An event titled “Effective Speaking, Rhetoric, and Making Yourself Heard” was organized by the Perfusion Club, which operates under Üsküdar University’s Department of Health, Culture, and Sports (HCS). The guest speaker of the event was Communication Specialist Şaban Özdemir. Özdemir drew attention to the decisive role of body language, tone of voice, emphasis, and intonation in communication, noting that sincerity, a positive approach, and the proper management of excitement are the key elements of a successful speech. Sharing examples from his own experiences, Özdemir explained articulation, breathing, and voice masking techniques. He emphasized that strong communication has a placebo effect, especially in the field of healthcare, underlining that communication itself can function as a supportive treatment method. He stated that a significant portion of violence in healthcare settings stems from communication-related issues. Özdemir particularly stressed the importance of being constructive and positive in communication and added that being positive is his greatest source of energy.
The event, held at the İbni Sina Auditorium at Üsküdar University’s NP Health Campus, was moderated by Prof. Ali Kocailik, Head of the Department of Perfusion at the Faculty of Health Sciences.
The program attracted strong interest from students, and effective speaking techniques and the art of rhetoric were addressed in all their details.
“The most accurate intonation is giving a word its due”
Sharing insights on what can be done to impress the audience in the first minutes of a speech and draw them into the presentation, Şaban Özdemir began his remarks by saying: “People are welcomed by their appearance and sent off by what they say, the knowledge they share, and the messages they convey. To be effective on stage, clothing, appearance, and body language are extremely important and complementary elements. Approximately 60 percent of communication consists of body language. Your gestures, facial expressions, posture, and clothing are all part of this. Around 38 percent is tone of voice, meaning using the voice correctly and effectively. Of course, there are techniques for this. There are many resources available online, and these can be utilized. Only about 7 to 8 percent consists of the words we use. In other words, nearly 90 percent of communication is made up of body language, appearance, gestures, facial expressions, voice, and intonation. These aspects must be taken into consideration. Tone of voice can sometimes rise and fall, at times becoming louder, at other times remaining more stable. Therefore, emphasis and intonation are extremely valuable. The most accurate intonation is being able to pronounce a word in accordance with its meaning and give it its proper sound. It means doing justice to the word together with its emotion. If it is love, you must be able to say ‘love’. If it is affection, say ‘affection’. If it is anger or rage, say ‘rage’. You must dress the word with that emotion and tone.”
“My greatest fuel is being positive”
Emphasizing the importance of sincerity in communication, Özdemir stated: “Just as people’s tongues speak, their brains also speak. As Prof. Nevzat Tarhan often emphasizes, mirror neurons are active in the brain. If there is sincerity in communication, the brains also interact. As we understand, recognize, and trust one another, perhaps this may sound bold, but you truly begin to become one, to function as a single whole. This allows me to sense in advance the reaction the other person may give. Because they trust you, they open themselves up to you. Communication flows sincerely. Communication is, in a sense, an exchange of intentions. When intention is pure and sincere, energy emerges, and the energy of two people turns into synergy. As a person, I am positive and I truly enjoy being positive. Being positive shapes the course of communication and increases its impact. My greatest fuel is being positive, positive energy. This is actually one of the fundamental rules of communication life. The effort to remain positive and to be positive.”
“Without excitement, there is no success”
Answering questions from participants, Özdemir emphasized that excitement must be managed correctly. He stated: “I get excited before every program without exception, and I was truly excited while coming here today as well. Excitement should already be there. Without excitement, there is no success. What truly matters is being able to channel that excitement into the right areas. One must be able to achieve this. You should be able to load that excitement into your voice, your body, your facial expressions, your body language, and the words you choose. If you cannot distribute the excitement and it gets stuck in your throat, your voice will tremble, you will not be able to express yourself, you will tire yourself out, and you will panic. Excitement will of course exist, but if we channel it to the right places, it turns into real fuel for us.”
“I wore down eight pencils in my mouth”
Stating that he extensively used the pencil technique to learn to speak clearly and found it very effective in overcoming laziness of the lips, tongue, and jaw, Özdemir said: “I wore down eight pencils. Wearing down a pencil is not easy. You do not wear it down by writing, you wear it down by grinding it with your teeth. I deliberately chose cemeteries while speaking and making sounds so that no one would see me and treat me like an abnormal person. In cemeteries, there are the dead, the only people who never make mistakes. Because they are dead. Even if I made mistakes, no one would hear me anyway. In order to speak properly, articulate clearly, and pay attention to correct pronunciation and intonation of words, I wore down eight pencils. I was a child with an accent, someone who was mocked and ridiculed. For anyone who has an accent, whose Turkish is flawed, who struggles with correct intonation, emphasis, and pronunciation, these are all achievable things. Pencils are truly helpful in this regard, especially in overcoming lip and tongue laziness. While speaking, we sometimes swallow letters and fail to pronounce the right word with the correct tone and articulation. I benefited greatly from the pencil technique in learning to speak clearly and distinctly.”
“Breath is our greatest weapon”
Speaking about the concept of voice masking, Özdemir explained: “Since the beginning of the program, I have been using my voice by masking it. Masking the voice means taking the sound out of the chest, throat, and head voice and carrying it to the mask area. You take the sound with correct breathing and proper diaphragm use. The chest should not inflate. You already know diaphragm breathing and there are exercises for it. With each breath you take, the abdominal area expands, not the chest, pay attention if you notice. Because breath is our greatest weapon. We have to use breath correctly, economically, and efficiently. You pass the breath through the throat, carry the vibration on the vocal cords to the mask area, and let it resonate there. When you carry the sound to this area, it spreads over a wider volume, resonates more beautifully, and does not place excessive strain on the vocal cords. This allows you to speak easily and for a long time without getting tired. The reason many teachers experience issues such as vocal cord nodules is actually because they do not use diaphragm breathing correctly and overload their vocal cords by improper breathing. News anchors, presenters, and people who constantly work with their voice do not strain their vocal cords excessively because they carry the sound to the mask area and apply correct intonation there.”
“Strong communication in healthcare has a placebo effect”
Concluding his talk by emphasizing the importance and necessity of communication in healthcare, Özdemir said: “Today, a significant portion of the violence experienced in healthcare arises from communication failures. Of course, there are also systemic problems, but setting those aside, I especially want to emphasize this because you are healthcare professionals. I believe that communication in healthcare has a placebo effect. Patients wait for a sound to come from between the lips of healthcare workers, a compassionate expression. Patients in healthcare should not be seen merely as cases. You may have the latest technological equipment and work in well-equipped healthcare complexes, but merely prescribing medication will go no further than providing a chemical substance. I see communication in healthcare as a method of treatment. Do not deprive your patients, your clients, and those who need you of this treatment method.”