Writing A Speech

Writing a speech for most of us can be a real nightmare, especially when we know that after we write it, we have to give it. And the pressure is always the same.......topped out, whether it be a speech for a class, or a seminar, or for business, or for a wedding. The pressure is overwhelming for most people.

So much so, that when we sit down to write a speech, we imagine ourselves delivering this wonderfully put together piece of work that says just what we need and want to say, in the style we want to say it, and how it will be regarded by those listening as the best speech they've ever heard on the subject.

Now writing a speech has taken on gigantic proportions of stress, and in between sitting down at the desk to start writing a speech to the time we actually stand up to give it, we are gripped by panic never before felt by us. So forget writing a speech that sounds natural and in a certain tone that sounds like it is ourselves speaking, and not a prewritten speech. If you try to introduce a joke or a witty saying with a catchy final phrase; that can be a very good move unless you are a person who has never been able to tell a joke well, and can never get the punch line to sound like that was what it was. If that's the case for you and you can't tell a joke to save your soul, then don't do it. Don't make yourself the object of outright embarrassment that will occur when the esteemed audience begins to collectively clear their throats, shift in their chairs uneasily, or look at their watches when you bomb bigtime trying to tell your stupid joke.

So, these things happen when you are up there delivering your speech in front of the crowd. But writing a speech can bring on different pressures of its own. Some people think that writing a speech is the easiest part of the whole operation, but others disagree totally. You must get your thoughts coherently down on the paper with enough facts and enough interest to keep the audience tuned in and awake, and for most of us, that is more difficult than actually giving the speech.

There is a solution for getting over the panic of writing a speech, however; and that is to hire a professional writer to write your speech for you. The hiring of a pro can be a big weight lifted off your shoulders, but remember you still must personalize the speech by peppering it with your ways of saying things. Don't let it sound like a machine wrote it......and sometimes, because professional writers use templates, that is exactly what can happen.

But, if you cannot afford a professional writer, or for whatever reason , do not want to hire one; then remember the main rules you must follow when writing a speech. The most obvious and most important rule when writing a speech is to be yourself. Phrase the sentences as you would say them in conversational speech so they don't sound stilted.........the audience wants to feel that you have taken the time in writing a speech to talk to them as people with feelings and minds and hearts, and not just blabbering words that have no emotion or worse, do not even sound like it is you speaking.

If you are not a punster, or a jokester........don't try to be one in writing a speech. The speech will ring hollow and the jokes, wonderful as they may be, will fall flat on the floor if not delivered properly..........and guess what, you just can't do it.......so don't. If you are not in the habit of using big multisyllabic words in writing a speech or delivering one; then don't metamorphose into a walking thesaurus overnight the day of the speech.

So, remember.........when writing a speech..........it's not that hard to remember the rules. Be yourself, don't try to be something you are not, keep the speech to the point, entertaining, and filled with information. Follow those rules to the letter, and your speech will be a winner.