We have heard of preachers who do not practise what they preach, and salesmen wh

Question

We have heard of preachers who do not practise what they preach, and salesmen who make sales talks when they do not believe in their own products.

Q1. What are some pitfalls that may cause a public speaker to lose his integrity and sincerity when delivering a speech? Give examples/experiences to support your points.

Q2. What must a speaker do to maintain his personal integrity in his speech so that he/she does not become a hypocrite or a cheat to his audience? List guidelines (with elaboration) that a speaker should observe.

Explanation / Answer

Q1- A speaker must do some homework on the topic on which the speech needs to be delivered and the type of audience he /she is expected to face. There are instances where incomplete knowledge about the subject matter or choice of words or matter that offend the listeners may lead to embarrassment and sometimes rejection by the audience. It is always better to be defensive and not speak much on the topics one is not very much sure about, or which are controversial in nature. An example is of a salesman of medical devices that tries to address a gathering of senior physicians, and fails to answer some of the equestions due to lack of knowledge and experience, or a politician hooted out of the stage when he tries to convince a crowd of separatists and offends the audeince by wrong choice of words, losing his credibility and respect among them.

Q2 The speaker should have thorough knowledge of the subject matter with a detailed account of all speeches delivered by him /her in past on this topic. He /she must know the fine points related to the topic and controversies and counterpoints if any. He /she should have an anticipation of the questions or issues that may arise during the speech. He should have a premeditated answers to all possible quetions and counterquestions to avoid losing integrity.

Guidelines which a speaker should observe.

(a) He/she must know the audience, their background, historical facts that relate to them, previous experience with them and should have an anticipation of what is in store.

(b) He /she must know the subject matter very well and should be capable to answer any question on it.

(c) He /she should know controversial issues reated to the subject matters and should devise a strategy to counter the claims, should any arise.

(d) He /she should have an accounts of his /her previous speeches and statements /commitments made by him /her, and their current status.

(e) He / she should be calm, composed, open and communicative during the speech, irrespective of what is actually going on in his /her mind.

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