Chapters 9/10 Response

Your delivery or your body communication can contradict the message or spoken word of a speech by creating insincerity and unreliability for yourself towards the audience. Things like crossed arms or legs can really throw the audience off and can be perceived as laziness, boredom, or just a sense that you do not want to be there. Using slang terms or mispronouncing and misusing words and phrases decreases your credibility, or reliability, because it is as if you did not practice or do your research, or in other words fully prepare, for your speech. Another big one is no eye contact. You are disengaged with the audience, almost as if the audience is simply listening to a podcast, aka you reading a manuscript off a piece of paper. Why would the audience want to believe you and trust that your words are true if you cannot even have a good delivery to your speech? It is not just about inward knowledge but also outward. Having good impression management, self-analyzing your presentation and body language throughout the speech, will help you gain credibility and even draw the audience into your speech more.