Practical Tips for Speaking in Non-Academic Settings

Two types of speeches given in non-academic settings are entertainment speeches and persuasive speeches. Entertainment speeches may be given at a wedding or other social event . Persuasive speeches may be given as part of a political campaign or at a charity event.

Some examples of places where someone might be invited to give a non-academic speech:

• Rotary club
• Wedding
• Political campaign or event
• Charity event or benefit
• Acceptance speech of an award
• Reception or banquet
• Conference dinners or lunches
• Grievance Speech at a funeral
• Informative speech (keynote speaker)
• Interviews

Practical Tips for Entertainment Speeches

Entertainment speeches are very common, but that doesn't mean they don’t require preparation. People often think of entertaining speeches as corny, meaning they don’t prepare properly and think they can “wing it” by telling a few jokes. Instead of being entertaining, the speech falls flat. Therefore, it is very important to prepare your speech. Some additional tips for entertainment speeches include:

• Be adaptive to the occasion - not all content is appropriate for all occasions, so be aware of your audience, the intentions of the speech and any unintended consequences of humor used in your speech.
• Be adaptive to your audience - different audiences will respond differently to speech material, meaning the more you know about your audience the more likely you'll succeed.
• Be mindful of the time - different entertaining speech situations have their own conventions and rules with regard to time. Acceptance speeches and toasts should last no more than five minutes. A speech of introduction should be extremely brief - just long enough to tell the audience what they need to know about the person being introduced in a style that prepares them to appreciate the person's remarks.

Practical Tips for Persuasive Speeches

In a political setting or money-raising campaign, a persuasive speech may be used to get audience members to change their attitudes or beliefs about a certain topic. In the case of fundraising, the speech is meant to convince people that the cause is worthy of a donation. To be as persuasive as possible, a speaker needs to understand some basic information about persuasion:

• Focus on the end result of your speech when preparing - all parts of your speech should focus on the end goal of your persuasive topic. 
• Relate to and understand your audience - Start your speech by finding common ground with your audience, using humor or other similarities you might have. People tend to like people who are similar to them in some way.
• Chose your words wisely -  focus on terms  that have heavy emotional appeal like "freedom," "right," "wrong"  and "liberty." 
• Identify why your persuasive topic is relevant to your audience- this will heighten interest and make your speech more immediately important. This is particularly important for persuasive speeches requiring a quick action by the audience. 

Some additional resources on practical public speaking tips:

These additional resources provide tips on public speaking and include both videos and lists of tips to make your non-academic speech as engaging as possible.

• http://www.toastmasters.org/tips.asp - A public speaking society with tips on giving speeches.
• http://www.presentationskills.ca/Practical-Speaking-Tips.html - Speaking tips for professionals
• http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/PublicSpeaking.htm - Article on public speaking tips and improving confidence.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AykYRO5d_lI - Public speaking tips from Toastmasters (a public speaking society).