Speeches and Presentations

Every public figure needs to be comfortable speaking in different situations. There are three basic types of situations: impromptu, extemporaneous and full-text.

Public figures are constantly speaking in public, whether you're a actor or author, professional athlete or politician. Public relations professionals also spend a lot of time speaking, especially to the press, but sometimes in the press secretary role in front of a room full of TV cameras and reporters, or simply on the phone talking to. Learn how to write and deliver powerful speeches.

What are talking points and how do you write them? Talking points are a persuasive product, but they're not meant to be read word-for-word. They're an internal document to keep people on the same page and can be used as seed material for other products and events.

It can be quite hard to wean people from the idea that they need to read every speech word-for-word. This is a particular problem for short speeches of three-to-five minutes. If you're giving a short speech, or helping the speaker prepare, they've got to take off the training wheels and be able to do it without notes.

Short speeches are different animals. A keynote speech requires full text and maybe a teleprompter, because nobody should wing what might be the most important 30 minutes of their life. A short speech will come off as wooden if you try to read them word-for-word. So how can you write something that shouldn't be written word-for-word? Outline it. Practice it. Refine the outline and practice again.

The longer a speech is, the easier it is to get lost in the text. Even with a good outline, you will get lost. It might take a couple hours or half a day to write a short speech. A keynote speech can take a week, or two weeks, to draft and edit and finalize. Organization and outlining can save you endless hours of rewrites.

It's quicker and simpler to write a keynote speech -- or any speech -- that you're delivering. There's no client or boss who needs to give the ok; it's just you and the blank screen to fill. But it's also dangerous to write for yourself. Everybody needs an editor.

If you're trying to persuade the public, speaking to as many organizations as possible is a smart way of reaching out. Most organizations have a main speaker for every meeting, and it's often a guest speaker. Conventions and major events are also excellent opportunities. Learn how to organize a speaking tour.

Numbers are unavoidable. A sea of numbers on a page may make sense to an accountant. For a presentation or press conference that explains budgets or statistics, you need transform those numbers into charts or graphs. It's tough to make a presentation in front of small group of a dozen people. When you add TV cameras and newspaper reporters to...