Public Speaking Essay (Term Paper Sample)

So lectures are boring and research presentations even worse; how would I lecture on such a "geeky" topic and manage to blow my audience away? Well as a speaker, if I get too rigid or lean towards the bulk of the finer details there is a high risk that I will lose the audience along the way. In this assignment I will be critiquing a style of presentation employed by Dr. Manuel Pastor in his speech at the new school of policy and international affairs. The speech is heavy on data and as such only a math enthusiast would be glued to the speaker for long periods. Dr. Pastor has however crafted the speech in an intriguing manner employing simplistic statements and humour to emphasise hard to grasp points.
He introduces his speech on, "The Changing Demographics and the Economic Imperative," with a sense of humour which he intends to use in providing the audience with a background of his past. He also uses the light moments to introduce the topic which his lecture is meant to address in between a joke about the weather. Great speakers often use this stylistic device in order to create a connection with the audience. It is a commonly used by teachers or personalities who intend to deliver or rather share some comprehensive information since it works excellently towards focussing their concentration. As a speaker this connection is very essential since most audience will want to identify with the person they are listening to. By opening up to the audience about the vocal condition, the audience are invited to feel one with the man whom they are listening.
Dr. Pastor is obviously a master of inter twining concentration boosting stylistic devices such rhetoric humour and irony. While humour is not a serious statement, Manuel twists his words and inserts irony in his staments them in his opinion of the data with such skill that it goes to emphasise the importance of what he is speaking about. A good example of this is when he is explaining the graph of the change in composition of the youth, "... and they didn’t die! We would have heard it on fox news and it would be blamed on the president." Of course
Fluency is reflected in the whole length of the speech. It is important that the speaker is aware of the sequence that he wishes to employ in approaching a specific issue. For instance in empahsising the need for policy formulation in the government Manuel points out the case of president Obama’ 2008 inauguration where he explains what policy makers did versus what they should have done. The fact that the speech has been rehearsed is highlighted Rick in his shortened contribution.
While the enormous amount of data provided into the speech is hard to comprehend for ordinary audience Clarity of the lecture is preserved. Drawing data form various sources the speakers have organised the data into visual line and bar graphs which provide the general picture of what is being discussed less the individual data. Manuel hardly uses tone volume and pace modulation. In fact he uses a stable composed tone in his delivery. This tactic does an excellent job in nullifying the spasms of his vocals which would have made his speech inaudible. However, he uses expressions and understands when to pause to allow the audience to process what he has been speaking about.
In terms of his body language the speaker is very skilful in terms of how he uses his gestures. Whenever he is explaining a point e.g. the changes in composition of the population over the last six decades, from 1963 to date, he shifts his eyes between the chart and the audience. This serves to guide the audience to observe as well as listen as they follow in his movements and words. When delivering statistical values, eye contact with the audience is important since it aids the audience to focus on what you are saying hence they can grasp as much of it as possible. Dr. Pastor uses eye contact all through the speech as well as selectively gesturing with his arms to push a point. He always smiles during his dramatic pauses especially after cracking a joke. This invites his rather static audience to go with the flow and appreciate the effort at making a humorous association to the serious content being discussed. All this goes some way towards making the speech more interactive.
Dr. Pastor is faced with the delicate balance of using a moderated academic language while addressing an audience with a lesser understanding of the matter at hand. In this aspect he does what a great speaker ...