Speech Writing Advice: Don’t lose Your Audience
There is nothing scarier than the thought of giving a speech. Some people are very scared in front of an audience and public speaking is one of the top fears. Having a strong speech can build confidence and take some of those fears away from you before giving the speech. Here are a few tips to use while giving a speech, so you do not lose your audience when giving a speech.
Notecards and Outline
Put your outline for your speech on note cards. Do not write the speech out completely and do not memorize the speech. Many a public speaker has forgotten a memorized speech. Put a topic outline using key words on your notecards to guide you through your speech. If you do lose your place, simply say, “excuse me”, regain your thoughts and continue with your speech. Number your cards, in case you drop them or you get confused.
A Hook or Attention Getter
Grab your audience right away with an attention getter or with a hook. Some ideas for a good one might be a story, a strong statistic, or a thought-provoking quote. Keep that attention by using strong active verbs and a nice voice. Never yell at your audience, even to make a point.
Move Around
Do not stand directly in front of the podium for the entire speech. If you have nervous energy, you need to move around and burn off that energy. Just be careful not to move too much, pace, or ever show the audience your back.
Audience Participation
Ask your audience a question, but ask them to raise their hand for the response. If you ask them to answer a yes or a no, this could interrupt your speech and throw off your train of thought.
Connect with Your Audience
By emotional pull or common interest themes and questions, pull in your audience. An audience that cares about y our topic will be twice as likely to listen to your topic for the entire time.
Look Above Your Audience’s Head
It is important that you look at your audience. You can give the illusion of looking if you are too scared to actually look the group into their yes. Merely pick a point over their head and look at that point. Pick two or three if you want to appear that you are looking around the room.