Art Of Great Speaking

A well organized speech will make it easier for your audience to follow your speech and understand what is being said. It will also make it easier for you to remember your speech because it will follow a logical sequence. You will know what is coming next.

There are 3 parts to organizing a speech ;-

1. Dividing the data and information into three parts the introduction, body of the speech, and the conclusion

2. To organize the main heading of the speech into a logical order

3. To organize the supporting data and information to support each of the main headings

The body of the speech should be planned first. It includes all the supporting information that supports the central idea and the purpose of the speech.

The introduction should be designed to get the audience’s attention and interest, put them at ease, and help them focus their attention on to the rest of the speech.

The conclusion of the speech may include a summary of the highlights of the speech and will include a call to action of some sort dependent on the purpose and intent of the speech or it might simply be an appeal for acceptance of the ideas presented. A speech given to raise funds for a charity will include an appeal requesting funds from the listeners.

A well organized speech in public speaking is important in getting your ideas and infomration across to your listeners. It takes more time and effort but a well thought our order will make it easier for your audience to follow. Over the next few posts I will outline the steps to organize a speech for maximum impact.

Before you start your public speaking engagement there are certain things to consider before you start.

Concerning your speech

Before preparing your speech consider the audience your are to present to. There are many different types of organisations from boy scouts to professional organisations. The audience needs to be taken into account, both in subject matter and the manner in which the speech is to be presented. You need to decide whether the material should be heavy or light.

Find out as much as you can about the audience – their age, sex, reason for the event etc. Ask  “What do they expect from me?” Who is going to introduce me and what would be a good “ad lib” reply.

Concerning Publicity

As soon as possible before the event send your publicity material about you and your speech to the organizers. Good publicity pays dividends. It not only improves your popularity it will also increase your confidence.

Concerning speech writing

A speech should be the correct length to deliver your meesage but it should not be so long that the audience wished you had finished before you started! Remebmer the audience can only absorb what the seat can endure

Getting Going

Arrive early at the meeting. Meet up with organizers to establish the local customs, running order and any last minute changes you should be aware of. When starting out it is wise to keep your cocktails to water. Otherwise you may at the very least mix your metaphors.

Establish a cordial relationship with your audience as soon as possible and humorous story or joke will normally do this for you. By knowing something about your audience your story should fit the occasion.

By considering your audience and tailoring your speech appropriately you will be able to deliver a speech that your audience will enjoy and will consider worthwhile to them.

Public speakers are looked upon as leaders. The people who run a  company are people who speak confidently and persuasively. They present to meetings, inverstors, customers, bankers, associations and other stakeholders. 

Great public speaking skills have propelled more people to prominence than all the other fields of endeavour combined. The speaking talents of John F Kennedy and Barack Obama certainly helped raise them to the most powerful position in the world.  Lee Iacocca said “You’ve got to know how to talk to them. Public speaking is the best way to motivate a large group. ”

Some people believe that effective public speaking and communication skills are not that important, but it is very common for the effective speaker to lead the group or organisation or country. The business person that demonstrates commonsense does not deny this but joins the ranks of public speaker. An individual can be carried far by the ability to speak well. Any group of people prefers to listen to person who has something to say and knows how to say it.

The same skills required by public speaking are the same ones required to give clear instructions on a job, to delegate to employees and for pleas in the home.

The ability to inform, persuade or convince people on an interesting topic is the elusive goal of many. It is withn the ability of us all to attain it. Some preparation and practice can add wit and sparkle to the speech of the shy or dry.  And public speaking today is more about effectively conveyng ideas and informaton than fine soundng words.

 By takng the time to prepare and practice it is possible for anyone to become effective in public speaking. And by using the skills learned they can become more effective in day to day conversations in business and socially.

In public speaking and presenting to groups many speakers open their speech with tired starters like ”Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking…” or “We had a pleasant trip heer this evening” etc, etc,

1. Open with a human interest story and get something going at once. People love stories. Keep them brief. The audience normally want a quick win at the beginning of the speech. The primary source of your material should be your own life. The next best source is the daily newspapers and magazines. Look for the stories that are human interest stories that are inside the paper rather than headline news. The stories need to be intersting and not too familiar with to everyone. When telling a humorous story it is a good idea to have the punchline memorized as you don’t want to stumble and not give the audience a chance to laugh. 

2. Ask a question. The question that stimulate the audience to think will get their attention. Something like ” Do you know how long it takes a house fly to walk along a banana? This unusual question was used to start a talk on food hygiene. The question must not be too complex for the  the audience or you will lose them. Also the audience’s attention will not be gained by question that does not ask them to think too much e.g. What day of the week is it? It is too easy and commonplace.

3. Open with a startling or unusual statement.  A statement such as “No one will talk about it for publication but…” has great ear appeal. The audience will want to know what comes next.

Openings to a speech are very important as they can set the tone for the rest of the speech. To increase effectiveness in public speaking will start their speeches to get the audience’s attention. However, you do want favorable attention. Throwing rotten eggs at the audience into the audience will get their attention but it won’t be very favorable.

Effective public speaking is not about acting. Rather it is a sincere communication of a person’s honest thoughts and feelings. A speaker should be fair with themself and others. If they want to act, they belong in a theater. There audiences expect pretense, but an effective  speaker should reveal their true self to audiences.
Listeners like to feel that a speaker is sincere, honest, and dependable. And usually, although not always, they can tell when he lacks those personal qualities. Regardless of how loudly a speaker shouts, “I am sincere, honest, and dependable!” or no matter how much they consciously tries to impress people with their virtues, their efforts will usually be fruitless unless those noble qualities are an ingrained part of theirpersonality. The very fact that a speaker tries consciously to impress their honesty upon an audience may be evidence that they lack this characteristic.

Therefore to be effective a speaker must be truly honest and sincere.

However, the honesty and sincerity is communicated to your audience by your actions and the words you use.

In Nick Moran’s blog post of May 12 2009 he discusses the 4 essentials of openess of language to use to communicate your real honesty and forthrightness.

The 4 essentials discussed are;-

Openess in intent

Openess in Responsibility

Openess in Framing

Openess in Agenda

The language you choose plays a big part in whether the audience believes in you and your message. Without communicating it to your audience, they will  not listen and you will not be effective. Your choice of language can make them think you are not being sincere and open with them even with the best intentons.

To find out more please click on the link below to take you to Nick’s interesting and informative post on how to use language to demonstrate your honesty and straightforwardness;-

http://publicwords.typepad.com/nickmorgan/2009/05/the-four-essential-elements-of-open-language.html