Public Speaking Exposed

Many people see public speaking as an art form. That is, they don’t see any linear process for getting better at it. At the extreme, they may even believe that some people are endowed with the ability to do it, while others aren’t. And there’s simply nothing they can do to change that.

In this guide, we are going to focus on this aspect of public speaking: the fact that
you can get better—in fact, much better—at it if you’re only willing to learn and
practice the fundamentals.
In the rest of the book, we will direct you through the entire process. We will take
you from the start, where you select a topic, to the actually scenarios you might
encounter when you deliver the speech in a public setting. By the time you’re
finished, you should be ready to churn out speeches and deliver them in front of
a crowd of any size.
How to Pick the Right Topic
Working
with
Restrictions
In some cases, you will have a great deal of leeway when it comes to topic
selection. That is, you might be going into the speech with no set topic and few
restrictions on the length and subject matter, so that you can do almost anything
you want to.
In other cases, you may be working with significant restrictions. For instance, if
you’re delivering a speech at a wedding as the best man, you will have both time
restrictions and content restrictions.
With this said, the fact that restrictions exist shouldn’t worry you. But you should
be careful to pin down the extract restrictions before you get started. Here’s a list
of some things you should consider that might place restrictions on your speech:
i. The Subject Matter. Are you delivering a eulogy? Are you giving an
academic presentation? Are you delivering a speech at a wedding? Or
are you giving a presentation to your coworkers, clients, or boss about
your area of expertise? All of these will place different restrictions on
the content of your speech. Make sure you know exactly how this will
restrict your presentation, so that you can take this into the account in
the writing stage.
ii. The Approximate Time Length. In many situations, you will have a flexible
time limit, but it is always good to know what a reasonable upper and
lower bound would be for your speech. Again, when you’re in the
writing stage, it will help to know this in advance.
iii. The Approximate Frequency of Interruptions. In many situations, when
you deliver a speech, interruptions will not be permitted. But when they
are permitted—such as in some academic presentations—it is a good
idea to try to find out how frequent they typically are (and
approximately how much time they will consume), so you can adjust
the target length of your speech accordingly.
Of course, depending on your particular situation, there may be additional
restrictions to take into account. Just make sure that you discuss the restrictions
with whoever has scheduled your speech. Make sure that you know this before
you proceed to the next steps.
Narrowing
Down
Your
Topic
Once you have a complete set of restrictions to guide your speech, it is time to
begin narrowing down your topic. Below, we’ll consider some of the possible
topics you could select for several different types of common speeches:
i. The Best Man’s Speech. Now, this may seem obvious to you. You’re the
best man, and it is your job to talk about the groom and to give some
advice. Contrary to what you might believe, however, there are many
different varieties of the best man’s speech that you might consider.
For instance, if you’re already married, you may focus on bestowing advice on
the groom that comes from your own marriage. You might theme it around
something like “10 Things to Look Out for in Marriage.” You can then detail each
of the things you have found to be important, and you can relate it to the
personalities of the groom and the bride.
Another possible take on this speech is to use the history of the groom as the
topic. This will work especially well if you knew the groom longer than he knew
the bride. You can talk about who the groom was before he met her, how he
changed as a result of meeting her, and where they are today.
Yet another option is to focus on the theme of marriage itself. Talk about what it
means to you, what it means to those you know, what it means to people the
groom knows, and what it should mean to the bride and groom. Make sure that
you make flattering comments about the bride and also bestow a couple of gems
of wisdom.
ii. Academic Speech. Depending on the class in which you are delivering the...