How can you write a memorable speech?

Everything promoted here is spot on but the most important aspect to consider is “why” - Why did you choose topic X and why should or would your audience care to listen? From here it’s about ownership and believing in the topic yourself. If you can’t own and drive it people will feel it and maybe see it leaving them unfulfilled and your audience left wanting more.

A memorable speech need to be from the heart. It need to have human emotions and must be relatable. Storytelling is the key in writing geat speech. The choice of words can be simple but the message has to be precise and strong.

Having your audience in mind, rather than yourself, will make it memorable. What matters to them? What are you going to say that they’ll talk about in a week or a year? Make it sincere and not a rote experience that any audience could have shared…

Plan with the end in mind. Your purpose can be the nugget(s) that you want your audience to take away from your speech ... so refine it and simplify it constantly until those nuggets really shine through.

Dans la conférence mon objectif est de donner des prises de conscience, de planter des graines. Je peux alors convaincre en utilisant toutes sortes de figures de style : des métaphores, des allégories, des exemples vécues. Je peux renforcer mon propos avec des modulations dans la voie, des visuels, la transmission de mes émotions. Si je sais qu’en face de moi j’ai des graphistes je vais appuyer à fond sur les images, burn-out j’aurai des managers de tout bord et je vais appuyer sur les situations vécues en situation de management et les différents types de managers… quand on sait ou on va et pour trouver qui on peut utiliser toutes sortes de moyens de locomotion adaptées et même sur-mesure pour arriver à bon port.

Pick one idea, and talk about that idea using familiar concepts and vivid explanations invoking as many senses as you can. Ultimately, giving the audience a reason to care and engage with your content.

According to the audience, choose a familiar visual and pivot from its original meaning to introduce a novel concept in business or in life. When feasible, provide a tangible gift to audience members as a keepsake reminder.

While metaphors are magic, similes are sterile. They have no power in spoken language. Compare “she is like the sun” with “she is the sun”, or “it’s as easy as ABC” to “it’s ABC”. When speaking, make your simile a metaphor. It uses fewer words, and increases their impact.

My methodology when it comes to language in a speech is connecting with emotion. I have found that changing your volume throughout your presentation helps people tune into your rhythm which make it much more easy for them to pay attention to what you are saying. But connecting to emotion, be it sadness, enthusiasm, anger, incredulity, or laughter makes a speech so much more powerful. I especially use humour because when people laugh or even just smile when being explained something, the neurones fire and your argument sticks in their memory. Anger is also powerful but easy to overdo, whereas incredulity is a little softer and less damaging - "you would not believe what I heard..." is so much better than "I hated what I was hearing..."

Alliteration is awesome. Alliteration is to rhetoric what suspension is to music. It takes the audience where they want you to go. It is pleasing to the ear. It can almost sound sensuous. Saying “she has an abundance of spare time”, or “she has the luxury to lay about” simply sounds better than “She has a high level of extra capacity to work”. Using alliteration changes the way we approach the process of preparing to speak. We write reports, documents or even novels to be read. We prepare speaking notes to be heard. Thinking alliteratively requires us to imagine we are creating a song, or a poem. It is altogether more melodic and rhythmic – which is so much more attractive to listen to than hearing words designed to be read.

I’ve written literally hundreds of speeches in my time for CEOs and MDs and it’s definitely about the rule of three! Make 3 clear points as that’s literally all most audiences take in and headline that at the start e.g “I am going to make 3 points today for you all to take away.” and make sure you summarise them at the end.

I have always found it useful to practice several times what you want to say....get the intonation right at key points....time how long it takes you to go through it.....and think ahead about what questions you might be asked at the end of your presentation.....

Slow down ... too many of us go too fast. Brief pauses feel like forever to you, but not to the audience ... they ensure you stay at a reasonable pace, that your message is clearly delivered and you may appear more confident. And it allows you to breathe !!!!!!!!

I would agree with Ellie , 3 is a maximum number of points to get over. It is a bit like telling your children that you want them to remember 10 things. After the second one, they are struggling to remember the first one, and by the third , number one is already a distant memory. Put in a fourth and they are losing the will to live....

I’d go with the following: Break a rule. Be self-deprecating. Purge all jargon. Make a decent joke (if appropriate, given the topic). Practice until it sounds like you’re saying it for the first time. Include at least one mind-blowing fact. Incorporate one beautiful simile or metaphor.

One may have done all of the above, faithfully I might add. One may even have practiced and rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed until one is word perfect. However all of the above preparation will come to naught if one doesn't master perfect diction, the tonal nuances of one's voice, the split second timing to emphasise a point, the sudden drop in volume to build interest, the modulation of one's voice to simply maintain audience interest and lastly, "learning to feel the emotions and audience responses". This last phase which no public speaking trainer will tell you, is what separates the giants from the littlefish. And it can only be mastered though the consistent and conscious practice of public speaking.

From my opportunities of giving speeches, I’ve learned to understand who you’re speaking to beforehand and tailor your message accordingly. Consider their interest, background, and what they hope to gain from your speech. The whole idea of your speech is to always define the main point or theme you want to convey to the room. Keeping it clear, concise and focused to ensure your audience understands. Nothing is more engaging than telling a compelling story, many people connect with stories on an emotional level. Incorporating personal anecdotes or examples illustrates your message to make it relatable. Not to forget the humour and wit. Humour is always a powerful tool to captivate your audience and make your speech more memorable.