the difference of presentation and speech

Speech vs. presentation: What’s the difference?

Written by: Joby Blume
Categories: Visual communication , Industry insights
Comments: 6

the difference of presentation and speech

What’s the difference between a presentation and a speech? Many people use the words interchangeably, but there are two main areas of difference according to the dictionary definitions. Whether one accepts the dictionary definition is another matter – my four year-old daughter sometimes refuses – but that makes further discussion pretty difficult.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), a speech is defined as:

a formal address or discourse delivered to an audience

According to the Scrabble fan’s choice – the Collins English Dictionary – a speech is:

a talk or address delivered to an audience

Note that in the Collins definition, the part about being formal is missing.

Presentation

Both the Oxford English and Collins dictionaries define presentation as including some sort of visual element. The OED definition is:

a speech or talk in which a new product, idea, or piece of work is shown and explained to an audience

Note that this includes the word ‘shown’. The Collins definition is even clearer in explicitly mentioning the use of illustrative material:

a verbal report presented with illustrative material, such as slides, graphs, etc

The Collins Dictionary also notes how the word presentation is used more generally to talk about how things are shown – ‘ the manner of presenting, esp the organization of visual details to create an overall impression’.

Presentations and speeches

Does the distinction hold perfectly? No. Firstly, people use the terms interchangeably, so of course the real world is full of speeches that are called presentations and presentations that are called speeches. Which leads to a natural blurring of the boundaries. Second, some presentations are very formal indeed, and some set-piece speeches (e.g. The State of the Union Address ) can have visuals added to them but without the orator interacting with them.

The boundaries aren’t sharp. But, according to the definition, a speech is a talk or address, and a presentation is a talk with the use of some sort of visual aid.

Speech vs. presentation

Why does this matter? Because giving a speech – for a lot of people – seems harder than giving a presentation. Bad slides are actually worse than no slides . But the reason so many speakers want slides or props is because they find it too hard to deliver speeches, and because effective visual aids makes it easier for them to get their points across.

Effective visuals – that support a speaker – make delivering presentations easier than delivering speeches for most people. Not everyone feels they can hold an audience with simply the sound of their own voice.

Great speeches are, well… great. But they aren’t the same as presentations, and shouldn’t be held up as examples of what those giving presentations should emulate.

P.S. For more on words and definitions, see Meaning and Necessity by Saul Kripke.

Presentation agency or marketing agency.

Industry insights

In the agency world, it’s fair to say that PowerPoint design sits somewhere at the bottom of the pile. Working with a specialist presentation design company will generally deliver better results, with less effort, and typically at lower cost. So why do some companies still not use presentation agencies for slide design?

How to make the ULTIMATE sales presentation

Sales presentations / Sales messaging / Visual communication
Comments: 8

Sales presentations are the cornerstone of many companies’ sales efforts, yet so often they aren’t given the time and attention they deserve. Thrown together at the last-minute, often your sales reps stand up in front of a sales presentation that's nothing more than a glorified page of notes. Read this article for everything you need to make the ultimate sales presentation.

Choosing a presentation design agency

PowerPoint design / Visual communication / Industry insights
Comments: 2

Choosing a presentation design agency for your enterprise is a lot harder than buying a product. With presentation design services, you don’t know what you’re going to get until the project is nearly finished. What you get from the studio isn’t the exact same thing as what any other business ends up with. So how do you choose the right presentation design firm for your company?

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Deference between speech and presentation

Speech Vs Presentation Vs Debate Compitation? Speech: Speech Eleborate In Your Ideas That You Have Crammed(Ratafication). Presetation:To Suggest Anything Infront Of All Student By Using Your Slides Its Own Way That You Have Worked For Project. Debate Compitation:To Disscuss Your Ideas With One Another..

Speech Vs Presentation: Get The Main Difference In 2023

In the world of communication, there are different ways we express ourselves: through speeches and presentations. But wait, what’s the difference between a speech and a presentation? Let’s break it down!

Imagine you’re standing in front of an audience, sharing your thoughts and ideas. That’s a speech! It’s like having a conversation with a large group of people, where you have the stage all to yourself.

On the other hand, a presentation is like a visual aid that accompanies your speech. It can include slides, videos, and other multimedia elements that help to enhance your message and make it more engaging. So, while a speech relies mainly on your words, a presentation adds that extra visual element.

Now that we know the basics, let’s dive deeper into the world of speeches and presentations and uncover their unique features and purposes. Get ready to conquer the stage and captivate any audience with your powerful words and eye-catching visuals!

Looking to communicate effectively? While both speech and presentation are forms of conveying information, they differ in style and purpose.

Speech: Typically delivered orally with a focus on storytelling and engaging the audience.
Presentation: Visual aids such as slideshows accompany the speaker’s message to enhance understanding.
Speech emphasizes the spoken word, while presentations provide a visual component.
Speeches often involve more improvisation, while presentations are carefully planned and structured.
Ultimately, the choice between speech and presentation depends on the context and desired impact on the audience.

Table of Contents

Principales puntos clave

1. Una presentación es cuando muestras visualmente información mientras hablas, mientras que un discurso se enfoca principalmente en transmitir información verbalmente. 2. Las presentaciones pueden incluir diapositivas, gráficos o videos, mientras que los discursos se basan principalmente en el habla. 3. En una presentación, el objetivo es captar la atención del público de manera visual, mientras que en un discurso, el objetivo es transmitir el mensaje de manera clara y persuasiva. 4. En una presentación, las habilidades de diseño gráfico y el uso efectivo de multimedia son importantes, mientras que en un discurso, las habilidades de oratoria y la organización del contenido son fundamentales. 5. Tanto las presentaciones como los discursos requieren práctica y preparación, pero el enfoque principal de cada uno es diferente: visual para las presentaciones y verbal para los discursos.

Comparing Speech vs. Presentation

Speech and presentation are two different methods of communication that serve distinct purposes and have their own unique characteristics. While both involve conveying information to an audience, they differ in terms of format, delivery, and overall objectives. In this article, we will compare speech and presentation, exploring their key features, user experience, pros and cons, price points, and ultimately determine which is better suited for different situations.

Overview of Speech

Speech, in its simplest form, is the act of delivering a spoken message to an audience. It is typically performed by a speaker using their voice, body language, and gestures to convey their ideas and connect with the listeners. Whether it’s a formal address, an inspirational talk, or a persuasive argument, speeches are designed to engage, inform, entertain, and influence.

In a speech, the focus is primarily on the speaker’s delivery and their ability to captivate the audience. The content of the speech is often carefully crafted, incorporating rhetorical devices, storytelling techniques, and persuasive elements to create an impactful message. Public speaking skills, such as voice modulation, articulation, and stage presence, are essential for delivering a compelling speech.

Overview of Presentation

A presentation, on the other hand, is a visual and auditory communication tool used to convey information in a structured and visually appealing format. It typically involves the use of slides, graphics, videos, and other multimedia elements to support the speaker’s message. Presentations can be created using software like Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote, allowing the presenter to showcase data, visuals, and key points in a streamlined manner.

The emphasis in a presentation lies not only on the speaker’s delivery but also on the visual aids and supporting materials used. Presentations often follow a clear structure, with an introduction, main body, and conclusion, allowing the audience to easily follow the flow of information. The visual elements in a presentation can enhance understanding, clarify complex topics, and make the content more engaging for the audience.

Key Features Compared

Speech and presentation have distinct features that set them apart in terms of their format, delivery, and overall impact. Let’s explore these key features and compare the two:

Speech: A speech is primarily an oral presentation delivered by a speaker, relying on their voice, body language, and facial expressions to convey the message. The content of a speech is usually written down and rehearsed, but the delivery can be more spontaneous and interactive.

Presentation: A presentation is a visual and auditory communication tool that incorporates slides, visuals, and multimedia elements to support the speaker’s message. The content of a presentation is organized into a structured format, often using software programs, and relies on both the speaker’s delivery and the visual aids.

Speech: The delivery of a speech is focused on the speaker’s voice, tone, and overall stage presence. The speaker’s ability to connect with the audience through their delivery plays a crucial role in the impact of the speech. However, there is often less emphasis on the visual aspects of the presentation.

Presentation: In a presentation, the delivery encompasses both the speaker’s verbal communication and their ability to effectively utilize visual aids and technology. The presenter must synchronize their speech with the slides, ensuring a cohesive and engaging delivery that incorporates the visual elements.

Speech: The primary objective of a speech is often to inform, persuade, or inspire the audience. Whether it’s a motivational speech, an educational lecture, or a persuasive argument, the goal is to captivate the listeners and convey a compelling message.

Presentation: Presentations are commonly used for informative purposes, such as sharing research findings, giving product demonstrations, or delivering business proposals. The objective is to present information in a visually appealing and organized manner that enhances audience understanding.

Visual Elements

Presentations typically include various visual elements that enhance the delivery and understanding of information. These elements can include:

– Slides: Slides are the backbone of a presentation, containing text, images, charts, graphs, and other visual representations of information. They provide a structure and guide the presenter and audience through the content.

– Multimedia: Presentations often incorporate multimedia elements, such as videos and audio clips, to add variety and enhance engagement. These elements can help illustrate concepts, provide real-life examples, or showcase product demonstrations.

– Animations: Animations and transitions can be used to add visual interest and create seamless transitions between slides or elements within a slide. When used effectively, they can enhance the overall flow and engagement of the presentation.

– Graphics and Icons: Visual elements like icons, illustrations, and infographics can simplify complex information, making it more accessible and visually appealing to the audience.

Interactivity

Speech: Speeches can often involve a level of interactivity with the audience, depending on the style and purpose of the speech. This can include engaging in a question-and-answer session, encouraging audience participation, or incorporating interactive activities.

Presentation: Interactivity in presentations can vary depending on the delivery method and audience. In some cases, presentations may include interactive elements, such as polls, quizzes, or audience participation through live feedback systems. However, presentations are generally more structured and less interactive compared to speeches.

User Experience

Speech: The user experience of a speech largely depends on the speaker’s ability to deliver a captivating message and engage the audience. A successful speech should leave the audience feeling inspired, informed, or moved by the speaker’s words.

Presentation: The user experience of a presentation is influenced by the visual appeal, organization, and clarity of the content. Well-crafted presentations that effectively convey information and engage the audience can leave a positive impression and enhance the overall user experience.

Pros and Cons

Pros: – Powerful delivery: A well-delivered speech has the potential to captivate and move the audience through the speaker’s voice, gestures, and stage presence. – Personal connection: A speech allows the speaker to establish a personal connection with the audience, as they can see and hear the speaker in real-time. – Flexibility: Speeches can be tailored to different audiences and occasions, allowing for adaptability and customization.

Cons: – Limited visual aids: Speeches rely primarily on the speaker’s delivery and the power of their words, which may limit the use of visuals and multimedia elements. – Less structured format: Speeches can be more spontaneous and less rigid in terms of structure, which can sometimes lead to less clarity or organization in the content. – Lack of visual appeal: As speeches focus on the spoken word, they may not offer the same level of visual appeal or engagement as presentations.

Presentation

Pros: – Visual impact: Presentations leverage visual elements to enhance the delivery of information, making it more engaging and memorable for the audience. – Clarity and organization: Presentations often follow a structured format, making it easier for the audience to follow the flow of information and understand complex concepts. – Multimedia integration: Presentations allow for the seamless integration of multimedia elements, such as videos, charts, and images, which can enhance audience understanding.

Cons: – Dependency on technology: Presentations rely heavily on technology and visual aids, which can be subject to technical glitches or equipment failures. – Potential for information overload: If a presentation is poorly designed or overloaded with information, it can overwhelm the audience and make the content difficult to absorb. – Less personal connection: Compared to speeches, presentations may have a less personal and intimate connection with the audience, as they primarily focus on the visual and auditory aspects of communication.

Price Comparison

When it comes to the cost of implementing speech and presentations, several factors come into play. Here are some considerations for price comparison:

– Software: The cost of presentation software can vary depending on the provider and the specific features included in the package. Popular presentation software options include Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, and Google Slides. – Equipment: To deliver a presentation or speech effectively, certain equipment may be required, such as a laptop, projector, microphone, and speakers. The cost of these equipment items can range depending on the brand, quality, and features. – Professional services: If you require assistance with presentation creation, design, or speechwriting, you may need to consider the cost of hiring professionals or consultants who specialize in these areas.

It’s important to note that the cost comparison will vary depending on individual needs, preferences, and the scale of the presentation or speech. It’s advisable to research and consider different options to determine the most cost-effective solution for your specific requirements.

Comparison Table

Which is Better – Speech or Presentation?

When deciding whether a speech or presentation is better suited for a particular situation, several factors need to be considered, including the objectives, audience, and context. Here are three reasons why one might be preferred over the other:

1. Information delivery: If the primary goal is to convey a message in a highly personalized and engaging manner, a speech may be the better choice. A well-delivered speech can establish a strong emotional connection with the audience and leave a lasting impact.

2. Visual impact: If the content to be presented relies on visual aids, such as data, graphics, or multimedia elements, a presentation would be more suitable. Presentations allow for the seamless integration of visuals, enhancing the audience’s understanding and engagement with the information.

3. Structure and organization: If the content needs to be presented in a clear and organized manner, with a predefined structure and flow, a presentation is the better option. The structured format of a presentation ensures that information is presented in a logical and digestible manner, making it easier for the audience to follow and comprehend.

Ultimately, the choice between a speech and a presentation depends on the specific objectives, audience, and context of the communication. Both methods have their strengths and can be highly effective when used appropriately. It is essential to consider the key features, pros, and cons of each to determine the best approach for your specific needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are you confused about the differences between a speech and a presentation? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Check out these commonly asked questions to gain a better understanding of speech versus presentation.

1. What is the main difference between a speech and a presentation?

A speech and a presentation are both forms of communication, but they differ in their intent and delivery style. A speech is typically a verbal address given by one person, often without visual aids, and is more focused on delivering a message or conveying emotions. On the other hand, a presentation combines speech with visual aids, such as slides or graphics, and is more concerned with sharing information or persuading an audience.

Think of a speech as a heartfelt talk meant to inspire or motivate, while a presentation is a more structured and informative way to convey facts or ideas.

2. When should I use a speech and when should I use a presentation?

The choice between using a speech or a presentation depends on your purpose and audience. Use a speech when you want to connect on a deeper emotional level, such as during a graduation ceremony or a motivational event. The lack of visual aids allows for a stronger emphasis on your words and delivery style.

On the other hand, use a presentation when you need to present information in a clear and organized manner. This is useful in educational settings, business meetings, or conferences where you want to enhance audience understanding using visual aids and slides. Additionally, a presentation can be helpful when you need to convince or persuade others by illustrating key points with supporting visuals.

3. How should I prepare for a speech?

To prepare for a speech, start by identifying your main message and purpose. Think about the emotions you want to convey and the impact you want to make on your audience. Craft a clear and concise outline, organizing your speech into an introduction, body, and conclusion.

Practice delivering your speech aloud, paying attention to your tone, pacing, and body language. Use personal stories or anecdotes to engage and connect with your audience. It can also be helpful to rehearse in front of a mirror or record yourself to identify areas for improvement and build confidence in your delivery.

4. How should I prepare for a presentation?

To prepare for a presentation, start by clarifying your main objective and identifying the key points you want to convey. Create visually appealing slides that support your message, using clear and concise text, relevant images, and graphs or charts if necessary.

Practice your presentation multiple times to ensure a smooth and confident delivery. Pay attention to your tone of voice, body language, and eye contact with the audience. Familiarize yourself with the technology or equipment you will be using, such as a projector or microphone, to avoid any technical difficulties during your presentation.

5. How can I engage my audience during a speech or presentation?

To engage your audience during a speech or presentation, consider using storytelling techniques to make your content relatable and memorable. Incorporate interactive elements, such as asking questions or encouraging audience participation, to create a sense of involvement.

Additionally, maintain eye contact with your audience, vary your vocal tone and gestures to keep their attention, and use visual aids effectively to support your message. Encouraging questions or discussion after your speech or presentation also allows for further engagement and interaction with your audience.

Differences between a speech and a presentation (With examples)

In a nutshell, speeches and presentations both involve talking to an audience, but there are some key differences between them. A speech is typically longer and more formal, like the kind you might give at a special event or ceremony. Presentations, on the other hand, are shorter and often involve visual aids like slides or props. They are usually given in a business or educational setting.

When giving a speech, it’s important to use clear and concise language, as well as to connect with the audience on an emotional level. This helps to capture their attention and make your message memorable. In contrast, presentations rely on visual elements to support the information being shared. This can include graphs, pictures, or even videos. These visual aids help to make complex ideas easier to understand.

Remember, whether you’re giving a speech or a presentation, practice is key. The more you rehearse, the more confident and comfortable you’ll feel in front of an audience. Don’t forget to maintain eye contact, speak clearly, and engage with your listeners. By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a confident and effective speaker or presenter.

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What Is the Difference Between a Speech & a Presentation?

by Barbara Bean-Mellinger

Published on 22 Oct 2018

Many people use the words "speech" and "presentation" interchangeably since both involve speaking in front of a group. It's true that both can be dreaded for that very reason. Others note the difference is that speakers in a presentation use visual aids, while those in a speech typically don't. While that's true enough, there are many other distinct differences between the two.

Formal or Not So Formal

Don't tell the speaker giving a presentation in front of the company CEO and other bigwigs that it isn't a formal occurrence. His sweaty palms say otherwise. But, nervousness aside, presentations are given many times throughout the year in business, from sales meetings to conferences, while speeches are reserved for high profile, public events and special occasions like retirement parties and company mergers. Because of this, speeches are more formal. Not that the speaker has to wear formal attire; if only it were that simple to pull off a great speech! Also, the audience is more interested in what your presentation will show them, than they are in you and how you present. Whereas in a speech, it’s just you up there, so all eyes and ears are on you.

Emotional or Just the Facts?

If you think speeches tug at the listeners' emotions while presentations present the facts with visual backup, you're partially right. Speeches make use of anecdotes that pull you in. As you listen you may be thinking, "That's happened to me too!" Or, if the story is unique or outlandish, it leaves you feeling amazed that such a thing happened to the speaker. Stories people can relate to can help presentations, too, but they're not as critical and they can even be distracting. You're already talking and showing visuals; adding stories can seem like too much of a diversion.

Caring Versus Passion

Caring about your work always makes it better. But in a presentation, you can and should dazzle people with your visuals. They're not your backup; they're as critical to your presentation as your explanations. It's a lot like show-and-tell. Without the things to show, you'd have nothing to tell. If you make sure all the charts and graphs you show are easy to understand, your audience will get your messages. A speech, on the other hand, is just you. This is where your passion really comes through, or your lack of it turns your speech into a dud. It's important to decide what your speech's core message is, then build out from that with quotes, anecdotes and humor to convey your message in a memorable way.

Speech and Presentation and More

You may be wondering about other types of public speaking. What's the difference between a seminar and a presentation; or a speech and a lecture? How about the difference between a speech and a debate?

A seminar is different from a presentation in that it's more interactive. While a presentation is given by one person, a seminar involves the participants in some way. It could include small group discussions or a panel. Since seminars are typically several hours in length, they often have many parts that vary in structure to keep people interested.

A lecture is similar to a speech because both are rather formal and one person is doing the talking. Lectures are more often used to teach something, particularly in a college class. Since lectures are typically given during every class period, they aren't expected to be as dramatic or dynamic as a speech, though it might be more motivating if they were!

A debate differs from both a speech and a presentation because it's between two sides that are equally involved. Each side usually takes an opposing view on the debate question or subject. It's often like a contest where, at the end of it, a vote is taken to decide who won the debate.

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman (St. Martin’s Press).

Partner Center

So you’ve been asked to give a speech. Or was it “remarks”? And what’s the difference, anyway? Here at Spring Green Communications, we are experts at drafting speeches and remarks for our clients — oh, and presentations, too. Here’s what you need to know if you’re asked to deliver any of them.

Speech :

WHAT IT IS: A speech is the most formal of these three types of public speaking, and it tends to be the longest and most carefully scripted. Speeches are often given to an external audience on a planned occasion, and they frequently cover “big ideas” about which you or your company are considered experts.

TO BE SUCCESSFUL:

Consider your audience, the venue and the occasion before you get started. Your communications team should track down answers to logistical questions in advance.
Will there be a podium and microphone (and what kind of mic)? Will there be water available? Will the speech be livestreamed or recorded?
What are the main points you need to hit?
What’s your time limit? For most people, a 10-minute speech will run about 1,500 words.
Practice. Read it aloud in a normal cadence to make sure you’re comfortable and it sounds like you.
Will there be time for questions? If so, consider “planting” a question with an audience member to get the session started.
Have a printout of the speech in large font, because technology sometimes fails.

Remarks :

WHAT IT IS: Remarks tend to be shorter than speeches and more informal. You may be introducing someone else, or giving or receiving an award.

You can SOUND impromptu, but you should BE scripted and in your intended “voice.” Don’t let the informality fool you — you need to prepare in advance.
Again, consider the venue. Will you need to climb up to a podium and back down again? Make sure the space is accessible if this will be a challenge.
Two minutes of remarks is only about 250-300 words, so make them count.
Consider putting your main points on a notecard in case you lose track of your thoughts — but don’t read straight from the cards!

Presentation :

WHAT IT IS: A presentation typically uses slides to make a specific point for both internal and external audiences. It can be long or short — but it gives you the opportunity to draw in (or lose) your audience visually.

Don’t just slap your words onto a few PowerPoint slides and call it a day. We work with clients to design slides that are visually appealing but don’t allow the audience to read ahead.
Both the words and the visuals must be scripted to fit your intended voice.
What’s your point? Make sure you have a beginning, middle and end so your audience can follow your story.
Will you be advancing the slide deck yourself, or will someone else be doing it on your cue? Your comms team can find this out for you. They should also work with the event organizers to download your presentation and run through it in advance at the venue.
How big is the room? Will your slides be visible to everyone in the room? Will any video clips you want to drop in be both seen and heard?

If this sounds like a lot of work, well, we won’t lie: It is! But if you want to make a name for yourself and your company, you need to get comfortable telling your story in an intentional way in all sorts of settings and to a wide variety of audiences. We have experience with all these types of storytelling, so if you need help putting together a speech, presentation or remarks, reach out. Together, we can tell your story.

by Donna Gorman

Speech vs. Presentation — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Speech and Presentation

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Public Speaking and Presentations: Tips for Success

This resource includes tips and suggestions for improving your public speaking skills.

Even if you’ve never spoken in front of a large group before, chances are you will encounter public speaking sometime during your life. Whether you’re giving a presentation for your classmates or addressing local politicians at a city council meeting, public speaking allows you to convey your thoughts and feelings in clear ways. Having the right tools can prepare you for successful public speaking and equip you with high-quality communication skills.

Know Your Audience

Different audiences require different modes of public speaking. How you address a room full of preschoolers will vary from how you address a group of professors at an academic conference. Not only will your vocabulary change, but you might alter your pacing and tone as well.

Knowing your audience also helps you decide the content of your speech. For example, if you’re presenting research to a group of scientists, you might not need to define all your scientific language. However, if you present that same research to a group of individuals who are unfamiliar with your scientific field, you may need to define your terms or use simpler language.

Recognizing the extent to which your audience is familiar with your topic helps you center your presentation around the most important elements and avoid wasting time on information your audience either 1) already knows or 2) does not need to know for the purpose of your speech.

Knowing your audience also means tailoring your information to them. Try to keep things straight and to the point; leave out extraneous anecdotes and irrelevant statistics.

Establish Your Ethos and Feel Confident in Your Subject

It’s important to let your audience know what authority you have over your subject matter. If it’s clear you are familiar with your subject and have expertise, your audience is more likely to trust what you say.

Feeling confident in your subject matter will help establish your ethos. Rather than simply memorizing the content on your PowerPoint slides or your note cards, consider yourself a “mini expert” on your topic. Read up on information related to your topic and anticipate questions from the audience. You might want to prepare a few additional examples to use if people ask follow-up questions. Being able to elaborate on your talking points will help you stay calm during a Q & A section of your presentation.

Stick to a Few Main Points

Organizing your information in a logical way not only helps you keep track of what you’re saying, but it helps your audience follow along as well. Try to emphasize a few main points in your presentation and return to them before you conclude. Summarizing your information at the end of your presentation allows your audience to walk away with a clear sense of the most important facts.

For example, if you gave a presentation on the pros and cons of wind energy in Indiana, you would first want to define wind energy to make sure you and your audience are on the same page. You might also want to give a brief history of wind energy to give context before you go into the pros and cons. From there, you could list a few pros and a few cons. Finally, you could speculate on the future of wind energy and whether Indiana could provide adequate land and infrastructure to sustain wind turbines. To conclude, restate a few of the main points (most likely the pros and cons) and end with the most important takeaway you want the audience to remember about wind energy in Indiana.

Don't be Afraid to Show Your Personality

Delivering information without any sort of flourish or style can be boring. Allowing your personality to show through your speaking keeps you feeling relaxed and natural. Even if you’re speaking about something very scientific or serious, look for ways to let your personality come through your speech.

For example, when Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek announced in March of 2019 that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer, he still let his trademark dignity and professionalism set the tone for his address. He began his announcement by saying “it’s in keeping with my long-time policy of being open and transparent with our Jeopardy! fan base.” Later, he joked that he would need to overcome his illness in order to fulfill his contract, whose terms required him to host the show for three more years. Though the nature of Trebek's announcement could easily have justified a grim, serious tone, the host instead opted to display the charm that has made him a household name for almost thirty-five years. In doing so, he reminded his audience precisely why he is so well-loved.

Use Humor (When Appropriate)

Using humor at appropriate moments can keep your audience engaged and entertained. While not all occasions are appropriate for humor, look for moments where you can lighten the mood and add some humor.

For example, just two months after the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan, Reagan was in the middle of giving a speech when a balloon loudly popped while he was speaking. Reagan paused his speech to say “missed me,” then immediately continued speaking. This off-the-cuff humor worked because it was appropriate, spontaneous, and did not really distract from his message.

Similarly, at the end of his final White House Correspondents Dinner, Barack Obama concluded his speech by saying “Obama out” and dropping the mic. Once again, the humor did not distract from his message, but it did provide a light-hearted shift in his tone.

Don't Let Visual Aids Distract From Your Presentation

Visual aids, such as PowerPoints or handouts, often go alongside presentations. When designing visual aids, be sure they do not distract from the content of your speech. Having too many pictures or animations can cause audience members to pay more attention to the visuals rather than what you’re saying.

However, if you present research that relies on tables or figures, having many images may help your audience better visualize the research you discuss. Be aware of the ways different types of presentations demand different types of visual aids.

Be Aware of Your Body Language

When it comes to giving a presentation, nonverbal communication is equally as important as what you’re saying. Having the appropriate posture, gestures, and movement complement the spoken element of your presentation. Below are a few simple strategies to make you appear more confident and professional.

Having confident posture can make or break a presentation. Stand up straight with your shoulders back and your arms at your sides. Slouching or crossing your arms over your chest makes you appear smaller and more insecure. However, be sure you’re not too rigid. Just because you’re standing up tall does not mean you cannot move around.

Eye contact

Making eye contact with your audience not only makes them feel connected to you but it also lets you gauge their response to you. Try to look around the room and connect with different audience members so you’re not staring at the same people the whole time. If you notice your audience starting to nod off, it might be a good time to change your tone or up your energy.

Avoid distracting or compulsive gestures

While hand gestures can help point out information in a slide or on a poster, large or quick gestures can be distracting. When using gestures, try to make them feel like a normal part of your presentation.

It’s also easy to slip into nervous gestures while presenting. Things like twirling your hair or wringing your hands can be distracting to your audience. If you know you do something like this, try to think hard about not doing it while you’re presenting.

Travel (if possible)

If you are presenting on a stage, walking back and forth can help you stay relaxed and look natural. However, be sure you’re walking slowly and confidently and you’re using an appropriate posture (described above). Try to avoid pacing, which can make you appear nervous or compulsive.

Rehearse (if Possible)

The difference between knowing your subject and rehearsing comes down to how you ultimately present your information. The more you rehearse, the more likely you are to eliminate filler words such as like and um . If possible, try practicing with a friend and have them use count the filler words you use. You can also record yourself and play back the video. The more you rehearse, the more confident you will feel when it comes time to actually speak in front of an audience.

Finally, Relax!

Although public speaking takes time and preparation, perhaps one of the most important points is to relax while you’re speaking. Delivering your information in a stiff way prevents you from appearing natural and letting your personality come through. The more relaxed you feel, the more confident your information will come across.

9 Differences between Presentation and Public Speaking?

By: Author Shrot Katewa

People often confuse presentation with public speaking. After all, both require you to speak in front of an audience. But, there are subtle and important differences between a presentation and public speaking. It is better to understand this difference so that we can prepare accordingly and get the best results!

So, in this article, I will be sharing with you a few key differences between a presentation and public speaking. So, let’s get started!

1. Communication Format

Traditionally, Public Speaking is giving a speech face to face to a live audience. It comprises various forms of spoken communication skills ranging from imparting a speech or debate to motivational speaking to storytelling to Ted talks to entertaining such as a standup comedian.

However, with technological advancements, such as video conferencing, the concept evolved. In modern times, public speaking can be defined as any form of speaking between the speaker and the audience.

On the other hand, a presentation comprises spoken and visual communication. It may be a slide show or an audiovisual presentation. The topic is presented not only verbally but also by displaying content in writing supported with charts, tables, images, or text.

2. Skills Required

Image showing crowd responding to the presentor

Public speaking is the act of presenting a topic verbally. It is often used as a medium to transfer information, but most importantly, to motivate and encourage the audience.

That said, the only input that goes into public speaking is the speaker, his or her verbal talent and style of communication, all elements displayed collectively as a package.

Whereas presentation requires the presenter to combine verbal and written content and to work with visual presentation programs such as Microsoft power point or Google slides.

3. Time for Preparation

Public speaking is more of an art than just a skill. While you are expected to do a good job when you have time at hand, but a good orator is the one who has the skills to resonate with the audience even when he or she is put on the spot!

At times public speaking may be spontaneous such as extempore. Extempore is a speech that is delivered without preparation. The speaker is given a topic on the spot and is given a minute or two to prepare on the same.

Compared with this presentation is a prepared act. Before the presentation, the presenter is ready with all the required information and facts intertwined in a pre-defined sequence. More often than not, a presentation is on a specific topic and the presenter is given ample amount of time for preparation.

4. Creativity Index

Public speaking is an art that is creative. It may be formal or informal in nature. The style of delivery of every individual is different from others. Every speaker possesses few unique qualities and has complete freedom to design his or her communication style.

Presentation is usually a formal offering. It is a form or act that has to be delivered according to certain pre-set instructions and guidelines. The presenter has limited scope and freedom to divert and add creativity to the presentation. For instance, the most common scope of limitation is the amount of time available to deliver a presentation.

5. Purpose of the Speaker

One of the forms of public speaking is debate. In a debate, every participant speaks either in favor or against the topic. The participant has to convince the audience to agree with his stance – whether right or wrong!

Most forms of public speaking work in a similar fashion. The purpose of the speaker is to convince the audience to agree with the stance of the speaker.

However, in a presentation, a topic is presented comprehensively. The topic is explained in detail highlighting various related points such as advantages, disadvantages, improvement areas, resolution plan, targets, or rewards. The primary aim of the presenter is to educate the audience on the topic, and perhaps drive a call to action.

6. Elements for Effectiveness

Effective public speaking requires the speaker to deliver so efficiently that at the end the audience stands out thrilled, amazed, and persuaded.

An impressive delivery secures more marks than intelligent content. A number of elements such as spontaneity, presence of mind, voice modulations, facial expressions, eye contact, or body language go into the making of an effective speaker. For example, in a singing reality show a participant is judged not only on the basis of his voice quality but also on the way he presents himself while singing, popularly known as the X factor.

Unlike public speaking, a presentation focuses more on content rather than on communication style. The key responsibility of the presenter is to provide the audience with detailed information on the topic covering all its aspects.

An example that may be quoted is that of an author narrating a story through a kid’s YouTube video. In the video, the author narrates the story using various voice modulations to make it entertaining for the kids and to make them feel every emotion of the characters. This case portrays the modern form of public speaking where face-to-face interaction has been eliminated.

At the same time the author presents the story using text, pictures, animations or effects in the video to make the kids visualize the characters and understand the flow of the story.

7. Size of the Audience

In public speaking, a speaker can address an audience ranging from a group of few people to a large gathering with thousands or millions of people. An interview wherein two people are in conversation with each other or a motivational speaker addressing a huge crowd may both be considered examples of public speaking.

On the other hand, a presentation is made to a defined set of people organized together in a small or mid-sized group with a limited number of members. To cite an example, students presenting a case study to the classmates or an advertising agency presenting to its prospective client.

Most large forms of presentations won’t usually exceed an audience that can fill an auditorium often limited to a few hundreds. Whereas, for public speaking, the audience can be a large gathering of thousands of people in a ground!

8. Type of Audience

Generally speaking, the type of audience present during a public speaking event is usually a group or a mass of unknown people. The speaker is neither acquainted with the audience nor related to it in any way. For instance, when a spiritual speaker addresses a group of people he is not familiar with the members of the audience.

As against it, in case of presentation the audience comprises a set of people who are familiar with the speaker. Citing the example of a business presentation, say a supervisor presenting to his team the road map to be followed to meet the annual targets, the presenter and every individual in the audience are connected to each other in professional capacity.

9. Motive of the Audience

In public speaking, the people listening to the speaker do not have a common vested interest and every individual in the audience has his own personal motive to fulfill. To elaborate, using the prior example of a spiritual speaker, it is possible that one individual may have resorted to spirituality to overcome his condition of depression and another individual may be listening to the speaker to learn how to control his anger.

Contrary to the above, in the case of a presentation, all the members participating in the presentation and the speaker have a common vested interest towards which they all intend to work collectively. Drawing from the prior example of a business presentation, the supervisor and all the team members have a common goal of achieving the annual targets.

Difference Between Public Speaking And Presentation: Explained

Delve into the world of Difference Between Public Speaking and Presentation. Gain insights into the fundamental distinctions between public speaking and presentation skills. Explore the nuances of each, uncover the key differences, and highlight the surprising similarities. Discover strategies to master both public speaking and presentation skills.

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So, by gaining a deeper understanding of the Difference Between Public Speaking and Presentation, you can leverage these skills appropriately in various scenarios. But how are they different, and how can they enhance your ability to influence others? Worry no more.

Read this blog to learn about the Difference Between Public Speaking and Presentation. Also, explore the key elements and techniques that make each of these unique.

Table of contents

1) Understanding Public Speaking

2) Exploring Presentation skills

3) Public Speaking and Presentation Skills – Key differences

4) Similarities between Public Speaking and Presentations

5) How can you master Public Speaking and Presentation skills?

6) Conclusion

Understanding Public Speaking

Public Speaking is a powerful form of communication that allows individuals to deliver a message, express their thoughts and ideas, and engage with an audience. It is a skill that plays a significant role in various aspects of life, from personal relationships to professional success.

Public Speaking is the act of speaking to a group of people in a formal or informal setting to convey information, persuade, inspire, or entertain. It involves effectively delivering a message through verbal communication, utilising language, tone, and body language to captivate and engage the listeners.

Importance of Public Speaking Skills

Developing strong Public Speaking Skills is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it empowers individuals to articulate their ideas confidently and clearly. Delivering a Presentation in the workplace, speaking at a conference, or even expressing oneself in social settings, the ability to communicate effectively can greatly impact how ideas are perceived and understood.

Secondly, Public Speaking Skills are essential for professional growth and success. Many leadership positions require individuals to be able to address and inspire teams, present ideas to clients, and represent their organisations in public forums. Mastering the art of Public Speaking can significantly enhance career prospects and open doors to new opportunities.

Elements of Effective Public Speaking

To become an effective Public Speaker, several elements should be considered:

a) Clear and concise message delivery: A successful Public Speaker communicates their message clearly, ensuring the audience understands the main points and takeaways.

b) Engaging storytelling techniques: Storytelling captivates an audience and helps them connect emotionally with the speaker's message. Incorporating anecdotes, examples, and narratives can make the speech more memorable and impactful.

c) Effective use of vocal variety and body language: Public Speaking is not just about words; it’s about how they are delivered. Skilful use of the vocal variety, such as tone, pace, and emphasis, can add depth and meaning to the speech. Similarly, utilising appropriate body language, such as gestures and facial expressions, enhances the speaker’s credibility and engagement with the audience.

Exploring Presentation skills

Presentations are a common and essential form of communication in various professional and educational settings. It can be defined as a structured communication process that involves delivering information to an audience using visual aids such as slides, charts, or multimedia.

It serves as a tool to enhance understanding, engage listeners visually, and support the speaker’s message. Further, Presentations can occur in boardrooms, classrooms, conferences, or any setting where information needs to be effectively communicated.

Importance of Presentation skills

Developing strong Presentation skills is essential in today’s fast-paced and visually-oriented world. Whether in business, academia, or other professional fields, the ability to deliver compelling Presentations can make a significant impact.

Effective Presentation skills enable individuals to organise content, engage the audience, and leave a memorable impression. To deliver an impactful Presentation, several components should be considered:

a) Clear structure and organisation: A well-structured Presentation follows a logical flow, with a clear introduction, main points, and conclusion. It allows the audience to follow along easily and comprehend the key ideas being presented.

b) Engaging visual design and layout: Visual design plays a crucial role in capturing the audience's attention and conveying information effectively. Using consistent colour schemes, appropriate fonts, and visually appealing layouts can enhance the visual impact of the Presentation.

c) Effective use of multimedia elements : Integrating multimedia elements such as images, videos, or audio clips can enhance understanding and engage the audience on multiple sensory levels. These elements should be relevant, well-timed, and used sparingly to avoid overwhelming the audience.

d) Skillful delivery and timing: A successful Presentation requires effective delivery skills. This includes maintaining eye contact, speaking clearly and audibly, and utilising appropriate pacing and pauses. The timing of the Presentation should be well-managed to ensure audience engagement throughout.

Public Speaking and Presentation Skills – Key differences

While Public Speaking and Presentations are related forms of communication, they have distinct characteristics that set them apart. Understanding these differences can help individuals navigate various communication scenarios effectively. Let’s explore the key differences between Public Speaking and Presentations:

Level of interactivity

One significant Difference Between Public Speaking and Presentations lies in the level of interactivity with the audience. In Public Speaking, there is often direct engagement with the audience, allowing for questions, discussions, and active participation. The speaker may seek audience feedback, encourage dialogue, or facilitate interactive activities to foster engagement.

Presentations, on the other hand, typically have a more one-way communication style. While there might be opportunities for questions at the end, the focus is primarily on delivering the content in a structured manner. Presenters often rely on visual aids and slides to support their message, aiming to inform or educate the audience rather than actively engage them in a dialogue.

Time frame and structure

Public Speaking engagements can vary significantly in terms of duration. They can range from brief speeches delivered in a few minutes to longer keynote addresses that span an hour or more. Public Speakers have the flexibility to adapt their content and delivery style based on the time allotted and the specific needs of the audience.

Presentations, on the other hand, are typically more time-bound and follow a structured format. They often have a designated time limit, requiring presenters to plan and organise their content within that timeframe carefully. Presentations commonly follow a clear beginning, middle, and end, with a predefined agenda or outline to guide the flow of information.

Use of visual aids

Visual aids are crucial in Presentations, supporting the content being delivered. Presenters often rely on slides, charts, graphs, or other visual elements to enhance understanding and engage the audience visually. These visual aids serve as a complementary tool, reinforcing key points and visual representation of data or concepts.

In Public Speaking, the use of visual aids is not as prevalent. While speakers may incorporate visual elements sparingly, the focus is primarily on the verbal delivery and the speaker’s ability to captivate the audience through storytelling, rhetoric, or personal connection. Public Speakers rely more on their communication skills and the power of their words to convey their message effectively.

Emphasis on persuasion vs. information

Another Difference Between Public Speaking and Presentations lies in the emphasis on persuasion versus information. Public Speaking often aims to persuade and influence the audience. Whether it’s convincing them to adopt a certain viewpoint, take action, or change their perspective, Public Speakers utilise persuasive techniques such as rhetoric, emotional appeals, and logical arguments to sway the audience’s opinions or attitudes.

Presentations, on the other hand, primarily focus on providing information and delivering content clearly and concisely. While there may be elements of persuasion involved, such as influencing the audience’s understanding or decision-making process, the primary goal of a Presentation is to convey information accurately and effectively.

Degree of formality

Public Speaking and Presentations also differ in terms of formality. Public Speaking can encompass a wide range of settings, from formal events such as conferences or academic lectures to more informal gatherings or impromptu speeches. The level of formality may vary depending on the context and the expectations of the audience.

On the other hand, presentations tend to be more structured and formal. They often involve preparing and delivering information professionally, such as in business meetings, educational settings, or corporate Presentations. Presenters are expected to adhere to certain guidelines and standards of professionalism in their delivery.

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Similarities between Public Speaking and Presentations

While Public Speaking and Presentations have distinct characteristics, they also share several similarities that contribute to effective communication. Understanding these commonalities can help individuals enhance their skills in both areas. So, Let’s learn about the similarities between Public Speaking and Presentations:

Effect on the audience

Both Public Speaking and Presentations can be measured in terms of their effectiveness. In both scenarios, the speaker's ability to engage the audience, convey the intended message clearly, and leave a lasting impact are crucial factors.

Evaluating the audience's response, feedback, and level of understanding can provide insights into the effectiveness of both Public Speaking and Presentations.

Communication skills

Effective communication skills are vital in both Public Speaking and Presentations. Clear articulation, proper use of body language, tone of voice, and the ability to engage the audience are essential elements for success. Whether it's capturing the attention of the listeners during a Public Speaking engagement or delivering a compelling Presentation, honing communication skills is critical in both scenarios.

Audience size

The size of the audience can vary in both Public Speaking and Presentations. While Public Speaking often involves addressing a larger audience, such as in conferences or seminars, Presentations can range from small groups to larger gatherings. In both cases, speakers need to adapt their communication style, engage the audience, and tailor their content to meet the expectations and needs of the listeners.

Creativity window

Both Public Speaking and Presentations provide an opportunity for speakers to showcase their creativity. Whether using storytelling techniques, incorporating visual aids, or employing rhetorical devices, creativity plays a significant role in capturing the audience’s attention and conveying the message effectively. The ability to think outside the box and present ideas in an engaging and innovative manner can elevate both Public Speaking and Presentations.

The overall goal of the speaker

While the specific objectives may vary, the overall goal of the speaker remains consistent in both Public Speaking and Presentations. It is to effectively communicate a message, share knowledge, influence opinions, or inspire action. Whether it's delivering a motivational speech or presenting a business proposal, the speaker aims to engage the audience, leave an impact, and achieve the desired outcome.

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How to master Public Speaking and Presentation skills?

a) Research and analyse your audience to tailor your content and delivery to their interests and needs.

b) Craft concise messages that are easy to understand, avoiding jargon or complex language.

c) Rehearse your speech or Presentation multiple times to build confidence and improve delivery.

d)Use appropriate gestures, maintain eye contact, and control your vocal tone to enhance communication.

e) Incorporate visual elements such as slides or props to enhance understanding and engagement.

f) Encourage interaction, ask rhetorical questions, or use storytelling techniques to captivate the audience.

g) Be flexible in adapting your communication style to different formal or informal settings.

h) Be yourself and let your passion and enthusiasm shine through in your delivery.

Conclusion

Understanding the Difference Between Public Speaking and Presentation skills is a valuable asset that can greatly enhance your communication abilities. By understanding these differences, you can become a confident and compelling communicator, making a lasting impact on your personal and professional endeavours. Learn how to communicate effectively and become a catalyst of change with our Communication Skills Training .

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Speech vs. Presentation: Know the Difference

Key Differences

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The Difference Between Presentation & Public Speaking

Believe It Or Not, They’re Very Similar

What do public speakers and presenters have in common? Well, in the first instance, they face the same challenges. Overcoming ‘ stage fright ,’ pitching their voice at the right level, understanding their audience, and researching content to ensure their facts are correct, are just some of the skills needed for anyone interested in public speaking or building presentations.

Overall, though, the ambitions of the two are almost identical; and so it stands to reason that the novice public speaker will benefit from attending courses originally designed with the professional presenter in mind.

Read more: 5 Pitching & Presentation Tips

What Are The Similarities?

If you are considering – or perhaps even practicing – public speaking, then you already have one thing in common with the person looking to learn presentation skills: an audience . The remaining similarities are a little more complex – but certainly not difficult to understand or learn given the right mentor and learning environment.

The points we’ve outlined below have been taken directly from some of our best-selling presentation courses and underline the extent to which they overlap with the objectives of an aspiring public speaker:

1. You Need An Objective

Whether you’re selling, explaining – or just want to improve your self-confidence – you’ll need to have an aim. This could be teaching your audience something new, pitching a product or service, or even telling them a funny story. Public speakers, like presenters, must, therefore, structure their dialogue around this central ‘theme’ to ensure they get their point across clearly.

2. Who Are You Presenting To?

This dovetails in with the above point. In fact, arguably, this should be your first consideration. Before you agree on your core objective you need to ask yourself whether it’s thematically compatible with the audience coming to listen to you speak. Will your choice of the topic be relevant – and, above all, interesting to them? Will it grab their attention? Building presentations effectively as a public speaker in this manner is extremely important.

3. How Will You Get Their Attention?

Just as with the delivery of presentations, you’ll be faced with the alarming prospect of walking into a roomful of people who’ll be expecting you to deliver something clear, powerful, and memorable. The repeated use of key phrases will help re-enforce the central theme of your speech and find common ground with your audience – a skill that’s essential to building presentations too.

What Are The Differences?

There are, in fact, very few discrepancies to be found when comparing public speaking with the delivery of presentations. The primary challenge faced when considering this transition is that of the environment: as a presenter, you’ll often be sitting down with people you know in an intimate setting where you can share your ideas openly.

A public speaker will, conversely, find themselves in larger settings and talking to their audience, with little interaction occurring until the very end when the speech is curtailed (and your efforts hopefully rewarded by a healthy round of applause). The other difference is that the public speaker will be judged on the timbre and cadence of their voice, which will be on display for a longer period of time than with the professional presenter.

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What’s the difference between a speech and a presentation.

Some people make a great deal out of two words — ‘speech’ and ‘presentation’. I don’t give speeches, they may say, only presentations. A speech is a big deal. A presentation is what I do in front of my team, or the Board, or some sales prospects.

OK, if that distinction helps you feel less nervous for that thing that you have to give next Wednesday, fair enough. But it’s a false disctinction.

The essential principles of speech-giving and presentation-giving are the same. Maybe, in common parlance, speeches are more formal, or to larger audiences, or more important, than presentations. But each is an opportunity to change the world. Each involves putting yourself in front of some people and holding forth. Each should be taken very seriously.

There may be a further implication in some business circles that a presentation involves Power Point, and a speech, especially a keynote speech, typically will not. But that’s to make a distinction where there is none. Most people use Power Point badly, as a crutch, or speaker notes, not as illustrations to help the audience get a few key points of the talk. Using Power Point badly will mar both speeches and presentations.

So don’t hide behind Power Point, and don’t hide behind the terminology. A presentation is a speech, and worth taking seriously. Prepare it thoughtfully, rehearse it fully, and give it with passion. The only reason to give a speech is to change the world.

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What Are The Differences Between A Good and A Bad Speech?

For that reason, it’s important that you know the difference between a good and a bad speech . Good and bad speeches differ from each other in their essence. The characteristics that make a speech considered good are the same lacking in what we consider a bad speech. Let’s look deep into it!

11 Qualities of A Good Speech

—audience centered..

By definition, a speech is a form of discourse directed at a group of people, the audience. For that reason, a good speech honors that definition and has the audience at the center of it.

Directing a speech at the audience means studying the audience before thinking about the speech, being in touch with the main characteristics of the audience, as those largely influence the way they will take the speech.

A speech should have a defined and clearly stated topic and be conducted in clear and understandable language.

Anyone in your audience should be able to understand it and, since the audience is mostly diverse, the least you can do to help them is use simple and clear terms.

Avoid using “hmm” or any other ambiguous terms that might cause confusion or obstruct everyone’s understanding.

—Delivered With Confidence.

Your audience wants to know that they can rely on what you’re saying and on you. Lack of confidence ruins the process of trust-building.

One doesn’t need to state that they are shy; if you stand in a curved posture, with your arms awkwardly placed or with your gaze at the floor, rather than on the people, the audience will catch onto your awkwardness, and that might cause discomfort among them.

And although shyness isn’t a crime, if you genuinely want to give good speeches, you need to become a confident speaker.

How To Become A Confident Speaker:

My best advice is: start by practicing a lot. Some of the most confident speakers go as far as taking diction lessons to build their confidence. If that’s what it takes for you to be at their level, do it.

Something that also helps when practicing is recording yourself while you give a speech, so you can see firsthand what your weaknesses and strong points are. You can also have a friend watch you give a speech, so they can help point them out as well.

Investigate more about confidence and find the methods that work for you to improve it.

Don’t try to copy someone else’s style of speaking , instead find your own and develop it without giving too much thought to what others think of it. Even if it’s different, if you feel confident speaking in that style, you’re on the right track.

—Supported By Facts.

A good speech isn’t just some rambling of a topic made up of the speaker’s imagination.

Although there’s nothing wrong with the speaker exploring an idea or concept that he has thought about, a speech backed up by facts is much more credible and therefore accepted by the audience.

For that reason, using studies, theories, and statistics to support a speech is in the speaker’s best interest if he wants to give a good one.

—Supported By Visuals or Infographics.

Besides giving a more professional look to your speech, infographics like flyers, for example, help guide the audience during the speech and guarantee that they retain the key points of your speech.

A speech needs to have just the right speed to make sure that people understand what is being said, yet they don’t get bored of it all because of how long it took.

A good speech is neither too fast nor too slow but paced instead.

—Delivered In An Engaging Way.

Like I’ve mentioned before, a clear speech that bores the audience is still not a good enough speech. If the point of the speech is to have the audience’s interest, a good speech should also consider the engagement factor.

A good speech has humor and has interaction between the audience and the speaker, usually something of an informal nature that makes them feel a closer bond to the speaker without disregarding the context, like a game or a live quiz, for example.

—Delivered With Regulated Emotions.

—including good body language..

Good body language shows the speaker’s confidence and communicates that he knows what he is doing.

A speech with no regard for body language has a high risk of being awkward and making the audience feel uncomfortable. And that is a recipe for disaster, regardless of how well placed the grammar is.

—Well Structured.

A good speech follows a structure that keeps it as objective and straightforward as possible. That structure should have a three parts introduction paragraph (to give people an idea of what to expect from the speech or guide them on what to focus on), the development (where all the main information usually is at), and a “banger” conclusion (memorable enough to keep in their minds the main points of the speech).

—Leaving Room For The Audience’s Participation.

Like I’ve been saying through the article, the audience is a crucial factor when making a speech. A good speech is not only designed for the audience but also accommodates their opinions, even if just at the end of it, whether through a Q&A or even through a live survey.

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11 Characteristics of A Bad Speech:

The first mistake made in all bad speeches is not clarifying who it’s directed to. A speech without a clear receptor and with a vague target cannot be mindful of the audience’s preferences and therefore has a high potential of being considered bad by them.

The use of complex language and terms, the use of a bad tone (either too low or too high or too awkward), or even the use of words that don’t convey any real meaning and that don’t add anything to the speech are all things that make a speech bad.

—Lacking Confidence.

If the speaker is too nervous during the speech and his body language doesn’t align with the speech because he has a bad posture or even bad manners, the speech automatically becomes bad, regardless of how well structured the actual text of the speech is.

Too much nervousness is a sign of unsureness, and people have a hard time trusting those who seem unsure of themselves or whatever they are doing.

—Unprepared.

Bad speeches usually take place when people are unprepared for them. Being unprepared ranges from anything like not having a structure, not having a written down version of the speech (or at least a written down list of the main topics) to not having the speech memorized, as that usually results in a waste of time and resources because the speech doesn’t follow through.

Not having proper knowledge of the subject is also a sign of being unprepared, and in this case, the best thing to do is to study the subject before giving the speech.

—Based on Suppositions or Personal Opinions.

Nobody wants to sit (sometimes) hours of their life through a speech that has no actual facts in it or supporting it. Like I’ve said before, although personal opinions with some proven knowledge are acceptable, a speech solely based on subjective opinion (and nothing else) is usually bad as it most likely doesn’t add to the listeners’ lives.

—With No Additional Info or Aid.

A speech that doesn’t prioritize the audience’s fundamental understanding of it by not providing any aid or supporting information on the speech in the form of flyers or infographics is bad.

How will the audience follow the speech and follow what is being said if they have no guidance? They more likely will miss valuable information from the speech because staying focused through someone talking isn’t always easy.

—Too Fast or Too Slow.

I’ve said before that a speech that’s too fast to be understood or too slow, to the point of boring the listeners, is bad.

—Boring Deliverance.

A speech that isn’t interactive, is too serious and strict, and doesn’t include any moments where people can relax for a second and laugh or play most likely tires the audience and is therefore bad.

—Overzealous Speech.

People usually don’t know how to process and deal with polarizing displays of emotions. Most people feel awkward about it and would rather not deal with them.

For that reason, a tendency of overzealousness can ruin a speech.

—Too Focused on The Deliverance but Lacking Content.

Although the deliverance is essential, a speech that’s only focused on it, to the point of disregarding the importance of good and quality content and structure, is generally bad as nothing really can be retained from it.

Good quality content isn’t only well-studied content but also content that is original (not copied from anybody) and that is within the proper context of the speech

—Exclusive.

Although the point of the speech is having someone talk to a group of listeners, those listeners want to feel included in the speech, either by a clear demonstration of thought about the audience or through their actual participation in the speech. A speech that fails to do that is bad.

Another good way to learn is by example. For that reason I’ve gathered a few examples of what to do and what not to do when giving a speech.

Examples of Famous Good Speeches:

A couple of famous good speeches that you should read and learn from are:

—Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

It’s known as one of the best speeches ever made, for how well it ticked all the boxes of a good speech’s list of requirements.

—Sojourner Truth’s 1851 “Ain’t I A Woman?” speech.

It’s a public appeal for equal rights for women and men that also exemplifies the qualities of a good speech and its power.

Examples of Famous Bad Speeches:

Some of the worst speeches that are continuously used as examples of what not to do are:

—Melania Trump’s 2016 Republican National Convention Speech.

It caused controversy because it was too similar to Michelle Obama’s speech, to the point where it’s hard to believe the similarities are a coincidence and not plagiarism.

— The speech of the American politician who screamed while rallying votes .

Probably one of the most used examples. It’s a great depiction of the effects of no preparation in the sense of a disregard for the amount of passion put in a speech, overzealousness, and a great lack of social and self-awareness.

Another great way to learn about speeches is through books.

Books To Improve Public Speaking:

A list of good books about public speaking that will help improve your speech skills:

— The Quick & Easy Way To Effective Speaking , a self-help book by the American lecturer and bestselling writer Dale Carnigie, that takes you, step by step, on a journey to great public speaking.

— Talk Like TED , a book by Carmine Gallo, a guide to public speaking based on scientific analysis of hundreds of famous TED talks.

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The Presentation of Speech, Writing and Thought

First Online: 04 October 2023

Cite this chapter

Jane Lugea 3 &
Brian Walker 4

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In this chapter, we turn our attention to the presentation of speech, thought and writing in a text—or Discourse Presentation as it is also known. The presentation of what characters or other people said, wrote or thought is an essential component of both fiction and non-fiction. The model of Discourse Presentation we describe in this chapter is based on Short ( Language and Literature 21:18–32, 2012), which is a development of the original model introduced by Leech and Short ( Style in Fiction: A Linguistic Introduction to English Fictional Prose. Longman, 2007 [1981]). In this chapter, we first explain what is meant by Discourse Presentation and then describe the model using examples mainly drawn from the HUM19UK corpus of nineteenth-century novels. We then demonstrate one way in which corpus methods can be used in the analysis of speech, writing and thought in prose fiction.

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Lugea, J., Walker, B. (2023). The Presentation of Speech, Writing and Thought. In: Stylistics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10422-0_4

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How to create a great thesis defense presentation: everything you need to know

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Anete Ezera April 13, 2024

Ready to take on your thesis defense presentation? It’s not just about wrapping up years of study; it’s your moment to share your insights and the impact of your work. A standout presentation can make all the difference. It’s your chance to highlight the essentials and really connect with your audience.

This is where Prezi comes into play. Forget about flipping through slide after slide. With Prezi, you craft a narrative that pulls your audience in. It simplifies the complex, ensuring your key points hit home. Let’s explore how Prezi can help transform your thesis defense into a successful presentation.

What is a thesis defense presentation and why are they needed?

Whether you’re preparing for a master’s thesis defense or a Ph.D. thesis defense, this final step in your academic journey is the one with the most significance, as it dramatically influences your final grade. It’s also your chance to display the dedication and effort you’ve put into your research, a way to demonstrate how significant your work is.

So, why is this such a big deal? A good presentation helps convince your teachers that your research is solid and makes a difference in your field. It’s your time to answer questions, show that your research methods were sound, and point out what’s new and interesting about your work. In the end, a great thesis defense presentation helps you finish strong and makes sure you leave a lasting impression as you wrap up this chapter of your academic life.

Best practices for making a successful thesis defense presentation

In order to craft a standout thesis defense presentation, you need to do more than just deliver research findings. Here are some key strategies to ensure success, and how Prezi can play a crucial role in elevating your presentation.

Start with a strong introduction

Kick-off with an engaging introduction that lays out your research question, its significance, and your objectives. This initial segment grabs attention and sets the tone. Using Prezi’s zoom feature can make your introduction pop by visually underscoring key points, helping your audience grasp the importance of your work right from the start.

Organize your presentation clearly

A coherent structure is essential for guiding your audience through your thesis defense presentation. Prezi can help by offering a map view of your content’s layout upfront, providing a clear path through your introduction, methodology, results, and conclusion. This clarity keeps your audience engaged and makes your arguments easier to follow.

Incorporate multimedia elements

Adding multimedia elements like videos, audio clips, and animations can greatly improve the appeal of your thesis defense presentation. Prezi supports the seamless integration of these elements, allowing you to bring your research to life in a more vibrant and engaging way. Videos can serve as powerful testimonials or demonstrations, while animations can help illustrate complex processes or changes over time. This variety keeps your audience engaged and helps convey your message in a more exciting way.

Smiling african woman giving presentation at startup. Happy female professional standing in front of a large television screen with a graph.

Simplify complex data

Your findings need to be presented in a way that’s easy for your audience to understand. Prezi shines here, with tools that transform intricate data into clear, engaging visuals. By implementing charts and graphs into your presentation, you can make your data stand out and support your narrative effectively.

Engage your audience

Make your thesis defense a two-way conversation by interacting with your audience. Whether it’s through questions, feedback, or direct participation, engagement is key. Prezi allows for a flexible presentation style, letting you navigate sections in response to audience input, creating a dynamic and engaging experience.

Highlight key takeaways

Emphasize the key takeaways of your research throughout your presentation to ensure your audience grasps the most critical aspects of your work. With Prezi, you can use spotlighting and strategic zooming to draw attention to these takeaways, making them stand out. This method helps reinforce your main points, ensuring they stick with your audience long after your presentation concludes. By clearly defining what your audience should remember, you guide their understanding and appreciation of your research’s value and implications.

Practice makes perfect

Confidence in delivery comes from thorough practice. Familiarize yourself with every aspect of your thesis defense presentation, including timing, voice control, and gestures. Prezi Video is a great tool for rehearsing, as it allows you to blend your presentation materials with your on-camera performance, mirroring the live defense setting and helping you polish your delivery.

Cropped shot of a businesswoman delivering a speech during a conference

End with a lasting impression

Conclude your presentation powerfully by summarizing your main findings, their implications, and future research directions. Prezi’s ability to zoom out and show the big picture at your conclusion helps reinforce how each section of your presentation contributes to your overall thesis, ensuring your research leaves a memorable impact on your audience.

By using these tips and taking advantage of what Prezi offers, you can make your thesis defense presentation really stand out. It’ll not only hit the mark with your audience but also clearly show why your research matters.

Meeting tight deadlines with Prezi

Facing a looming deadline for your thesis defense presentation? Prezi offers smart solutions to help you create a polished and engaging presentation quickly, even if it feels like you’re down to the wire.

A closer look at Prezi AI features

Prezi AI is a standout feature for those pressed for time. It assists in structuring your presentation efficiently, suggesting design elements and layouts that elevate your content. This AI-driven approach means you can develop a presentation that looks meticulously planned and executed in a fraction of the time it would normally take. The result? A presentation that communicates the depth and value of your research clearly and effectively, without the last-minute rush being evident. Here’s what Prezi AI can do:

Streamlined creation process: At the core of Prezi’s efficiency is the AI presentation creator . Perfect for those last-minute crunch times, it’s designed to tackle tight deadlines with ease.
Easy start: Kick off your presentation creation with just a click on the “Create with AI” button. Prezi AI guides you through a smooth process, transforming your initial ideas or keywords into a structured and visually appealing narrative.
Visual impact: There’s no need to dive deep into design details. Simply provide some basic input, and Prezi AI will craft it into a presentation that grabs and holds your audience’s attention, making your thesis defense visually compelling.
AI text editing: Spending too much time fine-tuning your message? Prezi AI text editing features can help. Whether you need to expand on a concept, clarify complex terms, or condense your content without losing impact, Prezi AI streamlines these tasks.
Content refinement: Adjust text length for deeper explanation, simplify language for better understanding, and ensure your presentation’s content is precise and to the point. Prezi AI editing tools help you refine your message quickly, so you can focus on the essence of your research.

Using Prezi Video for remote thesis defense presentations

For remote thesis defenses, Prezi Video steps up to ensure your presentation stands out. It integrates your on-screen presence alongside your presentation content, creating a more personal and engaging experience for your audience. This is crucial in maintaining attention and interest, particularly in a virtual format where keeping your audience engaged presents additional challenges. Prezi Video makes it seem as though you’re presenting live alongside your slides, helping to simulate the in-person defense experience and keep your audience focused on what you’re saying.

Using these advanced Prezi features, you can overcome tight deadlines with confidence, ensuring your thesis defense presentation is both impactful and memorable, no matter the time constraints.

The Prezi experience: what users have to say

Prezi users have shared compelling insights on how the platform’s unique features have revolutionized their presentations. Here’s how their experiences can inspire your thesis defense presentation:

Storytelling with Prezi

Javier Schwersensky highlights the narrative power of Prezi: “This is a tool that is going to put you ahead of other people and make you look professional and make your ideas stand out,” he remarks. For your thesis defense, this means Prezi can help you craft a narrative that not only presents your research but tells a story that captures and retains the committee’s interest.

Flexibility and creativity

Tamara Montag-Smit appreciates Prezi for its “functionality of the presentation that allows you to present in a nonlinear manner.” This flexibility is key in a thesis defense, allowing you to adapt your presentation flow in real time based on your audience’s engagement or questions, ensuring a more dynamic and interactive defense.

The open canvas

Vitek Dočekal values Prezi’s open canvas , which offers “creative freedom” and the ability to “create a mind map and determine how to best present my ideas.” For your thesis defense, this means Prezi lets you lay out and show off your work in a way that makes sense and grabs your audience’s attention, turning complicated details into something easy and interesting to follow.

Engagement and retention

Adam Rose points out the engagement benefits of Prezi: “Being able to integrate videos is extremely effective in capturing their attention.” When you need to defend a thesis, using Prezi to include videos or interactive content can help keep your committee engaged, making your presentation much more memorable.

These real insights show just how effective Prezi is for crafting truly influential presentations. By incorporating Prezi into your thesis defense presentation, you can create a defense that not only shows how strong your research is but also leaves a lasting impression on your audience.

Thesis defense presentations for inspiration

Prezi is much more than a platform for making presentations; it’s a place where you can find inspiration by browsing presentations that other Prezi users have made. Not only that, but Prezi offers numerous templates that would be useful for thesis defense presentations, making the design process much easier. Here are a few examples that you may find helpful:

Research project template by Prezi

This Prezi research project template stands out as an ideal choice for thesis defense presentations due to its well-structured format that facilitates storytelling from start to finish. It begins with a clear introduction and problem statement, setting a solid foundation for the narrative. The inclusion of sections for user research, interviews, demographics, and statistics allows for a detailed presentation of the research process and findings, which are crucial when defending a thesis.

Visual elements like user mapping and journey maps help make complex information understandable and engaging, which is crucial for maintaining the committee’s attention. Additionally, addressing pain points and presenting prototypes showcases problem-solving efforts and practical applications of the research. The template culminates in a conclusion that ties everything together, emphasizing the research’s impact and future possibilities. Its comprehensive yet concise structure makes it an excellent tool for communicating the depth and significance of your work in a thesis defense.

Civil rights movement Prezi

This Prezi on the Civil Rights Movement exemplifies an effective thesis defense presentation by seamlessly blending structured content, multimedia enhancements, and dynamic navigation. It organizes information into coherent sections like “About,” “Key Events,” and “Key People,” offering a comprehensive view ideal for a thesis presentation. The strategic use of videos adds depth, providing historical context in a dynamic way that text alone cannot, enhancing the audience’s engagement and understanding.

Furthermore, Prezi’s open canvas feature brings the narrative to life, allowing for a fluid journey through the Civil Rights Movement. This method of presentation, with its zooming and panning across a virtual canvas, not only captivates but also helps to clarify the connections between various elements of the research, showcasing how to effectively communicate complex ideas in a thesis defense.

AI-assisted history template

This AI-assisted presentation template stands out as a great choice for thesis defense presentations, especially for those rooted in historical research. By merging striking visuals with rich, informative content, you can use this template to craft a narrative that breathes life into past events, guiding the audience on an engaging journey through time. Its sequential storytelling approach, empowered by Prezi AI , ensures a smooth transition from one historical point to the next, demonstrating the depth and continuity of your research. This template showcases Prezi AI’s capability to enhance narrative flow. By integrating advanced visuals and text, it captivates audiences and makes it an invaluable tool for presenting complex historical theses in a clear, compelling way.

Master your final grade with a Prezi thesis defense presentation

Preparing for a thesis defense, whether for a master’s or Ph.D., is a pivotal moment that significantly influences your final grade. It’s your platform to demonstrate the dedication behind your research and its importance in your field. A well-executed presentation convinces your educators of your research’s validity and your ability to bring fresh perspectives to light.

To craft a successful thesis defense presentation, Prezi’s innovative features can be a game-changer. Prezi can empower you to transform presentations into captivating stories and provide you with the flexibility and creative freedom needed to make your presentation an outstanding success. Incorporating videos or utilizing Prezi’s non-linear presentation style can keep your committee engaged and emphasize your research’s significance.

Prezi also serves as a hub of inspiration, offering templates perfect for thesis defenses. From structured research project templates to dynamic historical narratives, Prezi provides tools that communicate your thesis’s depth and significance effectively, ensuring you leave a memorable impact on your audience. So, it’s time to revamp your thesis defense presentation and change it from dull to inspirational with Prezi.

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Markets Continue to Price In Rate Cuts in Fall

Megan Leonhardt

Expectations around when the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates this year shifted only slightly following Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference on Wednesday, indicating that investors’ views had been in line with the bank’s thinking.

The odds of September and November rate cuts improved slightly following the conclusion of the Fed’s policy meeting, prices of interest-rate futures indicate. There is currently a 42.4% probability of the first rate cut coming during the September meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

The CME FedWatch Tool also showed that there are now thin odds of a rate increase at some point during the year.

There was a “collective sigh of relief in the financial markets” after the Fed refrained from increasing its hawkishness dramatically at the May meeting, wrote Jack McIntyre, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global.

“In interpreting the statement in the context of recent macro releases, it is clear that the future path of Fed policy has become more uncertain,” wrote Daniel Murray, deputy chief investment officer and global head of research at EFG Asset Management.

“Futures are now pricing only slightly more than one rate cut this year. While it is not the central view, there is clearly also an increased probability that the Fed has to hike again,” Murray said. That scenario would likely play out if the labor market continues to show strength and inflation remains stubbornly above the bank’s 2% target.

U.S. Economy, Monetary Policy Is Diverging from Other Developed Markets, Powell Says

Nicholas Jasinski

A new phase could be on the way in terms of global monetary policy.

While economies and central banks in developed markets have been on generally the same path for most of the past four years—policymakers sought to boost growth during the pandemic and then took a more restrictive stance to fight inflation afterward—that is likely to change this year. Economic and inflation data for early 2024, plus statements by the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and others, now suggest more divergent central bank policies.

“The difference between the United States and other countries that are now considering rate cuts is that they're just not having the kind of growth we're having,” Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday, while inflation rates abroad may be similar to those in the U.S. or lower.

Strong growth and low unemployment in the U.S. means the Fed has the “luxury,” Powell said, of holding interest rates steady for longer to continue to put downward pressure on inflation. Other central banks may be able to declare victory over inflation sooner than the Fed, but may also have to respond to weakening economic growth sooner.

“We will be careful and cautious as we approach the decision to cut rates, whereas I think other jurisdictions may go before that,” Powell said.

Higher interest rates for longer in the U.S., relative to abroad, are a recipe for a strong dollar. The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against a basket of other currencies, is up 4.5% so far this year.

As for emerging markets, Powell said that he sees less turmoil than in previous periods of higher Fed interest rates. “I think partly that’s because emerging market countries, many of them have much better monetary policy frameworks, much more credibility on inflation, and they're navigating this pretty well this time,” Powell said.

Unemployment Ticking Above 4% Likely Won’t Trigger Cuts

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday policymakers are ready to spring into action if the U.S. economy, particularly the labor market, experiences a sudden downturn.

But the key words are “unexpected weakening,” and the Fed would likely need to see more than simply the unemployment rate climbing above 4% from its current level of 3.8%.

“It would have to be meaningful and get our attention—and lead us to think that the labor market was really significantly weakening for us to want to react to it,” Powell said.

He added that unemployment increasing by a “a couple of tenths” of a percentage point would probably not do that.

“It would be a broader thing that would suggest that it would be appropriate to consider cutting” interest rates, Powell said. He added that the decision by Fed officials to lower rates depends on all the facts and circumstances, not just that one.

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No One Has a Right to Protest in My Home

The difference between a private yard and a public forum

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Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

As a constitutional scholar and the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, I strongly defend the right to speak one’s mind in public forums. But the rancorous debate over the Israel-Hamas war seems to be blurring some people’s sense of which settings are public and which are not. Until recently, neither my wife—Catherine Fisk, a UC Berkeley law professor—nor I ever imagined a moment when our right to limit a protest at a dinner held at our own home would become the subject of any controversy.

Ever since I became a law-school dean, in 2008, the two of us have established a custom of inviting each class of first-year students over for a meal. These dinners help create and reinforce a warm community, and, to accommodate all students, they take place on many evenings during the year. The only exceptions were in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID. So last year and this year, at the request of the presidents of the third-year classes, we organized make-up dinners on three successive nights and invited each of the 400 graduating students to attend one.

The week before the dinners on April 9, 10, and 11, though, a group at Berkeley called Law Students for Justice in Palestine put a profoundly disturbing poster on social media and on bulletin boards in the law-school building. No dinner with Zionist Chem while Gaza starves , the poster declared in large letters. (Students sometimes refer to me as “Chem.”) It also included a caricature of me holding a bloody knife and fork and with what appeared to be blood around my lips—an image that evokes the horrible anti-Semitic blood libel, in which Jews are accused of killing and cannibalizing gentile children. The poster attacks me for no apparent reason other than that I am Jewish. The posters did not specify anything I personally had said or done wrong. The only stated request was that the University of California divest from Israel—a matter for the regents of the University of California, not the law school or even the Berkeley campus.

George Packer: The campus-left occupation that broke higher education

Several Jewish students and staff members told me that the posters offended them and asked me to have them removed. Even though their presence upset me too, I felt that I could not take them off bulletin boards at a public law school. Though appalling, they were speech protected by the First Amendment.

The group responsible for the posters was not content to have its say on paper. Student-government leaders told me that Law Students for Justice in Palestine demanded that my wife and I cancel the dinners; if not, the group would protest at them. I was sad to hear this, but the prospect of a demonstration in the street in front of our home did not change our plans. I made clear that we would still host dinners for students who wanted to attend.

On April 9, about 60 students came to our home for dinner. Our guests were seated at tables in our backyard. Just as they began eating, I was stunned to see the leader of Law Students for Justice in Palestine—who was among the registered guests—stand up with a microphone that she had brought, go up the steps in the yard, and begin reading a speech about the plight of the Palestinians. My wife and I immediately approached her and asked her to stop speaking and leave the premises. The protester continued. At one point, my wife attempted to take away her microphone. Repeatedly, we said to her: You are a guest in our home. Please leave.

The student insisted that she had free-speech rights. But our home is not a forum for free speech; it is our own property, and the First Amendment—which constrains the government’s power to encroach on speech on public property—does not apply at all to guests in private backyards. The dinner, which was meant to celebrate graduating students, was obviously disrupted. Even if we had held the dinner in the law-school building, no one would have had a constitutional right to disrupt the event. I have taught First Amendment law for 44 years, and as many other experts have confirmed, this is not a close question.

Some attendees sympathetic to the student-group leader recorded a video. An excerpt of it appeared on social media and quickly went viral. Soon newspapers and magazines published stories about it. Some commentators have criticized my wife for trying to get hold of the microphone. Some have said that I just should have let the student speak for as long as she wanted. But in all of the dinners we have held over more than 15 years, not once has anyone attempted to give a speech. We had no reason to change the terms of the dinner to accommodate someone from an organization that put up anti-Semitic images of me.

After struggling over the microphone, the student said if we let go of it, she would leave. We relented, and she departed, along with about 10 other students—all of whom had removed their jackets to show matching T-shirts conveying a pro-Palestinian message.

Michael Powell: The unreality of Columbia’s ‘liberated zone’

The dinners went forward on Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday night, about 15 people came to our home and stood on the street in front of it, and then on the path directly next to our backyard. They chanted loudly and at times offensively. They yelled and banged drums to make as much noise as possible to disturb the dinner. The event continued.

Being at the center of a social-media firestorm was strange and unsettling. We received thousands of messages, many very hateful and some threatening. For days, we got death threats. An organized email campaign demanded that the regents and campus officials fire my wife and me, and another organized email campaign supported us. Amid an intensely painful sequence of events, we experienced one upside: After receiving countless supportive messages from people we have met over the course of decades, we felt like Jimmy Stewart at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life .

Overall, though, this experience has been enormously sad. It made me realize how anti-Semitism is not taken as seriously as other kinds of prejudice. If a student group had put up posters that included a racist caricature of a Black dean or played on hateful tropes about Asian American or LGBTQ people, the school would have erupted—and understandably so. But a plainly anti-Semitic poster received just a handful of complaints from Jewish staff and students.

Many people’s reaction to the incident in our yard reflected their views of what is happening in the Middle East. But it should not be that way. The dinners at our house were entirely nonpolitical; there was no program of any kind. And our university communities, along with society as a whole, will be worse off if every social interaction—including ones at people’s private homes—becomes a forum for uninvited political monologues.

I have spent my career staunchly defending freedom of speech. As a dean, I have tried hard to create a warm, inclusive community. As I continue as dean of Berkeley Law, I will endeavor to heal the divisions in our community. We are not going to solve the problems of the Middle East in our law school, but we must be a place where we treat one another with respect and kindness.

US has long history of college protests: Here's what happened in the past

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have taken over parts of college campuses across the U.S., the latest in a decades-long string of protests ignited by political activism — some of which have spiraled into violence amid police crackdowns .

In the past, free speech sit-ins quickly escalated into massive rallies, Vietnam War college demonstrations turned deadly and U.S. civil rights protests ended in mass arrests.

The circumstances of each protest were different, but the story is familiar: Young people demanded changes on their campuses or in the world — and their impassioned demonstrations often escalated amid clashes with authorities.

Columbia , the university at the center of the current wave of protests, has even seen similar protests before, including during the Vietnam War in 1968. Demonstrations led the university to end classified war research and stop military recruitment, among other changes, wrote Rosalind Rosenberg, a professor of history at Barnard College, for Barnard Magazine .

Today's demonstrators also have specific changes in mind, often involving divestment from Israel , citing the deaths of more than 34,000 Palestinian people who died in Gaza amid Israel's bombardment and ground assault. That military campaign was triggered by Hamas' incursion into southern Israel on Oct. 7, when about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and more than 240 people were taken hostage.

But as campus authorities react swiftly, citing safety concerns and calling in police to break up encampents, it's unclear if or how the current protests will influence the Israel-Hamas war.

USA TODAY revisited four monumental campus protests to explain how college protests have become a staple of American life and often influence the outcomes of political strife. Here's a look at how previous campus protests unfolded — and whether they were successful in their causes.

University of California, Berkeley: Free Speech in 1960s

At the University of California Berkeley starting in 1964, students protested the university's limits on political activities and free speech during the civil rights movement and Vietnam-war era.

"In the wake of McCarthyism’s anti-Communist sentiments during the 1950s, public universities in California had enacted numerous regulations limiting students’ political activities ," wrote Karen Aichinger for the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee University. "At the University of California, Berkeley, student groups taking part in any on- or off-campus political activities were banned from campus."

What transpired were "small sit-ins and demonstrations" that "escalated into a series of large-scale rallies and protests demanding full constitutional rights on campus," reads the UC Berkeley website.

Nearly 800 students were arrested by local police as a result.

The students' protest ultimately worked in their favor. The university eventually overturned policies that would restrict the content of speech or advocacy, according to the college.

"Today, the Movement stands as a symbol of the importance of protecting and preserving free speech and academic freedom," reads the UC Berkeley website.

Kent State University in Ohio: Vietnam War in 1970

The most prolific university protest of the Vietnam War happened at Kent State University in Ohio in May 1970. Students started protesting the Vietnam War and the U.S. invasion of Cambodia on their campus on May 2. Two days later, the National Guard opened fire into a sea of antiwar protesters and passerbys. The soldiers killed four young people – Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, and William Knox Schroeder – and injured several others with their violence.

"The impact of the shootings was dramatic," wrote Jerry Lewis and Thomas Hensley in an article for Kent State University. "The event triggered a nationwide student strike that forced hundreds of colleges and universities to close."

The shootings also influenced national politics, Lewis and Hensley wrote.

"In The Ends of Power, (H.R.) Haldeman, (a top aide to President Richard Nixon), states that the shootings at Kent State began the slide into Watergate, eventually destroying the Nixon administration," the article reads.

Today, the protest and shootings "certainly come to symbolize the deep political and social divisions that so sharply divided the country during the Vietnam War era," Lewis and Hensley wrote.

Jackson State College in Mississippi: Racial Injustice in 1970

Days after the shootings at Kent State, police opened gunfire at a college dormitory Jackson State College in Mississippi, a school with a predominantly Black student population.

Black students there were protesting racial injustice, including how they were treated by white drivers speeding on campus, according to the university .

Police received a call that Black young people were throwing rocks at white drivers near the campus. Police arrived at the scene and shot hundreds of bullets into Alexander Hall, according to an FBI report, NPR reported . Police killed two students – Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green – and injured 12 others. The college also canceled its graduation due to the killings and unrest.

At a 2021 commencement ceremony, the university honored 74 of the students who were unable to walk the stage in 1970, NBC reported . At the commencement ceremony, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said police “unjustly gunned down two innocent young Black men, terrorized and traumatized a community of Black students and committed one of the gravest sins in our city’s history," NBC reported .

The killings at Jackson State College and Kent State University national sparked outrage. College students across the nation protested on their campuses, according to the Zinn Education Project , a collaboration of historical content from the groups Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change .

"The spring of 1970 saw the first general student strike in the history of the United States, students from over four hundred colleges and universities calling off classes to protest the invasion of Cambodia, the Kent State affair, the killing of two black students at Jackson State College in Mississippi, and the continuation of the war," wrote Howard Zinn in the book "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train ."

Angus Johnston, an adjunct assistant professor at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York and a historian of student activism, said after both events: "There was a period of about 30 years or so where it tended to be fairly unlikely that campuses would respond with mass arrests even in the case of admin building occupations."

Nationwide: South Africa anti-Apartheid protests in 1985

Another form of popular college campus protest occurred in the 1980's. Students across the country wanted their colleges to cut ties with groups that supported from the South African apartheid.

"Under apartheid, race restricted every aspect of life for South Africans who were Black, Indian and colored — a multiracial classification created by the government," The New York Times reported . "There were strict limits on where they could live, attend school, work and travel.

Columbia University was at the center of the movement. Students led by the Coalition for a Free South Africa at Columbia University "blockaded Hamilton Hall, the university’s administrative building, leading to the first successful divestiture campaign at the university," reads a summary of the events from the Zinn Education Project .

There was less pushback for protesters during this time, due to a “certain embarrassment among elites in the United States that there was complicity with South Africa’s white government,” said Daniel Farber, a history professor at the University of Kansas who has studied American activism, reports Vox Media .

Columbia University was one of the first colleges to divest from doing business with South Africa and 155 universities followed suit. U.S. Congress also passed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act in 1986, which aimed to prevent new trade and investment between the nation and South Africa.

What is the future of college protests in America?

Free speech experts told USA TODAY that students should continue to peacefully protest in open campus spaces to avoid conflict.

Alex Morey, the director of campus rights advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, encourages universities to remain neutral in times of unrest and not to call in authorities unless a demonstration turns violent. The national nonprofit defends Americans rights to free speech and thought.

"Peaceful protest is a hallmark of a healthy speech climate on American college campuses and it has been for decades – whether it's the Berkeley free speech movement, or students protesting the Vietnam War era or civil rights," Morey said. "Generations of students have felt passionately about certain issues and the open air places on campuses are great places to support their views."

Contact Kayla Jimenez at [email protected] . Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.

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Because giving a speech - for a lot of people - seems harder than giving a presentation. Bad slides are actually worse than no slides. But the reason so many speakers want slides or props is because they find it too hard to deliver speeches, and because effective visual aids makes it easier for them to get their points across. Effective ...
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Speech emphasizes the spoken word, while presentations provide a visual component. Speeches often involve more improvisation, while presentations are carefully planned and structured. Ultimately, the choice between speech and presentation depends on the context and desired impact on the audience.
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A debate differs from both a speech and a presentation because it's between two sides that are equally involved. Each side usually takes an opposing view on the debate question or subject. It's often like a contest where, at the end of it, a vote is taken to decide who won the debate. A speech and a presentation are two very different things.
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Speeches and presentations are not technically the same, though the words are often used interchangeably. In this video, learn about the differences between a presentation and a speech.
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Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide. Speech is a formal address or discourse delivered to an audience, focusing on verbal expression, while a presentation integrates speech with visual aids or multimedia to convey information.
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Stick to a Few Main Points

Don't be Afraid to Show Your Personality

Use Humor (When Appropriate)

Don't Let Visual Aids Distract From Your Presentation

Be Aware of Your Body Language

Eye contact

Avoid distracting or compulsive gestures

Travel (if possible)

Rehearse (if Possible)

Finally, Relax!

9 Differences between Presentation and Public Speaking?

1. Communication Format

2. Skills Required

3. Time for Preparation

4. Creativity Index

5. Purpose of the Speaker

6. Elements for Effectiveness

7. Size of the Audience

8. Type of Audience

9. Motive of the Audience

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