Unit 5

Meaning of Press note

A press note is neither a news story, nor a press release, nor a handout which leave the, sub-
editor at liberty to publish it or the otherwise. It is an account of government view point issued
on important and urgent occasions. Press Note are usually short and crisp notes with direct
messaging. The Notes describes ones’ viewpoint on specific matters in which the government’s
firm stands is to be explained. Press notes should be prepared in the most logical manner and
with suitable words. They are means to build a good public opinion regarding the government.

Meaning of Press release

A press release is a written document prepared for the media – also called the press - that
announces something newsworthy. This 1-3-page document is disseminated to the media in
the hopes that reporters and editors will use the information contained within in an upcoming
TV or radio broadcast, in a newspaper or magazine issue, or on the media’s website.

Characteristics of a Good Press Release

These days, every newspaper devotes some space to corporate news. The news items printed
under this heading are prepared on the basis of the of the press releases or hand-outs supplied
by various organizations. Press releases do not bring any monetary gains to either the
organisation issuing them or the newspaper accepting them for publication. But if properly
handled, they help to boost the image of the organisation in public.

It is usually the responsibility of the Public Relations Department of an organisation to issue a

press release. These releases cover important events like appointments, seminars, conferences,
visits of V.I.P’s to the office or factory, signing a contract, commissioning additional plant,
launching a new product, getting an exceptionally large export order, entry into the capital
market, etc.

A press release is different from a press report. A correspondent representing a newspaper or a

news agency covering an event on his own writes a press report. A company sending matter
for publication prepared by its own staff is an issuinga press release. Very often,
correspondents prepare their reports on the basis of the releases issued to them. In fact, the
release comes out to be quite handy both for the correspondent and the company.
The six important characteristics of a good press release are:
1. It should be newsworthy: Newsworthiness is the basic criterion of a good press release.
For if does not have any news value, nobody would be interested in reading it and no newspaper
would accept it for publication.
2. It should be factually true: Factual truthfulness is a matter of integrity and integrity is an
important principle of business communication. Companies should also realise that
misrepresentation of facts with a view to misleading the public might bring immediate benefits,
but such a step is bound to backfire sooner or later.
3. It should be brief and precise: Newspaper is always hard pressed for space. Nor do their
editors have sufficient leisure to prune and edit a lengthy release and prepare a suitable copy.
If a release is brief and precise, its chances of getting included will be brighter. The press
release for national newspapers should be shorter than those meant for local newspapers.
4. It should be drafted in a simple language and conversational style: If a news item is not
easily readable, the reader is put off. He decides not to reads it, or, to turn to it at a later hour,
which is as good as not reading it. So the press release must be prepared in a lucid style.

5. It is suitable for publication: It is suitable for publication in the newspaper or journal to

which it is being sent. Company releases, for example, should not be sent to literary, sports,
or film journals.

6. Who, What, When, Where, Why: Make sure that the relevant among the 5 w’s – Who,
What, When, Where, Why – have been adequately taken care of

Who? Name the people involved. Names are usually newsworthy.

What? Say what happened that is newsworthy.

When? Mention the time. Since old news is no news, the timing of the press release is
extremely important.

Where? Location is also important.

Why? It may not always be possible to answer why, but if these details are included,
they impart depth to the release.

Since press release is usually very short, the writer will have to use his discretion to determine
what details to include.

Seven key elements of press release

The key to success of any press release lies with the content’s ability to grab the reader’s
attention, each and every time.
Headline:
An effective press release must have an eye catching headline. The headline should be well
articulated and make the user want to click.
Dateline:
An effective press release should contain dateline in the first line of the first paragraph of the
content. The journalist needs to know that they are receiving the most updated information.
Introduction:
This is most important paragraph which contains a summary of the press release. Most
journalists bother to read only the first few lines of this paragraph. Give it everything you have
to say
Body:
The body consists of two to several paragraphs explaining every detail of information you want
to share, make it interesting by using statistics, quotes and high value.
Boilerplate:
This is the short paragraph in which you can provide independent information about the
company you are referring about like when it was founded, impact and vision
Call to Action:
This is the final element of an effective press release; you have a potential customer – Give
them a clear call to action – so they can engage with you

Media Contact Details:

An effective press release should contain all the important information like name, contact
number and email address about the person who is distributing the press releases.

Reasons for a Press Release/Importance of press release for a business firm

There are a number of situations that might call for the use of a press release, such as:

• Company announcement - Restructuring, expansion, relocation, new locations,

strategic partnership, new financial backers or investors are all worthy of a press
release.
• Product announcement - New products, improved products, new brands, new retail
outlets carrying the product could all be announced through a press release.
• Initiative
announcement - New internal or external projects that impact the
company’s community would be appropriate for a press release.
• Employee announcement - New hires and promotions are worthy of a press release.
• Honors or awards - Awards or special recognition given to a company, product,
project, or employee are all press release-worthy.
• Research results - Releasing the findings of a survey or study of some kind related to
the business.

Features of News paper report

A newspaper report is a news story found in newspapers and are designed to provide people
with information about what is happening in the world. News is new information and is usually
about something that has just happened. All news reports follow a certain structure and have
the same key features.

• Authenticity: News requests to report real facts. Through such real facts, people can
gain insight into the grandeur of the universe, the trend of social development, and the
dynamics of life evolution... The true facts listed in the news must also be typical, with
universal meaning reflecting the essence. And the real facts of the mainstream.
 • Timeliness: Timeliness is its characteristic, a decisive measure of news. Today, with
the highly developed media and fierce competition, people's demands for the timeliness
of news have become more demanding.

• Accuracy: In journalism, accuracy is largely in the category of news style, which means
accurately expressing and describing news facts in the way and expression of news
writing. Accuracy is a basic principle of news reporting.

This is the first requirement of a good news report. It must get all facts right, starting from the
name and designation of the subject to the statements made by him or her. You cannot hide
behind the excuse that that there was not enough time to cross check the facts.

The facts that you need to check are:

▪ Names and their spellings

▪ Designations
▪ Incident details. In case it is an accident you must know the exact number of
people who were injured or killed.
▪ Statements: The quote reported in the news report must be accurate, and in
context. It should not be misinterpreted to imply another meaning.
▪ If it is a science story you must make sure that all scientific names are correctly
spelt, and explained.
▪ If it is a sports story then you must make sure that the number of runs made or
goals scored are mentioned accurately.
▪ If it is a court story you must make sure that the court verdict is presented
accurately.

• Fairness and balance

As a reporter you must learn to get the other point of view. This may mean calling a
person late at night to get his side of the story or even holding back an investigative
story for a day. But you must do so. This is the best way to bring balance in the copy.

There may be times when an individual may avoid making a statement. In such a case, state
the point, indicating the efforts you made to get his point of view.

Fairness requires that you don’t impute motives. Remember that your news report is going to
be read by hundreds of people, and you can influence their thinking by using loaded words. It
is always best to use neutral words.

• Attribution
All news reports, with a few exceptions, must be sourced. The source can be identified
as follows:

a. Individual: An individual, who witnessed an accident or survived an earthquake, can be

quoted by name as an eyewitness.

b. Organisation: A spokesperson authorised by an organisation to brief the media on its behalf.

The spokesman can be referred to by:
i) Name and designation
Mr N.Guruswamy, Police Commissioner, told the media…

ii) Designation alone

The Police Commissioner told the media …

c. Anonymous sources: There are occasions when a news source, who happens to be a senior
government official or an important leader, does not want his or her name to be used. In such
cases, the reporter can attribute the story to informed sources or well connected sources or
official sources or sources who don’t wish to be named. However, the reporter must know the
source well, and should trust that the information provided is correct.

d. Exceptions: The reporter need not worry about attribution in those cases that he has
witnessed. For instance, the reporter can report a cricket match or a rally stating what happened.
This is because these are statements of fact that have occurred in public domain, and have been
witnessed by scores of people. The same applies to the swearing in of a new government or
historical facts.

• Brevity
The importance of this characteristic cannot be overstressed. You must learn to write
short stories without missing important facts. Please remember that today’s reader is in
a hurry. He does not have the patience to go through long news reports.

Brevity does not mean writing a short story. It also means using short words, short sentences
and short paragraphs.

• Clarity
This is not easy to achieve. You are required to report an event in as few words as
possible. You can do this if you use short and simple words and keep out irrelevant
facts. The intro of your report must be short and crisp. The body must be made up of as
few paragraphs as possible with each paragraph devoted to one point.

Elements of Newspaper report

• Headline

The title of the story designed to summarise the story. It should be short and snappy to grab the
reader’s attention.

• By Line

The journalist who has written the report.

• Photo

The photograph needs to tell the story

• Lead or Orientation
The important first sentence or opening paragraph that summarises the story and answers as
many as possible of the 5 W’S (Who? What? Where? When? and Why?) and H (How?)

e.g. What? Japan won the Women’s World Cup

Where? the final

Who? Japan

Why? won penalty shoot out

• Body

The newspaper body includes all the details of the news story and should be split in paragraphs
to help the reader digest the information. Each paragraph tells one part of the story e.g.
Paragraph one: lead, Paragraph two: the match, Paragraph three: the penalty shoot-out,
Paragraph four: what else they won.

The main body should contain facts and not personal opinions and should be chronological.

The last paragraph should sum up the story and bring it up to date. The inverted pyramid report
style has the most important information about a story in the lead paragraph. If your editor has
to cut the last paragraph from the body text the story should still make sense.

• Caption

The information in or under a photograph which explains what the picture is about.

• Direct Quotation

The exact words someone uses. Quotation marks are always used. Quotes are included to give
the reader the viewpoint of someone involved in the story like an eyewitness or expert. Quotes
make a story credible.

• Columns

The vertical blocks of text into which a page of a newspaper is divided.

 REPORT WRITING

Headline/ Title

Byline (Name of the author)

Date:

Place Line(Name of the place) - Lead (Content)

Body (Include facts and quotations)

Types of Press Releases

Event Press Release

An event press release is used to promote a newsworthy event that your company is hosting,
attending, or sponsoring.

These press releases aim to raise awareness among the general public and encourage members
of the media to attend or cover your event. Because of that, timing is vital.

To increase attendance for an event you’re hosting, you’ll need to distribute the release well
before the event itself. This will give reporters plenty of time to get the event on their schedule
and begin preparation.

As we mentioned, covering the “five W’s” of journalism (who, what, when, where, and why)
is vital when it comes to event marketing press releases. If your purpose is to attract the media,
then think of this as your invitation to them.

Now, imagine you receive an invitation for a birthday party, with no details on where you
should be or when. That certainly wouldn’t be the most welcoming invitation in the world,
would it?

A reporter would feel similarly. If you want them to attend, you have to make it easy on them.
Making your when and where obvious in your press release will increase the likelihood of
seeing some RSVPs come through.

In addition to your “five W’s,” you’ll need to add the H: how? If you’re writing this for the
general public, this means explaining how they can obtain tickets or sign up to attend.

Similarly, if you’re hoping to increase media attendance, you’ll have to tell them who they
need to contact to sign up (with up-to-date contact information) or direct them via hyperlink to
the sign up form.
And finally, a good event press release should explain why this event is worth attending. What
makes your event the best of its kind? How will attendees benefit? By emphasizing the value,
you’ll drive intrigue and attendance.

New Hire Press Release

Companies use a new hire press release to announce important changes in leadership.

New hire press releases typically focus on high-level executives (think C-suite and equivalent),
and act as the formal announcement to inform customers, investors, and the general public of
the hire.

In addition to the new hire’s name and position, you’ll want to feature some highlights from
their professional background. Not only will this help to objectively describe what they’ll be
bringing to the company, but it gives customers and investors a better idea of what to expect
from the new executive.

This section can include past roles they’ve held, companies they’ve worked for, and any
significant professional achievements. Additionally, you’ll want to cover their key
responsibilities and priorities moving forward, which will help to shape the position they’re
filling.

A quote from a member of the current executive team can express the company’s excitement,
and highlight the new hire’s key responsibilities and priorities. Similarly, a quote from the new
hire can help to legitimize your brand by highlighting what drew them to this new role.

If the employee they’re replacing moved internally, you may consider briefly mentioning their
new role in the company as well.

This press release does a great job at highlighting the new hire’s responsibilities and priorities
in the new role, which is helpful to current customers and investors. They also cover his
professional experience to provide context.

The quote from the current CEO of the company, as well as the quote from the new hire himself,
add a human element to the release, and express excitement from both the company and the
new hire. Similarly, using the new hire’s headshot as an image – as opposed to the company
logo – makes the release more compelling and provides media with a more valuable visual.

Award Press Release

When company receives an exciting accolade, an award press release will help to spread the
news.

Although industry awards are common, they’re rarely publicized. For your audience to learn
of your achievements, you’ll have to advertise them yourself. Distributing a press release clues
them in and positions your company as an industry leader.

It’s important to remember that while your press release should highlight your achievement, it
shouldn’t be overly promotional. Be sure to avoid excessive punctuation and emotional
language. Your press release should still be objective and discuss your award from a business
standpoint.

Consider expressing your excitement by explaining how this recognition sets you apart as an
industry leader or how this achievement will allow you to further your company’s mission.

That doesn’t mean you have to take all of the emotion and excitement out of your press release
– you did just win a major award! Quotes from executives are an opportunity for your press
release to express emotion. Grabbing your CEO or president to make a statement will offer a
human element and allow you to explain what this award means for your team. If you can also
secure a quote from a member of the organization that sponsors or gives the award, that’s even
better.

In the introduction paragraph, the release announces the achievement and gives a brief
explanation of the award itself. By replicating the award’s language, this section succeeds in
objectivity and doesn’t sound overly promotional.

Whether the award features an entire company or an individual, it’s important to feature the
company’s boilerplate at the bottom of the release. Doing this will help connect the dots for
the reader and bring the release full circle.

Rebranding Press Release

Rebranding is often an exciting initiative for a company. Whatever may prompt a rebrand – a
merger, acquisition, change in product direction – it’s vital that you comprehensively
communicate the message to your customers and stakeholders.

A rebranding press release is often used by companies in this situation because it allows them
to compile all of the details into one document and distribute it widely. In a rebranding press
release, you’ll need to specify what your customers and investors can expect from the change.
This means you’ll want to include details like any new pricing models, audiences served,
products or features offered, and, if applicable, an updated logo.

However, a rebranding press release is also an opportunity to excite your audience about the
change. You can do this by highlighting how this rebrand will improve customer experience,
or by including a quote from an executive that positively looks toward the future.
Partnership Press Release

Similar to a rebranding press release, the main purpose of a partnership press release is to
inform audience of the upcoming changes. What’s tricky about it is that each partner has built
relationships with its own customer base, and you’ll need to write a press release that appeals
to both.

Luckily, by aligning your values, you’ll be able to communicate to your customer base exactly
what they can expect. What’s even better is that both brands can leverage one another’s
audience to secure even more exposure. A partnership already benefits both parties – your press
release should do the same!

In a partnership press release, be certain to include your why and your what — explain why this
decision was made and what is going to change or, hopefully, improve. A partnership can be a
great sign for investors, so write a press release to excite them!

Organisation can also use this opportunity to delight customers about the new features,
services, or experiences they’ll get access to.

Including an executive quote from both parties is a great way to provide insight and express
excitement.

The first paragraph immediately identifies who, what, and why, while emphasizing the benefit
this will have for customers and how it plans to ease the sales process.

The quotes used reassure investors and customers alike that the partnership decision had their
best interest in mind. Both parties expressed genuine excitement about the opportunity.

Finally, the press release succeeds in communicating how this will benefit customers, and let’s
be real, that’s what they really care about. If you’re able to convince audience that this
partnership is going to be a success, then press release did its job.

Charitable Initiative Press Release

Charitable initiatives are an excellent way to show your customers that you care about more
than just profit. However, it’s likely your audience has no knowledge of the good being done.

A charitable initiative press release is your opportunity to tell your audience that you’re
concerned with more than just the bottom line – and give them a glimpse into company culture.
An added benefit is that media loves a feel-good story. Featuring the work your team is doing
is a likely way to secure some media coverage.
Similar to an award press release, it’s important to not be overly promotional. Charitable
initiatives are exciting, and it’s easy to want to brag about your team and the strides they’re
making. Our advice is to tread cautiously. The most effective press release will give a high-
level description of the work being done, but more importantly, rally others to get behind the
cause.

Product Press Release

A product press release should be used to announce a product launch that constitutes something
that has entered your industry. The release should point out why it is different from products
offered by competitors. If, for example, you create a list of all your product’s noteworthy
features, then cross out all of the features that your product shares with competitors—whatever
is left over should be the focus of your press release. This is what makes it newsworthy.

A product press release should include both the features that set it apart and its benefits. By
highlighting the benefit to customers, you give news representatives a reason to write about
your product and provide them the information they need to do so in a way their readers will
appreciate. This makes it a win for you and for journalists who are looking for an easy story
their readers appreciate.

In addition, businesses often overlook the opportunity to include a value-add to entice readers
to purchase. You can easily do this by offering a discount code for people who purchase your
product when it launches. While the code is great for enticing immediate purchases, it also
allows you to track how many people take advantage of it; by extension, these trends reveal
how effective your release is at spreading awareness and enticing conversions.

Advantages of Press release

Immediate Exposure to an Established Audience

Press releases are a great way to get immediate exposure to website or brand from a publication
or website which already has an established base of loyal readers and followers.

As a new brand or website, it's important to hit the ground quickly and gain some initial traction
to website and product.

Press releases are effective in helping you gain that initial traction to your brand so people
know who you are and what you are offering at the right time.

Affordable Cost
As a new business owner it’s important to keep marketing and advertising costs in check. The
great thing about press releases is that they are extremely effective while remaining very
affordable. The overall cost of a press release is much more affordable than other forms of
traditional paid advertising.
However, in order to help keep the costs of a press release low there are some important things
that business and brand owners should know.

• The billing method or cycle of the publication

• Placement cost
• The distribution channels the press release will go out to
• Expected views and engagement for your niche
• Location of the readers
• How the performance metrics of the press release will be tracked
Knowing these components is important in order to accurately gauge what kind of ROI you
can expect from the press release. These are questions you should ask the PR agency or
publication that will handle your press release.

Most of the time this information will be available directly on the PR websites. The costs of
the press release will also vary based on the company or publication you select. So, although
press releases tend to be very affordable, you should have a baseline budget in mind.

Potential Sales Increase

On top of helping your brand gain instance exposure at an affordable cost, press releases can
help your business generate sales. It’s worth mentioning that this is not a guarantee but can
definitely happen if your brand and product is positioned accordingly in a niche which aligns
with the interests of the audience.

If you do want to increase the probability of getting sales from your press release a common
method is to ensure you highlight the main benefits and features of your product or service
inside the press release.

Anytime you plan to announce the release of a new promotion or new product it’s a good idea
to have a press release which generates some buzz for that product. It can be a great way to get
a sales increase that is typically enough to cover the costs of your press release.

Press releases can also be a very effective way to reach new buyers in different markets that
you may not have considered before.

Major SEO Benefits

Press releases serve as a valuable way to boost the SEO profile of your website. Whenever you
receive a press release from a media publication they usually link back to your website or
product page. This creates powerful backlinks to your website which passes on positive link
juice.

This will slowly increase the organic visibility of your website in search engines and help to
drive organic search engine traffic. So, it’s important to optimize your content for SEO in
order to see positive results from your press release.
Meta tags which point to your main topic and industry specific keywords are very important to
have in place in order to make sure your website gets the most benefits out of a press release.

Another factor to carefully consider about your press releases is the relevance of the niche and
the domain authority of the website that will be releasing your content. This will have a high
impact on the SEO value for your website.

Increased Web Traffic to Website

On top of creating awesome content for website, it’s just as equally as important to promote
that content in order to get more visitors to your website or product offering. Press releases can
serve as a great way to get niche relevant traffic to your website.

Before you publish a press release it’s important you know the main goals behind your press
release. By leaving the name of your website or product on the press release, you can attract
visitors back to your website who may have an interest in your product or service.

The amount of traffic you receive to your website from a single press release will depend on
the type of publication you select to distribute the release and the type of niche you are in.

The publication you select should give you a general idea of the average traffic similar websites
have received in the past as a result of the press release. In order to maximize the efforts of
your press release you should have a plan for the visitors that land on your website.

These can include:

• Opt-in forms on the main landing page

• Limited time discounts
• Incentivized offers
These strategies can help to get you new customers and help you maximize the ROI of your
overall press release campaign.

Disadvantages of a Press Release

• The release, by itself, seldom results in a major story.

• Journalists receive them by the thousands and don’t have time to read more than
just a few lines.

• If the headline is poorly written or confusing, you’ve lost the reader.

• They’re difficult to write well and often include industry jargons.

• Younger journalists, particularly those in the tech sector, see press releases as an “old
school” tool.
 • Journalists and bloggers want to break news and often want an “exclusive.” A press
release gives everyone the same news at the same time.

Speech

• Speech is human vocal communication using language.

Characteristics of a good speech

A good speech must possess the following characteristics:

1. The first and foremost requisite of a good speech is clarity. The speaker should be clear
in his ideas and he should have a good command over language in which he is speaking,
to express his ideas clearly so that they are instantly understood by listeners.
2. The second requisite of a good speech is its length. It should be neither be too brief nor
too long. If the speech is too long, it will fail to sustain the interest of the audience for
a long time. If it is too brief it may end even before it exercises a hold over the attention
of the listeners. Here the speaker should follow the principle of “Golden Mean”. He
should express his ideas in lucid manner talking most relevantly to the topic. He should
concentrate on the elaboration of a few selected points of the issue.
3. The third characteristic of a good speech is that it should be informative and
illuminating so that the audience can gain something from it. If the speaker is repetitive
and dwells at length on the points already known to the listeners, he will simply bore
the audience who will turn a deaf ear to whatever is being spoken.
4. A good speech should be interesting and it should appeal not only to the minds of
listeners but also to their hearts. If the speaker makes an appeal to the emotions of the
listeners, he can easily win their hearts over to his side, and if the speech appeals to the
head also, it will have the most desired effect.
5. The next requisite of a good speech is that it should be turned to the wavelength of the
audience. For example, if speaker is delivering the speech to the management trainees
or managers, technical terms of management can be used frequently but, when speech
is being delivered to the annual meeting of shareholders the use of such technical terms
should be carefully avoided.
6. A good speech should not be too formal that the personal touch is lost. It is the personal
touch in the speech that establishes rapport between the speaker and the listeners. If this
personal touch is missing the speech will easily go off the heads of the listeners who
will keep gaping at the speaker.
7. A good speech should convey concrete facts rather than vague or abstract ideas. As
already stated, a speaker should convey briefly and clearly his ideas to the listeners. If
he himself is vague and tries to convey abstract ideas, he will fail to sustain the interest
of listeners who are more easily drawn to concrete, tangible facts.
For making the speech effective, the speaker should take care of the following strategies:
A. Planning and preparation of the speech
a. Decide the purpose of the speech: Anyone who is going to speak to large
number of audience members should have specific goal in mind. These audience
members have gathered to hear the speech on a specific issue by sacrificing their
time and expect to get something out of it immediately. Therefore the speaker
is expected to create an immediate effect on the audience like making them to
feel, to think or to act.
b. Audience analysis: To ensure the transmission of understanding along with
transfer of the message and to get a certain desired response from the audience,
the speaker should adapt the speech to the interest, knowledge and the motive
of such targeted audience. If the speaker can identify the ways to connect to the
listeners, he or she can make speech interesting, informative and illuminating.
These are the important questions about the targeted audience that speaker
should ask himself before planning the message:
i. What do they have in common? Age, Ethnicity, Language, Interests,
Gender, Religious faith, Level of education, Community or social group.
ii. Do they know as much about the topic as the speaker knows or do, they
need to be introduced about the new ideas?
iii. Why are these people listening to the speaker? What do they want to
know?
c. Searching the relevant material: To make the speech effective, the speaker
should search the relevant material from the library, internet and other
magazines. Audience members want to listen something that appeals
interesting, informative and illuminating. After knowing the level of knowledge
of the audience members, the speaker can think about the Arguments that appeal
convincing. For this, he has to support the claims with various examples and
research findings. Therefore, he or she needs to search the material from various
sources.
d. Organising the speech: Unlike in writing where the reader can read the material
repeatedly, listeners in speech have only one chance to comprehend the
information as it is spoken. Therefore, the speech must be well organised and
easily understood. The speaker should think whether the speech will appeal the
audience or not. There are many kinds of supporting material that can be used
creatively to add interest and clarity in the speech:
i. Examples are brief illustrations that back up or explain a point.
ii. Stories-illustrate a point by describing an incident in some detail. Both
hypothetical or factual stories can create interests in the mind of the
listeners.
iii. Statistics are numbers used to represent an idea. These can effectively
link audience’s frame of reference and provide them the picture in brief.
But these should be used sparingly and be supplemented with visuals
and handouts.
e. Reviewing the speech: After organising and writing the speech, the speaker
should review the speech to ensure that it should appeal to the audience. At this
stage, the irrelevant thoughts should be excluded from the speech and relevant
thoughts are presented in logical way.
B. Delivering the speech:
a. Creating an effective introduction:
In the opening of the speech, attention of the audience should be attracted and
captured.
The best way to make rapport with the audience is to get them to relate to the
topic by appealing to them on personal level. When the attention of the audience
is captured, the chances of successful speech are increased. For capturing the
immediate attention of the audience, the speaker can:
i. Raise a question
ii. Narrate a related interesting story
iii. Open the speech with a striking quotation
iv. Tell how the topic affects the vital interest of the audience
v. Highlight the shocking facts.
Explain why the topic is important to the audience. Considering the purpose of
the speech, the speaker should tell how he or she has come to speak to the
audience. The speaker can also connect the material to related to larger issues
as well, especially those that may be importance to the audience.
Get to the point immediately without wasting time in developing the
introductory paragraph and leading up the thesis statement as is done in research
papers. Moving from the introduction to the body of the speech quickly will
help to keep the audience interested in the topic. Sometimes the speaker tempts
to create suspense by keeping the audience guessing about the thesis until the
end, then springing the implications of the discussion on them. But this will lead
audience towards boredom and confusion.
b. Making the speech easy to understand:
Repeat the crucial points and buzzwords
In longer speeches, it is essential to keep reminding the audience of the main
points. For this, the speaker can link an earlier main point or key term as he or
she take up the new point. He or she should also address the relationship
between earlier points and new points through discussion within a body
paragraph. Buzzwords can also be emphasised to make the speech easy to
understand.
c. Helping audience to listen
Rely on shorter, simpler sentence structures
Avoid using complicated sentence: It will lead the audience to forget the
message. For this, the speaker should avoid using too many subordinate clauses,
and place subjects and verbs close together.
Limit pronoun use:
The speaker should be specific by using a key noun instead of unclear pronouns
because the listeners may have a hard time remembering or figuring out what
“if”,”they” or this refer to.

d. Taking care of visual elements of speech

The speaker should take care of the visual elements of the speech by considering
the following points:
 Dress up effectively to appeal attractive and charming.
Step up to speak with confidence and authority.
Ensure proper settings of LCD and laptops.
Establish and maintain eye contact with the audience.
Stand and move effectively.
Move out confidently when the speech is finished.
e. Taking care of verbal elements of speech
The speaker should take care of the verbal elements of the speech by paying
attention to the following points:
Keep most sentences short.
Use the active voice.
Use proper vocabulary, enunciation and pronunciation,
Avoid emphasising mistakes.
Mix poetry and prose to appeal the minds of the listeners.
f. Taking care of vocal elements of speech
Speak with enthusiasm and sincerity
Ensure that his or her voice seems natural ,soft and sweet.
Speak loudly enough to be heard.
Vary the pitch of the voice flowing up and down the scale from high to low and
back again.
Avoid disfluencies.
g. Keeping the interest of the audience alive
When arguing or explaining a point, use of ethos, pathos and logos can help the
speaker to convince the audience believe in the message of the speaker. Ethos
refers to an appeal to the audience by establishing authenticity and
trustworthiness as speaker. By employing pathos, the speaker can appeal to the
emotions of the audience. Use of logos include the support of hard facts, precise
statistical figures and logical arguments.
h. Creating an effective conclusion: The end of the speech is also an important part
and should be handled carefully. Dale Carnegie suggest the following seven
ways of closing the speech:
Summarising, restating, outlining briefly the main points that have been
covered:
i. Appealing for action
ii. Paying the audience sincere compliment
iii. Raising a laugh
iv. Quoting a fitting verse of poetry
v. Using a biblical(religious)quotation.
vi. Building up a climax.
Guidelines for the Use of Visual aids
• Transparencies or slides should be prepared neatly with no overwriting or spelling
errors.
• Material should be well spaced and written in capitals or block letters so that the
listeners sitting at the back are also able to decipher its contents.
 • Since audience is concentrating on the spoken words plus the visual cues which are
being provided, it would be prudent to pause for a short while as they absorb the
contents of the visuals.
• The written material on the transparency should be read out to the audience.
• Never turn your back to the audience, specially to read the contents of the presentation.
• Everyone in the audience is able to see the visual aid clearly.
• The speaker must explain the visual aid if there is any likelihood that the audience may
not immediately understand it.
• The speaker must look at the audience more than at the visual aid.
• If the speaker is using slides, he must make sure that they are clearly numbered in the
correct sequence and are kept right way up,
• No visual aid should be kept for too long.
• The speaker should use pictures, drawings and colour for interest. One must remember
A picture is worth a thousand words.
• A slide should carry only essential information.
Using Visual Aids

Visual aids help your presentation make things happen. Visual aids help you reach your
objectives by providing emphasis to whatever is being said. Clear pictures multiply the
audience's level of understanding of the material presented, and they should be used to
reinforce your message, clarify points, and create excitement.

Visual aids involve your audience and require a change from one activity to another:
from hearing to seeing. When you use visual aids, their use tends to encourage gestures
and movement on your part. This extra movement reinforces the control that you, the
speaker, need over the presentation. The use of visual aids, then, are mutually beneficial
to the audience and you.

Visual aids add impact and interest to a presentation. They enable you to appeal to more
than one sense at the same time, thereby increasing the audience's understanding and
retention level. With pictures, the concepts or ideas you present are no longer simply
words - but words plus images. The chart below cites the effectiveness of visual aids
on audience retention.
Important elements on Preparing Visual Aids

▪ Start with at least a rough outline of the goal and major points of the presentation before selecting the visual
aid(s). For example, a particular scene or slides may trigger ideas for the presentation, providing the power of
images. Do not proceed too far without first determining what you want to accomplish, what your audience wants
to gain, and what the physical setting requires.
▪ Each element of an audio-visual product - a single slide or a page of a flip chart presentation, for example,
- must be simple and contain only one message. Placing more than one message on a single image confuses the
audience and diminishes the potential impact of visual media. Keep visual aids BRIEF.
▪ Determine the difference between what you will say and what the visual aid will show. Do not read straight
from your visuals.
▪ Ask the audience to read or listen, not both; visual aids should not provide reading material while you talk.
Rather, use them to illustrate or highlight your points.
▪ Give participants paper copies of various graphic aids used in your presentation. They will be able to write on
the paper copies and have them for future reference.
▪ Assess your cost constraints. An overhead transparency presentation can always be used in a formal
environment if 35 mm slides are too expensive.
▪ Account for production time in your planning and selection process. Slides must be developed, videotape edited
- you do not want to back yourself against a wall because the visuals are not ready. You can often get production
work done in 24-48 hours, but it is much more expensive than work that is done on an extended schedule.
▪ Use local photographs and examples when discussing general problems and issues. While a general problem
concerning welding safety, for example, may elude someone, illustrating with a system in use at the site can
bring the issue home.
▪ Use charts and graphs to support the presentation of numerical information.
▪ Develop sketches and drawings to convey various designs and plans.
▪ When preparing graphics, make sure they are not too crowded in detail. Do no over-use color. See that line
detail, letters, and symbols are bold enough to be seen from the back of the room.
▪ Do not use visual aids for persuasive statements, qualifying remarks, emotional appeals, or any type of
rhetorical statement.
▪ If you have handouts, don't let them become a distraction during the presentation. They should provide
reinforcement following your address. Consider giving them out after the presentation, unless the audience will
use them during the presentation or will need to review them in advance of the presentation.
▪ Practice presenting the full program using graphic materials so you are familiar with their use and order. If
you use audio-visual materials, practice working with them and the equipment to get the timing down right.
▪ Seek feedback on the clarity of your visuals and do so early enough to allow yourself time to make needed
adjustments.

Important qualities to be possessed by a speaker

1. Speaker needs to be Well-Prepared.
One of the most important qualities of a good speaker is the ability to be prepared. When
conducting any kind of public speaking, you are generally given a topic to focus on. This may
be for the purpose of sharing your ideas, elaborating on your company, or just to spread the
word about a certain issue.
If you are speaking, whatever topic you have been asked to cover, it is important that you are
well prepared and can captivate your audience. Start by creating an outline or draft of your
topic. While rehearsing, try to vary your presentation in whatever way you can because a
monotonous way of speaking might bore your audience.
How does being well-prepared relate to having a successful life though? They say that success
is born when preparation meets opportunity. Successful people understand how important it is
to prepare for great opportunities or events. While you may be able to just go with the flow,
keep in mind that achievements do not happen by chance or by going with the flow.
Opportunities are routinely disguised, and your success depends on how prepared you are to
seize them.
2. Deliver Unique Messages and Ideas.
One of the qualities of a good public speaker is the ability to deliver a unique message.
Audiences don't want a repeat of something that they have heard before. They want to hear a
fresh new perspective and want a new take on things. Giving them a fresh perspective and a
unique message can make your entire talk seem more empowering and impactful.
One of the easiest ways to deliver a unique and powerful message while speaking in public is
to just stay true to yourself and your beliefs. Everyone can offer a fresh new perspective on life
and elaborating on that can help you develop a unique message.
However, this is easier said than done. While no one is born with the ability to always be
unique, and no one can come up with innovative ideas all the time, some people are naturally
more creative than others. For some, it’s going to be difficult to be the outstanding one among
millions of others, so it’s important that you know that you may struggle at first. But also know
that you can achieve your best thoughts and ideas through research and preparation.
3. They Provide Actionable Content.

A good public speaker doesn't always deliver a speech or talk just to pass the time. Their public
speeches are generally designed to help the audience to improve on what they do or the way in
which they think.
The best example of this is someone talking about their new start-up business. Imagine they
have the opportunity to talk to a large audience about the new company and all that it does.
They can focus on simply getting information across to the audience but will greatly improve
engagement if they use an action-oriented approach, providing advice for the audience to take
away.
Great ideas don’t mean much without implementation and practical steps. For leaders or
entrepreneurs, this means giving actionable tasks to your employees, turning big vague goals
into smaller achievable ones.
4. They Can Make the Complex Simple.
Sometimes, an individual has stand in front of a large audience and explain a concept that is
not exactly simple. While you as a public speaker may be able to grasp the concept of what
you are talking about, the audience may not always follow the logic.
One quality good speakers possess is the ability to make even the most complex of theories
simple. Remember that your audience might not even know the basics of what you are talking
about, and you should draft your speech in a way that allows them to understand everything
from the very beginning.
In life, people are drawn to simplicity more than ever before. Making the complex simple is
key to achieving better results in many different jobs today. This is why the ability to make
anything simple for you, for your team, or for your clients is crucial.
5. Charismatic.
One of the hardest things to do is to captivate audience while talking in public. The best
approach to this doesn't have anything to do with the subject matter you are addressing, but
rather the way in which speaker delivers the message. This is called charisma.
The main point to keep in mind here is that to captivate audience speaker need to sound
relatable in the way speaker talk, and be confident in the way you move. Maintaining eye
contact, standing tall with great posture and using appropriate hand gestures and facial
expressions is always important. The pace at which you talk can also make a significant
difference.
In business dealings, charisma counts. A lot. If you want to impress your clients, this will be
one of the most important skills to master. Speaker will need extraordinary skills in
both verbal and non-verbal communication.
If being confident and charismatic in the way you talk to people isn’t in your nature, there’s no
need to force yourself. Don’t fidget or look distracted. Just be authentic and genuine while
learning how to use positive body language can be a great start.
6. Always Open to Questions.
Public speakers often shy away from questions because they don’t want to know immediately
how the audience perceives the talk that they are giving. This, however, reduces engagement
with the listeners. One important point in public speaking is to always be open to questions so
that you can engage more with your audience.
Successful people encourage feedback. They pay attention to what is being said to them and
listen with interest and an open mind. They act and answer questions with empathy. They are
empowered by positive feedback, and they thrive on negative feedback. They learn to control
the urge to be defensive. They are open to sentiment and criticism while not taking it too
personal.

Informal Speech

Informal speech is speech that is casual and relaxed, like conversations with friends. Informal
speech may include slang, contractions and colloquial phrases.

Difference between informal and formal speech

Informal speech differs from Standard English, favouring a more relaxed tone and deviation
from the typical rules of grammar. You may hear informal speech between friends, families,
peers and even strangers. It is commonly heard in everyday life.

Informal speech may include slang words such as ‘lit’, ‘shook’ and ‘squad’. People speaking
informally will typically use contractions to save time, choosing to say ‘haven’t’ rather than
‘have not’.

For instance:
 “Cheers for ringing, Dude. Feels like I haven’t seen you in ages! Have you seen Jono
and Mark lately?”

Formal speech is more likely to adhere to the rules of Standard English. Formal speech is most
commonly used in the workplace, places of learning such as universities or events with a
serious tone.

Formal speech rarely includes slang words. There will be fewer contractions used and the
speaker is likely to follow a proper sentence structure.

For instance:

“I’m so pleased to be here today. Thank you so much for your invitation and your kind
words regarding my recent promotion. I feel truly grateful to be surrounded by such
wonderful, distinguished individuals tonight.”

Formal:

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our
friends" - Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Informal:

“From now on, I don’t care if my tea leaves spell, ‘Die, Ron, die,’ I’m chucking them in the
bin where they belong." - Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix