5 Rules in Giving a Dynamic Speech

Rule #1 – Have a great topic and know it inside and out.

Did you know that a great speaker must have a great topic to speak on? It all starts with a great idea and then morphs into that unbelievable speech. That literally matters more than your confidence, your looks, your stage presence or your ability to communicate.

Find an interesting topic and then study the heck out of it and present it like it is your last gathering. Like the last day of your life. And do that every time.

Rule #2 – Show transparency and vulnerability every time.

Every good singer knows that it is more about the delivery of a song than the words to a song. You have to feel your speech. You have to emote the words coming out of your mouth. You have to live your topic. You have got to present it in such a way that the world longs for more of you.

Willing to be transparent and vulnerable is one of the most powerful tools a speaker can use. But as with anything powerful, it should be handled with caution. Vulnerability is not oversharing. Transparency is not letting all your secrets out. If in doubt, try your speech on an honest friend.

Rule #3 – Make them laugh but prepare for the worst.

Humor is always great in any speech but it takes a lot of practice if it does not come natural for you. What you’re looking for instead, are hilarious-but-true stories that are directly relevant to your topic. It is best if they are personal stories but they can also be stories you have read or heard about. 

Dangers: offensive language, limericks, puns, sarcasm and any attempt at humor based on religion, ethnicity, gender identity or politics.

Nearly all great speeches have a little humor in them. Those are the ones you tend to remember most.

Rule #4 – Make eye contact early on.

The more you make eye contact the more the audience feels like they know you or are at least getting to know you. It also makes you feel more comfortable and makes those you look at feel important.

Believe it or not, scientists have shown that just the act of two people staring at each other will trigger mirror neuron activity that literally adopts the emotional state of the other person.

Make sure before you speak that you can see your audience. If the light is in your eyes and you can't see anyone, just pretend to look out as if you are looking in their faces. And then make contact afterwards if you can.

Rule #5 – Create a tale throughout your speech.

If you want to make a point, you need to create a line that leads from one point to another. A tale like theme called a throughline, leading from the point of departure to the destination on a single path.

You won’t find the word, "throughline" in the dictionary though.

How do you begin to use throughlines for your stories? The first step is to get yourself some index cards, either 3×5 or 5×7. As you develop your speech, rather than simply lining them all up in order, you take each sequential element of your speech and create its own independent series of cards showing every step along the way. Every good speech should have one.

Since your goal is to construct something amazing inside your listeners’ minds, you can think of the throughline as a strong cord or rope, onto which you will attach all the elements that are part of the idea you’re building. A good exercise is to try to encapsulate your throughline in no more than fifteen words.

Now your ready to construct your speech and give the best one yet.

Liz Morris, The Personality Doctor