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Welcome to hitched speech delivery tips.
For those who really want to write their own speech, there are books to help (I
know - I've written one). They will also give you tips on how to deliver it, which
is extremely useful whoever did the writing. For the benefit of anybody faced with
the task of making a speech here are a few brief pointers on delivery:
Read your speech or memorise it?
Few people are willing to trust everything to memory. An alternative is
to thoroughly familiarise yourself with your speech and then reduce it to a set
of brief notes on cue cards. The advantage is that your speech will not sound as
if it is being read word for word. But if you do decide to read it, nobody will
mind.
Practice.
Whatever you decide - rehearse it. Then rehearse it again - until you are
sick of it. That should be about right.
Slow Down!
What ruins more speeches than anything else is a nervous speaker going
too fast. He doesn't pause to let his points sink in and doesn't wait for the laughs
he wants. His audience is then so busy trying to catch what he's gabbling about
that they don't have time to laugh. Oh dear - no laughs. What does our speaker do?
Panics and accelerates even more. Result - disaster! Even experienced speakers
suffer this urge to speed up. Don't give in to it.
Body Language.
Stand up straight and look confident. Even if you are reading, look up
and at your audience from time to time. Eye contact makes them feel you are talking
to them, and it will help you with your pauses.
Laughs
If you expect a laugh - wait for it. If it doesn't come tell people they were supposed
to laugh and refuse to go on until they do. That will kick start them. Don't begin
again until the laughter has died down - enjoy it. Study professional comedians
- you'll learn a lot.
Interruptions.
Enjoy interruptions, especially funny ones. They provide thinking time, and hey…
people will remember it was your speech that got the laughs; they won't remember
that it wasn't always your lines.
Drink.
Don't drink too much before speaking. You might think it helps, but your audience
won't.
Two final important points to remember:
1. The audience is on your side. They want to enjoy your speech - give them the
opportunity
2. If you get a totally unexpected laugh - check your flies
These basic rules will help you make a memorable presentation. If you're also working
with a professionally written speech to begin with - you should be on a real winner.
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