How to Prepare a Speech

Know your topic. In some cases, all you need to do is simply sit down, focus your thoughts, and put all your ideas down on paper. But if you have to talk about a topic that’s not familiar to you, you need to research to better understand it. Usually you’ll fall somewhere in between the two.

Research from multiple sources. The internet is a useful resource for finding information for your speech, but you don’t have to stop there. If you are a student, use the data of the school library or other libraries. Many public libraries provide a data source containing thousands of articles. If you have a library card, you can access free resources. Think about interviewing someone who is an expert in your area of research or conducting a survey. The more channels you use to collect information, the higher your success rate. Plus, use multiple sources of research to extend your speech.

Avoid plagiarism. Remember to cite the sources of the information you use in your speech. To do this, document the source of the information and refer to it later.

Decide to write an outline or complete script. Narrative, informative, and persuasive speeches can be written in outline form, while speeches at ceremonies should be scripted.

• Write an outline. When making an outline, simply list the main points of your talk. For example, if you said on the topic mentioned above “I want my audience to understand the four criteria they need to consider when choosing a diamond”, you would cross out four bullet points for the four criteria “ Cut Angle”, “Color”, “Purity”, and “Weight”. Under each bullet point, you’ll provide your audience with additional insights.
  • Outlines can be written as complete sentences or as short phrases. Or you can write complete sentences, then outline them on a notepad using only the necessary words and cues.
• Complete script. You need to write down the complete speech at the ceremony, because how you choose the words to say in these occasions is extremely important. Your job is to inspire, entertain or pay tribute to someone, so say exactly what you mean and be prepared to increase your chances of success.
  • Review old writing workbooks and review concepts such as similes, metaphors, repetition, and other rhetorical devices. These tools will make a powerful impact on your speech.
  • Note the common mistakes when reading by script. With a page full of text in front of you, it’s easy to make basic mistakes like just reading along the page and forgetting gestures like looking up at the audience, making eye contact, or getting the attention of the audience. audiences. Practice will help you avoid such mistakes.

Make sure to cover all parts of your speech. A speech consists of three main parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Make sure you cover all three of those parts of your talk.

• Introduction. A good opening paragraph usually consists of two elements: capturing the audience’s attention and giving a general introduction to the content of the talk.
• Attract the audience’s attention. The most important thing you need to do in your opening is to grab your audience’s attention. There are many ways to do this: ask a question, talk about something amazing, come up with a shocking figure, use quotes, idioms related to the content of the talk, or tell a story. short story. Take the time to think about how you will engage your audience, engaging them in the first place will be easier while you’re presenting.
  • Provide an overview. A big picture is like stating “interesting things to come” in your speech. Prepare information for the audience about the main ideas you will present. It is not necessary to go into too much detail, you will provide detailed information in the body of the article. This part can be wrapped up in just one sentence.
• Post body. The main body is the “main course” part of the speech. The points you cross out in your outline or script form the body of your essay. There are many ways for you to organize the information in the body of your essay: chronological order, order of steps, from most important to least important points, causes – solutions, and so on. Choose an appropriate arrangement based on the purpose of your speech.
• Conclude. There are two things you need to achieve at the conclusion. You shouldn’t add new information, but instead summarize what you’ve presented in a clear and memorable way.
  • Give a summary. Intentional repetition is one of the ways to get your audience to remember what your speech is about. In the introduction, you need a general introduction to the content of the talk; in the body of the essay, you will present those topics; and the conclusion should reiterate what you have said by summarizing the main points.
  • End with a solid argument. The argument here is a clear and memorable statement that your speech is over. An easy way to make this statement is to link back to what you said to get the audience’s attention in the first place. This will help finalize and close the speech.

Choose visual aids that help your audience. There are many reasons to use visualization tools. They will make what you’re communicating easier to understand, help your audience remember what you’re saying, engage visual learners, and make your talk more persuasive. Be clear on what you are using each visual aid for in your talk.

Use visual aids appropriate to the speech. Using intuitive tools is very helpful, but you need to choose the right tools. For example, in the diamond talk above, if you wanted your audience to know about the four criteria to consider when choosing a diamond, you should show an illustrative chart of where the jeweler cuts the diamond. or can show pictures of transparent diamonds, white diamonds, yellow diamonds side by side to show the audience the difference in color. On the other hand, using a photo inside a jewelry store is not very helpful.

Be careful when using Powerpoint presentation software. Powerpoint is an extremely useful presentation software. You can show pictures, charts, graphs easily. However, there are some errors that presenters often encounter when using Powerpoint for presentations. These errors are completely avoidable if you take the time to review them.

• Don’t write everything you want to say on the slide (slide). We’ve all heard speeches where the speaker just focused on reading the slide. This makes the audience feel bored and will quickly lose focus. Instead of reading slides, use charts to introduce, reiterate, and emphasize important information. Always remember that the slide should only serve as a support, not a complete copy of what you want to say.
• Make sure your audience can read your slides. Use a font size that your audience can read and don’t cover too much on one slide. If the audience cannot read or see all of what you show on the slide, it will all be in vain.
• Use simple slideshow effects. Images that fly back and forth, zooming in, out, and changing colors can attract, but also distract, the audience. Don’t use too many special effects. Your slides should only play a supporting role, not the main role in the presentation.

Spend a lot of time preparing. The more time you spend practicing, the more prepared you’ll feel, which in turn will make you feel less anxious. The amount of time you should spend preparing your speech is about one to two hours for every minute you’ll be speaking. For example, you need to spend 5 to 10 hours preparing for a 5-minute speech. Of course, that time included all the preparation steps from start to finish, rehearsal only took part of it.

• Take time to practice. If you have a habit of procrastinating, you will find yourself in a situation where you have little or no time to practice speaking before delivering your speech. You will feel that you are not prepared well enough and become nervous.

Practice public speaking. Whenever possible, practice speaking in front of your family and friends. If you want to hear their comments, be specific about the points you want them to comment on, so you won’t be overwhelmed with comments.

• Look at the audience. Nothing attracts an audience more than eye contact from the speaker. As you practice your talk, remember to look at your family and friends as spectators. It will take a bit of practice to be able to look at an outline, script or notes, capture a few ideas, and then present those ideas while looking at the audience. That’s also one reason why it’s so important to rehearse in advance.
• If you don’t have a chance to practice speaking in front of people, read your speech aloud during practice. You don’t want the day you give your speech to be the first time you hear your own statements. Plus, when you speak out loud, you’ll have the opportunity to double-check and correct mispronounced words, practice pronunciation clearly, and ensure your speaking time (We speak faster when we speak). memorize his speech)

Adjust speech as needed. Speaking practice also allows you to make the necessary changes. If you feel the talk is too long, you can cut out some information. If the talk is too short or some parts are not informative enough, you can add more. Not only that, but every time you practice speaking out loud, you’ll say it a little differently. This is completely normal. You’re a human, not a robot, so you don’t have to make your speech perfect. It is important that you communicate the information in a way that is engaging and memorable.

Motor. We often have some physical signs of anxiety, such as heart palpitations, rapid breathing, and shaking hands before speaking. Those are perfectly normal reactions caused by the release of adrenaline when the body feels threatened. You should exercise a little to get the adrenaline through your body and dissipate.

• Tighten and release. Grip your hands tightly, hold for a few seconds then release. Repeat a few times. You can also tighten the muscles in your calves and then release them. Each time you relax, you will feel the symptoms decrease.
• Deep breath. The adrenaline hormone released in the body when you feel scared causes your breathing to become shallower, which in turn increases the feeling of restlessness. You need to break that cycle. Inhale deeply through your nose, allowing the air to fill your abdomen. When the air has filled your stomach, hold your breath and expand your chest, finally bringing the breath to your chest. Open your mouth slightly and begin to exhale, releasing the air in your chest, then your ribcage, and finally your belly. Repeat the whole process five times.

Focus on the audience. It’s hard to believe, but a good speech depends not on the speaker but on the audience. You need to be very focused on your audience through your speech, especially from the beginning. Really engage them in your talk and pay attention to the nonverbal messages they’re sending you — do they understand what you’re saying? Do you need to slow down? Do they agree with you? Do they feel comfortable when you approach to strengthen the connection between speaker and listener? If you completely focus on your audience, you won’t have time for suspense and anxiety.

Use visualization tools. You may have planned to use the visualization tool, if not, you should consider that. For some people, using visual aids reduces anxiety because they feel like they are no longer the sole center of attention when the stage is shared with visual aids.

Imagination set. This step is simply a picture of yourself giving a successful speech. Close your eyes and imagine yourself sitting before your speech. You hear your name called or you hear yourself being introduced. Imagine you confidently stood up, took your notes, and walked up to the stage. You find yourself stopping to check a bit to make sure your notes are in the right order and make eye contact with your audience. Then you imagine yourself giving a speech. You deliver your speech smoothly from start to finish. You find that when your speech is over, you say “thank you” and confidently return to your seat.