Speech Zero to Hero–Step 5: Open, Close
Time limit: 10 minutes The opening and closing of your presentation are critical components, and the only parts I suggest memorizing. Your opening is the first impression and your closing is the final impact. By memorizing them, you will sound and feel more confident. You want to open in a way that gets the audience’s attention, […]
Speech Zero to Hero–Step 4: Support Points
Time limit: 15 minutes Now we have come to the meat of your presentation, supporting your points. A few common ways to support your points include: Anecdotal evidence: essentially telling a story or offering a case study—make sure they are relevant! Empirical evidence: research and statistics Logical: reasoning based on facts Demonstration: show how something works […]
Speech Zero to Hero–Step 3: Main Points
Time limit: 5 minutes If you are preparing to give a speech in an hour, you don’t have time to figure out a lot of main points, so keep it to 2 or 3. By limiting the number of main points to 2 or 3, not only will they be easier for the audience to […]
Speech Zero to Hero–Step 2: Big Picture
Time limit: 5 minutes The big picture is knowing your purpose for the presentation and your overall approach to presenting it. #1 Select ONE Specific Purpose (keeping in mind your audience) Decision 1: What is the main general purpose of your presentation? Pick one (you may include all three, but pick a MAIN one): To […]
Speech Zero to Hero–Step 1: The 2 “Knows”
Time limit: 5 minutes Before you plunge into creating your speech there are a couple of critical things you should know to save time and frustration later: #1 Know: The requirements These may be obvious, but these are things you don’t want to overlook! Date: Time: Location: Length of presentation: Topic: What you are expected […]
The 5-Minute Speaker Warm Up
All performers, from athletes to entertainers, know that a warm-up is essential to peak performance. As a speaker, you can have both a physical warm up and a mental warm up, too! To get you started with a warm-up routine, I’ll share mine. Take what works for you and feel free to modify. You may […]
Infographic: How to Master Public Speaking
You may not be able to master public speaking just by reading this infographic, but the concept (and tips) that “public speaking anxiety often results from problematic thought patterns that need to be changed” is on target! Source: MastersProgramsGuide.com
FREE Public Speaking Class Jan 11 (Twin Cities)
Date: Monday, January 11, 2016 Time: 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM Location: Ridgedale Library (Minnetonka, MN) Link to reserve your seat (free event presented on behalf of District 6 Toastmasters) Speak with conviction and confidence! No matter the subject, you can capture your audience’s attention and keep them engaged. In this FREE, interactive class, you […]
Familiarize. Don’t Memorize.
It was the summer of 2009 and I had eight, 45-minute presentations to memorize as a newly hired high school workshop speaker for a local college. The other new speakers and I had been given scripts for each of the presentations, with topics ranging from budgeting to sexual harassment, and had been told to follow […]
Not Just the Facts, Ma’am
“I just want to get the facts, ma’am,” Joe Friday (actor Jack Webb) famously implored when questioning women in the old TV police show, Dragnet. Joe Friday might have just wanted the facts, but your audience wants more. Sure, they want to know your material, but they also want to know you. They want to connect […]