How to Prepare a Speech
Be clear on the occasion., Pick a topic that will interest your audience., Set a goal., Always keep your audience in mind.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Be clear on the occasion.
It's important to know what kind of speech you're giving and why your audience is gathering to hear it in order to get started on the right foot.
Understand if your speech is meant to be a personal narrative, informative, persuasive or ceremonial.
Personal narrative.
A narrative is just another word for story.
If you're asked to tell a story about yourself, find out if the intention is to use something that's happened to you in order to teach a lesson, convey a moral, offer inspiration or simply to entertain.
Informative speech.
There are two kinds of informative speeches: process and expository.
If you're charged with doing a process speech, the idea is for you to explain how something is done, how something is made or how something works.
You take your audience step-by-step through the process.
If your speech is meant to be expository, your job is to take what might be a complex subject and break it down into sections as a way of educating your audience about the topic.
Persuasive speech.
If you're meant to persuade, then your job is to convince your audience to adopt a particular way of thinking, a belief or a behavior that you advocate for.
Ceremonial speech.
Ceremonial speeches run the gamut from wedding toasts to eulogies, from graduation speeches to farewell addresses.
Many of these speeches are intended to be short and the focus is often on entertaining, inspiring or increasing the audience's appreciation for someone or something. , If you have the option, choose to speak about something that your audience will find interesting or enjoyable.
Sometimes, you don't have a choice about your topic--you find yourself assigned to speak about something in particular.
In that case, you must look for ways to keep your audience engaged in what you have to say. , Write a one-sentence statement about what you want to accomplish on behalf of your audience.
It could be something as simple as "I want my audience to learn the four things they should look for when buying a diamond" or "I want to convince my audience to give up fast food for a month." It may sound simplistic, but writing down this kind of goal statement does two thing: it helps keep you on track as you begin putting your speech together, and it helps remind you to keep your focus on your audience as you move through your speech preparation process. , It would be a terrible waste of time and effort if you devoted yourself to putting a speech together and the audience tuned out or couldn't remember a word you said by the time you were done.
You continually want to think of ways to make what you have to say interesting, helpful, relevant and memorable to your audience.
Read the newspaper.
If you can find a way to link your speech topic to something that's happening in the news, you can highlight the relevance of what you have to say to your audience.
Translate numbers.
Using statistics in your speech can be impactful, but they can be even more meaningful if you translate them in a way the audience can understand.
For example, you could say that worldwide,
7.6 million people die of cancer every year, but to make it more relatable, you might want to follow it up by saying that that number represents the entire population of Switzerland.
Express the benefits.
It's a good idea to let an audience know exactly what they'll get out of your speech, so that they're primed to listen.
If they'll learn how to save money, tell them.
If the information you're about to share will make their lives easier in some way, make that clear.
If they'll gain a new appreciation of someone or something, let them know. -
Step 2: Pick a topic that will interest your audience.
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Step 3: Set a goal.
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Step 4: Always keep your audience in mind.
Detailed Guide
It's important to know what kind of speech you're giving and why your audience is gathering to hear it in order to get started on the right foot.
Understand if your speech is meant to be a personal narrative, informative, persuasive or ceremonial.
Personal narrative.
A narrative is just another word for story.
If you're asked to tell a story about yourself, find out if the intention is to use something that's happened to you in order to teach a lesson, convey a moral, offer inspiration or simply to entertain.
Informative speech.
There are two kinds of informative speeches: process and expository.
If you're charged with doing a process speech, the idea is for you to explain how something is done, how something is made or how something works.
You take your audience step-by-step through the process.
If your speech is meant to be expository, your job is to take what might be a complex subject and break it down into sections as a way of educating your audience about the topic.
Persuasive speech.
If you're meant to persuade, then your job is to convince your audience to adopt a particular way of thinking, a belief or a behavior that you advocate for.
Ceremonial speech.
Ceremonial speeches run the gamut from wedding toasts to eulogies, from graduation speeches to farewell addresses.
Many of these speeches are intended to be short and the focus is often on entertaining, inspiring or increasing the audience's appreciation for someone or something. , If you have the option, choose to speak about something that your audience will find interesting or enjoyable.
Sometimes, you don't have a choice about your topic--you find yourself assigned to speak about something in particular.
In that case, you must look for ways to keep your audience engaged in what you have to say. , Write a one-sentence statement about what you want to accomplish on behalf of your audience.
It could be something as simple as "I want my audience to learn the four things they should look for when buying a diamond" or "I want to convince my audience to give up fast food for a month." It may sound simplistic, but writing down this kind of goal statement does two thing: it helps keep you on track as you begin putting your speech together, and it helps remind you to keep your focus on your audience as you move through your speech preparation process. , It would be a terrible waste of time and effort if you devoted yourself to putting a speech together and the audience tuned out or couldn't remember a word you said by the time you were done.
You continually want to think of ways to make what you have to say interesting, helpful, relevant and memorable to your audience.
Read the newspaper.
If you can find a way to link your speech topic to something that's happening in the news, you can highlight the relevance of what you have to say to your audience.
Translate numbers.
Using statistics in your speech can be impactful, but they can be even more meaningful if you translate them in a way the audience can understand.
For example, you could say that worldwide,
7.6 million people die of cancer every year, but to make it more relatable, you might want to follow it up by saying that that number represents the entire population of Switzerland.
Express the benefits.
It's a good idea to let an audience know exactly what they'll get out of your speech, so that they're primed to listen.
If they'll learn how to save money, tell them.
If the information you're about to share will make their lives easier in some way, make that clear.
If they'll gain a new appreciation of someone or something, let them know.
About the Author
Daniel Diaz
Specializes in breaking down complex creative arts topics into simple steps.
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