1). Most people are poor listeners.

Even when we think we are listening

carefully, we usually grasp only half of what we hear, and we retain even less.
Improving your listening skills can be helpful in every part of your life, including
speechmaking.
The most important cause of poor listening is giving in to distractions and
letting our thoughts wander. Sometimes, however, we listen too hard. We try to
remember every word a speaker says, and we lose the main message by
concentrating on details. In other situations, we may jump to conclusions and
prejudge a speaker without hearing out the message. Finally, we often judge
people by their appearance or speaking manner instead of listening to what
they say.
You can overcome these poor listening habits by taking several steps. First,
take listening seriously and commit yourself to becoming a better listener.
Second, work at being an active listener. Give your undivided attention to the
speaker in a genuine effort to understand her or his ideas. Third, resist
distractions. Make a conscious effort to keep your mind on what the speaker is
saying. Fourth, try not to be diverted by appearance or delivery. Set aside
preconceived judgments based on a person’s looks or manner of speech. Fifth,
suspend judgment until you have heard the speaker’s entire message. Sixth,
focus your listening by paying attention to main points, to evidence, and to the
speaker’s techniques. Finally, develop your note-taking skills. When done
properly, note taking is an excellent way to improve your concentration and to
keep track of a speaker’s ideas.
2). The first step in speechmaking is choosing a topic. For classroom speeches,
you can choose a subject you know well or one you research especially for the
speech. If you have trouble picking a topic, you can use one of three
brainstorming procedures. First, make an inventory of your hobbies, interests,
skills, beliefs, and so forth. Second, use clustering to list the first topics that
come to mind in several categories. Third, use an Internet subject directory,
encyclopedia, or similar reference site to help you scan possible topics.
The general purpose of your speech will usually be to inform or to persuade.
When your general purpose is to inform, your goal is to communicate
information clearly, accurately, and interestingly. When your general purpose is
to persuade, your goal is to win listeners over to your point of view.
Once you know your topic and general purpose, you must focus on a specific
purpose statement that indicates precisely what your speech seeks to achieve.
The specific purpose statement should (1) be a full infinitive phrase; (2) be
worded as a statement, not a question; (3) avoid figurative language;
(4) concentrate on one distinct idea; and (5) not be vague or general.
Keep several questions in mind as you formulate your specific purpose
statement:
Does my purpose meet the assignment? Can I accomplish my purpose in the
time allotted? Is the purpose relevant to my audience? Is the purpose too trivial
or too technical for my audience?
The central idea refines and sharpens your specific purpose. It is a concise
statement of what you will say in your speech, and it usually crystallizes in your
thinking after you have done your research and have decided on the main
points of your speech. The central idea usually encapsulates the main points
to be developed in the body of your speech.
3). Good speakers are audience-centered. They know that the aim of
speechmaking is to gain a desired response from listeners. When working on
your speeches, keep three questions in mind: To whom am I speaking? What
do I want them to know, believe, or do as a result of my speech? What is the
most effective way of composing and presenting my speech to accomplish that
aim?
To be an effective speaker, you should know something about the psychology
of audiences. People are egocentric. They typically approach speeches with
one question uppermost in mind: “Why is this important to me?” Therefore, you
need to study your audience and adapt your speech to their beliefs and
interests.
The first stage in learning about your audience is to identify demographic traits
such as age; religion; racial, ethnic, and cultural background; gender and
sexual orientation; and group membership. The second stage is identifying
traits of the audience unique to the speaking situation. These traits include the
size of the audience, attitudes influenced by the physical setting, and your
listeners’ disposition toward the topic, toward you as a speaker, and toward the
occasion.
For speeches outside the classroom, you can best get information about the
audience by asking the person who invites you to speak. For classroom
speeches, you can learn about your audience by observation and conversation.
You also can circulate an audience-analysis questionnaire.
Once you complete the audience analysis, you must adapt your speech so it
will be clear and convincing to your listeners. Put yourself in their place. Try to
hear the speech as they will. Anticipate questions and objections, and try to
answer them in advance. When you deliver your speech, keep an eye out for
audience feedback and adjust your remarks in response.
4). There are many resources you can use when gathering information for a
speech. If you have personal experience or above-average knowledge about a
topic, you can use yourself as a resource. Most of the time, however, you will
need outside information, which you can get in the library, on the Internet, or by
interviewing people with specialized information. Finding what you need in the
library is largely a matter of knowing how to search for information. The
catalogue lists all the books, periodicals, and other resources owned by the
library. Databases help you find articles in magazines, newspapers, and
journals. The reference section includes encyclopedias, yearbooks,
biographical aids, and books of quotations. If you have trouble finding
something, don’t hesitate to ask a librarian.When looking for information online,
you require a search strategy that will help you find exactly what you need.
Given the lack of editorial review for most documents on the Web, it is
especially important to evaluate the authorship, sponsoring organization, and
recency of the research materials you find there.
You can also get information by conducting a personal interview. Before the
interview, you should define its purpose, decide whom you are going to
interview, and prepare the interview questions. Once the interview begins, be
sure to listen attentively and to take accurate notes. Afterward, review and
transcribe your notes as soon as possible.
No matter what sources you draw on in gathering information, your research
will be more effective if you start early and make a preliminary bibliography to
keep track of all the books, articles, and Internet documents that look as if they
might be helpful. By learning to take research notes effectively, you will save
yourself time and energy every step of the way. And if you think about your
materials as you research, you may find that gathering materials is the most
creative part of your speech preparation.
5) Good speeches need strong supporting materials to bolster the speaker’s
point of view. The three basic types of supporting materials are examples,
statistics, and testimony.
In the course of a speech you may use brief examples—specific instances
referred to in passing—and sometimes you may want to give several brief
examples in a row to create a stronger impression. Extended examples are
longer and more detailed. Hypothetical examples describe imaginary
situations and can be quite effective for relating ideas to the audience. All three
kinds of examples help clarify ideas, reinforce ideas, or personalize ideas. To
be most effective, they should be vivid and richly textured.
Statistics can be extremely helpful in conveying your message as long as you
use them sparingly and make them meaningful to your audience. Above all,
you should understand your statistics and use them fairly. Make sure your
figures are representative of what they claim to measure, that you use
statistical measures correctly, and that you take statistics only from reliable
sources.
Citing the testimony of experts is a good way to make your ideas more credible.
You can also use peer testimony, from ordinary people who have firsthand
experience on the topic. Regardless of the kind of testimony, you can either
quote someone verbatim or paraphrase his or her words. Be sure to quote or
paraphrase accurately and to use qualified, unbiased sources.
When citing sources in a speech, you need to let your audience know where
you got your information and why they should accept it as qualified and
credible. In most cases, this means identifying the document you are citing, its
date of publication or posting, the author or sponsoring organization, and the
author’s credentials.