The art of public speaking involves presentation and demonstration. It is one of the best ways of enhancing the corporate image and presenting customer benefits. A whole range of promotional supports can be used to help get the message across from booklets and flip charts to slides, videos and samples. The presentation should try to tell the product story and how the product is going to make or save money.
One of the most important things is source credibility. A person or company has to be believable. There are different dimensions of credibility. Different audiences will go for different things but generally a few things are more effective than others. The speaker should, if possible, appear to be authoritative. An intelligent, informed and competent speaker will be more persuasive and believable than someone who doesn't know the product. A likeable and reassuring character is often better. People who are well known to the audience before the speech and have a reputation in the subject or product will be easier to believe than others. An image created as a result of speech however may have more impact and generate more word-of-mouth effects.
The mode of delivery of a speech or talk can affect the outcomes of a presentation. Some people like to read from a manuscript or notes or cards. A certain amount of preparation will therefore be required. Preparation is always advisable anyway. Impromptu, memorised or extemporaneous speeches are great when delivered by charismatic and capable people but can lead to disaster if delivered by someone who simply has not prepared properly. It may occasionally depend on the type of presentation.
A good speaker or presenter will research the audience. A purpose oriented demographic analysis will give the relevant data and this will differ from one audience and place to another. A lot depends on listener persuadability. Some people are open or susceptible to persuasion, others are more closed. It may pay to find out a bit more about the audience before setting expectations too high.
The message is usually what the presentation is all about in business and marketing. Presentations cover so many categories. The subject should be topical and interesting. Materials for supporting the message and promoting the subject or product can be very important. The speaker should support the speech with examples, statistics, quotations and analogies. One of the aims will be attitude change. It could be immediate or it could take a long time. Visual aids can be helpful to illustrate meanings difficult to convey with only words. Use of language can be very effective. Vividness and use of metaphor can make a great impression. Aristotle considered the use of metaphor to be the mark of genius. A speaker shouldn't take too long to get a meaning across. Meanings can sometimes get lost in too many words. Humour and satire are popular ways to win over an audience if in good taste. Occasionally an appeal to fear may be necessary.
It can be worthwhile considering how much change to attempt. Different people have different latitudes of acceptance. There is always the danger of a backlash, boomerang or contrast effect. You cant change everything overnight, but you must try.
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