How to enrich your speech
At Horsham Speakers Club we carried out a speech enrichment exercise recently. It was a practical, mini-workshop type exercise with participants taking a pre-written speech and improving it.
As I was chairing the session, I provided some tips and ideas to get things going. And I thought it would be helpful to share them with you. They're not rocket science and they're particularly complicated. But you might just find them really useful. Of course, this is not a comprehensive list. But if you'd like some more ideas or help, you can always come along to a meeting, or drop me a line. In the meantime, try these:
5 things to think about when writing and delivering your speech
- Show don’t tell: a tear rolled down his cheek – is better than he was crying. I could feel the sun burning through my shirt and smell the salt in the air, is better than it was a hot beach.
- Try to tap into your audience’s emotions and senses: ask yourself how did something smell, sound or taste. Was what you want to describe frightening, a relief, exhausting? How can you convey that emotion? Think about the physical effect emotions have on you: the hairs standing up on your neck, a sick feeling in your stomach etc.
- Use interesting language but remember it doesn’t have to be complicated to be interesting. Avoid adverbs and use more dynamic verbs instead. Opt for accurate and specific nouns and adjectives: rather than he ran fast, try he sprinted. Instead of it was bright red, try it was scarlet!
- Use your voice and your gestures: alliteration (a great, galumphing girl), onomatopoeias (ssssnake), pauses, use of 3 and repetition all work well. Can you show us with your hands how much something weighed, how large or how small it was, what she did? What about your face? Use facial expressions to provide subtle emphasis.
- Think about the structure and composition: is there a logical flow, is there a smooth transition between points, is the title compelling and does the speech deliver on the promise of the title? What do you know about your audience and is your content and demeanour appropriate?
Above all have fun and think of your speech as a poem or a work of art. Does it ebb, flow with a rhythm? Is it a pleasure to listen to?
That's it. Good luck and you can always reach me at [email protected]