Write your own humorous material.
- Go through your speech looking for double meanings of words and phrases; for contrasting relationships between ideas, events, situations and people. All of these are possible sources of humor.
- Try free association. Think about your audience: Who do they dislike and why? Who do they like and why? Who are their rivals? What are the hobbies, occupations, and unusual characteristics of well-known people among them? What recent events in the news affect them? What past events? What common sayings or slogans or advertising headlines do they relate to? Take any of these ingredients and search for contrasts, exaggerations, odd juxtapositions, incongruities, ironies. Remember: a joke that relates to the interests of your audience will work three or four times better than one that does not.
9. Hold a silence to demonstrate mastery.Novices are afraid of pause. And they are terrified of silence. Some gabble frantically to prevent the least hesitation in their speech. Indeed, many talented speakers are ruined by breakneck delivery.
Pausation is one of the most effective tools a speaker can use. Pauses in the right places allow significant statements time to sink in; they give the audience space to applaud or to laugh; they separate ideas; they help develop the structure of the speech. Pauses can come at the end of a ‘paragraph’ or group of sentences; at the end of a sentence; in the middle of a sentence; several times within a sentence; or even after every word in a sentence. Pauses can last one second or four or five seconds. Or they can be long ringing silences of eight or ten seconds. Pauses always seem much longer to the speaker than to the audience. This is because he cannot see himself. For the audience, the change of the speaker’s expression, how he moves his head and body, are events that help fill in the gap. To prove this to yourself, record a speech both on a tape recorder and on a video recorder. When the voice tape is played back, some silences will seem quite long; but when the video tape is screened those silences will probably disappear. Silences become awkward when it is obvious they are unintentional. The speaker stops at an inappropriate point, maybe in mid-sentence, his face shows concern, he fumbles with his notes. It is obvious something has gone wrong.
Awkward silences usually occur when the speaker loses concentration and becomes too self-aware. Instead of focusing on what he should be saying, instead of giving out to his listeners, he becomes too conscious of the audience pressing in upon him – and in the worst situation his ‘mind goes blank’. (Actually, it doesn’t go blank. Quite simply he starts thinking of the audience, not of his speech.) The remedy for this is: don’t panic. Above all, don’t look worried. Stay calm as you pick up your thread once more. Generally, however, silences are golden. The ability to hold a long silence and make it seem natural, is the mark of a gifted speaker, which clearly demonstrates his mastery over the audience.
10. Welcome interruptions. Some speakers are terrified that someone will interrupt them with a question or comment. Actually, this is one of the best things that can happen, because it shows that someone in the audience has engaged with what you’re saying, and, if you have the time to offer a brief response, it can actually lead to genuine progress on the point you were making. And two-way conversation (assuming you’re minimally good at it) is always a tension-reducer.
Appendix 4. Oral presentation evaluation form
Name of Presenter _______________________________________________________________________
Topic: _______________________________________________________________________
Rate the speaker on each point listed below by using this scale:
| Poor 1 | Fair 2 | Average 3 | Good 4 | Excellent 5 |
Content
______ Extent of coverage
______ Difficulty level of coverage
______ Clarity of coverage
______ Interesting
Organisation
Overall
______ Coherent, good coordination, easy to follow
______ Concise
______ Clear
______ Appropriate
Introduction
______ Gained the audience’s interest and immediate attention
______ Stated purpose clearly
______ Identified the topic and defined the scope of the presentation
Body
______ The main points were supported with details
______ Documented facts where necessary
______ Transitions were made between the main points to enable the listener to follow the development of the presentation
______ Sounded believable
______ Sounded persuasive
______ Informative: something was learnt
Conclusion
______ Signal the ending
______ Summarised main points
______ Closed smoothly
Questions & Discussion
______ Responded to questions well
Visual aids
______ Suitable number
______ Varied
______ Design: clear and well-made
______ Relevance: used appropriate visual aids
______ Used visual aids effectively
Notecards
_____ Used effectively
Delivery
______ Appearance
______ Eye contact
______ Facial expression
______ Hand control
______ Body movements
______ Gesturing
______ Voice: Loudness & softness (in general & for special effects)
______ Speed & pacing (in general & appropriacy of pauses)
______ Humor, relaxed, enthusiasm and interest
______ Confidence of presenter
______ Timing
Language
______ Complexity
______ Grammar
______ Pronunciation
______ Stress & intonation
______ Vocabulary
______ Fluency
Overall
What did you like most about this presentation?
How do you suggest this presentation could be improved?
Appendix 5. Body language
Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals subconsciously.
| · Positive body language | |
Eye contact
| Body movement
|
| · Negative body language | |
| · Failing to make eye contact · Do not look at your notes all the time · Looking at the screen/board means your back is turned to the audience cutting contact · Don’t stare, or look blankly into people’s eyes · Avoid swaying back and forth like a pendulum · Avoid leaning against walls · Be aware of your nervous tics · Do not fold your arms like a barrier While one hand in a pocket gives a very relaxed pose, both hands in pockets looks too casual and should be avoided · Avoid an unblinking stare and the same facial expression. Blink normally and nod your head to show agreement, and that you are still alive and not bored to death. If you are bored, don’t suffer. Go find someone interesting. Life is relatively short. Make the most of it. · Avoid touching face when speaking. Rubbing nose, eyes, ears, head, or neck shows doubt in what you are saying or hearing. | · Avoid mumbling. That is an unconscious need to avoid being heard. Do speak up loudly and with confidence in what you have to say. · Avoid poor pronunciation. Speak a bit slower and get it right. You will attract more people you like being around. · Avoid extraneous body movements that do not positively support what you are saying. Finger drumming, scratching, twitching, and darting eyes around room all discredit what you are saying and your image as a person good to know. · Avoid poor posture. Do stand tall and proud to be you and believe in what you are saying. Losers look like losers a block away. Look like a winner! · Avoid hiding your hands and palms. Evasive people with secrets don’t show their hands. (Women show their soft wrist underside to flirt.) · Avoid touching face when speaking. Rubbing nose, eyes, ears, head, or neck shows doubt in what you are saying or hearing. · Avoid closed body postures, like arms folded across chest. |
Appendix6. Sample grant proposal documents
SAMPLE COVER SHEET OF THE PROPOSAL
IREX Special Projects in Library and Information Science with Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia
THE NORTH CAUCASUS AND VOLGA BASIN ACQUISITIONS PROJECT
a proposal submitted by:
Tatjana Lorkovic
Slavic and East European Collections
Sterling Memorial Library
Yale University
New Haven, CT 06520-8240
TEL.: (203) 423-1861
FAX: (203) 423-7231
EMAIL: [email protected]
SAMPLE TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE PROPOSAL
The North Caucasus and Volga Basin Acquisitions Project
Contents of this Proposal
Project Summary............................................................................................. 0
Project Description........................................................................................... 0
Reference cited................................................................................................. 0
Biographical sketches...................................................................................... 0
Budget.............................................................................................................. 0
Special information and supplementary documentation............................... 0
SAMPLE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE PROPOSAL
| BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH | ||||
| NAME Hunt, Virginia Lively | POSITION TITLE Associate Professor of Psychology | |||
| COMMON USER NAME (credential, e.g., agency login) | ||||
| EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, include postdoctoral training and residency training if applicable.) | ||||
| INSTITUTION AND LOCATION | DEGREE (if applicable) | FIELD OF STUDY | ||
| University of California, Berkeley | BSc | Psychology | ||
| University of Vermont | Ph.D. | Experimental Psychology | ||
| University of California, Berkeley | Postdoctoral | Public Health and Epidemiology | ||
Appointments
Positions and Employment
2005- Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Washington
University
2002-2005 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Washington University 2000-2002 Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Middlebury College, Middlebury
2001-2000 Consultant, Coastal Psychological Services, San Francisco, CA
1998-2000 Fellow, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Drug
Abuse