Organizing Your Speech
Even before stepping up to the podium, there can be a state of writer's block which stops people in their tracks.
Overcoming that writer's block and writing a dynamic speech is a key to a successful public speaking presentation.
As with most aspects of public speaking it is always best to begin with thinking of your audience.
when you target your speech for your audience you are on your way to delivering a successful speech.
On the other hand, not considering your audience when preparing your speech is a sure recipe for failure.
How big is your audience? What is their experience in your topic area? What is their age, gender, physical location and other demographic factors? what level of education to they have.
Are they in agreement with the point of view you are presenting? The answers to all of these questions will help form your speech.
Once you have your audience clearly in your mind you can begin to determine the theme and tone of your speech.
What theme will appeal to your audience? Do you want to set a tone of agreeing with the current beliefs of your audience or establish some controversy? Either way you will want to make your speech flow from Introduction to conclusion.
You can choose from many different patterns when identifying the flow.
Perhaps you would like to define a problem and present a solution.
You can think of telling a story about your topic by describing the past, updating to the present and outlining the future.
There are many different ways of setting the flow of our speech.
Try to avoid simply setting out facts and figures as this is information that people can research on their own.
it is best to put in a bit of analysis, draw some conclusions or bring in information that the audience is not currently privy to.
With your preferred theme in mind, you can now create the outline of your speech.
As you create your outline you will begin to see areas where you may need further research or areas where you need to trim down your material in order to complete your presentation in the allotted time.
With a clear outline, you will already begin to feel more confident about your presentation.
This confidence will make stepping on to the podium seem less daunting and more like a sure success.