When you are going to give a speech do you write it out first?
I’ve tried writing the speech and not writing it, just coming up with the basic idea and a few points to cover.
Some people believe that not writing a speech allows them to be more spontaneous, more ‘in the moment’ when they present it. This may be true.
But I wonder if what is gained in spontaneity is lost in thoroughly covering all that could be said on the subject, and in saying it the best possible way.
You might miss something of importance; you might present ideas weakly, so they are not understood fully.
And your stories – did you choose the best ones to illustrate your points, did you extract every last ounce of juice from them?
Perhaps you don’t need to write out your speech in order to do these, but you do need to spend mulling time on them. I know people who do this in the car on the way to work, or vegged out in front of the television, not really watching, or at their kids football game.
Or you could just sit down in front of your computer, or with pen and paper.
If you truly wing it you risk coming up with a bland speech that has no real structure to hold it together and with illustrations that are only vaguely connected to the topic.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m a good speaker. I know I can get by.”
‘Getting by’ really doesn’t cut it in front of an audience that is expecting your best and maybe even paying for your best.
If you’re a Toastmaster you didn’t learn much, except that you can get away with less than your best. If you’d done more work on it you might have learned more.
If you’re a paid speaker you gave your event planner a reason not to invite you back next time. Do you know how many hopeful, wannabe speakers there are in the world, just waiting for a chance like the one you just blew?
Speech preparation – and that includes story preparation – counts.
The Story Solver 