How to Write a Great Speech

Sometime, somehow, somewhere, you’re going to have to give a speech. It may be at work, to support a charity event, at a wedding or to members of your church. The skills involved in writing a speech are simple yet require practice. Here are a few points to ponder.

First, go with your gut. Find a topic you feel passionately about that fits under the idea you’ve been assigned. (If you haven’t been assigned an idea, lucky you. This gives you even more latitude to leap up on your soapbox and rant).

Second, tout a single idea. Cluttering your talk with many concepts confuses your audience. Your goal should be to inform your listeners about your chosen topic so well that each person could tell another what you talk was about, in one word.

Third, get to the point. Don’t drone on and on, hoping that battering your listeners with words will win them to your viewpoint. In Mark Twain’s memoirs he mentions attending a meeting where the pastor spoke about the need for donations. After the first 45 minutes, Twain was eager to contribute. After three hours, he was tempted to steal coins from the collection plate.

Fourth, make it personal. The more personal your language the more emotional your audience. Feelings motivate actions and change ways of thinking, not logic. So, share touching stories, play upon their heartstrings. Remember, it’s easy to engage listeners when you are engaged, yourself.

Fifth, close it with a punch. Your ending must be as strong as your beginning. Closure should remind the audience of the points made in your speech. Revise your beginning and end, to a gemlike polish. Listeners may yawn during the middle of your talk, but they’ll always recall how you started and how you closed!