How to Write a Speech
Sample SpeechesThe Very BasicsMaking It EffectiveForming Your SpeechAfter Your First Draft
Edited by Craig L. Howe, Tom Viren, James Quirk, Nathan Wong and 115 others
There are occasions where you may find you are expected to speak at a public
gathering or social event, and being prepared will require you to plan and
prepare the text for this. Here are some steps and tips to help you plan and write
a great speech.
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Part 1 of 4: The Very Basics
1. Choose your topic. A good speech is usually about one thing. There needs to be one
message that matches the occasion for the speech. It should reflect the interests of your
audience, the feel of the occasion, and, better yet, have something to say that is relevant.
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If the speech is for school and is completely open-ended, choose a topic that you'll
find easy to be passionate about. The best speeches have very little to do with
argument and more to do with delivery and the heart put into it by the speaker. If
you can get into it, odds are your audience can too.
2. Find your purpose or thesis. Why are you giving a speech on this topic anyway? ("My
teacher told me to!"or I have to" is not a reason.)
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"Thesis" is paper talk, yes. But a good speech is like an informal paper - you still
need a point to drill home. If you are writing a speech on an event in your life, it
still needs a message. Your topic may be the near fatal death experience you had
last year, but your thesis or purpose would be advocating the use of seat belts.
When you need reasoning to back it up, "it saved my life" is pretty hard to argue
with!
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A speech should be made for a good reason: To inspire, to instruct, to
rally support, or to lead to action are noble purposes -- but not to merely
sound off, to feed a speaker's ego, to flatter, to intimidate, or to shame. For
the record.
3.Get organized. Remember that all great speeches (and even those not so great) require
"shape": the introduction, the stuffings (the body), and the "outro" or conclusion. A
speech is not an amorphous blob or strings of tangled spaghetti; it is not bits and pieces
shoved together.
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The old saying is hard to beat for shaping your speech: "Intro -- Tell them what
you will tell them. Body -- Tell them. Conclusion -- Tell them what you told
them." That's exactly how you should think of the structure of your speech.
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For your body, come up with at least three points to support your argument. If
they build on each other, all the better. At the beginning, draft a list. You can pick
out the strongest ones later.
4. Be prepared to get persuasive. You'll need to do this in any way that you can. If your
points aren't strong logically, you'll need to pad them with other reasons. If you're not
persuading them to agree with you on a topic, you need to at least get them hanging on
your every word.
a. Plato's appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos will come in handy here. Move your
audience to agreement by means of your credibility (ethos) or by using others'
(when you think of Hanes, do you think of quality underwear or do you think of
Michael Jordan? That's right.), by manipulating their emotions (pathos), or by
simple use of logic (logos). Neither is necessarily stronger or more effective than
the others; it all depends on the point you're trying to make.
Part 2 of 4: Making It Effective
1. Choose your words wisely. If you're giving a speech to a group of 8th graders, it's
important not to get too esoteric -- in other words, use words they'll understand and
appreciate. Cater your speech to your audience -- what do they want to hear?
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That being said, what do they already know? You don't want to waste time
explaining concepts to them that they're already familiar with; or worse, assuming
they know the basics and confusing them horribly. Put yourself in their shoes as
you write -- what background knowledge do they need before you jump in to the
meat of your argument?
2. Grab their attention. "Shake hands" with them -- figuratively of course. Make your
writing humanizing and personalizing, hooking the members of your audience. Build
agreement with your topic and a sense of rapport with you.
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Former Ambassador Robert Strauss used to begin his addresses like this: "Before
I begin this speech, I have something to say." What's your hook?
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Wear your sincere smile, even in your writing. Audiences will be able to tell. You
may want to begin with an amusing one-liner or thought-provoking anecdote that
can be connected to the situation.
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As you're writing, think about what you would say to a friend. The more
comfortable and open you are, the more your audience will feel drawn to you.
Choose how you express yourself as if you were having a discussion with
someone you feel at ease with, someone you're comfortable showing emotion to.
A speech with "heart" is the most moving kind.
3. Focus on your message. For some, it's easy to get side-tracked or to try to attack too
many things at once. Your speech has one message and it is the only thing that needs to
be addressed thoroughly. Don't focus on the details or, what's worse, something
completely unrelated. Your audience will be left wondering what the heck is going on.
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Rambling will lose their attention. When you have a point addressed and taken
care of, do not be afraid to move on. You have more points that deserve the
spotlight -- give each its evenly-spread due.
4. Illustrate. Make your writing graphic. Your goal is to make the main points of your
writing in the speech stick in the minds of your audience. If someone asks or
compliments your speech afterwards, it'll probably sound something like, "I enjoyed the
story Tom told about his sister," or "The pie chart of this year's earnings was helpful."
They probably won't say, "Your second point in the body of your speech was well
thought-out and logical." So think visually.
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This can be taken a number of ways. If you are talking to your business team
about the year's poor numbers, painting an image of their starving families to
drive them to work harder isn't a good idea. Images should be used appropriately.
If you're talking numbers, use graphs. If you're talking emotions, paint a picture.
Know your context.
5. Think in pauses. The best actors are equally effective (if not more so) in between their
lines. Write pauses, or beats, when you really want a point to sink in. People will
automatically take notice -- looking, straightening up and cocking their head to the side
and actually hearing the silence. Now that's commanding a room.
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Speeches need to be natural - not read off of a paper. And when you talk, you
have pauses. This is not slowing you down or showing your weakness, it shows
that you have this down so well, you're talking about it like an old pro.
Part 3 of 4: Forming Your Speech
1. Start off with a strong introduction. Open with a big statement that will grab the
attention of the audience. Remember that engaging hook we talked about? That goes in
now. Dive right in, getting personal and showing your human side.
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Opening with important remarks or quotes will immediately establish credibility.
Just don't use Merriam Webster as your go-to expert; avoid cliches at all costs.
2. Use inclusive terms for individuals. Point to "our" things -- our team, our
city/state/country, or our school, our class-year, our work, people, and product/candidate,
etc. Your audience will feel more included and a sense of belonging. If "we" feel that
way, they'll feel the pressure to feel that way, too.
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In a speech by Nelson Mandela, he started off with, "Today we celebrate not the
victory of a party, but a victory for all the people of South Africa."[1] Now that's a
man whose oratorical prowess cannot be questioned.
3. Build the body of the speech. This part should contain the main points of the issue and
support for each one. That list you made earlier? Narrow it down to about three. Which
ones are the most convincing?
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Start off with your strongest point. You want the audience to start off seeing zero
holes through your argument. Get them on your side before they get the chance to
nitpick what you have to say.
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Put your weakest argument in the middle. You're sandwiching it here to make it
the most forgettable. And, indeed, it will be.
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End with your second strongest argument. You want to vamp it up a notch
towards the end. Reel them back in, rounding out your argument with your last
piece of evidence.
4. Be aware of your transitions. Build clear and sensible transitions from one thought to
the next. The biggest mistake speakers and writers make is to assume people will follow
leaps of logic -- place, time or changes of ideas. Spell out to the audience when you are
taking a turn in your thoughts with phrases like: "As an example of this, we can see..." or
"This brings us back to the larger problem of...," and so forth.
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Transitions should not only go in between points in the body, but also after the
introduction and into the conclusion. Again, your speech is one cohesive work,
not a series of points that work independently. Show your audience that by
transitioning clearly.
5. End with a firm conclusion. Conclude with a powerful nail-down, summarizing what
you came here to say. Leave them with a question or thoughts of implications; leave them
with something -- what do you want that something to be?
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Repeat key ideas. Make the audience recall and get on the mainline. Be sure they
leave with the ideas you don't want them to forget.
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Give your audience a sense of completion in what you write. Bring them back to
the beginning, but with a louder spirit -- after all, they have all the knowledge
necessary to be passionate now, too. This can be done by starting the last
paragraph with a strong, declarative sentence that re-makes your point.
Part 4 of 4: After Your First Draft
1. Deliver it to someone. This will be the most beneficial thing you can possibly do. Try to
get someone that's as similar to your audience as possible. If they have a similar
background, there's a better chance of them having the same impression.
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Ask them for feedback. Did they find anything confusing? Unnecessary? What
questions were they left with? Did they follow your logic and end up agreeing
with you? What impression were they left with?
2. Monitor for clarity. Often when we write things, there's a much easier way to say the
exact same thing. Go over your work with an eye for this. Take each sentence as it stands
-- could you make it more crystal?
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If you're not clear, you could have a good point that goes unappreciated or
completely missed. Clarity is possibly the most important quality to look for in
your work.
3. Ensure your tone is constant and appropriate. If it sounds like three different people
wrote it, it'll be difficult to follow. What's more, if you slip into language that's
condescending or simply over their heads, you're in an equally hard place. How will the
audience find your speech?
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Don't be tempted to get crass or nasty to get their attention. It'll work, but after
you stop the finger-pointing and yelling, they'll tune you out completely.
4. Write out your final draft. Once you have all the content ready, get it in its final form.
This is where you may want to start employing tactics for delivery.
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Write in your pauses. Though the speech should not be directly read from,
rehearsing from it with pauses written in will help you remember when you are
actually delivering it.
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Write in body cues. Though these ultimately need to be natural and can't be
scripted, making little notes where you might want to emphasize a point with your
body (be it with your face, hand, etc.) can help jog your mind in the rehearsing
process.
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Outline the speech on notecards. Since you won't be reading your speech, it's a
good idea to have a written outline of the presentation as a reference so you don't
leave something out .. like thanking the audience for their attention and the
committee for asking you to speak.
Tips
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Avoid a flat or pathetic: "Thank you" to signal that, "Yes, the speech is
over". This is unnecessary.
Start writing as if you are creating an essay or informative article. When
you are comfortable with your draft, read it aloud. Listen to a recording.
But, the style should be different than a typical essay or article. You can't
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have complex paragraphs that drone on. Rather than pack your talk with
boring facts and figures, give them a supporting handout (after your talk,
unless you have to present that document as such -- if so, then give it out
beforehand). It's okay to repeat or revisit important points for emphasis.
Each person in the audience experiences your speech as an individual.
Speak to them as individuals, by using words like "you" and "your" -instead of "all of you" or "everybody here"; it is more direct and
compelling, and will engage each member of your audience, whether it be
five or five thousand.
Almost everyone can remember an early experience when s/he was
obsessed with memorization, and reciting and suddenly drew a blank. It
can derail a speech. Be comfortable with your subject and have the bullet
points on a few numbered 3x5 cards, tied together by a string or special
ring. Relax and don't be petrified about flawless delivery; people won't
hold a slip against you.
Think hard before incorporating flip charts or a dry-erase board into your
presentation. Eventually you may find yourself talking to your flip chart
and not to the audience. The audience might be distracted by your
illegible scribblings -- or watching you fumble with your exhibits.
Insecure or shy speakers like stage props because they take the focus off
them. Whatever best suits your situation is fine.
Consider your audience's frame of reference. A simple way to do it is to
think about: Who's in the audience? Why are they here? And after hearing
your speech, what's the first thing you would like them to do or say to
someone else, perhaps?
End it: Let the final, forceful sentence be the natural ending of your
speech. People remember the last point or emphasis; so hit it strongly!
Insist on your important points! Don't make any changes to your speech
just because you think people will judge you (stand up to peer pressure).
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Make changes because you want them, and are comfortable with your
edits.
Ronald Reagan had a rule that he would always bring an extra written
copy of his speech in case something happened during the speech -- and
be ready to give that to the host/hostess.
The type of event you are attending will determine the length of your
speech. Consider that the average speaker speaks 100 to 135 words per
minute. Below are sample speech lengths:
o Standard keynote speaker: 18 - 22 minutes (est. 1800 to 2970
words)
o Motivator: 12 - 15 minutes (est. 1200 to 2025 words)
o Ceremonial speaker: 5 - 7 minutes (est. 500 to 945 words)
o News conference: 2 - 3 minutes (est. 200 to 405 words)
o Wedding toast: 2 - 3 minutes (est. 200 to 405 words)
Show 1 more tip
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Don't give a lengthy and boring speech. Otherwise people will literally
fall asleep during the speech. Always have a sense of humor to liven up
the place a bit.
Don't be a windbag. Time your speech in a few practice runs. If it goes
more than five minutes you had better be a spellbinding speaker. The
typical amateur speaker will have the audience checking their watches
after about three minutes. Remember, Abe Lincoln only needed a minute
or two for the Gettysburg Address.