Are you out of practice in giving speeches? You’re not alone. COVID and the rise of video calls have put a massive dent in public speaking opportunities for many people, including me.
So here are some pointers from our work as speechwriters and my own recent experiences in getting back up on a stage. The list is by no means exhaustive, but it will hopefully be useful if it’s been a while since you spoke in public or you would simply like to improve your technique.
Write in full, even if you end up speaking more freely
A key decision to make before any speech is whether you’re going to speak from a fully written script or summary bullet points that give you a structure and remind you what you plan to say. You can put much of your content on slides, as many people do, but keep in mind that your audience might find it duplicative for you to then read through the material.
I think it’s good to prepare a fully written speech because it forces you to identify exactly what you plan to say and helps you avoid saying anything else on the day. A well-considered, well-prepared speech is usually more valuable and enjoyable for audiences.
For detailed advice on crafting great speeches, I’d recommend The Art of Speeches and Presentations by Philip Collins. Collins was a speechwriter to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and says that any speech should have a ‘fulcrum’ or key point. He also suggests interviewing audience members before a speech to understand their interests and sensitivities.
You could, of course, also work with expert speechwriters such as our team at Editor Group.
But even if you have a fully scripted speech, you don’t necessarily have to deliver it word for word. This is one thing that came back to me when I got back on a stage to give a speech.
I remembered that while I like preparing speeches in full, I don’t really like reading them out word for word when I speak. One reason is that it can make it harder to make eye contact and otherwise connect with your audience.
Instead, I tend to read out some sections and speak more freely in others. I also break my own rule and insert whole bits that weren’t there at all.
My preferred strategy is usually to prepare a full speech and rehearse it, but also to chunk the speech down to bullets that remind me what I want to say and rehearse working from those too. Then I see what I think will really suit me on the day.
Those bullets might include points where I allow myself to inject something extra if it feels appropriate, but I don’t try to capture those in prose. The bullets might also include figures, quotes or other exact items that I want to use accurately during a talk.
The best approach will of course vary according to the situation. If you can speak from a lectern or a teleprompter screen, you’re better placed to use a fully written speech.
If you can’t use detailed notes – for instance, when you want to roam the front of a room or stage – it may be better to go for bullets on a small piece of paper that you can easily hold, or the common route of creating presentation slides that give you a structure to work through.
Think about your eyesight
If you haven’t done a lot of speaking lately, or you’ll be speaking in a new setting, it’s worth considering how your vision might be affected, especially if you wear glasses.
I count this as a COVID issue because before the pandemic, I was comfortable reading speech notes and looking up to engage with an audience – all without glasses. These days I use glasses for both reading up close and seeing into the distance.
I didn’t fully appreciate what a pain this can be till I delivered a few presentations recently. My unhappy compromise has been to continue not wearing glasses and having an okay but not great view of both my speech notes and the audience.
However, I can see I’ll need to address this before my next presentation and either use reading glasses and pretend I’m seeing the audience; use distance glasses and put my speech notes at a distance, such as on a teleprompter screen or up on the wall as slides; or visit my optometrist!
Remember that public speaking is physical
Now we’re back to speaking in public more often, it’s also important to remember that it’s a physical act so physiology comes into play – including nerves.
There is plenty of good advice around on how to ensure your body doesn’t freak out when you speak in public, such as breathing deeply and moving around before you speak. Based on my recent experiences, I’d add a few points or perhaps reinforce some you might have heard.
The first, as above, is to take the time to prepare great material and rehearse it thoroughly. The more confident you are that you’re giving your audience something valuable and the better you know it, the more competent and confident you’ll be on the day.
Also as above, take time to understand the location and what will work on the day. In addition to considering whether or not to wear glasses, you should know where you’ll stand or move around, what sort of microphone you’ll have, what the lighting will be like and who the audience will be. Ideally you can even rehearse in the exact setting you’ll be speaking.
I like to go for a run or do some other exercise on the day of a presentation to ensure I’m both energised and relaxed.
I’d also suggest avoiding doing normal work or drinking coffee in the hours before you give a speech. The work can leave you distracted and wound up. The coffee can make you nervous, and tighten and dry your vocal chords.
Indeed, as a good friend of mine once said, it’s better to drink beer than coffee before a talk.
Break the ice
Finally, you should be prepared to break the ice when you speak. I like to ease into a speech by thanking the person who introduced me, telling a joke or having some other distraction that gets my mouth and brain moving in the right direction.
This goes against the advice of some experts who say it’s boring to start speeches with self-deprecating preambles and jokes. Instead, they believe you should dive straight into your strongest comments to grab the audience’s attention.
That’s good advice for people who speak regularly and can go from 0 to 100 in three seconds. But for mere mortals like me, and others who haven’t been on a stage for a while, an icebreaker can provide the critical little breakthrough that will get things going.
Once you’re underway, it is much easier to settle into a rhythm and deliver your well-prepared message well.
By Grant Butler, Founder & Director, Editor Group
