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Many professional speakers will write out their speeches or their presentations. “Why,” you may ask. They don’t write them memorize their speech and they certainly don’t write them to read their presentations. They write them to refine, massage, and condense their speech so that every word is significant. Also, they want to organize their presentation to assure that it flows smoothly and in the right order to close with an impactful conclusion.For example, part of a speech which was presented by a Toastmasters member was:
“Volunteerism can change the life of others in a positive way. Let me tell you about Mary. Mary resides at, not around, not near, but inside the North Cemetery. You would think that living in the morbid confines of a cemetery would mean hopelessness and helpless desperation. But when you meet Mary, you will not see somebody who is hopeless, desperate or helpless. You will see a woman who knows she can make a difference.”
can be changed to:
“Volunteerism can positively change the life of others. You would think that living in the morbid confines of a cemetery would mean hopelessness and helpless desperation. Ask Mary. She resides not around, not near, but inside the North Cemetery. But Mary is not hopeless, desperate or helpless. You will see a woman who knows she can make a difference.”
By rearranging and restructuring the paragraph, the number of words was reduced from 75 to 59 and the content flows smoother and without redundancy. There’s was no need to state the person’s name twice or to say “Let me tell you about…” Can you refine it even more?
David Brooks, the 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking for Toastmasters, who did not write his speeches, now says that “it is absolutely necessary to write a speech and refine the speech as many times as necessary.” Many times I will write a speech or an article for a newspaper or magazine a week or two before I need to speak or submit an article. I will then leave it alone for a day and then return to refine it.
A professional speaker I know has been speaking for more than 25 years to corporations and he's paid very well. I cautiously mentioned to him that I thought he should slow down a bit and pause occasionally. He said that he understood, but when he's being paid as much as he is, every word costs the company about $5. Though I still believe it would be better for him to slow down and pause occasionally, but I can't really fault him since he's been very successful. He did make one very clear point. Every word counts, and though doesn't slow down, all his words count. How many times have you gone to a presentation and the presenter was unorganized and perhaps redundant.
Write your speeches, not to memorize it or to read it, but to massage it, refine it, organize it and make it more effective and persuasive. FYI, I wrote this article several weeks ago and just came across it. I had to refine it and reorganize it to make it presentable here.
31 Tips to Becoming an Effective Presenter
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