind mapping and writing

3. Rehearsals and recordings

4. Visualization

2- Thou Shall Be Organized

Use a formula:

Tell them what you are going to tell them.

Tell them

Tell them what you told them

2- Thou Shall Be Organized

When writing and planning begin in the middle

• List key points

• Arrange them in order

• Expand on the ideas

• Develop and introduction

• Develop a conclusion

3- Thou Shall Control Nervousness

Preparation is key. And to be prepared know your:

Material

Your audience

Your speaking area

3- Thou Shall Control Nervousness

Things to do before your presentation:

Breathe

Stretch

Sing

Concentrate

Visualize your success

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4- Thou Shall Open Strongly

A successful opening is one that:

Gets the attention of the audience

Introduces the topic

Establishes Rapport

Takes less than 5 to 10 percent of the entire presentation

time

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4- Thou Shall Open Strongly

Opening techniques

State the importance of your presentation

Make a startling statement

Arouse suspense or curiosity

Tell a story or an anecdote

Ask a rhetorical question

Begin with a quotation

Reference the occasion

5- Thou Shall Use Vocal Variety

A voice is made up of:

Volume

Rate

Pitch

Melody

Quality

Articulation

Pronunciation

Enunciation

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6- Thou Shall Use Body Language

Body Language consists of

Eye Contact

Posture

Facial Expressions:

Sad, happy, angry, disgusted, surprised, confused

Gestures:

Prompting, descriptive, suggestive

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7- Thou Shall Give a KISS

Keep it Short and Simple

So limit your points to no

less than three main ideas

and no more than five.

7- Thou Shall Give a KISS

In keeping it Simple

Write for the ear

Use short words

Don’t use Jargon

Use vivid words

Use words economically

Use short sentences

Use active not passive voice

Use Rhetorical devices

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8- Thou Shall Use Visual Aids Wisely

Approximately 83% of human learning occurs visually, and the

remaining 17% through the other senses.

8- Thou Shall Use Visual Aids Wisely

Studies also suggest that three days after an event, people retain

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10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Hear See Hear and See

8- Thou Shall Use Visual Aids Wisely

Visual aids are exactly that, aids they should not be the focus of

your presentation

Think about your talk and what your objective is, then follow that

with a bit of planning on

Is it appropriate to use a visual aid?

What type of visual aids you can use?

9- Thou Shall Listen Actively

L Like to listen

I Ignore distractions

S Summarize

T Tame emotions

E Eliminate hasty judgments

N Never interrupt

I Inspire openness

N Need to listen- Decide to listen?

G Generate reasoned, thoughtful conclusions

10 – Thou Shall End Strongly

Be memorable...

Use a story

Use a quote

Summarize

Call to action

Ask a rhetorical question

Refer to the beginning

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The 10 Commandments

1. Thou shall prepare and practice

2. Thou shall be organized

3. Thou shall control nervousness

4. Thou shall open strongly

5. Thou shall use vocal variety

6. Thou shall use body language

7. Thou shall give a KISS

8. Thou shall use visual aids wisely

9. Thou shall listen actively

10. Thou shall end strongly