FREE ESSAY ON WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE SPEAKER

WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE SPEAKER

Day in and day out we are exposed to different types of speakers. On television we see
reporters, announcers, and talk show hosts. At school we encounter guest speakers and
professors. We may not be asking ourselves if he or she is an effective speaker but
unintentionally we are. We need to have effective speakers in order for us to understand
what is happening now and what has happened in the past. And also to learn about the old
and the new. There are several things to look for in an effective speaker. Some
characteristics are personal presentation, knowledge of material, use of language,
clarity and projection, and the ability to connect with the audience. Consequently, all
those characteristics have an association with one another.
In almost every situation when you are presenting yourself, the first thing that an
audience looks at is your appearance. The way you present yourself and the body language
you use accounts for how the audience perceives you. For example, in the videotaped
motivational speech viewed in class, the speaker was dressed in formal attire. If the
speaker were wearing torn up denim jeans and a stained T-shirt, the audience would not
have perceived him to be informative because of the unprofessional garments. Why would
someone want to listen to a person who does not appear to know what he or she is speaking
about? Being knowledgeable of the material is also essential to being an effective
speaker. As mentioned before, no one wants to listen to a person who is not well
informed. Giving speeches should add credentials to your character. One of the main
objectives I learned in freshman composition was to identify whether or not the author
was credible. The same procedure goes forth in defining an effective speaker. It is
basically common sense, you cannot inform others if you do not fully understand what you
are informing about.
Language has a prominent role in deciphering what makes an effective speaker. Using
various sentence structures, figures of speech, and vocabulary, are a few of the features
speakers use to hook the audience into his or her speech. Using simple, compound, and
complex sentences adds texture to a speech. Using repetition, similes, metaphors,
anecdotes, and other figures of speech gives detail to ideas that are hard to explain by
comparing it to every day ideas. Using a broad spectrum of vocabulary which has a sense
of visual and acoustic involvement can aid the audience to better process your speech.
The use of proper vocabulary helps your audience to clearly understand your thoughts. In
high school, I was a cheerleader and understood the importance of clarity and projection.
Cheering is not like giving a speech, but from a different perspective, a cheerleader and
speaker are both trying get a message across to their audience. A speaker must also be
clear and loud. When you give a speech and emphasize the words, the audience will
understand that the information you are giving out is important. We enunciate and project
our voices in a manner to specify what needs to be heard.
The last and most important characteristic is having the ability to connect with the
audience. When giving a speech, we are trying to communicate with a large amount of
people with different backgrounds and beliefs. A previous professor my freshman spring
semester did not seem to connect with our class. The language he used was complex and his
tone of voice was dull. At times we thought he was teaching to himself aloud. On the
other hand, from the videotaped presentation seen in class, the speaker used comedy,
personal experiences and crowd involvement in order to attract the crowd and keep them
attentive. These traits act as a common ground for the audience and the speaker. Every
speaker needs to be able to identify a common ground and use that to capture the
audience's attention.
There are probably several more characteristics that make-up an effective speaker. We can
identify that the audience connects all of the characteristics listed. Without having an
audience that can understand, there is no reason to speak at all. If I were able to have
one characteristic out of the five listed; it would be the ability to connect with my
audience. As I come to this class as an inexperienced speaker, I hope to be able to find
a common ground with my class in order to speak efficiently.