FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH
| “Speak Easy” |
Issue 5 |
|
| By: Ron Brounes |
September 1997 |
Recently
I was reading an interesting article on human nature, and more specifically,
about individual’s greatest fears. If
memory serves correctly, people are most afraid of flying (or rather, crashing
while flying). Personally, that first
sign of turbulence on the airplane and I’m pushing that button for the flight
attendant. Next, people are petrified of
sharks (or rather getting bitten/eaten by sharks). Every since Peter Benchley brought countless
nightmares to those of us who read “Jaws” and watched sequel after sequel, my
recreational water activities are confined to the swimming pool. Finally, individuals are scared of public
speaking. Unfortunately not even
kindergarten “show and tell”, Dale Carnegie, nor visualizing a naked audience
have been able to cure us of getting nervous.
The
key to overcoming this fear of public speaking is to always be prepared when
these situations arise. That preparation
begins with the composition of a quality speech. While most of us would claim to have
virtually no training in speech writing, in reality, we all have been gaining
valuable experience in this area since the very first day at school when we
were told to compose an autobiography or a paper on our summer vacation. This experience was further enhanced with
each book report and term paper we wrote (copied).
Regardless
of the setting (board meeting, business presentation, industry conference,
political rally), the key to writing and ultimately delivering an effective
speech is to answer six simple questions: “five W’s and an H.” These are the same questions we answer in
virtually every writing assignment we have ever undertaken.
·
WHO – Who am I?
What is my background on this important matter? What are my qualifications to be giving this
speech?
·
WHAT – What am I here to talk about? What does my audience want me to talk
about? What am I hoping to accomplish by
delivering this speech?
·
WHEN – When is the event I am talking about taking
place? When will a decision need to be
made on this important matter?
·
WHERE – Where is the event taking place? Where does the audience need to go to
accomplish the task I am telling them about?
·
WHY – Why should the audience care about this particular
information? Why should they even listen
to my speech?
·
HOW – How will they be affected by this event? How do I want them to feel after I conclude
my talk?
Before
beginning to write any speech (or paper for that matter), answer these six
basic questions which will become your
source information. I always recommend
creating a written outline before beginning to actually write the text for your
upcoming talk. Identify all of the
important topics that you wish to cover and categorize all of the answers to
the “five W’s and an H” into a formal comprehensive outline. The more complete and effective the outline,
the easier time you will have writing the speech. In many cases, the speech may actually write
itself. A standard speech should be
divided into three sections:
introduction, body, and conclusion.
·
Tell the audience
what you are about to tell them
·
Tell them
·
Tell them what
you just told them
Once
a good working draft has been written, three crucial steps remain in the public
speaking process: practice, practice, practice.
The easiest way to get over your nervous feelings about public speaking
is to be totally prepared for the task at hand.
Read the speech again and again, to ensure you will not lose your place
or get tongue tied at significant points.
Practice it aloud, in front of the mirror, in front of your wife, your
dog, or in the car on the way to work.
Recently,
I composed a speech for a business client of mine, who I was certain would do a
fantastic job at the upcoming conference he was attending. He had a great gift for gab and a wonderful
booming voice much like James Earl Jones (This Is CNN). He informed me that he would work best from
an outline, allowing him more room to ad lib.
Still I wrote him a speech from the outline, just in case. A few days before his conference, we held a
training session where he was to practice the speech in front of me and some
office mates for a little critique.
The
video tape started rolling and he began talking, ad libbing material and
swaying from the speech I had prepared.
Almost immediately, he lost his frame of thought, began to stumble, and
grew nervous. James Earl Jones’ voice
actually began cracking; sweat was beading on his brow. He forgot to mention humorous anecdotes and
left out crucial facts. Finally, he
pulled a Tanya Harding, and asked if he could start again. The next time, he read directly from the
prepared draft, growing comfortable with the order of the speech. He practiced a few more times, until he
virtually had the words memorized and was able to throw an occasional ad lib
into the talk. The best speakers are the most prepared speakers.
When
constructing your speech, always attempt to define your audience. Remember, the speech is for them, not for
you. Try to put yourself in their shoes,
and anticipate what they would like to hear.
Tailor your words to meet the audience; target your message to meet their interests. Know your audience; know their interests; no
excuses.
Often
times, written words are simply not enough.
The average human attention span is about one and a half minutes (I made
that up). Anything longer and our minds
tend to wander. You may wish to
incorporate a few helpful aids to keep the audience’s attention. I am an advocate of humor within the context
of a talk. Laughter can break up a
speech better than anything, hopefully encouraging folks to listen for the next
one liner. Stories and anecdotes are
always the most effective methods of getting your points across. Props can also help break the monotony of any
speech. The audience is again forced to
pay closer attention, and will tend to not daydream when focused on the visual
aid you are projecting. If all else
fails, go back to visualizing a naked audience (of course, that depends on the
audience). They may get bored, but you
won’t.
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH is
a publication of Brounes &
Associates focusing on business marketing and general communications
strategies. Please call Ron Brounes at 713-432-1910 for additional information. Brounes & Associates promotes public
nudity within the context of a presentation only as a measure of last resort.