Life’s Grand Mosaic

The opening of your speech can make or break it.

It will determine whether your audience pays attention or tunes out after 10 minutes (or less).

To be successful the introduction needs to relate to the audience and show an understanding of the audience.

And it needs to be consistent with both the topic and tone of the speech.

The technique you use should help you to introduce the themes, ideas and subject of your speech.

Use one of the following techniques to grab your audience’s attention.

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by roland A speech introduction is in many ways similar to an introduction to a prize fight. It catches the attention of the audience, identifies the participants and situation, and sets the stage for the primary event – the fight. The body of the speech is the main event and the beginning merely prepares the [...]

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The reason many speeches fail is that the speaker does not understand one simple fact:

A speech is a dialogue, not a monologue.

You are the speaker and the audience is a silently questioning listener.

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Quotes are a powerful tool for public speakers. As Rudyard Kipling said:

Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.

However, quotes are often overused and misused.

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Here is my choice for the 8 best quote sites on the internet.

You should never be at a loss to find quotes for speeches, essays or presentations.

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by tillwe Tip 1 – You may be nervous but the audience doesn’t come close to seeing what you are feeling. Unless you pass out or continually say “I am so nervous” your audience will never notice your feelings of anxiety. You can assume that your audience are your friends, and are ready to receive [...]

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The secrets to conversational and lively public speaking relate to 4 areas: Practice, Delivery, Posture and Voice.

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This post accompanies issue 1 of my free newsletter “How to be a Confident and Influential Public Speaker”. If you would like more information on the ideas below please signup below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

There are five means that you can use in a speech:

• joking with the audience (humor),
• telling a story (narration),
• presenting data (exposition),
• justifying (argument), or
• appealing to the audience (motivation).

The audience’s attitude and level of understanding is one of the two criteria for selecting the means to be used in your speech.

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Will Rogers gave the following eulogy following the death of President Woodrow Wilson in February 1924.

At the height of his popularity, Will Rogers had occasion to give several performances before President Woodrow Wilson.

This speech is analyzed in my manual Be a Public Speaking Success: Secrets of the Great Orators.

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In 1983, President Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) in an address to the nation on national security. The full transcript follows.

You can also download an audio of the speech.

This speech is analyzed in my manual Be a Public Speaking Success: Secrets of the Great Orators.

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