Some people believe the eyes are the windows to the soul. If that’s the case, when speaking, you need to bare your soul. Eye contact is as important as the content of your speech. The mistake many speakers make is that they quickly scan the audience. To make your speech more impressive and convey a sense of confidence, scan your audience, surely. But rest your eyes for several seconds on each person, if a small audience, or several people in each section, if speaking to a large audience. This gives them a personal link to you. A link that will make them concerned about what you’re saying, and make them accept you as sincere.
The Meat of the Matter
Now that we’ve discussed the elements to give a good speech, let’s discuss content. This is the most challenging part of preparing a speech. If you want to reach your audience, you’ll need to compile good material to create your speech. Once you’ve decided on a topic, even if you know it like the back of your hand, research it. You may find other tidbits to enhance what you already know. There are many resources available to gain good information. Your local library is a wealth of information. The Internet is chock full of valuable resources. If your topic is related to current events, delve into your local newspaper and see what you can find. Your best bet is to have several sources of information to draw from during your preparation. If your speech is fact filled, be sure to take notes as to where you found your information in case you’re asked to cite it.
Overdone or underdone? You’ve completed all your research and have more material than you can use. Now what? It’s hard to discard good factual material from your speech, but rather than inundating your audience with more facts than they can handle, cut your speech down to size. Nothing is more frustrating than being a member of the audience when the speaker spouts more facts that you can conceivably keep up with. On the other hand, make sure you give your audience their money’s worth. It’s equally frustrating for someone to show up to hear a speaker and go away feeling as though he has wasted his time.