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How to give the best ten minute speech or presentation

12-May-2009, Number 238

This magazine keeps you up-to-date with the best in public speaking, communication, confidence and emotional intelligence. In this edition you'll find practical, easy-to-follow tips to help you in making a speech. You are welcome to forward this newsletter to your colleagues, family and friends.

Written and published by Rachel Green.
Visit our website at http://www.rachelgreen.com
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In this edition:

1. The background to making a short speech, plus news.
   
2. Top tips on how to make a ten minute speech.
3. More tips on making a speech.
4. Special offer: F.R.E.E. CD set, "Confidence for women in public speaking": Buy one, get one F.R.E.E.
5. Laugh your socks off.
   

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1. Background.

Making a speech is now a requirement for staff, managers and executives in many workplaces. Often the speech involves giving a very short presentation at a conference, meeting or staff training day.

However, giving a short speech for say, ten, fifteen or twenty minutes is not easy. It is an art form in itself and many people make a mess of it. I'd personally rather do a long speech any day!

So, how do you give a ten minute speech and make it the best speech you've ever given? How do you give a short speech and manage to fit in everything you think is needed? How do you not bore or overwhelm your audience yet still make it an informative speech? How do you make it a persuasive speech? Read on to the tips section to find out.

Our News.

My apologies for the absence of newsletters recently. We have been very busy in the office and have had staffing problems of our own. Jackie, our products assistant, is off sick for three months recovering from major surgery. Fran, our personal assistant, suddenly had to take time off work when her husband became ill. And, I have been working away in rural areas and travelling interstate. With all this going on the newsletter was put on hold until Fran and I were back on deck. Regular services will now be resumed! Jackie, I am pleased to say is doing very well ... and so is Fran's husband. Great!

Welcome new readers.

Welcome to you if you are one of our 75 new readers from around the world, this fortnight. We have new readers in Australia, United Kingdom, India, Nigeria, Solomon Islands, Bali, Jordan, Malaysia, South Africa and the USA.

Competition winner.

The winner this fortnight, of a free E-book from our range, is suzannejbarker, from the UK. If this is you, please contact us to claim your E-book prize by Saturday 16th May 2009:

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2. The TOP TIPS: How to make a ten minute speech.

Tip 1: Speech writing for a spoken speech.

When you prepare any speech, write it as spoken speech. Do not write a complicated, perfectly formed written document. Why? Because we don't speak the same way as we write.

When your speech has been prepared as a perfectly crafted written document you are more likely to stumble over your words. The vocabulary and sentence constructions of written speech are not the same as the ones we usually speak. You may also become nervous trying to get the exact words correct and lose the flow of the meaning.

Instead, have a speech that is just that: speech. This is even more important for a short speech as you need to get into it quickly and sound brilliant from the beginning. There is no warming up when you only have ten minutes. Make sure your speech contains your own natural words, phrases and sentences.

A written document can sound very stilted and dead-pan. A spoken speech can sound more alive and easy to listen to. If you are not sure which words and phrases come the most easily to you, wander around your office with a voice recorder first and speak your speech out-loud. Capture what you say and then write it down.

Tip 2. Speech structure helps to focus the speech.

The biggest temptation in a short speech is to try and fit too much in. Don't. A short speech is not an opportunity to cram everything you know into ten minutes and then try and speak as quickly as possible to get through it all.

Instead, you need a clear speech structure. The speech structure needs to lead you to make a very clear point.

The purpose of a speech structure is to ensure that everything you say is easy for the audience to follow and makes perfect sense to them. It is the speech structure that allows you to build up your argument to persuade the audience of the value and relevance of your information. Your speech, no matter how short, must make a point.

Your speech structure also needs to limit the number of points you make. But how many points? In ten minutes: ONE. Yes one. No, I don't mean three or four. I mean you only have time for one key point, if you structure your speech well. This is what makes a short speech a hard speech. You have to be VERY disciplined in cutting out a lot of what you may want to say and distilling the essence into just one key point.

The commonest error people make is that they try to cover three, four or even five key points, or in fact they never make a point at all.

Tip 3. There are many speech techniques you can use.

The greatest speeches use different speech techniques. There is not just one way to give a ten minute speech, there are many ways. When you want to choose the best speech technique for your information, there is one key question for you to ask and answer.

What is the most important question to ask to make sure yours is the best speech given that day? It is this: "What is the best way for me to get my message across to this particular audience?"

In other words, "Out of everything that I could do in this ten minutes what technique will make the most persuasive speech, the most interesting speech, and the most memorable speech? What is the best way to ensure that the audience not only understands my key point but remembers it for a long time?"

The choice of speech technique is yours. You may get the audience involved in a short activity. You may tell a story. You may run a competition. You may show a video. You may recite a series of statistics or a poem. You may show a series of ever changing photographs. You may run a demonstration. You may present an historical overview. Whatever it is, you choose the speech technique that will best get your point across in as little as ten minutes.

Be innovative. Do not think that all you have to do is stand there, read your notes and show a series of power-points. You are likely to be one of a series of speakers giving a short speech and a row of people doing this is dreadfully dull and boring. It usually results in people in the audience sleeping.

Tip 4. Emotions not just information.

Speech writing is a skill all of its own. When you are writing a ten minute speech you still want to have an informative speech. Yet that is not all. If you also want a persuasive speech you will need to build up the emotions of the audience. The best speeches are not just about information. They are also about emotions.

What emotions might you want your audience to feel after only ten minutes? Fascination? Pride? Trust? Concern? Confidence? Anxiety? Enthusiasm? Gratitude? Appreciation? There are many emotions. The point here is that you need to include them in your speech and not ignore them just because you are giving a short speech.

Every speech needs to have audience outcomes. Make sure your outcomes include emotions and not just cognition.

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3. More tips on making a speech.

Each month new tips are placed on our page of Personal Development Tips and Articles.

There are several sets on making a speech and public speaking for you to read. Click on the links to read three of the newest ones:

1. Five key steps for preparing a good speech.
   
2. Five easy ways to overcome nervousness in public speaking.
   
3. Being a Master of Ceremonies at a wedding: Ten tips on how to be a good Master of Ceremonies.
   

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4. More ways to gain speech improvement and success.

"Confidence for women in public speaking".


If you'd like a lot more speech techniques and ideas to boost your confidence when giving a speech then this 2 CD set will help you.

We have shown that with a few easy-to-apply steps women and men with public speaking nerves or anxiety can overcome them and give a speech with ease and confidence.

In addition, you will hear a group of confident public speakers and presenters give you their tips on how to give a good speech and present effectively.

Click here for more details.

Click here to order.

Bonus: If you buy these CDs on the website no later than Sunday, 17th May 2009, then you will receive a second copy of the CDs for F.R.E.E. worth $49.00. Give them to a friend or put them in the staff library and help others too.

To be eligible for the extra copy you must order through our On-line Book and CD store and click newsletter when it asks you where you heard about the CDs. Don't miss out - hurry as this offer closes, Sunday, 17th May 2009. This offer is ONLY available to CONFIDENCE 4 U Readers.

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5. Laugh your socks off.

Thanks to Eric Williams from Western Australia for this fortnight's joke.

A thief in Paris

(NB: You need to read this with a French accent and know about art!)

A thief in Paris planned to steal some paintings from the Louvre.

After careful planning, he got past security, stole the paintings, and made it safely to his van.

However, he was captured only two blocks away when his van ran out of gas.

When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied, "Monsieur, that is the reason I stole the paintings:"

"I had no Monet

to buy Degas

to make the Van Gogh!"

If you have some clean jokes we can use, please send your contributions to

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May you enjoy giving a speech however short or long it is. When you give a good speech your audience appreciates it and you contribute to their learning. Happy speaking!

If you find public speaking difficult, but have to give a speech or presentation, I do offer a limited number of personalised, one-on-one, speech coaching sessions if you are in Western Australia. Please contact me, or visit the coaching page on the website: http://www.rachelgreen.com/coaching.html

Be your best,
Rachel.

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Further information for you

Learn in your own time.

There are eight CD sets, a printed book and 5 Electronic books to help you, including the 2 CD set on "Confidence for women in public speaking," and the very popular E-book "How to be a brilliant master of ceremonies." Please order in our online book and CD store - we have a secure server: click here.

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Please note, material in this newsletter is copyrighted and remains the intellectual property of RachelGreen.Com Pty Ltd.

Disclaimer: The information in this magazine is of a general nature and may not suit everyone or every situation. While every care has been taken to ensure it is useful and appropriate, no responsibility can be taken for the results gained from its implementation. Please seek individual professional guidance for any difficulties you may have with your speeches, confidence, relationships, presentations, managing people, interpersonal skills, work, health, communication or emotions. Thank you.

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