You're about to deliver a critical speech. How can you ensure your message is clear and compelling?

Use stories and anecdotes to make your points more relatable. Engage with the audience through questions or interactive elements. Pay attention to their feedback and body language during your speech to adjust your approach if needed. Use visuals to reinforce your message and make it more memorable. A well-structured speech with a clear beginning, middle, and end helps keep the audience's attention and makes your points easier to follow. Always practice your speech to deliver it confidently and smoothly.

When preparing for a speech it's important to understand how to "accordion" the information. Asking yourself a simple questions like... What what I say if I had to give this presentation in 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 90 seconds. This should help the presenter prioritize and establish key insights, takeaways + action steps.

Irrespective of your audience, your presentation should be crafted around telling a story to make it memorable. Everyone likes and remembers a good story. There is a problem to be solved, a process/struggle to solve it and a person who solves it. The problem could be a starting factoid or a prevailing question to be answered.

To ensure your message is clear and compelling in a critical speech, start by defining your key points and organizing them logically. Craft a strong opening to capture attention and a memorable conclusion to reinforce your message. Use simple, direct language and avoid jargon to make your points accessible. Incorporate storytelling, anecdotes, and examples to illustrate your ideas and connect with your audience emotionally. Practice your speech multiple times to refine your delivery and build confidence. Pay attention to your tone, pace, and body language to enhance engagement. Finally, seek feedback and make adjustments to ensure your message resonates and leaves a lasting impact.

The emotional aspect of human beings are drawn out by telling a compelling story. Why do we cry, laugh, sit on the edge of our seats when we watch a movie? It’s because of your story. Approach your presentation thinking about the emotions you want to stir in the audience.

Facts tell, stories sell. We are often misled into thinking that data drives the message. Heart work is just as vital as convincing the mind. Humanise your message by bringing in a relevant story to make your points relatable. An effective speech should contain the pathos, logos and ethos.

Humans are emotional creatures. We decide first on the basis of emotions, then justify it with logic. Therefore, for a critical speech to impact positively, there must be an undercurrent of emotions throughout. It doesn't mean you start crying on the stage. It means that your voice and your words should carry an emotional weight.

Some people believe that practicing a speech too much strips the speech of its authenticity. However, it's far from the truth. There's an oxymoron called "Practiced Spontaneity". That is, you practice your speech so much that it simply flows through you on the stage. The public thinks that it's spontaneous. However, each and every moment was stage and practiced. This was one of the presentation secrets of Steve Jobs.

Practice smart, not hard. 1. Test your speech with a small community if you have one available. 2. Record your speech, then review the footage from your audience’s perspective. 3. Share the main message and story with friends to gather feedback.

Let’s address the elephant in the room - will too much practice make your delivery robotic? Absolutely not. Practice gives you the added confidence to know where you can pick up from where you left off, even during unforeseen circumstances. Try adding in duress into the mix to ensure that you can still deliver what you intend to. Real life is less than perfect but we can definitely perfect our delivery to a degree of automaticity to reduce our cognitive workload.

3 things that have helped me in an 18 year speaking career ?? : 1) read your speech, don’t even try to memorize it - just read it along with the slides. You’ll find after 10-20 repetitions you already remember a lot! 2) improvise your talk with your slides - tell your story (not verbatim) 3) time your keynote speech! What key points match up with each slide or what time are you at when you reach a certain topic?

When you reach a level of mastery on a topic, it is easy to talk for hours, but when you only have 20 minutes to deliver a concise and powerful message you have to make sure you're dialed in. Think about the difference between a lecture and a Tedx Talk.