AAA KASH CODS Model

Audience: Public speaking is audience-centered. It begins with the audience in mind, from the formation of the thesis behind the message, through organizing the ideas into a sensible format, to the actual giving of the speech. The speaker is there for the audience, not the other way around. It isn’t a dog-and-pony show, and opportunity to build the personal ego of the speaker. Speakers must have something significant and relevant to say to the audience and avoid wasting their time. A speaker who comes unprepared to deliver a 10-minute speech to an audience of 100 people does not waste his or her mere ten minutes; they waste that ten minutes multiplied by the 100 people sitting there politely listening.

Analysis: Effective public speaking begins with a thorough knowledge of the audience. The speaker must know to whom they are speaking, their needs, wants, dreams, and desires. Effective preparation begins with information gathering about those who will be listening.

Adaptation: Effective speaking also exercises the skills needed to adapt the message to the listening audience. The speaker must be able to shape the message, how it is delivered, and what examples/illustrations/forms of proof are offered so that the audience will be most likely to (1) understand the meaning of the message, and (2) be persuaded by the thesis or argument. There are three main times where adaptation occurs: (1) beforehand, during the preparation of the speech, (2) immediately beforehand, when the speaker is about the give the speech, and (3) during the speech.

KASH is a model borrowed from the Training and Development field, specifically from the course entitled Modelnetics. It includes an I in the model, and the four elements of KASH point to the I, which stands for Improvement. The point of the original model is that these four elements, Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills, and Habits are necessary for Improvement to occur. Here is how KASH is applied to Public Speaking.

Knowledge:

Attitudes:

Skills:

Habits:

CODS stands for the four basic parts of speeches, the Content, Organization, Delivery, and Support.

Content:

Organization:

Delivery:

Support:

Remember,

AAA gave me some KASH, and I bought some CODS.