Your speech preparation is going well. You started with your core message, wrapped it in a speech outline, extracted your first draft, edited your speech, and added impact with rhetorical devices. You’re ready to deliver, right?
Wrong. You only have words on paper, and your audience doesn’t want to read your speech.
Your audience wants to see and hear your presentation. You will dazzle them by complementing your speech with staging, gestures, and vocal variety.
This article shows you how.
A strong speech opening is critical to grab the attention of your audience.
Suppose you were delivering a speech to raise awareness in your community about school security. How would you open your speech?
Both openings are direct, to-the-point, and boring! What if there was a better way?
Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln came to me as a great Christmas gift — a stocking stuffer which will improve my speaking skills considerably.
I was skeptical at first. I guessed that this was another stuffy book filled with speeches and anecdotes from famous speakers who lived so long ago that their speeches are part of history and their anecdotes are no longer relevant. That’s what I thought as I opened the book.
What I discovered is not really a “book full of speeches and anecdotes” (although there are many, many speech excerpts and anecdotes). Rather, I discovered a practical book of speaking techniques that will bolster the repertoire of any speaker who aims to lead.
Steve Jobs wrote and delivered the commencement speech “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” to the graduates of Stanford University on June 12, 2005.
The style and content are very different from his Apple product launch presentations, but no less worthy of study.
Noteworthy elements of this wonderful speech include:
