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ATTITUDE
Your speech reveals how you feel about
what you say. It has an emotional impact on
others. Thus, emotion indicates how you feel
about all that surrounds you--it shows your
attitude. Attitude affects the words you use. The
four specific indicators of a good speaking
attitude are sincerity, confidence, enthusiasm,
and humor.
Sincerity, from the speaker’s point of view,
is the apparent earnest desire to convince the
audience of the truth and value of an idea. The
two sources of sincerity are a personal, intense
belief in your subject and a belief in the value of
your subject to your listeners. The first of these
sources is ideal because intense personal belief is natural sincerity that shows in your every word or gesture.
The second source is more rational than emotional. If you know your teaching material is valuable, you will
present it in an honest and forthright manner. You will not rely on gimmicks or questionable reasoning to
make your presentation look good.
By showing that you believe in what you say, you convince your students of the importance of the subject.
Sincerity shows in a number of ways: directness of manner, facial expressions, clarity of explanation, proper
combination of humility and authority, and the effective use of the voice and body to reinforce and emphasize
ideas. Remember that students must see, hear, and feel that you believe in what you say.
Confidence is a personal attitude or feeling of assurance. It is belief in your ability to perform a task well.
To be confident and control stage fright requires two prerequisites: knowledge of the subject and belief in your
ability to speak. You obtain knowledge of a subject through research and study. Belief in your ability comes
from rehearsal and experience. These requirements are entirely up to you to accomplish in your own way.
ENTHUSIASM
Enthusiasm is the outward manifestation of sincerity and confidence. From the speaker’s
standpoint, enthusiasm is a strong personal excitement or feeling about a cause or a subject .
Enthusiasm is not shouting; it is not phony, overdramatic speech ; it is not waving of the
arms and leaping about on the platform. Rather, it is the way you show your belief in your
subject! How you show enthusiasm is governed by your personality. If you are a vigorous and
dynamic person, you may show enthusiasm by brisk, energetic movement; sweeping gestures;
a rapid rate of speech; widely-varying inflection; and plenty of vocal force. If you have a more
subdued nature, you will move and gesture with less energy and speak in more measured
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