PA announcers have a special type of speech to give
Image Credit: One Way Stock
So here’s an interesting question for you. How many times have you been at a large event, more often than not outdoors, such as a convention, a sporting event, an inauguration, a grand opening, or any type of civic event? How do you know what is going to be happening soon? How do you know where you should be going? The answers to both of these questions is generally that the public address (PA) system that has been set up at the event has told you what you needed to know. What you may not have realized is that the person on the other side of that PA system is really giving a speech. The PA system is showing the importance of public speaking. How do they do that?
What Goes Into A Good PA Speech
Although acting as a PA announcer may not strike you as being the same as taking the stage and delivering a speech to an audience, they really are the same thing. You need to view being asked to be a PA announcer as being both an honor and a privilege – just like when you are asked to give a speech. You do need to understand that giving this type of speech will be different than just about every other type of speech that you have given. One of the biggest differences is that although everyone in your spread out audience will be able to clearly hear you, you may not be able to hear yourself!
Since nobody is going to be able to see you as you make your PA announcer speech, you are going to have some extra work to do. One of the most important things that is going to matter in this speech is how your voice comes across to the people who are listing to you. You are going to want your voice to sound inviting, warm, and even just a bit sophisticated. Keep in mind that at events like this, often the only thing that you’ll be called on to say is perhaps a person’s name. This means that you are going to have to find a way to work in the correct amount of excitement in order to find a way to set the proper tone for your message.
I can only speak for myself, but when it comes to pronouncing people’s names correctly I do a horrible job. When you are called on to act as a PA announcer, this is one area where you cannot drop the ball (like I do). What you need to understand is that when it comes to being a PA announcer, accuracy is everything. When you know that you’ll be a PA announcer for an event, take the time to study the names that you’ll be called on to announce and make sure that you fully understand the correct way to pronounce them. Your ultimate goal as a PA announcer is to find a way to shine the spotlight of attention on someone else.
Tips For Delivering A Good PA Speech
If we can all agree that the faceless PA announcer is performing a critical and required job, then the next question is just exactly how should we go about doing this task when we are called upon to perform it? Hopefully it goes without saying that the first step in becoming a good PA announcer is that you are going to have to practice what you are going to be saying. You need to reach out to the people who will be running the event and get a copy of the script. Because things always change, you are going to have to make sure that you fully understand the big picture of the event and how the event’s various pieces all fit together.
The real challenge of being a PA announcer is going to be to get people to pay attention to what you are saying. In order to make this happen, you are going to have to make them want to listen to you. What this means for you is that when you are rehearsing for your big PA speech is that you are going to want to read your script out loud. What you are going to be looking for by doing this is for words that, although they may look fine when they are written down, end up not flowing well when spoken. It is going to be your responsibility to change them so that they become easier for you to say and come across to your audience as being more conversational.
We all want to come across as being excited about what we are saying and find ways to capture our audience’s attention. As speakers this is generally not a problem because we are standing on a stage in front of our audience. However, as a PA announcer you will probably have the opportunity to sit and speak. You may want to consider standing. When you stand you’ll discover that you generate more energy. Additionally, you’ll also be able to be more expressive. Although as a PA announcer nobody is going to be able to see you or any gestures that you make, this does not mean that you should not make them. By using body language you are going to be able to an extra level of vitality to the words that you are saying.
What All Of This Means For You
When we think about giving speeches we generally think about standing on a stage and speaking to an audience. However, it turns out that there is an entirely new world of Public Address announcing that also requires people who understand the benefits of public speaking and know how to give speeches. If we can find out how to master this different form of speech giving then we can open new doors to public speaking for us.
We need to understand that when you are a PA announcer you won’t be able to see your audience but that they will be able to hear you. You need to control how your voice will sound to the people who will be hearing you. Taking the time to master how your pronounce people’s names will become of the upmost importance. You’ll need to get a script for the event and spend some time practicing what you’ll be saying. When you are practicing read the words out loud looking for words that don’t flow together. Make changes to make things flow better. When you are speaking stand up and use body language to add more energy to what you are saying.
Becoming a PA announcer is a different form of giving a speech than most of us are used to. It is a very important job and if we can take the time to master the techniques required to get good at this, then we can add this skill to our resume. Spend some time polishing your PA announcer skills and then go out then and find an event who needs someone who can do a good job at getting the word out!
– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Public Speaking Skills™
Question For You: Do you think that it will be important for you to see what is going on while you are a PA announcer?
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Note: What we talked about are advanced speaking skills. If you are just starting out I highly recommend joining Toastmasters in order to get the benefits of public speaking. Look for a Toastmasters club to join in your home town by visiting the web site www.Toastmasters.org. Toastmasters is dedicated to helping their members to understand the importance of public speaking by developing listening skills and getting presentation tips. Toastmasters is how I got started speaking and it can help you also!
What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time
Hopefully by now everyone knows that one of the best ways to tap into the importance of public speaking and make your next speech become more interesting to your audience is to include a story in the speech. We’ve got a lot of different stories that we can draw on: fairy tales, folk tales, legends, myths, you know the list. As speakers we run into a common problem when we use these types of stories: our audience has already heard them. Perhaps once, perhaps a hundred times. As speakers what we need are a new source of stories with which to thrill our audience.
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