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For your prepared, extemporaneous speeches, follow the guidelines below for at-home practices.

1. Time your speech

2. Practice using cue cards, if necessary

3. Deliver your speech to a mirror, friends, or family, but four to six times only so it doesn't get "stale"

4. Work to remember ideas, not words or phrases

5. Push through the entire speech for each practice (so as not to overwork or neglect any part of it)

6. Practice using your visual aids

7. Make a tape (audio/video) of one or two practices, and objectively listen to or watch the recording

To prepare a cue card, print legibly and highlight each section of your card with a different coloured marker or writing style so that when you speak you can glance down to find each section quickly.

If you are using visual aids, add cues at the appropriate spot (for example, "show it").

On Your Speech Day By your speaking day, you've planned and designed your speech for a particular response from your audience. In other words, you have done your best to plan the focus and content, and you have exercised as much control over the material as you can. You've also practised the speech at home. Now you need to deliver the speech in front of your live audience. Below are suggestions to help you, from the moment you approach the podium to the time you leave it.

Before You Speak

- Approach the podium with confidence and authority

- Get all your "props" ready before you being

- Establish eye contact with the audience and smile before you speak

As You Speak

Eye Contact:

- Begin without referring to your cue card

Maintain strong eye contact through the speech, scanning the room from side to side regularly, and naturally. (Make sure that your head moves with your eyes!). Talk to your audience, not to your cue card or visual aid. Breaking eye contact can be a problem in two different ways: Duration and Frequency. Reading from your cue card for more than a few second breaks eye contact with the audience for too long (duration). Frequent glances to your cue card breaks eye contact with your audience too often (frequency).

Vocal Expression:

- Show enthusiasm with a loud, clear, and animated voice

- Maintain vocal strength. Avoid dropping volume at the end of sentences, which gives the impression of under confidence

- Avoid a rising intonation at the end of statements, which "asks" the audience members if they understand or fires the impression that you are unsure and are asking for confirmation. Instead, drop the pitch of your voice to indicate that you are making a statement.

- Articulate the sounds that make up your words

When a speaker under- or over- articulates words, ethos and professionalism is reduced. Overly precise articulation sounds unnatural, sometimes haughty, and often insincere. Under-articulation is noticeable when the sounds are clipped or changed.

For example, the word 'for' is often heard as "fer", the word 'to' is often heard as "ta", the -ing in the words: 'walking' 'running' and 'smiling' is truncated to sound like "walkin", "runnin", "smilin".

Under-articulation is lazy-speak and sounds overly casual in the context of a speech. Strive for crisp sounds and clean endings to the words you speak.

Posture: - Maintain good posture to express physical confidence - Avoid fidgeting, which conveys nervousness - Keep your hands loosely on the sides of the podium. This position conveys confidence and helps fidgety hands Verbal: - Avoid weak connector (ums, ah, ands). Take pauses instead, and finish sentences - Avoid colloquialisms such as "you know", "right", "okay", "so." These are considered weak connectors.

When used frequently they are considered to be a verbal tic. Colloquialisms decreases a speaker's ethos and overall professionalism.

After You Speak

- Finish with a smile and good eye contact

- Leave the podium with confidence

Image Credits:DerrickLimKianSIan, GailJ, Elzes, Sashasibree

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