Image Credit: chelly cruz
As speakers, every time that we are asked to give a speech we have a big problem on our hands. We want to create a speech that is going to both capture and then hold on to our audience’s attention. However, this is probably not the first speech that your audience has seen. There is a sense of “been there, done that” that can wash over us as we ponder how we can keep our audience interested in what we are saying. The good news is that there is something simple that we can do. Doing this will surprise your audience and will cause them to pay attention to you. All you have to do is include a song in your next speech…
The Power Of Adding A Song To Your Next Speech
As speakers, we are always on the lookout for new speech ideas. Guess what: songs can be an excellent source of material for our speeches because of their storytelling nature, short duration and infectious melodies. Due to these properties, almost any song can be used to create or enhance your speech in interesting ways. The short duration of a song can cry out for a speech to convey the details of the song’s story. As a speaker, you may only have to add some additional details to a story in order to transform the song into a speech. If you want to, you can try and emulate the singer which will add to the entertainment value of the speech. The most powerful aspect of your speech will be the chorus line that you can sing to your audience as a break between the different parts of the story.
A song’s chorus is meant to be catchy, with interesting rhythms and melodies. When most people remember of a song, it’s typically the chorus line that first comes to mind. For good or bad the chorus line may be the only part of the song you also actually remember. In your speech try using a chorus line to your advantage by singing it. In addition to the rhythm and melody, just the fact that you’re singing it will serve to grab your audience’s attention. When you do this, you will also inject into the speech whatever emotional tone or attitude the chorus carries. Speakers need to realize that singing adds emotional impact in a way that simply telling a story cannot do.
Different Ways To Use A Song In Your Next Speech
As speakers we need to realize that soundtracks can be another source for our speech ideas. What is a soundtrack you say? A soundtrack is recorded music that has been synchronized to the images of either a motion picture, book, television program or video game. Soundtracks can be released commercially as soundtrack albums. Speeches that use soundtracks use songs that remind the speaker of a specific time in their life. Typically these memories will focus on their childhood, or a particular person or perhaps a romantic relationship.
Realize that soundtracks may be the most common types of songs that speakers incorporate into speeches. If you have been a speaker for a long time, you have probably heard someone give a soundtrack speech, or perhaps you may have given one yourself. This type of speech can work to your advantage because it will hold onto your audience’s attention. Additionally, when your audience hears a song’s chorus, it may trigger feelings of nostalgia in the audience members who recognize them.
Speakers who are looking for a challenge might consider a list of song titles by their favorite artist. You can use this to write a speech that incorporates those titles directly into your speech narrative. In these cases the speaker doesn’t sing. You are using the titles simply as phrases in the sentences of your speech. Once the audience picks up on what the speaker is doing, they will appreciate the difficulty of the speaker’s challenge. The next time you’re seeking inspiration for a speech topic, think about some of your favorite songs. It’s likely that you can transform one of them into an entertaining speech, or use a chorus to spice up a speech you’re working on.
What All Of This Means For You
As speakers, when we are working on pulling together our next speech, we want to come up with a solution that will work. We want to be able to capture and hold on to our audience’s attention. We often struggle with this because it seems as though everything has already been done over and over again. We want to be unique, but we just don’t know how to go about doing it. It turns out that if we’re willing to get creative, there just might be a way that we can make our next speech unforgettable.
The next time that you are building a speech, consider adding a song to it. Songs more often than not tell a story and are short – perfect companions for a speech. A song’s chorus is designed to be both catchy and memorable. This means that if you can work it into your speech, your speech will become catchy and memorable. Speakers also have the ability to work soundtracks into our speeches. If you can’t sing, then you can simply work a variety of speech titles into your speech in order to generate an audience reaction.
Working a song into your next speech gives you an opportunity to do something different. Everyone likes a song and so when you add it to your speech, you’ll capture your audience’s attention. Working a song into your speech will make your speech different from all of the other speeches that your audience has heard before. This is a great thing to do and it will make your next speech become memorable.
– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Public Speaking Skills™
Question For You: Do you think that you should work just one song or multiple songs into a single speech?
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Note: What we talked about are advanced speaking skills. If you are just starting out I highly recommend joining Toastmasters in order to get the benefits of public speaking. Look for a Toastmasters club to join in your home town by visiting the web site www.Toastmasters.org. Toastmasters is dedicated to helping their members to understand the importance of public speaking by developing listening skills and getting presentation tips. Toastmasters is how I got started speaking and it can help you also!
What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time
When we give a speech, we don’t want to be standing on that stage all by ourselves. We understand that a speech really requires two parities to participate in it – the speaker and the audience. We know what we want to say, but the real challenge is finding ways to bring our audience along with us. We want to find way to develop a real connection with them during our speech. How can we go about doing this?