So you’ve been asked to speak at a conference or at your local business improvement meeting, or at your niece’s wedding. Or maybe you’ve been asked to prepare a speech for your boss or someone else. It really doesn’t matter. The process is the same.
Before you start
Set off in the right direction and know the answer to these questions
- What’s the main purpose of the speech, e.g., to give information, to persuade, to entertain?
- Who is the audience – how much do they know about the topic, what do you want them to learn, what do you think they will be expecting (e.g., what’s in it for them)?
- How long is your speech expected to be?
Writing the first draft
Don’t pressure yourself trying to get it perfect first time round. Good speeches come after many, many rewrites. Start by breaking your draft into three sections.
- The beginning – begin with a surprise or an unknown fact, ask a question, make a provocative statement – once you have their attention, tell the audience what you’re going to tell them but make it short and snappy
- The middle – stick to three, or maximum four, main thoughts (key messages) and deal with one thought at a time — don’t wobble all over the place but make sure your thoughts string together in a logical way.
- The end – summarize what you’ve said and leave the audience with one lasting thought and/or a call to action.
Polishing until perfect
Allow plenty of time for this part of the process. This is where you can elevate your speech from okay to great.
- Read your speech aloud. Make sure you’ve written for the ear, not the eye. Just because it reads well, doesn’t mean it’s a good speech.
- Are the sentences short?
- Are there parts where you stumble? Does it sound monotone, can you add some words that help to paint a mental picture? Does it flow like a conversation? Are there awkward transitions when you move from one thought to another? Is the flow logical?
- Time yourself; make sure you don’t go over the allotted time.
- Learn from others. How do they make their point strong or bold? How do they hold the audience’s attention (and your attention)? Do they use rhetorical devices, humour, quotes, or personal stories?
- Mark up your speaking copy – underline where you want to emphasise, put a dash where you need to pause, spell out phonetically words that you may stumble over, or people’s names that you could easily mispronounce.
