How to Give a Speech

What works - what doesn't

To ensure a great speech or powerful presentation, it is essential to learn the techniques that great speakers already know.   Here are some of the "Top 10 Techniques for Effective Public Speaking." 

1.  Choose a topic you now real well or are passionate about

Knowing your topic is half the battle in writing an effective speech.  Having passion about your topic is half the battle in giving an effective speech. 

2.  Know your audience 

Research your audience. What do they know? What do they want to know more about? When you can answer these two questions you are way ahead of the game, and well on your way to putting together a powerful presentation.

Is your audience mostly children or young adults? Company executives or day laborers? Mostly men or women? Knowing these types of things about your audience can help you tailor your message to them so they can better relate to the topic.

3.  Plan your method of delivery

By that I mean, will your presentation include music, slides, flip charts?  Will you use a whiteboard?  Think about what will help get your point across best. Perhaps your speech is best given without visuals.  While visuals are certainly helpful, if you're a skilled storyteller,

4.  Start with a well-written speech

While many a great speaker can go to a podium and start giving an effective off-the-cuff speech, most speeches are first written out.  You would first want to make an outline of your major points and fill in the details.  Now, does that mean you have to read your speech verbatim?  Not at all.  Many experts advise against it, rather, they advise you to take note cards to the podium with you, upon which are contained all your major points.  Of course, whether you choose to read your speech, memorize it, or do an "extemporaneous" speech with the note cards as your guide is up to you and your comfort level. 

5.  Keep it short and to the point

Here's the most important thing to remember when writing your speech.  Keep it simple.  You may want to put in as many facts and information as you can. But only emphasize three or four main points. First and foremost, you want to avoid information overload. If you provide too much information, chances are your audience will not listen to you anymore. Remember, sometimes less really is "more." 

6.  Prepare

Make sure that you've given yourself plenty of time to prepare any visual aids, as well as prepare the speech itself.  One thing to remember, though, is that sometimes there really is such a thing as being "over rehearsed."  You want to know your topic and the main points, but you also want to have some level of excitement and spontaneity during the speech itself.  And, being over-rehearsed can sometimes kill spontaneity.   

7.  Dress appropriately

How you look is also important. You want your outfit to reflect not only the topic, but also your audience.  For example, if your topic is business-related, you would want to dress in successful, business attire.  But, business attire may not be appropriate for all types of groups.  If you're giving a presentation on kite flying, a suit and tie may be overdoing it. 

8.  Make good eye contact

Making good eye contact helps you establish rapport with your audience, particularly when you first step up to the podium.  There's nothing that says a speaker is uncomfortable than when he or she first gets to the podium and looks down at the speech and quickly begins.  Good eye contact also signifies your interest and desire to be honest and credible.  You should also make it a point of saying "hello" to your audience.   

9.  Ask a lot of questions

Even rhetorical questions are great. This engages the mind. Understand that when you ask a question, the people in your audience cannot not answer. That's the way the mind works. Whether they use a physical gesture, answer out loud, or silently the mind will answer. And that helps your audience maintain interest in what you're talking about.

10.  Allow your audience to participate 

You can do this by asking questions of the audience, as well as allowing them to ask questions of you. Be prepared that some people won't have questions. You might come prepared with common questions, with answers to those questions in case there's silence during the Q&A session.  

Synonyms:  peech, pseech, seech, sepech, spech, spech, speceh, speeh, speehc, and speec are typos for "speech."  Resentation, rpesentation, pesentation, persentation, prsentation, prseentation, preentation, preesntation, presntation, presnetation, presetation, presetnation, presenation, presenattion, presenttion, presenttaion, presentaion, presentaiton, presentaton, presentatoin, presentatin, presentatino, and presentatio are typos for "presentation."