How to make a speech

HowtoMakeASpeech•Makesurethatthetitleofyourspeechiscatchy.•Clearlyarticulatewhatthetitleofyourtopicistotheaudienceinthefirsttwosentences.•Tryandnotintroducethetopicbystating“Iwouldliketotalkabout…”•Consider…•“Inthepast,globalwarmingwasofnoconcernformostpeopleintheworldasweracedtowardincreasedproductionandmoreconsumergoods,butwiththechangingofweather,itseemsthatglobalwarminghasalteredourenvironment.LadiesandGentleman,Iwouldliketodiscussaboutglobalwarmingandoffersome…”•Agoodspeechtellssomethingthatpeopledon’tknow.•MostgoodspeechesDONOTincludemuchstatisticalinformation.•Pauseforafewsecondsasyouhaveenteredthepodium.Itallowstheaudiencetovisualizeyouandgiveyoutimetosteadyyournerves.•Usehandsgestureswhenmakingapoint.Don’tstandtherefrozenintime.•Sweepyoureyesfromfrontto,lefttorighttoengagetheaudience.Itmakestheaudiencefeelthatyouareconnectedtothem.•Modulateyourvoiceandgoupanddownwiththesentence,donotkeepyourvoiceinonepitch.•Someofthewordsinasentenceneedtobestressedandsomeneedtobeshortened.•Makepausesatadramaticmomentsinthespeech.•Changethevolumeofyourvoiceatdramaticmoments.•Considerusingshortersentencesratherthanlongerones.•Considerusingsomesortofcatchyphrasesinthespeechsuchas,“Therightwayistheonlyway.”•Usecontraststoillustrateapoint.•Forinstance:“Canyouimagineaworldwithoutanywinter?ThesnowcapsontheNorthandSouthPolewouldmelt,resultinginalackofhabitatforPolarBears,and…”•Usuallyagoodspeechhasthreepoints,andonlythreepointsofargument.Mostpeoplecanonlyhandleonlysomuchinformationwithouttuningoutofthetopic.•SPEAKSLOWLYANDCLEARLY.•Bettertohavealittlelessinformationthantoomuchinformationcrammedintothespeech.•Usethree-partlists.Forexample:“Governmentofthepeople,bythepeople,andforthepeople.”“seeone-thirdofanationill-housed,ill-clad,ill-nourished.”“Theultimatecaseforthethirdwayisthatitworks-goodvalues,goodvision,goodpolicies.”•Repetitioncanbealsousedasanemphasisofatheme.Forinstance…-KennedyinBerlinin1963used“LetthemtocometoBerlin”-“Ihaveadream..and“Letfreedomring...”againandagain(seventimesandeighttimesrespectively)byMartinLutherKingJr.-BarackObamainhisspeechfollowingthe2008NewHampshireprimarywhenherepeatedlyusedthephrase“Yeswecan”.•Onewayofcommandingattentionistousearedundant,butattention-seeking,shortsentence.•Forinstance:“Isaythistoyou”or“Letmebeclear”.•Asarule,simplicityoflanguagemarksasuperbspeech.•Finishwithastrong,affirmativestatement,possiblyreferringbacktotheopeningsentenceorquestionposedintheintroduction.•Avoidsayingthingslike“AndthatisallIwanttosayaboutit”or“That’sall.”•Avoidusing“andsoon”or“inshort”or“inconclusion”or“inaword”•Avoidoverestimatingyouraudiencesknowledgeaboutyourtopic(e.g.,“Asweallknow…”or“Everyoneisaware…”•Don’tposequestionstotheaudiencetoletthemguess,butrather,askrhetoricalquestions.•Don’taskforaudienceparticipationinaspeech.•Conveytheideaofenthusiasmforyourtopic.•Relaxandenjoyspeech-making.•Rememberthatthisisaskillyoucanusealwaysinyourlife,bothprofessionallyandinpersonalsituations.