Lesson 2

Public Speaking
Our goal!

▪ Compare and contrast the difference modes of delivering a speech

▪ Deliver effectively a message to an audience

Engage yourself!
Do these statements apply to you? Answer Yes or No.

1. I am excited at the thought of speaking in public.

2. I see myself speaking in public often in the future.
3. I think I can be a very good speaker.
4. The thought of public speaking terrifies me.
5. I would avoid speaking in public as much as I can.
6. No amount of practice can make me a better speaker.

Items 1,2, and 4,5 determine your public speaking anxiety. If you answered items 1 and 2
with a Yes, you probably have a low anxiety. If you answered items 4 and 5 with a Yes, you most
probably have a high public speaking anxiety. Item 3 and 6 determine your attitude toward public
speaking. If you answered item 3 with a yes, you have a growth mindset. If you answered item 6
with a yes, you have a closed mindset.

Do you agree or disagree?

1. “Your ability to communicate with others will account fully 85% of your success in
your business and in your life.” -Brian Tracy
2. “90% of how well the talk will go is determined before the speaker steps on the
platform.” – Somers White
3. “Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident.” – Dale Carnegie
4. “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain
(re-evaluate your answers after the reading engagement.)

You have probably delivered a speech before an audience once, twice, or thrice in high
school in the forms of reporting, research presentations, or creative presentations or you might
have read biblical passages in church. How did the experience make you feel? If the experience
made you wish to speak more in public or made you confident of yourself, then you belong to the
few who do not fear public speaking or who have overcome it.
 According to the most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two
is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go
to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than delivering the eulogy. -Jerry Seinfield
Fear of public speaking is, therefore, common to most people, but despite this fact, many
have turned public speaking into their ticket to success. Brian Tracy phrased this idea in his
statement below.
“Your ability to communicate with others will account for fully 85% of your success in
your business and in your life.”
What apparently matters is your reaction to fear of public speaking. How should you handle
fear? Mark Twain suggests: “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear- not absence of fear”.
Your awareness of your fear of public speaking is a good starting point. With your
awareness, you acknowledge that you need to take actions to overcome that fear.
You might also need a strong reason to overcome that fear. While it is true that not all
professions require speaking skills, you must consider the fact that public speaking is an essential
skill in your academic life. Also, in many professions such as those in business, education, mass
media etc., public speaking skills are the requirement. In some other professions, public speaking
skills are an advantage. Most importantly, public speaking has long been a tool for activism that
paved way for social and political changes.
By this time, you must have decided that public speaking is highly relevant to your
academic, professional and personal life.

Initializing
1. By pair: Share your greatest fear to your partner.
The following questions will help you structure the mini-speech.
i. What is your greatest fear?
ii. Why do you fear such?
Have you taken actions to overcome your fear? What were these actions?

Concept Grounding

Public Speaking

It is a process of speaking in a structured, deliberate manner to inform, influence or

entertain an audience.
It (also called oratory or oration) is the process or act of performing a speech to a
live audience. Public speaking is commonly understood as formal, face-to-face, speaking of a
single person to a group of listeners. However, due to the evolution of public speaking, it is
modernly viewed as any form of speaking (formally and informally) between an audience and the
speaker. Traditionally, public speaking was considered to be a part of the art of persuasion. The
act can accomplish particular purposes including to inform, to persuade, and to entertain.
 Speech
It is the term used refer to the body spoken expression of information and ideas. A speech
may be delivered in any of the following modes: read from a manuscript, memorized and delivered
extemporaneous or impromptu. The choice of mode of speech delivery is determined by factors
such as length of preparation, complexity of message, purpose, and occasion.

Reading from a Manuscript

This is appropriate when the speech is long and when details are complicated and essential
such as they need to be given completely. Reading is also appropriate when one is asked to deliver
a prepared speech on behalf of another speaker. Reading may pose the least challenge in public
speaking but the speaker may be tricked into thinking that no preparation is needed. When a
message is delivered through reading, the force, naturalness, and eye contact may be diminished
because the eyes have to travel from page to the audience and vice versa.

Memorized Speech
This requires a speaker to commit everything to memory. This method is excellent for short
messages although it is also used for long pieces in oratorical, declamation and other literary
contests. Just like a read speech, a memorized speech also poses challenge in naturalness. The
worst experience one could have is delivering a memorized speech is to forget the lines and fail to
shift smoothly to another mode of delivery.

Extemporaneous Speaking
This may have short or a long preparation. The speaker may use an outline to guide him
through his speech to achieve better organization and to avoid leaving out details. But unlike
reading, extemporaneous speaking necessitates the speaker to formulate his sentences while he is
speaking. Extemporaneous is a method that most lecturers and teachers use. A good
extemporaneous speaker must be spontaneous.

Impromptu
It means speaking at the spur of the moment. Since there is very minimal or no time for
preparation give for impromptu, the content and organization may suffer. Impromptu may not
deliver the best thought in the best way but brings out the most natural thing to say at the moment.

Firming up

A. Using the table below, compare and contrast extemporaneous speaking to/from
impromptu speaking by writing their differences in their respective columns and the
similarities in the middle column.

Impromptu Similarities Extemporaneous

Do the same for read and memorized speech.

Read Similarities Memorized

Concretizing
A. Read with animation a 2-3minute inspirational story.
Rubric for a read speech

Criteria 8-10 5-7 4-3 1-2

Eye Maintained eye Maintained eye Inconsistent eye Avoided contact
contact/connection contact with the contact most of the contact; somewhat with the audience;
audience throughout time, engaged engaged audience disengaged
the speech, engaged audience most of audience
audience throughout the time
the speech
Content Fully developed Developed Some understanding Vague sense of the
topic/idea with topic/idea with of the topic with topic or idea
unified substantial unified supporting few supporting
supporting details details details
Language use Excellent command Good command of Understandable Inaccurate words
of language, uses the language, language yet lacks and marked with
varied and accurate somewhat accurate accuracy and with grammar errors that
words to express and with few some grammar affect the message
ideas, and uses grammar errors errors
grammatically
correct expressions
Vocal clarity and Very clear and Clear and varied Somewhat clear and Monotonous and
dynamics appropriately varied voice varied voice lacks vocal clarity
voice

B. On your own
1. Prepare a topic outline of a highly relevant topic.
2. Deliver your extemporaneous speech.

Rubric for extemporaneous speech

Criteria 8-10 5-7 4-3 1-2
Content Fully developed Developed Some understanding Vague sense of the
topic/idea with topic/idea with of the topic with the topic or idea
unified substantial unified supporting few supporting
supporting details details details
Language use Excellent command Good command of Understandable Inaccurate words
of the language, the language language yet lacks and marked with
uses varied and somewhat accurate accuracy and with grammar errors that
accurate words to affect the message
 express ideas, and with few some grammar
grammatically grammar errors errors
correct expressions
Spontaneity and Very natural and Natural and Somewhat natural Marked with long
naturalness spontaneous with spontaneous with with some awkward awkward pauses
appropriate pauses some awkward pauses
pauses
Vocal clarity and Very clear and Clear and varied Somewhat clear and Monotonous and
dynamics appropriately varied voice varied voice lacks vocal clarity
voice
Eye contact/ Maintains eye Maintain eye Inconsistent eye Avoids eye contact
connection contact with the contact most of the contact with the audience
audience throughout time
the speech
Relevance of the Very relevant and Relevant to the Somewhat relevant Of little relevance to
chosen topic useful to the majority of the to the majority of the audience
majority of the audience the audience
audience

A. On the spot

1. Pick from the teacher’s box a quote or a question. From either a quotation or question,
develop a minute of impromptu speech. You may explain, argue, support and/or illustrate
the quote you picked.

Reflecting

1. In what area of public speaking do you feel you need the most
improvement?
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