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The prospect of writing a speech which you will then be required to give in front of a large group of your peers, is always frightening. However, if your armed with an enthralling informative speech, it will end up being a pleasurable experience instead of a frightening one. So whether you want to tell your first grade class about the rare Condor, or attempt to get a new account at an advertising convention, listen up.
It all starts with the enticing beginning. The first twenty seconds will make or break you, if your speech starts off dull, and the progressively gets more exciting, your audience will not be as captivated as if you had spruced their energy level in the beginning. If your topic matter allows it, open with a funny or absurd joke. If it is more serious, such as a famous historical figure, ask a thought provoking question as an opening statement. Just try to get their attention.
Perhaps start off with a Hi, and then a thoughtful pause, silence is a wonderful tool for tricking your audience into paying attention. Once they are listening, then you can approach them, as a friend and explain what you are going to talk about. So your very first few sentences should be ravishing, exciting, or very subdued… then change your tenor completely and tell them what your want them to learn through your speech, and how you plan to explain it.
This does not have to be a tedious procedure: for example, let’s say you want to tell them about Joan of Arc. So you could start off with a two sentence quote, in her native language (French). Since the majority of the audience will not understand what you are saying, this will perk their interest. Next go on about the atrocities which she encountered, and change voice tones, usurping their attention and creating a feeling of compassion in the room.
Once you have explained the subject matter, and they feel as if they are prepared for the oncoming speech, startle them by stepping off your soap box, and walking around the room, ask a few rhetorical questions, keep throwing them for a loop. Make sure to write in the pauses in your speech, and put notes telling yourself when to smile, when to frown, and when to walk around.
Continue on with the subject matter, edit in facts, stories, quotations, keep it a guessing game. Make it fun, the writing should not be something suitable for a book, yet something suitable for a dinner conversation. Even if the speech is for an advertising company, don’t make it too formal, this will make the audience uncomfortable.
When you come near the end, put places in your speech for dramatic pauses, wind down a bit to prepare them for the ending. The final few seconds of your speech should be more exciting and enthralling than the opening statements. Shock them, writing something which doesn’t jive with your previous writing tone, make your speech one to remember. A speech should not be written in parts, instead block out a large chunk of time and simply write.
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