Speak with Confidence

Chapter 11Standard Speech System

There are many kinds of speeches, but as the title “standard speech system” indicates, I'm not being overly specific here. For the purposes of this chapter, a speech is defined as any sort of spoken presentation, toast, message, sermon, or lecture that has been prepared in advance. This system is very flexible and can be used in many different settings. With some practice, you should be able to adapt it to your specific needs.

Because it is the first system, we'll take a little longer with it, but this discussion is still very brief. If you want a more complete treatment, please see my book Write to Speak, from which this chapter is adapted.¹

Getting Started

Julia Andrews, playing Maria in The Sound of Music, said—sang, actually—that the beginning is a very good place to start. While that may be true of learning musical notes (though I never personally learned them), it's not true of writing a speech. The beginning is pretty much the very worst place to start. Why? Two reasons:

• First, you can't really write the introduction until you know what you're going to say in the rest of the speech. The introduction is actually the last part you'll write in this system.
• Second, the beginning is also the hardest part to write. You'll experience the pressure to find the perfect opening sentence and struggle to settle on the right first word. Before you know it, you're paralyzed with second guesses and bingeing Game of Thrones sounds much better than ...