Student Leadership: The 8 Presentation Skills in the Speaker's Checklist

Great public speaking skills are the hallmark of an effective leader. As teen leaders develop leadership skills, they will also need to develop their speaking skills. After all, who wants to hear speeches from a robot? Someone who is interesting to watch and listen to will have amazing success in getting their ideas across.

How to Give More Effective Speeches

    Sue has to give a speech to her fellow youth group members about activity planning. She has not given many speeches before, and wants to make a good impression on her peers. She has seen effective speakers give speeches, and they seem natural at it. She wonders, "What is their secret... "

The secret is practicing presentation skills. Student leaders need to follow a checklist of presentation skills when practicing, so they will feel comfortable using the skills in their speeches. These skills are important in helping speakers get their messages across in an interesting and persuasive way.

The 8 Presentation Skills in the Speaker's Checklist

1. Eye Contact

    Displays confidence
    Establishes a relationship with audience members
    Allows the speaker to monitor the audience's interest and adjust accordingly
    Makes the speaker more personable

2. Gestures

    Makes the speech more dramatic and interesting
    Helps to illustrate points
    Helps bring the speech "to life"

3. Movement

    Adds animation
    Can be distracting if not used properly

4. Vocal Variety

    Emotions can be expressed with pitch and volume
    Speed of speech can affect the tone of the message
    Pauses
    Can be very effective
    Gets the audience's attention
    Allows the audience to catch up to or reflect on a main point

6. Props

    Makes a speech more interesting
    Can add humor to the speech

7. Other Visual Aids

    Can help the speaker illustrate an idea
    Can add color and visual effects to make the speech more interesting
    Can help the speaker relax by taking focus off of him or her
    Can help reinforce the main points of the speech

8. Interacting with the Audience

    Involves the audience and makes them more receptive
    Keeps the audience focused and paying attention to what the speaker is saying
    Allows the speaker to access different parts of the room and audience members
    Makes the speech livelier and more interesting

Sue's experience

    After Sue expresses her public speaking concerns to her student leadership teacher, Sue's teacher gives her a speaker's checklist to help her practice effective public speaking skills.

    The result - Sue gave an outstanding speech, and her fellow youth group members want to follow her ideas on activity planning. Sue is happy that she used the skills in the speaker's checklist when giving her speech, and she can't wait to give her next presentation.

The speaker's checklist of presentation skills is a must for youth leadership classes. By practicing the presentation skills on the list, youth leaders will soon be giving speeches like the experts as they continue to develop their leadership potential.


Article Source: Dan Meyerson