Tips to Craft a Great Speech
Crafting a great speech that will grab your audience’s attention and make you a memorable public speaker is tough work.
Most of all, becoming an expert at giving speeches comes down to practice and knowing your audience. But there are also strategic elements that can immediately boost your speech.
Make sure to include a…
- Joke
Start your speech with a joke or an anecdote. Of course, you must be certain the audience will perceive what you tell them as something comical. For this reason, check the quality of the joke on a group of people before declaiming it to a large audience. Later throughout the speech, use humor to create variety and flow, especially when transitioning out of more serious topics.
- Conversation with a Friend
Retell a conversation that took place not so long ago with one of your friends or even someone in the audience. For example, you can start like this: “Just before the start of the seminar, I spoke with my friend Jack. He told me that it’s the high time to change his life, but he needs guidance on…”
This allows the audience to visualize an intimate interaction or exchange, thereby investing interest in the conversation or relating to the topics.
The real secret here is learning how to provoke empathy. A great way to become a master at this is by personally expressing gratitude every day. Get this Gratitude Journal and watch how your public speaking demeanor becomes more relaxed.
- Hot Event
Pull from current news to reassert the main theme of the speech or characterize your personal attitude towards the event. Not only do hot events pull the attention of audience members, but it forms a deeper level of connection between you the speaker and them the listeners. The event is a commonground.
- Shocking Statement
An effective way to start a speech is a statement that can cause shock. Often times, statistics come in handy here, as well as bold quotes.
Now go out and deliver your speech with confidence and ease. Infuse more energy into your presentation with these quick tips that will make you a better public speaker (in all circumstances).
