You have an opportunity you shouldn’t miss anytime you are asked to speak in front of others. Whether you are asked to comment briefly on a subject, give a speech for a club or church, have been assigned a formal speech or invited to lead a group in a workshop, you are giving a speech.
There are plenty of books that can teach you how to stand up and present a speech, but organizing and writing the speech is often the hardest part.
Brainstorming for Ideas
Where do you find an idea for a speech? It depends largely on who the audience will be. Are you talking to fellow students? If so, what topics are they interested in? Are you going to speak to dog trainers? Cooks? Mountain climbers? Artists? Auto mechanics? Looking at your audience narrows the field though all of the groups may enjoy hearing about such topics as self-motivation, increasing productivity, creativity, saving money, laws, and such universal subjects.
Sit down with pen and paper for a session or brainstorming and write a list of the topics you think your audience may like to hear about. Let your mind roam free, writing down even the ideas that you might toss out after some consideration.
The list may be long with short clear notes for each specific idea. If your audience is made up of dog trainers don’t list “dog training.” That is too general and too large a topic. Narrow it to something such as, “Using a Leash in Training a Dog.”
Call on friends or relatives to help you brainstorm for ideas. Many of the ideas will not, but the storm should produce several valuable ideas.
Simplify
Once you have found a usable idea, look for ways to simplify it and cut it down to size. How long will you have to give your speech? A five to ten minute speech must have a much narrower topic than a 30 minute speech. Narrow down that “Using a Leash for Training a Dog” speech to, “Using a Leash to Teach a Dog to Stay,” or “How to Buy a Good Leash,” or “Leash training for Puppies.”
If your time is short for preparing the speech, choose a subject which you know about. Don’t choose one which will require you to do a lot of research. Be certain that you choose a topic which you are fully knowledgeable so that your facts are accurate.
Use the internet for finding facts that might otherwise require a trip to the library, or choose a topic on which you have a book available for fact finding. Do you have a dog training book that you can look things up in? Is there a dog trainer in your family who you could interview for information?
Planning an Introduction
Your introduction simply is a line or two that informs your audience of what information you are about to present. Writing it first will help you narrow your topic and stay on target with the body of the speech. Make it short and interesting so that the listeners won’t get frustrated.
Organizing the Body
One trick for organizing a speech is to arrange the parts by words that start with the same letter. The dog training speech could be divided into segments with words that all start with “H,” so you can remember them.
- Handle – use a leash with a handle
- Hold – the leash firmly
- Help the dog turn where he should go
- Hint – at direction with a slight tug on the leash
- Head – allow the dog’s head to move freely
- Hand it to him – reward an obedient dog with a treat or pat.
Another way is to number your points. Make certain they are in a logical order and then number each part or step. Step 1, Step 2, etc.
Conclusions to Speeches
When you have presented your speech, sometimes it is hard to end well. The conclusion should be a well-planned statement that sums up the material you have presented without saying it all over again. You can lightly touch on each of your words, repeat the numbered steps, or give a quotation which applies. Always end on an upbeat note that will make your speech one to remember.
Follow the steps of brainstorming for ideas, simplifying your subject, and having a good introduction, body and conclusion for a great speech that is interesting to your audience and easy for you to give.
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