Improving your public speaking skills is a core aim of this class. One way you will move toward this goal is by developing, practicing, and presenting three speeches during the semester. However, presenting speeches is not the only way to improve your public speaking skills. Watching other live speakers is an excellent way to gain insight into what to do and what not to do in terms of providing support for a speech, organizing it, and delivering the presentation.
The assignment, “Live Speaker Evaluation,” will allow you to critique a speaker in terms of his or her content, organization, and delivery. This lesson will help you to prepare for that assignment and remind you what you should be aware of when viewing the outside speaker presentation.
Before you begin, it is critical that you are actively listening to the speaker you are critiquing. When your thoughts wander, try to bring yourself back to focusing on the speaker. Be mindful of what is going on around you. Don’t just hear the speaker, but listen to the speaker.
While you are actively listening to the presentation, take note of the following:
The first aspect you are to assess for your own speech is the audience. You will do the same for the live speaker evaluation. Take note of theaudience attending the presentation by observing the demographics. Roughly how many people are present? What is the age range? Are most people of a certain profession?
Having this information will help you to assess whether or not the speaker was cognizant of his audience in relation to the type of speech that is presented. For instance, is the speaker using language that is understandable by the audience? Is it appropriate for the age range that is present?
The speaker should have a clear goal in mind. What is the aim of the presentation? Keep in mind the following:
The next aspect of the speech you should critique is the evidence. What content does the speaker provide that supports his message? Is it mainly from that person’s personal experience or are there outside sources used to bolster his points?
In addition to noting the type of evidence that was provided to support the speaker’s position, you should pay attention to how it was organized. Can you recall the main points? Did the speaker travel off topic often? Think about the following:
This is one of the most important aspects of a speech. Although a speaker may have great content, if he does not deliver it well, the message and impact is often lost.
You can learn a lot by being mindful of others’ delivery styles. Pay close attention to the delivery of the speaker you choose to observe this semester. While listening and watching his or her presentation, take note of the following:
Overall, was the presentation effective or ineffective? Ask yourself these final questions: