How to Prepare a Speech

A first-rate speech not only lets you share interesting and important information, but also can help establish you as an expert in your field. Don't skimp on preparation. As you walk to the podium, you'll be grateful for every bit of effort you've invested.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Analyze your audience and the occasion. Plan your speech so it contains specific information that will interest and benefit these particular listeners. See 207 Polish Your Presentation Skills.
2. Choose a key theme. Write this out on a separate piece of paper and refer to it frequently as you research and write your talk. Develop the theme with no more than four or five major subpoints (unless you're writing the State of the Union address, in which case you get to ramble on as long as you like).
3. Write a powerful opening and memorize it so you'll be able to look directly at your audience for the first few minutes. Spend as much preparation time as necessary to create an audiencegrabbing beginning. Find an emotional hook to draw people in immediately. News flash: "I'm delighted to be here today" is a yawner.
4. Grab their attention with well-honed quotations for variety and depth, and dramatic statistics.
5. Keep sentences short. This will clarify your message as well as create more frequent pause-and-breathe opportunities.
6. Create a text-marking system that enables you to find your place again after you look up at the audience. Circling a few key words in different-color inks works well. In the margins, write performance reminders such as "Speak confidently" and "Breathe!"
7. Practice with audiovisuals, if you'll be using them, and then practice some more. Have a backup plan, such as printouts in the event of equipment failure.
8. Summarize your key points near the end, but keep them brief. When the end is in sight, the speech should move briskly.
9. Close the speech with a call to action, whether it's as specific as "Buy our product" or "Join us in this cause," or as subtle as "Consider me an expert in this area."
10. Time the speech by reading it aloud and edit it if it runs over the allotted time. Keep in mind that after 20 to 25 minutes, even the most attentive listeners may start to drift off. Brief, articulate, memorable speeches always beat long, meandering ones. If your speech is too short, finish with a question-and-answer period.
11. Prepare handouts summarizing key points to give to members of the audience after you speak. Make sure to include your name and contact information.

Tips & Warnings

• Plan your travel time so you arrive at the speech site early enough to familiarize yourself with the podium and microphone.
• Borrow a technique from stage actors: Speak from your diaphragm to improve your voice's timbre and projection. Practice helps.
• Incorporate the names of specific audience members, if you know any of them, into your speech. These people, at least, will sit up straighter and listen more attentively to the rest of your talk. Just make sure you pronounce their names correctly.
• Have a glass of roomtemperature water nearby. Ice-cold water can tighten vocal cords.
• Toastmasters.org offers tips on public speaking.
• Use strong transitions between ideas, and place internal summaries liberally throughout the text. Bombarding the audience with a continual stream of new information leads to listener overload.
• Beware of starting with a joke. Too many speechopening jokes evoke more groans than guffaws.

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