Introduction
"Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't; the other half have nothing to say and keep saying it."
From the outset, you should know that how to write a speech depends on how good you want it to be, and how much time you want to put into it.
Real speech preparation means digging something out of yourself. You have to gather facts and arrange your thoughts. As you collect the ideas, you have to nurture your ideas and think about a unique way to express them in an organized manner.
A speech needs time to grow. Prepare for weeks, sleep on it, dream about it and let your ideas sink into your subconscious. Ask yourself questions, write down your thoughts, and keep adding new ideas.
Keep your audience fresh
Performers know that pacing is an important part of the act. When is the right time for a ballad; when is an up-tempo tune needed? Audiences tire, they get bored, and they get distracted. It’s the performer’s job to keep them interested and intrigued. It’s the entertainer who must keep them entertained. It’s also the speaker who must keep them listening.
Every person stayed to hear those last few gags. They responded with more enthusiasm. Hope had revitalized them with a show-business gimmick.
As a speaker, you too can find ways to refresh the audience. Use stories, dialogs, jokes, questions and even audience participation to give variety to your speech.
Sometimes an amusing anecdote will revitalize an audience. Perhaps a story that’s told as if it’s a departure from the presentation will intrigue the listeners. Anything that changes the pattern or tempo can refocus the listeners.
A great tool to use in preparing your speech is the professional speakers database not only can you look at sample speeches, you can get ideas for great openings and closings.
Add some enthusiasm to your talk
Your audience will never be more excited about your talk than you are, so give them some energy, and they will give it back to you. Walk about a half step faster. Smile. Let your gestures and voice emphasis come naturally. Don't over do it, but give more energy than what you normally would.
Limit your talk to a few key points
Narrow down your topic to either one key point for a short talk, or thee key point for a longer talk (a talk longer than 30-minutes.) Ask yourself, "If my audience only remembered one thing from my talk, what would be most important thing for them to remember?" The reason this is so important is that the human mind likes to think of only one thing at a time. For instance, think of the Statue of Liberty. What do you see? You probably see a picture in your mind of the statue. Now think of a pink elephant. Again, you probably see a picture in your mind, but the important question is…where did the statue go? Your mind can only truly focus on one thing at a time. As you add additional points, each previous point will become diluted. The more points your presentation has, the less focus the audience will have on each individual point. Once you have your key points, then create your PowerPoint slides. That will keep you from having hundreds of PowerPoint slides.
Tell stories
Don't tell little white lies, but do tell anecdotes and personal experiences. Stories build rapport with your audience, and they give you more credibility. Your audience will remember your stories a lot longer than they will remember your talking points. If you cannot think of any personal anecdotes check the Podium Notes database for more ideas.
When in doubt, speak from the heart
Let your audience see the real you, and you will have a great speaking performance. Remember: The audience wants to see a human being. |
