Speaking with Confidence

Appendix: Speaking terms

A plain-English glossary of the terms used in this course.

Voice and delivery

Term	Meaning
Filler words	Sounds and words that fill gaps while you think: “um”, “ah”, “so”, “like”, “you know”. Normal in moderation.
Pace	How fast you speak, usually measured in words per minute.
Pitch	How high or low your voice sounds.
Uptalk	Ending statements with a rising pitch, so they sound like questions.
Vocal variety	Changing pitch, pace, volume and pauses to keep listeners with you and show what matters.
Projection	Speaking loudly and clearly enough to reach the furthest listener, without shouting.
Accent reduction	Training to change how you pronounce sounds and use rhythm in a language, usually to be understood more easily. Also called accent modification. A personal choice, not a fix for a fault.
Community choir	A local choir open to anyone who wants to sing, often with no audition.
Speech pathologist	A health professional who assesses and treats speech, voice and language problems; some specialise in voice and accent work.
Voice coach	A trainer who works on how you sound and deliver: tone, pace, projection, confidence, camera and stage.
Power posing	Standing in an expansive “confident” posture before a stressful event. Claims about hormone changes did not replicate (Lesson 4).

Nerves

Term	Meaning
Speaking anxiety	Fear or nervousness about speaking to others, from mild nerves to severe fear. Also called glossophobia.
Social anxiety disorder	Ongoing, intense fear of social situations that disrupts daily life. Treatable; see your GP.
Reappraisal	Relabelling a feeling, for example calling nervous arousal “excitement” rather than trying to calm down.
Spotlight effect	Overestimating how much other people notice about you.
Illusion of transparency	Believing your inner feelings, like nerves, are more visible to others than they are.
Exposure	Facing a feared situation in gradual steps until it becomes manageable. Core to treating speaking anxiety.

Structure

Term	Meaning
Message	The one sentence you want listeners to remember.
BLUF	“Bottom line up front”: state your conclusion first, then the detail.
PREP	Point, reason, example, point: a simple shape for answers and opinions.
Signposting	Telling listeners where you are in a talk: “My second point is…”
Serial position effect	People remember the first and last items in a sequence best.
Transportation	Being absorbed in a story; makes listeners more open to its point.
Impromptu speaking	Speaking without preparation, on a topic you’ve just been given.

Meetings and feedback

Term	Meaning
Facilitator	The person who runs a meeting’s process: agenda, time, who speaks, decisions. Also called the chair.
Agenda	The list of items for a meeting, best written as questions with times.
Round (round robin)	Asking each person in turn for their view.
Brainwriting	Everyone writes ideas on their own before the group discusses them.
Parking lot	A visible list of off-topic points to deal with later.
Actions	Tasks agreed in a meeting, each with an owner and a date.
Psychological safety	A shared belief that it’s safe to speak up, ask questions and admit mistakes in a team.
SBI	Situation, behaviour, impact: a structure for specific feedback.
Evaluation	In speaking clubs, a short spoken review of a speech by another member: what worked and what to try next.
Leader emergence	Someone in a group without a formal leader coming to be seen as the leader. Strongly linked to how much they speak.
Babble hypothesis	The finding that the person who speaks most in a group tends to be seen as its leader, whatever the quality of what they say.
Employee voice	People raising ideas, questions and problems with those above them at work.
Deliberate practice	Focused practice on a specific weakness, with fast feedback, as opposed to simple repetition.
Commend, recommend, commend	The usual shape of a speech evaluation in a club: specific strengths, one or two things to try next, then encouragement.
Mentor	Someone more experienced who takes an interest in your progress, watches you and gives advice. The person mentored is the mentee or protégé.
Learning by teaching	Understanding and remembering something better because you’ve explained it to someone else.
Hybrid meeting	A meeting with some people in the room and some joining remotely.

Speaking clubs and beyond

Term	Meaning
Toastmasters	An international network of member-run speaking clubs, founded in the United States in 1924.
Rostrum	An Australian public speaking organisation with member-run clubs.
Pathways	Toastmasters’ education program: a series of speech projects at your own pace.
Toastmaster (role)	The host of a club meeting, who introduces each segment and speaker.
Table Topics	The impromptu segment of a club meeting: members answer a surprise question for one to two minutes.
Topicsmaster	The member who runs Table Topics and chooses the questions.
Evaluator	The member who gives a short spoken evaluation of a prepared speech.
General Evaluator	The member who evaluates the whole meeting, including the evaluators.
Timer	The member who times each speaker and shows green, amber and red signals.
Ah-Counter	The member who notes filler words and repeated habits.
Grammarian	The member who introduces a word of the day and notes good and clumsy language.
International Speech Contest	Toastmasters’ main annual contest, from club level up to the World Championship of Public Speaking. Speeches run five to seven minutes.
Keynote	The main talk at a conference or event, often given by a paid professional speaker.
MC	Master of ceremonies: the host who runs an event and introduces speakers.
Speaker bureau	An agency that books professional speakers for events.