4.4: DISCUSS: Similarities Between Public Speaking and Everyday Conversation

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As you learned from the reading, there are important similarities between public speaking and everyday conversation. My favorite one is “tailor the message to the audience.” In fact, my favorite word in this class is TAILOR. Haven’t you found that after a crazy, lucky to live to tell about it weekend that when people in your life ask you about the weekend, your answer changes? The weekend stays the same but we naturally “tailor”our answer and decide what to include and what to leave out based on the listener. A teacher may get answer, “Weekend was good! I got lots of sleep. ” while your best friend gets, “After the cops left, I was finally able to sleep.” The ability to tailor a topic in public speaking to a specific audience is key, too. Giving an informative presentation on sex would be different if the audience was a group of elementary kids, a group of teens, or a group of senior citizens. Imagine the choices to be made to tailor the topic effectively. So, let’s hear from you. Write one of the similarities between public speaking and everyday conversation that stands out to you and make a connection to your experience.

Authored by: Lee Ann Thomas. Provided by: Clinton Community College. License: CC BY: Attribution