Four ways to deliver more compelling speeches online

Since the start of the pandemic I have spent more hours than I care to count on Zoom. Between calls for group projects, catching up with friends, online pub quizzes and coaching debate teams across three different time zones it often feels like I am more busy on Zoom than I ever was in person before the lockdown started.

Even as countries begin to exit the lockdown there is no reason to believe that platforms like Zoom or other online conferencing and learning platforms are going anywhere anytime soon. For many, our eyes have been opened to the new options of how we can learn and interact without the need to gather all in one place. In the debating world, Zoom debates have taken off amongst debate societies around the world. Even the World Schools Debate Championships, the most prestigious international schools debate tournament, will be moving to an online format for this year’s championships in July. This trend will likely persist throughout the schools debate season with many tournaments already announcing that they will be running online versions of their usual programmes.

With this in mind, it is worth thinking about some of the differences between delivering persuasive speeches in person and delivering compelling speeches online. Here are four tips on how to deliver better speeches over Zoom!

Tip 1: Listen attentively

Concentrating and staying focussed and engaged on Zoom is certainly far harder than it would be to do the same when working with a team in person. Nonetheless, it is crucial in debates that we stay focussed and engaged in order to deliver persuasive speeches. One tip might be to try taking notes on paper rather than on your computer as you would in an in person debate and closing any other tabs that might serve as a distraction to what is going on on screen.

Tip 2: Speak slowly

Speaking slowly and clearly in any debate is important but even more crucial in online debates. When audio quality can sometimes suffer from temperamental wifi connections it is so important that you speak slowly so that the judge and audience have the best chances of getting down all of the great arguments that you are making.

Tip 3: Smile more and make eye contact

Our non-verbal cues are just as important if not more in online formats of communication than they are in person. Part of addressing this is smiling more when delivering arguments and making virtual eye contact with the members of the audience. Make sure to set up your camera in a way where you can look at your notes for your speech but you can also look up and into the camera when you are delivering your material. One additional tip for zoom is to pin your camera on the screen before you start delivering your speech. When you can see yourself speaking it provides a useful reminder to make more eye contact, slow down and to think about how you are coming across on screen and if it is persuasive to the judges.

Tip 4: Stand when you are delivering your speech

There is certainly a temptation to remain seated when delivering your speech but it is far better if you stand up and deliver as you would in a debate. This really helps you with projecting your voice, which is really important if your microphone quality isn’t the best. It also helps with replicating all the things that you would do during your in person speeches such as using hand gestures for emphasis during arguments, and makes the debate feel more formal and engaging - something especially important when everyone is trying to get over the slight weirdness of it being online!

As always, remember that practice makes perfect and that improvements in speeches do not come overnight. For those looking for a way to practice delivering speeches online, developing debate skills and improving general knowledge the CodeBlue ClassPass is a great way to get started. Over 2 weeks we are going to be offering 30 sessions spanning 45 hours of content that students can choose between sessions developing debate fundamentals like argument generation or delivering responses, lectures on current affairs and practice debates with other students on the course. Students can choose to attend as many or as few sessions as like, selecting classes based on their interests, availability and experience level.

Registration is now open for the course that will be running between the 3rd and the 14th of August. Check out our page and the appropriate region to find out the rest of the details on the programme and more information on how to sign up.