How to Write a Perfect Speech

by Jessica Hatchigan

Writing a speech? These nine steps ensure a perfect result.

Step 1 – Decide whether to bullet point or go with a full-text – Decide whether you want to speak from an outline (bullet-point) format – or if you want to read from a fully-prepared text of your speech. (Keep in mind that a full-text speech is read, word for word, from a prepared text. Also keep in mind that delivering a full-text speech is an art. It is fairly simple to master – but it requires the investment of a few hours’ of your time. Full-text speeches require a minimum of one read-through rehearsal – preferably two – to ensure you deliver with confidence.)

Step 2 – Decide on your “desired outcome” – Put your thinking cap on. Ponder what exactly it is that you want your audience to think or do after they hear your speech? “Desired outcomes” can include, for example,”enhancing your brand,” “expanding your business,” “enhancing ties with key members of your network,” “garnering positive media coverage,” “publicizing your company’s innovations or achievements,” etc. Knowing exactly what you want to achieve with your speech streamlines the process of figuring out what it is you want to say.

Step 3 – Pay the piper (do your homework) – At times, all the information you need to create a speech is in your noggin. More often, however, research is required. This runs the gamut from reviewing print and electronic data needed for your speech to calling expert sources to requesttheir input. Once you’ve collected the necessary data, it’s time to pull together the content of your speech. The questions you need to keep in mind as you do this include:

– What does the audience expect to hear? What do they want to hear? (When in doubt, call the person who invited you – or the conference or event coordinator and ask him/her these questions.)
– What insights – that are new, interesting and useful to the audience – can I present in my speech?
– What messages from my speaking platform would it be appropriate to include? (Will post more on “speaking platforms later.)

Step 4 – Bottom-line it (pick your central idea) – Select a central idea for your speech – what English profs call your “thesis.” You should be able to sum up in one pithy sentence what the spiffy monologue you will deliver is all about. If you are having trouble condensing it to one sentence, it may be a sign that you haven’t narrowed your focus adequately

Step 5 – Brainstorm – Think through and clarify for yourself what main points you want to make. Jot them down.

Step 6 – Christen it (create a great title) – Titles are important because they can help “sell” your speech to potential audience members. Publishers know this. They give considerable time and thought to selecting titles for books. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus is a much better title, for example, than Gender Differences Can Cause Miscommunication. Made to Stick is a much better title than How to Get Customers to Remember Your Products and Services. Well, you get the idea

Step 7 – Create the “gate” (write a compelling intro) – The intro of the speech is where you “shake hands with the audience,” establish rapport, and – at the same time – quickly grab their attention. Establishing rapport can be as simple as commenting on an item from the day’s local newspaper or an item from some other daily publication, say the Wall Street Journal, that will be of interest to this particular audience. (Scan the newspaper on the morning of your event to glean ideas.) Then, launch into your speech with a cool story (related to your topic), or share a knock-your-socks-off statistic, or a thought-provoking quotation. A joke can work in the intro also – but just remember to tie the point of the funny you’re making to your topic. That way – if no one laughs – it doesn’t matter as the joke still serves to illustrate a point. Next, tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em. State your central idea (that one-sentence version of what your speech is about.) Example: “Today, I’m going to talk to you about three ways you can help stretch our nation’s energy supplies.” Next: share with them why they should care – namely how your topic is relevant to their interests and concerns. For example: “These three actions each one of us can take will help further free the U.S. from dependence on foreign oil.”

Step 8 – Put those ducks in a row – and make them march – Think through what main points/arguments you want to make to elaborate your central idea, and organize these points. How many points/arguments should you make in support of your thesis? Three main points/arguments is classic speech structure, the structure most often chosen by speakers. However, you aren’t locked into the tripartite (three-point) structure. Say you want to give a speech on “Eight Ways to Stop Global Warming.” In this case, you have eight points you will make – although you won’t develop each of them as elaborately as you would if you had fewer points. Select the most relevant and compelling data your research has discovered to develop your arguments – statements by experts; facts gleaned from books, magazines, newspaper articles, and electronic media, etc. As you select, be selective! The phrase “too much information” is relevant here. Too many facts and figures drain an audience’s ability to pay attention. The secret of being boring is to “tell all.” Don’t present a laundry list of “all” the facts you know related to your topic – only the ones that best emphasize your points. Make sure the sources you cite and the data you present are credible. For example: “A recent Gallup Poll reveals . . . .” Or, Research by the National Science Foundation shows . . . .” Or, “In his book, Three Cups of Tea, author Greg Mortenson says that . . . .”

Step 9 – Take it to a finish - To conclude, briefly sum up the main points you’ve made. – (“Tell ‘em what you told ‘em.) Wrap up on a high note. Issue a call to action. Declare something. Offer a Wow-inspiring insight.

And don’t forget to:

• Streamline that prose - Remember that leaders speak clearly and simply. That is what makes them compelling and credible. Kill the jargon, the buzz-words, and/or the too-technical lingo, with exceptions – of course. (If you’re the head of an aeronautical engineering company and you’re speaking to a group of rocket scientists who share your knowledge base, technical language might fit the occasion. If you’re the head of an aeronautical engineering company and you’re speaking to an audience of mostly non-engineers, minimize technical terms.)
• Give it “heart” - Passionate about your subject? Let that come through. Genuine caring and enthusiasm are contagious. Also, where they fit, mention personal experiences that develop your points in a relevant way. Audiences love to hear appropriate anecdotes from a speaker’s personal experience. They make speeches pop with life and vitality.

© Jessica Hatchigan, All rights reserved.
Photo: Photo: Gisela Giardino

Speechwriters: Minimize Your Face Time with Your CEO

A tip for newbie speechwriters: Always remember to minimize your communication with the CEO.

Yes, I know, in a world where everyone seems to be seeking to increase face time with the top decision-maker, this advice may seem counter-intuitive.

So what do I mean by minimize?

I mean keep memos, emails and all other documents you send to your CEO as part of your speech prep simple and direct.

Compress it. Provide only the essential facts.

Why? Because CEOs have a lot on their plates. They don’t want to be deluged by minutiae. That’s what you’re there for – to handle the research, prep work and all other writing-related heavy lifting. You should provide them with short and sweet pre-speech memos, emails and outlines. Then with near final drafts to which they need to make minimal changes.

As far as pre-work goes, your CEO will not appreciate what you may think is one of the best-written 6-page memos you ever produced. In fact – if his admin or any other intermediary is doing a good job – any over-long memo will be shot back to you with a directive to pare it down to a half-page – tops. Even if the text of an over-long message is worthy of a Pulitzer, you will lose points in direct proportion to the length of the document you send to the corner office.

Tips for minimizing face time with your CEO:

• Develop a network of key contacts (executives who report directly to the CEO) – finance, HR, etc. – and tap into their expertise. They probably know more about details than the CEO does – and should. They too are there to save the CEO’s time so that it can be applied to key strategic think-throughs and decision making.
• Study previous speech texts and videos of your CEO to capture his/her speaking style and preferences.

© Jessica Hatchigan, All rights reserved.
Photo by: Linconian

Time Matters: Scheduling Your CEO’s Speeches

Do you have the option to choose the time of day your CEO will deliver his/her speech?

If so, keep the following facts in mind. Audiences are generally more alert and attentive in the early morning and right after lunch. They’re less focused right before lunch and in the afternoon, and they‘re least attentive at the very last session of a conference. When a multi-day conference is involved, the last day is usually a half-day to accommodate travel schedules – and many participants simply skip the lat day’s events. Conference coordinators know this and try to schedule speakers they think will keep a crowd hanging in there. But it’s best to avoid putting your CEO in a last-day-of-the-conference speaking slot – unless the organizer can make a very compelling case for why you should do so.

© Jessica Hatchigan, All rights reserved.
Image: Matt Callow

The Simple Secret behind Effective Leaders

Throughout my career as a speechwriter, I do not once recall an executive asking me to rewrite a speech to make the words “bigger” or the sentences longer and more complex. On the contrary, I can recall being twice asked – I didn’t need a third request – to further simplify language and to shorten sentences.

Effective leaders know that audiences hunger for simple and clear words, sentences and speeches. A little-known multisyllabic word may resonate with a select segment of an audience. However, by the same token, it may well alienate the rest of the people the executive is trying to reach.

In today’s USA Today, reporter Adam Shell notes that billionaire investor Warren Buffet achieved the sky-high credibility he currently enjoys because, among other things, “He says what he needs to say in simple, everyday language that everyone can understand.” Today, Forbes lists Buffet, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, as the richest man in the world with a net worth of $62 billion.

Buffet started his career without the benefit of great inherited wealth or extraordinary connections, which would seem to indicate that his plainspoken style is one of the causes – not the effects – of his extraordinary success.

And note that a simple communication style is not the same as a dull or boring communication style. Read any of Buffet’s annual Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letters. You’ll find that “simple” – in Buffet’s case – means, “clear and easy to follow” yoked to “imaginative and lively.”

Consider this sentence from Buffet’s 2007 Shareholder Letter: “Prices are down, and exposures inexorably rise. Even if the U.S. has its third consecutive catastrophe-light year, industry profit margins will probably shrink by four percentage points or so. If the winds roar or the earth trembles, results could be far worse.” Nice use of metaphor and analogy in the “If the winds roar . . . .” sentence – and only two two-syllable words!

© Jessica Hatchigan, All rights reserved.
Photo: Gisela Giardino

How Do You Decide on the Content of a Speech?

A journalism student emailed me this question: “How do you know what to write for your speakers?”

The answer: once you receive a speechwriting assignment – you do the necessary pre-work. You make some calls and/or schedule some meetings and ask these key questions of the client’s representative and of the speaking event coordinator:

* What is the venue?
* Who’s in the audience?
* How many in the audience?
* What are the demographics (age, gender, interests, etc.) of the audience?
* What special concerns does the audience have?
* What are they expecting to hear? What do they want to hear? (These two questions might have different answers.)
* What is the date of the event? (Time of year may affect content.)
* What is the venue? (Geographic location ditto.)

You also do some research to determine:

* What are the company’s key messages?
* What is your speaker’s “platform”?
* What issues and trends are now affecting your client’s industry?

After all the above information is gathered, the speechwriter decides: What does it make sense for this speaker to say at this event to this audience? What content will maximize the value of this speech – both to the audience and to the client? The speechwriter then prepares recommendations for the client accordingly, and meets with the client to present the recommendations.

Sometimes the speaker and/or his PR chief have definite ideas on what the speaker should say. In these cases, the speechwriter can simply proceed to work up a first draft that communicates these messages as memorably and effectively as possible. However, if the client is off-target – by aiming for messages that are too diffuse (all over the map), by failing to match his/her intended messages to the audience’s needs and interests, or in any other way – it is the responsibility of the speechwriter to speak up and to offer alternatives that will create a better end result for the client – and the audience.

© Jessica Hatchigan, All rights reserved.
Image: Adrian Wallett

The Three Rs of Skilful Public Speaking

Should business and political leaders use speechwriters? Isn’t it dishonest? Shouldn’t leaders always speak “off the cuff” and “from the heart”? Not every speaking opportunity calls for the services of a speechwriter. But keynote addresses and almost all important speeches do. On these occasions, the Three Rs of top-notch speakers come into play.

• Respect – we’ve all suffered through listening to speakers who haven’t had the time or the skill to, 1) decide what specific messages they want to relay, 2) organize their thoughts so that they aren’t a fuzzy ramble, 3) connect with the audience through powerful and energetic language. Bottom line, this lack of preparation translates to a lack of respect for the audience. If you care about us, take the time to think through what you want to say and to say it in the best way possible. (It also, if you think about it, can indicate a lack of self-respect. Once you reach the executive level, please “dress the part” – not only with those nifty power suits and accessories – but also with C-suite-appropriate communications.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Speakers, Know Your Audience

A just-issued study by the American Enterprise Institute reports that about half the nation’s 17-year-olds don’t know that George Orwell’s novel 1984 warns about the dangers of a totalitarian society, that the Civil War was fought in the latter half of the 19th century, or that the Biblical figure Job was known for his stoic patience.

The takeaway for speakers is clear: 20th century rhetoric won’t cut it with Gen X and Gen Y audiences. Former common cultural references – the works of Shakespeare, the Bible, and landmark publications (like the Federalist Papers, for example) – will not always resonate today. Do a little research in advance of your presentation. Get to know your audience and make sure you gear your presentation to the interests and knowledge base of your listeners.

© Jessica Hatchigan, All rights reserved.
Image: Bootload