Effective Speakers Essay Example for Free

Effective Speakers Essay President William Jefferson Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States is a prime example of what it means to be an effective speaker. Although George H. W. Bush and Bob Dole were highly qualified opponents in the 1992 and 1996 elections, it was Clinton’s presentation skills and ability to work an audience that earned him his back-to-back terms in office. President Clinton â€Å"owned the room† from the beginning of his first presidential debate. Upon being asked his first question, Clinton walked up to the lady seeking answers, squared his shoulders toward her, looked her straight in the eye, and asked her to repeat her name. As soon as she responded with her name, Clinton repeated her name back to her and answered her question passionately and confidently. (Koegel, 2007, p. 06-07). Effective speakers can walk into a room, take the audience by surprise, and deliver a presentation that is both passionate and natural. A presenter does not have to be perfect, nor does the audience expect him or her to be so. According to Henninger (2010), making a mistake, forgetting a segment of your speech, or falling speechless for a moment is okay as long as your presentation has value. An effective speaker knows how to avoid gestures and facial expressions that point out his or her mistakes. Public speaking skills are not inherited. It is a talent and a technique that has become second hand to a speaker through a great deal of practice. Can anyone be an effective speaker? The answer to this question is yes; with sufficient knowledge, tools, and practice, anyone can stand up and â€Å"own the room. † Be Organized An exceptional presenter is one who is organized and an organized presentation is one that has a developed structure. The average human being has a very small attention span; therefore a speaker’s best speech is one that is short and to the point. At most, a good presentation only needs two or three main points. That’s really all the audience wants to hear anyway (Henninger, 2010). The audience is also more obligated to listen to a presenter who looks organized. First impressions are crucial when a presenter is trying to sell his or her ideas, services, or products. Thirty seconds of floundering before the audience can send a negative signal that suggests that the presenter is unprepared and can also create question as to whether or not the presenter is even confident in what it is he or she is trying to promote (Koegel, 2007, p. 45-46). A speaker only gets one impression, so he or she should strive to make it a positive one by looking and being organized. Speak Passionately A presenter must be passionate about his or her topic in order for the presentation to be persuasive. If a presenter is not passionate about the topic, then why should the audience even care about it? Many presenters are guilty of delivering lengthy presentations that painstakingly reinforce their topic. According to communication experts, the time on a presentation should be slimmed down and the energy should be boosted up (Layman, 2011). A presenter should be aware of his or her voice when delivering a speech. If one’s tone is droning and monotone, then the presenter can likely expect to look out into an audience that is either asleep or captivated with something other than the presentation on point. Speak up, speak from the heart, and speak with conviction. In keeping with Koegel (2007), a presenter’s voice is an outward expression of his or her passion. Engage the Audience A powerful speaker is one who can engage his or her audience. People do not particularly care to sit silently through an exhaustive presentation. Most audiences want to participate and be a part of it. One way to engage with the audience is to encourage audience participation. Meet with the audience before the presentation, learn a few of their names, and listen to comments that are being made. When delivering the presentation, the presenter can address these comments and call on audience members by name. Addressing the audience’s issues and demonstrating that time was taken to know them by name builds a relationship with the audience. It is significantly important to make eye contact with the audience as well. By looking people in the eye, a presenter enhances two-way communication as well as encourages and establishes trust and a congenial give and take relationship (Downey, 2011). Many speakers have been given the advice at one time or another to find an inanimate object, such as the wall in the back of the room, and focus in on it when delivering a presentation. By looking over the audience, the presenter can alleviate the anxiety that he or she may be experiencing, correct? Unfortunately, the wall in the back of the room is not going to be the one making the business decisions that day. The audience makes the decisions and if a speaker cannot talk to the audience, then the audience will more than likely seek business with someone who can. Act Natural An exceptional speaker always appears natural. If the speaker looks confidant and relaxed, then the audience will be relaxed. A presenter should stray from giving formal presentations overflowing with facts and statistics; try leaning towards a style that is more conversational, engaging, and full of illustrative stories and current events that relate to one’s topic. Telling a story or beginning a presentation with an anecdote is a good way to break the ice, ease a presenter’s anxiety, and engage the audience at the same time because telling stories is something that comes naturally to humans. However, be sure that the story or anecdote flows with the topic on point. An effective presentation should not sound scripted. Writing out the presentation is okay, but the speaker must then fight the temptation to read it word for word. The written word does not flow nor does it have the same approach as the spoken word. If a presenter feels obligated to write out his or her presentation and follow scripts, then he or she should be sure to lose the official tone and write in the manner that he or she speaks (Koegel, 2007, p. 122). Understand the Audience An effective speaker is one who can connect with his or her audience. According to Koegel (2007), understanding the business, issues, and concerns of the audience is an excellent way to achieve this goal. Before pitching a sales presentation, a presenter should research and thoroughly understand his audience. There are a number of ways one can achieve this, such as researching the company’s website to understand a firm’s morals, beliefs and objectives or another option would be to speak with employees within the organization prior to a meeting. As you present, you should look for opportunities to add value. Researching and understanding your audience is imperative and can present opportunities in which value can be added. An organization is more likely to listen and do business with a speaker who has demonstrated his or her knowledge of the company more so than a salesperson whose only preference is to acquire another sale. Once a speaker becomes familiar with the wants and needs of the audience, the presentation becomes much easier to craft (Mackay, 2011). Practice to Improve Humans are creatures of habit. The human body seeks comfort when placed in an uncomfortable situation. An example of this can be putting one’s hands in his or her pockets or looking down towards the floor. These minute gestures speak on behalf of the presenter and inform the audience that the speaker is uneasy about something. Without practice, a speaker cannot improve on these habits. There are many opportunities during the day to put into practice various speaking techniques. These skills should be practiced during one’s daily routine and not in â€Å"live† win-or-lose situations (Koegel, 2007, p. 6). If a speaker is in need of further assistance, he or she can hire a presentation coach. Effective speaking is not something one inherits at birth; it is a talent that is achieved through hard work and consistent practice. There is no reason to feel ashamed for asking for external help. Baseball great Hank Aaron batted cross handed until a batting coach corrected his style that led him to break Babe Ruth’s home run record. To Aaron and his colleagues, his hitting style before was satisfactory, yet it is often easier and beneficial to receive constructive criticism from outsiders instead of one’s own employees or colleagues (Porro, 2011). The point of this story is that even when someone is good at something already, that person is still not perfect. Practice, whether it is on one’s own time or through the assistance of a presentation coach, may not make a presenter a perfect speaker, but it opens the door for improvement and will make delivering a speech second nature to the presenter. By allowing one’s self to practice these techniques, it is then that the speaker becomes effective.

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In September 1998, Steven Spielberg received the Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany from President Roman Herzog, who expressed Germany's appreciation to the American Jewish director. "Germany thanks you for work that has given us more than you may realize," said Herzog. The film that made the Germans realize that there were maybe heroes among them would be Schindler's List. Yet at that time, Spielberg's subsequent film was also playing in German cinemas--a film that had as its cornerstone the same verse from the Talmud emblazoned on the screen in Schindler's List: "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire." In making Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg inverted that principle to show an entire group setting out to save a single--and virtually unknown--soldier, someone more remote to them than Schindler's people were to him. Saving Private Ryan focuses on Captain John Miller's (Tom Hanks) leading a special squadron detailed to find and save the last son of Mrs. Ryan, whose other three boys have perished on three different fronts. The carnage they must face is so often blamed on their quest that, by the time we meet Ryan himself, he all too readily accepts the burden of guilt. Spielberg's ability to look at World War II first this way, then that, has guaranteed him an altar in the magazine/TV/newsprint edifice that enshrines pop culture--where our latest products are sheltered, framed, hung, and subjected to an examination of ourselves within the work of art. The critical establishment seldom bothers to wire in a feed from Europe, where reactions to Hollywood product can alert us to surprising things about the movies themselves, as well as the auteurs behind them. In Germany, for example, the reception of Schindler's List undoubtedly benefitted from the effect of historian Daniel Goldberg tutoring the people in their proper role as willing villains. Spielberg brought relief by focusing on the hero among them and creating a masterpiece dedicated to their past.

A post war poem, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ snatches at the opportunity to put an abrupt end to political problems worldwide

A post war poem, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est' snatches at the opportunity to put an abrupt end to political problems worldwide, and to avoid any sort of future World Wars. Poet Wilfred Owen shapes this poem around war and its consequences; this is a poem of deep, twisted, emotive imagery portrayed through intelligent poetic devices. The opening stanza draws the reader into the proverbial trench, ‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks' – an example of accessible imagery, used through a simile. The following lines continue to create the atmosphere of war: ‘Coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge', an unpleasant yet easily understandable occurrence. ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est' practically marches the reader to war by emphasising soldiers' hardships at war; travelling to a ‘distant rest', and ‘men march asleep', an effective metaphoric phrase, elaborated upon straight after, Owen states soldiers would be ‘drunk with fatigue', and even after they'd ‘lost their boots', they would ‘limp on, blood-shod, all blind' on this seemingly eternal and insignificant march. Wilfred Owen will have captivated any reader by now to see the poem through to it's end. This poem is of a standard much higher than Owen's other work, as well as many of its time. ‘An ecstasy of fumbling', ‘misty panes and think green light' and ‘a green sea' are all first-rate adjectival phrases portraying further visions of war. ‘And floundering like a man in fire or lime' paints a very descriptive and hideously detailed picture. This stanza's flow is excellent and the rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter really keeping a solid rhythm going. In a small break-off from the second stanza, we have stanza three, just two lines, acting as an anti climax, the predecessor to the final twelve line stanza; this couple of lines links with the previous stanza via its rhyme scheme, it ends with the emotive, meaningful line ‘He plunges at me, guttering, choking drowning' – repetition of ‘drowning' through rhyme, emphasis used to a great effect. This draws us into the ultimate chapter of ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est'. Stanza four is littered with intelligent and effective poetic devices in the way of similes and existential imagery. For instance ‘Like a devil's sick of sin', ‘obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud', two lines, and three similes manage to highlight the repulsive nature of war. Yet more simple yet informative adjectives and verbs paint pictures in the readers mind – ‘Watch the white eyes writhing in his face', sickening yet beautiful. This is followed by ‘If you could see †¦ with such high zest' – a five line cut from the stanza illuminates the poem with brilliance. ‘The blood coming from the froth-corrupted lungs', ‘obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud' and ‘vile, incurable sores' are three examples of emotive, negatively charged poetry. The poem then draws into its infamous close: ‘Dulce et decorum est †¦ Pro patria mori' – Latin, simply translated to â€Å"It's sweet and fitting to die for your country†. This is after playing down war for four convincing and vibrant stanzas. He dubs the saying an ‘old lie', a bold yet shockingly debatable declaration. This ending rounds off the poem impeccably; ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est' rhymes in alternating couplets and uses iambic pentameter in the right places, it's a near-perfect formula not to be missed out on. The poem begins with an introduction to trench warfare and goes on stating the hardships of war and life as a soldier followed by a poetic patch of high-quality description, it proceeds to finish drowning you in a sea of soldiers' sorrow. In a moment of bias, I have to input my own opinion on this piece; it is one of the more interesting pieces of poetry, not too bogged-down, the rhythm throughout the second stanza in particular is excellent. The poetic devices incorporated are done so as effectively as I've ever read, all the similes and metaphors already mentioned in this appreciation fully validate my statement. At the same time the poem doesn't overdo use of imagery and intelligent language, to the point it is so abstract it makes difficult, complicated reading. ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est' provides good balance, making it accessible and easy to relate to. Overall it's an impeccable, negatively charged protest against war, which leaves the timeless question: â€Å"Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori† – Well?

Essay on The New Suffragists - 922 Words

The battle for suffrage was a long and slow process. Many women tried to initiate the fight for suffrage, like Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. â€Å"These were the New Suffragists: women who were better educated, more career-oriented, younger, less apt to be married and more cosmopolitan than their previous generation.† (pg 17) Eventually, in 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified; allowing women to vote, but it was not any one person or event that achieved this great feat. It was the confluence of certain necessary factors, the picketing and parades led by Alice Paul, militaristic suffrage parties and the influence of the media that caused the suffrage amendment to be passed and ratified in 1920. But most importantly, they successfully moved both†¦show more content†¦The parade would place him on notice that this issue was going to be a â€Å"salient† one, a public issue that he would have to contend with, whether he initially was receptive or not. (pg 25-6) Paulâ⠂¬â„¢s primary goal, by contrast, was to send a message to the politicians in Washington, especially Wilson, the parade served to offer a demonstration of power Yet Paul’s attention to aesthetic detail and her efforts to organize a parade of unprecedented scope suggests that she already had a keen awareness of the ability of emotional appeals to develop support for her campaign: by inspiring suffragists, impressing bystanders, and generating admiring press coverage. In April, the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage was formed. The Union set out to recruit members who wanted not only to contribute to the cause, but also to volunteer their time in support of a federal suffrage amendment. When Congress assembled for its special session, the Union was prepared with a coordinated assembly comprised of one woman from each congressional district. Each of the women brought petitions and resolutions from voters in their district, and they arranged appointments with the congressmen and senators to lobby on behalf of the woman suffrage cause. As the Congressional Union moved forward as an independent organization, and as it launched its effort to campaign against the Democrats in the elections of 1914. ByShow MoreRelatedA Number Of Aristocratic Class Women And Men Opposed Suffrage Rights958 Words   |  4 Pagesthe anti-suffragists viewed women s enfranchisement as a threat because the suffragists promised that voting rights would directly lead to an i ncrease in the wage that women were paid. The corporate owners would hire young women between the ages of seventeen and twenty-four and pay them lower wages than their male peers. This implies that women s voting right would only endanger the economic standings of the aristocrat-class women and men. 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