Spoken Language: Presentation and Formal Speech

Standing up to speak

Giving a prepared talk to an audience is a skill you can learn, not a gift you are born with. A good speaker plans the talk, shapes it clearly, speaks well, and copes calmly with questions. This module works through four skills: - Planning: working out your purpose and your audience before you write a word.\n- Structure and signposting: giving the talk a clear beginning, middle and end, and telling the audience where it is going. - Spoken Standard English: using the formal, widely accepted form of English rather than slang or filler. - Delivery and questions: using pace, pauses, intonation and eye contact well, and handling questions with confidence. None of this needs a loud personality. It needs preparation and a little practice, and this module shows you how.

Words for speaking well

Five terms you need before you use them. Learn what each one means.

Match each speaking technique to its meaning

A formal talk against a casual chat

Speaking to an audience is not the same as chatting with friends. Knowing the difference is what a formal presentation is judged on.

Which opening works best?

You begin a formal presentation to a hall full of students. Which opening is most effective?

• A clear greeting that states your topic and why it matters
• Mumbling an apology while looking down at the floor
• A stream of slang and filler that would suit a chat with friends
• Reading every word fast from a script without once looking up

Tap the two marks of spoken Standard English

Tap the TWO features that belong to spoken Standard English in a formal talk.

• Speaking in full, clearly formed sentences
• Leaving out slang and filler words in a formal setting
• Using casual slang such as gonna and innit throughout
• Trailing off and leaving thoughts unfinished

Signpost the way through

An audience cannot re-read a talk the way a reader can re-read a page, so you have to guide them as you go. Near the start, tell them the plan: say how many main points you have and what they are. As you move on, mark each turn with words such as first, next and finally, so nobody gets lost. At the end, gather your points together in a short summary before you stop. Guiding the audience like this, from the plan at the start to the summary at the close, is what keeps a talk clear even when the ideas inside it are hard.

Pick the true speaking facts

Select the TWO statements that are true.

• A well-timed pause can make an important point land more strongly
• Eye contact helps hold the attention of the audience
• Reading fast from a script with no eye contact keeps an audience gripped
• Spoken Standard English means using as much slang as possible

Order how to prepare a presentation

Put the stages of preparing and giving a formal talk in the order you would work through them.

• Work out your purpose and who your audience is
• Gather your ideas and choose your main points
• Put the points in a clear order with a beginning and an end
• Rehearse aloud, checking your timing and delivery
• Deliver the talk and then answer questions

One student, one strong talk

Follow how one student, Amara, prepared and gave a short talk on why the school should plant a garden. Planning: she worked out her purpose and her audience, gathered her three best reasons, and put them in an order that built up to her strongest point. Delivering: she stood tall, spoke in clear formal English, kept a steady pace, and looked around the hall rather than down at her notes. Early on she asked the hall whether anyone truly loved grey concrete, then let the silence do its work. Finishing: she drew her three reasons together, thanked her listeners, and answered two questions calmly without rushing. None of it was luck. She had planned the shape, told them what was coming, rehearsed the delivery, and thought about her listeners at every step.

Complete the spoken language facts

A prepared talk given to an audience is a _____. Guiding listeners through the talk so they always know where it is going is _____. The formal form of English expected in such settings is _____ English. A question asked for effect rather than for an answer is a _____ question.

Build a speaking point

Choose the words that complete this statement about a strong talk.

The spoken language run

Five questions on giving a formal presentation. Three lives.

Handle the moment

Read each moment in a presentation and choose the best response, then think about why.

• Halfway through your talk you suddenly lose your place. What is the best response?
• An audience member asks a question you did not expect. What should you do?
• You have five minutes but far too much material to fit. What is the wise choice?

Explain how to give a strong presentation

A student in the year below is nervous about giving their first formal presentation. Explain how to do it well using what this module has covered.

• Explain how to plan a talk around its purpose and audience
• Explain how structure and signposting help the audience follow
• Explain why spoken Standard English suits a formal talk
• Explain two features of good delivery, such as pace, pauses or eye contact
• Finish by explaining how to handle audience questions well