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"He who has a why can bear any how" Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
1844-1900
The purpose of tonight's talk is to share with you a technique that will help you write
speeches with ease. As many of you know I have not had much trouble in this area. In fact
with a busy life schedule I used this rule of three technique to completed my CTM in 3
months then I took a break from writing speeches and then completed my ATM-B in another 3
months. In my first year I had completed 20 speeches talking at 4 clubs and 2 social
events and collected another 25 topics with several points on each topic ready for the
next level. I am not saying this to impress you but impress upon you that writing speeches
can be a simple task. Maybe not always easy but it is simple. Especially when you apply
the rule of 3.
I did have some advantage and that was a good library of notes, quotes and word
pictures which is now full of. Even with out this site the web is filled
with these things so that point is not that much of an advantage. I think the main reason why I
was able to do so well is I had a clear purpose for joining Toast Masters and did
not hesitate to get going and risk making mistakes, some embarrassment and all the
rest of the stuff that goes along with inexperience.
My "why" was clear. To paraphrase the quote I started with "When you have a clear
why the how comes easy"
Writing the speech: Rule of three
This principle I learned from Evelyn Woods dynamic learning course. She says that it is
known that people learn better in 3’s. Like in learning you would read something,
write it and speak it. A similar principle applies to speaking.
Rule of 3. Three points, three paragraphs, one theme
You will want to use 3 points to illustrate that theme. In each paragraph create a
point that explains the theme. The points could be:
1) A word picture/anecdote /short story or illustration.
2) Some statistics or facts.
3) A personal experience or experience of a person.
Here this principle is explained in a funny but true saying. You want to tell the
audience what your going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them.
It makes writing a speech easy and gets you message across.
Tell them what your going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told
them.
3 paragraphs with a point in each paragraph said in a different way. Word picture,
statistic or fact and a personal experience or the experience of a real person. That's it,
a simple, easy, effective way to write a speech.
Add a couple jokes and a quote or two and you will sound like a professional
communicating a clear and easy to absorb message.
Make sure to add a joke or 2 because "The mind can only absorb what the seat
can endure" Add some vocal variety, gestures and body movement, pauses and other
little techniques that we learn here at Toast Masters and list your name with the local
speaking bureau and earn an extra 50k a year.
Example of how I lay out my paper prior to filling in the text;
Speech Title
Opening: Here I come
up with a line or two, a joke or quote to start my talk with some impact. Be excited and
enthusiastic about your speech.
Body:
Point one, use a word picture, anecdote or short story to
illustrate your point.
(insert quotes and/or a little humor here)
Point two, use a personal experience or experience of real people
that the audience can relate to.
(insert quotes and/or a little humor here)
Point three, use some statistics or facts to communicate the
speech.
(These points can be in any order that works best for your topic.
Then add a couple of jokes and quotes and practice your delivery several times)
Conclusion:
Close with an strong statement and or
review the three point to solidify what you were trying to communicate.
Additional tips to speech preparation:
1) Gather resources and continue feeding your resource bank with quotes, stories,
articles, studies that are of interest to you. Keep a ongoing list of things that really
interest you, passions, exciting things. I suggest 3 file folders - 1) Topics that
interest me. 2) Good quotes and stories. 3) Facts, statistics and resources.
(The use of word pictures is know to be one of the most effective ways
of getting a point across)
2) Lay out your paper with: (It is so much easier to chose a topic when the speech
structure is in place)
Opening, Body - Point one - Point two - Point three, Closing
3) Define your purpose. Understand who your audience is and determine what you want
them to do. (Understand your point - entertain them - educate - move to action etc.)
4) Choose your topic and think of 3 points. (A story, a facts or statistic, a human
experience) Add a joke and a quotes and apply some TM techniques. (Vocal variety,
gestures, body movement, etc.)
4) Make a rough copy and practice it once or twice and add or subtract words or
sentences as you feel the need, then make you final draft and practice it several times
with various techniques.
5) Watch speakers, trainers, leaders with a purpose to notice their body movement, hand
gestures, vocal variety and how they organize the speech.
Some ideas on choosing a topic:
1) Think and write down all the subjects that interest you most. (This is sometimes
called blue sky thinking or dream writing) These are your passions. What are you
passionate about? Everybody can talk all day long about their passions but they bog down
when they try to write a 10 min speech.
2) Answer this question. What would you do if you had unlimited resources and no fear
of anything. What would you do with your time? This may be some of your loves and
passions.
3) As I mentioned earlier start a file and continually add to it as you come across
things in life and think of things you really like.
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