Your Public Best - Lillian Brown [64]
If your forte is question and answer—and you feel that this format shows you in your best light—you may on occasion want to shorten your speech and allow more time for questions. Capitalize on situations in which you are the most comfortable and capable.
After your speech, if the audience crowds around you and asks you meaningful questions, you will know that you were a real success and that all of that preparation was well worth the effort.
A Word about Professional Speech Writers
Busy professional people frequently do not have time to write all of their own speeches and are dependent on others to do the writing for them, or at least the first draft. You may assign the task to a member of your staff, or you may consider hiring a professional speech writer.
As you are going about the process of choosing a speech writer, keep in mind that there are quite a few bad or inexperienced speech writers out there. Don’t be afraid to ask to see several sample speeches from those you are considering.
Look for a good writer with whom you can feel compatible. You need a person who knows your field, something about you and your past accomplishments, and is capable of conducting accurate research. Your speech writer should also be someone who can keep your confidences.
As you work with your writer, he or she will learn to adapt the construction of the speech to your style of delivery—even to leaving out words you do not like to pronounce.
Once the first draft of the speech is completed, you can both go over it, making suggestions for possible changes and improvements. The speech must not carry the mark of the writer, but, rather, of you, the speaker. You must eventually make the speech your own, getting away from the written text as much as possible. The open and close, particularly, must be in your own words.
The speech writer should hear you deliver the finished speech, and, from that, find ways to improve subsequent efforts. The speech writer can thus adapt to your own individual speaking style and manner.
GIVING YOUR SPEECH
Being Introduced
Listen carefully to what is said about you as you are being introduced so that you can make an appropriate response.
You have already double-checked to be sure that your host has your correct name and title, knows how to pronounce your name, and knows the subject or title of your speech.
Acknowledge the introduction graciously, and know in advance what your introductory remarks will be. Say something personal in your response, using the name of your host and recognizing the identity of your audience. Let your introduction establish a bond with your audience that you will maintain throughout your presentation.
Pause before You Speak
In a previous section under practicing your speech, we discussed pauses within your speech. This section concerns another important type of pause—pausing before you speak.
Before you say your first word, always pause for a second of silence. You can simply say to yourself “one” silently. The word “one,” which contains a vowel pronounced in the back of the mouth, requires you to naturally open the back of your throat.
By ending the pause with this silent “one,” you are assured that your first sentence won’t come out of a tense nasal passage, high in your vocal range. The glide-sound “w,” when combined with the open throat, becomes “wuh.” Saying this sound silently puts space between your upper and lower teeth for easy articulation. Your first words come out correctly placed, low in your vocal range.
Practice this silent pause and make it your own. That beginning pause noticeably quiets the audience with expectation. It makes you look authoritative and confident, like you are in control and know what you are doing.
The pause also allows you a few seconds of silence during which you can gain the attention of people rattling coffee cups or chatting