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How to write a speech that your audience remembers

Whether in a work meeting or at an investor panel, you might give a speech at some point. And no matter how excited you are about the opportunity, the experience can be nerve-wracking . 

But feeling butterflies doesn’t mean you can’t give a great speech. With the proper preparation and a clear outline, apprehensive public speakers and natural wordsmiths alike can write and present a compelling message. Here’s how to write a good speech you’ll be proud to deliver.

What is good speech writing?

Good speech writing is the art of crafting words and ideas into a compelling, coherent, and memorable message that resonates with the audience. Here are some key elements of great speech writing:

• It begins with clearly understanding the speech's purpose and the audience it seeks to engage. 
• A well-written speech clearly conveys its central message, ensuring that the audience understands and retains the key points. 
• It is structured thoughtfully, with a captivating opening, a well-organized body, and a conclusion that reinforces the main message. 
• Good speech writing embraces the power of engaging content, weaving in stories, examples, and relatable anecdotes to connect with the audience on both intellectual and emotional levels. 

Ultimately, it is the combination of these elements, along with the authenticity and delivery of the speaker , that transforms words on a page into a powerful and impactful spoken narrative.

What makes a good speech?

A great speech includes several key qualities, but three fundamental elements make a speech truly effective:

Clarity and purpose

Remembering the audience, cohesive structure.

While other important factors make a speech a home run, these three elements are essential for writing an effective speech.

The main elements of a good speech

The main elements of a speech typically include:

• Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your speech and grabs the audience's attention. It should include a hook or attention-grabbing opening, introduce the topic, and provide an overview of what will be covered.
• Opening/captivating statement: This is a strong statement that immediately engages the audience and creates curiosity about the speech topics.
• Thesis statement/central idea: The thesis statement or central idea is a concise statement that summarizes the main point or argument of your speech. It serves as a roadmap for the audience to understand what your speech is about.
• Body: The body of the speech is where you elaborate on your main points or arguments. Each point is typically supported by evidence, examples, statistics, or anecdotes. The body should be organized logically and coherently, with smooth transitions between the main points.
• Supporting evidence: This includes facts, data, research findings, expert opinions, or personal stories that support and strengthen your main points. Well-chosen and credible evidence enhances the persuasive power of your speech.
• Transitions: Transitions are phrases or statements that connect different parts of your speech, guiding the audience from one idea to the next. Effective transitions signal the shifts in topics or ideas and help maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.
• Counterarguments and rebuttals (if applicable): If your speech involves addressing opposing viewpoints or counterarguments, you should acknowledge and address them. Presenting counterarguments makes your speech more persuasive and demonstrates critical thinking.
• Conclusion: The conclusion is the final part of your speech and should bring your message to a satisfying close. Summarize your main points, restate your thesis statement, and leave the audience with a memorable closing thought or call to action.
• Closing statement: This is the final statement that leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the main message of your speech. It can be a call to action, a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or a memorable anecdote.
• Delivery and presentation: How you deliver your speech is also an essential element to consider. Pay attention to your tone, body language, eye contact , voice modulation, and timing. Practice and rehearse your speech, and try using the 7-38-55 rule to ensure confident and effective delivery.

While the order and emphasis of these elements may vary depending on the type of speech and audience, these elements provide a framework for organizing and delivering a successful speech.

How to structure a good speech

You know what message you want to transmit, who you’re delivering it to, and even how you want to say it. But you need to know how to start, develop, and close a speech before writing it. 

Think of a speech like an essay. It should have an introduction, conclusion, and body sections in between. This places ideas in a logical order that the audience can better understand and follow them. Learning how to make a speech with an outline gives your storytelling the scaffolding it needs to get its point across.

Here’s a general speech structure to guide your writing process:

• Explanation 1
• Explanation 2
• Explanation 3

How to write a compelling speech opener

Some research shows that engaged audiences pay attention for only 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Other estimates are even lower, citing that people stop listening intently in fewer than 10 minutes . If you make a good first impression at the beginning of your speech, you have a better chance of interesting your audience through the middle when attention spans fade. 

Implementing the INTRO model can help grab and keep your audience’s attention as soon as you start speaking. This acronym stands for interest, need, timing, roadmap, and objectives, and it represents the key points you should hit in an opening. 

Here’s what to include for each of these points: 

• Interest : Introduce yourself or your topic concisely and speak with confidence . Write a compelling opening statement using relevant data or an anecdote that the audience can relate to.
• Needs : The audience is listening to you because they have something to learn. If you’re pitching a new app idea to a panel of investors, those potential partners want to discover more about your product and what they can earn from it. Read the room and gently remind them of the purpose of your speech. 
• Timing : When appropriate, let your audience know how long you’ll speak. This lets listeners set expectations and keep tabs on their own attention span. If a weary audience member knows you’ll talk for 40 minutes, they can better manage their energy as that time goes on. 
• Routemap : Give a brief overview of the three main points you’ll cover in your speech. If an audience member’s attention starts to drop off and they miss a few sentences, they can more easily get their bearings if they know the general outline of the presentation.
• Objectives : Tell the audience what you hope to achieve, encouraging them to listen to the end for the payout. 

Writing the middle of a speech

The body of your speech is the most information-dense section. Facts, visual aids, PowerPoints — all this information meets an audience with a waning attention span. Sticking to the speech structure gives your message focus and keeps you from going off track, making everything you say as useful as possible.

Limit the middle of your speech to three points, and support them with no more than three explanations. Following this model organizes your thoughts and prevents you from offering more information than the audience can retain. 

Using this section of the speech to make your presentation interactive can add interest and engage your audience. Try including a video or demonstration to break the monotony. A quick poll or survey also keeps the audience on their toes. 

Wrapping the speech up

To you, restating your points at the end can feel repetitive and dull. You’ve practiced countless times and heard it all before. But repetition aids memory and learning , helping your audience retain what you’ve told them. Use your speech’s conclusion to summarize the main points with a few short sentences.

Try to end on a memorable note, like posing a motivational quote or a thoughtful question the audience can contemplate once they leave. In proposal or pitch-style speeches, consider landing on a call to action (CTA) that invites your audience to take the next step.

How to write a good speech

If public speaking gives you the jitters, you’re not alone. Roughly 80% of the population feels nervous before giving a speech, and another 10% percent experiences intense anxiety and sometimes even panic. 

The fear of failure can cause procrastination and can cause you to put off your speechwriting process until the last minute. Finding the right words takes time and preparation, and if you’re already feeling nervous, starting from a blank page might seem even harder.

But putting in the effort despite your stress is worth it. Presenting a speech you worked hard on fosters authenticity and connects you to the subject matter, which can help your audience understand your points better. Human connection is all about honesty and vulnerability, and if you want to connect to the people you’re speaking to, they should see that in you.

1. Identify your objectives and target audience

Before diving into the writing process, find healthy coping strategies to help you stop worrying . Then you can define your speech’s purpose, think about your target audience, and start identifying your objectives. Here are some questions to ask yourself and ground your thinking : 

• What purpose do I want my speech to achieve? 
• What would it mean to me if I achieved the speech’s purpose?
• What audience am I writing for? 
• What do I know about my audience? 
• What values do I want to transmit? 
• If the audience remembers one take-home message, what should it be? 
• What do I want my audience to feel, think, or do after I finish speaking? 
• What parts of my message could be confusing and require further explanation?

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for tailoring your speech effectively. Consider the demographics of your audience, their interests, and their expectations. For instance, if you're addressing a group of healthcare professionals, you'll want to use medical terminology and data that resonate with them. Conversely, if your audience is a group of young students, you'd adjust your content to be more relatable to their experiences and interests. 

3. Choose a clear message

Your message should be the central idea that you want your audience to take away from your speech. Let's say you're giving a speech on climate change. Your clear message might be something like, "Individual actions can make a significant impact on mitigating climate change." Throughout your speech, all your points and examples should support this central message, reinforcing it for your audience.

4. Structure your speech

Organizing your speech properly keeps your audience engaged and helps them follow your ideas. The introduction should grab your audience's attention and introduce the topic. For example, if you're discussing space exploration, you could start with a fascinating fact about a recent space mission. In the body, you'd present your main points logically, such as the history of space exploration, its scientific significance, and future prospects. Finally, in the conclusion, you'd summarize your key points and reiterate the importance of space exploration in advancing human knowledge.

5. Use engaging content for clarity

Engaging content includes stories, anecdotes, statistics, and examples that illustrate your main points. For instance, if you're giving a speech about the importance of reading, you might share a personal story about how a particular book changed your perspective. You could also include statistics on the benefits of reading, such as improved cognitive abilities and empathy.

6. Maintain clarity and simplicity

It's essential to communicate your ideas clearly. Avoid using overly technical jargon or complex language that might confuse your audience. For example, if you're discussing a medical breakthrough with a non-medical audience, explain complex terms in simple, understandable language.

7. Practice and rehearse

Practice is key to delivering a great speech. Rehearse multiple times to refine your delivery, timing, and tone. Consider using a mirror or recording yourself to observe your body language and gestures. For instance, if you're giving a motivational speech, practice your gestures and expressions to convey enthusiasm and confidence.

8. Consider nonverbal communication

Your body language, tone of voice, and gestures should align with your message . If you're delivering a speech on leadership, maintain strong eye contact to convey authority and connection with your audience. A steady pace and varied tone can also enhance your speech's impact.

9. Engage your audience

Engaging your audience keeps them interested and attentive. Encourage interaction by asking thought-provoking questions or sharing relatable anecdotes. If you're giving a speech on teamwork, ask the audience to recall a time when teamwork led to a successful outcome, fostering engagement and connection.

10. Prepare for Q&A

Anticipate potential questions or objections your audience might have and prepare concise, well-informed responses. If you're delivering a speech on a controversial topic, such as healthcare reform, be ready to address common concerns, like the impact on healthcare costs or access to services, during the Q&A session.

By following these steps and incorporating examples that align with your specific speech topic and purpose, you can craft and deliver a compelling and impactful speech that resonates with your audience.

Tools for writing a great speech

There are several helpful tools available for speechwriting, both technological and communication-related. Here are a few examples:

• Word processing software: Tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or other word processors provide a user-friendly environment for writing and editing speeches. They offer features like spell-checking, grammar correction, formatting options, and easy revision tracking.
• Presentation software: Software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides is useful when creating visual aids to accompany your speech. These tools allow you to create engaging slideshows with text, images, charts, and videos to enhance your presentation.
• Speechwriting Templates: Online platforms or software offer pre-designed templates specifically for speechwriting. These templates provide guidance on structuring your speech and may include prompts for different sections like introductions, main points, and conclusions.
• Rhetorical devices and figures of speech: Rhetorical tools such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, and parallelism can add impact and persuasion to your speech. Resources like books, websites, or academic papers detailing various rhetorical devices can help you incorporate them effectively.
• Speechwriting apps: Mobile apps designed specifically for speechwriting can be helpful in organizing your thoughts, creating outlines, and composing a speech. These apps often provide features like voice recording, note-taking, and virtual prompts to keep you on track.
• Grammar and style checkers: Online tools or plugins like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor help improve the clarity and readability of your speech by checking for grammar, spelling, and style errors. They provide suggestions for sentence structure, word choice, and overall tone.
• Thesaurus and dictionary: Online or offline resources such as thesauruses and dictionaries help expand your vocabulary and find alternative words or phrases to express your ideas more effectively. They can also clarify meanings or provide context for unfamiliar terms.
• Online speechwriting communities: Joining online forums or communities focused on speechwriting can be beneficial for getting feedback, sharing ideas, and learning from experienced speechwriters. It's an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and improve your public speaking skills through collaboration.

Remember, while these tools can assist in the speechwriting process, it's essential to use them thoughtfully and adapt them to your specific needs and style. The most important aspect of speechwriting remains the creativity, authenticity, and connection with your audience that you bring to your speech.

5 tips for writing a speech

Behind every great speech is an excellent idea and a speaker who refined it. But a successful speech is about more than the initial words on the page, and there are a few more things you can do to help it land.

Here are five more tips for writing and practicing your speech:

1. Structure first, write second

If you start the writing process before organizing your thoughts, you may have to re-order, cut, and scrap the sentences you worked hard on. Save yourself some time by using a speech structure, like the one above, to order your talking points first. This can also help you identify unclear points or moments that disrupt your flow.

2. Do your homework

Data strengthens your argument with a scientific edge. Research your topic with an eye for attention-grabbing statistics, or look for findings you can use to support each point. If you’re pitching a product or service, pull information from company metrics that demonstrate past or potential successes. 

Audience members will likely have questions, so learn all talking points inside and out. If you tell investors that your product will provide 12% returns, for example, come prepared with projections that support that statement.

3. Sound like yourself

Memorable speakers have distinct voices. Think of Martin Luther King Jr’s urgent, inspiring timbre or Oprah’s empathetic, personal tone . Establish your voice — one that aligns with your personality and values — and stick with it. If you’re a motivational speaker, keep your tone upbeat to inspire your audience . If you’re the CEO of a startup, try sounding assured but approachable. 

4. Practice

As you practice a speech, you become more confident , gain a better handle on the material, and learn the outline so well that unexpected questions are less likely to trip you up. Practice in front of a colleague or friend for honest feedback about what you could change, and speak in front of the mirror to tweak your nonverbal communication and body language .

5. Remember to breathe

When you’re stressed, you breathe more rapidly . It can be challenging to talk normally when you can’t regulate your breath. Before your presentation, try some mindful breathing exercises so that when the day comes, you already have strategies that will calm you down and remain present . This can also help you control your voice and avoid speaking too quickly.

How to ghostwrite a great speech for someone else

Ghostwriting a speech requires a unique set of skills, as you're essentially writing a piece that will be delivered by someone else. Here are some tips on how to effectively ghostwrite a speech:

• Understand the speaker's voice and style : Begin by thoroughly understanding the speaker's personality, speaking style, and preferences. This includes their tone, humor, and any personal anecdotes they may want to include.
• Interview the speaker : Have a detailed conversation with the speaker to gather information about their speech's purpose, target audience, key messages, and any specific points they want to emphasize. Ask for personal stories or examples they may want to include.
• Research thoroughly : Research the topic to ensure you have a strong foundation of knowledge. This helps you craft a well-informed and credible speech.
• Create an outline : Develop a clear outline that includes the introduction, main points, supporting evidence, and a conclusion. Share this outline with the speaker for their input and approval.
• Write in the speaker's voice : While crafting the speech, maintain the speaker's voice and style. Use language and phrasing that feel natural to them. If they have a particular way of expressing ideas, incorporate that into the speech.
• Craft a captivating opening : Begin the speech with a compelling opening that grabs the audience's attention. This could be a relevant quote, an interesting fact, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking question.
• Organize content logically : Ensure the speech flows logically, with each point building on the previous one. Use transitions to guide the audience from one idea to the next smoothly.
• Incorporate engaging stories and examples : Include anecdotes, stories, and real-life examples that illustrate key points and make the speech relatable and memorable.
• Edit and revise : Edit the speech carefully for clarity, grammar, and coherence. Ensure the speech is the right length and aligns with the speaker's time constraints.
• Seek feedback : Share drafts of the speech with the speaker for their feedback and revisions. They may have specific changes or additions they'd like to make.
• Practice delivery : If possible, work with the speaker on their delivery. Practice the speech together, allowing the speaker to become familiar with the content and your writing style.
• Maintain confidentiality : As a ghostwriter, it's essential to respect the confidentiality and anonymity of the work. Do not disclose that you wrote the speech unless you have the speaker's permission to do so.
• Be flexible : Be open to making changes and revisions as per the speaker's preferences. Your goal is to make them look good and effectively convey their message.
• Meet deadlines : Stick to agreed-upon deadlines for drafts and revisions. Punctuality and reliability are essential in ghostwriting.
• Provide support : Support the speaker during their preparation and rehearsal process. This can include helping with cue cards, speech notes, or any other materials they need.

Remember that successful ghostwriting is about capturing the essence of the speaker while delivering a well-structured and engaging speech. Collaboration, communication, and adaptability are key to achieving this.

Give your best speech yet

Learn how to make a speech that’ll hold an audience’s attention by structuring your thoughts and practicing frequently. Put the effort into writing and preparing your content, and aim to improve your breathing, eye contact , and body language as you practice. The more you work on your speech, the more confident you’ll become.

The energy you invest in writing an effective speech will help your audience remember and connect to every concept. Remember: some life-changing philosophies have come from good speeches, so give your words a chance to resonate with others. You might even change their thinking.

Elevate your communication skills

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Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

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14.4 Practicing for Successful Speech Delivery

Learning objectives.

• Explain why having a strong conversational quality is important for effective public speaking.
• Explain the importance of eye contact in public speaking.
• Define vocalics and differentiate among the different factors of vocalics.
• Explain effective physical manipulation during a speech.
• Understand how to practice effectively for good speech delivery.

Christian Pierret – Speech – CC BY 2.0.

There is no foolproof recipe for good delivery. Each of us is unique, and we each embody different experiences and interests. This means each person has an approach, or a style, that is effective for her or him. This further means that anxiety can accompany even the most carefully researched and interesting message. Even when we know our messages are strong and well-articulated on paper, it is difficult to know for sure that our presentation will also be good.

We are still obligated to do our best out of respect for the audience and their needs. Fortunately, there are some tools that can be helpful to you even the very first time you present a speech. You will continue developing your skills each time you put them to use and can experiment to find out which combination of delivery elements is most effective for you.

What Is Good Delivery?

The more you care about your topic, the greater your motivation to present it well. Good delivery is a process of presenting a clear, coherent message in an interesting way. Communication scholar Stephen E. Lucas tells us:

Good delivery…conveys the speaker’s ideas clearly, interestingly, and without distracting the audience. Most audiences prefer delivery that combines a certain degree of formality with the best attributes of good conversation—directness, spontaneity, animation, vocal and facial expressiveness, and a lively sense of communication (Lucas, 2009).

Many writers on the nonverbal aspects of delivery have cited the findings of psychologist Albert Mehrabian, asserting that the bulk of an audience’s understanding of your message is based on nonverbal communication. Specifically, Mehrabian is often credited with finding that when audiences decoded a speaker’s meaning, the speaker’s face conveyed 55 percent of the information, the vocalics conveyed 38 percent, and the words conveyed just 7 percent (Mehrabian, 1972). Although numerous scholars, including Mehrabian himself, have stated that his findings are often misinterpreted (Mitchell), scholars and speech instructors do agree that nonverbal communication and speech delivery are extremely important to effective public speaking.

In this section of the chapter, we will explain six elements of good delivery: conversational style, conversational quality, eye contact, vocalics, physical manipulation, and variety. And since delivery is only as good as the practice that goes into it, we conclude with some tips for effective use of your practice time.

Conversational Style

Conversational style is a speaker’s ability to sound expressive and to be perceived by the audience as natural. It’s a style that approaches the way you normally express yourself in a much smaller group than your classroom audience. This means that you want to avoid having your presentation come across as didactic or overly exaggerated. You might not feel natural while you’re using a conversational style, but for the sake of audience preference and receptiveness, you should do your best to appear natural. It might be helpful to remember that the two most important elements of the speech are the message and the audience. You are the conduit with the important role of putting the two together in an effective way. Your audience should be thinking about the message, not the delivery.

Stephen E. Lucas defines conversational quality as the idea that “no matter how many times a speech has been rehearsed, it still sounds spontaneous” [emphasis in original] (Lucas, 2009). No one wants to hear a speech that is so well rehearsed that it sounds fake or robotic. One of the hardest parts of public speaking is rehearsing to the point where it can appear to your audience that the thoughts are magically coming to you while you’re speaking, but in reality you’ve spent a great deal of time thinking through each idea. When you can sound conversational, people pay attention.

Eye Contact

Eye contact is a speaker’s ability to have visual contact with everyone in the audience. Your audience should feel that you’re speaking to them, not simply uttering main and supporting points. If you are new to public speaking, you may find it intimidating to look audience members in the eye, but if you think about speakers you have seen who did not maintain eye contact, you’ll realize why this aspect of speech delivery is important. Without eye contact, the audience begins to feel invisible and unimportant, as if the speaker is just speaking to hear her or his own voice. Eye contact lets your audience feel that your attention is on them, not solely on the cards in front of you.

Sustained eye contact with your audience is one of the most important tools toward effective delivery. O’Hair, Stewart, and Rubenstein note that eye contact is mandatory for speakers to establish a good relationship with an audience (O’Hair, Stewart, & Rubenstein, 2001). Whether a speaker is speaking before a group of five or five hundred, the appearance of eye contact is an important way to bring an audience into your speech.

Eye contact can be a powerful tool. It is not simply a sign of sincerity, a sign of being well prepared and knowledgeable, or a sign of confidence; it also has the power to convey meanings. Arthur Koch tells us that all facial expressions “can communicate a wide range of emotions, including sadness, compassion, concern, anger, annoyance, fear, joy, and happiness” (Koch, 2010).

If you find the gaze of your audience too intimidating, you might feel tempted to resort to “faking” eye contact with them by looking at the wall just above their heads or by sweeping your gaze around the room instead of making actual eye contact with individuals in your audience until it becomes easier to provide real contact. The problem with fake eye contact is that it tends to look mechanical. Another problem with fake attention is that you lose the opportunity to assess the audience’s understanding of your message. Still, fake eye contact is somewhat better than gripping your cards and staring at them and only occasionally glancing quickly and shallowly at the audience.

This is not to say that you may never look at your notecards. On the contrary, one of the skills in extemporaneous speaking is the ability to alternate one’s gaze between the audience and one’s notes. Rehearsing your presentation in front of a few friends should help you develop the ability to maintain eye contact with your audience while referring to your notes. When you are giving a speech that is well prepared and well rehearsed, you will only need to look at your notes occasionally. This is an ability that will develop even further with practice. Your public speaking course is your best chance to get that practice.

Effective Use of Vocalics

Vocalics , also known as paralanguage, is the subfield of nonverbal communication that examines how we use our voices to communicate orally. This means that you speak loudly enough for all audience members (even those in the back of the room) to hear you clearly, and that you enunciate clearly enough to be understood by all audience members (even those who may have a hearing impairment or who may be English-language learners). If you tend to be soft-spoken, you will need to practice using a louder volume level that may feel unnatural to you at first. For all speakers, good vocalic technique is best achieved by facing the audience with your chin up and your eyes away from your notecards and by setting your voice at a moderate speed. Effective use of vocalics also means that you make use of appropriate pitch, pauses, vocal variety, and correct pronunciation.

If you are an English-language learner and feel apprehensive about giving a speech in English, there are two things to remember: first, you can meet with a reference librarian to learn the correct pronunciations of any English words you are unsure of; and second, the fact that you have an accent means you speak more languages than most Americans, which is an accomplishment to be proud of.

If you are one of the many people with a stutter or other speech challenge, you undoubtedly already know that there are numerous techniques for reducing stuttering and improving speech fluency and that there is no one agreed-upon “cure.” The Academy Award–winning movie The King’s Speech did much to increase public awareness of what a person with a stutter goes through when it comes to public speaking. It also prompted some well-known individuals who stutter, such as television news reporter John Stossel, to go public about their stuttering (Stossel, 2011). If you have decided to study public speaking in spite of a speech challenge, we commend you for your efforts and encourage you to work with your speech instructor to make whatever adaptations work best for you.

Volume refers to the loudness or softness of a speaker’s voice. As mentioned, public speakers need to speak loudly enough to be heard by everyone in the audience. In addition, volume is often needed to overcome ambient noise, such as the hum of an air conditioner or the dull roar of traffic passing by. In addition, you can use volume strategically to emphasize the most important points in your speech. Select these points carefully; if you emphasize everything, nothing will seem important. You also want to be sure to adjust your volume to the physical setting of the presentation. If you are in a large auditorium and your audience is several yards away, you will need to speak louder. If you are in a smaller space, with the audience a few feet away, you want to avoid overwhelming your audience with shouting or speaking too loudly.

Rate is the speed at which a person speaks. To keep your speech delivery interesting, your rate should vary. If you are speaking extemporaneously, your rate will naturally fluctuate. If you’re reading, your delivery is less likely to vary. Because rate is an important tool in enhancing the meanings in your speech, you do not want to give a monotone drone or a rapid “machine-gun” style delivery. Your rate should be appropriate for your topic and your points. A rapid, lively rate can communicate such meanings as enthusiasm, urgency, or humor. A slower, moderated rate can convey respect, seriousness, or careful reasoning. By varying rapid and slower rates within a single speech, you can emphasize your main points and keep your audience interested.

Pitch refers to the highness or lowness of a speaker’s voice. Some speakers have deep voices and others have high voices. As with one’s singing voice range, the pitch of one’s speaking voice is determined to a large extent by physiology (specifically, the length of one’s vocal folds, or cords, and the size of one’s vocal tract). We all have a normal speaking pitch where our voice is naturally settled, the pitch where we are most comfortable speaking, and most teachers advise speaking at the pitch that feels natural to you.

While our voices may be generally comfortable at a specific pitch level, we all have the ability to modulate, or move, our pitch up or down. In fact, we do this all the time. When we change the pitch of our voices, we are using inflections . Just as you can use volume strategically, you can also use pitch inflections to make your delivery more interesting and emphatic. If you ordinarily speak with a soprano voice, you may want to drop your voice to a slightly lower range to call attention to a particular point. How we use inflections can even change the entire meaning of what we are saying. For example, try saying the sentence “I love public speaking” with a higher pitch on one of the words—first raise the pitch on “I,” then say it again with the pitch raised on “love,” and so on. “ I love public speaking” conveys a different meaning from “I love public speaking,” doesn’t it?

There are some speakers who don’t change their pitch at all while speaking, which is called monotone . While very few people are completely monotone, some speakers slip into monotone patterns because of nerves. One way to ascertain whether you sound monotone is to record your voice and see how you sound. If you notice that your voice doesn’t fluctuate very much, you will need to be intentional in altering your pitch to ensure that the emphasis of your speech isn’t completely lost on your audience.

Finally, resist the habit of pitching your voice “up” at the ends of sentences. It makes them sound like questions instead of statements. This habit can be disorienting and distracting, interfering with the audience’s ability to focus entirely on the message. The speaker sounds uncertain or sounds as though he or she is seeking the understanding or approval of the listener. It hurts the speaker’s credibility and it needs to be avoided.

The effective use of pitch is one of the keys to an interesting delivery that will hold your audience’s attention.

Pauses are brief breaks in a speaker’s delivery that can show emphasis and enhance the clarity of a message. In terms of timing, the effective use of pauses is one of the most important skills to develop. Some speakers become uncomfortable very quickly with the “dead air” that the pause causes. And if the speaker is uncomfortable, the discomfort can transmit itself to the audience. That doesn’t mean you should avoid using pauses; your ability to use them confidently will increase with practice. Some of the best comedians use the well-timed pause to powerful and hilarious effect. Although your speech will not be a comedy routine, pauses are still useful for emphasis, especially when combined with a lowered pitch and rate to emphasize the important point you do not want your audience to miss.

Vocal Variety

Vocal variety has to do with changes in the vocalics we have just discussed: volume, pitch, rate, and pauses. No one wants to hear the same volume, pitch, rate, or use of pauses over and over again in a speech. Your audience should never be able to detect that you’re about to slow down or your voice is going to get deeper because you’re making an important point. When you think about how you sound in a normal conversation, your use of volume, pitch, rate, and pauses are all done spontaneously. If you try to overrehearse your vocalics, your speech will end up sounding artificial. Vocal variety should flow naturally from your wish to speak with expression. In that way, it will animate your speech and invite your listeners to understand your topic the way you do.

Pronunciation

The last major category related to vocalics is pronunciation , or the conventional patterns of speech used to form a word. Word pronunciation is important for two reasons: first, mispronouncing a word your audience is familiar with will harm your credibility as a speaker; and second, mispronouncing a word they are unfamiliar with can confuse and even misinform them. If there is any possibility at all that you don’t know the correct pronunciation of a word, find out. Many online dictionaries, such as the Wiktionary ( http://wiktionary.org ), provide free sound files illustrating the pronunciation of words.

Many have commented on the mispronunciation of words such as “nuclear” and “cavalry” by highly educated public speakers, including US presidents. There have been classroom examples as well. For instance, a student giving a speech on the Greek philosopher Socrates mispronounced his name at least eight times during her speech. This mispronunciation created a situation of great awkwardness and anxiety for the audience. Everyone felt embarrassed and the teacher, opting not to humiliate the student in front of the class, could not say anything out loud, instead providing a private written comment at the end of class.

One important aspect of pronunciation is articulation , or the ability to clearly pronounce each of a succession of syllables used to make up a word. Some people have difficulty articulating because of physiological problems that can be treated by trained speech therapists, but other people have articulation problems because they come from a cultural milieu where a dialect other than standard American English is the norm. Speech therapists, who generally guide their clients toward standard American English, use the acronym SODA when helping people learn how to more effectively articulate: substitutions , omissions , distortions , and additions .

• Substitutions occur when a speaker replaces one consonant or vowel with another consonant ( water becomes wudda ; ask becomes ax ; mouth becomes mouf ).
• Omissions occur when a speaker drops a consonant or vowel within a word ( Internet becomes Innet ; mesmerized becomes memerized ; probably becomes prolly ).
• Distortions occur when a speaker articulates a word with nasal or slurring sounds ( pencil sounds like mencil ; precipitation sounds like persination ; second sounds like slecond ).
• Additions occur when a speaker adds consonants or vowels to words that are not there ( anyway becomes anyways ; athletic becomes athaletic ; black becomes buhlack ; interpret becomes interpretate ).

Another aspect of pronunciation in public speaking is avoiding the use of verbal surrogates or “filler” words used as placeholders for actual words (like er , um , uh , etc.). You might be able to get away with saying “um” as many as two or three times in your speech before it becomes distracting, but the same cannot be said of “like.” We know of a student who trained herself to avoid saying “like.” As soon as the first speech was assigned, she began wearing a rubber band on her left wrist. Each time she caught herself saying “like,” she snapped herself with the rubber band. It hurt. Very quickly, she found that she could stop inflicting the snap on herself, and she had successfully confronted an unprofessional verbal habit.

Effective Physical Manipulation

In addition to using our voices effectively, a key to effective public speaking is physical manipulation , or the use of the body to emphasize meanings or convey meanings during a speech. While we will not attempt to give an entire discourse on nonverbal communication, we will discuss a few basic aspects of physical manipulation: posture, body movement, facial expressions, and dress. These aspects add up to the overall physical dimension of your speech, which we call self-presentation.

“Stand up tall!” I’m sure we’ve all heard this statement from a parent or a teacher at some point in our lives. The fact is, posture is actually quite important. When you stand up straight, you communicate to your audience, without saying a word, that you hold a position of power and take your position seriously. If however, you are slouching, hunched over, or leaning on something, you could be perceived as ill prepared, anxious, lacking in credibility, or not serious about your responsibilities as a speaker. While speakers often assume more casual posture as a presentation continues (especially if it is a long one, such as a ninety-minute class lecture), it is always wise to start by standing up straight and putting your best foot forward. Remember, you only get one shot at making a first impression, and your body’s orientation is one of the first pieces of information audiences use to make that impression.

Body Movement

Unless you are stuck behind a podium because of the need to use a nonmovable microphone, you should never stand in one place during a speech. However, movement during a speech should also not resemble pacing. One of our authors once saw a speaker who would walk around a small table where her speaking notes were located. She would walk around the table once, toss her chalk twice, and then repeat the process. Instead of listening to what the speaker was saying, everyone became transfixed by her walk-and-chalk-toss pattern. As speakers, we must be mindful of how we go about moving while speaking. One common method for easily integrating some movement into your speech is to take a few steps any time you transition from one idea to the next. By only moving at transition points, not only do you help focus your audience’s attention on the transition from one idea to the next, but you also are able to increase your nonverbal immediacy by getting closer to different segments of your audience.

Body movement also includes gestures. These should be neither overdramatic nor subdued. At one extreme, arm-waving and fist-pounding will distract from your message and reduce your credibility. At the other extreme, refraining from the use of gestures is the waste of an opportunity to suggest emphasis, enthusiasm, or other personal connection with your topic.

There are many ways to use gestures. The most obvious are hand gestures, which should be used in moderation at carefully selected times in the speech. If you overuse gestures, they lose meaning. Many late-night comedy parodies of political leaders include patterned, overused gestures or other delivery habits associated with a particular speaker. However, the well-placed use of simple, natural gestures to indicate emphasis, direction, size is usually effective. Normally, a gesture with one hand is enough. Rather than trying to have a gesture for every sentence, use just a few well-planned gestures. It is often more effective to make a gesture and hold it for a few moments than to begin waving your hands and arms around in a series of gestures.

Finally, just as you should avoid pacing, you will also want to avoid other distracting movements when you are speaking. Many speakers have unconscious mannerisms such as twirling their hair, putting their hands in and out of their pockets, jingling their keys, licking their lips, or clicking a pen while speaking. As with other aspects of speech delivery, practicing in front of others will help you become conscious of such distractions and plan ways to avoid doing them.

Facial Expressions

Faces are amazing things and convey so much information. As speakers, we must be acutely aware of what our face looks like while speaking. While many of us do not look forward to seeing ourselves on videotape, often the only way you can critically evaluate what your face is doing while you are speaking is to watch a recording of your speech. If video is not available, you can practice speaking in front of a mirror.

There are two extremes you want to avoid: no facial expression and overanimated facial expressions. First, you do not want to have a completely blank face while speaking. Some people just do not show much emotion with their faces naturally, but this blankness is often increased when the speaker is nervous. Audiences will react negatively to the message of such a speaker because they will sense that something is amiss. If a speaker is talking about the joys of Disney World and his face doesn’t show any excitement, the audience is going to be turned off to the speaker and his message. On the other extreme end is the speaker whose face looks like that of an exaggerated cartoon character. Instead, your goal is to show a variety of appropriate facial expressions while speaking.

Like vocalics and gestures, facial expression can be used strategically to enhance meaning. A smile or pleasant facial expression is generally appropriate at the beginning of a speech to indicate your wish for a good transaction with your audience. However, you should not smile throughout a speech on drug addiction, poverty, or the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. An inappropriate smile creates confusion about your meaning and may make your audience feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, a serious scowl might look hostile or threatening to audience members and become a distraction from the message. If you keep the meaning of your speech foremost in your mind, you will more readily find the balance in facial expression.

Another common problem some new speakers have is showing only one expression. One of our coauthors competed in speech in college. After one of his speeches (about how people die on amusement park rides), one of his judges pulled him aside and informed him that his speech was “creepy.” Apparently, while speaking about death, our coauthor smiled the entire time. The incongruity between the speech on death and dying and the coauthor’s smile just left the judge a little creeped out. If you are excited in a part of your speech, you should show excitement on your face. On the other hand, if you are at a serious part of your speech, your facial expressions should be serious.

While there are no clear-cut guidelines for how you should dress for every speech you’ll give, dress is still a very important part of how others will perceive you (again, it’s all about the first impression). If you want to be taken seriously, you must present yourself seriously. While we do not advocate dressing up in a suit every time you give a speech, there are definitely times when wearing a suit is appropriate.

One general rule you can use for determining dress is the “step-above rule,” which states that you should dress one step above your audience. If your audience is going to be dressed casually in shorts and jeans, then wear nice casual clothing such as a pair of neatly pressed slacks and a collared shirt or blouse. If, however, your audience is going to be wearing “business casual” attire, then you should probably wear a sport coat, a dress, or a suit. The goal of the step-above rule is to establish yourself as someone to be taken seriously. On the other hand, if you dress two steps above your audience, you may put too much distance between yourself and your audience, coming across as overly formal or even arrogant.

Another general rule for dressing is to avoid distractions in your appearance. Overly tight or revealing garments, over-the-top hairstyles or makeup, jangling jewelry, or a display of tattoos and piercings can serve to draw your audience’s attention away from your speech. Remembering that your message is the most important aspect of your speech, keep that message in mind when you choose your clothing and accessories.

Self-Presentation

When you present your speech, you are also presenting yourself. Self-presentation, sometimes also referred to as poise or stage presence, is determined by how you look, how you stand, how you walk to the lectern, and how you use your voice and gestures. Your self-presentation can either enhance your message or detract from it. Worse, a poor self-presentation can turn a good, well-prepared speech into a forgettable waste of time. You want your self-presentation to support your credibility and improve the likelihood that the audience will listen with interest.

Your personal appearance should reflect the careful preparation of your speech. Your personal appearance is the first thing your audience will see, and from it, they will make inferences about the speech you’re about to present.

One of the biggest mistakes novice public speakers make is to use the same gesture over and over again during a speech. While you don’t want your gestures to look fake, you should be careful to include a variety of different nonverbal components while speaking. You should make sure that your face, body, and words are all working in conjunction with each other to support your message.

Practice Effectively

You might get away with presenting a hastily practiced speech, but the speech will not be as good as it could be. In order to develop your best speech delivery, you need to practice—and use your practice time effectively. Practicing does not mean reading over your notes, mentally running through your speech, or even speaking your speech aloud over and over. Instead, you need to practice with the goal of identifying the weaknesses in your delivery, improving upon them, and building good speech delivery habits.

When you practice your speech, place both your feet in full, firm contact with the floor to keep your body from swaying side to side. Some new public speakers find that they don’t know what to do with their hands during the speech. Your practice sessions should help you get comfortable. When you’re not gesturing, you can rest your free hand lightly on a lectern or simply allow it to hang at your side. Since this is not a familiar posture for most people, it might feel awkward, but in your practice sessions, you can begin getting used to it.

Seek Input from Others

Because we can’t see ourselves as others see us, one of the best ways to improve your delivery is to seek constructive criticism from others. This, of course, is an aspect of your public speaking course, as you will receive evaluations from your instructor and possibly from your fellow students. However, by practicing in front of others before it is time to present your speech, you can anticipate and correct problems so that you can receive a better evaluation when you give the speech “for real.”

Ask your practice observers to be honest about the aspects of your delivery that could be better. Sometimes students create study groups just for this purpose. When you create a study group of classroom peers, everyone has an understanding of the entire creative process, and their feedback will thus be more useful to you than the feedback you might get from someone who has never taken the course or given a speech.

If your practice observers seem reluctant to offer useful criticisms, ask questions. How was your eye contact? Could they hear you? Was your voice well modulated? Did you mispronounce any words? How was your posture? Were your gestures effective? Did you have any mannerisms that you should learn to avoid? Because peers are sometimes reluctant to say things that could sound critical, direct questions are often a useful way to help them speak up.

If you learn from these practice sessions that your voice tends to drop at the ends of sentences, make a conscious effort to support your voice as you conclude each main point. If you learn that you have a habit of clicking a pen, make sure you don’t have a pen with you when you speak or that you keep it in your pocket. If your practice observers mention that you tend to hide your hands in the sleeves of your shirt or jacket, next time wear short sleeves or roll your sleeves up before beginning your speech. If you learn through practice that you tend to sway or rock while you speak, you can consciously practice and build the habit of not swaying.

When it is your turn to give feedback to others in your group, assume that they are as interested in doing well as you are. Give feedback in the spirit of helping their speeches be as good as possible.

Use Audio and/or Video to Record Yourself

Technology has made it easier than ever to record yourself and others using the proliferation of electronic devices people are likely to own. Video, of course, allows you the advantage of being able to see yourself as others see you, while audio allows you to concentrate on the audible aspects of your delivery. As we mentioned earlier in the chapter, if neither video nor audio is available, you can always observe yourself by practicing your delivery in front of a mirror.

After you have recorded yourself, it may seem obvious that you should watch and listen to the recording. This can be intimidating, as you may fear that your performance anxiety will be so obvious that everyone will notice it in the recording. But students are often pleasantly surprised when they watch and listen to their recordings, as even students with very high anxiety may find out that they “come across” in a speech much better than they expected.

A recording can also be a very effective diagnostic device. Sometimes students believe they are making strong contact with their audiences, but their cards contain so many notes that they succumb to the temptation of reading. By finding out from the video that you misjudged your eye contact, you can be motivated to rewrite your notecards in a way that doesn’t provide the opportunity to do so much reading.

It is most likely that in viewing your recording, you will benefit from discovering your strengths and finding weak areas you can strengthen.

Good Delivery Is a Habit

Luckily, public speaking is an activity that, when done conscientiously, strengthens with practice. As you become aware of the areas where your delivery has room for improvement, you will begin developing a keen sense of what “works” and what audiences respond to.

It is advisable to practice out loud in front of other people several times, spreading your rehearsals out over several days. To do this kind of practice, of course, you need to have your speech be finalized well ahead of the date when you are going to give it. During these practice sessions, you can time your speech to make sure it lasts the appropriate length of time. A friend of ours was the second student on the program in an event where each student’s presentation was to last thirty to forty-five minutes. After the first student had been speaking for seventy-five minutes, the professor in charge asked, “Can we speed this up?” The student said yes, and proceeded to continue speaking for another seventy-five minutes before finally concluding his portion of the program. Although we might fault the professor for not “pulling the plug,” clearly the student had not timed his speech in advance.

Your practice sessions will also enable you to make adjustments to your notecards to make them more effective in supporting your contact with your audience. This kind of practice is not just a strategy for beginners; it is practiced by many highly placed public figures with extensive experience in public speaking.

Your public speaking course is one of the best opportunities you will have to manage your performance anxiety, build your confidence in speaking extemporaneously, develop your vocal skills, and become adept at self-presentation. The habits you can develop through targeted practice are to build continuously on your strengths and to challenge yourself to find new areas for improving your delivery. By taking advantage of these opportunities, you will gain the ability to present a speech effectively whenever you may be called upon to speak publicly.

Key Takeaways

• Conversational style is a speaker’s ability to sound expressive while being perceived by the audience as natural. Conversational quality is a speaker’s ability to prepare a speech and rehearse a speech but still sound spontaneous when delivering it.
• Eye contact helps capture and maintain an audience’s interest while contributing to the speaker’s credibility.
• Vocalics are the nonverbal components of the verbal message. There are six important vocalic components for a speaker to be aware of: volume (loudness or softness), pitch (highness or lowness), rate (fastness or slowness), pauses (use of breaks to add emphasis), vocal variety (use of a range of vocalic strategies), and pronunciation (using conventional patterns of speech formation).
• Physical manipulation is the use of one’s body to add meaning and emphasis to a speech. As such, excessive or nonexistent physical manipulation can detract from a speaker’s speech.
• Good delivery is a habit that is built through effective practice.
• Find a speech online and examine the speaker’s overall presentation. How good was the speaker’s delivery? Make a list of the aspects of delivery in this chapter and evaluate the speaker according to the list. In what areas might the speaker improve?
• Record a practice session of your speech. Write a self-critique, answering the following questions: What surprised you the most? What is an area of strength upon which you can build? What is one area for improvement?

Koch, A. (2010). Speaking with a purpose (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, p. 233.

Lucas, S. E. (2009). The art of public speaking (9th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, p. 244.

Mehrabian, A. (1972). Nonverbal communication . Chicago, IL: Aldine-Atherton.

Mitchell, O. (n.d.). Mehrabian and nonverbal communication [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.speakingaboutpresenting.com/presentation-myths/mehrabian-nonverbal-communication-research

O’Hair, D., Stewart, R., & Rubenstein, H. (2001). A speaker’s guidebook: Text and reference. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Stossel, J. (2011, March 2). An Academy Award–winning movie, stuttering and me [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=42081

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Mastering Effective Speech Delivery: From Practice to Performance

Start this journey! Dive into the amazing world of effective speech delivery. Find out the secrets of how to engage an audience. Transform practice into incredible performances!

Connect with the audience from the start. Get their attention with interesting opening lines and stories. This sets the stage for a remarkable speech.

Understand body language and vocal projection. Use facial expressions, gestures, and tone to emphasize your message. Show confidence and be authoritative.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech is a shining example of great communication. King inspired millions with his passion and words. It’s proof of the potential of effective speech.

To be a masterful speaker, practice storytelling, connecting with an audience, and using body language. Draw inspiration from great orators. Embrace your inner orator! Make a lasting impact with your words.

Importance of Effective Speech Delivery

Delivering a speech effectively is essential for capturing the audience’s attention and getting your message across. Here are 4 key reasons why:

• Engagement: Deliver your speech in an engaging way and your listeners will stay hooked until the end. This ensures that your message resonates with them.
• Clarity: Delivery makes your speech clearer. This helps people understand your words and the main points of your message.
• Persuasion: Good delivery has a persuasive effect. Use the right tone, gestures, and body language to establish a connection with the audience and sway them towards your viewpoint.
• Rapport-building: Effective delivery builds a rapport between you and the audience. Your confident demeanor builds trust and engagement.

It is also important to remember that delivery requires practice and preparation. Pay attention to vocal variety, pacing, enunciation, body posture, and gestures.

Take Tony Robbins as an example – he once gave an inspiring speech that changed the lives of many. His passion filled every word and the crowd was entranced. By delivering the speech with such passion and conviction, Tony Robbins inspired and empowered the audience, leaving a lasting impact on their lives.

Preparing for Speech Delivery

Maximize potential as a speaker and successfully convey your message with this 6-step guide on prepared speech delivery . Follow these steps:

• Determine the purpose and select the topic .
• Research for relevant information and supportive evidence .
• Create an outline, using headings and subheadings .
• Craft an attention-grabbing intro and clearly state the purpose .
• Follow with a coherent presentation of main points and examples .
• Incorporate visuals like slides or props to enhance understanding .
• Lastly, practice delivery techniques like pacing, modulation, body language, and eye contact . Get feedback from others to refine further.

Don’t forget to refine language for the target audience. Look to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech for inspiration – a powerful, passionate, and compelling speech that captivated the audience and started a movement.

Practicing Speech Delivery

Learn the art of speech delivery with this 6-step guide !

• Prep : Research & gather info. Organize thoughts and make an outline.
• Warm-up : Do vocal exercises like breathing, tongue twisters & scales.
• Memorize : Get key points down. Practice without notes or prompts.
• Body Language : Check your facial expressions, gestures & posture in a mirror.
• Rehearse : Keep increasing the speed & emphasize important words.
• Feedback : Get constructive criticism from trusted people. Join a club to practice.

Remember, each individual has a unique style. Embrace it & stay open to learning opportunities.

True History: Winston Churchill was a master of speech delivery . His powerful speeches during WWII motivated & inspired the UK. He was meticulous in his prep & used rhetorical devices to great effect. His speech delivery had a major impact on history.

Techniques for Effective Speech Delivery

Speech delivery is key to captivating your audience and getting your message across. To master the skill, here are three techniques to enhance it:

• Body Language: Move and gesture purposefully to engage the audience. Use hand and facial expressions to emphasize points and convey emotions. Stand tall and keep an open posture.
• Vocal Range and Tone: Vary your pitch, volume, and tone. Pause for emphasis and modulate your voice for a dynamic flow.
• Eye Contact: Establish eye contact with your audience to build trust. Look at individuals or small groups. Make your speech personal and persuasive.

Remember, successful speech delivery goes beyond words. To perfect it, rehearse in front of a mirror or record yourself. Practice makes perfect!

Also Read: Find Your Passion: A Path to Self-Discovery and Fulfillment

Overcoming Nervousness

Nerves can trip up even the most eloquent speakers, but with a few effective strategies, you can conquer them. Preparing is key. Invest time in practicing your speech and knowing it backwards and forwards. This will build confidence and reduce nervousness.

Visualize success too. Imagine you’re delivering an awesome speech to a captivated audience. This exercise helps create positive thoughts and boosts your assurance.

Controlled breathing is invaluable for fighting nerves. Slow, deep breaths can soothe the mind and relax the body. Taking care of yourself – like getting enough sleep, eating well and exercising – also helps reduce anxiety.

Let me share an inspiring story. A young executive was set to give a presentation to lots of industry experts. Despite feeling jittery beforehand, she practiced and rehearsed her speech. On the day, she focused on visualizing success and took deep breaths for inner calmness. As she spoke confidently and connected with the audience, her nerves vanished. By using these strategies, she conquered her nerves and gave an outstanding performance.

As this tale shows, conquering nervousness isn’t impossible. With dedication, visualization exercises, controlled breathing and self-care – anyone can beat their anxiety and speak confidently. Remember everyone gets nervous sometimes – how we manage it makes us stand out as confident speakers.

Tips for Captivating the Audience

To captivate your listeners , you need effective speech delivery! Here are some tips to try:

• Be personal: Relate to the audience with anecdotes or experiences.
• Use body language: Use gestures, facial expressions, and posture to make your message more impactful.
• Tell stories: Storytelling adds emotion and helps the audience understand your message better.
• Use visual aids: Slides or props can add visual interest and comprehension to your speech.
• Pause for emphasis: Pauses give time to reflect, create suspense, and highlight important points.

Adapt your speech to meet the needs of your listeners. And don’t forget the power of humor! Incorporate tasteful humor at appropriate moments to keep engagement high.

Did you know? Visuals can increase information retention in the audience by a whopping 400%!

Also Read: Top 100 Commonly Used A to Z Phrasal Verbs for English Fluency

For great speech delivery, it’s important to practice and plan. Engage the audience with body language, vocal variation, and clear pronunciation . Incorporate visuals and tech to boost the impact of the speech. Adapt to the audience’s needs and interests to keep their attention. Remember that practice makes perfect!

To make it unique, include storytelling techniques to engage the audience emotionally. Use rhetorical devices like similes and metaphors . Also, adjust pacing and rhythm for emphasis.

We recall an inspiring incident involving Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, inspired millions. His voice and powerful message advocating for racial equality captivated the audience. His ability to connect emotionally, through vivid language and imagery, showcases the power of effective speech delivery. Know More – The Fluent Life

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What are some tips for effective speech delivery? A: Some tips for effective speech delivery include practicing beforehand, using body language and gestures, speaking clearly and confidently, and engaging the audience through eye contact.

Q2: How can I improve my speaking voice for better speech delivery? A: To improve your speaking voice, you can try exercises like breathing techniques, vocal warm-ups, and speaking with proper posture. It is also helpful to listen to and mimic good speakers to develop your own style.

Q3: How do I overcome nervousness when delivering a speech?| A: To overcome nervousness when delivering a speech , you can prepare well in advance, practice in front of a mirror or with a supportive audience, focus on your message rather than your fear, and use relaxation techniques such as deep breathing.

Q4: What are some common mistakes to avoid during speech delivery? A: Some common mistakes to avoid during speech delivery include speaking too fast or too slow, using excessive filler words like um or uh, reading directly from notes instead of engaging with the audience, and lacking enthusiasm or energy in delivery.

Q5: How can I keep the audience engaged during my speech? A: To keep the audience engaged during your speech, you can use storytelling, humor, visual aids, rhetorical questions, and interactive elements like asking for volunteers or involving the audience in small activities. It is also important to maintain a confident and enthusiastic delivery.

Q6: What are effective ways to conclude a speech for a strong impact?

A: Effective ways to conclude a speech for a strong impact include summarizing key points, providing a memorable closing statement or call-to-action, using inspirational quotes or stories, and leaving the audience with a thought-provoking question or idea to ponder upon.

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How to Write a Speech to Engage your Audience

February 19, 2021 - Dom Barnard

In order to write a speech, you need to think about your audience, the required length, and the purpose or topic. This is true whether you are writing a wedding speech, conference presentation, investor pitch, or any other type of speech.

Being a great speech writer can help you get a promotion, motivate people, sell a business idea, persuade others and much more – it’s an essential skill in the modern world. In this article, we cover key tips for writing a speech.

Initial planning – Why? Who? What?

You should invest time strategically considering the speech. This will help you decide on the key message and content about your topic. Here are some points to consider.

• What do I want to achieve?
• When I achieve this, what will that do for me?
• Why am I speaking?
• What is the purpose of this speech?
• Who are the audience and who do they represent?
• Who do I represent?
• What do I know about them? (culture, language, level of expertise)
• How much influence do they have?
• What is the main message and key points?
• What specific action is implied?
• What level of information should I include?
• What is important to them?

Popular speech structure

You need to catch the audience attention early, very early (see section below). Deliver a memorable beginning, a clear middle and structured ending.

Popular speech structure:

• Explanation 1
• Explanation 2
• Explanation 3

Secondary Point (Optional: supports main)

Tertiary Point (Optional: supports secondary and main)

Attention span of your audience

Research shows that attention span is greatest at the beginning of a speech, reduces considerably during the middle of your speech and picks up again towards the end when your audience know you about to finish.

Don’t try to put too many ideas into your speech. Research shows that people remember very little from speeches, so just give them one or two ideas to hang onto.

These two articles explain audience attention span in more detail, and how to write a speech to extend it:

• How many minutes is the audience’s attention span?
• What to do when you’re losing your audience

Speech introduction

Make sure your opening few seconds are memorable as this is when your audience will make up their minds about you. Use a bold sentence to grab their attention, works best with numbers reinforcing your point.

An example sentence might be – “After this speech, I’m confident 50% of you will go out and buy a VR headset.” Follow these tips on how to write a speech intro:

Remember the INTRO model

This is more focused on presentations but sections can be applied broadly to other general speeches.

1. Interest

You: Introduce yourself confidently and clearly Audience: Why should I listen to you?

You: Remind the audience the reasons for this speech Audience: What’s in it for me?

You: State length of speech at beginning, “Over the next 15 minutes” Audience: How long until I can get a coffee?

4. Routemap

You: State the main points, “Today I’m going to cover 4 main points” Audience: Which sections of the speech are important to me?

5. Objectives

You: Clearly state the objective, “By the end of this speech, I would like to…” Audience: So that’s what you want from me today…

Example: Great speech opening

This speech opening is by Jamie Oliver, giving a TED talk on teaching every child about food.

Sadly, in the next 18 minutes when I do our chat, four Americans that are alive will be dead through the food that they eat. My name’s Jamie Oliver. I’m 34 years old. I’m from Essex in England and for the last seven years I’ve worked fairly tirelessly to save lives in my own way. I’m not a doctor; I’m a chef, I don’t have expensive equipment or medicine. I use information, education. I profoundly believe that the power of food has a primal place in our homes that binds us to the best bits of life. We have an awful, awful reality right now. America, you’re at the top of your game. This is one of the most unhealthy countries in the world.

How not to open your speech

Avoid the following opening comments:

• “ Apologies, I’m a little nervous about speaking ” – no need to make the audience aware of this, it will make them focus on how nervous you are instead of what you are saying
• “ I’ve got the graveyard shift ” – you are telling people not to expect much
• “ I’m what stands between you and lunch ” – even if people weren’t thinking it, after this comment, all they are thinking of is when will you finish so they can eat
• “ We are running late, so I’ll do my best to explain… ” – instead of this, state how long your speech will take so that people know when they will be leaving

Middle of the speech

The body of your speech is where the majority of the information is. The audience has been introduced to the subject and reasons for the speech. Now you need to present your arguments and examples, data, illustrations backing up your key message.

How to write a speech body can be difficult, the best way to build this section is to write down three points you are trying to convey in your speech, your main, secondary and tertiary points. Then write down three descriptions clarifying each of these points. The descriptions should be simple, memorable and meaningful.

The middle of your speech is where the audience start losing attention. Keep this in mind and ensure your message is clear. Use images, jokes and rhetoric questions to keep the audience engaged.

Don’t overwhelm your audience with many points. It is much more valuable to make a small number of points well, than to have too many points which aren’t made satisfactorily.

Obama and his speeches

Obama’s speeches are well prepared with a focus on powerful words “A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things“. His speeches use simple language and quotes from famous speeches his listeners can relate to.

For additional trademark Obama techniques, check out  How Barack Obama prepares his speeches.

How to end a speech

Similar to the opening, your closing statements should be impactful, re-stating the key message of your speech. We advise learning your ending few lines word for word. The ending is an opportunity to:

• Leave the audience with a lasting impression of your speech
• Summarise the main points
• Provide further ideas and discussion points for the audience to take away with them
• Thank the audience for taking the time to listen

Methods to end your speech

Quotation Close  – use a famous quote to get the audience’s attention and create a link to your speech.

Bookend Close  – refer back to an opening statement and repeat it or add a few extra words to elaborate on it.

Open Question  – ask the audience a provocative question or a call to action to perform some task on the back of your speech.

For additional tips on how to write a speech, in particular how to close your speech, read:

• 5 great ways to end a speech
• 10 ways to end your speech with a bang
• Presentations: language expert – signposting

Ideas for ending a speech

• Key message
• Refer to opening impact statement
• Objectives met
• Call to action
• End on an Up

Step-by-step process for writing a speech

Here’s how to write your speech from concept to completion.

• Outline your speech’s structure. What are the main ideas for each section?
• Write out the main ideas in your outline. Don’t worry about making it perfect – just write as much of it down as you can
• Edit and polish what you’ve written until you have a good first draft of your speech
• Now you need to practice and  memorize your speech . The more you practice, the more you’ll figure out which sections need changing. You’ll also get an idea of length and if you need to extend / shorten it.
• Update your speech, practice some more, and revise your speech until it has a great flow and you feel comfortable with it.

Classic speech transcripts

One of the best ways for learning how to write a speech is reading other well written ones. Here are a list of famous speeches to read and learn from:

• Bill Gates TED Talk Transcript from 2015: Warns of Pandemics, Epidemics
• Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg Commencement Speech at Harvard 2014
• Ronald Reagan Memorial Day Speech Transcript 1984
• I Have Been to the Mountaintop Speech Transcript – Martin Luther King Jr.

Module 6: Organizing and Outlining Your Speech

Methods of speech delivery, learning objectives.

Identify the four types of speech delivery methods and when to use them.

There are four basic methods of speech delivery: manuscript, memorized, impromptu, and extemporaneous. We’ll look at each method and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.

A manuscript page from President George W. Bush’s address to the nation on the day of the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

A manuscript speech is when the speaker writes down every word they will speak during the speech. When they deliver the speech, they have each word planned and in front of them on the page, much like a newscaster who reads from a teleprompter.

The advantage of using a manuscript is that the speaker has access to every word they’ve prepared in advance. There is no guesswork or memorization needed. This method comforts some speakers’ nerves as they don’t have to worry about that moment where they might freeze and forget what they’ve planned to say. They also are able to make exact quotes from their source material.

When the exact wording of an idea is crucial, speakers often read from a manuscript, for instance in communicating public statements from a company.

However, the disadvantage with a manuscript is that the speakers have MANY words in front of them on the page. This prohibits one of the most important aspects of delivery, eye contact. When many words are on the page, the speakers will find themselves looking down at those words more frequently because they will need the help. If they do look up at the audience, they often cannot find their place when the eye returns to the page. Also, when nerves come into play, speakers with manuscripts often default to reading from the page and forget that they are not making eye contact or engaging their audience. Therefore, manuscript is a very difficult delivery method and not ideal.  Above all, the speakers should remember to rehearse with the script so that they practice looking up often.

Public Speaking in History

The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, owed in large part to a momentary error made by an East German government spokesperson. At a live press conference, Günter Schabowski tried to explain new rules relaxing East Germany’s severe travel restrictions. A reporter asked, “when do these new rules go into effect?” Visibly flustered, Schabowski said, “As far as I know, it takes effect immediately, without delay.” In fact, the new visa application procedure was supposed to begin the following day, and with a lot of bureaucracy and red tape. Instead, thousands of East Berliners arrived within minutes at the border crossings, demanding to pass through immediately. The rest is history.

The outcome of this particular public-relations blunder was welcomed by the vast majority of East and West German citizens, and hastened the collapse of communism in Eastern and Central Europe. It’s probably good, then, that Schabowski ran this particular press conference extemporaneously, rather than reading from a manuscript.

You can view the transcript for “The mistake that toppled the Berlin Wall” here (opens in new window) .

A memorized speech is also fully prepared in advance and one in which the speaker does not use any notes. In the case of an occasion speech like a quick toast, a brief dedication, or a short eulogy, word-for-word memorization might make sense. Usually, though, it doesn’t involve committing each and every word to memory, Memorizing a speech isn’t like memorizing a poem where you need to remember every word exactly as written. Don’t memorize a manuscript! Work with your outline instead. Practice with the outline until you can recall the content and order of your main points without effort. Then it’s just a matter of practicing until you’re able to elaborate on your key points in a natural and seamless manner. Ideally, a memorized speech will sound like an off-the-cuff statement by someone who is a really eloquent speaker and an exceptionally organized thinker!

The advantage of a memorized speech is that the speaker can fully face their audience and make lots of eye contact. The problem with a memorized speech is that speakers may get nervous and forget the parts they’ve memorized. Without any notes to lean on, the speaker may hesitate and leave lots of dead air in the room while trying to recall what was planned. Sometimes, the speaker can’t remember or find his or her place in the speech and are forced to go get the notes or go back to the PowerPoint in some capacity to try to trigger his or her memory. This can be an embarrassing and uncomfortable moment for the speaker and the audience, and is a moment which could be easily avoided by using a different speaking method.

How to: memorize a speech

There are lots of tips out there about how to memorize speeches. Here’s one that loosely follows an ancient memorization strategy called the method of loci or “memory palace,” which uses visualizations of familiar spatial environments in order to enhance the recall of information.

You can view the transcript for “How to Memorize a Speech” here (opens in new window) .

An impromptu speech is one for which there is little to no preparation. There is often not a warning even that the person may be asked to speak. For example, your speech teacher may ask you to deliver a speech on your worst pet peeve. You may or may not be given a few minutes to organize your thoughts. What should you do? DO NOT PANIC. Even under pressure, you can create a basic speech that follows the formula of an introduction, body, and conclusion. If you have a few minutes, jot down some notes that fit into each part of the speech. (In fact, the phrase “speaking off the cuff,” which means speaking without preparation, probably refers to the idea that one would jot a few notes on one’s shirt cuff before speaking impromptu.) [1] ) An introduction should include an attention getter, introduction of the topic, speaker credibility, and forecasting of main points. The body should have two or three main points. The conclusion should have a summary, call to action, and final thought. If you can organize your thoughts into those three parts, you will sound like a polished speaker. Even if you only hit two of them, it will still help you to think about the speech in those parts. For example, if a speech is being given on a pet peeve of chewed gum being left under desks in classrooms, it might be organized like this.

• Introduction : Speaker chews gum loudly and then puts it under a desk (attention getter, demonstration). Speaker introduces themselves and the topic and why they’re qualified to speak on it (topic introduction and credibility). “I’m Katie Smith and I’ve been a student at this school for three years and witnessed this gum problem the entire time.”
• Body : Speaker states three main points of why we shouldn’t leave gum on desks: it’s rude, it makes custodians have to work harder, it affects the next student who gets nastiness on their seat (forecast of order). Speaker then discusses those three points
• Conclusion : Speaker summarizes those three points (summary, part 1 of conclusion), calls on the audience to pledge to never do this again (call to action), and gives a quote from Michael Jordan about respecting property (final thought).

While an impromptu speech can be challenging, the advantage is that it can also be thrilling as the speaker thinks off the cuff and says what they’re most passionate about in the moment. A speaker should not be afraid to use notes during an impromptu speech if they were given any time to organize their thoughts.

The disadvantage is that there is no time for preparation, so finding research to support claims such as quotes or facts cannot be included. The lack of preparation makes some speakers more nervous and they may struggle to engage the audience due to their nerves.

Extemporaneous

The last method of delivery we’ll look at is extemporaneous. When speaking extemporaneously, speakers prepare some notes in advance that help trigger their memory of what they planned to say. These notes are often placed on notecards. A 4”x6” notecard or 5”x7” size card works well. This size of notecards can be purchased at any office supply store. Speakers should determine what needs to go on each card by reading through their speech notes and giving themselves phrases to say out loud. These notes are not full sentences, but help the speakers, who turn them into a full sentence when spoken aloud. Note that if a quote is being used, listing that quote verbatim is fine.

The advantage of extemporaneous speaking is that the speakers are able to speak in a more conversational tone by letting the cards guide them, but not dictate every word they say. This method allows for the speakers to make more eye contact with the audience. The shorter note forms also prevent speakers from getting lost in their words. Numbering these cards also helps if one gets out of order. Also, these notes are not ones the teacher sees or collects. While you may be required to turn in your speech outline, your extemporaneous notecards are not seen by anyone but you. Therefore, you can also write yourself notes to speak up, slow down, emphasize a point, go to the next slide, etc.

The disadvantage to extemporaneous is the speakers may forget what else was planned to say or find a card to be out of order. This problem can be avoided through rehearsal and double-checking the note order before speaking.

Many speakers consider the extemporaneous method to be the ideal speaking method because it allows them to be prepared, keeps the audience engaged, and makes the speakers more natural in their delivery. In your public speaking class, most of your speeches will probably be delivered extemporaneously.

• As per the Oxford English Dictionary' s entry for "Off the Cuff." See an extensive discussion at Mark Liberman's Language Log here: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4130 ↵
• Method of loci definition. Provided by : Wikipedia. Located at : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• The mistake that toppled the Berlin Wall. Provided by : Vox. Located at : https://youtu.be/Mn4VDwaV-oo . License : Other . License Terms : Standard YouTube License
• How to Memorize a Speech. Authored by : Memorize Academy. Located at : https://youtu.be/rvBw__VNrsc . License : Other . License Terms : Standard YouTube License
• Address to the Nation. Provided by : U.S. National Archives. Located at : https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2011/09/06/911-an-address-to-the-nation/ . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright
• Methods of Speech Delivery. Authored by : Misti Wills with Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

How To Write A Speech That Inspires You Audience: 13 Steps

Learn how to write a speech that will effectively reach your audience.

A good speech is a powerful tool. Effective speeches make people powerful, whether in the hands of a world leader trying to get people to believe their ideology or in the mouth of a teacher trying to inspire students. A well-written speech can lift the hearts of a nation in times of war, inspire people to action when complacency is commonplace, honor someone who has died, and even change a nation’s mind on a particular topic, which, in turn, can change history.

Excellent speech writing is a skill that you must learn. While public speaking may come naturally to some people, the sentence structure and nuances of a powerful speech are something you must learn if you are going to gain the audience’s attention.

So how can you learn how to write a speech? The writing process is a little different than the process you’d use to write a paper or essay, so here is a guide that can help.

Materials Needed

Step 1: define your purpose, step 2: determine your audience, step 3: start your research, step 4: choose the right length, step 5: create an outline, step 6: craft the introduction, step 7: write the body, step 8: use transitions, step 9: conclude your speech, step 10: add some spice, step 11. implement spoken language, step 12: edit your speech, step 13: read it out.

• Research materials
• Audience demographic information

Before you can write a speech, you must know the purpose of your speech. You can deliver many types of speeches, and the purpose will determine which one you are giving. While there may be more than these, here are some common types of speeches:

• Informative speech: An informative speech strives to educate the audience on a topic or message. This is the type of speech a teacher gives when delivering a lecture. “ First World Problems ” by Sarah Kwon is an excellent example of an informative speech.
• Entertaining speech: This speech strives to amuse the audience. These are typically short speeches with funny, personal stories woven in. A wedding guest giving a speech at a wedding may be an example of this type of speech.
• Demonstrative speech: This speech demonstrates how to do something to the audience. A company showing how to use a product is delivering this type of speech.
• Persuasive speech: This speech aims to persuade the audience of your particular opinion. Political speeches are commonly persuasive. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “ I Have a Dream ” speech is an example of a persuasive speech, as it called the government to make changes that protected civil and economic rights.
• Oratorical speech: An oratory is a formal speech at an event like a funeral or graduation. The goal is to express an opinion and inspire the audience, but not necessarily to persuade.
• Motivational speech: These speeches inspire people to take action, such as to improve themselves or to feel better and happier. For example, a coach may deliver this kind of speech to his players during halftime to inspire them to win the game. Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address is an excellent example of a motivational speech.
• Eulogy: A Eulogy is a funeral speech. This speech is given to the mourners at someone’s funeral and talks about the excellent character rates of the person who died. “ Eulogy for Rosa Parks ” is a famous example of this type of speech given by Oprah Winfrey in 2015.
• Explanatory speech: This final speech type describes a situation or item. These speeches often have step-by-step instructions on how to do a particular thing.

Your audience members are an essential part of the speech writing process. Consider taking notes about your audience before you start writing your speech. You can even make a fake audience member you are writing toward as you prepare your speech. Even though they do not directly impact what you talk about, they should impact how you talk about it. Therefore, you must write your speech to reach that particular audience.

For example, if you are writing a speech for an audience that does not agree with you, you will need to bring more facts and figures to persuade them of your opinion. On the other hand, if you are writing a speech for an audience already on your side, you must encourage them to hold the line. To get to know your audience, consider factors like:

• Income level
• Pain points
• Questions they might ask

Before you outline or write your speech, you must know some facts about the big idea or speech topic. So perform some research, and take notes. See if you can find any new or surprising information in your research. If it was new and surprising, it also might be to your audience members. You can use this research to make the essential points of your piece.

Finally, know the required length of your speech. Speeches usually have time limits, not word count limits. You will need to know the desired length before you can start writing the speech, or you will end up with a speech that is too long or too short. The length of your speech will vary depending on where you are giving it and who your audience is.

Generally, a 20-minute speech is standard when delivering a speech to adults in a professional or academic setting. However, if you are a student who is preparing a speech for a classroom, you may be limited to three to five minutes. Sometimes speakers will get booked to take on a 60-minute session, but if you talk for 60 minutes, you will lose the attention of some of your audience members.

Remember, some of the most famous speeches in history are very short. President Abraham Lincoln’s “ Gettysburg Address ” was less than 300 words long and took less than two minutes to deliver. President Franklin Roosevelt’s “ Day of Infamy ” speech lasted less than 10 minutes. However, knowing your speech’s length can be challenging after you prepare it. Generally, a double-spaced page of writing will take about 90 seconds to speak. Thus, a 20-minute speech will take about 13 typed, double-spaced pages if you type out your entire speech.

Consider using a words-to-minutes calculator to determine how long your speech likely is. Remember that the average English speaker speaks 140 words a minute. You may get up to 170 words a minute if you speak fast. If your speech is slow, it may be as little as 110 words a minute.

Now you are ready to start writing. Before you write a speech, you must create an outline. Some public speakers will speak from an outline alone, while others will write their speech word-for-word. Both strategies can lead to a successful speech, but both also start with an outline. Your speech’s outline will follow this template:

• Introduction: Introduces your main idea and hooks the reader’s attention.
• Body: Covers two to three main points with transitions.
• Conclusion: Summarizes the speech’s points and drive home your main message.

As you fill in these areas, answer these questions: Who? What? Why? and How? This will ensure you cover all the essential elements your listeners need to hear to understand your topic. Next, make your outline as detailed as you can. Organize your research into points and subpoints. The more detail on your outline, the easier it will be to write the speech and deliver it confidently.

As you prepare your speech, your introduction is where you should spend the most time and think. You only have moments to capture your audience’s attention or see them zone out in front of you. However, if you do it right, you will cause them to turn to you for more information on the topic. In other words, the introduction to a speech may be the most memorable part, so it deserves your attention. Therefore, you must have three main parts:

• Hook: The hook is a rhetorical question, funny story, personal anecdote, or shocking statistic that grabs the listener’s attention and shows them why your speech is worth listening to.
• Thesis: This is your main idea or clear point.
• Road map: You will want to preview your speech outline in the introduction.

Here is an example of a good introduction for a persuasive speech from Jamie Oliver’s TED Talk about children and food:

“Sadly, in the next 18 minutes when I do our chat, four Americans that are alive will be dead from the food that they eat.”

This shocking statistic gets the audience’s attention immediately. In his speech, Oliver details why America’s food choices are so poor, how it affects them, and how we can teach children to do better.

Here is an example of an informative speech about pollution and what can be done about it. This introduction follows the template perfectly.

“I want you to close your eyes for a minute and picture a beautiful oceanfront. The sound of the waves crashing on the sand while seagulls fly overhead. Do you have it? Now I am going to say one word that will destroy that image: Pollution. What changed in your mental picture? Do you now see sea turtles with bottles on their head or piles of debris washing on shore? Marine pollution is a massive problem because plastic does not decompose. Not only does it use up many resources to create, but it rarely gets disposed of properly. We must protect our natural areas, like that beautiful beach. Today I am going to show you how destructive the effects of plastic can be, how it is managing our natural resources, and what steps we can take to improve the situation.”

Now you are ready to write the body of your speech. Draw from your research and flesh out the points stated in your introduction. As you create your body, use short sentences. People can’t listen as long as they can read, so short and sweet sentences are most effective. Continuing the theme of the marine pollution speech, consider this body paragraph.

“You might be thinking plastic isn’t a big deal. Let’s think for a minute that you’re at the beach drinking bottled water. According to “The Problem with Plastic,” an article by Hannah Elisbury, one out of every six plastic water bottles ends up in recycling. The rest become landfill fodder. Worse, many get dropped in nature. Perhaps you are packing up at the end of your beach trip and forget to grab your bottle. Maybe your kid is buried in the sand. Now it’s adding pollutants to the water. That water becomes part of the drinking water supply. It also becomes part of the fish you eat at your favorite seafood restaurant. Just one bottle has big consequences.”

As you write the body, don’t stress making every word perfect. You will revise it later. The main goal is to get your ideas on paper or screen. This body paragraph is effective for two reasons. First, the audience members likely use water bottles, which resonates with them. Second, she uses a resource and names it, which gives your work authority.

It would be best to use transitions to move from each speech section. This keeps the audience engaged and interested. In addition, the transitions should naturally merge into the next section of the speech without abruptness. To transition between points or ideas, use transition words. Some examples include:

• Coupled with
• Following this
• Additionally
• Comparatively
• Correspondingly
• Identically
• In contrast
• For example

You can also use sequence words, like first, second, third, etc., to give the idea of transition from one thought to the next. Make sure your speech has several transition words to drive it through to completion and to keep the audience engaged.

In his speech “ Their Finest Hour ,” Winston Churchill uses transitions well. Here is an excerpt from his conclusion:

“ But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Therefore, let us brace ourselves to our duties and bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”

Notice that he uses “therefore,” “so,” and “but.” Each of these transition words effectively moves the speech along.

Your conclusion needs to restate your thesis but differently. It should personalize the speech to the audience, restate your main points and state any key takeaways. Finally, it should leave the audience with a thought to ponder.

Here are some practical ways to end a speech:

• Use a story
• Read a poem
• State an inspirational quote
• Summarize the main points
• Deliver a call to action

Here are some examples of fantastic conclusions:

• Here is an excellent example of a concluding statement for an inspirational graduation speech: “As you graduate, you will face great challenges, but you will also have great opportunities. By embracing all that you have learned here, you will meet them head-on. The best is yet to come!”
• A CEO that is trying to inspire his workforce might conclude a speech like this: “While the past year had challenges and difficulties, I saw you work through them and come out ahead. As we move into the next year, I am confident we will continue to excel. Let’s join hands, and together this can be the best year in company history!”
• In “T he Speech to Go to the Moon, ” President Kennedy concluded this way: “ Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, “Because it is there. Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.” Many speechwriters say something like “in conclusion” or “that’s all I have for you today.” This is not necessary. Saying “in conclusion” could cause your audience to stop listening as they anticipate the end of the speech, and stating that you have said all you need to say is just unnecessary.

Now that you have the basic structure, you’re ready to add some spice to your speech. Remember, you aren’t reading a research essay. Instead, you are making an exciting and engaging spoken presentation. Here are some ideas:

• Consider giving your speech some rhythm. For example, change the wording, so it has a pace and cadence.
• Work to remove a passive voice from your sentences where possible. Active speaking is more powerful than passive.
• Use rhetorical questions throughout because they make the listener stop and think for a moment about what you are saying.
• Weave some quotes into your speech. Pulling famous words from other people will make your speech more interesting.
• Where possible, use personal stories. This helps your audience engage with you as the speaker while keeping the speech interesting.

You may not use all of these ideas in your speech, but find some that will work for the type of speech you plan to give. They will make it more exciting and help keep listeners engaged in what you are saying.

Writing a speech is not like writing a paper. While you want to sound educated with proper grammar , you need to write in the way you speak. For many people, this is much different from the way they write. Not only will you use short sentences, but you will also use:

• Familiar vocabulary: This is not the time to start adding scientific terminology to the mix or jargon for your industry that the audience won’t understand. Use familiar vocabulary.
• Transitions: Already discussed, but spoken language uses many transition words. Your speech should, too.
• Personal pronouns: “You” and “I” are acceptable in a speech but not in academic writing.
• Colloquialisms: Colloquialisms are perfectly acceptable in a speech, provided the audience would readily understand them.
• Contractions: We use contractions when we speak, so we also use them in speeches, while some writing platforms and assignments do not allow them.
• Repetition: Repeating words and phrases makes them memorable. This helps emphasize the main ideas and works well in speeches.

Now you are ready to edit your speech. Remember, spoken language is acceptable, but grammar errors may not be ideal. As you edit, pay attention to the length of sentences. Shorten any long ones. Also, watch for those transition words. Add them in if you need to. Remember, a well-written speech takes time. Put in the effort to revise and improve it, and you will be rewarded with an effective speech that is easy to deliver. If you still need help, our guide to grammar and syntax explains more.

Now that you have written your speech, you are ready to read it. Read it out loud at your average speaking speed, and time yourself. This will tell you if you are within your allotted time limit. However, reading it has another benefit. When you read the piece, you can determine if it flows smoothly. You may catch grammar issues or poor transitions that you can change. Look for places where the speech may be hard to speak and adjust those sentences to make them more accessible.

After you update the speech, practice it again. Reading it, revising it, rereading it, and repeating it will help you create a speech that flows well. This process will also help you become familiar with the speech so you can deliver it confidently when your speaking engagement comes.

Looking for inspiration? Read our round-up of argumentative essays !

Nicole Harms has been writing professionally since 2006. She specializes in education content and real estate writing but enjoys a wide gamut of topics. Her goal is to connect with the reader in an engaging, but informative way. Her work has been featured on USA Today, and she ghostwrites for many high-profile companies. As a former teacher, she is passionate about both research and grammar, giving her clients the quality they demand in today's online marketing world.

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How to Prepare for a Speech: Strategies for a Successful Speech

Are you nervous about your first public speaking experience?

Or are you excited and can't wait to express your thoughts to the audience?

Whatever the case, it is crucial to learn how to prepare for a speech so you can deliver a successful, heartfelt oration.

Whether speaking in a seminar, a board meeting, or a classroom, the better you prepare, the more confident you feel.

So, what are different useful strategies that can help you prepare better? Let's find out!

Things to Consider Before Preparing the Speech

There is a lot more that goes into preparing a speech than simply writing some notes and reading them out loud in front of the audience.

Here are some crucial things to consider before starting to write your speech.

Learn Your Audience

Knowing your target audience is essential to prepare an excellent speech that adequately conveys its message. You first need to check where you will deliver the speech and who your audience is. 

Learn about your audience's different backgrounds and cultures . Avoid making cultural remarks during the speech, as what seems insignificant to you may stir others' emotions.

Try to find out their interests to make your speech light and relatable. Find out the age range of your audience. Speaking to young students requires a different game plan than speaking to experienced professionals.

Learn about the audience's knowledge and expertise on the subject of the speech. Is it something new, or are they well-versed on the subject?

It is best to avoid using thick jargon if the audience is inexperienced and new to the field, whereas with an experienced audience, you can take things to the next level.

Knowing your audience will also help you include relatable experiences from your own life, making the speech more interesting and fun to listen to.

Furthermore, from the audience's point of view, there must be a reason to listen to someone speak. In essence, you have to make sure that the speech you're going to give will offer value to the audience and their current situations. This feeds directly into the next point.

Understand the Purpose of Speech

What do you wish to achieve with this speech? What message do you need to deliver? The answer to these questions will help you shape your speech.

Take your audience on a step-by-step journey with your speech, and in the end, ensure they understand your end goal.

Sometimes, you want to deliver specific messages as is, whereas other times, you only wish to convey a thought-provoking speech.

Knowing the purpose or purposes of the speech will help you include interesting and relatable anecdotes that draw the audience's interest.

Try Out the Speaking Medium Beforehand

Technological advancements have touched every medium. You may present the speech to your audience face to face or via a virtual medium .

For instance, in the recent past, many companies and organizations conducted their conferences, meetings, and interviews via Zoom .

It is best to know what your speaking medium is beforehand. Knowing whether you will be presenting on the stage in front of a live audience, speaking via video platform, or going on the TV or radio can help you prepare accordingly.

Calculate the Duration of Your Speech

Knowing the duration of the speech is essential to prepare a targeted, engaging speech. The preparation for an hour-long speech is different from that of a five-minute-long speech.

Knowing the time duration will help you understand how many anecdotes, interesting facts, or examples you can include and how to structure your speech, so you keep the audience's attention throughout.

How to Prepare for a Speech

Next comes up writing the speech. A speech consists of the introduction of the subject, the main body, and a conclusion. 

An engaging and meaningful speech contains a mix of facts, statistics, interesting anecdotes, fun phrases, and loads of relatable content. Here are a few easy and valuable tips for writing a powerful speech.

Step #1: Thoroughly Research Your Topic

A full grasp of the topic is essential to delivering a successful speech . Knowing every detail of the subject matter will give you the confidence to stand in front of your audience.

Whether you are presenting as a student in your classroom or as a president in your board meeting, the topic's knowledge will give you authority over the listeners. The same goes for presenting a subject with other group members.

You must thoroughly know the issue, whether you are presenting the introductory, central, or concluding parts of the speech. This knowledge will also help you later in the question/ answer session.

Step #2: Start With an Interesting Story or Question

Capture your audience's attention with an enticing and ear-catching introduction. Avoid going straight up to introduce your subject. Instead, start your speech with something fun, light, and breezy. 

You can share an interesting fact, include any amusing little personal incident, or propose a mind-boggling idea.

The first few minutes of your speech are essential as they can make or break the audience's attention to what comes ahead. Deliver the most important pointers of your speech within this period and let the audience know they are in for a treat.

You might also like: 10 Engaging Ways to Start a Speech

Step #3: Take the Hook Down the Body of the Speech

Indeed, the first impression is the last impression . But all the high of the attention-grabbing introduction can go down the drain if the body of the speech lacks meaning, pull, and purpose.

Hence, it is necessary to give every part of your speech equal importance during preparation and at the time of delivery as well.

You will present your speech's main idea or purpose in the body. Therefore, you must make your content clear, easy to understand, intentional, and well-organized. Avoid adding unnecessary information.

Here's how to ensure the body of your speech is as good as your introduction.

How to Ensure Interest in Your Speech

• Make a String of Ideas : Create a chain of thoughts leading to the main idea or purpose of the sitting. An unorganized and haphazard speech will distract your audience, and they will lose interest. Aim for this part of your speech to connect with your audience .For instance, if you are preparing for a motivational speech , then this part should allow the audience to connect with your speech emotionally. They should start thinking about the main idea and purpose of this speech.
• Be Logical and Coherent : You should be logical, to the point, and clear while introducing and connecting different concepts. Make a central connection point of additional facts, statements, and ideas in the speech, and combine them with the main topic.
• Repeat Your Main Point Several Times : Repeat your main point throughout the main body without being obvious. Let the idea sync in the back of the audience's minds. Avoid using the same words repeatedly; use synonyms or relatable analogies instead. Listening to the repetitive logic will help the audience grab the core idea.
• Avoid Adding More Than Three Points : Try adding no more than three points to make the speech simple and easy to remember. Plus, include relevant examples explaining these points. 
• Properly Arrange Different Ideas : Go through the central part of the speech and check if all the ideas or pointers are arranged systematically. The central part should take the listener on a journey that concludes with the final part of the speech.
• Write Main Part Before Introduction : The body comes next to the introduction of the speech. But it is best to research and write this part before the introduction. Writing this part will give you a clear idea of what you will say in the introduction and the conclusion.

Step #4: Remind the Audience of the Speech's Purpose in the Conclusion

A well-written and efficiently delivered speech keeps the audience captivated throughout.

If it's effectively presented, a speech hooks the listeners right from the introductory sentence, goes hand in hand through the central body, and becomes part of the memory with a great ending.

Hence, continue working on the speech's conclusion with the same zeal and effort as you have worked on the introduction and the body.

The primary purpose of the conclusion is to wrap up the whole speech. Recap your speech here and convey the main idea in simple and understandable words.

Create a little summary of the pointers you spoke about in the main body and condense them into simple phrases that the audience can remember more easily.

As stated earlier, every part of the speech holds immense significance.

So, prepare a coherent, clear, and firm conclusion . Adding lousy or unnecessary comments in this section can break the spell you created with a powerful introduction and body.

Useful Tips for Effective Delivery Style

After preparing a well-researched and well-written speech comes the delivery style. Public speaking is especially challenging for introverts and shy people. On the other hand, enthusiastic and lively people may need to tone down a little.

No matter your personality, you can confidently present before any audience after learning a few basic tips and tricks for an effective delivery style.

Work on Your Body Language

Before you even say a single word, the first thing the audience will judge you on is your body language. How you present plays a crucial role in how the audience will remember you.

Many people are naturally confident and can lead the room with their charming presence. Contrarily, many people need to work on their body language, gestures , and delivery style. Whichever category you fall into, it is essential to practice.

You can practice your speech in front of the mirror to learn how your body moves. Stand straight and upright, move around, use your hands and show your authority. Learn where you can improve and keep on practicing until you're satisfied.

Practice With Your Friends

Indeed, practicing before a mirror is a fruitful exercise; but practicing before a group of people can boost your confidence.

With this practice, you won't be overwhelmed by the live audience when you present your speech.

Moreover, this practice will help you observe the reactions of the people. Plus, your friends can give you feedback on your speech and body language .

A Toastmasters club is perfect for this.

Use Visual Aids

Visual aids such as PowerPoint slides, short videos, or pictures can help convey the message effectively.

Instead of only imagining what you are saying, the visuals aid people see what you are saying.

If you plan to use any visual aid during the speech, rehearse with them beforehand.

Maintain Eye Contact With the Audience

Look directly into the eyes of your audience when speaking. This gesture will reflect that you are confident about what you are speaking. Plus, your audience will remain engaged with your content.

The audience will lose interest if you start fumbling or looking timid. So, don't remain standing in a single place; move around, and move your eyes all over the room.

Related: Importance of Eye Contact in Public Speaking

Be Natural but Interesting With Your Voice

Use the rise and fall of your voice wisely. But try not to be overdramatic. Avoid sounding too mechanical, and use your natural tone.

Many speakers get over-excited during delivering the speech and increase their speed. Don't go too fast or too slow; neither sounds pleasant. Try to add natural pauses while speaking.

Try to add relevant expressions in your sentences using your voice. If you are asking a question, it has a question mark at the end. Similarly, when there is an exclamation mark at the end, then exclaim.

Remember Good Looks Always Grab Attention

If there is a dress code, then follow that dress code. Otherwise, be well-dressed and look smart and sharp.

If you dress up too casually or inappropriately, you will lose the audience's interest without speaking a single word.

Final Thoughts: How to Prepare for a Speech

Public speaking can be thrilling for some while difficult for others. Whether you are shy or are brilliant at expressing your thoughts, delivering a triumphant speech requires preparation.

At first, it may seem exhausting to deliver the best speech possible.

But once you get a grip of the basics of speech preparation, it will be a seamless journey ahead. Following the strategies mentioned above can help you deliver the message effectively.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

9 Delivering a Speech

Introduction

9.1 Managing Public Speaking Anxiety

Sources of speaking anxiety.

Aside from the self-reported data in national surveys that rank the fear of public speaking high for Americans, decades of research conducted by communication scholars shows that communication apprehension is common among college students (Priem & Solomon, 2009). Communication apprehension (CA) is fear or anxiety experienced by a person due to real or perceived communication with another person or persons. CA is a more general term that includes multiple forms of communication, not just public speaking. Seventy percent of college students experience some CA, which means that addressing communication anxiety in a class like the one you are taking now stands to benefit the majority of students (Priem & Solomon, 2009). Think about the jitters you get before a first date, a job interview, or the first day of school. The novelty or uncertainty of some situations is a common trigger for communication anxiety, and public speaking is a situation that is novel and uncertain for many.

Public speaking anxiety is a type of CA that produces physiological, cognitive, and behavioral reactions in people when faced with a real or imagined presentation (Bodie, 2010). Physiological responses to public speaking anxiety include increased heart rate, flushing of the skin or face, and sweaty palms, among other things. These reactions are the result of natural chemical processes in the human body. The fight or flight instinct helped early humans survive threatening situations. When faced with a ferocious saber-toothed tiger, for example, the body released adrenaline, cortisol, and other hormones that increased heart rate and blood pressure to get more energy to the brain, organs, and muscles in order to respond to the threat. We can be thankful for this evolutionary advantage, but our physiology has not caught up with our new ways of life. Our body does not distinguish between the causes of stressful situations, so facing down an audience releases the same hormones as facing down a wild beast.

Cognitive reactions to public speaking anxiety often include intrusive thoughts that can increase anxiety: “People are judging me,” “I’m not going to do well,” and “I’m going to forget what to say.” These thoughts are reactions to the physiological changes in the body but also bring in the social/public aspect of public speaking in which speakers fear being negatively judged or evaluated because of their anxiety. The physiological and cognitive responses to anxiety lead to behavioral changes. All these thoughts may lead someone to stop their speech and return to their seat or leave the classroom. Anticipating these reactions can also lead to avoidance behavior where people intentionally avoid situations where they will have to speak in public.

Addressing Public Speaking Anxiety

While we cannot stop the innate physiological reactions related to anxiety from occurring, we do have some control over how we cognitively process them and the behaviors that result. Research on public speaking anxiety has focused on three key ways to address this common issue: systematic desensitization, cognitive restructuring, and skills training (Bodie,2010).

Although systematic desensitization may sound like something done to you while strapped down in the basement of a scary hospital, it actually refers to the fact that we become less anxious about something when we are exposed to it more often (Bodie, 2010). As was mentioned earlier, the novelty and uncertainty of public speaking is a source for many people’s anxiety. So becoming more familiar with public speaking by speaking more often can logically reduce the novelty and uncertainty of it.

Systematic desensitization can result from imagined or real exposure to anxiety-inducing scenarios. In some cases, an instructor leads a person through a series of relaxation techniques. Once relaxed, the person is asked to imagine a series of scenarios including speech preparation and speech delivery. This is something you could also try to do on your own before giving a speech. Imagine yourself going through the process of preparing and practicing a speech, then delivering the speech, then returning to your seat, which concludes the scenario. Aside from this imagined exposure to speaking situations, taking a communication course like this one is a great way to engage directly in systematic desensitization. Almost all students report that they have less speaking anxiety at the end of a semester than when they started, which is at least partially due to the fact they engaged with speaking more than they would have done if they were not taking the class.

Cognitive Restructuring

Cognitive restructuring entails changing the way we think about something. A first step in restructuring how we deal with public speaking anxiety is to cognitively process through our fears to realize that many of the thoughts associated with public speaking anxiety are irrational (Allen, Hunter & Donohue, 2009). For example, people report a fear of public speaking over a fear of snakes, heights, financial ruin, or even death. It’s irrational to think that the consequences of giving a speech in public are more dire than getting bit by a rattlesnake, falling off a building, or dying. People also fear being embarrassed because they mess up. Well, you cannot literally die from embarrassment, and in reality, audiences are very forgiving and overlook or do not even notice many errors that we, as speakers, may dwell on. Once we realize that the potential negative consequences of giving a speech are not as dire as we think they are, we can move on to other cognitive restructuring strategies.

Communication-orientation modification therapy (COM therapy) is a type of cognitive restructuring that encourages people to think of public speaking as a conversation rather than a performance (Motley, 2009). Many people have a performance-based view of public speaking. This can easily be seen in the language that some students use to discuss public speaking. They say that they “rehearse” their speech, deal with “stage fright,” then “perform” their speech on a “stage.” There is no stage at the front of the classroom; it is a normal floor. To get away from a performance orientation, we can reword the previous statements to say that they “practice” their speech, deal with “public speaking anxiety,” then “deliver” their speech from the front of the room. Viewing public speaking as a conversation also helps with confidence. After all, you obviously have some conversation skills, or you would not have made it to college. We engage in conversations every day. We do not have to write everything we are going to say out on a note card, we do not usually get nervous or anxious in regular conversations, and we are usually successful when we try. Even though we do not engage in public speaking as much, we speak to others in public all the time. Thinking of public speaking as a type of conversation helps you realize that you already have accumulated experiences and skills that you can draw from, so you are not starting from scratch.

Last, positive visualization is another way to engage in cognitive restructuring. Speaking anxiety often leads people to view public speaking negatively. They are more likely to judge a speech they gave negatively, even if it was good. They are also likely to set up negative self-fulfilling prophecies that will hinder their performance in future speeches. To use positive visualization, it is best to engage first in some relaxation exercises such as deep breathing or stretching, and then play through vivid images in your mind of giving a successful speech. Do this a few times before giving the actual speech. Students sometimes question the power of positive visualization, thinking that it sounds corny. Ask an Olympic diver what his or her coach says to do before jumping off the diving board and the answer will probably be “Coach says to image completing a perfect 10 dive.” Likewise a Marine sharpshooter would likely say his commanding officer says to imagine hitting the target before pulling the trigger. In both instances, positive visualization is being used in high-stakes situations. If it is good enough for Olympic athletes and snipers, it is good enough for public speakers.

Skills training is a strategy for managing public speaking anxiety that focuses on learning skills that will improve specific speaking behaviors. These skills may relate to any part of the speech-making process, including topic selection, research and organization, delivery, and self-evaluation. Skills training, like systematic desensitization, makes the public speaking process more familiar for a speaker, which lessens uncertainty. In addition, targeting specific areas and then improving on them builds more confidence, which can in turn lead to more improvement. Feedback is important to initiate and maintain this positive cycle of improvement. You can use the constructive criticism that you get from your instructor and peers in this class to target specific areas of improvement.

Self-evaluation is also an important part of skills training. Make sure to evaluate yourself within the context of your assignment or job and the expectations for the speech. Do not get sidetracked by a small delivery error if the expectations for content far outweigh the expectations for delivery. Combine your self-evaluation with the feedback from your instructor, boss, and/or peers to set specific and measurable goals and then assess whether or not you meet them in subsequent speeches. Once you achieve a goal, mark it off your list and use it as a confidence booster. If you do not achieve a goal, figure out why and adjust your strategies to try to meet it in the future.

Physical Relaxation Exercises

Suggestions for managing speaking anxiety typically address its cognitive and behavioral components, while the physical components are left unattended. While we cannot block these natural and instinctual responses, we can engage in physical relaxation exercises to counteract the general physical signs of anxiety caused by cortisol and adrenaline release, which include increased heart rate, trembling, flushing, high blood pressure, and speech disfluency.

Some breathing and stretching exercises release endorphins, which are your body’s natural antidote to stress hormones. Deep breathing is a proven way to release endorphins. It also provides a general sense of relaxation and can be done discretely, even while waiting to speak. In order to get the benefits of deep breathing, you must breathe into your diaphragm. The diaphragm is the muscle below your lungs that helps you breathe and stand up straight, which makes it a good muscle for a speaker to exercise. To start, breathe in slowly through your nose, filling the bottom parts of your lungs up with air. While doing this, your belly should pooch out. Hold the breath for three to five full seconds and then let it out slowly through your mouth. After doing this only a few times, many students report that they can actually feel a flooding of endorphins, which creates a brief “light-headed” feeling. Once you practice and are comfortable with the technique, you can do this before you start your speech, and no one sitting around you will even notice. You might also want to try this technique during other stressful situations. Deep breathing before dealing with an angry customer or loved one, or before taking a test, can help you relax and focus.

Stretching is another way to release endorphins. Very old exercise traditions like yoga, tai chi, and Pilates teach the idea that stretching is a key component of having a healthy mind and spirit. Exercise in general is a good stress reliever, but many of us do not have the time or willpower to do it. However, we can take time to do some stretching. Obviously, it would be distracting for the surrounding audience if a speaker broke into some planking or Pilates just before his or her speech. Simple and discrete stretches can help get the body’s energy moving around, which can make a speaker feel more balanced and relaxed. Our blood and our energy/ stress have a tendency to pool in our legs, especially when we are sitting.

Vocal Warm-Up Exercises

Vocal warm-up exercises are a good way to warm up your face and mouth muscles, which can help prevent some of the fluency issues that occur when speaking. Newscasters, singers, and other professional speakers use vocal warm-ups. I lead my students in vocal exercises before speeches, which also helps lighten the mood. We all stand in a circle and look at each other while we go through our warm-up list. For the first warm-up, we all make a motorboat sound, which makes everybody laugh. The full list of warm-ups follows and contains specific words and exercises designed to warm up different muscles and different aspects of your voice. After going through just a few, you should be able to feel the blood circulating in your face muscles more. It is a surprisingly good workout!

Top Ten Ways to Reduce Speaking Anxiety

Many factors contribute to speaking anxiety. There are also many ways to address it. The following is a list of the top ten ways to reduce speaking anxiety that I developed with my colleagues, which helps review what we have learned.

• Remember, you are not alone. Public speaking anxiety is common, so do not ignore it—confront it.
• Remember, you cannot literally “die of embarrassment.” Audiences are forgiving and understanding.
• Remember, it always feels worse than it looks.
• Take deep breaths. It releases endorphins, which naturally fight the adrenaline that causes anxiety.
• Look the part. Dress professionally to enhance confidence.
• Channel your nervousness into positive energy and motivation.
• Start your outline and research early. Better information = higher confidence.
• Practice and get feedback from a trusted source. (Do not just practice for your cat.)
• Visualize success through positive thinking.
• Prepare, prepare, prepare! Practice is a speaker’s best friend.

9.2 Delivery Methods and Practice Sessions

There are many decisions to make during the speech-making process. Making informed decisions about delivery can help boost your confidence and manage speaking anxiety. In this section, we will learn about the strengths and weaknesses of various delivery methods. We will also learn how to make the most of your practice sessions.

Delivery Methods

Different speaking occasions call for different delivery methods. While it may be acceptable to speak from memory in some situations, lengthy notes may be required in others. The four most common delivery methods are impromptu, manuscript, memorized, and extemporaneous.

Impromptu Delivery

When using impromptu delivery , a speaker has little to no time to prepare for a speech (LibreTexts, 2021). This means there is little time for research, audience analysis, organizing, and practice. For this reason, impromptu speaking often evokes higher degrees of speaking anxiety than other delivery types. Although impromptu speaking arouses anxiety, it is also a good way to build public speaking skills. Using some of the exercises for managing speaking anxiety discussed earlier in this chapter can help a speaker manage the challenges of impromptu speaking (LibreTexts, 2021). Only skilled public speakers with much experience are usually able to “pull off” an impromptu delivery without looking unprepared. Otherwise, a speaker who is very familiar with the subject matter can sometimes be a competent impromptu speaker, because their expertise can compensate for the lack of research and organizing time.

When Mark Twain famously said, “It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech,” he was jokingly pointing out the difficulties of giving a good impromptu speech, essentially saying that there is no such thing as a good impromptu speech, as good speeches take time to prepare. We do not always have the luxury of preparation, though. So when speaking impromptu, be brief, stick to what you know, and avoid rambling. Quickly organize your thoughts into an introduction, body, and conclusion. Try to determine three key ideas that will serve as the basis of your main points.

When would impromptu speaking be used? Since we have already started thinking of the similarities between public speaking and conversations, we can clearly see that most of our day-to-day interactions involve impromptu speaking. When your roommate asks you what your plans for the weekend are, you do not pull a few note cards out of your back pocket to prompt your response. This type of conversational impromptu speaking is not anxiety inducing because we are talking about our lives, experiences, or something with which we are familiar. This is also usually the case when we are asked to speak publicly with little to no advance warning.

For example, if you are at a meeting for work and you are representing the public relations department, a colleague may ask you to say a few words about a recent news story involving a public relations misstep of a competing company. In this case, you are being asked to speak on the spot because of your expertise. A competent communicator should anticipate instances like this when they might be asked to speak. Of course, being caught completely off guard or being asked to comment on something unfamiliar to you creates more anxiety. In such cases, do not pretend to know something you do not, as that may come back to hurt you later. You can usually mention that you do not have the necessary background information at that time but will follow up later with your comments.

Manuscript Delivery

Speaking from a written or printed document that contains the entirety of a speech is known as manuscript delivery . Manuscript delivery can be the best choice when a speech has complicated information and/or the contents of the speech are going to be quoted or published (LibreTexts, 2021). Despite the fact that most novice speakers are not going to find themselves in that situation, many are drawn to this delivery method because of the security they feel with having everything they are going to say in front of them. Unfortunately, the security of having every word you want to say at your disposal translates to a poorly delivered and unengaging speech (LibreTexts, 2021). Even with every word written out, speakers can still have fluency hiccups and verbal fillers as they lose their place in the manuscript or trip over their words. The alternative, of course, is that a speaker reads the manuscript the whole time, effectively cutting himself or herself off from the audience. One way to make a manuscript delivery more engaging is to use a teleprompter. Almost all politicians who give televised addresses use them.

To make the delivery seem more natural, print the speech out in a larger-than-typical font, triple-space between lines so you can easily find your place, use heavier-than-normal paper so it is easy to pick up and turn the pages as needed, and use a portfolio so you can carry the manuscript securely.

Memorized Delivery

Completely memorizing a speech and delivering it without notes is known as memorized delivery (LibreTexts, 2021). Some students attempt to memorize their speech because they think it will make them feel more confident if they do not have to look at their notes; however, when their anxiety level spikes at the beginning of their speech and their mind goes blank for a minute, many admit they should have chosen a different delivery method. When using any of the other delivery methods, speakers still need to rely on their memory. An impromptu speaker must recall facts or experiences related to their topic, and speakers using a manuscript want to have some of their content memorized so they do not read their entire speech to their audience. The problem with memorized delivery overall is that it puts too much responsibility on our memory, which we all know from experience is fallible (LibreTexts, 2021).

Even with much practice, our memories can fail. If you do opt to use memorized delivery, make sure you have several “entry points” determined, so you can pick up at spots other than the very beginning of a speech if you lose your place and have to start again. Memorized delivery is very useful for speakers who are going to be moving around during a speech when carrying notes would be burdensome. I only recommend memorized delivery in cases where the speech is short (only one to two minutes), the speech is personal (like a brief toast), or the speech will be repeated numerous times (like a tour guide’s story), and even in these cases, it may be perfectly fine to have notes. Many students think that their anxiety and/or delivery challenges will vanish if they just memorize their speech only to find that they are more anxious and have more problems.

Extemporaneous Delivery

Extemporaneous delivery entails memorizing the overall structure and main points of a speech and then speaking from keyword/key-phrase notes (LibreTexts, 2021). This delivery mode brings together many of the strengths of the previous three methods. Since you only internalize and memorize the main structure of a speech, you do not have to worry as much about the content and delivery seeming stale. Extemporaneous delivery brings in some of the spontaneity of impromptu delivery but still allows a speaker to carefully plan the overall structure of a speech and incorporate supporting materials that include key facts, quotations, and paraphrased information (LibreTexts, 2021). You can also more freely adapt your speech to fit various audiences and occasions, since not every word and sentence is predetermined. This can be especially beneficial when you deliver a speech multiple times.

When preparing a speech that you will deliver extemporaneously, you will want to start practicing your speech early and then continue to practice as you revise your content. Investing quality time and effort into the speech-outlining process helps with extemporaneous delivery. As you put together your outline, you are already doing the work of internalizing the key structure of your speech. Read parts of your outline aloud as you draft them to help ensure they are written in a way that makes sense and is easy for you to deliver.

By the time you complete the formal, full-sentence outline, you should have already internalized much of the key information in your speech. Now, you can begin practicing with the full outline. As you become more comfortable with the content of your full outline, start to convert it into your speaking outline. Take out information that you know well and replace it with a keyword or key phrase that prompts your memory. You will probably want to leave key quotes, facts, and other paraphrased information, including your verbal source citation information, on your delivery outline so you make sure to include it in your speech. Once you’ve converted your full outline into your speaking outline, practice it a few more times, making sure to take some time between each practice session so you don’t inadvertently start to memorize the speech word for word. The final product should be a confident delivery of a well-organized and structured speech that is conversational and adaptable to various audiences and occasions.

Practicing Your Speech

Practicing a speech is essential, and practice sessions can be more or less useful depending on how you approach them (Dlugan, 2008). There are three primary phases to the practice process. In the first phase, you practice as you are working through your ideas and drafting your outline. In the second, you practice for someone and get feedback (Dlugan, 2008). In the third, you put the final changes on the speech.

Start practicing your speech early, as you are working through your ideas, by reading sections aloud as you draft them into your working outline. This will help ensure your speech is fluent and sounds good for the audience. Start to envision the audience while you practice and continue to think about them throughout the practicing process. This will help minimize anxiety when you actually have them sitting in front of you. Once you have completed your research and finished a draft of your outline, you will have already practiced your speech several times, as you were putting it together. Now, you can get feedback on the speech as a whole.

You begin to solicit feedback from a trusted source in the second phase of practicing your speech (Dlugan, 2008). This is the most important phase of practicing, and the one that most speakers do not complete. Beginning speakers may be nervous to practice in front of someone. That is normal. However, review the strategies for managing anxiety discussed earlier in this chapter and try to face that anxiety. After all, you will have to face a full audience when you deliver the speech, so getting used to speaking in front of someone can only help you at this point. Choose someone who will give you constructive feedback on your speech. Before you practice for them, explain the assignment or purpose of the speech. When practicing for a classroom speech, you may even want to give the person the assignment guidelines or a feedback sheet that has some key things for them to look for. Ask them for feedback on content and delivery. Almost anyone is good at evaluating delivery, but it is more difficult to evaluate content. In addition, in most cases, the content of your speech will be account for more of your grade. Also, begin to time your speech at this point, so you can determine if it meets any time limits that you have.

In addition to practicing for a trusted source for feedback, you may want to audio or video record your speech (Dlugan, 2008). This can be useful because it provides an objective record that you can then compare with the feedback you got from your friend and to your own evaluation of your speech. The most important part of this phase is incorporating the feedback you receive into your speech. If you practice for someone, get feedback, and then do not do anything with the feedback, then you have wasted your time and theirs. Use the feedback to assess whether or not you met your speaking goals. Was your thesis supported? Was your specific purpose met? Did your speech conform to any time limits that were set? Based on your answers to these questions, you may need to make some changes to your content or delivery, so do not put this part of practicing off to the last minute. Once the content has been revised as needed, draft your speaking outline and move on to the next phase of practice.

During the third and final phase of practice, you are putting the final changes on your speech. You should be familiar with the content based on your early practice sessions. You have also gotten feedback and incorporated that feedback into the speech. Your practice sessions at this point should pre-create, as much as possible, the conditions in which you will be giving your speech. You should have your speaking outline completed so you can practice with it. It is important to be familiar with the content on your note cards or speaking outline so you will not need to rely on it so much during the actual delivery. You may also want to practice in the type of clothing you will be wearing on speech day. This can be useful if you are wearing something you do not typically wear—a suit for example—so you can see how it might affect your posture, gestures, and overall comfort level.

If possible, at least one practice session in the place you will be giving the speech can be very helpful; especially if it is a room you are not familiar with. Make sure you are practicing with any visual aids or technology you will use so you can be familiar with it and it does not affect your speech fluency. (Dlugan, 2008).Continue to time each practice round. If you are too short or too long, you will need to go back and adjust your content some more. Always adjust your content to fit the time limit; do not try to adjust your delivery. Trying to speed talk or stretch things out to make a speech faster or longer is a mistake that will ultimately hurt your delivery, which will hurt your credibility. The overall purpose of this phase of practicing is to minimize surprises that might throw you off on speech day.

Vocal Delivery

Vocal delivery includes components of speech delivery that relate to your voice. These include rate, volume, pitch, articulation, pronunciation, and fluency. Our voice is important to consider when delivering our speech for two main reasons. First, vocal delivery can help us engage and interest the audience. Second, vocal delivery helps ensure we communicate our ideas clearly.

Speaking for Engagement

We have all had the displeasure of listening to an unengaging speaker. Even though the person may care about his or her topic, an unengaging delivery that does not communicate enthusiasm will translate into a lack of interest for most audience members (Davis, 2021). Although a speaker can be visually engaging by incorporating movement and gestures, a flat or monotone vocal delivery can be sedating or even annoying. Incorporating vocal variety in terms of rate, volume, and pitch is key to being a successful speaker.

Rate of speaking refers to how fast or slow you speak (Barnard, 2018). If you speak too fast, your audience will not be able to absorb the information you present. If you speak too slowly, the audience may lose interest. The key is to vary your rate of speaking in a middle range, staying away from either extreme, in order to keep your audience engaged. In general, a higher rate of speaking signals that a speaker is enthusiastic about his or her topic. Speaking slowly may lead the audience to infer that the speaker is uninterested, uninformed, or unprepared to present his or her own topic. These negative assumptions, whether they are true or not, are likely to hurt the credibility of the speaker (Barnard, 2018). The goal is to speak at a rate that will interest the audience and will effectively convey your information. Speaking at a slow rate throughout a speech would likely bore an audience, but that is not a common occurrence.

Volume refers to how loud or soft your voice is. As with speaking rate, you want to avoid the extremes of being too loud or too soft, but still vary your volume within an acceptable middle range (Packard, 2020). When speaking in a typically sized classroom or office setting that seats about twenty-five people, using a volume a few steps above a typical conversational volume is usually sufficient. When speaking in larger rooms, you will need to project your voice. You may want to look for nonverbal cues from people in the back rows or corners, like leaning forward or straining to hear, to see if you need to adjust your volume more. Obviously, in some settings, a microphone will be necessary so the entire audience can hear you. Like rate, audiences use volume to make a variety of judgments about a speaker. Sometimes, softer speakers are judged as meek (Packard, 2020). This may lead to lowered expectations for the speech or less perceived credibility. Loud speakers may be seen as overbearing or annoying, which can lead audience members to disengage from the speaker and message. Be aware of the volume of your voice and, when in doubt, increase your volume a notch, since beginning speakers are more likely to have an issue of speaking too softly rather than too loudly.

Pitch refers to how high or low a speaker’s voice is. As with other vocal qualities, there are natural variations among people’s vocal pitch. Unlike rate and volume, we have less control over pitch. For example, males generally have lower pitched voices than females. Despite these limitations, each person still has the capability to change their pitch across a range large enough to engage an audience. Changing pitch is a good way to communicate enthusiasm and indicate emphasis or closure (Scotti, 2015). In general, our pitch goes up when we are discussing something exciting. Our pitch goes down slightly when we emphasize a serious or important point. Lowering pitch is also an effective way to signal transitions between sections of your speech or the end of your speech, which cues your audience to applaud and avoids an awkward ending.

Of the vocal components of delivery discussed so far, pitch seems to give beginning speakers the most difficulty. It is as if giving a speech temporarily numbs their ability to vary their pitch. Record yourself practicing your speech to help determine if the amount of pitch variety and enthusiasm you think you convey while speaking actually comes through. Speakers often assume that their pitch is more varied and their delivery more enthusiastic than the audience actually perceives it to be (Scotti, 2015). Many students note this on the self-evaluations they write after viewing their recorded speech.

Vocal Variety

Overall, the lesson to take away from this section on vocal delivery is that variety is key. Vocal variety includes changes in your rate, volume, and pitch that can make you look more prepared, seem more credible, and be able to engage your audience better (Moore, 2015). Employing vocal variety is not something that takes natural ability or advanced skills training. It is something that beginning speakers can start working on immediately and everyone can accomplish. The key is to become aware of how you use your voice when you speak, and the best way to do this is to record yourself (Moore, 2015). We all use vocal variety naturally without thinking about it during our regular conversations, and many of us think that this tendency will translate over to our speaking voices. This is definitely not the case for most beginning speakers. Unlike in your regular conversations, it will take some awareness and practice to use vocal variety in speeches. I encourage students to make this a delivery priority early on. Since it is something anyone can do, improving in this area will add to your speaking confidence, which usually translates into better speeches and better grades further on.

Speaking for Clarity

In order to be an effective speaker, your audience should be able to understand your message and digest the information you present (Rampton, 2021). Audience members will make assumptions about our competence and credibility based on how we speak. As with other aspects of speech delivery, many people are not aware that they have habits of speech that interfere with their message clarity. Since most of our conversations are informal and take place with people we know, many people do not make a concerted effort to articulate every word clearly and pronounce every word correctly (Rampton, 2021). Most of the people we talk to either do not notice our errors or do not correct us if they do notice. Since public speaking is generally more formal than our conversations, we should be more concerned with the clarity of our speech.

Articulation

Articulation refers to the clarity of sounds and words we produce. If someone is articulate, they speak words clearly, and speakers should strive to speak clearly. Poor articulation results when speakers do not speak clearly (Ward, 2020). For example, a person may say dinnt instead of didn’t , gonna instead of going to , wanna instead of want to , or hunnerd instead of hundred . Unawareness and laziness are two common challenges to articulation. As with other aspects of our voice, many people are unaware that they regularly have errors in articulation. Recording yourself speak and then becoming a higher self-monitor are effective ways to improve your articulation. Laziness, on the other hand, requires a little more motivation to address. Some people just get in the habit of not articulating their words well. Both mumbling and slurring are examples of poor articulation. In informal settings, this type of speaking may be acceptable, but in formal settings, it will be evaluated negatively. It will hurt a speaker’s credibility. Perhaps the promise of being judged more favorably is enough to motivate a mumbler to speak more clearly.

When combined with a low volume, poor articulation becomes an even greater problem. Doing vocal warm-ups like the ones listed in Section 10.1 “Managing Public Speaking Anxiety” or tongue twisters can help prime your mouth, lips, and tongue to articulate words more clearly. When you notice that you have trouble articulating a particular word, you can either choose a different word to include in your speech or you can repeat it a few times in a row in the days leading up to your speech to get used to saying it.

Pronunciation

Unlike articulation, which focuses on the clarity of words, pronunciation refers to speaking words correctly, including the proper sounds of the letters and the proper emphasis (Shtern, 2017). Mispronouncing words can damage a speaker’s credibility, especially when the correct pronunciation of a word is commonly known. We all commonly run into words that we are unfamiliar with and therefore may not know how to pronounce. Here are three suggestions when faced with this problem. First, look the word up in an online dictionary. Many dictionaries have a speaker icon with their definitions, and when you click on it, you can hear the correct pronunciation of a word. Some words have more than one pronunciation—for example, Caribbean —so choosing either of the accepted pronunciations is fine. Just remember to use consistently that pronunciation to avoid confusing your audience. If a word does not include an audio pronunciation, you can usually find the phonetic spelling of a word, which is the word spelled out the way it sounds.

Second, there will occasionally be words that you cannot locate in a dictionary. These are typically proper nouns or foreign words. In this case, use the “phone-a-friend” strategy. Call up the people you know who have large vocabularies or are generally smart when it comes to words, and ask them if they know how to pronounce it. If they do, and you find them credible, you are probably safe to take their suggestion.

Third, “fake it ‘til you make it” should only be used as a last resort. If you cannot find the word in a dictionary and your smart friends do not know how to pronounce it, it is likely that your audience will also be unfamiliar with the word. In that case, using your knowledge of how things are typically pronounced, decide on a pronunciation that makes sense and confidently use it during your speech. Most people will not question it. In the event that someone does correct you on your pronunciation, thank him or her for correcting you and adjust your pronunciation.

Fluency refers to the flow of your speaking. To speak with fluency means that your speech flows well and that there are not many interruptions to that flow. Two main disfluencies or problems affect the flow of a speech. Fluency hiccups are unintended pauses in a speech that usually result from forgetting what you were saying, being distracted, or losing your place in your speaking notes. Fluency hiccups are not the same as intended pauses, which are useful for adding emphasis or transitioning between parts of a speech. While speakers should try to minimize fluency hiccups, even experienced speakers need to take an unintended pause sometimes to get their bearings or to recover from an unexpected distraction. Fluency hiccups become a problem when they happen regularly enough to detract from the speaker’s message.

Verbal fillers are words that speakers use to fill in a gap between what they were saying and what they are saying next (Hennessy, 2019). Common verbal fillers include um , uh , ah , er , you know , and like . The best way to minimize verbal fillers is to become a higher self-monitor and realize that you use them. Many students are surprised when they watch the video of their first speech and realize they said “um” thirty times in three minutes. Gaining that awareness is the first step in eliminating verbal fillers, and students make noticeable progress with this between their first and second speeches (Hennessy, 2019). If you do lose your train of thought, having a brief fluency hiccup is better than injecting a verbal filler, because the audience may not even notice the pause or may think it was intentional.

9.3 Physical Delivery

Physical delivery.

Many speakers are more nervous about physical delivery than vocal delivery. Putting our bodies on the line in front of an audience often makes us feel more vulnerable than putting our voice out there. Yet most audiences are not as fixated on our physical delivery as we think they are. Knowing this can help relieve some anxiety, but it does not give us a free pass when it comes to physical delivery. We should still practice for physical delivery that enhances our verbal message. Physical delivery of a speech involves nonverbal communication through the face and eyes, gestures, and body movements.

Physical Delivery and the Face

We tend to look at a person’s face when we are listening to them (Hoffler, 2016). Again, this often makes people feel uncomfortable and contributes to their overall speaking anxiety. Many speakers do not like the feeling of having “all eyes” on them, even though having a room full of people avoiding making eye contact with you would be much more awkward. Remember, it is a good thing for audience members to look at you, because it means they are paying attention and interested. Audiences look toward the face of the speaker for cues about the tone and content of the speech.

Facial Expressions

Facial expressions can help bring a speech to life when used by a speaker to communicate emotions and demonstrate enthusiasm for the speech (Hoffler, 2016). As with vocal variety, we tend to use facial expressions naturally and without conscious effort when engaging in day-to-day conversations. Yet many speakers’ expressive faces turn “deadpan” when they stand in front of an audience. Some people naturally have more expressive faces than others do have—think about the actor Jim Carey’s ability to contort his face as an example. However, we can also consciously control and improve on our facial expressions to be speakers that are more effective. As with other components of speech delivery, becoming a higher self-monitor and increasing your awareness of your typical delivery habits can help you understand, control, and improve your delivery. Although you should not only practice your speech in front of a mirror, doing so can help you get an idea of how expressive or unexpressive your face is while delivering your speech.

Facial expressions help set the emotional tone for a speech, and it is important that your facial expressions stay consistent with your message (Hoffler, 2016). In order to set a positive tone before you start speaking, briefly look at the audience and smile. A smile is a simple but powerful facial expression that can communicate friendliness, openness, and confidence. Facial expressions communicate a range of emotions and are associated with various moods or personality traits.

For example, combinations of facial expressions can communicate that a speaker is tired, excited, angry, confused, frustrated, sad, confident, smug, shy, or bored, among other things. Even if you are not bored, for example, a slack face with little animation may lead an audience to think that you are bored with your own speech, which is not likely to motivate them to be interested. So make sure your facial expressions are communicating an emotion, mood, or personality trait that you think your audience will view favorably. Also, make sure your facial expressions match with the content of your speech. When delivering something lighthearted or humorous, a smile, bright eyes, and slightly raised eyebrows will nonverbally enhance your verbal message. When delivering something serious or somber, a furrowed brow, a tighter mouth, and even a slight head nod can enhance that message. If your facial expressions and speech content are not consistent, your audience could become confused by the conflicting messages, which could lead them to question your honesty and credibility.

Eye Contact

Eye contact is an important element of nonverbal communication in all communication settings. Eye contact can also be used to establish credibility and hold your audience’s attention (Barnard, 2017). We often interpret a lack of eye contact to mean that someone is not credible or not competent, and as a public speaker, you do not want your audience thinking either of those things. Eye contact holds attention because an audience member who knows the speaker is making regular eye contact will want to reciprocate that eye contact to show that they are paying attention. This will also help your audience remember the content of your speech better, because acting as if we are paying attention actually leads us to pay attention and better retain information.

Norms for eye contact vary among cultures (Barnard, 2017). Therefore, it may be difficult for speakers from countries that have higher power distances or are more collectivistic to get used to the idea of making direct and sustained eye contact during a speech. In these cases, it is important for the speaker to challenge himself or herself to integrate some of the host culture’s expectations and for the audience to be accommodating and understanding of the cultural differences.

Physical Delivery and the Body

Have you ever gotten dizzy as an audience member because the speaker paced back and forth? Anxiety can lead us to do some strange things with our bodies, like pacing, that we do not normally do, so it is important to consider the important role that your body plays during your speech. We call extra movements caused by anxiety nonverbal adaptors . Most of them manifest as distracting movements or gestures. These nonverbal adaptors, like tapping a foot, wringing hands, playing with a paper clip, twirling hair, jingling change in a pocket, scratching, and many more, can definitely detract from a speaker’s message and credibility. Conversely, a confident posture and purposeful gestures and movement can enhance both.

Posture is the position we assume with our bodies, either intentionally or out of habit. Although people, especially young women, used to be trained in posture, often by having them walk around with books stacked on their heads, you should use a posture that is appropriate for the occasion while still positioning yourself in a way that feels natural. In a formal speaking situation, it is important to have an erect posture that communicates professionalism and credibility (Clayton, 2018). However, a military posture of standing at attention may feel and look unnatural in a typical school or business speech. In informal settings, it may be appropriate to lean on a table or lectern, or even sit among your audience members (Clayton, 2018). Head position is also part of posture. In most speaking situations, it is best to keep your head up, facing your audience. A droopy head does not communicate confidence. Consider the occasion important, as an inappropriate posture can hurt your credibility.

Gestures include arm and hand movements. We all go through a process of internalizing our native culture from childhood. An obvious part of this process is becoming fluent in a language. Perhaps less obvious is the fact that we also become fluent in nonverbal communication, gestures in particular. We all use hand gestures while we speak, but we didn’t ever take a class in matching verbal communication with the appropriate gestures; we just internalized these norms over time based on observation and put them into practice. By this point in your life, you have a whole vocabulary of hand movements and gestures that spontaneously come out while you are speaking. Some of these gestures are emphatic and some are descriptive (Koch, 2007).

Emphatic gestures are the most common hand gestures we use, and they function to emphasize our verbal communication and often relate to the emotions we verbally communicate (Toastmasters International, 2011). Pointing with one finger or all the fingers straight out is an emphatic gesture. We can even bounce that gesture up and down to provide more emphasis. Moving the hand in a circular motion in front of our chest with the fingers spread apart is a common emphatic gesture that shows excitement and often accompanies an increased rate of verbal speaking. We make this gesture more emphatic by using both hands. Descriptive gestures function to illustrate or refer to objects rather than emotions (Toastmasters International, 2011). We use descriptive gestures to indicate the number of something by counting with our fingers or the size, shape, or speed of something. Our hands and arms are often the most reliable and easy-to-use visual aids a speaker can have.

While the best beginning strategy is to gesture naturally, you also want to remain a high self-monitor and take note of your typical patterns of gesturing. If you notice that you naturally gravitate toward one particular gesture, make an effort to vary your gestures more. You also want your gestures to be purposeful, not limp or lifeless.

Sometimes movement of the whole body, instead of just gesturing with hands, is appropriate in a speech. When students are given the freedom to move around, it often ends up becoming floating or pacing, which are both movements that comfort a speaker by expending nervous energy but only serve to distract the audience (Toastmasters International, 2011). Floating refers to speakers who wander aimlessly around, and pacing refers to speakers who walk back and forth in the same path. To prevent floating or pacing, make sure that your movements are purposeful. Many speakers employ the triangle method of body movement where they start in the middle, take a couple steps forward and to the right, then take a couple steps to the left, then return to the center. Obviously, you do not need to do this multiple times in a five- to ten-minute speech, as doing so, just like floating or pacing, tends to make an audience dizzy.

To make your movements appear more natural, time them to coincide with a key point you want to emphasize or a transition between key points. Minimize other movements from the waist down when you are not purposefully moving for emphasis. Speakers sometimes tap or shuffle their feet, rock, or shift their weight back and forth from one leg to the other. Keeping both feet flat on the floor, and still, will help avoid these distracting movements (Toastmasters International, 2011).

Credibility and Physical Delivery

Audience members primarily take in information through visual and auditory channels. Just as the information you present verbally in your speech can add to or subtract from your credibility, nonverbal communication that accompanies your verbal messages affects your credibility.

Professional Dress and Appearance

No matter what professional field you go into, you will need to consider the importance of personal appearance (Caffrey, 2020). Although it may seem petty or shallow to put so much emphasis on dress and appearance, impressions matter, and people make judgments about our personality, competence, and credibility based on how we look. In some cases, you may work somewhere with a clearly laid out policy for personal dress and appearance. In many cases, the suggestion is to follow guidelines for “business casual.”

Despite the increasing popularity of this notion over the past twenty years, people’s understanding of what business casual means is not consistent (Caffrey, 2020). The formal dress codes of the mid-1900s, which required employees to wear suits and dresses, gave way to the trend of business casual dress, which seeks to allow employees to work comfortably while still appearing professional. While most people still dress more formally for job interviews or high-stakes presentations, the day-to-day dress of working professionals varies.

Visual Aids and Delivery

Visual aids play an important role in conveying supporting material to your audience. They also tie to delivery, since using visual aids during a speech usually requires some physical movements. It is important not to let your use of visual aids detract from your credibility (Beqiri, 2018). Many good speeches are derailed by posters that fall over, videos with no sound, and uncooperative PowerPoint presentations.

Figure 9.1: Systematic desensitization can include giving more public speeches, taking communication courses, or imagining public speaking scenarios. William Moreland. 2019. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/GkWP64truqg

Figure 9.2: Vocal warm-up exercises. Andrea Piacquadio. 2020. Pexels license . https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-red-polo-shirt-3779453/

Figure 9.3: Primary phases to the practice process. Kindred Grey. 2022. CC BY 4.0 .

Figure 9.4: Three facets of speaking for clarity. Kindred Grey. 2022. CC BY 4.0 .

Figure 9.5: Facial expressions set the tone for a speech, and should be consistent with your message. Afif Kusuma. 2021. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/F3dFVKj6q8I

Figure 9.6: To make your movements appear natural, time them to coincide with a key point. Product School. 2019. Unsplash license . https://unsplash.com/photos/S3hhrqLrgYM

Section 9.1

Allen, M., Hunter, J. E., & Donohue, W. A. (1989). Meta-analysis of self-report data on the effectiveness of public speaking anxiety treatment techniques. Communication Education, 38 (1), 54–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634528909378740

Bodie, G. D. (2010). A racing heart, rattling knees, and ruminative thoughts: Defining, explaining, and treating public speaking anxiety. Communication Education, 59 (1), 70–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634520903443849

Motley, M. T. (2009). COM therapy. In J. A. Daly, J. C. McCroskey, J. Ayres, T. Hopf, and D. M. Ayers Sonandré (Eds.), Avoiding communication: Shyness, reticence, and communication apprehension (pp. 379-400) (3rd ed.). Hampton Press.

Priem, J. S., & Haunani Solomon, D. (2009). Comforting apprehensive communicators: The effects of reappraisal and distraction on cortisol levels among students in a public speaking class. Communication Quarterly, 57 (3), 259-281.

Section 9.2

Barnard, D. (2018, January 20). Average speaking rate and words per minute . https://virtualspeech.com/blog/average-speaking-rate-words-per-minute

Davis, B. (2021, June 1). Why is audience engagement important? https://www.mvorganizing.org/why-is-audience-engagement-important/

Hennessy, C. (2019, March 27). Verbal filler: How to slow the flow . https://www.throughlinegroup.com/2019/03/27/verbal-filler-how-to-slow-the-flow/

LibreTexts. (2021, February 20). Methods of speech delivery . https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Communication/Public_Speaking/Exploring_Public_Speaking_(Barton_and_Tucker)/11%3A_Delivery/11.02%3A_Methods_of_Speech_Delivery

Moore, K. (2015, January 13). Public speaking tips: Use vocal variety like a pro! https://coachkiomi.com/best-public-speaking-tips-use-vocal-variety/

Packard, D. (2020, July 13). Speaking up: How to increase the volume of your voice . https://packardcommunications.com/speaking-up-how-to-increase-the-volume-of-your-voice/

Rampton, J. (2021, July 27). Learning to speak with clarity . https://www.calendar.com/blog/learning-to-speak-with-clarity/

Scotti, S. (2015, December 1). Vocal delivery: Take command of your voice . https://professionallyspeaking.net/vocal-delivery-take-command-of-your-voice-part-one/

Shtern, A. (2017, April 17). The importance of good pronunciation . https://shaneschools.com/en/the-importance-of-good-pronunciation/

Section 9.3

Barnard, D. (2017, October 24). The importance of eye contact during a presentation . https://virtualspeech.com/blog/importance-of-eye-contact-during-a-presentation

Beqiri, G. (2018, June 21). Using visual aids during a presentation or training session . https://virtualspeech.com/blog/visual-aids-presentation

Caffrey, A. (2020, February 25). The importance of personal appearance . http://www.publicspeakingexpert.co.uk/importanceofpersonalappearance.html

Clayton, D. (2018, October 31). The importance of good posture in public speaking . https://simplyamazingtraining.co.uk/blog/good-posture-public-speaking

Hoffler, A. (2016, June 7). Why facial expressions are important in public speaking . https://www.millswyck.com/2016/06/07/the-importance-of-facial-expression/

Koch, A. (2007). Speaking with a purpose (7th ed.). Pearson, 2007.

Toastmasters International. (2011). Gestures: Your body speaks . https://web.mst.edu/~toast/docs/Gestures.pdf

Fear or anxiety experience by a person due to real or perceived communication with another person or persons. This is a fear or anxiety that involves several types of communication not limited to public speaking.

Type of communication apprehension that produces physiological, cognitive, and behavioral reactions in people when faced with a real or imagined presentation

A type of cognitive restructuring that encourages people to think of public speaking as conversation rather than a performance

When a speaker has little or no time to prepare a speech

Speaking from a well written or printed document that contains the entirety of a speech

Completely memorizing a speech and delivering it without notes

Memorizing the overall structure and main points of a speech and then speaking from keyword/key-phrase notes

Refers to how fast or slow you speak

Refers to how loud or soft you speak

Refers to how high or low a speaker’s voice is

Changes in your rate, volume, and pitch that make you sound more prepared and credible

Refers to the clarity of sounds and words you pronounce

Whether you say the words correctly

Refers to the flow of your speaking

Unintended pauses in a speech that usually result from forgetting what you were saying, being distracted, or losing your place in speaking

The umms, uhhs, and other linguistic pauses of conversation

The feelings expressed on a person’s face

The act of looking directly into one another’s eyes

Extra movements caused by anxiety (i.e., tapping your foot, wringing your hands, playing with a paperclip, twirling hair, or scratching)

The position in which someone holds their body when standing or sitting

A movement of part of the body, especially a hand or the head, to express an idea or meaning

Communication in the Real World Copyright © by Faculty members in the School of Communication Studies, James Madison University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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3-minute speeches: Complete guide on writing, preparing and delivering (with examples)

Hrideep barot.

• Body Language & Delivery , Presentation , Public Speaking , Speech Topics , Speech Writing

Although 3-minute speeches may seem brief, a lot of words and ideas may be said at that time. Despite the time constraint, if you are conversant with the subject matter, you may prepare for your three-minute speech swiftly. The secret is to create a strong outline that allows you to add or remove details based on how much time you have left.

Words in a 3-minute speech

An average speech of three minutes in length would have roughly 390 words at a regular speech rate of 130 words per minute (wpm) .

Daphne Gray-Grant, a speech and writing coach, discovered that the typical speaking tempo is 125 to 150 words per minute or 375 to 450 words for a three-minute speech .

Read this article for more information: How long should a speech be?

Writing 3-minute speeches

An engaging speech may capture the attention of the crowd and properly capture the spirit of the event. On the other side, if it is poorly written or disorganised, a dozing audience will miss your point. There is no one ideal structure for a speech. You should instead choose what will resonate with your audience the most.

1. Importance of Stories

Beginning with a story engages the audience, and using stories to break up your speech illustrates the concepts you’re talking about using instances from real life. You might also choose to tell snippets of a single story throughout your speech to illustrate your point. If you’re speaking to a group of professional women with kids, for instance, a story about work-life balance is appropriate. Pick a story that is relevant to your audience. Infrequently, if ever, are overtly political or religious statements appropriate.

2. Simply the Facts

It could be advisable to stick to only the facts while presenting a subject while looking for methods to make them applicable to your audience. But no matter what you talk about, keep your speech’s goal in mind at all times. You run the risk of losing the attention of your audience, and making a point with a long, winding speech isn’t particularly effective.

3. Ordered Chronologically

Your tale or the information you’re conveying must make sense in the order you present it, which typically entails using chronological order. If you’re discussing company law, for instance, you should start with earlier laws and tell a tale about how those rules have been modified or updated. It is feasible to deliver a speech in reverse chronological sequence, but you must make sure your audience understands this to avoid misunderstanding. Give the audience frequent dates or other points of reference to serve as the context for the timing of your speech.

4. Organizing Advice

By outlining your speech, you can make sure that you follow the proper flow and concentrate on the most important points rather than getting lost in the weeds of details. Make a rough draught of your speech, then practise it so that it flows naturally before you give it. Take a list of the key points you want to discuss in your speech and consult a subject-matter expert for any information that is either missing or superfluous to ensure that you cover what you need to.

5. Use of Diction

We select our words based on the circumstances we find ourselves in and the audience we are speaking to. The language you would use with your friends might not be appropriate for your boss. Pick the appropriate words for your audience in order to deliver a speech that is effective. The language you use must be clear to them. It is preferable to stay away from using slang because your language must also be acceptable for the topic. You do not need to poke fun at the audience or try to be amusing. Since audiences are able to tell when a speaker isn’t being sincere, speak from the heart and don’t just say what you think the audience wants to hear. You’ll be able to express yourself more strongly and with more emotion as a result.

6. Speech Patterns

Different speeches are needed for different circumstances. A three-minute presentation in class about your ideal job has a different format than a speech to your graduating class. Learning the appropriate format for various speech kinds is simple. There are various varieties of speeches, all of them ranging in form and length. Impromptu, demonstration, educational, persuading, or tribute speeches are a few examples. Each speech is appropriate for a particular situation in life. Select the speech structure that best fits your circumstance, then formats your speech in line with it. Be mindful of your introduction. Strong opening approaches, sometimes known as “hooks,” come in a variety of forms, including tales, rhetorical questions, shocking claims, striking facts, or simply acting in an unexpected or out-of-the-ordinary manner.

Preparing 3-minute speeches

One of the best strategies to make sure you deliver a compelling presentation is to practise your speech beforehand. Consider using these hints to aid in your preparation:

• Your speech should be organised logically with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Before giving a speech, frequently practise and rehearse it. Try practising in front of a mirror or with friends acting as your audience. Use a timer to help you pace your speech, and be careful to do so.
• Learn about the podium or other location where the speech will be delivered. Find out the size of the stage, the location of any steps or impediments, and the best places to enter and exit.
• Always keep a professional impression while dressing comfortably .
• Regardless of whether a speech is humorous, serious, or technical, visual aids should fit it. The primary function of visual aids is to facilitate audience comprehension and reinforce key ideas of a speech in distinctive and engaging ways.

Practising 3-minute speeches

It’s common for jittery, distracting body language and a lack of preparation to ruin otherwise effective speeches. Practice your speech after you’ve planned and written it.  You have not practised enough if you need to read your speech word-for-word from your notes. You will feel more assured as you practise more. The best way to get rid of tense body language is to have a buddy videotape you speaking so you can see it repeatedly. While speaking, pay attention to how your hands are moving; they should be at ease.

Pay attention to how you stand; you should be tall and straight. Be mindful of your eye contact. Keep your eyes off of your notes, the floor, or the ceiling. Change your jewellery if it is noisy. Don’t touch your face or hair. Do not clasp your hands behind or in front of your back, and refrain from putting your hands in your pockets. Before giving your speech, repeat this procedure multiple times to make sure you have broken these undesirable habits.

The Big Day

Arrive early at the location on the day of your presentation. Wear clean, acceptable apparel, and go for the look that gets you the most compliments. Make sure your cell phone is off and remove any large objects from your pockets. Check your loudness in the room before you start to make sure you are loud enough. Make sure you can make eye contact with those seated at the audience’s margins by paying attention to where they are seated. Check the location in advance to make sure there are no obstacles like wires or cables that could cause you to trip if you wish to move while speaking. All of these actions will support your confidence grows.

Don’t try to improvise during your speech; instead, speak as you did when you were practising. Keep in mind that feeling anxious before, during, and especially after your speech is natural. This is neither a flaw nor a weakness. Use your anxious energy to make your speech lively and engaging if you have done your preparation and practising well.

Delivering 3-minute speeches

Public speaking that is effective and confident should appear natural. In truth, it takes most people a lot of time and practice before they feel comfortable speaking in front of an audience. To overcome stage anxiety, present yourself with confidence, and keep your audience interested, you can employ a variety of tactics.

1. Avoid showing any nervousness while speaking.

Imagine yourself as someone who is imparting knowledge to others who are willing to listen. Don’t worry too much about how you’ll come across while nervous: When a speaker claims to be really frightened, audiences can not help but notice their anxiety. You perceive it as far worse than your listeners do. It doesn’t really matter whether you’re anxious as long as you act calm.

2. Create positive body language

The grin is the most significant facial expression. This forges an immediate connection with your audience and will win them over. Use your facial expressions to emphasise important points: Your speech will look more believable as a result.

It’s important to stand up straight, space your feet slightly apart, and keep your arms at your sides. Do not sway or place your hands on your hips when speaking. You’ll come across as more assured and credible if you appear grounded. Avoid making “closed” motions like crossing your arms or knees or posing for a picture with your arms behind your back. A mental barrier is put up between you and your audience as a result.

3. Use gestures for achievement

To make your message easier for the audience to follow, use your arms and hands. Effective, self-assured body language captures listeners’ attention. Together, your body and words can convey a potent statement. Make sure to vary your gestures to avoid coming out as a robot.

To effectively emphasise ideas, adjust your body language to the size of the area you are working in. Make powerful motions when giving a speech! Tentative, hesitant acts might give you a doubtful, unconvincing appearance.

4. Make eye contact to captivate others.

Make as much eye contact with your audience as you can to engage them (and appear interested in them). Don’t only focus on one welcoming face. Make sure you engage the entire audience by looking at the folks at the rear and on the sides in addition to the front. Observe the crowd more intently than your notes. Not something you read from, notes should be prompt.

How to make a 3-minute speech interesting?

People worry that they will have to “dumb down” their important research due to time constraints, however, this is not the case!

A punchy message and an engaging brief speech can shed light on the breadth of your research and make the worth of your thoughts clear.

If you make the most of your three minutes and plan your speech effectively, you will have plenty of time to accomplish this.

• Deliver a message that is quite obvious.
• Present a “top and tail” component.
• To clarify a complex concept, use metaphors and other verbal illustrations.
• Instead of “making a formal speech,” speak as if you are having a conversation with your listeners.

General topics for 3-minute speeches

3-minute speeches for students.

Everyone has interests, and everyone enjoys discussing them. You know, hobbies could also be passions. Simple inquiries to pose include:

• What interests you?
• Why are your activities so appealing to you?
• When do you engage in these pastimes?
• What are your hobbies, how long have you been doing them, and how did you start?
• What pastimes did you once enjoy but no longer do?
• Is it necessary to engage in hobbies? Why or why not?

Everyone enjoys music, and the majority of people have extremely strong feelings about it, especially when it comes to the music they enjoy (or detest) the most. Simple inquiries to make include the following:

• What genres of music do you enjoy or find boring?
• What emotions do various musical genres evoke in you?
• What genres of music are produced in your nation?
• What song, artist, or album is your favourite?
• What music is now in vogue in your nation?

3. Motivation

Whether or whether the pupils are motivated, it is a good idea to talk about motivation in order to motivate them. Examples of questions are:

• In general, how motivated are you?
• What spurs you on to action?
• What inspires people to accomplish the most?
• What actions do you do when you lack motivation?
• How can one effectively inspire others?

Everybody has objectives, and discussing them really makes us more motivated to take action. Goal-setting can be aided by sharing them with others. An excellent set of inquiries are:

• What are your present life objectives?
• How are your goals going to be attained?
• How frequently do you set yourself goals?
• What objectives have you previously set and attained?
• How do you feel after achieving your objectives?

Everyone has dreams, sometimes on a nightly basis, and discussing them in class is a terrific activity since it encourages pupils to be imaginative and even whimsical. Excellent inquiries on this subject include:

• How would you characterise your dreams?
• What do dreams represent to you?
• What percentage of your dreams can you recall? Why?
• What are your thoughts about prophecies? Are they genuine?
• What are some instances of your most cherished dreams?

Go through this article for more valuable insights: Speech titles and topics: Everything you need to know

Examples of 3-minute speeches

• A 3-minute speech on the topic “Life”.

Good morning to everyone in this room. I’m here today to speak about life and share my opinions with all of you. Life is a never-ending process that must come to an end eventually. Life is all about creating and adoring oneself. a quotation for you: “Life can only be comprehended by living it backwards.” The potential to live a meaningful life and help others do the same is presented by life itself. It makes no difference how long you live. However, how well you lead a good life matter. Death is a constant menace to our life. Everyone will eventually die, but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying to live life to the fullest or pursue our ambitions. A person is only intelligent when they are prepared to face their destiny when it calls, but in the meantime, they should cherish every moment. There is an air of preparation. Every person goes through a journey in life where they must cross the bridge of death in order to awaken to eternal life. Life itself is a genuinely priceless gift. Every moment we have in our life gives us the chance to do something to grow and display our virtues. Every instant unlocks the path for us to accept blessings. The reality is that both good and bad things happen to us in life. What matters most is how we respond. God has given us life as a gift in the hope that we will do our best to make it meaningful. Each of us is a special individual. Respect your uniqueness since no one was born exactly like you and no one ever will be. I frequently come across people who accuse God of something they themselves do not possess. They constantly curse their lives. But do they understand how priceless this life is in and of itself? If we make life worthwhile and strive diligently for positivity. Finally, I’ll say that we ought to make life valuable. Life should be made beautiful by the affection of our family and friends. By carrying out our responsibilities in our families, our workplaces, society, and the larger globe, life can be more beautiful and meaningful.

2. A 3-minute speech by Aaron Beverly who was the 2 nd place winner of the 2016 World Championship of Public Speaking

3. A 3-minute speech by Emma Watson on Gender Equality

Final words

Speaking for three minutes is undoubtedly difficult to master. You must unquestionably conduct an adequate study and choose crucial issues to include in your speech. It is crucial to realise that you must deliver the most essential information first while speaking in a restricted amount of time, such as a 3-minute speech.

A three-minute speech is undoubtedly a wonderful starting point for public speaking. This is because you need to communicate with your audience more effectively when you just have a short amount of time. The speech ought to be concise, pertinent, and clear. Be more relatable to the audience and speak for them. To be the best, you must improve your communication abilities.

Read this article for more useful information: Writing and delivering spectacular short speeches: A-Z guide

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Tips, Tools, and Techniques to be a Better Entrepreneur

How to Write and Deliver a Great Speech

August 5, 2019 Jarie Bolander

Great speeches inspire people to act. Dr. King’s “I have a dream”, President Kennedy’s “Mission to the Moon” or President Reagan’s “Tear down this wall.” All of these speeches inspired people to act. Now, you may not have the worlds stage but when you standup and give a speech, that speech represents you and the group you are with.

Writing an effective speech requires that you prepare. I am sure some of you are probably saying, “hey, I just shoot from the hip and don’t prepare.” Well, some of you may be able to get away with that but most great speakers prepare like crazy so it looks like they are shooting from the hip. Passion is great and should show through in your speech. The thing that passion does not give you is structure, focus and the message that you want to leave people with. That message or take away needs to be crafting and honed so that your speech does not repeat itself or bore people to death. The whole point of a great speech is to capture the essence of your idea or movement and prompt people to act.

Speech writing and delivery is the single most important skill a leader needs in their arsenal because the sole job of a leader is to inspire people to act. Most of the techniques I am going to explain in this post are derived from both my experiences in giving talks and speeches. The structure comes, in large part, from a wonderful book that every aspiring speech writer should read called “Speak Up with Confidence: How to Prepare, Learn, and Deliver Effective Speeches” by Jack Valenti .

Table of Contents

A Speech Title Should be Clear, Concise, and Compelling

Before you prepare your speech, it’s important to come up with a speech title that is clear and compelling. It should also be concise so that at a glance, people can tell if they want to attend. It’s also a great practice to come up with multiple speech titles and then say them out loud. That way, you can get a sense of how other will hear the title.

Preparing the Speech

Like anything, preparation is essential for an effective speech. The more preparation you do, the better the end product will be. Preparation starts with the following check list:

• Topic or title: Clearly and distinctly define your topic. This is the first step in crafting a great speech.
• Amount of Time: Time is always a premium and needs to be respected. Understand the time constraints you are under. Is this a 1.5 minute toast or a 30 minute lecture. Knowing this will allow you to edit your talk for the time allowed.
• Talking Position: If you are on a panel or talking with a group, the position you talk in matters for the flow and consistency of the overall event. Strive to figure out what others will talk about and try not to repeat what they have already said.
• Audience: Your audience will play a huge role in your speech preparation and delivery. Is it a city counsel meeting or an informal dinner party? Are the people bankers, software engineers or a mix? The audience should always been first and foremost in your mind and you should cater your words and delivery to them.
• Other Speakers: Sharing the stage with a great speaker can be a thrill but it can also be nerve racking. Knowing your fellow speakers style and delivery will also make you able to adjust your approach so you shine above even the most gifted orator.
• Get Some Help: If you’re really stuck or need to kick start your speech, you can hire a professional speech writer to help write it for you.

These six items will allow you to craft a good outline of what your talk or speech with be about. All speeches or talks have constraints and it’s vital that you, as the speaker, respect and understand that. Without this understanding, your speech will fall flat and not convey what you want.

How to Write a Great Speech

Yes, you need to write you speech down if you want it to be great. I know some of you may find that annoying or “unnecessary” but the discipline of writing your speech or talk down will allow you to craft a much better end product. With practice, this method makes you a better speaker. Listed below are the essential parts of your written speech and how to annotate it for better delivery and readability.

• Write the title at the top: Preferably centered and in a big font.
• Put the amount of time under the title: Hitting your time limit is an important part of a great speech. By putting the time front and center, you always remember that.
• Write the theme under the title: The theme is just one to two sentences on what your speech is all about. It will guild your writing and practice.
• Double space the lines: Double spacing allows for notes and makes the text easier to read.
• Underline or bold words to emphasize: When you want to emphasize a word, underline it or make it bold. That way, it sticks out in your mind. You will understand the power of this during your practice runs.
• All caps to really emphasize: All caps should be used to really drive home a single word or short phrase.
• Increase the font on strong points: Strong phrases or sentences should be a bigger font. That way, you know to spend a little extra time on them.
• Put short sentences or phrases of emphasize on separate lines: Make sure to put your central theme or themes separate from the rest of your speech so that you can emphasize them more and see how they flow from section to section.
• Number your pages: I know, sounds like a no brainer but people do forget this. Image this. You get nervous and drop your speech (which I have done). How do you get it back in the right order without freaking out? Page numbers!

Now the fun part — writing the content. There are several ways to go about doing this and all are good. What’s important is that you write down what comes to mind in a fluid fashion. Don’t edit yourself — you will have plenty of time for that later. What I tend to do is write bullet points of what the main themes need to be. For example, if I were to give a speech on this article, the outline would look something like this:

Title: How to Write and Deliver a Great Speech

Time: 10 Minutes

Theme: Describe how to write and deliver a great speech by preparing ahead of time and practicing

• Talk about memorable speeches
• Comment on how leaders use speeches to prompt people to act.
• Outline how to prepare: Topic, time, talking position, audience, etc.
• Describe how to write one: title, theme, double spaced lines, bold and caps for emphases
• How to practice: Say it out loud, edit, repeat. Even record if able.
• Delivery of the speech: Memorize if you can, always look around, pause when required, be witing if appropriate.
• Socializing after your speech will allow you to connect with even more people

See, that’s not so hard. It’s important to outline your speech or talk so that you can build from a framework. Without such a framework, your speech creation process will be unstructured, miserable and drudgery — kind of like the speech you will give without preparing.

Some speeches or talks allow for media or slides to be projected. We will not cover that here because the fine art of Power Point is a whole other topic. The only thing I will mention about props is that they should add value to the pitch and not be redundant. Translation, don’t read directly from the slides. Most people can read and you will lose your audience in a New York Minute!

Practicing Your Delivery

As the saying goes, in order to play at Carnegie Hall, you need to practice, practice and practice some more. Practicing your speech will allow you to hone the highs and sharpen the lows so that it flows. An effortless, engaging speech always starts with practice.

The single best method to practice is to read your speech out loud, to yourself. This method will uncover the awkward pauses, words or transitions that don’t show up on the page. As you read, it’s perfectly fine to stop, edit and continue on.

In addition to reading out loud, here are some other methods that will make your speech sing.

• Time yourself: You never know how long a speech will be until you time yourself. A general rule of thumb is that a single, double spaced page is about 1.5 minutes but that varies with delivery.
• Record it: Hearing your speech will reveal lots of places for improvement. I would recommend running through it a couple of times, out loud, and then record it to hear how it sounds.
• Print it out and mark it up: Sometimes it’s better to print out your speech to mark it up because you can lay out all the pages and look for overall flow issues. Once marked up, roll in your edits and re-record it.
• Practice with someone else: Another person will be able to pick up on points that might not be clear or give you advice on awkward moments. If you have the time, practicing with someone else will help out tremendously.
• Say it in front of a mirror: Mirror reading will allow you to see if you are looking down too much or your animations are too over the top. This does not replace practicing with someone else but can help you fine tune your delivery.

All of these methods are designed to focus your speech. The worst thing you can do is not practice and edit as you talk. That’s distracting and disrespectful to the audience.

The Moment of Truth

Okay. This is when all that writing and practice pays off. The big day or night when you have to stand up and give your speech or talk. If you are like most human’s, you will be nervous — perfectly acceptable and even desirable. Being nervous shows you care about what you are about to deliver. The trick is to channel those nerves and control them. Here are some techniques that work for me:

• Make the butterflies fly in formation: Everyone gets nervous, even seasoned veterans. So, don’t beat yourself up for being nervous. Rather, use that energy to practice more.
• Find a quiet place to mediate: Sometimes a quick 1-3 minute reflection will do wonders to calm you down.
• Admit your nervous: Tell someone back stage that you are nervous. Most likely, they will put you at ease and that will make you feel a little better.
• Talk with other speakers: If you will be sharing the stage with other speakers, go chat with them. Ask how they deal with the pre-speech jitters. It’s also a great way to meet someone you may have always wanted to meet.

The best way to give a speech is to memorize it. If that’s not possible, then you need to lay out your printed speech in a way that’s easy to read. The method I have found that works the best is to make sure the print outs are loose and that you can easily read them. Once you start, consider some of these methods to make your speech more effective, engaging, and interesting.

Effective Speech Delivery Should be all of the Following

• Start with a joke: Jokes always work to get the crowd on your side. It’s obvious, but don’t do anything racy. Funny stories also work, preferably ones that take you down a notch. Another option is to use your starting story as a call back when you finish your speech.
• Ask the crowd a question or show of hands: Speeches are about crowd engagement so start off by asking the crowd a simple question that they can raise their hand to. That way, you are getting them involved early.
• Divide the room into thirds: One aspect of crowd engagement is looking into the crowd. A good trick to seeing the whole crowd is to divide the room in thirds and scan each third regularity.
• Speak to one person: Once you have the room divided into thirds, then try and speak directly to one person in each third. This will reduce some of the jitters you might have by making the room appear smaller. Don’t fixate too long on one person but rather cycle through each third, picking a new person each time.
• Pause for effect: Nerves sometimes make people talk fast. If you talk too fast, then your points will get lost. When an important point comes up, pause before moving on. That way, it will settle in with the audience.
• Repeat important points: Repetition is also a good way to drive home important points. Don’t repeat things too much because that’s boring. One tip is to repeat the same important point a different way.
• Look up often: The worst thing you can do is just stare down at your notes and not look up. The audience wants to see you and they will be more engaged if you look up, scan the room in thirds and talk to a single person.
• Walk around and show your passion: Movement on stage will grab the audience. If you are able, walk around a bit. Use your hands to make important points. You body language and mannerisms account of a significant amount of the audience experience.

If you take away one thing from the list above, it should be that crowd engagement will make a weak speech seem great. If the crowd is into you and engaged, then the content can be a little less stellar and you can still be a big hit.

After the Speech

Many times, there will either be a reception or question and answer session related to your speech or talk. These are ideal times to get feedback on what worked and what didn’t. Make sure to seek out people who you feel enjoyed your speech or hated it. Ask them why they liked it or disliked it. Be bold and ask for advice on how your talk would engage them more. It’s also important to thank them for coming.

Go Forth and Be Great

See. That was not so hard. Anyone can write and deliver a great speech that engages the audience and inspires them to act. Just remember to be yourself, write it down and practice, practice and practice some more.

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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• Welcome speech

How to write a welcome speech in 3 steps

With a printable welcome speech planner, outline and a sample welcome speech

By:  Susan Dugdale  

So, you've been asked to give a short welcome speech for an event. Congratulations! And now you want to be doubly sure you get it right. The right content. The right tone. Plus, the right length!

You'll find everything here you need to do that easily, from start to finish. 

Jump in. You are just three steps away from a completed welcome speech. Shall we start?

The fastest and best way to get your speech done is to:

• skim read this page to get an overview of the speech writing process, ( the welcome speech template and the planner you're going to use), to  read the example welcome speech , and to find out more about the function of a welcome speech and the importance of its tone .
• then download, print and complete the welcome speech planner .
• and lastly, use the notes you made in the planner to write your welcome speech . To help with that, you can download and print the outline of my example welcome speech to use.  Edit, and add your information to make the speech your own.

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The welcome speech template

To be effective your welcome speech needs to meet expected, as well as any specific, requirements dictated by the occasion.

The 6 standard welcome speech content ingredients

There are six common or standard content items in a good welcome speech.

• Greetings to welcome everyone and thanking them for coming along.
• Acknowledgement of special guests, if there are any.
• An introduction of the event itself and a brief overview of special highlights the audience will want to know about.
• Any important housekeeping information, for instance: where the bathrooms are, where lunch will be served and when...
• An introduction for the next speaker, if there is one.
• Thanking everyone for coming once more and then concluding having made everybody feel at ease, eagerly anticipating what is to come.

Numbers 1, 3, and 6 are basic essentials you cannot do without. Numbers 2, 4 and 5 may, or may not, be applicable. Pick what you need from them to fit your occasion.

Short sample welcome speech for a conference 

Now let's put all six ingredients into an example of a short welcome speech to open a conference that you can adapt for your own speech.

* (This speech is pure fiction! I made it up to show you how it's done. You'll see its tone is formal rather than informal to fit the occasion. I don't think there is a group called Parents United. However, there are others with a similar mission: 10 Inspiring Organizations that Promote Literacy and Education .)  

Example welcome speech - "Readers by Right"

"Sue-Ellen Thomas, Jim Smith, Jane Brown and all of our guests, good morning!

My name is April Molloy, and it's my privilege and great pleasure on behalf of Parents United to welcome you all here today.

We are delighted to have you with us to participate and share in this special occasion, our 5th annual Children's Day Conference. Thank you for coming. That many of you have willingly traveled long distances to be here serves as a reminder to us all just how important our work is.

Parents United is committed to actively raising the quality of life for every child. We want all children, regardless of race, creed or circumstance to achieve their full potential. Our task is to make it possible. Our mission is to provide practical, step by step assistance.

This year our theme is literacy. We've named the day 'Readers by Right'.

Thanks to the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we are aware of 'rights' in many spheres, including education.  Article 26 declared it should be compulsory and free for children.

That goal is as pertinent today as it was then. And it's a goal I know we all share - the full development of every child. As a body, Parents United recognizes good reading skills established in childhood as the foundation of fulfilling, and ongoing education.

We are honored to have Sue-Ellen Thomas, Jim Smith and Jane Brown with us today. All three are esteemed specialists in teaching young children to read.

Sue-Ellen has worked for a long time with educational authorities to establish programs putting in place necessary pre-reading skills. Her hard work needs no introduction. The results speak for themselves.

Jim and Jane bring their passion, and knowledge of how to reach those in our communities who are frequently overlooked or bypassed. Their work among disadvantaged English-as-a-second-language families has bridged gaps that were deep dark chasms.

Prepare yourself to be challenged, excited and inspired.

And before I handover to Lesley Watts, our coordinator for 'Readers by Right', who will outline the day's various events, I want to say once more on behalf of the Parents United organizing committee, welcome. It's wonderful to see so many of you here." 

Get your welcome speech started

To shortcut wondering, "Should I say this?" or "Maybe I should say that?" and "Then again there's also ...", I have a very simple solution for you.

Get yourself a printable welcome speech planner

Download and print my  special greeting address planner .

It covers ALL the necessary ingredients that go into preparing a successful welcome speech. It's simple to use and easily filled out. Once it's done, writing your speech will be a lot less hassle as you'll have the core content ready to work with.

Writing your welcome speech

Tips to help you get your speech right.

When you're entering information into your speech planner:

• ensure you've got all the names of individuals or special guests you need to mention specifically and, that you know how to pronounce each of them. Also check that you know and use their preferred pronouns: them/they, she/her, he/him...
• double check the remarks you're going to make about them, or anything else, are factually correct.

Use your introduction of your guests/or the event, as a "teaser" for what is going to come. It will help create anticipation in the audience. Don't ruin it by giving too much away! Just enough to tempt and no more.

Keep it brief. One to two minutes is generally sufficient.

(The word count of my sample welcome speech is 357. It will take approximately 2 minutes to say .) 

Use the S-S-S formula for success: Short, Simple and Sincere. Your listeners will appreciate it.

Get a printable welcome speech outline

If you would like to use and adapt the structure I used in my sample speech as the foundation for your welcome speech, click the link to download the printable: welcome speech outline .

Then edit; delete, amend and add, until you are done.

Get a hand with vocabulary

If you're stuck for words, here's a large selection of  adaptable welcoming phrases with example s entences.  Reading through them could help you to find exactly what you want.

What does a good welcome speech do?

An effective welcome speech has three important functions. It:

• signals the official beginning of an event . It says to the audience, hush, sit down, stop talking and listen. What you came for is starting!
• sets the tone for the occasion through the choice of language used . For example, using light-hearted and informal words to welcome guests to a dear friend's birthday party may be completely appropriate.  However, the same type of language to welcome family and friends to a memorial service is unlikely to be. In that setting, people generally expect a more solemn and formal word choice. They could be deeply offended and think the use of casual language is disrespectful.  Understanding and getting tone right is a key element in the overall success of your welcome speech.  
• unites the audience . It draws everyone together in the common purpose at the heart of the occasion. For example, at a birthday party, the welcome speech invites everyone to join in celebrating the person whose birthday it is. The welcome speech opening a specialist conference will affirm its principal purpose: the coming together of people with mutual interests to meet and share new knowledge. Or if a welcome speech is given to newcomers in a workplace, club or educational setting, its purpose is to give an introductory overview of how things work to help them feel more at ease in their new situation - to help them develop a sense of belonging.

Getting the tone right for an event

What is tone.

Tone is the combined impact of the words chosen to express something, with how they are structured and, delivered.  All three elements come together to create tone * . 

Get tone wrong, and your welcome speech is a disaster.

Get it right, and it's a triumph!

(Yes, that's hyperbole but I'm sure you get the idea. ☺)

* Tone - a mood, quality or feeling

How to choose the right words

The beginning of getting tone right is to think about your audience and the event itself. Your goal is to unite and bring them together in the main purpose at the core of the occasion. What type of language will do that most appropriately and easily?

To answer that question, think about the common interest everybody shares - the principal reason behind them getting together.  It will help guide your language choice.

Is it a fun event like a birthday party for close friends and family? If so, then informal language is likely to be the most apt.

You might hear something along the lines of: "Well, here we all are! The big day has finally arrived. Jean-Marie is 50! Half a century! How on earth did that happen?"

If it's a remembrance service for someone who has recently died, the language you're likely to hear is more formal.

For example: "Friends, family, colleagues, thank you for joining us today to celebrate and give thanks for our dear Jean-Marie. Your presence is gratefully appreciated." 

What is appropriate? What is expected?  Do spend some time thinking tone through. Misunderstanding and getting it wrong can be very embarrassing for everyone. If in doubt, ask someone whose opinion you trust.

Related helpful pages

Help rehearsing your welcome speech.

Get  step by step instructions on how to rehearse  including how to make and use cue cards.

And please do rehearse. It makes a huge difference! You'll sound, and look better. Taking the time to rehearse shows respect for yourself, the audience and the event. Truly.

Help to manage pre-speech jitters

Nervous? If you're shaking in your boots at the thought of having to speak in front of an audience, click  overcoming public speaking fear  for assistance. Take your time. The page has 14 tried and tested suggestions to consider.

Help with other types of welcome speeches

Or perhaps you need  welcome to the family speeches   or a  church welcome speech sample ? Click the links to find easily adaptable examples.

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How to Prepare and Give a Speech

Last Updated: May 6, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Deb DiSandro . Deb DiSandro is the Owner of Speak Up On Purpose, an organization dedicated to improving and teaching public speaking. Deb has over 30 years of experience as a national speaker and has presented at the Erma Bombeck Writer’s Conference and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. She was awarded the National Speakers Association Member of the Year 2007 and has been published in Writer's Digest, Daily Herald, Women's Day, and Better Homes & Gardens. There are 17 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,152,719 times.

Being asked to prepare and give a speech can seem really intimidating when you've never done it before. Don't worry! You'll be a public speaking pro in no time if you follow these simple tips.

Planning Your Speech

• You may even be able to redirect or add points to your speech with a smaller audience if you notice a number of them are interested in a particular subject or niche.

Writing the Speech

• Try starting the speech writing process by free-writing. Write as much as you can about your subject as fast as you can. Don't worry about judgment or crafting perfect sentences. Once you have your points on paper, you can start refining them and putting them in order.
• Use an anecdote or a quote. Sometimes, someone else has already said it better than you ever will. A quote, provided it hasn't been overused, can help you get things started. Just be sure to look for a quote that is surprising or unique, and always credit your source. [5] X Research source
• Be cautious about opening with a joke unless you know your audience well. You may think that a joke is funny, but your audience may find it humorless or even offensive.

• You can start by looking at generic sources like an encyclopedia or Wikipedia, but you need to fact check your ideas with more authoritative sources after you generally understand your subject.
• Draw on your own experience. If you have a long history with your topic, your experiences and personal stories can be great resources. Just keep these stories succinct so that you don't ramble and lose the audience's attention.

• Use 1 card for the introduction. This card should include your opening statement.
• Use 1 or 2 cards for each supporting point. Then, create 1 card for the conclusion which ties back to the main idea of your speech.
• Write brief sentence fragments or even single words on your cards. These words or fragments should contain key phrases that remind you of what you want to say.
• If you feel insecure or don't know the subject well, write out the words of your speech exactly as you want to say them.

• Keep the visuals to a minimum. You want them to aid your speech, not to overshadow it. Always make sure your speech can stand on its own should technical problems occur.
• Make sure that the audience can read the content of your visuals. Too big is better than not big enough.
• Check the facilities of the room in which you will be speaking. If you need Internet or you need a projection screen, be sure that the facility has the equipment. Arrive to the room early to make sure everything is functional for your speech.

Practicing Your Speech

• If you drive a regular commute, you can also practice a memorized speech while driving. Don't look off of notecards while on the road, though.

• Make sure that your gestures are natural and not too frenetic. Alternatively, don't fix your arms at your sides or keep your hands latched to the podium.
• If you make the speech to a friend or colleague and they offer constructive criticism, try to be open to what they have to say. Make sure they are familiar with your topic or industry, though, or their criticism may do more harm than good.

Getting Ready the Day of Your Speech

• Try to arrive at your presentation well before your audience. Take the time to make sure the sound is good and run through your visual aids. If you're at a conference, you may have 15-20 minutes to prep. If you're the sole speaker, you could get there an hour in advance.

During Your Speech

• Make eye contact with members of your audience. If eye contact is too intense for you, look just above their heads at a point such as a clock or a painting. Remember to look to both sides of the room. Don't favor just the right or left.
• Move your eyes around your audience so that everyone feels included in the presentation.

• Never leave the stage if something goes wrong, even if you feel embarrassed. Make a joke if you can, shake it off, and move forward.

• Be sure to build time for any Q and A into your allotted presentation time. That way, you can control the flow of the Q and A. Then, after the last question, let your audience know, "I'd like to share one final thought with you," and deliver a powerful closer.

How Do You Practice a Speech Effectively?

Samples of Persuasive Speeches

Samples of Informational Speeches

Community Q&A

Reader Videos

• Right before you start speaking, squeeze your butt cheeks together. [15] X Research source Public speaking author Robin Kermode suggests that this can help reduce anxiety. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• It is better to select a topic you are comfortable with. By doing so, you will be less anxious and stressed. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• Be loud and clear. Avoid the feeling of inferiority. This will boost up your confidence. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

Things You'll Need

• Written speech or index cards
• Friend, teacher or family member for practicing
• Video recording device
• Computer or tablet for presentations
• Charts and easel for presentations
• Microphone for a large room
• Glass of water
• Appropriate outfit

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_business-communication-for-success/s14-02-choosing-a-topic.html
• ↑ https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/02/tips-speaking
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/oral-comm-lab/audience-analysis
• ↑ https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/trial-practice/practice/2015/5-tips-for-engaging-opening-statements/
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/publicspeaking/chapter/9-2-the-attention-getter-the-first-step-of-an-introduction/
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/structuring-speech
• ↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/visual-aids
• ↑ https://wmich.edu/career/personalcommercial
• ↑ https://www.toastmasters.org/resources/public-speaking-tips/preparing-a-speech
• ↑ https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/record-yourself-improve-your-practice
• ↑ https://www.purdueglobal.edu/blog/student-life/10-public-speaking-tips/
• ↑ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-ccc-spch-1080-1/chapter/chapter-12-nonverbal-aspects-of-delivery/
• ↑ https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/oralcommunication/guides/tips-for-effective-delivery
• ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2014/01/28/five-easy-tricks-to-make-your-presentation-interactive/#3b01c83d2586
• ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/careers/careers-blog/10-quirky-tips-beating-interview-nerves-job
• How to Write a Great Speech: 5 Secrets for Success
• How to Give a Great Speech

About This Article

To prepare and give a speech, start by thinking about the topic, audience, and location of the speech. Write a detailed outline that includes your main topics, supporting points, and facts. Then, transfer the speech to note cards or handouts if necessary. Remember to practice your speech a few times in front of a mirror or a friend, and set a timer to ensure that you aren’t taking too long. On the day of the speech, review your note cards and make sure your presentation, handouts, or other supplementary information is in order. For tips on keeping calm during the speech and examples of different speeches, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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38 Top Opening and Closing Remarks for Meetings

By: Grace He | Updated: March 18, 2024

You found our list of opening and closing remarks for meetings .

Opening and closing remarks for meetings are statements that introduce and wrap up workplace get-togethers. The purpose of these remarks is to set the tone of the subject matter and summarize topics covered during the meeting. Examples of opening and closing remarks for meetings include quick welcomes to attendees, announcements explaining the reason for the meeting, and conclusions that wrap up the content covered.

Utilizing opening and closing remarks is among the top public speaking tips for employees . You can use conference jokes or conference quotes as your opening or closing remarks. These icebreaker jokes are a great addition to your conference agenda .

This list includes:

• short opening remarks for a meeting
• opening remarks for a virtual meeting
• chairman opening remarks in a meeting
• opening remarks for a seminar
• sample closing remarks for a meeting
• sample closing remarks for an event
• simple closing remarks

Here we go!

Short opening remarks for a meeting

• Welcome, everyone. Thank you for taking the time to attend our meeting this morning. This meeting will address some announcements we think you will find interesting. We have a lot to cover, so we will get started without further ado.
• Good morning, folks. We appreciate you blocking out your calendar so we can discuss some important topics with you. We promise to get through this as quickly as possible so you can get back to your day.
• Hey, everyone! Great to see so many shining faces in the room, especially for the early hour! Apologies for calling this meeting on such short notice. We have some significant announcements to make, so we will get right to it.
• Hi, team. Thank you for making an effort to be here today. Some serious developments occurred over the weekend, and we wanted to inform you of the details before you heard any worrisome rumors. Here is everything we can tell you so far.
• Hello, all! Glad you could make it on such short notice. We have some exciting news to share, and we just could not wait to spill the beans! Rather than wasting any time, we can get right to the good stuff.
• Good afternoon. Thanks for making time to be here today. As you know, we hit some important milestones this week. We thought sharing the success and discussing what comes next would be helpful. Away we go!
• Greetings, everybody! Here we are at another super exciting monthly meeting, our chance to share the highs and lows we all have been through since the last time we met. Would anyone like to get things started for us?
• Well, hey there! It has been a long time since our last meeting. We have all been quite busy, as you know. We have a lot to catch up on, so how about we jump right in and get started?

Opening remarks for a virtual meeting

• Good morning to everyone on our video call today. We have participants joining today from locations all over the world. Before we get started, we would like to take a moment to share our appreciation for everyone lining up their schedules across the time zones in this way. We understand how difficult it was to coordinate this meeting so all major stakeholders could attend. We promise to make it worth your while. If anyone on the call knows of a colleague who cannot attend, please feel free to share our discussion with them when you can. You should have a meeting deck in your email to help you follow along. Feel free to open it, and we will get started.
• Cyberteam: Assemble! Cheers to our remote crew, tuning in from the various workspaces around town and throughout the country. It is truly incredible that technology allows us to get together, even if only in digital form. You may have heard about some developments across several departments. We will address those topics and field any questions or concerns you may have. We will also discuss future developments in as much detail as possible. Much of what we will cover is still in the works, so we do not have as much information for you as we would like. However, we promise to do our best to get you up to speed and keep you informed as we learn more.
• Good afternoon, team. You may have seen the email announcing our new project calendar. This timeline includes tasks spanning multiple teams, so we have a coordinated effort. We wanted to get everyone on a call to brainstorm ways to approach our rollout of various tasks. Depending on the needs, you may find your name on multiple lists, or you may not appear on any lists. Our hope is to distribute the work as fairly as possible among the team to minimize potential overload. Because you are the players involved, we want you to have a say in how we assemble the list.
• Hello, everyone. Thank you for firing up your cameras and getting online this morning. We have a few special announcements to go over as well as updates on items we left in limbo during our last meeting. We also have a special guest joining us today. This guest speaker has information about making the most of your remote work experience. I know we have discussed workplace wellness in the past, and I thought we should hear from an expert on the subject. They will hop on for the last 30 minutes, which gives us the first 30 minutes to cover everything else. I will dive right in so we can have time for Q&A before our guest appears.
• Hey, crew! We have gotten away from our meeting schedule as of late, and for a good reason. Great job on catching up on the backlog! Now that we are ahead of the curve again, I would like us to pick back up on our semi-monthly schedule to stay informed in a more unified setting. I think it is also a good idea for us to see one another’s shining faces every so often so we can remember what we all look like! More sincerely, our remote team needs face-to-face interaction, which is what these meetings are all about. I will put new items on our calendars to keep us on track through the end of the year.

Chairman opening remarks in a meeting

• I am pleased to be speaking to all of you today. As the leader of this board, it is my duty to bring us together when necessary. This task can be challenging, considering our other obligations. I would like us to take this opportunity to review developments that occurred since our last meeting and cover several lingering action items.
• Good morning, fellow board members. It is a privilege to address you all this afternoon for such a fortunate occasion. It is not often that the board has the opportunity to honor the accomplishments of its own members. Today, we will celebrate the successes of a long-standing trustee who has reached the pinnacle of personal and professional achievement. Before we start, please join me in welcoming our esteemed member with a round of applause.
• Thank you all for attending. As chairman, I would like to begin this meeting by reviewing the minutes from our last session before covering our new agenda. You all know how quickly the new corporate strategy is unfolding. We have a growing list of issues to address, so we should get started.
• I would like to extend a warm welcome to all in attendance today. As your newly appointed chairman, I think it best to begin this meeting by introducing myself and explaining my background before having each member do the same. Once introductions are complete, we will review the charter and attend to any new business.

Opening remarks for a seminar

• Welcome, everyone, and thank you for being with us today. For those who may not know, this seminar is our opportunity to share our latest developments and explain how this progress will lead us into our next phase. We have laid out a roadmap that puts us on solid footing the whole way through. We are eager to share the details and get your input on what improvements we can make. As key stakeholders in the business, your viewpoints count as much as anyone on the team. We hope you feel comfortable sharing your thoughts.
• There are few moments in which our group can assemble for a subject as important as improving our culture. We feel the need is critical enough to halt operations and bring us all together. This company remains dedicated to the well-being of every employee, but dedication means nothing without action. We have created a seminar-style meeting that presents information intended to help make the most of your experience in the workplace. This is your space, after all, and we will do all we can to create an enriching culture for all of us.
• I can think of few workplace developments less stressful than learning new software. Unfortunately, we have outgrown our old platform and have no choice but to move to a bigger and better model. After a great deal of deliberation, we have chosen a package that will make your current work much easier while also accommodating future growth. To get a head start on learning, we have put together this seminar with a representative from the software company. This speaker will provide an overview of the system and its functions before going into detail about how each feature fits in with our current system. Please feel free to ask questions and share your insight as we proceed.

Sample closing remarks for a meeting

• We have covered a lot of material in a short time. If you need more details, you can schedule one-on-one time with your supervisors, who will have additional information shortly. Please write down any questions that arise so you can get answers and feel settled about our next steps.
• I hope you enjoyed our brainstorming session. We are off to a great start and should have a great second meeting. I will add an item to the calendar to continue with our planning phase. If everyone will kindly send me their notes, then I will create a master folder we can all access. I will also email today’s meeting minutes out so we can create a living document as we go. More to come!
• As you can understand, this meeting is only a first step. We will continue business as usual until we receive further word about new developments. Once we know more about the acquisition, we will put together another meeting for updates. You may have questions and concerns before then, which you may discuss with your manager, of course. To avoid creating unnecessary anxiety, we would ask that you refrain from speculating on details we have yet to disclose. I appreciate your cooperation.
• I hope you can all agree that it is important for our team to spend quality time together outside of our usual tasks. These team building meetings are a perfect forum for showing off other sides of our personalities and connecting in fun and exciting ways. This meeting is the first of many! To ensure everyone feels a sense of ownership, I would like you all to send me your ideas for events we can include in future meetings. If you know of any games or icebreaker activities we should include, please send me a note or drop by my office to chat. The more input we have, the better variety of activities we can draw from.

Sample closing remarks for an event

• We hope you enjoyed attending our event as much as we enjoyed putting it together. As always, we are ready to assist our clients in any way possible. If you have concerns after you head out, please get in touch with your account manager or a supervisor and let us know how we can help. We truly appreciate serving you and cannot wait to see where we go together next. Thank you for coming!
• Thank you for coming to our get-together. We know breaking away from your busy day can be challenging, and we do not take it for granted. That said, it is always great to see our team come together for time away from the daily grind! We would not be able to do what we do without you. You are all integral to this organization’s success, and we are grateful to have you.
• We have come a long way since the last time we were all together. The organization has grown considerably, and we know more growth will come. We hope we have clarified what comes next for this company and how we intend to achieve our goals. The agenda may seem ambitious, but we have no doubt that the people in this room are the right people to make the effort successful. Thank you, as always, for your continued support and dedication to our cause. We hope to see you again next time.
• Before we all head out, I would like to thank everyone who showed up tonight. You really came through and made this event a smashing success! I would also like to give a shout-out to our event team, who put together everything from decorations to catering without falling behind on their daily tasks. This team is phenomenal, and the credit for such a winning event goes to them. Please join me in showing our appreciation for all they have done.

Simple closing remarks

• Thank you all for coming. Enjoy the rest of your day!
• This meeting went quicker than expected, so I will give you 30 minutes back.
• Apologies for this meeting taking longer than scheduled. I appreciate you taking the extra time needed to finish up.
• If you have any questions after the meeting, please feel free to come to my office.
• Anyone needing more information can reach out to the contacts listed on the calendar item for this meeting.
• We have much more to discuss, so I will schedule a follow-up meeting for a week from now.
• As you can see, we have some serious challenges ahead of us. But I know that our usual team spirit will help us rise to the occasion.
• This topic is highly sensitive, so we ask that you treat it with the proper discretion.
• As a thank-you for your time and attention, there are treats in the breakroom. Feel free to drop by and grab a few!
• You all put the “dream” in “dream team.” Thank you for your incredible effort and amazing output during such a demanding time!

Preparing opening and closing remarks will provide definitive starting and ending points for your meetings. You can set the tone while alerting attendees to the main topic as well as sharing a list of agenda items. These remarks also create an opportunity to open your meeting with a warm welcome and close on a note of gratitude and encouragement.

Next, read about virtual workshop ideas and virtual brainstorming ideas , and team meeting tips .

Book wildly fun team building events with expert hosts

FAQ: Opening and closing remarks for meetings

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about opening and closing remarks for meetings.

What are opening and closing remarks for meetings?

Opening and closing remarks for meetings are introductions and conclusions that bring a sense of organization to your agenda. You can use opening remarks to announce the topic of your meeting, while closing remarks will provide a wrap-up and alert attendees to any follow-up meetings or actions needed.

Why are good opening and closing remarks important?

Good opening remarks are important because they set the tone for the meeting, set goalposts, and keep listeners engaged. Similarly, good closing statements summarize essential topics, establish goals for future sessions, and provide calls to action.

What are some good opening statements for meetings?

Some options for good opening remarks include quick reasons for the meeting and brief rundowns of topics you will cover. Choosing an opener that matches the tone of the topics you want to address is essential.

How do you create good closing remarks for meetings?

Preparing good closing remarks can be as simple as reiterating information already covered and assigning the next steps. Additionally, these remarks should leave meeting attendees with a sense of understanding and accomplishment. Examples of some good closing remarks include thank yous to workers for attending, confirmations of the following steps, and reminders of follow-up items.

Author: Grace He

People & Culture Director at teambuilding.com. Grace is the Director of People & Culture at TeamBuilding. She studied Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, Information Science at East China Normal University and earned an MBA at Washington State University.

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The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by First Lady Jill   Biden at National Teachers of the Year State   Dinner

The East Room

Thank you, Secretary Cardona. Miguel, Joe and I are so grateful for your work – when you’re around, it’s hard not to feel excited for our future. You know that education can change lives, and you’re fighting every day for our students and their educators.

Second Gentleman Emhoff – Doug – You’re the best second gentleman ever. And I’m so glad to be able to call you a fellow teacher.

Secretaries Becerra and Buttigieg, Carolina, Chasten – thank you, and the other administration officials here, for taking the time to be here tonight. 

And we have so many incredible members of Congress joining us who have come out of the classroom or worked in education. I’m grateful to have you here – and we’re all grateful for your work to support our educators.

Welcome to the White House! And the first-ever Teachers of the Year State Dinner.

Tonight, we celebrate you. Because teaching isn’t just a job. It’s a calling.

And all of you were called to this profession for a reason. You believe that a better world is possible – and you make that world real, one student at a time. As you sit here tonight, you don’t just represent yourselves – you represent your entire communities, parents, students, and educators, who thought you were the best of them, and they selected you.

And none of that could happen without the support of our unions.

Randi, Becky – thank you for always showing up for your members. We’re all so grateful for your leadership.

To CCSSO leaders here: we couldn’t do this without you. You are treasured partners.

And CCSSO worked with your principals to present you with a gift from home – the surprise that was on each of your seats tonight. We’re so grateful for all their hard work.

As I’ve traveled the country as your first lady, it’s been my honor to meet so many incredible educators in classrooms and student centers and libraries.

Teachers who redid their lesson plans overnight during the pandemic and came to the rescue as students faced a crisis like never before. Teachers who support our military kids as they start over in their newest school, because the average military kid changes schools between six and nine times before they graduate from high school. Teachers who are helping students find career paths that will change their lives – leading dual enrollment courses, and providing hands-on learning in science labs and carpentry classrooms, so students can take a first step toward a career they love.

I always knew that Joe would be the education President. And he’s delivered on his promises: An amazing Secretary of Education who comes out of the public school classroom. Following a devastating pandemic, he reopened our schools safely and quickly, making historic investments in public schools to support our teachers, the academic and mental health needs of students, community schools, and career and technical education. He fixed student loan relief for public servants.

And he’s fighting to make sure educators are paid what they’re worth. Since Joe took office, 30 states and DC have increased teacher pay!

To answer this call of service, is in itself, an act of hope. You look at your students and don’t just see who they are today – you see all the possibility of tomorrow. You help them find the light within themselves. And that light lives on in all of you. Tonight, as I look out at the glow of these candles, you all shine so brightly. This room represents potential – the glittering hope ahead – what we give to the next generation.

When I was a little girl, my grandmother would sometimes take me to school with her, a one room schoolhouse in a small town in South Jersey. She loved her work, and her students loved her in return. And she used to call her students to class with a big brass bell.

When she died, she didn’t leave behind a giant estate. But what I inherited from her – what I still have to this day – is that bell.

And I sometimes think about the way her legacy resonated into the world like waves of sound, changing those who heard its ring.

I think of every student she taught, and wonder what amazing things they grew up to do. Perhaps they are public servants working to make our communities a little stronger, a little fairer. Perhaps they are doctors saving lives, or architects building our cities, or scientists working to solve global challenges.

And of course, there’s at least one teacher.

Today, all of you ring your own bell – pulling each person you teach into a harmony that never ends.

Right now, someone out there is a better thinker because of you. Someone is standing a little taller because you helped her find the confidence she needed. Someone is working a little harder because you pushed him to try. Someone is kinder because you showed her what that meant. And someone is braver because you helped him find his courage.

Never stop ringing that bell. Never forget that, student by student, the lives you change go on to change the world.

Let’s raise a glass: to you.

Nestled among the Smoky Mountain peaks and rolling hills, sits Rogersville City School. And at that school, in a classroom lined with pictures of her students, there’s a teacher like no other: Missy Testerman. For the last 31 years, she has supported students there, not just as learners, but as members of the community.

When their families need help going to the bank, she takes them. When students need to learn how to make a phone call, she teaches them. When the plumbing was making the entire school smell – she brought educators and community members together to get it fixed.

And, years ago, when she realized students weren’t performing well academically – despite incredible teachers who were trying each day – she turned the first six weeks of school into Bootcamp Academy – where students learn how to understand questions and expectations – so they can learn how to learn. And her students thrived. She recruited colleagues, and suddenly, everyone was doing bootcamp academy – and students soared.

I’m honored to have Missy representing our profession.

As her students say: “She makes everyone feel important.” “She helps us feel more welcome.” “She made sure I was taken care of.” “She makes me smile all the time.” “She’s the best.”

Please welcome, your National Teacher of the Year, Missy Testerman.

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• International

Israel-Hamas war

Tornado risk in Central US

Met Gala 2024

April 30, 2024 - US university protests

By Rachel Ramirez, Chandelis Duster, Samantha Delouya, Tori B. Powell, Aditi Sangal, Amir Vera, Deva Lee, Kathleen Magramo, Dalia Faheid and Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

Our live coverage of the protests rocking US campuses has moved here

Over 100 protesters arrested across 2 New York college campuses, law enforcement official says

From CNN’s Mark Morales

Over 100 protesters were arrested Tuesday at Columbia University and City College of New York, according to a law enforcement official.

Most of the arrests were made at Columbia, including about two dozen protesters who police say tried to prevent officers from entering the campus, the official said.

Tactical teams at Columbia first set up a perimeter around the campus to hold back protesters and prevent further arrests, according to the official. Offers then entered the campus through multiple entry points.

"It's still a student-fueled movement," Columbia student magazine editor says

From CNN's Kathleen Magramo

Jonas Du, editor-in-chief of a Columbia student magazine, told CNN that the protests on campus are student-fueled regardless of any outsider involvement.

It’s “hard to say” whether those arrested from Columbia's Hamilton Hall were students or from outside the institution, the Columbia Sundial editor said.

“Even though campus has been locked down to Columbia ID holders, now there has been ways of getting in, getting non-affiliated into campus. But for the most part you need Columbia IDs, you need students to provide you with IDs that can get you into campus," said Du, who is a junior student at the university.

Du said he believes there is “evidence” of outside organizations behind the occupation's planning, but he also says numerous Columbia students were inside Hamilton Hall. 

He said he recognized “many, many Columbia students in the crowd” that formed human chains around the entrances to Hamilton Hall while reporting on the protests. 

“At the end of the day, it's still a student-fueled movement. It wouldn’t have gotten to (this) extent without the of the student organizations here.” 

Du said students received a text message and email alert from the school stating that a shelter-in-place order had been issued, asking them to remain in their dorms and not to go on campus.

"But all of us knew that that was sort of a signal that the NYPD was going to raid campus," he added.

Video shows Arizona State University police officer removing protester’s hijab during arrest

From CNN’s Cindy Von Quednow

Video taken over the weekend at Arizona State University shows a campus police officer removing a hijab from a protester’s head during her arrest.

The blurred video, obtained by Mass Liberation AZ and provided to CNN by attorney Zayed Al-Sayyed, who represents the women, shows several ASU Police Department officers surrounding a woman whose hands are held behind her back as one of the officers removes her hijab.

People nearby can be heard yelling, “You’re violating her privacy,” and “Give it back.”

The officers then pull the woman’s sweatshirt hood over her head and a bystander yells, “So she can wear a hood but not her hijab?” At one point one of the officers blocks the woman from the view of those taking the video, as a person yells, “let her go!”

A lawyer representing her and three other women who said it also happened to them is demanding accountability.

Al-Sayyed, who said the arrests took place early Saturday, did not identify the women but indicated that three of them are students at the university and all four are Phoenix-area residents. They are facing criminal trespass charges.

Upon being taken into custody, Al-Sayyed said, the women explained the significance of a hijab and “begged” to keep their hijabs, but he said they were told that their hijabs had to be removed for safety reasons.

“They never expected that an officer … who’s sworn to protect and serve is going to violate their most basic protected right under the United States Constitution, which is the right to practice their religion. So they're hurt,” Al-Sayyed said.

After being detained and bused to jail, the women were not given their hijabs back, Al-Sayyed said.

Around 15 hours later, when he was finally given access to his clients, Al-Sayyed said he was able to bring them new hijabs.

The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ),  condemned  the university police for the recorded incident and others like it and called for a full investigation.

“This act represents a blatant infringement upon the religious liberties of peaceful protesters. It is profoundly distressing for the affected women, and ASU Police must conduct a thorough investigation into this matter,” Azza Abuseif, executive director of CAIR-AZ, said in an email to CNN.

In a statement to CNN, the university said, “This matter is under review.” CNN has reached out to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for comment.

Protests will continue despite police presence at Columbia, student negotiator says

A lead student negotiator for protesters at Columbia University has told CNN that protests will continue on the campus despite the school's request for a police presence.

The university has asked NYPD to maintain its presence on campus until May 17.

"I’m very confident that students will continue this movement even after all this brutality against them," negotiator Mahmoud Khalil said, adding that students still have the right to protest despite increased security.

Since negotiations between student protesters and the Columbia University administration began two weeks ago, the university has not viewed them as an anti-war movement, he said. 

"Instead, they dealt with it as an internal student discipline matter. They negotiated with us about bringing food and blankets to the encampment. They refused to acknowledge that this actually is more than that, this is a nationwide movement.

"This is a movement that asks Columbia to divest its investments from the companies that are fuelling the war in Gaza right now,” said Khalil, who is a second-year graduate student at Columbia.

Tensions escalated on campus when officers entered Columbia's Hamilton Hall , which had been occupied by protesters since the early hours of Tuesday, and dozens were seen being arrested.

Khalil said that "the autonomous group decided to take that building when they felt the university is not answering their demands" and was "alienating" them.

Police presence at Columbia may dampen graduation celebrations, CNN journalist and student says

From CNN's Elizabeth Wolfe

Julia Vargas Jones, a CNN journalist and Columbia Journalism School graduate student, said the university's request for an on-campus police presence through May 17 will only "dampen the mood even more" as students and their families prepare for graduation.

NYPD swarmed the university Tuesday night after the university authorized them to go into the campus to clear out a building being occupied by protesters. CNN has witnessed dozens of arrests.

"Graduation is May 15. That is my graduation as well. I have family coming from Brazil to come watch me walk across the stage and get my diploma. I hope of course, as everyone does, that this (graduation) can happen," Jones said.

"But at the same time, is there a climate for celebration, for graduation?" Jones said.

Jones said she's unsure the climate on campus will be celebratory as graduation nears.

"I spoke to a lot of students on campus today and students were just feeling caught in between. I don't really see celebration being something we flock to in the coming weeks," she said. "I'm interested to see who will actually attend graduation."

Jones said she has not witnessed any violent altercations as she reported from inside Columbia’s campus Tuesday night. After the campus was cleared by NYPD, Jones described the atmosphere as quiet enough to “hear a pin drop.”

NYPD used flash bangs to breach Columbia building where doors were barricaded

From CNN’s Matthew Friedman and Miguel Marquez

NYPD officers used flash-bang grenades to breach Columbia's Hamilton Hall, which protesters had barricaded themselves inside Tuesday, the police department told CNN.

The building's doors had been barricaded with chairs, tables and vending machines, and windows had been covered with newspaper, the NYPD said.

When a flash-bang grenade is deployed , it emits a bright flash and a very loud bang, often used to shock and disorient. 

Video posted by NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry shows officers searching a bookshelf-lined office after busting the door's lock with a hammer.

Another video shows officers packing a stairwell and passing chairs to one another.

At least 50 officers had earlier used an elevated ramp to climb into the building through a window. 

Columbia University property has been cleared, NYPD says

From CNN’s Matthew Friedman and Miguel Marquez at Columbia

Columbia University’s property has been cleared, the New York Police Department told CNN, less than two hours after officers entered the school’s campus in Morningside Heights.

Hamilton Hall has also been cleared, the NYPD says, and nobody was wounded during the operation. 

The NYPD is still monitoring different locations for protesters across the city, they said.

Photos show NYPD action at Columbia University

From CNN Digital’s Photo Team

The New York Police Department entered the Columbia University campus late Tuesday evening after receiving a letter from the university authorizing them to go into the campus, a law enforcement source familiar with the situation told CNN. 

Officers entered Hamilton Hall , which had been occupied by protesters since the early morning hours Tuesday.

Dozens of people have been arrested.

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Secret meetings, social chatter: How Columbia students sparked a nationwide revolt

When police raided a protester encampment at Columbia University last week, the students at Yale were ready, tracking every minute of the chaos that followed with their smartphones on social media.

If students at the New York City Ivy League school were going to risk arrest, they would, too. By the next morning, Yale demonstrators had pitched their own tents. On a Zoom call that day, more than 200 students from dozens of other colleges across the country were strategizing on how they could replicate Columbia’s protest.

“We talked about what it was like to recruit people and join, and what it meant to stand in solidarity together, and what it would look like if these camps started popping up everywhere,” said Soph Askanase, 21-year-old junior at Barnard College who was arrested at Columbia.

What followed was the start of what historians now call one of the most consequential student uprisings the nation has seen in recent times. Though officials hope the tensions calm when classes end next month, the protests have become a crisis for college administrators struggling to rein in demonstrations while juggling competing demands to combat antisemitic rhetoric and permit students’ right to free speech.

“I think the ivory tower stands on shaky ground,” said Steven Mintz, a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. “Its foundations are far more fragile and vulnerable than it might seem, and there are big cracks in the facade.”

Though the demonstrations have made headlines across the globe in recent days, they are the culmination of months of activism and earlier tensions on campus. Protests began on college campuses within days of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Students then started organizing around a particular demand: university divestment from weapons manufacturers. Their activism steadily escalated throughout the spring, as students employed increasingly aggressive tactics after saying they got little or no response from administrators.

The growing uprising has been supercharged by social media and smartphones, which allowed students to quickly communicate with one another and replicate tactics in ways unthinkable in earlier university movements.

Historians like David Cortright, a professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, say the demonstrations already compare to several other large protest movements over the last 60 years, including the campaign to end apartheid in South Africa and the 2011 Occupy Wall Street demonstrations over corporate greed.

But unlike the protests of decades past, college administrators have fewer tools at their disposal to assuage demonstrator demands. Experts say student requests for divestment are not only impractical but also are likely to yield little if any real benefit. More broadly, the students could face a challenge in trying to build alliances. Some would-be demonstrators have been deterred by tactics and chants some view as antisemitic.

“Dr. Martin Luther King used to talk about ‘creative tension,’ where surface calm gets disturbed and the powers that be have to pay attention,” said Cortright, who is also a visiting scholar at Cornell University this year. “But in terms of what counts as effectiveness, one of the cardinal rules is to build a broad coalition and don’t alienate potential supporters. … You don’t come up with a slogan that turns away potential allies.”

‘We’ve never lived in normal times’

For students attending college today, life has been defined by waves of upheaval.

Columbia’s student body president, Teji Vijayakumar, notes that graduating seniors like herself were entering elementary school during the Occupy Wall Street protests, middle school during student walkouts over gun control and former president Donald Trump’s executive order barring travel from some Muslim-majority countries, and were in high school when the Black Lives Matter demonstrations erupted.

Vijayakumar recalls being 13 years old and writing her emergency contacts on her arm when she attended a women’s march in Washington.

“I think a difference with older generations is that for them college was a coming of age, whereas my class started elementary school in the financial crisis, started high school in the Trump presidency, and started college in the pandemic,” Vijayakumar said. “We’ve never lived in normal times.”

When the war in Gaza broke out, their universities became a new front line.

At Brown University, protests against Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas erupted almost immediately. Police arrested 61 people at two demonstrations last fall, including Ariela Rosenzweig, a senior. Similar demonstrations were simultaneously taking place at other colleges.

Rosenzweig said the campus demonstrations were organic, student-led initiatives anchored in a demand that Brown divest from weapons manufacturers. Rosenzweig said students stayed in contact with their peers at other schools, a process often coordinated through the national Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter.

“We all have our phones, and we all know each other,” Rosenzweig said. “We have friends at other schools, and the youth of our country feels ... our institutions, whether they be our government or our universities, cannot be complicit with occupation, apartheid and genocide.”

The push for divestment was also gaining traction at other elite universities, including Columbia. Administrators there suspended chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace in November after the groups held an unauthorized walkout in support of the Palestinian territories.

College protests over Gaza war

The suspensions only made students want to protest more, Askanase, the junior at Barnard, recalled. Within days, students formed a coalition called “CU Apartheid Divest,” a callback to the successful student protest movement that forced Columbia to divest from apartheid-era South Africa in the 1980s. It quickly garnered support from more than 90 campus groups.

“We realized the administration still wasn’t listening to us, no matter how loud we screamed or how much we begged,” Askanase said. “We realized an escalation was necessary.”

The night before announcing the new coalition, Askanase and friends stayed up until 4 a.m. drafting an 1,800-word manifesto that ran on Nov. 14 in the Columbia Spectator.

University officials “underestimate our resolve,” the students wrote. “We will not rest until Columbia divests from apartheid Israel, Palestinians are free, and liberation is achieved for all oppressed people worldwide.”

In the following weeks, students kept protesting — holding some kind of demonstration at least once a month, Askanase said, from public “art builds” to “die-ins.” During winter break, the activists kept in touch on video calls. And when they got back for the spring semester, they began meeting in off-campus apartments, fearing detection by administrators.

At some meetings, before digging into pita dipped in za’atar and Palestinian olive oil, students placed their phones and laptops in a pile in another room, to guard against leaks.

They were already at work at something bigger, and they wanted it to stay secret.

Protests were ramping up at other universities, too. In February, Rosenzweig and 20 other Brown University students held an eight-day hunger strike to press their demands. She said students came up with idea after discovering how Brown University students had held a hunger strike to protest apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s.

“We saw ourselves in the legacy of those student protests,” said Rosenzweig, who is Jewish.

At Columbia, students were also drawing inspiration from the past. Askanase said they researched student protesters who set up encampments in 1968 and 1985 at Columbia against the Vietnam War and apartheid South Africa, respectively. They also read about the Black Panthers, as well as the words of writer Angela Davis.

Then they got to work on the more practical preparations: ordering tents, food, masks and medical supplies, sketching out responses to probable arrests and suspensions — and figuring out where occupiers would use the bathroom.

“We ordered little camping bathroom tents that are not the nicest, but they do the trick,” Askanase said.

On April 14, the students finalized their date: The occupation would begin three days later, when Columbia’s president would be out of town testifying before Congress. The demonstrators figured Columbia would have a harder time coordinating a response with the president gone. Plus, they hoped to disrupt the university’s preparations for graduation.

At 8 the night before go time, Askanase sat down to paint a large banner declaring the tents a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.” Later, student protesters spaced out in small pockets across campus, clutching their tents and supplies and trading texted updates on the positions of security guards.

They stayed huddled, waiting in the cold to act. Askanase re-watched a YouTube video giving instructions on how to set up a tent one more time.

‘Way more complicated’

The protests are loosely organized, with no central leaders and one primary demand: that colleges disinvest from weapons manufacturers or companies that do extensive business with Israel.

At Brown, students have prepared a 50-page manual on how to do that and say it could be modeled after the university’s steps to divest from tobacco in 2003 or fossil fuels in 2020. Brown also divested from companies that did business with Sudan in 2006 over the crisis in Darfur.

“This new generation quite frankly is not going to allow the blatant misuse of our tax money,” said Nour Abaherah, a graduate student who participated in the hunger strike.

But how universities invest their money makes disinvestment complicated, said Chris Marsicano, a Davidson College assistant professor of educational studies who researches endowments and finance.

First, it’s impossible to know just how and where universities’ endowments are invested: Schools are notoriously closemouthed about it, revealing as little as they can. Disclosing investments can lead to complications large and small, Marsicano said, from the embarrassment of discovering that a company targeted for investment directly competes with a company owned by one of the university’s trustees — to the possibility that a university disclosing its decision to sell or buy stock could affect the price of that stock.

“When endowment funds are this large, we’re talking tens of billions of dollars, there are legal and practical reasons not to show exactly, explicitly, what they’re invested in,” Marsicano said.

Many of the student groups are demanding an end to this secretiveness. For example, students at Columbia are asking that the university offer “complete transparency for all … financial investments” — an unlikely prospect.

Divestment, meanwhile, is practically impossible, experts said. Universities probably have very few if any direct ties to companies that are Israeli based or weapons manufacturers; most of those relationships would come through index funds.

Mariscano said it can be extremely difficult to figure out what companies are represented in a large index fund — or what companies the fund may be indirectly linked to. Israel is a hot spot right now for solar energy, innovative climate change solutions and pharmaceuticals.

Mintz, the University of Texas history professor, said the complications associated with divestment is one reason college administrators have no easy solutions for ending the protests. In the 1960s and 1970s, students offered up solutions that were more actionable, he noted, like nudging administrators to create an African American students program.

“If students demanded a Black Studies program, you could set up a Black Studies program. And it was easy for [college] leadership to denounce the Vietnam War,” Mintz said. “All of this is way more complicated.”

After the raid

A day after pitching their tents, Columbia administrators called the New York Police Department to the campus, saying students were breaking multiple university rules, had been suspended and were trespassing.

As police moved in on the Columbia encampment, Askanase said students sat in two concentric circles, chanted “Disclose, Divest!” and sang “classic protest songs.” Askanase then watched as, one by one, student protesters were marched onto a bus and taken to jail.

When Askanase was released hours later, a friend shared some unexpected news: Protesters had already made a new encampment on campus.

“It was the most beautiful moment,” Askanase recalled. “I was so honored and in shock. ... I had no clue our student body would stand up and support us like that.”

What happened next recalls the way protests spread in 1968 , when Columbia students seized five buildings to protest the Vietnam War — and fueled student antiwar activity nationwide that ultimately shut down hundreds of campuses, said Thai Jones, a Columbia University lecturer who studies radical social movements. He cautioned that it’s too soon to say whether the pro-Palestinian demonstrations will equal the firepower of ’68.

But “it proves the very close connections between student movements on different campuses, and the power of media to show incredibly dramatic images of students being arrested that can really spark a mass movement,” Jones said.

In 2024, that includes social media platforms that did not exist in the 1960s: Apps such as Instagram, TikTok and X. Such sites allow students to immediately spread glossy, professional-looking pictures and videos of their activities, Jones noted, spurring admiration and emulation.

At Yale, by the time news of the Columbia arrests began ricocheting across 23-year-old Adam Nussbaum’s X feed, the occupation was already a definite “go,” he said. But the number of prospective occupiers — and bystander supporters — swelled dramatically as friend networks between the two Ivy League schools exploded with alarmed texts, DMs and calls.

“A lot of us just know people at Columbia, so people were talking to their friends,” said Nussbaum, a junior. “It all happened with so much organic energy.”

Officials in New York contend, nonetheless, that there is more to the protests there than might meet the eye. After the Columbia arrests, New York Mayor Eric Adams compared the situation to the challenges New York police faced during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2022. Back then, he said, disruptive actors came into New York intent on “tearing our city apart.”

“We strongly believe that is the case right now,” he said at a news conference.

Since the protests erupted, there have been newspaper and social media reports of the harassment of Jewish students, behavior including chants of “from the river to the sea” — a slogan some find deeply offensive, interpreting it as a call to annihilate Israel — and one Jewish Yale student’s allegation she was poked in the eye with a Palestinian flag.

Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, wrote in a post on X that he spent an afternoon walking around Columbia and determined that “Jewish students have been explicitly threatened, increasingly menaced and physically attacked.”

“It’s extremely hostile,” said Rotem Weiss, 27, a Jewish and Israeli student at Columbia. “It’s beyond anything I have ever imagined that I would experience here.”

Protesting students at encampments nationwide have repeatedly denied any such harassing behavior, often attributing it to outsiders.

Many college professors, alumni and civil rights leaders, meanwhile, have condemned police for moving aggressively against the campus demonstrators. They say fears of external agitators are overblown because the protests are mostly peaceful.

“I think the signs of a healthy democracy is where you see a lot of protests,” said Greg Jobin-Leeds, an expert on social movements. “Right now, we are seeing the limiting of that democratic state and it’s very, very concerning.”

A generation changed

Although summer break is rapidly approaching, student protesters say they will use the time away from campus to figure out ways their movement can return with even more force in the fall.

“This student movement is of the utmost importance,” Rosenzweig, the Brown student, said. “I don’t see people backing down.”

There will be other venues for students to express their discontent in the months ahead. The Republican and Democratic nominating conventions are scheduled for this summer, and both expect to draw a large number of protesters. Thus far, students have been mum on whether they plan to join those demonstrations.

Overall, students are offering few specifics on their next steps, saying they wanted to avoid alerting university officials to their plans. At Yale, though, the students who occupied Beinecke Plaza have now announced that they are morphing their movement to a broader “Occupy Yale” campaign, which — in addition to divestment from weapons manufacturers — is also demanding the university increase its investments in the New Haven local area.

Meantime, as the protests forge a chaotic end to the school year in many places, some students just wish they would stop.

Cameron Ofogh, a 22-year-old junior at George Washington University, isn’t one of those protesting — like the vast majority of his student body, he noted. Instead, Ofogh watched on Thursday as a few hundred students, some from other D.C.-area schools, set up roughly 30 tents to form a pro-Palestinian encampment. George Washington enrolls 26,000 students.

Ofogh said he doesn’t believe campus occupations and chants of “from the river to the sea” represent an effective way to have a substantive discussion about the war. He respects that people on both sides of the conflict have strong opinions. But he wishes they would actually start debating them, rather than chanting slogans or hiding in dorm rooms.

“They’re not hearing each other out; they’re not having civic engagement,” Ofogh said. “And I think this is happening because colleges have failed to teach students to talk to each other.”

By contrast, Nussbaum of Yale sees the growing web of protests and encampments as evidence of students’ eloquence — and their power to change the world.

“It cracks open what is possible,” he said.

Alisa Shodiyev Kaff contributed to this report.