-prepared speech

Preparing for a speech is one of the best ways to ensure you give an effective
presentation. Try these tips to help you properly prepare:

 Organize your speech in a logical sequence: opening, main points, summary.

 Practice and rehearse a speech frequently prior to delivering it. Ask friends to be
your audience, or practice in front of a mirror. Be sure to use a timer to help you
pace your speech.
 Become familiar with the stage or the setting where the speech will take place.
Get a sense of the size of the stage, where any steps or obstacles might be, and
where to enter and exit.
 Choose comfortable clothes to wear, but always maintain a professional
appearance.
 Visual aids should fit a speech, whether they are funny, serious or technical. The
main goal of visual aids is to help the audience understand what is being said, and
reinforce the points of a speech in unique and interesting ways.

METHOD 1 : Starting With Your Audience

Be clear on the occasion. It's important to know what kind of speech you're giving
and why your audience is gathering to hear it in order to get started on the right
foot. Understand if your speech is meant to be a personal narrative, informative,
persuasive or ceremonial.

 Personal narrative. A narrative is just another word for story. If you're asked
to tell a story about yourself, find out if the intention is to use something that's
happened to you in order to teach a lesson, convey a moral, offer inspiration or
simply to entertain.
 Informative speech. There are two kinds of informative speeches: process
and expository. If you're charged with doing a process speech, the idea is for you
to explain how something is done, how something is made or how something
works. You take your audience step-by-step through the process. If your speech is
meant to be expository, your job is to take what might be a complex subject and
break it down into sections as a way of educating your audience about the topic.
 Persuasive speech. If you're meant to persuade, then your job is to convince
your audience to adopt a particular way of thinking, a belief or a behavior that you
advocate for.
 Ceremonial speech. Ceremonial speeches run the gamut from wedding
toasts to eulogies, from graduation speeches to farewell addresses. Many of these
speeches are intended to be short and the focus is often on entertaining, inspiring
or increasing the audience's appreciation for someone or something.

2 Pick a topic that will interest your audience. If you have the option, choose to speak

about something that your audience will find interesting or enjoyable. Sometimes, you don't
 have a choice about your topic--you find yourself assigned to speak about something in
particular. In that case, you must look for ways to keep your audience engaged in what you
have to say.

3
Set a goal. Write a one-sentence statement about what you want to accomplish on behalf of
your audience. It could be something as simple as "I want my audience to learn the four things
they should look for when buying a diamond" or "I want to convince my audience to give up fast
food for a month." It may sound simplistic, but writing down this kind of goal statement does
two thing: it helps keep you on track as you begin putting your speech together, and it helps
remind you to keep your focus on your audience as you move through your speech preparation
process.

4
Always keep your audience in mind. It would be a terrible waste of time and effort if you
devoted yourself to putting a speech together and the audience tuned out or couldn't
remember a word you said by the time you were done. You continually want to think of ways to
make what you have to say interesting, helpful, relevant and memorable to your audience.
.

. Read the newspaper. If you can find a way to link your speech topic to
something that's happening in the news, you can highlight the relevance of what you have to
say to your audience.
. Translate numbers. Using statistics in your speech can be impactful, but they
can be even more meaningful if you translate them in a way the audience can understand. For
example, you could say that worldwide, 7.6 million people die of cancer every year, but to
make it more relatable, you might want to follow it up by saying that that number represents the
entire population of Switzerland.
. Express the benefits. It's a good idea to let an audience know exactly what
they'll get out of your speech, so that they're primed to listen. If they'll learn how to save money,
tell them. If the information you're about to share will make their lives easier in some way, make
that clear. If they'll gain a new appreciation of someone or something, let them know.
2 Method

Researching and Writing Your Speech

1
Know your subject. In some cases, you might need to do nothing more than sit down, gather
your thoughts and put all of your ideas on paper. Other times, your topic will be unfamiliar
enough that you must do research in order to speak about it knowledgeably. Most times, you'll
fall somewhere in between the two extremes.

2
 Do broad research. The internet can be a great source to find out more about your speech
topic, but don't necessarily stop there. If you're a student, use your school's library or library
databases. Many public libraries subscribe to databases that house thousands and thousands
of articles. If you have a library card, you have free access to those databases. Think about
interviewing someone who's an expert in your topic or conducting a survey. The more ways
you go at gathering the information you need, the more successful you're likely to be. Plus,
using various research sources gives your speech breadth.

3
Avoid plagiarism. When you do use information you got from an outside source in your speech,
plan to give credit to that source. To do so, keep track of where you're getting your information
so that you can cite it later on.

4
Decide if you'll outline or script. Narrative, informative and persuasive speeches lend
themselves well to being outlined while ceremonial speeches are best written out.
.

. Outline. When you outline, you're simply organizing and structuring your
speech as a series of points. For example, if you were giving the speech mentioned above: "I
want my audience to learn the four things they should look for when buying a diamond," you
might designate one point for "Cut," one for "Color," one for "Clarity" and one for "Carat." Under
each of those points, you'd offer your audience more information and detail.
. Outlines can be written in complete sentences or they can be a
series of abbreviated phrases and reminders. Another approach is to begin by writing
complete sentences and then transferring your outline on to note cards on which you
abbreviate those sentences using just the words and memory prompts you need.
. Script. One reason that it makes sense to write out ceremonial speeches is
because the words you choose to express yourself in these kinds of speeches are particularly
important. You're meant to inspire or entertain or pay tribute to someone, so saying exactly
what you mean and have prepared increases your chances for success.
. Pull out your old English textbooks and review things like similes,
metaphors, alliteration and other kinds of figurative language. These kinds of devices can add
to the impact of a ceremonial speech.
. Beware one pitfall of the scripted speech: having a page full of words
in front of you can cause you to fall into the trap of simply reading from your script without every
looking up, making eye contact or engaging with the audience in any way. Thorough practice
should help to eliminate your chances of falling into this trip.

5
Be sure you have all the pieces in place. A speech includes three basic pieces: an introduction,
a body and a conclusion. Be sure your speech contains all of these elements.
.
. Introduction. There are two things that most good introductions include: an
attention-getter and a preview of what's to come in the speech.
. Give an attention-getter. The most important thing you must do in
your introduction is to grab your audience's attention. You can do this in a number of ways: ask
a question, say something surprising, offer startling statistics, use a quote or proverb related to
your speech topic or tell a short story. Take the time to figure out how you'll grab your
audience's attention--it's easier to get them hooked in the beginning than to try to get them
interested as your speech progresses.
. Offer a preview. Think of a preview as kind of the "coming
attractions" of your speech. Plan to tell your audience the main points you'll talk about in your
speech. There's not need to go into any detail here; you'll get to that when you come to the
body of your speech. You can write a preview that's simply one sentence in length to cover
what you need to say here.
. Body. The body is where the "meat" of your speech resides. The points you
outlined or the information you scripted make up the body. There are several ways to organize
the information within the body of your speech--in time sequence, in step order, from most
important point to least important point, problem-solution, to name just a few. Choose an
organizational pattern that makes sense based on your speech goal.
. Conclusion. There are two things to accomplish in your conclusion. This is
not the place to introduce any new information; instead, the idea is to wrap things up in a way
that's memorable and definite.
. Give a summary. One of the ways an audience remembers what a
speech was about is through intentional repetition. In your introduction, you gave a preview of
what you'd be talking about. In your speech body, you talked about those things. Now, in your
conclusion, you remind your audience what you talked about. Simply offer a brief review of the
main points you touched on in your speech.
. End with a clincher. A clincher is a memorable, definitive statement
that gives your speech a sense of closure. One easy way to do this is to write a clincher that
refers back to what you said in the attention-getter of your speech. This helps bring your
presentation full circle and provides a sense of closure.
Method3
Choosing Visual Aids

1
Choose visuals to benefit the audience. There are many good reasons to use visual aids. They
can help make things easier to understand, they help audiences remember what you've said,
they appeal to visual learners, and they can help an audience view you as more persuasive.
Be sure you're clear on what you hope to accomplish with each visual you incorporate into your
speech.

2
Pick visuals that suit the speech. While it's a great idea to use visual aids in your speech, be
sure to choose ones that make sense. For example, in the speech mentioned above in which
the speaker wants the audience to learn the four things to look for when buying a diamond, it
 might would make sense to show a diagram of a diamond that illustrates where a jeweler
makes cuts in preparing the gemstone. It would also be helpful to show side-by-side photos of
clear, white and yellow diamonds so the audience can recognize the differences in color. On
the other hand, it wouldn't be very helpful to show an exterior photo of a jewelry store.

3
Use PowerPoint with care. PowerPoint can be a great delivery device for visual aids. You can
use it to show photos, charts, and graphs with ease. But there are common mistakes that
speakers sometimes make when using PowerPoint. These are easy to avoid once you stop
and think about them.
.

. Don't write everything you plan to say on your slides. We've all suffered
through speeches where the speaker did little more that read off of his or her slides. That's
boring for the audience, and they soon disengage. Instead, use word charts to preview, review
or highlight key information. Remember, the sides should be a supplement to what you're
going to say rather than an exact copy of it.
. Make your slides readable. Use a font size that's easy for your audience to
read and don't overcrowd your slides. If your audience can't see or get through the material on
your slides, they won't have served any purpose.
. Use animations sparingly. Having graphics fly around, zoom in and out ,and
change colors can be engaging but can also be distracting. Be careful not to overdo the special
effects. Your slides should be a supporting player rather than the star of the show.
4
Method

Rehearsing Your Speech

1
Give yourself plenty of time. The more time you have to practice your speech, the more
prepared you'll feel, and as a result, the less nervous you'll feel. One guideline for the amount
of time to spend on preparing a speech is one to two hours for every minute you'll be speaking.
For example, you might want to devote 5 to 10 hours of prep time for a 5-minute speech. Of
course, that includes ALL of your preparation from start to finish; your rehearsal would be just a
portion of that time.
.

. Leave yourself time to practice. If you're given to procrastinating, you could

find yourself with very little or no time to practice before you deliver your speech, which could
leave you feeling unprepared and anxious.

2
 Practice in front of people. Whenever possible, give your speech in front of family members
and friends. If you want their feedback, give them specific guidelines for what you'd like them to
comment on so that you don't feel overwhelmed by helpful notes.
.

. Look at your audience. Almost nothing does more to keep an audience

engaged than eye contact from a speaker. As you rehearse your speech, be sure to look at the
family members or friends who've agreed to be your audience. It takes a bit of practice to be
able to look at your outline, script or note cards, capture a thought or two and then come up
and deliver that information while looking at your audience. It's yet another reason why
rehearsal time is so important.
. If you don't have the opportunity to practice in front of people, be sure that
when you do rehearse, that you say your speech aloud. You don't want your speech day to be
the first time you hear the words of your speech coming out of your mouth. Plus, speaking out
loud gives you a chance to double-check and correct any mispronunciations, practice
articulating your words clearly and confirm the timing of your speech (We speak more quickly
when we simply recite a speech in our heads).
.

3
Be OK with changes. One thing rehearing your speech allows you to do is to make any
necessary changes. If it's running too long, you have to cut some material. If it's too short or
some sections seem skimpy, you add more. Not only that, but each time you practice your
speech aloud, it will come out a bit differently. That's perfectly fine. You're not a robot, you're a
person. It's not necessary to get your speech word-for-word perfect, what matters is conveying
the information in an engaging and memorable way.
.

Method 5
Reducing Speech Anxiety

1
Get physical. It's common for people to feel physical symptoms of nervousness--rapidly
beating heart, quick breathing and shaky hands--before giving a speech. That's a perfectly
normal response caused by a release of adrenaline in the body--something that happens when
we feel threatened. The key is to engage in physical activity to help move the adrenaline
through your system and allow it to dissipate.
.
. Clench and release. Ball up your fists really, really tight and hold for a second
or two and then release. Repeat this a few times. You can do the same thing by squeezing the
muscles in your calves very tightly and then releasing. With each release, you should feel a
reduction in your adrenaline-induced symptoms.
. Take deep breaths. The adrenaline in your system causes you to take more
shallow breaths that, in turn, increase your feeling of anxiety. You need to break the cycle.
Take a deep breath through your nose and allow the air to fill your belly. Once your belly is full,
let your breath fill and expand your ribcage. Finally, allow your breath to move fully into your
chest. Open your mouth slightly and begin to exhale starting first with the air in your chest, then
the air in your ribcage and finally the breath in your belly. Repeat this inhale-exhale cycle five
times.

2
Focus on your audience. While it might seem difficult to believe, a good speech is really not
about you, the speaker. It's about the audience. Plan to put your total focus and concentration
on your audience throughout your speech, especially in the beginning. Really take them in and
check out the non-verbal messages they're sending you--do they understand what you're
saying? do you need to slow down? are they in agreement with you? would they be open to
you moving closer to make a stronger connection? If you put your attention fully on your
audience, you won't have time to think about your own nerves or anxiety.

3
Use visual aids. You're probably planning to use visual aids anyway, but if you're not, you
might want to consider it. For some people, using visual aids reduces their anxiety because it
makes them feel less like the center of attention; instead, they feel as though they're sharing
the spotlight with the visuals.

4
Practice visualization. When you use visualization you simply create a mental image of you
successfully giving your speech. Close your eyes and see yourself sitting down prior to your
speech. Hear your name being called or your introduction being given. Visualize yourself
standing up confidently, picking up your notes and walking to the podium. See yourself taking
a moment to make sure your notes are in order and looking up to make eye contact with the
audience. Then picture yourself giving your speech. Watch yourself move through the entire
talk successfully. See the speech end, yourself saying "thank you" and returning confidently to
your seat.
 5
Stay positive. Even if you're feeling nervous, do your best not to engage in a lot of negative talk.
Instead of saying "This speech is going to be a disaster" say instead "I did the best I could
preparing this speech." Replace "I'm a nervous wreck" with "I feel nervous, but I know that's
normal before a speech, and I won't let that stop me from doing my best."
 Negative thoughts are incredibly powerful--one estimate is that you need five positive
thoughts to counteract every one negative thought you have, so steer clear of them.