Image Credit: Nilufer Gadgieva
The reason that we give speeches is because we want to be able to connect with our audience. It is our hope that they will hear the message that we have for them and they will be motivated to take action. However, this is easier to say than it is to do. Even before we get in front of our next audience, we have to have taken steps to make this happen by creating a speech that will move our audience. We need to discover how we can write a great speech.
Get Some Help To Write Better Speeches
One of the easiest ways for a speaker to get better at writing speeches is to look over the shoulders of professional speechwriters around the world. There are a number of different ways that we can go about doing this. One way is to follow a professional speech writers organization. These type of groups offer a wealth of resources to help advance your speechwriting skills, including both conferences and newsletters. In order to find where they are located, you can look on LinkedIn for the National Association of American Speechwriters Group, or explore the U.K. Speechwriters’ Guild and the European Speechwriter Network, which both hold joint conferences, publish newsletters and members’ speeches, and offer workshops on speechwriting.
What you are going to have to keep in mind that many of these professional groups may limit their membership to those whose primary work responsibilities include speechwriting. However, most of these speechwriting groups include some freely available material online, such as audio from their conferences or sample speeches.
You can always turn to social media. On the Twitter platform, you can search for posts with the hashtag #speechwriting to see tweets that have been created by speechwriters. This can allow you to find articles offering tips and insights, as well as commentary and criticism about recent speeches. Don’t forget to take the time to post questions about your speechwriting, using the same #speechwriting hashtag to make sure they reach interested audiences.
Another thing that you can do is to take the time to read professional speechwriting articles and tips. Ragan Communications is a publisher for communications professionals and they have an entire section on their website about speechwriting. Their articles examine current speeches and speechwriting tactics and provide delivery advice. Likewise, Vital Speeches of the Day is a speakers magazine that publishes top speeches and offers a website (www.vsotd.com) with links to speechwriting blogs, a free email newsletter and even more.
Finally, a great way to get better at writing speeches is for you to stock your speechwriting bookshelf. Many of the best speechwriters have penned books to help us learn from their successes and mistakes. For example, Fletcher Dean wrote “10 Steps to Writing a Vital Speech: The Definitive Guide to Professional Speechwriting”. Additionally, Peggy Noonan offers advice in “On Speaking Well: How to Give a Speech With Style, Substance, and Clarity”. Likewise Max Atkinson, speechwriter to former British Parliament member Paddy Ashdown, authored the comprehensive guide “Lend Me Your Ears: All You Need to Know about Making Speeches and Presentations”. The books that you need are out there, now all you have to do is to go out and get them.
What All Of This Means For You
We want any speech that we give to be a powerful tool. We want to be able to connect with our audience and we want our words to move them to take action. In order to make this happen, we have to be able to create speeches that will cause our audience to listen to what we are telling them and then to take action based on our words. This means that we need to learn how to write powerful speeches. Just exactly how should we go about doing this?
In order to become better speech writers, we can follow professional speechwriter’s organizations. These groups have online tools that we can tap into in order to get examples of well written speeches. We can also reach out to social media. Twitter uses the hashtag #speechwriting to mark comments from speechwriters and this can lead us to other resources. Reading professional speechwriting tips can be very beneficial. Finally, stocking our library with books that have been written by professional speechwriters can show us how it’s done.
Knowing that we want to become a better speechwriter is the first step in becoming better. We then have to understand the sequence of steps that we’re going to have to go through to become better. By following these tips we can improve the quality of the speeches that we produce. With better speeches, we can have more of an impact on our next audience.
– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Public Speaking Skills™
Question For You: Do you think that we should seek out professional speech writers and ask them questions?
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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
As speakers we are always looking for ways that we can make our next speech become more powerful. We want to be able to connect with our audience and get them to pay attention to the messages that we are trying to deliver to them. As we all know, the tools that we have to accomplish this are precious few – it’s really just us up there on that stage. However, it turns out that we do have one tool that can help us to create a link with each and every person in our audience. It’s eye contact. This is a powerful tool, but it will only help us if we know how best to use it.