Have this photocopied. Read and understand the steps on writing and delivering speeches. Make your own speech. Choose your topic below. Your semiFinal Exam will be divided into two; your speech and self-reliance. The copy of self-reliance is at the last part.
1. “All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them.” ~Walt Disney
2. “Be who you are and say what you feel”
3. “Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared.”
4. “Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.”
5. “Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star.”
6. “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as long as you do not stop.”
7. “Be not ashamed of crimes and thus make them crimes.”
Steps on writing and delivering speeches
First, the audience. Who are they? Why are they there? What are they interested in? How much do they already know about your subject? Ask questions until you have these answers and are clear about your listeners. The more you know about them, the more comfortable you will be when in front of them.
Now, your topic. Presumably, you were asked to speak in the first place in the hope that you would be able to share information about a topic you know something about. Research your topic thoroughly. Go to the library to find current facts, recent articles on the subject and good quotations. Interview other experts to round out your material.
In short, gather more information than you'll possibly be able to use in your speech. Imagine the self-confidence at your presentation when you know that "there's lots more where that came from".
The best speakers make their presentations sound spontaneous and conversational even when they are memorized. The way they do this is to learn the speech in outline form, instead of word for word. Your outline should contain the Opening, the Message and the Wrap up.
Your opening remarks set the tone of the whole presentation. Audiences make up their minds very quickly. The purpose of your opening is to grab attention. We must assume that our audience is generally as busy and preoccupied as we are. So we first need to get their attention with a question, 'grabber' words, humor or an interesting visual.
"Grabber" words are designed to startle, shock or at least cause your listener to want to listen to what's coming next. The first sentence of this article is an example. A funny comment or an eye-catching visual is always an effective way to get the attention of your listeners in a hurry. Obviously, any of these openings must be relevant to your message, or they will confuse your listeners.
Once you have their attention, it's time to relate your main message. Organize your main points around only one or two main messages. It's helpful for you to ask yourself "what do I want these people to be thinking or doing as a result of my presentation?” As you make your points, you can keep relating back to the main message.
Most professional speakers say it's best to flow the presentation from the general to the more specific and from the known to the unknown. This is how you avoid losing your audience.
If you're presenting statistics, facts or numbers, try to avoid spewing them all at once. Space them out. Even better, relate the facts and figures to something familiar. Instead of saying "twenty percent of you will .....", say "One in five of you will ...".
The Wrap up of your speech is where you "ask for the order". This is where you summarize the main points in a sentence or two, then state your main message. If you are asking for a decision, urging action or leaving them with a key thought in mind, now is the time to do it.
Once you have prepared your speech, write the key points in outline form or on 3" x 5" index cards. This will help to prompt you through your speech without sounding as if you are reading it word for word.
In the days leading up to your speech, practice, practice, practice. Stand in front of a full-length mirror and give your speech. Tape yourself, then replay the tape listening for poor grammar and filler words such as "Ah", "Uh" or "You know".
Before it's your turn to take the podium, breathe deeply and focus all your attention on your message. We feel nervous and anxious when we think about ourselves. Think about the content of your message and especially, on the first two or three sentences of your presentation.
Once you've been introduced, walk to the podium, pause for a deep breath, smile, then begin. Pick out three or four people in the audience who are in different sectors of the room and talk to them. Pick out people who seem to be having a good time.
Keep an eye on the time. Surprisingly, time will pass quickly when you are presenting. You don't want to overstay your welcome. From time to time, during your talk, pause for a beat or two to let important points sink in. This also lets your audience catch up with you as they think about what you're saying.
What you say last is likely to be what is remembered longest, so don't finish with "that's all I have to say". Instead, end on a note of intensity. Choose a quotation, anecdote or line that leaves the audience laughing or thoughtful. Think of this last sentence as the one that will invoke applause.
Speaking of applause, you may just discover how much you enjoy the sweet sound of applause and encouragement. It can be almost addictive.
Before you start a speech first you have to ask yourself what your main idea is. Outline the key components of your main idea and the ultimate goal for your speech. It should look something like this :Main idea :What is the main idea I want to get across?Goal :What do I want people to learn from my speech?This should be simple, people generally learn two or three key points, it is better to do a speech which is clear and well thought out with a couple simple points than a long speech which confuses people.
A basic speech consists of three main elements ( just as in a commentary or paper)Introduction – A summary of what the points you want to get across. This gets the attention early on and it sets the tone for your speech. If you begin early on with a long introduction or a confused introduction, people will start to “tune out”. The following speech is about sailing. I wish to talk to you about this because it has been an important part of my life, and it made me the person today. Maybe you won’t ever sail in your life but you might become more open to the idea of sailing. "An introduction should be interesting, to the point and not too long. Your voice should be confident and loud, which will engage the audience from the start.
This should have your main ideas within the speech. Again, it should be a couple of points for a ten minute talk. For example :1. What sailing is2. Why I like it3. The freedom I get from sailing.4. some of the drawbacks of sailing. Within those points you should have sub points like this :What Italian food is :It is a food that came from Italy. It includes many pastasOne of the main ingredients are cheese and sauce Bread and sauce made one of the more famous dishes called pizza. Now you have a paragraph of one of your key points. After you have made the categories, you simply make them full coherent sentences
Now you are ready for the Conclusion- This should sum up all of your key points and serves as a reminder of what you just talked about.“ Finally, I would like to say that Italian food for me is one of the most delicious and satisfying foods in the world. There are many types of pasta and sauce and it has served to give my family a sense of unity through food... if you haven’t tried Italian food you have no idea what you are missing!”
Tips & Warnings
• Avoid retelling the speech again; simply point out your key points in different words.
• Try not to be too long, and sometimes it is a good idea to have something witty or funny at the end of a speech.
• Make sure that your key points are related to each other, find a way to relate them to each other.
• Don’t make points that have nothing to do with your main idea or speech.
• Avoid repeating yourself over and over, if you have said “ My mother is an inspiration, we don’t need to hear it again in your speech.
• Remember to speak slowly, loudly and clearly.
• Don´t sound rehearsed, try to be natural .
• Avoid using words like “ um”, “ It’s like” or “ I don’t know” which make you sound doubtful of what you are saying.
• Understand and know your topic, if you don’t understand your audience certainly won’t.
• Avoid words that you don’t understand just to sound interesting.
• Be interested in your topic, even the most boring topic can be interesting if you make it engaging!
• Don't go off in tangents, stay focused on your main points if not you can easily confuse your audience.
An excerpt from self-reliance