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Opening your speech
Good eye contact with your audience
The use of notes and visual aids
What to do with your hands
Avoiding filler words - um, ah and like
The importance of recording yourself
Using your voice dynamically
Control nerves, be prepared and be yourself
Closing your speech
Class Activity – Letter Lecture
Address all members of your audience “Principals, Faculty, Students: Good Evening.”
 You have 10 seconds to grab the attention of
your audience
 Make a bold statement, use humor or selfdeprecation, ask a question or quote a
famous line from history!
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Example of a good opening:
Bill Gates’ Harvard Commencement
Engage your audience
 Make them feel like YOU are talking
directly to THEM
 Make a short bulleted list of notes in
order to avoid reading
 If using a visual aid, do not turn your
back on your audience

Begin with your hands at your side in
order to develop natural hand gestures
 Avoid clasping the microphone, podium,
both hands together, hands in pockets,
crossing arms and hands behind back
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Example of what NOT to do:
Ricky Bobby Hand Interview
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Um and ah
Like, uh, and like…
Most people use these
frequently without
noticing
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Even the pros do it!
Obama “Uh” Count
The best way to
overcome this is to
record yourself and
play it back
Once you are aware,
you can focus on
improving your speech
by speaking slowly
Pause when you are
about to use a filler
word and then begin
your next sentence
In order to keep your audience from
falling asleep, vary the pitch, volume
and speed of your voice
 Once you have written your speech, use
different colored highlighters to indicate
to yourself when you are going to speak
loud and fast, or slow and quiet
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Change your focus from worrying about
what the audience is thinking to how you
can inspire, entertain and educate.
 All good public speaking should be
based on letting your real personality
shine through.
 It’s OK to make mistakes! Don’t be too
hard on yourself if you aren’t a perfect
speaker right away.
 Bush-isms
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A good closing is as important as a good
opening
 Make a bold statement, ask for a call to
action, etc.
 Most importantly, make sure to THANK
your audience for their time and
attention
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Practice this speech with your own
opening and closing using voice
inflection in the body. Example:
“Welcome classmates!
A, BCD! e, f, g, H? I, jkl - M. NOP! Q, R, S, T,
uvw? x. Y, Z.
Thank you so much for your attention.
Are there any questions?"