Public Speaking - How To Create A Great Speech

In this article I want to give you a formula for how to create a speech. We all know that a speech needs to have 3 elements in order to work. An opening. The body of the speech. And a Close.

Lets look at each element, however, and break it down a bit further.

The Opening:

Everyone will tell you that you need to create a “strong” opening to your speech. This is your attention grabbing statement. The thing that settles down the crowd and gets them listening to you.

Some people like to tell a joke to break the ice and relax people. Some like to use something that is topical or a controversial statement to shock the crowd. They take a stand either for or against popular opinion. Some people use a catchphrase or quotation to start. How you do it will depend on your personal style and what you are comfortable with.l

In business presentations often the best thing you can do is simply introduce the audience to your concept and the reason you are there. You can use the opening of your speech to tell them what you are going to do …. What they are going to learn …. Exactly what you are going to share with them that day!

This may sound a bit basic, but in a speech when the audience is only using one of their senses – their hearing – repetition is a actually a really good thing.
The Body:

This is where you lay out the core of the information you need or want to share with your audience. You may be tempted to cram in as much information as you can into your speech, but once again – your audience will only be able to take in a certain amount of information at a time.

If you can come up with between 3 to 5 points that you are going to cover, depending on the length of your speech, that will be plenty. Make it interesting by telling stories or anecdotes to illustrate the points and to re-inforce why you have included them and why you think they are valuable. You could also use real life case-studies and the results that they have achieved to illustrate the points. Anything in fact that takes you away from a dry recitation of numbers, facts and figures.

In the body of your speech you should be elaborating on the points you told you audience that you were going to cover in your opening. This is the 2nd time they will be hearing this information and it will significantly increase the chance of them retaining the information.
The Close:

A lot of speeches end with a damp squib. Something like “well, we are running out of time …” or “that’s all we have time for today.” The close is the last thing that people are going to remember about you – this is your final chance to make an impression – so don’t waste it!

Once again your close MUST be a strong one, so give it a lot of thought. Once again you could end with a “catch phrase” or “memory hook” that people will remember and associate you with.

One of the most simple, and effective ways to close is just to sum up. You actually tell people for the 3rd time the reason they came here today and what they have learnt from you. You may think this is overkill, telling people the same information 3 times, but as I said before, repetition is good. This is your chance to plant your key points or the action that you would like the audience to take when they leave the room directly into their minds. If done well, this form of repetition can be hugely effective.
Spend time crafting your speech and checking to see if there is a logical flow of ideas and information. Work hard on your opening and your close for maximum impact and retention. If you design a really good speech, you will be able to deliver it to audience after audience. Some people have been delivering the same speech for years, with just a few minor changes from time to time, so the hard work now will all be worth it in the end.