Design Your Speech So Your Audience "Gets It" and You Get the Results You Want


by Bronwyn Ritchie - Date: 2007-01-07 - Word Count: 637 Share This!

You have gathered your material for this speech and have played with it, maybe created a mind map of it, and mulled over it so that you were able to create the central message that you want the speech or presentation to deliver.

That process should also have tossed up (or should I say "winnowed out"?), several sub-themes - points that you can use to support the message. These are the major parts of your speech and the detailed notes that you kept will be the supporting material to those themes.

Now is the time to arrange those points. The flow of the material through the speech or presentation must be logical. That flow must work so that the audience understands the message and so that the whole speech creates the greatest impact. Some of the standard progressions are:

Chronological

From major subdivision to minor subdivision

Problem-solution

Narrative with a twist, or deeper meaning

Pros and cons

Compare and contrast

How, when, where, why

You need to choose the one with which you are most comfortable and which best supports the message, the purpose and image you have already articulated.

We need to remember that in order to create an impact with a speech or presentation, the audience has to "get" the message. That means they have to be able to hear it and to understand it. And to do that, first they must listen.

So the very first step in this whole process is to gain their attention and then keep it, so that they listen, hear what you say, understand it, and then they can be influenced by it … which is, after all, the essence of impact.

"Tell them what you're going to say. Say it. Then tell them what you said"

And that is so true!! We must take into account that we all have such short attention spans. And so do audiences. If we want to make a point that will stay with an audience after they leave the room, we have to repeat and reinforce it throughout the presentation.

The first thing to do is get that attention - arouse it, focus it and keep it. Don't waste your breath on the expected or the blah. If you must begin with something like "Good evening", then make it different, or unusual. Here in Australia, we might say "G'day!" That would be unexpected. Otherwise use your voice and body language to make the greeting unusual, challenging, noticeable. Use pause here. Then use an opening that grabs the attention. You can use a question, a joke, a comment about the people or surroundings or event. You can make a statement, use a quotation, or simply use body language or gesture. But choose that opening to grab attention, to align with the audience and their needs, hopes and aspirations, and to lead into your message.

Your introduction to the speech should

lead into the main point

and give a short background for the points to follow

…The body of the speech should

present points that are pertinent and support the theme or premise

support the points with examples, illustrations, etc.

use different strategies to appeal to different interests and learning styles

present original ideas or a new approach to familiar materials

…The conclusion should:

summarise the points and restate them briefly

emphasise the theme or premise again

make the purpose of the speech clear

provide a strong finish for the speech

Your closing is your last chance to create impact, to influence, to call to action. Make it very clear.

So right through the speech, there has to be a reiteration in as many ways as you can find, and clarification in as many ways as you can think of, of the message you wanted the audience to take with them…to make that message clearly heard and understood.

The structure of your presentation introduced your well defined theme, presented that theme, and repeated it to conclude.

And you will have given your audience a great chance of remembering it.


Related Tags: speech, public speaking, presentation, speeches, speech writing

Bronwyn Ritchie has 20 years' experience speaking to audiences and training in public speaking - from individuals too nervous to say thier own names in front of an audience, to community groups and corporate executives. You can get her free tips, articles, resources and quotations for your public speaking and presentations in a fortnightly ezine - subscribe to Pivotal Public speaking - the ezine. Or visit the Pivotal Public speaking web pages.

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