Communication is a vital practice throughout organizations, societies, and global interactions, especially within the business realm. Without communication, there would be no way to gather data, identify specific needs, overcome challenges, or collaborate when making effective decisions. One essential route of distributing information is the use of informative speech. When making a speech in front of customers, potential customers, or employees, it is important to deliver the information in the right way to insure a successful response. This type of speech uses descriptions, details, demonstrations, and definitions to explain a specific subject for the audience to understand (Lumen, n.d.). In today’s society, informative speeches are more influential due to the use of social media platforms, nonetheless they are the most effective way to achieve optimal communication and establish relationships.
Initially, in order to reach this optimal communication with an informative speech, the speech itself needs to exceed in all factors that make up its structure. The job of this speech is to teach the audience, whether that be a customer or employee, everything they need to know about the material at hand (Albury, 2006). However, it will not do the presenter any good if their audience is not retaining the information. This is why the prominent factor in the structure of the speech is to know the audience. It is important to learn who will be in the audience and try to individualize the material to their interests (Patterson, n.d.) According to Kirchner, “Great speakers weave references to human interest stories, current events and popular culture throughout their speeches,” (Kirchner, 2010, p. 42). Even though it is informational, it also needs to have some zest. Secondly, when preparing the speech, it is important to tailor the presentation. The information needs to be relevant to the audience and cover all central topics without overloading the audience. Thirdly, the use of visuals and handouts needs to be incorporated in the speech. Using images, graphs, or handouts of the presentation can greatly increase the effectiveness of the presentation (Patterson, n.d.). Every person learns and attains information differently, therefore targeting all learning styles within the speech is crucial for the best outcome and allows the audience to gather the key points of the presentation in the way that works best for them. Lastly, being comfortable and confident is essential throughout the speech. One thing that an informative speech targets is logos. Although statistics, data, and reasoning are vital, they are irrelevant without a confident, creditable presenter giving the information. Therefore, being confident, allowing questions, making eye contact, and having a stable body posture are necessities (Patterson, n.d.).
Knowing the building blocks of an effective informative speech is crucial and one example that illustrates all of these factors and is used throughout businesses all over the world is TED talks. TED talks are known for their efficient display of information from science to business to global issues. Not only are TED talks so widely popular because of their effective, powerful communication, but also because they are so easily accessible. “In the fall of 2012, TED Talks celebrated its one billionth video view. As TED Talks continue to be watched around the world, with an average of 17 new page views a second, TED conferences and events continue to inspire, motivate and thrill attendees” (TED, n.d.). TED uses platforms such as: Twitter, Instagram, livestreams, but its most popular site is YouTube. By using these platforms, it has allowed TED talks to reach so many people across the world.
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In Rakesh Godhwani’s study on the dimensions of presentations, he breaks down why some TED talk speakers are more impactful than others. He splits it up into six types of attributes that need to be displayed in an effective TED talk. Those six types include: style, convince, impress, relevance, willingness, and walk-the-talk. Style is the relation between the quality of the speaker and the clarity of the message (Godhwani, 2018). This is important, because it gives the presentation flavor and can make the audience come back for more. According to Godhwani, “participants perceive a dull speaker as less credible,” (Godhwani, 2018). Therefore, when delivering the message, it is important to display energy, sincerity, speed, gestures, eye contact, vocal variety, and diction (Godhwani, 2018). Convince is the relationship between the clarity of the message and the reaction on the audience, therefore the audience needs to be convinced of the logic being presented (Godhwani, 2018). Impress is the relationship between the qualities of a speaker and the impression left on the audience. This is where confidence needs to heavily flow from the presenter, because the audience will always remember their first impression. Relevance is the relationship between the point of the message and the data presented. Making sure the content is relevant is critical, because an audience’s attention span will decrease the more the presentation does not make sense (Godhwani, 2018). Willingness is the relationship between the content of the material and the audience’s ability to be convinced. This category can be tricky, because people have different perspectives and can be bias towards particular topics. Walk-the-talk is the relationship between the quality of speaker and the information being presented. It is important the speaker actually supports what they are speaking about and it establishes credibility (Godhwani, 2018). TED talks are the pinnacle illustration of an effective informative speech, so by implementing these six attributes throughout the speech, the presenter will create their own TED talk and have a much better audience response.
In addition, TED talks biggest platform is the internet, which many people tend to have negative feedback on social media. However, it is being seen more and more that businesses are using social media to their advantage. According to Quaiman, “social media is global in nature; one of its biggest benefits is enabling users to stay connected with friends and family who are geographically separated,” (Quaiman, 2010, p. 2). Social media allows businesses to reach global relationships and once that relationship is established, partnerships can be formed. Quaiman states, “In business it isn’t just for the Marketing and Public Relations departments. Rather, it is imperative for social media to be an integral part of a company’s overall strategy,” (Quaiman, 2010, p. xiiii). Face-to-face interaction is vital, but if the physical presence of a person cannot be there, the next best thing is to live stream an actual presentation; this is how TED operates. TED holds conferences in the Unites States and globally. One of their biggest ones is on the West Coast of North America and over a thousand people attend to it, but TED Conferences realizes not everyone has the means to be present (TED, n.d.). Therefore, these speeches get recorded and put on social networks.
In comparison, the biggest communication system used throughout the business industry is email. Email is widely used, but not effective like informative speeches. According to Zinc, “In 2017, over 269 billion emails were sent/received each day. The average worker will receive 122 emails each day, of which only 38% will contain important, relevant information,” (Wells, 2018, para. 3). There is a big issue with email overload and majority of the time, the employee or customer will bypass the email. Another shocking factor is, “over 72% of the workforce doesn’t sit at a desk and doesn’t use email,” (Wells, 2018, para.7). This is major communication problem, because necessary information is not reaching the intended people, which can lead to bigger issues. Another issue is emails are not made for real-time conversations. There are constant misunderstandings and it is not ideal for when having a group conversation. In addition, there is no accountability being established. It is very easy for a customer or employee to claim they never received that particular email. Zinc states, “The Mckinsey Global Institute found that the average employee spends 13 hours a week checking, reading, and responding to emails- eating up28% of the work week,” (Well, 2018, para 4). Using the email system is a major waste of time and it is hard for employees to be productive when constantly checking their emails. It also can be applied to customers, because customers tend to lose interest if they are constantly clicking on emails from a particular company and it does not interest them. For businesses to thrive it is important to have a way to communicate with customers or colleagues in real time, which is why businesses need to have meetings and not just rely on an email system (Wells, 2018). This is where informative speeches are brought back to the forefront, and can be presented by different platforms such as, Skype, Viber, Facetime, etc. According to TechTalk, 55% of organizations use Skype for business (TechTalk, 2016). It makes it easily assessible for the audience involved and times can be established to watch the presentation if necessary.
Communication is an essential skill to have when it comes to developing a successful relationship with people. In the business world, it is all about social networking, building rapport with customers and employees, and obtaining consistent connections, but without communication none of those would exist. One important route to exercise communication is informative speech. Informative speech is a direct way to display concrete ideas while building a physical rapport with the audience. The four key factors are to know the audience, tailor the presentation, use visuals and handouts, and be comfortable and confident. The number one reason for this speech is that the audience will walk away knowing the key information, but in order to do that the presenter has to target the key attributes that make the speech TED talk worthy. Those six attributes include: style, convince, impress, relevance, willingness, and walk-the-talk. However, informative speeches need an outlet, whether that be face-to-face in a meeting or by social platforms like YouTube. With the data presented above, it is evident Informative speeches are the most effective way to achieve optimal communication and personable connections and by using the advances of today’s social platforms, it will continue to interweave the business and social circles.
