I happens you know, every once and a while, you’ll be asked to speak in front of people. Asked to talk about a particular topic… or even worse asked to talk about whatever you want! The latter being the worse of the two no doubt.

The obvious questions comes up of what you’re going to say. And then how you’re going to say it. Most other speech writing articles help you with the structure of the writing, but often that’s the easiest part. The harder part is structuring your idea. Well have no fear, I’ll help you out… right here:

Note: for some help and examples I’ve block quoted what I did for my valedictorian speech, which you can view in full here!

Speech thinking

Decide on your message.

The message is the soul of your speech. Look deep and analyze what you want your audience to get out of your speech. This is an important step, and is commonly overlooked because you never actually get to write it out. But I encourage you to do so just to keep it in your mind when your actually writing the speech.

The message doesn’t have to be a sentence, or a piece of information. It can very well be an emotion or an idea. For a goodbye speech you could make it a bitter sweet goodbye, which would make the audience sad, but at the same time excited and happy about the future. It’s up to you, but your message should be woven into each paragraph of your speech.

For my valedictorian speech I chose a simple message of chasing your dreams, and living up to your potential.

Decide on your theme. (probably the hardest part)

The theme is similar to your message, but can be literally anything you want. A theme should tie together the entire idea in something simple and common to the audience. A common theme throughout your speech should be referred to throughout but only make complete sense at the end. It’ll help the listener understand your message.

For my valedictorian speech I chose my new puppy to be my theme. It was quite simple really. My new puppy was taking over my life, and one day while teaching him fetch and mulling over speech idea’s it all came to me. And that’s the best way to describe it… Once I knew what the theme was… I just knew. It could connect to my life and my target audience really easily and it’s something that everyone loves (no one can not like a puppy). He was so innocent and naive, and during his dreams he would run and bark, being a part of something huge. Something that could easily be related to my message of chasing your dreams and living up to your potential.

Don’t skip this part, don’t skim this part, this is the hardest part of a speech. It’s really the only thing that can hold the entire speech together, and in the end people can look back and understand more. It makes for a really polished piece of work.

Speech writing.

Some places will bog you down with crazy formatting… but what’s the point. You’re speaking it, you wont hand it in anywhere… You can write it in one large paragraph, you can write it in a million little ones, whatever is easiest to remember for you… write it that way. Keep in mind these three basic structural points.

Opening.

It’s not really an intro, because you don’t have to introduce anything, if you don’t want to. It’s really just a start to your speech. Many people will start the speech off by saying hello and thanking people for coming. Possibly congratulating someone who deserves it.

What you can introduce here is your theme. Don’t explain it, just subtly refer to it or use it as an analogy.

I could say that I recently got a puppy, and it reminds me a lot of how a teacher would see us as students.

Body.

The meat and potatoes – i guess – of your speech. Pick a few points that you want to talk about, and remember your message. You should be able to easily tie them together no matter how unrelated they are to each other with your common theme.

As a general tip, odd numbers seem to work better. You’re able to have a distinct middle and for some reasons humans feel comfortable when they have that.

Write out the points separately, and then organize them based on how strong they are, and what emotions you want to evoke at a particular time.

For my speech, I wanted it to be funny to please the jokers, happy to please the majority, and sad to close the chapter on our life. Hopefully your theme will build up a stronger presence as you continue through your body, reaching a climax in the closing paragraph

Closing.

This is where you have everyone’s full attention, and hopefully they’re eating up what your saying. If so you can do with them what you please. But the closing paragraph is generally where Sherlock would explain his genius.

It’s time for one last referral to the theme. But this time it’s not to enhance a particular point; it’s to enhance your message. Use the closing as your area to pass the message along to your audience.

For my speech I simply explained why I decided to talk about my puppy, and that was enough.

Afterwards, remember to say thanks for listening, and you’re off the hook.

Some general tips to concur the universe.

• The part of your brain that is used for noticing repetition is not the same part that is used for logical thought. How can this help you? Well since your theme can be repetitive (YES WE CAN), you can easily fend off most people who will refute any of your points by adding an extra ounce of repetition to that particular area. Did Obama know this? Maybe… i’m not sure.
• Don’t have your speech written out in full in front of you. This will encourage you to read it, try memorizing it and have cue cards just in case you get lost.
• Speaking slowly is much better than speaking too fast.
• Practise, Practise, Practise! The more “uhms” and “ahs” you can get rid of the better your speech will sound.
• Build on emotions that are already there. If you audience is happy, it’ll take extra work to make them sad, it’ll be easier just to build on the happiness.
• Read this post on public speaking!

Read my ENTIRE valedictorian speech here

Related posts:

1. Public Speaking

I’ve done a fair share of public speaking. I mean, I’m no expert… but something tells me the public speaking experts aren’t really experts at all. Seeing as Public speaking in one of the most feared things in the world, I figured I’d attempt to help some people with it.

First off, If you’re scared of standing in front of a large crowd of people and speaking, you’re normal. If you aren’t, you’re not normal. It’s that simple. The fear or stress you get WILL NOT go away. Some people will say that with time, you’ll become less nervous, or less anxious. That’s not really true. I mean, remember when you liked some girl(or guy) and you wanted to ask her out. You were pretty nervous… the more people you ask out isn’t going to make you less nervous when asking this particular girl out. What it may do is better prepare you for the unknown.

What is the unknown in public speaking? Your performance and the audience reaction. Let’s go over the one you have the most control over first.

Your Performance

What if I screw up? What if I miss a part? What if I say something wrong? The only thing here that’s going to hurt you is yourself. Let’s tackle nerves.

Nerves:

1. Prepare. Simply put, the more prepared you are for a particular speech, the less nervous you’ll be. Winging a speech may involve less work, than weeks of preparation… but i guarantee it’ll make you more nervous. However, keep in mind this chart:
2. Everyone has them, and generally feels the same way when they hit the stage. You have it no harder than the last fellow. You’re no more special than that dude.
3. Everyone has their own way of calming themselves. They’re called pacifiers, and right away you can probably think of how a baby calms down. Adult examples includes biting nails, biting lips, rubbing your neck, rubbing your chest, cracking knuckles, etc. How to best handle nerves?
   1. Notice them. Find your pacifier. When I am nervous and stressed I tend to bite my inner lip.
   2. Assess them. Take a step back from your situation and look at why you are nervous. Find specifics. Are you nervous about computer technology? Are you nervous about the area you’ll be talking from.
   3. Take initiative, take action. You are priority number one! Do not ever feel like you are being a pain, when you are trying to make things go painlessly. If you are nervous about the computer tech, go through it once or twice, get confirmation that it works. Double check. If you don’t like the area you’re talking from, change it. Offer suggestions, be the squeaky wheel that gets the oil. If the expert disagrees, have them explain it in detail.
   4. You should feel calmer. But realize that you’ll still be nervous for no real reason now. Welcome to humanity… This you’ll just have to deal with.
4. No one is confident. Remember this always, some people are just better at hiding nerves. Practice hiding yours and you’ll have people people say you’re a confident person! What suckers right? Wrong. They just don’t know the secret to confidence. Don’t confuse confidence with stupidity though… and remember to not ignore your nerves. They are there to tell you something. Use them as fuel to help you prepare.
5. Accept your fate. It’s a motto that fails miserably in emergency situations, but a general hopeless feeling in high stress situations is known to give people a rush of natural chemicals that can help you cope with the evident future. Instead of churning over your notes, sit back and clear your head. Spa style. You’re prepared as you’re going to be, 10 minutes of high intensity reviewing will most likely make you more upset.

Your Performance:

1.    First and most importantly, know your stuff. If you’re making a technical speech, know what you’re talking about. If it’s a heartfelt speech, know your own emotions. I’ll write another post about speech writing soon…

2.    Sound like you know your stuff. If I presented a speech to a bunch of people about Quantum Physics I would sound quite different than if I talked about how I made this site. There are several things that I notice between an expert speaker and a speaker. (notice an expert speaker and not just an expert… this is how con-men work)

a.    Uhms and Ahhs. Possibly the biggest giveaway of a poor speaker. People spend hundreds of dollars in training to get rid of this simple flaw. When people are having a conversation, there is a queue that is created. The person speaking has the floor, while the others wait their turn. Once the speaker shuts up, the next person is able to voice their opinion. In the informal rules of conversation no one is there to designate when someone has stopped talking. So people tend to go when they get the chance. I think this is where we’ve developed our uhm and ahh tendency. It’s our way of holding our spot as speaker while we gather our thoughts. Since you are the only speaker there is no need for any uhms and ahhs. That being said, it is almost guaranteed you’ll say them. DON’T! They make you sound unsure, and unconfident. The best thing to do is to replace them with silence. Believe me this will be the hardest thing to do. It will sound really awkward to you, but to everyone else it will sound like a pause, or a period of time to let your points sink into the audience. Meanwhile you can catch up with yourself and move on to your next point. Please erase them. And the best way to do that is to be conscious of them every time you say it. Make them become a pet peeve.

b.    Speaking Speed. There is a golden pace of speech when it comes to speaking. To slow and you sound like a big dumb construction worker, too fast and you sound like a bumbling nerd. Slightly slower than conversational speed is best. Remember that some people may have a hard time hearing you. Remember you can change the speed of your words. For parts that are important, slow it down. For parts more common knowledge, speed it up. Keep this in mind. Generally the faster people talk about a particular topic, the more they know it. To make it seem like you know something better than you do, talk slightly faster. However watch out… if you know your speech like the back of your hand, you may blaze through it. Slower is generally better

3.    Look like you know your stuff. Dress appropriately. Stand with good posture, and eliminate unneeded movement. That last part may be taken wrong… you can move, but do so purposely. You can pace from one side to the other to address the audience, but pacing in general isn’t a great thing. Repeated unneeded movement makes you look awkward and nervous. Constantly shifting your weight or brushing your hair out of your face is distracting. Please don’t do it. There are some thing we do out of habit, like the uhms and ahs. Everyone is slightly different… so find what you do when speaking and don’t do it. You may think it’s no big deal, and you’re right, it may not be, but imagine the president or first lady doing the same thing. You should find it hard to imagine, and if you can… you might find it funny to see. That’s because it looks far better NOT to. As a side note to this part… by all means talk with your hands.

4.    Address the audience. Look up and out AT THE PEOPLE. I’ve seen people who just gaze out while the talk and perform a sweeping motion like a gun turret on auto. Find some sections of people and talk to those people. Respond to their responses. You’re in a conversation with them… so if they nod, or smile or react in some way, you’re good, now move to the next section. Please don’t look at your speech/feet.

Audience Reaction

This is something you really can’t control. But you can tailor the speech for them.

1.    First know your audience. I wouldn’t rant about the harmonization of provincial and federal taxes to grade eights, because they won’t care. And even if they’re listening… they’re just being polite. I could however, talk to them about Miley Cyrus and all the ears would be pointed my way. The easiest thing to do is to tell them what they want to hear. Look at politicians as an example. They constantly get caught in a web of their own lies because it’s easier to tell people what they want to hear.

2.    Break what the audience wants/what you want to tell the audience into two or three things. If I was writing a graduation speech I would break it down into the fun they’ve had, the fun they’re going to have, and potential of their future. There will be people that want it to be funny, there will be people that will want it to be serious, and there are people who want it to be reflective and sad. Who do you please? That’s up to you, but remember audience reaction will depend on it. Can you please everyone? Maybe! You can try. It’s best to please the majorities and you should be fine.

3.    Get the reaction you want. I’ve used the word “please” because most people are scared someone won’t like their speech. But I want you to use that as a place holder for the emotion you want to place on the audience. If you want to provoke thought, or encourage change, you probably won’t be pleasing anyone. But if that’s the goal of your speech then you’re doing the right thing.

Conclusion

It’s like asking that girl on a date. The best thing for you to do is focus on the things you can control. Like are you groomed? or Do you smell nice? Then close your eyes and hope for the best. You’ve done all that you can do so there’s no point in worrying now. Can you help yourself out further? Sure! If the girl likes a particular movie, then you can ask her on a date to that movie, or tickets to her favourite band. It depends if you want to get that yes reaction or not.

Lastly, remember Public Speaking isn’t an exact science, and if it was I wouldn’t be that particular scientist. If something works for you use it, if it doesn’t don’t use it. If you have a tip or disagree with something here, send me an email or post in the comments and I’ll add to it.

If you need help with your speech writing, stay tuned for my article on writing speeches.

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1. Speech Writing
2. Public Transit