The First Step to Preparing your Speech

So, you’re ready to write a speech but can’t quite nail down the opening line.

You know the message you want to get across. You have your notes ready.

Yet, a flurry of questions keeps swirling in your mind:

• How can I make a strong first impression?

• How do I strike the right balance - neither too formal nor too casual?

• Should I start with humour?

If you’re like most people, you will start with an introduction. Who you are. Where you’re from.

Keep it safe.

Or, if you’re feeling extra daring, you may think a question will do the trick.

But, there is a step that needs to be taken BEFORE you even consider writing your introduction.

A step that will get you into flow and make the whole speechwriting process much easier.

Want to know what it is?

Keep Reading.

Two Questions that Define Your Speech

Ponder this:

1. What do I want people to FEEL once my speech is finished?

2. What do I want my audience to DO once my speech is finished?

The feeling comes before the doing because people are inspired to action only if you stir them deeply first.

It’s why pathos is one of Aristotle’s three pillars of persuasion - along with logos and ethos.

It’s why Cicero was so obsessed with stirring up emotion to persuade - as shown in his Cataline and Marc Antony speeches.

It’s why in Pericles’ Funeral Oration he painted such as glorious picture of Athens:

What did Pericles want his audience to feel?

He wanted his audience to feel national pride in the city of Athens by highlighting its glorious past.

What did Pericles want his audience to do?

He wanted to trigger a collective resolve to continue the Peloponnesian war.

Fast-forward to today and the methods of persuasion haven’t changed. Except, in your case, it’s unlikely you want to inspire war.

More realistic objectives are:

• Sign up to my email list

• Sign up to a one-on-one meeting

• Vote for me in an election

To reverse engineer this outcome, you need to work out what emotion to trigger in people so they take this step.

Once you’ve worked this out, your speech will flow automatically because everything you write will be geared towards the right outcome.

That’s it. The step you take before picking up your pen is to determine what you want your audience to feel and the action you want them to take.

What Motivates Your Audience?

Before you define these questions, you will need to consider your audience.

Your listeners are individuals - but they will also have some things in common. That’s why they’ve come to see you talk.

Take time to consider your audience’s value and emotions. What do they care about deeply?

Understand their values, fears, hopes and desires so you can tap into emotions that resonate.

People feel moved when they have a sense of belonging when they feel they are part of something bigger than themselves.

The goal is to leave your audience on an emotional high point, so they are primed to take the next step.

Define a Realistic and Clear Action

Consider your audience’s context and abilities.

Asking them to do something drastic or overly complex might lead to confusion. And, confusion means inaction.

Make sure the action is both feasible and within their comfort zone.

Be specific about what you want your audience to do. Instead of saying, “Take action to support this cause,” say,

“Scan this QR code to sign up to our newsletter.”

A clear, manageable action increases the likelihood of follow-through.

Fill in the …

Now you’ve brainstormed, you can put pen to paper.

Before you start writing your speech, simply write out in one line what you want your audience to feel and do when you finish your speech.

Two, focused outcomes that are straightforward with little room for complexity.

1. When I have finished my audience will feel (add in a feeling, e.g. reassured).

2. When I have finished my audience will (add in action e.g. signing up to an email list).

Once complete, everything should flow quite naturally because you will understand why you are writing your speech.

By aligning your objectives with realistic, actionable, and clear steps, you’ll create a lasting impact that motivates your audience to take the action you want.

How you structure your speech, your introductory and finishing lines and how you master your persuasive storytelling is a lesson for another day.