How to Make a Speech

Intro
My presentation topic is "How to make a speech". First of all I would like to give a overview of my
presentaion. The whole presentation is devided into 3 parts: introduction, main body and summation.
In the introduction part of the presentation i will cover such questions as: What is a speech? And who
were a famouse public speakers? Why it is important to make a speech? In the main body part I will
answer the question - what should you know about making a speech and how to make an effective
speech? In the summation I will make a conclusion and share some recommendations regarding the
topic.

Let me start with definition of what the speech is.

A speech is spoken communication directed at a particular audience. A speech usually has one or more
of three main purposes: to inform, to persuade or to celebrate an occasion (event).
In this particular case my speech is expected to be informative.

Here is a list of of famous public speakers throughout history:

Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Socrates, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Margaret
Thatcher, Mahatma Gandi, Ronald Reagan and others.

Now, let's talk about why it is important to know how to make a speech. It's a well known fact that
communication is the backbone of our society. It allows us to form connections, influence decisions, and
motivate change. Without communication skills, the ability to progress in the working world and in life,
itself, would be nearly impossible. According to my research there are at last 3 reasons why it is
important to develop such a skill: 1) to win over the crowd (the power of persuasion can carry you far
and it all starts by mastering those public speaking skills) 2) to motivate people (A great public speaker
attains the power to motivate his or her audience to do something, stop doing something, change a
behavior, or reach objectives) 3) to inform (The ability to inform is one of the most important aspects of
public speaking. From presenting research papers and PowerPoint presentations in school to presenting
ideas and pitches to your boss or client, informative public speaking is a vital component of a successful
career across all work fields). That is why skill of making a speech is essential for a successful career or
business. The majority of executives and hiring managers prioritize strong oral communication skills.
Most jobs require some degree of public speaking, whether it's giving a presentation to your team or
speaking at a conference. Strong public speaking skills will give you the ability to take on leadership
roles.

Glosophobia
Glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking, is remarkably common. In fact, some experts estimate that
as much as 77% of the population has some level of anxiety regarding public speaking. Of course, many
people are able to manage and control the fear. If your fear is significant enough to cause problems in
work, school, or in social settings, then it is possible that you suffer from a full-blown phobia. Few people
are born with a natrual talent for public speaking. This is good news, as it means that it's a skill that you
can learn. So, practice. Developing public speaking will increase your confidence even if you are an
introvert.

Body
Now, let's move forwad to the next question - what should we know to make a good speech? Good
speech is an effective speech. To be effective, a speech should be interesting and communicate
information that is important to the audience.
Audience and Audience Analysis
First of all you should know your audience. Knowing your audience is crucial for choosing an interesting
topic. Grab the audience's attention: Most of the people will pay attention for at least the first several
minutes. In order to grab their attention during those early minutes start with an interesting fact or a
story that relates to your topic. In order to talk about a topic your audience care about, you’ll need to
perform a quick analysis of your audience. There are a few audience characteristics which might
determine the speech topic you select, including: age, gender, ethnic background, types of career,
beliefes, education, experience, knowledge of the topic and so on. Audience analysis involves identifying
the audience and adapting a speech to their interests, level of understanding, attitudes, and beliefs.
Taking an audience-centered approach is important because a speaker’s effectiveness will be improved if
the presentation is created and delivered in an appropriate manner.
Four types of audience:
1. Hostile - this audience does not want to be listening to you.
2. Critical - this audience can criticise you.
3. Uninformed - this audience might know a little about your presentation topic but certainly not in great
detail
4. Sympathetic - This audience is willing to listen and wants to be there. They can be interested in your
topic, excited to see you talk.
Choosing a topic
While choosing a topic you can use a brainstorming strategy. Brainstorm all possible ideas. Documenting
all your topic ideas is powerful in ensuring all possibilities have been considered. Picking the right topic
means it needs to be relevant. Relevance means it needs to be current. Doing research can assist
identifying relevant topics that are at the forefront of the minds of those in the audience and that you
find interesting.
Before you choose a topic you should ask yourself 3 question.
1. How much do I know about the topic?
Your audience needs to recognise you as a credible speaker and being knowledgeable about your topic is
an easy way to do this. A good understanding will help you explain difficult parts of the topic and give
you more confidence during the questions and answers session.
2. Am I passionate about the topic?
Your passion on the topic will affect all areas of your delivery, including body language, eye contact and
energy levels. If you are interested in the topic, you’ll engage with the audience better and generally
make for a more interesting speech.
3. Will the audience be interested in the topic?
If the audience doesn’t see how they can learn something useful from your topic, they’ll either not turn
up or switch off early during the speech. Remember that your speech topic needs to contain value for
the audience.

Great Speach Topic

Great speech topic show that you are knowledgeable and passionate about the topic, and the audience
is interested in it as well. In order to pick a perfect speech topic you should identify the nature of the
speaking event and purpose behind it. Narrow down a topic which is relevant and fit for the purpose.
Win a credibility of the audience. Keep your speech simple, with a clear beginning, middle and end.

Planning and Additional Information

Planning in advance is crucial. Devide you speech into several parts. Highlight key points that you want to
share to the audience. It's good to have a strategy. Support your speech with an examples, illustrations
or stories.
There are 4 main factors that you should keep in mind: voice control, body language, delivery and
audience relations. The good speaker is that one who is prepared.

Voice control. Your voice is the most basic communication tool you possess. Learning to use it properly is
key for improving your public speaking. During your public speaking event, use diaphragmatic breathing
to control the three main aspects of your voice: Volume, Tone and Pitch.

Body language. Your body language is the combination of your gestures, facial expressions, and
movements. If your body language contrasts with what you want to transmit or seems incoherent, your
speech will be confusing.

Delivery. Delivery is the way you speak. Good delivery is essential for your audience to understand your
speech. Speak at the speed of a normal conversation. Pause regularly. articulate clearly.

Audience relations. If you want your audience to listen to you, you need to engage them from the
beginning.

Summation
Conclusion
Public speaking requires you to present your ideas clearly. Public speaking isn't only important at work.
Fear of public speaking can be eliminated by practice. The importance to have such a good skill as
making a speech is obvoius. It gives you so many benefits. All you have to do is to analyze your audience,
choose a relevant topic and practice.
Recommedations: be natural, be yourself, dont try to sale something, show your genuine enthusiasm,
show your knowledge and make it interesting for you and for the audience, practice, cope with your
nerves, watch and analyze recordings of great public speakers.