How to write a speech

Before writing a speech it is important to know the occasion you will be speaking for, who will be in the audience and where you will be speaking.  Acquaint yourself with the facility and determine if you will be speaking with a lectern or microphonw. Knowing your audience will be important to choosing language that the audience will understand, relate to, or even be entertained by.

It is important to know whether or not you are speaking to entertain, persuade, inform, or inspire.  Each purpose is contructed differently.  If the speech is supposed to have an entertaining element, you may want to incorporate some light hearted moments, while in contrast in a speech to persuade, the content may be quite serious.

It is important not to skip over the outlining phase when preparing a speech.,  This is where a speaker organizes ideas and groups main points.  By writing an outline at this stage, speeches tend to be less rambly and the speaker is more likely to stay on task. Try to have 3-5 main ideas with evidence, examples, and expert opinions making up the sub points.

Once the outline of main points is made the speaker may then start to develop the content.  This may require doing some research or writing out ideas from personal experience.  This is where the speaker should consider word choice and how he or she would like the speech to sound.  For some occasions, it may be incorporating some humor.

Once the body content is written and prepared, the next step is to write the introduction.  Write and memorize the introduction for any speech to create a connection to the audience. Make sure that the introducetion gets the attention of the audience and clearly establishes the purpose. Consider using humor, a startling statement or statistics, or a visual aid to gain the attention of the audience. It is important to create a rapport with the audience right away in order to capture their attention.

Then prepare the conclusion.  These are the final words that the audience will hear from a speaker so the conclusion must leave a strong final impression.  it is standard practice to reinforce all of the main points of the speech in an abbreviated or summarized manner.  In some cases the speaker should leave the audience with a call to action.  This means make it clear to the audience what the speaker wants a person to do after the speech has ended.  Some examples would be encouraging the audience to go out and vote or to donate money to pay for new playground equipment.

After all the other steps are complete. it is time to create a final product.  Whether it is a manuscript, note cards, or a power point presentation, it is the responsibility of the speaker to create a presentation that is appropriate for the setting and occasion. Prepare the notes, script or presentation and practice with the final product several times before giving it for an audience.

Writing a GREAT speech - Public Speaking Rules!