Quick Hit: Top 10 Tips To Remember When Writing A Speech

You might think that you have the most amazing information to share with your audience; however, if you don't structure your speech correctly, your message will never "stick" with them. As we've already talked about, you need to have a strong opening and closing in order to get your message across. Here's 10 tips to keep in mind when you finally get around to sitting down and writing that killer speech to end all speeches:

1. Be sure to plan and practice the opening and closing parts of your speech just as much as you do the middle of the speech.
   
   
2. Provide closure for your audience by re-using the same words that you used in your opening in your closing. This will show everyone how you've brought things together.
   
   
3. Never, ever, ever apologize or complain. The audience should be thankful that you took the time to talk to them.
   
   
4. Don't use definitions for terms that have clearly been lifted out of a dictionary. This will seem forced and will break any connection that you've established with your audience.
   
   
5. Don't assume that your audience knows anything about what you are talking about. Skip the subject specific acronyms and jargon. I always like to assume that my Mom's sitting in the audience and I write my speech for her to understand what I'm talking about.
   
   
6. Don't be a dork and say things like "This is the end of my speech". Note that saying "In conclusion..." is just as bad.
   
   
7. Don't introduce new material as a part of your closing. The closing is there to allow you to wrap things up -- not to launch a new speech.
   
   
8. In your conclusion, don't suddenly change topics. If you were speaking about the need to get a college education, don't wrap up by saying that high school is where we learn life's most important lessons.
   
   
9. Never abandon the podium. Wait for the meeting leader or the MC to come out and take control. If you just walk away, everyone will be confused as to what comes next.
   
   
10. Always make yourself available after the speech to answer questions and greet people. This is not for you to feel good, but rather it is for some of your audience to get closure on what you said.
    

This list is by no means complete, but it sure can provide a great start that will allow you to write a speech that is better than any other speech out there!


Tags: closing, opening, speech writing, strong, top 10 tips

I Want To Be Just Like Steve Jobs

Well, at least I sure would like to be able to give a speech like he does. Just in case anyone has been living under a rock for the past week or so, Steve Jobs rolled out the next version of the iPhone at the WWDC 2008 conference. Steve, as always, did a great job of giving the Apple corporate pitch. Clearly he has a nature skill for giving a great speech. We may never be as good at public speaking as Steve is; however, we sure can learn from him. Here are five quick tips from Steve to you:

1. Benefits NOT Features: This is where Steve is at his best. In his speeches he spends his time talking about the experience of using the product, not how the product was implemented. Instead of talking about the 30GB memory size of an iPod, instead he'll talk about the 7,500 songs that it can carry, or the 25,000 photos that it can carry, or the 75 hours of video that it can carry.
   
   
2. Practice and Then Practice Some More: Steve's a CEO of Apple, a board member of Disney, and probably still runs Pixar. You'd think that he'd have a team of speech writers create his speeches and then he'd just grab it, scan it, and jump up on the stage and give it. Nope, it turns out that he spends hours upon hours practicing each speech. A 2006 Business Week article reported that Steve would spend at least four hours going over every slide and every part of a demonstration as he prepars for a presentation.
   
   
3. A Picture Is Worth...: Have you ever seen a picture or a video from one of Steve's presentations? There are either no words or very few words on the slides that are displayed on the giant screens behind him. There are certainly no lists of bullet points. Steve (and his highly paid set of presentation artists) understand that it's really his words that count -- the slides are just there to support his message.
   
   
4. Energy + Enthusiasm = Passion: Every time Steve speaks, it's clear that he loves being on the stage and talking to us. You can almost feel his excitement grow as he gets ready to share with us the next great thing that he has up his sleeves. His passion is contagious and everyone in attendance can't help but catch it.

I'm not so sure about trying to emulate Steve's trademark jeans & black shirt look for your next presentation. However, understanding how Steve is able to do what he does so well will point you in the right direction.

How To Write A Speech

I was asked to give a speech for a local company's "high achievers" group a little while back. It had been quite some time since I had actually had to sit down and think long and hard about what message I really wanted to get across to an audience. This made me go do some research on how good speechwriters find ideas that really shine.

Everyone who writes speeches for a living seems to agree about one thing: just get the first draft done. There are countless stories about folks who get hung up on trying to write the perfect speech and who spend so much time editing word after word that they never complete the speech. Just let the words flow and resist the urge to edit. Once it's all out there, then you can go back and have at it.

Write for the ear not the eye. What sounds great on paper probably sounds stilted and awkward when read aloud. For example, we use a lot of contractions when we speak (can't, won't, shouldn't) but we don't use them as much when we write. This difference will show up as a wordy, formal tone in any speech. Solve this problem by reading your speech out loud and actually listening to how it sounds. Then go back and rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.

PowerPoint is not all bad. Dr. John Medina’s book Brain Rules discusses how audiences lose focus after 10 minutes, so shifting gears, telling a story, etc. every 10 minutes will keep them focused and awake. Another rule is that a combination of both auditory and visual stimuli make your message 6 times more memorable than auditory alone. What this means is that if you use it the way that it should be used (as a helper, not a crutch), PowerPoint can boost the impact of your speech. But be careful -- it's easy to go overboard. My favorite saying is "There is a reason that you never see PowerPoint used during an eulogy."

Writing a speech should be an adventure. Often where we think that the effort will take us ends up not being where we finally arrive. However, doing a good job of speech writing will pay dividends that will have a value that lasts long after the speech is done.