Build rapport
Do this quickly with one of:
- Tell a story
- Tell a joke
- Ask a question (rhetorical)
This is in rough order of good-ness.
Tailoring the body of the speech
Tailor it to your audience, pick most suitable structure and examples. Tell stories and use examples to put your points into context, makes this relevant and understandable.
Summarising
Finish with a bang, try to build intensity and volume. End with a call to action if it's appropriate, gives your audience a key point to remember and take away.
Making notes
You might start with an essay. Now trim it down.
Determine your key points of your message. Now simplify it. Choose accessible words, go for shorter sentences, you're not speaking your essay.
Repeat your key points every now and then, summarise the conclusions for your audience, helps lead them along.
Use the rule of threes, good things come in threes. Great for examples, allows you to show contrast. Good for lists of examples, short enough for your audience to remember.
Style
Do be too loud! It's okay. You need to be louder rather than softer.
Eloquence is where it's at. Once you start practising your delivery, think about:
- Pausing
- Pace
- Pronunciation
Pausing
You just have to learn to judge it. Leave pauses to let key phrases sink in. Leave pauses so there's cadence; you need to create flow.
You can pause in the middle of sentences, or at the end. Both work in various contexts.
Pacing
Crescendo to a finish throughout the speech.
You need to vary your pacing, it should ebb and flow. If you're high intensity the whole time, you'll still lose engagement as it's tiring for the audience.
Final points
- Enthusiasm! It will carry you, even if people don't understand all that you're saying
- Be loose with your body, you need to relax
- Have good eye contact with the audience, you can look at the gaps between people's heads
- Talk with your hands, it helps use the rest of the body, and helps you engage.
- Vary your hand movements with the size of the audience, it'll look funny otherwise