Facial expressions: the expression on your face should be congruent with your words. Have you ever listened to someone tell a joke with no expression of anticipation (besides comedian Steven Wright, that is)? How seriously do you take someone who is grinning when they tell you something sad? Allow your face to reflect what you are saying. Variety and flexibility is the key.

Voice: the voice is a powerful tool. Cicero felt it was the most important tool we have in delivery. It can express emotions of sadness, gladness and anger. It can be used to gain attention through a well-placed pause or whisper, or show strength with a momentary boom. This can strengthen pathos. Ethos are also enhanced. A voice which is too quiet demonstrates indecision and a lack of confidence.

Plan pauses and make a note of them in your speaking outline. Pauses can be used at transitions, the punchline of a joke, or as a signal that the conclusion is coming. Make sure your articulation and pronunciation is correct - incorrect speaking will harm your credibility. Rate of speaking also is important to pay attention to: speaking too fast will make your audience feel rushed; speaking too slowly will make them impatient. Overall, variety in the use of the voice is the key.

Clothing: what you wear is as important as the use of gestures and facial expressions. First, wear comfortable clothes, but comfortable APPROPRIATE clothing is the key. The clothing needs to fit the speech, the audience and you. A few years ago when Oregon had a Marijuana Initiative on the ballot, many people went to different organizations in an effort to persuade them to vote in favor of this measure. The speakers usually looked as if they just left the commune in Grants Pass. The business organizations did not take them seriously and failed to listen to their message; the clothing spoke louder than the words.

I once had a student who gave his final speech on being your own boss. He told us he ran his own business, which he claimed was successful. We didn't believe a word he said. He wore a white t-shirt that had holes in it, was stretched out beyond recognition, had a comical picture on the front, and appeared to have been pulled out of the laundry and tossed on. What message was this to us? Think about your clothing - it is as much a part of the speech as the words you say.

Gestures: we do not stand still as we talk to others - we use gestures. But something happens to our brain as we stand before an audience: we tend to stand stiffly. And even if we know we should use gestures, our arms are suddenly made of lead and we can't seem to lift them. Gestures increase interest because they 1) enhance the words and ideas, 2) help the audience see what you are saying and 3) give the audience something interesting to watch. Besides, they are natural. If you have difficulty with using gestures, plan a couple in the very beginning of the speech - your body will relax enough to continue gesturing. The use of visual aids also help you gesture as you put them up, point to different aspects, and take them down. All of these aspects will enhance your speech. But be careful not to use the same gesture over and over. Variety is the key. Movement: you have all the platform available to you - use it to your advantage. We do not stand with our feet planted firmly on the ground like a tree with roots when we talk to our friends; why do we think this is a natural way to present a speech? Movement is good, but purposeful movement is the key to a good speech. A good place to use movement is at a transition. It psychologically prepares the audience that a change is coming. Finish your point, take a few steps as you pause, plant your feet and give the audience the next point. Don't shuffle your feet or do a "crab-crawl" walk (crossing your feet over each other), but plant one foot in front of the other.

If you want to create a closeness with your audience, move toward them. If you have a general or broad concept, move away from them. If you want to include the people on the side, move toward them. But don't pace! Take a few steps, plant your feet, talk and then move on. Variety of movement is the key.

Many speakers want to use the podium. That is fine, but do not lean against it, set your cards on it, or touch it often while you speak. If you do any of these things, you will be bound to the podium and will not be able to move or gesture as well. One way to increase your movement is to use visual aids. You must move toward the visual aid, around the visual aid, gesture toward the visual aid, and remove the visual aid.

Movement and gestures both help you get rid of nervous energy as well as can put it to positive use so your speech will be enhanced rather than distracting from your speech.

Think through the delivery of your speech. As you practice, listen to yourself and think what you can do with your voice and facial expressions and gestures to increase your effectiveness. Then give your shoulders a shake to relax them....and get on up there.

delivery

Persuasion:

To persuade is to try to convince the audience of something. If the main focus of the speech is to change our minds, to get us to do something, to see things in a different way, then it is a persuasion speech. Some people believe persuasion is manipulation. It is. But manipulation is not a negative thing. We are always trying to convince others to see things the way we see them.

Persuasion means convincing the audience through the carefully ordered points of an argument. An argument is a series of connected propositions that are designed to establish a point. It is making a case for an idea or an action. A case is a body of facts which support your statements.

Persuasion is influencing people in your direction by appealing to their own reasons. Aristotle said, "The fool tells me his reasons, but the wise man persuades me with my own." When you take a position to sell your viewpoint, think in terms of the listeners. Ask yourself, "What will they want to know as a prerequisite to accepting these ideas?" If you have analyzed your audience, you will be able to design your arguments to appeal to their values and needs. Persuasion at best is a subtle art. The skilled speaker will not merely show the audience the product or idea, but will identify the reasons to buy.

Think about those door-to-door salespeople. How much of their product would you be compelled to buy if they told you, "I will get to go to Disneyland if I sell more than anyone else!" compared to giving you many different reasons that will show you this product will make your life easier, richer, safer and more productive? By identifying different reasons to buy the product, you are more likely to find a use that fits your needs.

Responsible persuasion is ethical. There are many different ways to appeal to your audience - ethically or unethically. Both work. Ethical appeals allow your audience to think critically and incorporate all three Artistic proofs.

Unethical Appeals:	Ethical Appeals:
Propaganda	Security
Bandwagon Approach	Control
Testimonials	Help Society
Reverence for Authority	Rewards
Mudslinging	Influential
The Big Lie	Feel Better

Unethical Appeals
Propaganda: This is telling only part of the information, or skewing the information to make your position or doctrine look better. It is lying by omission as you only meter out the best (or worst) facts. When you do this in a speech, you are not allowing the audience to think about the ideas in a critical manner. It may work - it does work - but only until your audience gathers more information and can examine it more thoroughly.

Bandwagon Approach: This is telling the audience they should accept your ideas because everyone else is doing it. What did your mother say when you tried to convince her using this tactic? In the late 50's, Elvis' second album was advertised with this slogan, "50,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong!" And non-fans believed indeed those Elvis freaks could be wrong. The bandwagon approach asks the audience to avoid examining the product or idea and to accept it because it is popular.

Testimonials: This is using a famous name to sell an idea or product. We should buy into this because this famous person does. It is similar to the bandwagon approach. It diverts our attention away from the merits of the idea and plays on our desire to be like famous people. Not too long ago actress Teri Garr (Mrs. Mom) was in a commercial for yogurt and said, "You should buy it because I said so!"

Reverence to Authority: This plays on the fact we like to believe those we hold as authorities are beyond error. It is associating the idea or product with an expert. This can be especially misleading when the expert is cited outside their normal field of expertise. A commercial in the past had a man dressed in a doctor's uniform. He walked toward the camera, put his foot up on a chair, looked the camera sincerely in the eye and said, "I'm not really a doctor, but I play a doctor on a soap opera." He then proceeded to sell us pain medication.

All three of these appeals - Bandwagon, Testimonials and Reverence to Authority - can be used to support your ideas. It is not unethical to say such statistics as "three out of every four doctors found..." or some such supporting material. It is unethical if you ask the audience to substitute these appeals for their own judgment. They can only use their own judgment if they are given logical reasons.