MODES OF
DELIVERY
LESSON 2:
OVERVIEW
Standing before an audience or having a face-to-face communication would put
heavy demands on the speaker and listeners. (Sprague & Stuart, 2010)
To them, information-giving is only a small part of the total
communicative event. This indicates, they continue emphasizing, that though
people meet in public spaces to affirm their sense of belongingness and to act
collectively, it is the combination of voice, body, and personality—as well as the
on-the-spot connection– that makes speech a form of communication with
compelling liveliness. In all situations, this requires a good speaker.
To become a good speaker, one has to project a good voice (full voice specifically)
because the voice has a very significant role in communicating thought.
(Flores & Lopez, 2008)
Research shows (ToastMasters International, 2011) that more than half of all human
communication takes place nonverbally. Additionally, when you speak before a
group, your listeners base their judgment of you and your message on what they see,
as well as upon what they hear. In public speaking, your body can be an effective tool
for adding emphasis and clarity to your words. It is your most powerful instrument
for convincing an audience of your sincerity, earnestness, and enthusiasm.
“Five Principles to Improve your Public
Speaking”
- Roosh (n.d.) article
explains that when you do a presentation or a speech, you have to move around the room,
pace a little, and use the space to convey to the audience that you are relaxed and
comfortable in your environment.
• Be relatable to the audience
• Don't Run After Perfection.
• Visualize Your Success.
• Aim to Inspire People.
• Discipline is the Secret To Excellency.
Aristotle in his “Art of Rhetoric” asserts that the three means of persuasion (logos,
pathos, ethos) strengthen the speaker’s personality/character.
For Aristotle:
Ethos - is a speaker appearing knowledgeable about the topic he is
speaking about. In other words, ethos speaks of the speaker’s expertise about
the subject.
Pathos - allows the speaker to inject more emotions (human nature) to
one’s arguments, which for this singular reason, the use of metaphors and
storytelling becomes a powerful tool of persuasion because the metaphors and
the storytelling can be easily remembered.
Logos - as an appeal to reason makes Aristotle believe it to be the
superior persuasive appeal, and that all arguments should be won or lost on
reason alone.
MANUSCRIPT SPEECH DELIVERY
Pilapil et al. (2017) elucidate that manuscript delivery is a kind of speech often
preferred by people in the mass media. On television, the speaker can follow his/her
manuscript by a teleprompter, and electronic device that unrolls the script line, so
that he can look into the camera as the speech is read. The speaker brings with
him/her the script of the speech that is to be delivered.
Some examples of this type of speech is the keynote address in a conference, the
valedictory address in a commencement exercises, and the inspirational message of
an invited guest.
MANUSCRIPT SPEECH DELIVERY
There is more advantage to this type of speech because the speaker is given enough
time to work on it. The speech is written and is expected to be read. This is also
formal in the sense that the speaker is given time to organize his speech, edit, and
refine to achieve a well-structured speech, devoid of grammatical discrepancies. If
another person is the one tasked to do the speech writing for the speaker, the
speaker must allot time in reading the speech so that the delivery becomes more
natural.
MANUSCRIPT SPEECH DELIVERY
Voice, Mind, Body
• As a public speaker, you should make certain that your voice, in speaking every line,
must be clearly heard by the audience. You must project, throw your voice into the
audience so that it penetrates to the uttermost reaches of the auditorium. Your voice
must maintain believability. You need to strike a balance between credibility and the
necessity of being heard, involving clarity, strength, versatility, and expression.
• You, as a public speaker, must rely on your body as the human instrument or tool to
master and use in oral communication. Your body should create a complete
sensibility of mind, voice, arms, chest, waist, legs, head. Your body as a speaker must
possess a kind of energy that lasts throughout your speech performance: energy with
staying power--stamina!
MANUSCRIPT SPEECH DELIVERY
Voice, Mind, Body
• Your similar to a stage actor, you need to coordinate your facial expressions, your
body movements, your credible poise.
• Your mind should activate your imagination, concentration, and observation. Your
creative and active imagination should dominate your voice and your body. Your
concentration must involve mental disciplines for focus, the argument of your
message from start to finish. You must persuade the audience through your
observation of facts or events in life as the source of knowledge through significant
human experience.
-by A.O. Pesirla
IMPROMPTU SPEECH DELIVERY
Impromptu speech refers to the unprepared presentation of ideas to groups. It solely
considers mental preparation: no rehearsal prior to delivery.
The impromptu speech or spur-of-the-moment speech does not give the speaker
ample time to prepare for his/her talk. One can be requested to discuss, talk, share,
or explain something within the spur of the moment. Thinking time is very limited.
Examples:
If it is a religious gathering, you might be asked to lead the prayer spontaneously.
If it is a wedding celebration, you might be asked to give an inspiring message to the
newlyweds.
If it is a send-off party, please know what to say in such a situation.
IMPROMPTU SPEECH DELIVERY
Padilla et al. (2003) offered some patterns so that any speaker can be guided:
1. The Who-What-When-Where-How Pattern. Asses the situation, the occasion, the
audience, and start answering some questions using the given pattern.
2. The Cause-and-Effect Pattern. A short speech can be created by identifying the
problem and its cause, the effects, and the potential solutions that you can offer.
3. The Past, Present, and Future Pattern. Your knowledge of past events, present
situations, as well as your ability to determine what would most likely happen in the
future can potentially hook your audience on the message that you are delivering.
4. Logical Patterns like Spatial, Deductive, Inductive, Comparison, and Contrast. There
is a need for you to practice using any of the suggested logical patterns in your speech
delivery.
IMPROMPTU SPEECH DELIVERY
The spatial pattern has something to do with description of objects in a given
location.
Following the deductive method would mean crafting your speech starting from the
general to the specific. If you are using the inductive method, it is from the specific
to general.
Organize your speech following the method of comparison if you are trying to
determine the similarities between two objects or persons. On the other hand,
contrast is determining opposing qualities or characteristics.
EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEECH DELIVERY
This type of speech according to delivery is the extemporaneous speech. The ideas that
a speaker will be using are given earlier. It is in the actual delivery, however, that the
speech will be actually crafted. Extemporaneous speaking allots a considerable time for
preparation. Although there is no memorization involved, a speaker relies on an outline
of his speech as a guide as he delivers it extemporaneously.
Reactions from the listeners are considered. With this, the speaker may choose to
adjust his/her speech by aligning the ideas with the reaction of the listeners. Though
this method is flexible because sometimes the speaker can integrate an impromptu
remark, he/she should not lose sight of the ideas that are part of the introduction,
body, and conclusion of the speech.
EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEECH DELIVERY
So, one has to see to it that the subject matter, which is given ahead of time, can be
rehearsed in the mind of the speaker. Sometimes the outline can be written on
notecards.
Timing is significant to make the speech really sound extemporaneously rather than
sound like a prepared speech. (Pilapil et al., 2017)
MEMORIZED SPEECH DELIVERY
Another type of speech according to delivery is the memorized speech. This kind of
speech has to be committed to memory, but spontaneity in thought, as well as in
verbal and nonverbal behavior, is lost. Adjustment to the audience is virtually
impossible. The speaker is expected to rehearse the speech many times over to be
able to deliver it without an script and to make it sound more natural. The challenge
is that one always runs the risk of forgetting parts of the speech. Since it is prepared
or even sounds familiar like oratorical pieces, the listener may find it lacking the
conversational and natural flow.
MEMORIZED SPEECH DELIVERY
This handicaps the flexibility and adaptability of extemporaneous and impromptu
deliveries since one ignores feedback as the memorized speech continues. Thus, this
method of delivery is seldom recommended to anyone.
A memorized speech can also sound “canned”, lacking spontaneity. After many
months of campaigning, a politician’s talk will become a memorized talk. Some
speakers are extremely skillful at memorizing. Some others, who have presented the
same ideas a number of times, will memorize their lines whether they intended
them to others or not.
