Speech Writing For The Rest Of Us
You didn’t think people just climbed to a podium and made up words as they came into their minds, did you? Of course, people do put in work in writing their speeches. That’s the only way to ensure the words you spout on stage will serve your message well.
When writing speeches, always keep these things in mind:
- Write it for the way you naturally speak. If you compose something too far off from your natural way of speaking, you’ll end up looking stiff and out of your element on stage. As such, it’s imperative to use words and sentence structures that you’re comfortable enunciating.
- Plan your pauses. Use plenty of punctuation to plan for pauses during the speech. Not only do pauses allow the listeners to process what you say, it helps you regain your breath while up there as well.
- Use a tape recorder to get a better idea of how you sound. Not only will this help you plan where to put stronger emphasis, it also lets you time your speech, so that you neither write too long nor too short a speech.
- Keep to one idea per sentence. This makes it easier for the audience to make out what you’re saying.
- Use a grammar checker. Check your speech for grammar and mechanical mistakes. While you can get away with some form of errors, since the material is spoken, it pays to keep it as low in count as you can manage.
- Avoid jokes. That is, unless you’re naturally funny. Planning a speech doesn’t magically endow you with a capacity for humor. Take the less riskier road.