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this room will….”The fact or statistic should be surprising and not something the audience expects.</p><p id="77a3"><b><i>Questions</i></b><i>:</i> Open with a question that draws your audience into your presentation. I open one of my presentations with the question: “Has anyone here ever been arrested for not paying a restaurant bill? Can I see your hands please?” Of course, nobody ever raises his/her hand, so I immediately tell a story about a time a restaurant manager threaten to have my wife arrested for refusing to pay a bill because of poor service. With the question, I engaged my audience and drew them into my story. The story served to transition into the theme of the speech that customer service has become a game of confrontation.</p><p id="d195"><b><i>Quotations:</i></b> Open with a quotation that stirs the interest of your audience and allows you to transition to your topic.</p><p id="78cd">Remember the purpose of the opening is to grab the attention of your audience and introduce them to your topic. Be sure your opening is strong and powerful.</p><h2 id="5146">Main Body</h2><p id="acc6">Organize the main body of your speech into 3 to 7 key points. People can only remember so much information. Avoid giving them too much content.</p><p id="bfdd">If you are giving a 30 minute talk and you have 3 key points, you will have 10 minutes for each key point.</p><p id="024a">Support each key point with facts, statistics, quotations and stories that illustrate and expand on the point. Real-life stories are one of the most powerful tools you have to keep people interested in what you are saying.</p><h2 id="a70f">Closing</h2><p id="039c">Close your speech on a high note. The closing should send people out of the room energized and inspired to take the action you have asked of them.</p><p id="0ae2">You can close in one of several different ways:</p><ul><li>with a summary of your main points,</li><li>with an emotional story that reinforces your message,</li><li>with a positive quotation that is uplifting and ties to your message,</li><li>with a call to action.</li></ul><p id="1604">Leave your audience with something they will remember and take with them.</p><h1 id="4191">Research</h1><p id="f228">Newspapers, magazines and the internet are excellent sources of facts, statistics, quotations and stories. Here are a couple of internet sites:</p><ul><li>www. <a href="http://refdesk.com/">refdesk.com </a>(a place to find facts and statistics with many links to other sites)</li><li><a href="http://www.giga-usa.com/">www.giga-usa.com </a>(contains a broad collection of quotations, aphorisms, maxims and proverbs)</li></ul><h1 id="b21f">Writing the Speech</h1><p id="6e85">The spoken word is different than the written word. In the written word, you need to focus on complete sentenc

Options

es, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. This is not the case with the spoken word. Most people don’t speak in complete sentences. As speakers, we often speak in phrases and use repetition. Repetition is important in speech writing because it reinforces the key messages.</p><p id="ad20">You have several options for writing the speech. Choose the one that works best for you.</p><ul><li>Write out the entire speech, word for word. For some people this helps because they need to know exactly what to say.</li><li>Create an outline of the speech. The amount of detail is up to you and your needs. Don’t worry about the outlining format. Do what works for you. It could simply be your main point with bullet points underneath.</li><li>Organize the speech in your head. Some people have excellent memories and find it easier to think out the speech in their head. They often have no need to write it down.</li></ul><p id="695f">The hardest part of writing a speech is beginning. People often stare at a blank piece of paper not knowing where to begin. Don’t become caught in this trap. Just put words on paper. Put your thoughts down first. You can and should reorganize the information later.</p><h1 id="a891">Rewriting the Speech</h1><p id="9256">The key to good speech writing is in the rewriting. One of the best ways to rewrite your speech is by reading it aloud or by practicing in front of a small group. New ideas and thoughts will come to you during the delivery of the speech.</p><p id="f2d2">A great speech is always evolving. Often when you deliver a speech a new phrase or idea will appear from your subconscious and insert itself into the speech. Be sure to remember these creative changes and add them to your speech.</p><p id="8f71">Watch the reaction of your audience to your speech. Your audience can teach you what works and what does not. You can tell by the look on their faces if they understand something you’ve said or if it needs more explanation. Sometimes a question from the audience will trigger you to add something to your speech that was missing.</p><p id="1d55">The rewriting of a speech never stops. You need to update and change the speech almost every time you deliver it.</p><figure id="5125"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*aW3soiTKgGnk54sIpiQl3g.jpeg"><figcaption>Rewriting the speech never stops.</figcaption></figure><h2 id="5f3a">About the Author</h2><p id="2195">Harley King has been speaking and training professionally for more than 30 years before groups ranging from 10 to 600. He has trained more than 7,500 people to speak and train.</p><p id="6338"><i>Originally published at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140617101031-47179051-writing-powerful-inspirational-speeches/">https://www.linkedin.com</a>.</i></p></article></body>

How to Write Powerful, Inspirational Speeches

Writing the speech is one of the more challenging and creative aspects of speaking.

Purpose of Speech

The first step is to understand the audience. Who are they? What do you think they will want to know about your topic? What do you want them to know about your topic?

The second step is to identify why you are giving the speech. Is it a speech to:

share information,
teach knowledge and/or skills,
motivate and inspire people to take action,
or a combination of the above?

The third step is to identify the expected result. What is the outcome that you expect to happen as a result of your speech? What action should the audience members take?

Theme of Speech

The key to writing a great speech is to have a theme that ties everything together. What is the core message that you want to communicate to your audience. You will want to repeat this message at various points throughout your presentation. In one of my presentations, I use the theme that it is a privilege to work in health care. At various points throughout the presentation, I reiterate the core message that I want people to remember after the presentation is over. You should be able to write the theme of your speech in one sentence.

Structure of Speech

There are 3 primary elements of a speech: opening, main body, and closing.

Opening

Open your speech with a bang. The first 30–60 seconds are crucial to connecting with the audience. You need to hook their interest immediately and reel them in. An audience usually decides in the first two minutes of a talk whether or not to pay close attention during the rest of it.

Here are four possible ways to open your speech:

Story: Open with a story that introduces your topic. Use a story that will grab people’s attention and keep them interested. You need to be able to link the theme of your presentation to the story. The story does not have to be funny. Do not tell any jokes because you will probably offend some individual or group. I open one of my speeches with the story of Wilma Rudolph, an Olympic gold medalist, who overcame paralysis. The story allows me to transition to my theme at each person is special and important to the team.

Fact or Statistic: Open with an intriguing or startling statement. For example: “Half the people in this room will….”The fact or statistic should be surprising and not something the audience expects.

Questions: Open with a question that draws your audience into your presentation. I open one of my presentations with the question: “Has anyone here ever been arrested for not paying a restaurant bill? Can I see your hands please?” Of course, nobody ever raises his/her hand, so I immediately tell a story about a time a restaurant manager threaten to have my wife arrested for refusing to pay a bill because of poor service. With the question, I engaged my audience and drew them into my story. The story served to transition into the theme of the speech that customer service has become a game of confrontation.

Quotations: Open with a quotation that stirs the interest of your audience and allows you to transition to your topic.

Remember the purpose of the opening is to grab the attention of your audience and introduce them to your topic. Be sure your opening is strong and powerful.

Main Body

Organize the main body of your speech into 3 to 7 key points. People can only remember so much information. Avoid giving them too much content.

If you are giving a 30 minute talk and you have 3 key points, you will have 10 minutes for each key point.

Support each key point with facts, statistics, quotations and stories that illustrate and expand on the point. Real-life stories are one of the most powerful tools you have to keep people interested in what you are saying.

Closing

Close your speech on a high note. The closing should send people out of the room energized and inspired to take the action you have asked of them.

You can close in one of several different ways:

with a summary of your main points,
with an emotional story that reinforces your message,
with a positive quotation that is uplifting and ties to your message,
with a call to action.

Leave your audience with something they will remember and take with them.

Research

Newspapers, magazines and the internet are excellent sources of facts, statistics, quotations and stories. Here are a couple of internet sites:

www. refdesk.com (a place to find facts and statistics with many links to other sites)
www.giga-usa.com (contains a broad collection of quotations, aphorisms, maxims and proverbs)

Writing the Speech

The spoken word is different than the written word. In the written word, you need to focus on complete sentences, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. This is not the case with the spoken word. Most people don’t speak in complete sentences. As speakers, we often speak in phrases and use repetition. Repetition is important in speech writing because it reinforces the key messages.

You have several options for writing the speech. Choose the one that works best for you.

Write out the entire speech, word for word. For some people this helps because they need to know exactly what to say.
Create an outline of the speech. The amount of detail is up to you and your needs. Don’t worry about the outlining format. Do what works for you. It could simply be your main point with bullet points underneath.
Organize the speech in your head. Some people have excellent memories and find it easier to think out the speech in their head. They often have no need to write it down.

The hardest part of writing a speech is beginning. People often stare at a blank piece of paper not knowing where to begin. Don’t become caught in this trap. Just put words on paper. Put your thoughts down first. You can and should reorganize the information later.

Rewriting the Speech

The key to good speech writing is in the rewriting. One of the best ways to rewrite your speech is by reading it aloud or by practicing in front of a small group. New ideas and thoughts will come to you during the delivery of the speech.

A great speech is always evolving. Often when you deliver a speech a new phrase or idea will appear from your subconscious and insert itself into the speech. Be sure to remember these creative changes and add them to your speech.

Watch the reaction of your audience to your speech. Your audience can teach you what works and what does not. You can tell by the look on their faces if they understand something you’ve said or if it needs more explanation. Sometimes a question from the audience will trigger you to add something to your speech that was missing.

The rewriting of a speech never stops. You need to update and change the speech almost every time you deliver it.

About the Author

Harley King has been speaking and training professionally for more than 30 years before groups ranging from 10 to 600. He has trained more than 7,500 people to speak and train.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.