Business Writing For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 9

Speaking Well for Yourself

IN THIS CHAPTER

Creating your elevator speech

Developing presentations and speeches

Scripting yourself with talking points

Most people overlook two central truths when preparing speeches, presentations and scripts:

• They need to be written.
• They need to be spoken.

That may seem ridiculously obvious, but take these rules seriously and you’re way ahead of the game, whatever yours is. Many people assume they’ll rise to the occasion and wing much of what they say when they’re on stage or just introducing themselves. Or, they write a speech as if it were a piece of literature and then are surprised at how hard it is to deliver it well.

Whatever the length or importance of your spoken piece — from an elevator speech that lasts just a few seconds to a formal presentation — the planning and writing process I cover in this chapter gives you the foundation you need. It will help you script yourself in formal situations and ground yourself in the essentials when the interaction is more informal. I also show you how to give yourself the edge when you need to think on your feet.

I start with a basic tool of your communication arsenal, the elevator speech. ...