Some will argue that Barack Obama’s Inauguration speech was not his most electric speech, or that it failed to deliver on unreasonably high expectations.
Nonetheless, studying the speech provides five key speechwriting lessons that can help us all be better communicators.
This article is the latest in a series of video speech critiques which help you analyze and learn from excellent speeches.
Does your audience need a dictionary to decipher your speeches?
Do you write your speeches with encyclopedic diction?
Do you draw your speechwriting inspiration from legal documents?
Technical writing, essays, financial reports, and legal writings all have their place — but none of them belong in your speechwriting.
Note: I originally wrote this article as a guest article for professional writer John Hewitt’s “Poewar” website. However, the article disappeared when the site was reorganized, so it has been published below for readers to enjoy.
Including facts and statistics in your writing lends credibility to your assertions and grounds them in reality. Quoting a statistic from a credible source means that your arguments are no longer just your arguments: you stand united with experts. Continue Reading »
Have you ever been to a painfully bad seminar with audience members murmuring to each other…?
These are symptoms of a speech that had no clear objective and was not focused on achieving that objective.
The third Toastmasters speech project stresses the importance of clearly identifying your target objective, and then maintaining precise focus to achieve it. This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.
When Steve Jobs speaks, people listen.
Why?
No. You can easily learn these techniques and present like Steve Jobs.
In this video from bnet.com, communications coach Carmine Gallo provides an insightful synopsis of the methods that Steve Jobs uses to captivate his audience.
When you speak, does your audience get it?
If your audience doesn’t grasp your message (even though your topic is one you know they are interested in), you need to rethink the way you present it. You need to organize your ideas to promote understanding.
The second Toastmasters speech project addresses organizing your speech. This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.
Ice breaker (or Icebreaker) is a term which describes an activity which reduces tension and anxiety in a group.
Thus, it is fitting that the first Toastmaster speech project is titled The Ice Breaker.
This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.
This is the first article of the Toastmasters Speech Series — a collection of articles which examines the fundamentals of public speaking.
Not familiar with Toastmasters? Find out here.
For Toastmasters and non-Toastmasters alike, these articles show how you can graduate from speaking fear to inspiring your audience.
The format for the series will be one article for each of the ten speeches which comprise the introductory Toastmasters manual — the Competent Communicator Manual.
The previous article in the Speech Preparation Series showed you how to edit your speech for focus, clarity, and concision.
However, your speech can be focused, clear, and concise and still lack vitality.
If your speech is void of rhetorical devices, it is like a painting void of color.
On all technical points, a black and white sketch might clearly be a woman smiling, or group of men having a meal, but without color, it’s not the Mona Lisa or The Last Supper.
With many examples, this article demonstrates how you can inject rhetorical devices into your speech during the editing process.
Conventional wisdom says the best speeches are not written; they are rewritten. Yet, most speakers present content that falls between a first draft and no preparation at all.
Don’t be like most speakers.
Allow yourself the time to edit for focus, clarity, concision, continuity, variety, and impact. If you do, you will give your audience a performance that will dazzle them.
The previous article in the Speech Preparation Series showed you how to write the first draft of your speech.
In this article and the next one, you will develop the skills required to improve your speech through iterative speech editing.
Writer’s block is debilitating.
Writer’s block is discouraging.
Writer’s block stops average speakers from becoming great speakers.
Don’t let it stop you!
The previous article in the Speech Preparation Series gave tips for writing a speech outline.
This article shows you how to wrestle writer’s block by transitioning from a speech outline to the first draft.
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