A signpost, what's that got to do with speaking in public? Wow, a lot, really because it's a good point, I excuse the pun, to a very useful technique that you can use to help your audience follow what you were saying in your speech. Remember that you can't always be sure that an audience are good at actively listening to what speaker is saying. So they probably need some help. What you can do is give verbal clues as to what's going on while you speak. Effectively, you're giving them a roadmap of your speech.

This is what we call signposting. There are really two types of signposting what I call explicit and implicit, and I'll explain what they are and how you do them. So let's have a look at explicit signposting. This is a technique where you lay out your store and it links nicely with the three parts beach straw In public speaking, there is a well known saying, Tell them what you're going to tell them. Tell them, tell them what you've told them. This saying is often attributed to Winston Churchill.

But it could equally be Aristotle or Dale Carnegie. It doesn't matter who said it. It's a very useful saying. So let's have a look at what it means. Effectively, you're laying bare your structure so that the audience knows what you're going to talk about. And then they can follow you more effectively.

You're writing a speech, not a mystery novel. So here we go. Here you are listing what you're going to say by looking forward to the point you're going to make. You could put this short section in the beginning of your speech or at the link between the beginning and the middle. Whichever it is, make sure it's clear, concise and memorable and comes early enough in the speech to make sense. For example, In my speech about paper, I might say, today I'm going to explain why paper is still important in today's digital world, which is pretty general signposting, but it's still signposting.

Or I might be more specific and more effective by saying, today I'm going to cover three things. First, I'll introduce a short history of paper making. Then briefly explain how paper is made today. And thirdly, explain why paper is still important in today's digital world. Whatever you do, leave your audience in no doubt what they are going to hear. So, moving on, this is where you actually deliver the main points of your speech to the audience.

This corresponds to the middle of your speech. However many main points you are going to make in your speech, you will need to make sure your audience knows where you are, which point you are going to talk about next with some sort of link in between each signpost to where you are So I could say when I come to it, firstly, let's look at how paper was made in the 18th and 19th centuries. And now I'll move on to how paper is made today. And finally the crux of my presentation, I will argue that paper is still relevant in today's digital age. Finally, tell them what you've told them. Whatever the form of your ending, make sure that some point you summarize the main points, or refer back to what you started with, to show that you've covered what you said you would cover.

Reinforce anything that you particularly want your audience to take away from your speech, and then finish with your striking ending. Not everyone uses this model. And indeed, it may be that some speeches might not be so effective if you follow it too rigidly. For example, you might not want to give away too much at the beginning and play your trump card revealing all later in the speech. But for the most purposes, this method is the most useful and universal Also referred to implicit signposting. This is more subtle, it can be done with words and also the way you use your voice, words and phrases like now, but also, now that we know and finally combined with pauses can signal that you are moving from one section to another.

It is a good idea to signpost that you are coming to the end of your speech. For example, if you have a meeting chair, and now Madam Chair, ladies and gentlemen, this is often a good indicator that you're approaching either the conclusion or the close of your speech. So, this has been a short but important module, and I'll hope you'll use signposting in your speech. In the next video, I will introduce Jasmine who will give us a long awaited speech, as she speaks will analyze the speech and show you how she uses all the techniques that we have looked at so far.