Speech Writing - How to Write a Speech

" Next week is your turn to give the speech K (as I was fondly called at work), I hope you do a good job" As soon as those words were said, I felt shivers go up my spine, I felt my hands go clammy and I swear most people in the room could hear my heart beat at 200 bpm.

What was I going to do now? Running away was always an option and so was feigning sickness on the given day. But was I such a coward that I could not handle ten minutes of public speaking? Could I not write a decent speech, if not an awe-inspiring one?

So what does it take to be a speech writer? Do I need to be passionate about what I am discussing? Or do I need to have a way with words?

I did some preparing before I gave my speech (and a good one at that); let me tell you a little bit about it from what I learned.

Give Structure to your speech writing
So speech writing may be an art and art has no structure, but for you to be a decent speech writer, you need to have some structure. You need to know how long your speech is going to be, where it is heading and for how long you want to speak before you start writing the speech. Because if you do not have a structure in mind, then your speech is going to be like a long twisted story without a moral at the end.

Know why you are writing a speech
You may say that like me, you were forced to give a speech and ergo are writing a speech. But do not do that. Write and give the speech because you are passionate about a particular topic, or you want to appeal to your peers or just be the best. Once you know the why…the how will be easy to follow.

Tips on how to write a speech/give a speech

• Have an objective in mind.
• Have one speech idea, which is the central theme of the speech.
• Understand the audience – its demographic, culture and appeal.
• Include the reason for the speech in your introduction.
• Always have supporting information for the facts you are stating.
• Plan an introduction with the audience before giving the speech.
• Always write the speech in a conversational manner. Use key cards for help and NEVER memorize your speech verbatim.
• Conclude with a statement that will give the audience something to think about.
• Always be prepared for question and answer session with your audience (which means do some extra research to earn brownie points)

Practice, Practice and lots of practice
Always practice every aspect of the speech before you actually stand up there are give it. Practice with friends, with colleagues and even your family. It is best to practice with different groups of people so that you have different reactions from each and can improvise. Practice the introduction, practice the body, practice the conclusion and even the question answer session. The more you practice the better it is for you.

Even after all your practice sessions and great deal of effort in your speech writing, it doesn’t go as great as you planned, you will have done it once. Clichéd as it may sound, "there is always a first time" and once you are through with the first time, irrespective of how great or disastrous it was, you will only get better.