Which concept do I find interesting? One that might not be considered interesting at all: delivery. I think one of the most important ideas of communication, especially when giving a speech, is delivery. You can do all the research. You can do all the preparations. You can have props, and flashing lights, and music, or a myriad of other things that add on to your speech. However, if you get up there and stutter, mumble, don't make eye contact, or engage your audience, your speech can be worthless.
Last semester I took an argument and debate class. For the first speech the teacher videoed us, and we had to watch it. (apparently she believes in torture.) It was painful! While I had a lot of information, good sources, and a cogent argument, my delivery made me bomb my speech. Obviously, I was nervous. I spoke as if the Road Runner got a hold of my tongue, and I didn't make enough eye contact with the audience. It was embarrassing!
So should you ever be a speaker, my advice would be after all your hard work for research and ensuring that the information you have is correct, practice your speech. You don't want to fail on delivery.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hello,
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely on point about how important delivery is. A metaphor that comes to my mind is a wedding cake. You can work tirelessly on the inside of the cake and have the most delicious filling and batter inside, but if the outside fails to please the eye the cake is worthless. But, at the same token, if the cake is beautiful on the outside but tastes like garbage, it can also leave a negative impression. That’s why it is just as important to have a great content as it is great delivery. Having a great delivery seals the deal and puts everything together for the listener. I recall having the same experience as you and although it is painful to watch yourself on video, it really helps to improve public speaking skills. It’s funny to think that what you think you sound and look like and what you actually sound and look like end up being completely different.
Hi, good post!
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with your views on delivery. No matter how flashy and pretty your presentation is, if you're delivery, eye contact, volume, etc is off the speech isn't going to have an impact on your audience.
I was video taped for my public speaking class at West Valley and we had to watch it later on at home and when I watched my tape my thoughts were very similar to yours about yourself. Horrible eye contact, I stuttered quite a bit etc. But thankfully, my teacher said, by the time the third speech rolled around, that I was doing much, much better.
That's why I like essays better; I'm good at the researching, flashy, and writing stuff, so I always do well on the essays, but the delivery is were I usually get marked down.
By the way, I almost added the argumentation/debate class this semester but decided to go with another class. Who did you take it with? Instead I'm thinking about doing small group discussion next semester.
Good luck for week 3!