How To Make A Speech

Speaking in front of an audience is a scary thing, particularly if you have never done it before. Although it comes fairly naturally to some people, speaking in public is probably not something you would choose to do if you are quiet and introverted.

In order to make a success of your speech, you need to work on various aspects of delivery, as well as the content of the speech itself.

In the first place, you must practice projecting your voice. Introverted people tend to speak quietly and this will not work when making a speech. Your voice needs to be strong, even if it is going to be amplified by a microphone. Improving the volume and projection of your voice is definitely something that can be achieved with practice.

You must also work on body language. Much as your first instinct may be to act as if you wish you weren’t up there making a speech, this will obviously not look good to the people in the audience. Again, you must practice in front of a mirror. Your face should be bright and positive looking, and any hand gestures decisive and firm. It’s all about looking confident, even when underneath you are not. It’s a form of acting. This has been understood by politicians, sports personalities and other celebrities down the years, many of whom are not naturally confident but have learned to project the impression of confidence. And, of course, with success comes genuine confidence. But before that you have to start somewhere.

As regards the content of your speech, you can choose to write it out in full, and then just read it out. However, this is likely to appear stilted and stiff. Memorizing the speech in full may suffer from the same problem. A better way is to break your speech down into sections or bullet points. Instead of reading out the exact words, you can learn the basic points you intend to cover, and the order in which they are to appear, but use a degree of improvisation. You can practice a number of different versions of the speech, so it is possible to go in various directions on the day, instead of being tied to an exact script.

You must practice your speech time and time again, and make an effort to cut out hesitant sounds like ‘err’ and ‘ah’. If you are momentarily lost, just pause silently until you have decided what you would like to say next. This sounds much better than a speech peppered with ‘ums’ and ‘errs’.