So let’s all agree on something: not all speeches that we give are the  same. 

Some speeches we give are just being delivered because we promised  somebody that we’d get up there and give a speech. However, then there  are the other speeches. These are the ones that are very important.  It may be our big idea that we’re trying to get support for, perhaps  it’s something that we need people to vote on, or it’s important  information that we need to somehow communicate to our audience. No  matter what the reason, we believe that we are trying to deliver very  important information that reflects the importance of public speaking.  

When we find ourselves in this situation, we need to take steps to make  sure that we’re ready to deliver a very good speech.

I can only speak for myself, but because of the importance of public  speaking I’m always looking for ways to become a better public speaker.  

I’ve taken classes, read books, and talked with experts. However, one  thing that I had never thought to look into was how an exercise program  could impact how I talked. A while back I had been talked into trying  out a yoga program that was being held at a local university. I went to the program with low expectations. However, when I gave a speech the next day it went very well. 

Hmm, could there be a link between yoga and speaking well?

As speakers we are expected to be able to use the importance of public  speaking and deliver information to our audience. 

They have come to  listen to us and, with a little bit of luck, learn something new that  they can put to work in their lives. What this means for us is that we  have to do research before we give a speech so that we can deliver a  speech that will contain the content that our audience is looking for.  However, there will be times that we will want to change things up a  bit. We’ll want to tell our audience something that is untrue.  When we do this, we’ll want them to come to realize that what we are  telling them never happened. 

This means that we are going to have to  master the art of telling tall tales.

Let’s face it – the most interesting story that you have to tell is the  one that you tell about yourself. 

At some point in time during your  speaking career, you will undoubtedly be asked to give a speech about yourself.  Now the good news here is that you are not going to have to do a lot of  research to come up with your material – you already know it! However, being asked to speak about ourselves can be a real challenge for some speakers.  We generally try to downplay our accomplishments and ignore the  importance of public speaking. If we are asked to speak about ourselves  it sure seems like we’ll be spending our time boasting. What’s the right  way to go about doing this?Let’s face it – the most interesting story that you have to tell is the  one that you tell about yourself. At some point in time during your  speaking career, you will undoubtedly be asked to give a speech about yourself.  Now the good news here is that you are not going to have to do a lot of  research to come up with your material – you already know it! However, being asked to speak about ourselves can be a real challenge for some speakers.  We generally try to downplay our accomplishments and ignore the  importance of public speaking. If we are asked to speak about ourselves  it sure seems like we’ll be spending our time boasting. 

What’s the right  way to go about doing this?

I think that we can all agree that giving a speech is a difficult thing  to do. 

If you’d like to make things just a bit more difficult, then try to give your speech to a global audience.  Now we’re talking about a real challenge! The reason that addressing a  global audience and sharing the importance of public speaking with them  is so difficult to do well is because of the differences between you and  them. The way that you see the world and the way that you express  yourself is very different from the way that the rest of the world sees  things. This means that what you are trying to say in your  speech may become garbled or confused and you may not be able to clearly  communicate your points. 

What’s a speaker to do?

As speakers, we are seen as being skillful at all types of speeches.  

Although we may generally see speaking as writing a speech and then  getting up on a stage and delivering that speech, it turns out that due  to the importance of public speaking there are many different forms that  speaking can take. One of the more common ones is being asked to moderate a panel session.  The people on the panel, the smart people, are not necessarily speakers  and so it is going to be your job to find ways to allow them to share  what they know in a way that your audience will be able to understand.  

If you were asked to moderate a panel session, would you know how to go about doing it?

So you are a speaker. 

Congratulations. What’s your next step now? Have you ever thought about writing speeches for somebody else? I mean, you can write a pretty good speech for yourself, why not do it for somebody else? You might decide to do this simply because you are a nice person and you want to help somebody out, or you might decide that this is a type of business that you want to go into. 

No matter your motivation, do you know how to go about writing speeches that another person will deliver?

The reason that an audience will come to listen to what you have to say  in your next speech is that they understand the importance of public  speaking and they hope to learn something new. 

The  thinking is that you have had an experience, done some research, or  experienced something that changed you in a way that you will now be  able to share with your audience. It is through your words that your  audience hopes to experience what you have experienced and by doing so  change their lives. However, when you are pulling your speech together you will probably do some research. You’ll find facts and include them  in your speech in order to lend more weight to what you’ll be telling  your audience. What if the information that you add to your speech is fake news? 

What does this mean for your speech and your message?

Let’s face it – sometimes our speeches just don’t “click” with our  audience. 

We get up there, we deliver our speech, they hear what we have  to say, but nobody is moved. Nobody is motivated. We really have not changed the world by giving this speech.  We’ve not been able to show this audience the importance of public  speaking. Dang. This was a wasted opportunity. What we need to do as  speakers is learn how to make our next speech really connect with our audience. 

If we can make this happen, then our time will have been spent well.

Let’s face it – you are not the first presenter your audience has ever  seen. 

In fact, they have probably seen lots of other presenters.  However, you would like to be able to use the importance of public speaking to become the presenter that your audience remembers.  You’d like this to happen if you are the only presenter that they are  seeing today or if they are going to be seeing a lot of different  presenters. When your audience goes home tonight, you want your words to  be the ones that are still ringing in their ears. 

If you want this to  happen, then you are going to have to impress your audience.