Feedback is the message listeners send back to you as you speak. Facial expressions, gestures, or sounds of agreement or disagreement let you know how you are coming across. Since most feedback is nonverbal, you should maintain eye contact with your audience so that you can respond to these signals. Use feedback to monitor whether listeners understand you, are interested, and agree with what you are saying. Negative feedback in particular can alert you to the need to make on-the-spot adjustments.
Feedback that Signals Misunderstanding. Listeners’ puzzled expressions can signal that they don’t understand what you ire saying. You may need to define an unfamiliar word or rephrase an idea to make it simpler. You could add an example or story to make an abstract concept more concrete. It might help to compare or contrast an unfamiliar idea with something the audience already knows and understands. When you detect signs of misunderstanding, you can say, “Let me put it another way.” Then provide a clearer explanation.
Feedback that Signals Loss of Interest. Bored listeners wiggle in their seats, drum their fingers, or develop a glazed look. Remind them of the importance of your topic. Provide an example or story that makes your message come to life. Involve your listeners by asking a question that calls for a show of hands. Startle them with a bold statement. Keep in mind that enthusiasm is incendiary: Your interest can ignite theirs. Move from behind the lectern and come closer to them. Whatever happens, do not become disheartened or lose faith in your speech. In all likelihood, some people—probably more than you think—will have found the speech interesting.
Feedback that Signals Disagreement. A number of techniques can help you deal with disagreement. If you anticipate resistance, work hard to establish your ethos in the introduction of your speech. Listeners should see you as a competent, trustworthy, and likable person who has their best interests at heart.
To be perceived as competent, you must be competent. Arm yourself with a surplus of information, examples, and testimony from sources your audience will respect. Practice your presentation until it is polished. Set an example of tolerance by respecting positions different from your own.
You may find that although you differ with listeners on methods, you agree with them on goals. In such cases, stress the values that you share. Appeal to the listeners’ sense of fair play and their respect for your right to speak. You should be the model of civility in the situation. Avoid angry reactions and the use of inflammatory language. Think of these listeners as offering an opportunity for your ideas to have impact.

As a speaker, you are a presentation aid.8 Your body, grooming, actions, gestures, voice, facial expressions, and demeanor always provide an added dimension to your speech. Use these factors to help convey your message.
What you wear can function as a presentation aid. If you will be talking about camping and wilderness adventures, blue jeans and a flannel shirt might be appropriate attire. What you wear, however, should not be more interesting than what you say. Here, as in all other cases, presentation aids should enhance, not overshadow, your verbal message.
You also can use other people as presentation aids. Neomal Abyskera used two of his classmates to illustrate the lineup positions in the game of rugger as played in his native Sri Lanka. At the appropriate moment, Neomal said, “Peter and Jeffrey will show you how the opposing team members line up.” While his classmates demonstrated the arm-locked shoulder grip position, Neomal explained when and why the position was assumed. This demonstration was more understandable than if he had tried to describe the position verbally or drawn it on the chalkboard with stick figures.
If you plan to have other people act as a presentation aid, be sure that they are willing to help you. Rehearse your presentation with them until it goes smoothly. When you give your speech, have them sit in the front row so that they can come forward and then sit down again as quickly as possible when their part is completed.

An outline gives you an overview of what you want to say and how you want to say it. It can sharpen the logic and improve the structure of your speech. Your working outline is a tentative plan of your speech. It helps you work out the relationships of your ideas, showing the relative importance of your points and how they fit together. As working outlines for a speech evolve, they indicate how and where you will use supporting materials. By developing working outlines, you can judge the effectiveness of your research and determine if you need additional material.
The formal outline is the final product of the research and planning phase of your speech. It follows a number of conventions, including coordination and subordination. Coordination requires that statements that are alike in importance be placed on the same level in the outline. Subordination requires that statements descend in importance and that each level logically include the level below it. As you descend through the outline, points become more specific and concrete.
The main points in a formal outline should be worded as declarative sentences. Parallel construction helps the audience remember your message. Source citations provide documentation. They show how you have integrated your research into your speech. A formal outline includes a list of works consulted.
A key-word outline can aid you in your presentation of a speech. It reduces the formal outline to a few essential words that remind you of the content and design of your speech, and sources of supporting materials during your presentation. Notes on the key-word outline can also remind you of presentation strategies.