Just Another Way Of Seeing The Task Of Public Speaking!

One way of viewing “Public Speaking” is that . . . .

the public speaker is attempting to have the audience think thoughts which they would not have thought were it not for them listening to his thinking.

A listening experience is to have them join your mind’s processes and end up where your mind has.  That is why you spent the time you have in your speaking preparation!  Can I have them get to where I have arrived?

I Never Thought Of It That Way!

As someone speaks, thoughts are being generated in the minds of the listeners which are both directly related to the content of the words actually spoken . . . .

 

i.e. — In the following example, your mind is thinking thoughts you would not have thought were it not for what is being said.

 

Nehemiah 2:11 — So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.

Nehemiah has arrived in Jerusalem.  After being there three days, he is going to do a personal review of the situation.  So in the next verse, we read . . . .

Nehemiah 2:12 — Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode.

Sometime in the night — the actual time is not given us —  Nehemiah, along with a few select men — men which either came with him from Sushan, and/or men who knew the layout of the area — and the picture is of only Nehemiah riding and the other men walking alongside — he is probably a mule and views the gates and walls.  The men with him have no idea what is really happening in his mind and heart.

Nehemiah 2:13 — And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire.

He rides through these three gates, continually sees how broken down the walls are, the char of the gates and finally arrives at the “Fountain Gate” – verse 14

Nehemiah 2:14 — Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass.

The Fountain Gate, which is near what was called the King’s pool, was so broken down that though Nehemiah might have been able to work his way through, his animal could not.

In either case, the audience is thinking thoughts which they would not have thought were it not for what is being said.  That is what a hymn, a spiritual song, an advertisement, a book, a casual conversation, a talk show, a news report, a class lecture, art, secular music, photography, etc. are all aimed at doing — having us think their thoughts.

The alternative is that they “check out” and think “their thoughts.”  There is no communication when that happens!  People may be in the same room, but not on the same frequency.

Can a communication source do anything to help . . . .

• maintain attention
• keep interest
• an audience focus
• involvement
• understanding
• feel a truth
• listeners follow the flow
• them stay with the speaker
• grasp the importance
• with persuasion
• peak interest
• see the applications
• clarity
• them leave with the main point
• with agreement and practice
• not miss this-or-that point
• make it relevant / applicable
• illustrate the idea or point
• etc.

That is what these articles are all about.  There are rhetorical techniques which can help with the communication process.  There are methods which can assist in having an audience think your thoughts, along with you, for the next 20 to 45 minutes.

If you don’t take some effort in reaching that goal, you will find that an audience will default back to the thoughts which are constantly hounding them because of the demands of life and living.

Here is an example from Daven Watkins – who gets you to think his thoughts about Christmas.

I Never Thought Of It That Way!