Simple Ideas to Make A Significant Speech

 

Simple Ideas to Make 

A Significant Speech

Have you ever faced a situation, when you were invited to give a speech or make a presentation on any occasion? It could be from a social organization, education institution or a business forum.  If it is the first time, I am sure it can feel a bit overwhelming. Yet, there are simple ways, by which you can handle this situation easily.

 

In every presentation, they say “Content is the  King and Delivery is the Queen”. Both are equally important.  A well delivered speech, that lacks content, will be looked down as shallowness of the speaker’s knowledge and similarly, even if the content is excellent and the way the speech was structured and delivered was poor, it doesn’t leave a good impression amidst the participants.

 

In this article, let me share some easy tips of how you can prepare a good content for your speech.

 

There are 3 preliminary steps, before starting to construct a good speech. They are:

1.     Identifying the topic

2.     Awareness of your target audience

3.     Duration available for your speech.

 

Once you have these inputs, it gets easier to collect content for your speech. Remember, that the participant who is listening to your speech, should find some take home value from it and in order to achieve this your speech should have a good mix of these three vital components - Knowledge, Skills & Attitude.

 

We are all aware of the 6 type of questions, which is interestingly called the 5 wives and one husband technique, as an easy to remember analogy the 5W’s and 1H, which are What, When, Where, Who, Why and How?

 

When you search for content based on a question, it will be easier to find answers. Be it tapping into your own resources or external resources like Google.

 

You can create an outline for your speech, by using just the 3 questions – What, Why and How. The ‘What?’  is always a Knowledge question. The ‘Why?  is an Attitude question. The ‘How?” is a Skill based question.  

 

So, for example, if you are going to give a speech on the topic, “Creativity”, the three questions you can ask are:

·       What is Creativity?

·       Why is Creativity important?

·       How to be a Creative Person?

 

By just striving to answer these 3 questions, you will be able to structure and present a good speech.

 

Yet, you can add more value to your speech by asking the additional three knowledge questions - ‘When’, ‘Where’ and ‘Who’ . When you pose these questions, you will be able to generate and provide additional information, which will serve as a decoration to your speech.

 

The "When?" gives information of the time or period when something happened. So, it can be something generic like 5th Century BC, Ice Age,  Chola Period, Early 19^th Century etc.; or something more specific like the exact date, time or year.

 

The “Where?” gives information of where the event or incident happened.

 

The “Who?” mentions the persons who were involved in the incident. Or it can also be things like who said what.  For example, when you mention a quote, from a famous author or thinker, in your presentation it endorses your content. Like, if you are taking about creativity, you can use quotes from people who you feel are considered an authority in the field, such as Walt Disney, Steve Jobs or James Cameron.

 

Answering these 3 questions, will help the listener to relate it to the period, place and people, with their sense of imagination.

 

So, by integrating this simple 5W & 1H Technique, you will not only create an interesting speech, but also a significant speech, which people might remember much longer than it was spoken.

 

D. Senthil Kannan,

  Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

  Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

  Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com