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10 Fail Proof Tips for Delivering a Powerful Speech

dumblittleman.com — We've all heard the statistic that says people fear public speaking more than just about anything else. The good news is if you can focus on these 10 tips you'll be on your way to breaking past the fear and onto delivering a powerful speech that engages your audience.

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  • josefresco, on 01/11/2008, -8/+111. Picture the crown naked.
  • agentsully, on 01/11/2008, -2/+1512. Picture yourself naked. Oops, no skip that.
  • webcure, on 01/11/2008, -0/+13Good article, state your goal in 30 seconds at the beginning of the speech. I digg that.
  • LmaoTzu, on 01/11/2008, -1/+23Someone should forward this to John McCain
  • romistrub, on 01/11/2008, -0/+5If you have a really important speech to write, take a course on rhetoric. Also, really really really reallyreallyreally know your audience. I found that, when trying to convince a group of people of something, developing your speech patterns around their usual thinking patterns makes for an incredibly effective delivery.
  • Splitter402, on 01/11/2008, -3/+1Pfff. I extemp.
  • skyshock1, on 01/11/2008, -0/+7One Syllable Words Have The Most Punch.

    Don't believe me? Go look back at the most famous speeches of recent years, they're almost always condensed to the least amount of syllables per word.
  • phrozted, on 01/11/2008, -7/+0No one gives a "powerful speech" unless he was born to do it. You can't teach provocative speaking any more than you can teach other forms of art. The best some ten step guide is going to do is to reinforce what was already there or produce a mediocre speaker who thinks he's hot. But he's not.
    • wipis, on 01/11/2008, -0/+2Hitler was shy. And wasn't big on speeches. No Joke. And look what he inspired in a nation, through words.
      • phrozted, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1Haha. Brilliant post. Seriously, why does everyone on the internet have to be so simple?
    • TaylorSmythe, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1I have to disagree. I was born with no ability to relate to or communicate with people. In addition, I talked in a complete monotone, literally flatly, until I started high school. After a lot of hard, painful work, I am now an excellent communicator, and I medaled in Speech in Academic Decathlon. I have gotten ovations at spoken word poetry events and also announced events over PA systems. I learned.
      • phrozted, on 01/11/2008, -0/+0Neither one of you has responded to the point. If Hitler was shy, he also had some natural talent. Don't be fooled by the stories of his practicing in front of a mirror. He understood his audience, and for all his shyness he understood people. As for TaylorSmythe, I can't speak for you, but I can speak for my fellow debaters. I've been a national circuit debater for over a decade, and I can't tell you how many complete morons have never done ***** despite their training. Point is, you can teach people all the Greek oratorical methods you want, you can give them a tract on Roman rhetoric, you can explain the idea of repetition, redundancy, suspense, etc. None of this will mean anything unless the person has that spark in the first place. Just like you don't teach someone to become a poet by explaining tone, enjambment, or any of that nonsense. Whatever you say, it's in the heart, and I'm ashamed (but not necessarily surprised) that so far six Diggers have been so naive as to reject this outright.
        • Gnasche, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1So, the question is, can a non-sentient creation (robot) deliver a powerful speech? We'll find out some day, but until then we always have Heartbeeps.
          • phrozted, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1If that robot were programmed by a scientist with some style? Sure. Otherwise? No.
  • tg16, on 01/11/2008, -5/+111. Bang author's mom
  • Phil8, on 01/11/2008, -1/+27Pound your fists and yell "Blood alone moves the wheels of history!"
  • bkemper, on 01/11/2008, -0/+4Which ten failed the proof tips? What are proof tips, anyway?
  • caromoney, on 01/11/2008, -2/+0Great info, but public speaking is not as easy as stated..
  • carl25, on 01/11/2008, -0/+4Bang your fist on the stand a few times
    • yaddayaddayoda, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1Better yet, take off your shoe and bang it on the podium.
  • LmaoTzu, on 01/11/2008, -2/+0Everything I know about public speaking I learnt from the Jean Claude Van Damme / Guile speech at the end of Street Fighter the Movie
  • zennie62, on 01/11/2008, -1/+1I would add, don't look at a face in the crowd unless you know them.
  • cmcarson, on 01/11/2008, -1/+7"If you're ever giving a speech, when you start out, act nervous and get mixed up a little bit. Then, as you go along, get better and better. Then, at the end, give off a white, glowing light and have rays shoot out of you." ~ Jack Handy
  • L0g1X, on 01/11/2008, -1/+1Attend toastmasters. It's cheap and effective. You need practice and experience to give a good speech.
    • avatarpalin, on 01/11/2008, -0/+2I agree! Reading how to speak in public is like reading how to ride a bike... You need to actually do it.. I have seen people being at Toastmasters crying half way through a speech, only to go on in eleven months time to give a speech infront of hundreds of people. It works... simple.
  • garths, on 01/11/2008, -1/+3I disagree with the advice to make a joke about your own nervousness. I've seen it many times, and first of all half the time the audience wasn't even aware the person was nervous to begin with. Second, you have to realize the audience actually wants you to succeed, making a joke or apology totally unnecessary, and at best, awkward.
  • Enceladus, on 01/11/2008, -0/+7Ethos. Pathos. Logos.
  • floridiot2, on 01/11/2008, -0/+19say 911 a lot
  • Pillage, on 01/11/2008, -0/+2Repetion in speeches is needed
  • Spoomeister, on 01/11/2008, -1/+90. Be Barack Obama.
  • pharekyz, on 01/11/2008, -1/+3This is one of the most inspiring speeches I've ever heard. Pay attention to the tips in the video and how the speaker uses them.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU
  • wipis, on 01/11/2008, -0/+14 and 5 are huge these days. At first when making speeches or presentations in school I never used power point. I would wing it and did ok. I realized Power Point kept peoples attention and boosted grades a little. So I would put my card on the screen with some nice but simple boarders and insert a few pictures. Teachers loved it. Why? Because so many other students put tons of notes on there and full screens of small text. And read directly from it!!! Why don't you just hand my a pair of scissors and your paper. I'll cut it up like I'm making paper dolls and read whats left. Thats about informative and entertaining as Bill O'Reilly. Use cards so your at least not reading directly off the screen and keep whats on the screen simple. That way I'll listen to you and not just read along. Who knows I might even take a few notes.
    Also, I know your paper on the Bay of Pigs or Atmospheric conditions of Mars has a lot to cover but if the teacher wants 5-10 minuets keep in that time frame. That 30 second main point is very important. If you can't sum up your research in less then ten minuets but don't have enough to fill 5 minuets you suck. And I don't know how many times my nice well rounded speech of 10 minuets had to be cut to less then five because the last person took 20 minuets all 30 slides slowly, nervously and with about 200 words each to cover. If you read this and think "eh I don't need this I'm fine how I do my speeches" or "I never have to make speeches" your probably wrong and probably need to read this.
    • vdog, on 01/11/2008, -0/+2Sorry, but that's a lot of text. Can you give us a visual aid, please/
  • sonicularulus, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1Here's one tip:
    dont use the phrases "ummm" or the insanely annoying "like...like...like"
  • cowman80i9, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1i thought the speech given by nathan petrelli at the end of season 1 episode 22 "Landslide" was pretty good, that guy can act
  • DrLachie, on 01/11/2008, -0/+2I'm suprised the article didn't mention eye contact, I don't think anything is more distracting than a speaker that never even acknowledges that the audience exists. If people think you're actually going to look at them they're far more likely to be paying attention when you do.
  • robszol, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1"Pound your fists and yell "Blood alone moves the wheels of history!"

    Damn, why does someone always beat me to the 'punch!!!'
  • sgr215, on 01/11/2008, -0/+2Although I'm sure these were good tips this just reminded me how much I hate public speaking.
  • jabela, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1I don't know how many English learners or really weak speakers read this forum, but a great technique that I find helps my English learners develop confidence is called Sound Scripting and it enables them to deliver a speech in a similar way to using auto-cues. Please feel free to read it at:
    http://www.jamesabela.co.uk/advanced/soundscriptin ...

    That way they can write their speech, put it onto cards and sound more natural. It also really helps native speakers who are really nervous speakers, because it helps them to highlight keywords.

    Once their confidence is good then they can just start writing keywords and eventually do away with the cards altogether.
  • kayjay, on 01/11/2008, -0/+0WHERE IS THE SHOE? Chrushtchov used a shoe!
  • avatarpalin, on 01/11/2008, -0/+2Here is a tip, if you are nervous speak louder than you normally do. Raising your voice stops the vibrato in your voice....
  • senatorpjt, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1These tips might work for selling something, but they don't work for technical talks/lectures, which are what I have to give. The only good tip that I've gotten for those is to get a prescription for Klonopin.
  • nycmac247, on 01/11/2008, -0/+2DON'T EAT BEANS AND CABBAGE THE NIGHT BEFORE!!!11!!!
  • Pixelante, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1Yell "By the Power of Grayskull!" at the beginning of the speech. You will have them hooked.
  • phantom_mullet, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1i've heard a bj before a speech is the best medicine
  • ryan83189, on 01/11/2008, -0/+1Don't write a speech. have a good idea of what you would like to say, and wing it. You can change your speech as you go if the crowd doesn't like it. Don't say umm or err often, simply pause. Visual aids will help. And remember, nobody cares if you fail or succeed, in fact alot of people would like to see you crash and burn, so at the very least you please them.
  • ahughes, on 01/11/2008, -0/+111. Do not focus on #1-10 during the speech. This will only lead to doom.
  • jstem1994, on 01/11/2008, -0/+16 lists on my digg rss feed at one time so far. "Top ## things of xxyzz"
  • runnyspot, on 01/11/2008, -0/+0All of the tips that give recommendations on the content of the speech are absolutely terrible. The others are helpful.
  • poiuytrewq44, on 01/12/2008, -0/+1The absolute best tip for presenting anything is to get yourself happy beforehand, and smiling works a helluvalot. It's turned average presentations for me into phenomenal ones.
  • bdette, on 01/12/2008, -0/+0never understood the advice on picturing everyone naked. if anything i would be laughing throughout my speech.
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