Write that speech yourself! - page 4
Gaining momentum.
Whichever approach you use to making that first impact, you now need to keep the attention you've carefully nurtured through these first couple of minutes. Suddenly, you think you've got to keep this going for another twenty before you can sit down again.
Don't worry. Remember the theme. You have the audience hooked and they know what you're going to talk about. They've bought into theme and are content to let you get on with it.
To get through this main section of your speech the trick is to make a series of points. Let each point flow from the one before. To make the speech as interesting as possible, illustrate each point - with a personal story, if possible. This is also where those quotations can come in handy.
Restrict the number of points in your talk. Not only does this make it easier to maintain a flow but it also lets the audience get to grips more easily with your theme. In a twenty minute talk you will be able to get away quite safely with making only three or four separate points.
Don't worry that this might seem to render your speech empty of content. It's important to remember that, in most cases, your audience are hoping to take something away from the talk. Make it easy for them: don't burden them with unnecessary detail.
Imagine you have cornered an expert in a subject you've always been interested in but have never had the time to research. You have twenty minutes to find out some key facts. Which would be the more rewarding experience; the expert bombarding you with reams of information or a few stories that illustrate what the subject means to him/her and which put the subject into a context to which you can relate? Exactly. And a speech is the same. Make it personal and, through the magic of empathy, the majority of your audience will find enough hooks to hang their hats on.
No whimpers.
Don't let your speech fade away or end abruptly on a point that has no more relevance or power than any previous point you've made. The last thing you say is what really determines how your speech will be remembered by the audience. You started with a bang. End with one, too.
It's also a smart move to make your audience feel they've played a part in making the speech special. At the very least, thank them for listening.
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