Would you like to perform a great speech?
There are no excuses for bad preparation of a speech. Sometimes you get lucky by just winging it and frankly speaking I seldom have the time to prepare for speeches I would like to have, so what to do?.Here is my 7-point formula how to prepare for a great speech in a very short period of time…
1. First of all decide: what is the purpose of your speech? What do you want to achieve with the speech? Write it down (the objective should fit on a small business card). Making a point is vital, people spend their valuable time listening to you, so make a point, give them value back! Naturally some speeches are there for entertaining purposes etc. and don’t really have another point but to entertain…
2. Plan the framework for your speech: the speech structure, opening, closing, the body of the speech, main points and roughly the short stories (the meat over the bones). I would recommend not more than 3x points in a 0-60 min speech.
3. When writing the speech down, write in the same way you would be talking to a friend in Starbucks – stay authentic, natural – just YOU.
4. Once the draft is done, read it out loud (in front of the mirror, camera, your spouse or your kids), correct mistakes, add spices (killer phrases, pauses, vocal variety, etc.), then go and re-write it. Make it fit to the time available.
5. Make it a full circle, so that your speech is flowing smoothly from opening to closing with once central point/theme/idea. Once the ‘master draft’ is ready, go out there and exercise your speech a couple of times – make sure there is some kind of an audience watching you and giving you feedback (live audience is always better than a mirror, even if it’s just your dog).
6. Once you feel comfortable with your speech, head down to Mind Meister website (www.mindmeister.com) and jot down a mind map with key-points
7. Get ready to perform – if you need notes during your speech crab your mind-map. And remember 70% of your success lies on the performance itself. Use efficient body language, voice, humor and get the audience on your site early on…
