Dear Friend:
Imagine you’ve written your speech and now you’re practicing it to make sure you’re prepared for a dynamic delivery. It’s seldom that your first rehearsal is just as you want it. How can you be confident about what to leave in and what to edit out?
LEAVE IN
Short, clear, and concise sentences that help make your point—don’t attempt to impress your audience with flowery or impressive words. Make it easy for the audience to understand and it will be easy for them to remember and to repeat to others.
Stories and analogies that support your point—there is no better way to connect to or be remembered by your audience than through well-told stories.
Entertaining and informative examples to clarify your point--instead of just telling your audience to do something, give an example of how and why it worked for you or someone else.
EDIT OUT
Words that you stumble over—we write differently than we speak, so make sure you change any words that looked good in writing but aren’t rolling off your tongue as you say them out loud
Anything that doesn’t support the point(s) you want to share. If you have 2-3 examples you could use, choose the one that makes most sense for your audience. More is not better.
What you consider a funny or fabulous line. This is sometimes difficult to edit out because you think it’s great. When you’re rehearsing, if you hear yourself say, “Oh, I forgot that line but I really want to include it,” consider editing it out. While working with a client recently, we discovered that each time he was consistently forgetting a line it was because it was unnecessary and not beneficial to the audience. It was coming from his ego instead of his heart. Once he eliminated it, he saw how his speech magically flowed.
Regardless of the size of your audience, make sure you edit fearlessly while you prepare and practice your speech. You’ll remember what you want to say and your audience will remember what you said. And that’s the point of preparation and rehearsal!
With gratitude,
Amy
Amy Ayoub
President, The Zen Speaker