Effective Communication

Know speaker’s own needs

Know the content
Give life to those ideas
 Exhibit a strong presence
Able to relate to the needs of the audience
• Respect the audience
• Speak with flair, poise, authority and a great
sense of timing
• Gain the audience trust & confidence
• Catch the audience’s attention
• Exhibit enthusiasm & deep sincerity
• Gesture: hands, arms, head, shoulders, facial
expression
• Good voice control
 Speech Communication process

• Clarity of speech: simple language,

straight forward sentences, medium
lengths
• Brevity: do not put forward too many
points at one time
• Precision: Choice of words:
• About 800 vs hundreds of
• Three-quarters vs the majority
• To be finished by 4 p.m. vs as soon as
possible
• Complete picture vs overall picture

• Clarity of pronunciation & intonation

• Body language & gesture
 Seven elements in communication

• The Speaker
• The Message
• The Channel
• The Listener
• The Feedback
• The Interference
• The Situation
 Structure of a speech
• Introduction
• Get the audience’s attention
• Greet the audience
• Reference to a recent event
• State the topic & purpose of speech
• Preview the main points (thesis statement)
• Body
• Signal the first main point: My first point …
• Supporting details: One way…, another
example…, furthermore…,
• Internal summary: These are all examples
of …
• Introduces the second point: Apart from…,
another way is…
• Signal the last main point: My final point
is…
• Conclusion
• Signal the end: In conclusion, from the
points I have made in my speech…
• Summarise the points: I hope you are
convinced that…
• End with a provocative thought or question
(high note)
 Signposting (Introduction)
• I’ll be developing three main points
– First, I’ll give you…
– Second,…
– Lastly,…

• My presentation will be in two main parts;

in the first part, I’ll…
And then my partner’ ll …
 In the middle of the speech
• I’ll begin by…
• Let’s start with…
• If I could now turn to…
• My next point is…
• Now, turning to…
• Now, what about…?
• Let me now move on to…
 Summaries
• So that’s the general picture for …
• and now let’s look at…
• That completes my overview of…
• so now I’d like to move on to…
 Get the attention & interest of your
audience
• Cite a startling fact or statistic about your topic
• Ask a question or a series of questions
• Begin with a quotation
• Tell a dramatic story or an anecdote
• Refer to a recent event
• Make your audience curious
• Rhetorical question (when answer is obvious)
• Humour
• Refer to your audience
 How to structure the content of a
speech
• Chronological Order
• Spatial Order
• Topical Order
• Comparison-Contrast Order
• Cause-Effect Order
• Problem-Solution Order
How to plan an effective conclusion
• Let your audience know you are near the
end
– In conclusion,… Finally,… I would like to
conclude by saying that… In closing I
would/like to repeat that/emphasise
that/remind you…

• Repeat the central idea

– Summarise/restate your main points
• End on a high note
– End with a quotation
– Make a dramatic statement
– Refer to possible future action
– Pose a challenge or ask a question (A-Call-to
Action Method)
 How to use Visual Aids
• Use visual aids sparingly
• Use visual aids pictorially (graphs, pictures)
• Present one key point per visual
• Make text & numbers legible (min: 18 pt)
• Use colour carefully (3-4, colours contrast)
• Make visuals big enough to see
• Graph data (avoid tabular data: tables)
• Make pictures & diagrams easy to see (labels)
• Make visual attractive
• Avoid miscellaneous visuals