Chapter 13: Public Speaking & Presentations
Chapter Summary
Key Takeaways
- Fear of public speaking comes from fear of failure or a fear of rejection. Preparing yourself mentally and physically, rehearsing your speech and understand your context will help you be effective.
- Effective public speakers use language aesthetics, storytelling and body language to bring their presentations to life.
Activities for Further Reflection
- Find an essay or project that you created in another class. Then, prepare a 3-minute presentation trying to make your audience care about the topic. Tell the story of your assignment. If possible, record your presentation and pay attention to body language, enunciation, and storytelling.
- Watch the first minute of a TED talk or other public speaking video. Then, write a short paragraph about how the speaker tries to hook the audience in. Consider voice, body language, visuals, storytelling and other elements.
- Think back to the last oral presentation that you did. How did it go? Write a very short letter to yourself giving some advice for improvement based on what you’ve learned.
