“Why should I write my speech? I’ve been giving speeches for 15 years“
Have you been to a presentation and the speaker went on and on with no coherent message? I happened to see a well-known and very well-paid movie actor give an acceptance speech. Rather than merely thanking those who contributed to his success, this actor decided to take the time to discuss his cause—extemporarily. Perhaps you may be able to speak off-the-cuff; however, the effectiveness of such a speech will be diminished—perhaps significantly.
Many professional speakers write their speeches. “Why,” you may ask. They don’t write them memorize their speech and they certainly don’t write them to read their presentations. They write them to refine, massage, and condense their speeches to assure they have a well polished speech where every word is significant. They also want to assure that the speech is well organized and it flows smoothly.
For example, part of a speech I was asked to review was:
“Volunteerism can change the life of others in a positive way. Let me tell you about Mary Smith. Mary Smith resides at, not around, not near, but inside the North Cemetery. You would think that living in the morbid confines of a cemetery would mean hopelessness and helpless desperation. But when you meet Mary, you will not see somebody who is hopeless, desperate or helpless. You will see a woman who knows she can make a difference.”
can be changed to:
“Volunteerism can positively change the life of others. You would think that living in the morbid confines of a cemetery would mean hopelessness and helpless desperation. Ask Mary. She resides not around, not near, but inside the North Cemetery. But Mary is not hopeless, desperate or helpless. You will see a woman who knows she can make a difference.”
By rearranging and restructuring the paragraph, I reduced the number of words from 77 to 59. The content flowed smoother, was more active and there was no redundancy. Additionally, there’s was no need to state the person’s name twice or to say “Let me tell you about…” Can you refine it even more?
Similarly, I have heard speakers say “Let me tell you a story about…” For example, “Let me tell you a story of a young boy that happened many years ago.” Instead, why not simply pause for a moment and begin the story by saying, “Many years ago, there was a young boy…” By simply starting a story, after a momentary pause, it becomes more engaging and interesting. Contrarily, stating “Let me tell you a story about…” drags out the speech to no advantage.
Also notice that I put the time frame, “many years ago,” at the beginning rather than the end of the sentence. It is important to start a sentence with the least important statement and end the sentence with the most important part of the sentence. You want to build up to a crescendo, not down to a lull. Nearly all fairy tales begin with “Once upon a time…” Have you heard a fairy tale begin with “There was an evil witch once upon a time?” Even Star Wars begin with “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”—not “In a galaxy far, far away, a long time ago…”
David Brooks, the 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking for Toastmasters, says that “it is absolutely necessary to write a speech and refine the speech as many times as necessary.” Many times I will write a speech or an article for a newspaper, magazine or my blog at least a week or two before I need to speak or submit an article. I will then leave it alone for a day or so and then return to refine it. Even this article, I have left it alone for 2 to 3 days, review the content and modify it.
Though you may know what to do and how to do it, you may still be wondering why presenters and speakers should write and rewrite their speeches. A professional speaker I know has been speaking for more than 30 years to corporations and he is well paid. I was assisting in filming his educational videos. He was quite good and I noticed the content was excellent. It was very easy to listen to him, yet I thought he should slow down a bit and pause occasionally. He said that he understood however, when he’s being paid as much as he is, every word costs the company about $5. His contention was that he owes the audience to give them as much information as he can in the allotted time. Sure enough, the content of the video he was filming was excellent. However, I still believe the value of his time would be better served if he would slow down and pause, thereby increasing his audiences’ retention rate. Yet, for him, who can argue with success? I do wonder if he could have been even more successful if he would slow down, pause and let his audience absorb the content.
Thus, we should write our speeches not to memorize them or to read them. We do so to refine our speeches. One last thought. I’ve been asked, “What do we do with the speech if we are not to memorize it?” You should practice the same as if your intent is to memorize your speech; however, the purpose of practicing and refining your speech is to know it. To me, there is a difference between memorizing and knowing your speech. Memorizing a speech is memorizing the speech word for word. Memorizing leads to performing for the audience like an actor who needs to memorize his/her lines. Knowing your speech leads to conversing with your audience. Instead of an abstract factor through memorization, it becomes a part of you, as if you are conversing with your friend. Both have a purpose, and for a speaker you want to engage the audience. You do this by conversing with the audience.
Frank S. Adamo
A Communication Skills Specialist
www.SpotlightPresenter.com
frank@fsadamo.com
