Have you been to one of those presentations where the speaker babbles on for 20 minutes and you haven’t a clue what he was meaning to say?

At the end of it we are not educated or motivated; we are in fact just purely confused as to why we had to listen to the speech, while our work piled up in our absence!

This is because the speaker did not have a well structured speech.

Before you begin writing your speech or presentation you must be very clear on the purpose. What do you hope to achieve? What audience reaction would you like? If you do not know the answers to these questions, you will leave your audience as confused as you are.

Once you are clear on your purpose for delivering the speech, you need to research your topic. We can not speak successfully on a topic we know very little about. Now you are ready to start writing the speech and here are some pointers to help you.

• Every speech needs an introduction; body and conclusion.
• Your introduction needs to pull your audience in and give them an idea about what you your speech will entail.
• Your speech body consists of your main points. Be creative and use what ever tools you have at hand to help emphasize these points.
• Speak from personal experience as it builds you credibility.
• Don’t try to put too much in; your audience can only take in so much.
• Keep your speech simple, yet interesting and creative.
• Your conclusion must summarize your message. Reiterating it for impact.
• End on a strong note, this is your lasting impression.

A simple way to remember this formula is the three T’s Of Presenting:
Tell them what you’re going to tell them
Tell them
Tell them what you have told them.

This is not a new concept and in fact most of the great orators, leaders and their speech writers of the past followed this formula. It works so no need to reinvent the wheel.

If you are one of the privileged few to have your own professional speech writer. It is very important to familiarize yourself with the speech before you deliver it, to make it your own.

Of course your voice and body language play a huge role. Use them to help emphasize your message. If you carefully follow these rules you are bound to make more of an impact with your speeches.

Delia Thompson from The Communication Academy. She trains public speaking skills and coached a member of the springbok public speaking team in 2008. She is also a high profile speech writer.

For more information,call 086 111 6121, Email delia@thecommunicationacademy.co.za, or visit the Skills Portal Training Directory