When we look at the skills we are born with and the ones that we learn during our youth we find that, at least in professional fields we spend more of our time communicating through the written word than we do through talking. Yet talking is perhaps our earliest skill, yet many live in fear of our ability to speak.

In a business context a leader accomplishes more in a few minutes speaking with people that then will through a whole day of writing emails. When we write we know the basic rule – there must be a beginning, the body of the piece and the conclusion. The same is also true when delivering a speech.

I guess that for many speech is unstructured, it certainly seems that way when we are speaking with our friends. The conversation tends to meander through the thoughts, hopes and prayers of the minds of those involved. One conversation can split into two or three, develop further, then re-merge into a single whole. This is not the case with delivering a speech, this has to be more structured, in the same way that your email to the CEO will be firmly structured and remain focused and to the point.

Speeches have an opening, the main body, and a conclusion, in the same way as writing. This is a constant whether we are making a presentation to the board, or to a symposium of 500 people. There is an argument by some that learning to speak properly even empowers a job seeker in an interview – it can certainly make them feel more confident eventhough this.

In “Speaking Out – and Learning how to be Heard!” I talked about how we “forget… to say important things, then find… that our message has not been heard effectively. Well it turns out that even the greatest speaker on the planet forgets things (even important subjects)”. That is one of the reasons why speeches should be structured (even impromptu ones) and have a good opening that draws to audience to the topic at hand. You will have an outline, which may be a mental one, of the three or four things that need to be said. It is important that the subject is properly introduced and that there is a good transition between the topics.

As an additional note it it best to focus on three, or perhaps four things, that are the most important elements to be conveyed during your speech. This ensure the message is heard and focused on.

It is perhaps the opening and the conclusion which are the most important parts. In opening the speaker needs to catch the audience’s attention as well as informing the audience what you are speaking to them about. Many people ask a question or make a challenging statement in their opening, others use a quotation or illustration. It is important to avoid weak openings – the unrelated joke or the apologetic statement. These tend to make the audience very defensive which can destroy the whole tone of the speech even if what you have to say is of vital importance.

In the conclusion we can repeat elements of the speech (and even add-in those items we missed earlier). The opening and closing elements of the speech play a similar role, to focus (or refocus) the mind on the subject at hand and ensure our audience listens and is with us.

In creating a good opening it is important not to be negative (even if addressing a problem). Also remember we are not delivering the whole speech in the opening we are simply peaking the interest of our target audience. We are giving them a reason to listen, that is all.

Reference Material:

Electrify Your Audience with a Shocking Speech Opening by Andrew Dlugan

Opening Your Speech By George Torok