Thomas Carlyle once observed:

Music is well said to be the speech of angels.

You can make your speechwriting sing by learning lessons from songwriters. By applying these eight songwriting techniques, you will get your audiences to virtually tap their feet, nod their heads, and even hum along to your message.

1. Triad
2. Refrain
3. Cadence
4. Harmony
5. Rhythm
6. Rhyme
7. Echo
8. Sound Effects

#1: Triad

Have you ever tried to dance to a waltz? (Or, at least seen celebrities try on ABC’s hit show Dancing with the Stars?) Someone counted for you: one, two, three… one, two, three. Soon, your klutzy steps flowed more smoothly. You had the beat. You had the rhythm. You had the flow.

The three-beat measure stimulated you. The three-beat measure motivated you. And the three-beat measure exhilarated you. The three-beat measure is well-ingrained in our daily lives, rhythmically sliding off our tongues and into the ears of others:

• Wine, women, and song
• Butcher, baker, and candlestick maker
• Tall, dark, and handsome
• Hook, line, and sinker
• Hop, skip, and a jump
• Beg, borrow, and steal
• Signed, sealed, and delivered
• Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

In music, a triad is composed of three notes that make a chord. Applying the same concept to speechwriting, think of a triad as a group of three words or three phrases used together to increase memorability and impact with a rhythmic 1-2-3 beat. Add even more impact with alliteration where each of the three words begins with the same letter.

Consider these examples:

• Effective speakers share ideas with impact, insight and intensity. They engage listeners with courage, conviction and confidence.
• Effective speakers convey their point of view confidently, cogently and convincingly. They sew their thoughts with the threads of innovation, inspiration and imagination.
• Effective speakers enrich, enlighten and entertain their audiences. They strive for compatibility, capability and credibility.

Read more about this technique in How to Use the Rule of Three in Your Speeches.

#2: Refrain

In music, a refrain is a regularly recurring phrase or verse. So too in speechwriting. A refrain is a short phrase used in a series of (at least) three sentences. This short repetitive phrase is more strategic to the message and more memorable to the audience than repetition.

Consider the message strategy and memorability in this example delivered at the 2004 Republican Convention by then-First Lady Laura Bush:

Abraham Lincoln didn’t want to go to war, but he knew saving the union required it. Franklin Roosevelt didn’t want to go to war, but he knew defeating tyranny demanded it. And my husband didn’t want to go to war, but he knew the safety and security of America and the world depended on it.

You can also use just two words to develop the refrain as Arnold Schwarzenegger did at the 2004 Republican Convention:

America is back.
Back from the attack on our homeland.
Back from the attack on our economy.
Back from the attack on our way of life.

Finally, consider former President Ronald Reagan speaking on D-Day in 1984:

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the next.

#3: Cadence

Cadence is a repetitive phrase that begins at least 6 consecutive sentences. The exaggerated repetition drums the words into the ear for greater rhythmic impact and memorability.

Consider this passage from Martin Luther King Jr’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech:

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that.
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

Feel the fight from Winston Churchill’s speech given to the British Parliament in June, 1940:

We shall fight on the seas and oceans.
We shall fight with growing confidence and strength in the air.
We shall fight to defend our land, whatever the cost may be.
We shall fight on the beaches.
We shall fight in the fields and in the streets.
We shall fight in the hills. We will never surrender!”

Finally, consider the cadence in the words of Lyndon Johnson in August, 1964 as he accepts a nomination for President of the United States:

Most Americans want medical care for older citizens. And so do I.
Most Americans want fair and stable prices for our farmers. And so do I.
Most Americans want a decent home in a decent neighborhood for all. And so do I.
Most Americans want an education for every child to the limit of his ability. And so do I.
Most Americans want a job for every man who wants to work. And so do I.
Most Americans want a victory in our war against poverty. And so do I.
Most Americans want a continuing, expanding and growing prosper. And so do I.

#4: Harmony

In music, harmony is pleasing to the ear, a concordance of sounds, and a balance that beholds. In speechwriting, you can employ a harmonizing sentence structure to balance the beginning and the ending of a series of (at least) three sentences.

Think of putting your sentences on a teeter totter: whatever weight you put on one side must be balanced by weight on the other side. This technique is more formally known as parallel structure.

Shakespeare’s used this teeter-totter, harmony technique in Shylock’s speech in The Merchant of Venice (Act III, Scene 1):

If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die?
And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

Here is another example of harmony adapted from Super Bowl winning Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy in 2006.

Talent is God-given. Be helpful.
Praise is Man-given. Be thankful.
Conceit is Self-given. Be mindful.

And finally, another example of harmony from one of my own speeches concerning making deadlines.

Prisoners serve it. Time.
Musicians mark it. Time
And historians record it. Time

#5: Rhythm

You can change the tempo of your speech much like a songwriter changes the tempo from an easy-going 4 beats per measure (waltz) to a brassy 8 beats per measure or more (jazz) depending on your intended message. Use at least five verbs in a repetitive sentence structure to generate a recurring beat that resonates with your audience.

Consider the following examples of verb-driven, toe-tapping rhythmic speechwriting. First, another example from Shakespeare’s Shylock in The Merchant of Venice Act III, Scene I:

Hath not a Jew fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same summer and winter as a Christian is?

President John F. Kennedy used this rhythmic technique in his Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961:

We will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, and oppose any foe in order to assure the survival and success of liberty.

Finally, consider the words of Reverend Billy Graham:

Humor helps us overlook the unbecoming, understand the unconventional, tolerate the unpleasant, overcome the unexpected, and outlast the unbearable.

#6: Rhyme

Rhyme is a proven method of building rhythm as every cheerleader, poet, and songwriter knows.

Consider the opening words of William Ernest Henley’s poem, “Invictus”:

Out of the Night that covers me,
black as the pit from pole to pole.
I thank whatever gods maybe
for my unconquerable soul.

Effective speechwriters use rhyme in a sequence to generate a rhythmic momentum that drives greater emphasis and meaning to the intended message .

Consider this 13-sentence example of rhyme:

Architects cannot renovate it.
Businesses cannot incorporate it.
Churches cannot inculcate it.
Developers cannot innovate it.
Engineers cannot calculate it.
Governments cannot legislate it.
Judges cannot adjudicate it.
Lawyers cannot litigate it.
Manufacturers cannot fabricate it.
Politicians cannot appropriate it.
Scientist cannot formulate it.
Technicians cannot generate it.
Only you can orchestrate it.

You might also use rhyme to build momentum, meaning, and memorability like this:

The legal department focuses on liability.
The financial department focuses on visibility.
The manufacturing department focuses on capability.
The marketing department focuses on availability.
The advertising department focuses on visibility.
And the public relations department focuses on credibility.

#7: Echo

You can employ the audience to help you build more rhythm in your speech and provoke your audience to echo a key phrase in your message.

Consider this example which the late Senator Ted Kennedy invoked at the 1988 Democratic Convention to chide then Vice President George Bush for distancing himself from then President Ronald Reagan’s decisions on controversial issues. Notice how the rhythmic sentence structure stirs the audience reaction. By the third or fourth iteration, the audience erupts, echoing the phrase – “where was George?”

The vice‐president says he wasn’t there – or can’t recall – or never heard – as the Administration secretly plotted to sell arms to Iran. So when that monumental mistake was being made, I think it is fair to ask: where was George?

The vice‐president says he never saw – or can’t remember – or didn’t comprehend – the intelligence report on General Noriega’s involvement in the cocaine cartel. So when that report was being prepared and discussed, I think it is fair to ask: where was George?

The vice‐president claims he cares about the elderly – but evidently he didn’t know, or wasn’t there, when the Administration tried repeatedly to slash Social Security and Medicare. So when those decisions were being made, I think it is fair to ask: where was George?

And the vice‐president, who now speaks fervently of civil rights, apparently wasn’t around or didn’t quite hear when the Administration was planning to weaken voting rights, give tax breaks to segregated schools, and veto the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988. So when all those assaults were being mounted, I think it is fair to ask : where was George?

#8: Sound Effects

Use a word for its sound effect such as “crash” or “boom” or “crunch” to express more feeling and to bring inanimate objects to life such as “squealing” tires, “groaning” gates, “whining” siren, “whistling” train,” gurgling” creek, or “screaming” wind.

Known formally as onomatopoeia, this technique focuses on words where the sound of the word suggests its meaning such as slap, or slash, or growl. Look for verbs in your speech and see if you can replace at least one verb with onomatopoeia. Instead of saying “the carpenter pounded the nail,” say “the carpenter’s hammer banged out a steady rat-a-tat-tat.”

Here’s an example from a college student. She uses the sound effect of a sizzling frying pan put under running water to recall diving into a swimming pool on a hot summer day:

As the sweat dripped from my brow I ran quick as lightening, threw on my swim suit. Ran bare footed on the hot scalding cement. Through the brown crispy grass. Climbed over the edge. And jumped in! As soon as my hot feet touched the cool water, tsssssssssss! I was in heaven.

Your Challenge

By applying these eight songwriting techniques, you will more fully engage your audience, energize your message, and enhance your memorability.

Your challenge is to use one or more of these techniques the next time you step up to the podium and you will more readily keep your audience turned on and tuned in. Note-ably.

For further reading, you may be interested in John Watkis’ blog, where he also uses music as a speechwriting metaphor.

Similar Articles You May Like... How to Add Power or Humor with the Rule of Three Why Successful Speech Outlines follow the Rule of Three How to Use the Rule of Three in Your Speeches Speech Critique: Dan Pink (TED 2009) Book Review: Thank You For Arguing (Jay Heinrichs) How to Make Metaphorical Magic in Your Speech

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Peter Jeff has served an adjunct public speaking instructor at Grand Valley State University for the last 10 years. He is a former leadership development consultant with more than 20 years experience in corporate public relations. Mr. Jeff is also the author of a personal leadership book -- Get a Grip on Your Dream: 12 Ways to Squeeze More Success Out of Your Goals -- and can be reached at jeffp@gvsu.edu.

Former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite closed every nightly broadcast with that signature phrase, a signal to his viewers of not simply the conclusion of his broadcast but the authenticity of what they had just experienced.

The familiar phrase, repeated every weeknight, threw a security blanket around his viewers. His mantra — decisive on principle and incisive on purpose — made his audience feel special, that they had been part of something tailored specifically for them.

You, too, can wrap your audience in a security blanket with a signature closing phrase at any type of recurring meetings. Read on to discover examples of mantra-like closing phrases that may stimulate your creativity in fashioning your own signature close.

Create a Mantra-like Closing Phrase

Indeed, the most effective speakers know how to define and deliver mantra-like closing phrases that infuse greater significance and ritualistic memorability to their presentations.

• Zig Ziglar, a motivational speaker, always concluded his presentations with the phrase: “I’ll see you at the top.”
• Tony Robbins, another motivational speaker, would close each segment of his seminar series with: “Live each day with passion!”
• David Gregory ends each segment of Meet the Press on NBC with “If it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.”
• Paul Harvey famously ended his radio broadcast with that syncopated pause: “Paul Harvey… Goooood day.”
• And as a college public speaking instructor for the last 10 years, I always end each class with my own signature close designed to infuse more relevance into the students’ learning:  “Public speaking increases your face value!”

Signature closes help your audience savor what they have just experienced. They provide the familiarity of structure even in the turbulence of changing content.

No wonder ministers end each service with an “amen.” (“So be it.”) Some church leaders even offer a Benediction, from the Latin “good saying.” As the choir concludes, the organist ends on a high note and the minister gives the Benediction: “Go now and be of good cheer…”

The most effective leaders and speakers serve their own benediction, their own brand of go forth and be of good cheer following each staff meeting or speech.

Marshaling a Magnetic Force

Sometimes that signature close becomes a rallying device, like a magnet that pulls members, customers, investors, suppliers and employees into the center of your company or organization, galvanizes diverse points of view, and sharpens the collective focus so that more consistent decisions are made over a series of meetings.

Politicians adopt a signature close to each meeting, a signature close that reinforces their mission, their vision, their sense of teamwork and their collective commitment to success. A prominent recent example is Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can.”

Project teams adopt a signature close to rekindle the creative zeal and innovative spirit to overcome challenges. e.g. “Quality is #1”

Teachers adopt a signature close to reinforce learning objectives. For example, consider a reading teacher who encouraged her students to “Book your future.”

Sometimes an entire organization can adopt a signature close to reinforce their collective commitment. Consider “The Optimist Creed” that is recited by Optimist Club members to close every meeting. Members are business leaders and professionals who wish to promote activities and programs in the community that benefit youth. The ritual closing begins when all rise and face a large banner where the words of the Optimist Creed are clearly displayed. But most recite that Optimist Creed from memory. Their closing mantra reflects who they are as an organization. Their creed is written as bold and big on their hearts as it is on the huge yellow banner in front of the room. Their voices melding in unison around a singular idea cements their relationship to each other and their collective commitment to their purpose.

Creating an Icon

Some speakers take their signature close to the next level, by creating a visual icon to represent the key theme, adding memorability and meaning with an artifact.

For example in conducting a mentoring program for a large company, I developed a recruiting speech to engage both mentors and mentees. My theme? Stay Connected. I framed mentoring as a vehicle to spark performance throughout the organization, to electrify the company, to surge energy throughout the company for greater viability.

At the end of every recruiting speech, I would hand out colorful electrical wire connectors and tell each person I handed it to “Stay Connected.” Then I turned that handout into a display for our subsequent meetings. I displayed the connectors in a large wine glass that I kept near the lectern for every subsequent collective meeting I chaired with the mentors and mentees. My mantra close then evolved into an even more memorable device to rekindle the energy and focus our attention at the next meeting.

Applying These Lessons to Your Situation

So how can you apply this signature close concept in your professional or personal life where your public speaking has to motivate more than simply educate?

Use this simple, three-step approach to determine your signature close:

1. Study the mission of the organization you represent or the project team you are leading.
2. Define your role/goal in a simple declarative sentence.
3. Write a pithy phrase that captures the key idea in #2.

Let’s see how I applied that three step approach to teaching college students public speaking.

1. First the mission of the university where I teach is “educating students to shape their lives, their professions and their societies.”
2. My role as a public speaking instructor is to help students shape their communications skills so that they can leverage their knowledge and become even more valuable and valued in society.
3. Then I linked the concept of value with the skill of speaking and my signature close becomes: “Public Speaking Increases Your Face Value.”

And that’s the way it is.

Similar Articles You May Like... Speech Critique: Dan Pink (TED 2009) Bookending Your Speech: A Master Technique 10 Ways to End Your Speech with a Bang Toastmasters Speech 2: Organize Your Speech 5 Presentation Lessons from Randy Pausch in The Last Lecture How to Speak: 7 Speaking Tips from Patrick Henry Winston

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Peter Jeff has served an adjunct public speaking instructor at Grand Valley State University for the last 10 years. He is a former leadership development consultant with more than 20 years experience in corporate public relations. Mr. Jeff is also the author of a personal leadership book -- Get a Grip on Your Dream: 12 Ways to Squeeze More Success Out of Your Goals -- and can be reached at jeffp@gvsu.edu.

End your speech with an attitude, not a platitude.

Instead of firing off a perfunctory “thank you,” consider launching fireworks of final passionate thoughts from the podium.

With the flair of a fireworks finale, you’ll trigger spontaneous applause to a well-rehearsed, well-timed, and well-executed performance — a performance that reflects all the anticipation of a logger’s cry: Timbeerrrrrrrrrrr!

This article shows you how to close your speech with a bang.

Call Attention to the Close of Your Speech

Contrary to the prevailing practice of too many politicians and business and community leaders, the most influential speakers don’t end their speeches with a perfunctory and mundane “Thank you.” That’s too easy. And too lazy.

It takes creative thinking and a compelling delivery to end your speech with a mighty climax that relegates the perfunctory “thank you” as superfluous. No wonder that only seven of the 217 speeches listed in William Safire’s anthology Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History conclude with “thank you.”

Examples of How to End a Speech

Consider these examples of resounding speech conclusions from Patrick Henry, William Jennings Bryant and Winston Churchill. You can learn from these to spark your creative energy and capture the spirit of ending with a bang.

On the brink of the American Revolution, the colonists were debating the war. Patrick Henry concluded a stirring speech on March 23, 1775 with this:

“Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery. Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take but as for me give me liberty or give me death.”

At the Democratic National Convention in 1896, William Jennings Bryan concluded his stirring speech against the gold standard in national currency with the words that have become the title of his speech:

“Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns: you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”

In the face of a German threat of an invasion upon England in World War II, Winston Churchill on June 18, 1940 called upon all of the British to brace themselves. He concluded his speech with the words that have become the title of the speech:

“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire lasts for thousands of years, men will say: ‘This was their finest hour.’”

End Your Speech on a High Note

Leading speakers end their speeches like the opera star—on a high note, vocally and intellectually. Just as the comedian should leave ‘em laughing, the speaker should leave ‘em thinking. Last words linger. Last words crystallize your thoughts, galvanize your message, and mobilize your audience.

Study the following 10 templates and adapt your speech to end your speech with a bang:

1. Bookend Close
2. Challenge Close
3. Echo Close
4. Repetitive Close
5. Title Close
6. Sing Song Close
7. Callback Close
8. Movie Close
9. Quotation Close
10. Third Party Close

#1 – Bookend Close

For a bookend speech closing, refer back to your opening anecdote or quote and say, “We have arrived, now, where we began.”

Then reiterate the message you want your audience to remember. This will achieve symmetry in the classic 3-part speech outline: Tell ‘em what you are going to tell ‘em; tell ‘em, then tell ‘em what you just told ‘em.’

#2 – Challenge Close

Challenge your audience to apply what you have told them in the speech.

If you were concluding a speech on the importance of taking action, you could say:

“Let’s turn from spectators into participants. Let’s recall the inspiring words of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt who said:

‘Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to remain with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.’

We have too much to do to sit on the sidelines. We need you to step out of the gray twilight into the bright sunshine so that we can all see the dawn of a new day.”

#3 – Echo Close

Focus on one word in a quotation and emphasize that word to echo your final point.

For example, consider the five echoes of the word “do” in this ending to a speech on the importance of getting involved in the education process:

“More than 450 years before the birth of Christ, Confucius said: ‘What I hear, I forget; what I see, I remember; what I do, I understand.’

Let’s do it together. We’ve heard what we have to do. We’ve seen what we need to do. Now is the time to do it, and, together, we can do it.”

#4 – Repetitive Close

Find a phrase and structure it in a repetitive format that strikes the cadence of a drummer, building to a crescendo ending of a motivational speech:

“Architects cannot renovate it.
Businesses cannot incorporate it.
Churches cannot inculcate it.
Developers cannot innovate it.
Engineers cannot calculate it.
Governments cannot legislate it.
Judges cannot adjudicate it.
Lawyers cannot litigate it.
Manufacturers cannot fabricate it.
Politicians cannot appropriate it.
Scientist cannot formulate it.
Technicians cannot generate it.
Only you can orchestrate it.”

#5 – Title Close

Give your speech a provocative title that encapsulates your message memorably. Then, use the title of your speech as your closing words to stir your audience to think more fully about what they just heard, reinforcing the title of the speech that you referenced earlier.

Hint: Try writing the ending of your speech first to better construct the title.

#6 – Sing Song Close

Ask the audience to repeat a phrase that you used several times in your speech.

Let say your phrase is: “Together, we can win.” You repeat that phrase over and over again. Then just before your close, you say: “I know that all of you are talented, all of you are driven. I know that none of us can do this alone, but (pause) Together (pause) we can (pause until the audience responds.)

#7 – Callback Close

Refer back to a story you told where some activity was not fully completed. Then pick up the story and close it around your theme.

For example:

“Remember those bubbles that four year old held so gently in his hands? Well now those same gentle hands are now poised skillfully around the hearts of hundreds of people. Today he is a heart surgeon.”

#8 – Movie Close

Make a reference to a well-known movie or book.

For example, in concluding a speech on the maturity of a product line and the need to leave the past behind and create new and different products, an executive concluded a speech with a reference to growing pangs. The speaker alluded to the final scene in the movie Summer of ‘42. The main character is Hermie. Now an adult he is reminiscing about his lost adolescence.

“ ‘Life is made up of small comings and goings. And for everything we take with us, there is something that we leave behind. In the summer of ’42, we raided the Coast Guard Station 4 times. We saw 5 movies. And we had 9 days of rain. Benji broke his watch. Oskie gave up the harmonica. And in a very special way, I lost Hermie, forever.’

So too this year, in a very special way, we have lost our old company in a very special way. Now we are moving on to a stronger, more mature company.”

#9 – Quotation Close

Use a famous quotation to harness the audience’s attention, much like turning on a spotlight.

For example, if you were concluding a speech on the importance of maintaining self confidence in the face of adversity, you could say:

“We have to be like the bird –the bird that author Victor Hugo one observed – the bird that pauses in its flight awhile, on boughs too light, – on a branch that is likely to break– feels that branch break, yet sings, knowing she hath wings.”

#10 – Third Party Close

Take the use of a quotation up a notch with the Third Party Close. Leverage the use of a quotation in context of your message. Use the premise of that quotation to frame your finale so that it serves as a launching pad to lift your message high for the audience to more fully appreciate.

If you were concluding a speech on the importance of embracing change, you could say:

Change has become a way of life to a better life. We have to recall the insight of President Abraham Lincoln, on the brink of Civil War and fighting the near 100-year long tradition of slavery in the United States dating back to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves. Lincoln looked change directly in the eye and said:

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the stormy present and future. As our circumstances are new, we must think anew and act anew.”

And so must we. We need to look at this old issue in a new way, not simply for today but to make our tomorrows more rewarding, more fulfilling, and more compelling because of the change we make today. With your help, we can think anew and act anew on the issue before us today.”

Your Speech Ending Challenge

May you think anew about ending your speeches. Try one of these 10 techniques and turn the podium into your personal fireworks platform.

Fire off spectacular ideas with blazing after thoughts. Light up your audience with insight. Fire your most poignant salvos in the fleeting seconds of your speech. And make sure your message resounds in your audience’s ears… with a bang!

Note: You may also be interested in Peter Jeff’s companion article: TEASE ‘em: 5 Ways to Start Your Speech.

Similar Articles You May Like... Speech Critique: Dan Pink (TED 2009) Bookending Your Speech: A Master Technique Speech Analysis: Gettysburg Address – Abraham Lincoln Rally Your Audience with a Signature Close Toastmasters Speech 2: Organize Your Speech 5 Presentation Lessons from Randy Pausch in The Last Lecture

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Peter Jeff has served an adjunct public speaking instructor at Grand Valley State University for the last 10 years. He is a former leadership development consultant with more than 20 years experience in corporate public relations. Mr. Jeff is also the author of a personal leadership book -- Get a Grip on Your Dream: 12 Ways to Squeeze More Success Out of Your Goals -- and can be reached at jeffp@gvsu.edu.

Defer the customary “nice-to-be-here” platitudes.

Direct your audience more into fawning than yawning over your speech opening. How?

Start your speech better by diving in! Instead of gingerly dipping your toes into the proverbial speaking pool, open with a splash! Pattern your platform performance after the TEASE opening which Saturday Night Live has made famous for more than 25 years.

Learning from Saturday Night Live to Start Your Speech

The opening of Saturday Night Live is much anticipated and always engaging. Consider the formula they use:

1. First, a “cold” open. There’s no warm up. No toes in the water. They just jump in with the opening skit (usually one of the most memorable of the night).
2. Then, following the catchy “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”, the host introduces herself and the musical guest, and sets the agenda for the show.

Can you apply this formula to start your speech?

First, TEASE your audience from the second you open your mouth. And open their eyes to something new, different, and even entertaining. Pique their interest. Immerse your audience into the action from the opening second with a verbal splash of cold water. With a powerful 30- to 60-second opening, your audience will be engaged to stay tuned for more.

Then, you can then formally introduce yourself, and give your audience an overview of your speech. It’s important they know up front why your speech is important to them.

Let’s examine those first thirty to sixty seconds. What’s a TEASE?

What is a TEASE Speech Opening?

TEASE is an acronym for five ways to gain and retain your audience’s attention:

• Testimonial
• Evidence
• Anecdote
• Statement
• Example

Example: How to Start a Speech About Speaking

Let’s say you wanted to design, develop, and deliver a speech on the importance of public speaking. Here are five TEASE techniques you might use:

1. Testimonial
   Cite the behavior of a celebrity and/or quote an influential person the audience will know of or respect.
2. Evidence
   On the impact of public speaking in your career success.
3. Anecdote
   Of someone benefiting directly from their public speaking expertise.
4. Statement
   On the significance of public speaking to the quality of life.
5. Example
   Of a person whose career really took off because of public speaking.

Let’s look at examples of each of these TEASE techniques for a great speech opening.

1. Start Your Speech With… a Testimonial

Cite the behavior of a celebrity and/or quote an influential person the audience will know of or respect.

“If all my possessions were taken away from me with one exception, I would choose the power of speech. For by it, I would regain all the rest of my possessions.” That’s what former Senator and Secretary of State Daniel Webster once observed of the significance of effective public speaking. Likewise, Pericles, the Greek orator, also understood the significance of public speaking when he said: “The person who can think and does not know how to express what he thinks is at a level of him who cannot think.”

2. Start Your Speech With… Evidence

Present statistics or other data on the importance of public speaking.

The University of Michigan conducted a survey of 1,290 business school alumni who were recently promoted. They were asked what specific subject area prepared them the most for their business success. More than 70 percent cited effective communications as the top business skill — ahead of financial and business acumen!

3. Start Your Speech With… an Anecdote

Tell a story of someone directly affected by the benefits of public speaking.

Isabelle lived alone for the first six years of her life. Very alone in her silent world. She lived only with her reclusive mother who also could not speak. She was a deaf mute. Isabelle was so isolated from other people she had no chance to learn or practice speaking.

When authorities finally rescued her from her silent and isolated world, she seemed ineducable. But after being around people who could speak, Isabelle broke out of her silent world. In one week, she vocalized sounds. In two months, she spoke in full sentences. In 16 months she learned 2,000 words. And in 56 months her IQ tripled, in part due to the power of being around people who could speak.

4. Start Your Speech With… a Statement

Make a bold observation on the importance of public speaking.

Public speaking is the sine qua non* of leadership. Without it, you cannot lead. With it, you can “lead nations, raise armies, inspire victories and blow fresh courage into the hearts of men” as Adlai Stevenson eulogized Sir Winston Churchill.

[* Ed. sine qua non: Latin for "essential element".]

5. Start Your Speech With… an Example

Cite a person whose career really took off because of public speaking.

After graduating from college with degrees in chemistry and microbiology, Wilma Subra figured she’d spend more time with a microscope than a microphone. But that was before she found out how many families were being exposed to high levels of chemicals and other toxins as part of her field work for a company in Louisiana. Her employer did not want to release the polluting information. So Wilma decided to start her own company, conducting environmental tests and reporting her results to government authorities and the media.

Wilma soon found herself in a variety of public speaking platforms. Her work directly cleaned up dozens of toxic sites across the country and saved thousands of lives in more than 800 communities over the last 20 years. Wilma credits her public speaking ability for much of her environmental campaign success. She says public speaking is the best way to “engage people and get them involved.”

Your Assignment to Start Your Next Speech

TEASE ‘em to please ‘em. Think Testimonial, Example, Anecdote, Statement, and Evidence for the next speech you write. And dive in!

Note: You may also be interested in Peter Jeff’s companion article: 10 Ways to End Your Speech with a Bang.

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Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Peter Jeff has served an adjunct public speaking instructor at Grand Valley State University for the last 10 years. He is a former leadership development consultant with more than 20 years experience in corporate public relations. Mr. Jeff is also the author of a personal leadership book -- Get a Grip on Your Dream: 12 Ways to Squeeze More Success Out of Your Goals -- and can be reached at jeffp@gvsu.edu.

Metaphors help a skeptical or apathetic audience better embrace and value a new concept or idea.

Metaphors make the connection of that new idea to an object the audience already knows.

Read on to discover a treasure chest of metaphor speech examples.

The dictionary defines a metaphor as an implied comparison between two unlike things (e.g. human body and garage) that actually have something important in common (e.g. storage). “Your body is a garage to park your soul,” writes author Wayne Dyer.

Metaphors are Meaningful Bridges in Speeches

Think of a metaphor as a connection or a bridge between the new and the familiar. This connection provides a new perspective and a new meaning that can persuade an audience to reconsider its skeptical or apathetic attitude.

Metaphors are so powerful that Aristotle said: “The greatest thing by far is to have mastered the metaphor.” And the Spanish philosopher and writer Jose Ortega y Gasset added, “The metaphor is probably the most fertile power possessed by man.”

Metaphors provide a frame of reference to more fully apply new concepts or ideas. That’s why the first trains were called horseless carriages. After all, people already knew the purpose and the premise of a carriage. So a carriage without a horse must roll on wheels.

Metaphors pique the interest of an audience to see the old in a new way. Even the students who think science is boring might reconsider if they thought that those who studied astronomy were “peeping Toms at the keyhole of eternity,” as author Arthur Koestler observed.

When Kodak invented the camera, the technology was so new and different the camera could only be valued by linking the new technology of a camera to something more familiar. Kodak called its camera a “mirror with a memory.” They connected two dissimilar things that actually have something in common. A camera’s film is the memory and the lens is the mirror. Link the two knowns to the unknown — a camera — and a metaphor is born.

Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon, used his metaphorical thinking to expand the reach of his business. “In the factory we make cosmetics. In the store we sell hope.” Likewise Porsche pays homage to the metaphor in its advertising: “A Porsche is not a car. It is the best engineered executive toy in the world.” Metaphors are so powerful they can transform much like the antique dealer who says your trash is our treasure.

Metaphorically Speaking… More Metaphor Examples

Consider the following speech metaphor examples:

• Chances are your audiences would see more value in making an appointment to see a smile stylist rather than a dentist.
• Chances are your audiences would be more interested in learning how to purchase jewelry for their windows rather than window accessories such as curtain rods, rings, tie-backs and swag.
• Chances are your audiences would do more research if they thought of themselves as infonauts and the library as the delivery room for the birth of ideas.
• Chances are your audiences might enjoy exercise more if they thought of their treadmill as a flight simulator.
• Chances are your audiences would eat more fruit if they thought they were eating God’s candy.
• And chances are members of your audiences might more readily volunteer to become the designated driver if everyone kept calling him or her the Life of the Party.

Analogies: Close Cousins to the Metaphor

In addition to the metaphor, polished speakers show up with their “A” game to engage audiences and help them better understand a complex policy or procedure.

Use an analogy whenever you need to explain a new process or new procedure particularly to a general audience. The dictionary defines analogy as a “similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.” To create an analogy, find an object that your audience is already familiar with. Then look for characteristics in that object that could be compared to traits or various aspects of your process.

Example of an Analogy to Open a Speech

Let’s say you are a nutritionist and you want to deliver a speech on the value of fasting for a general audience, many of whom would be completely turned off by the prospect of not eating every 4-5 hours. Let’s call up the A-team and begin your speech with an analogy that engages the audience and builds greater understanding first with something they already are familiar with.

In your research on fasting you find that one of the key benefits to fasting is that your digestive system gets a lot more efficient after a fast. During a fast it reorganizes parts and pieces of the digestive system that normally are too busy digesting food.

Is there something in your audience’s everyday lives that reorganizes itself and gets more efficient especially when you are NOT using that process as you normally would?

How about computers? Is there any way to connect computer processing to a fasting process that reorganizes the digestive system to make it work better? Consider the following analogy that opened a speech on fasting to a general audience:

My computer was running so slooooowwwwww. Defrag it, my friend told me. I thought he said “Rag it.” What! What was I supposed to do with a rag? Dust off the computer? Well after my friend had his good laugh at my expense, he explained that defragging helps the computer better digest information you feed it. And then your computer works better, faster and more efficiently, he told me.

I wondered if there was a defragging process for the human body… to make the food I eat digest more efficiently and make me feel that much better! Voila! There is! Fasting is like the defragging process for the human body.

When you fast, you make The Pit Stop of Your Life. And like that pit stop at a NASCAR race track for example, we stop briefly to reset repair, and restore. We stop. (pause) eating for several days or more.

And we free up our body’s digestive system, so that it no longer is expending 60 percent of the body’s energy on digestion. Now it can redirect that energy to reset, restore and repair itself to be that much more effective and efficient when eating resumes.

Another Speech Analogy Example

Here’s another example of an analogy that links specific processes of a stove and stomach to encourage people to eat breakfast. This one is written by John Gray in his book The Mars and Venus Diet and Exercise Solution:

“Think of your body as an old-fashioned steam engine. You need to feed the fire with coal. When there is no coal available, the stoker slows down so that all the available fuel is not consumed. Likewise, your metabolism slows down for the rest of the day when you don’t eat breakfast.”

Metaphor and Analogy: Tools for Every Speaker

The metaphor and analogy are two of the sharpest tools in the public speaker’s shed to weed out the confusion in your audience and plant the seeds of understanding.

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Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Peter Jeff has served an adjunct public speaking instructor at Grand Valley State University for the last 10 years. He is a former leadership development consultant with more than 20 years experience in corporate public relations. Mr. Jeff is also the author of a personal leadership book -- Get a Grip on Your Dream: 12 Ways to Squeeze More Success Out of Your Goals -- and can be reached at jeffp@gvsu.edu.