Sometimes people say that one of the reasons that they don’t speak in public is because they don’t have the time to write a speech.   So here is the solution.  A simple, foolproof process for writing a short snappy speech that gets results.

Step 1: If you don’t already have a speech topic, then spend 1 minute brainstorming (or mind mapping!) potential topics and capture the results on a  piece of paper.

Step 2: Review all the ideas and pick the one that you feel is most relevant to your audience and then spend a minute brainstorming  a list of possible sub-themes related to this topic.

Step3: Pick the three ideas that you feel comfortable talking about and then outline your speech using the following simple structure.

• Speech title
• Strong opening – Don’t start with the traditional “hello my name is…and I am here to talk about….  You need to grab their attention right from the start with either some startling facts,or figures, a challenge, a question, a quote or a short personal story.
• Body – Use your three themes from the brainstorm and develop each one a little.  NB: don’t forget to include some I statements that explain why this topic matters to you.
• Conclusion – Don’t let your presentation tail off at the end. Finish it with a strong call to action where you spell out exactly what you want your audience to do as a result of listening to this speech.