To write an impressive speech, you have to consider some important aspects, such as the emotions of your target audience, their knowledge of the topic, and the event that you have to prepare the speech for. Since a speech is something that you’re going to deliver out loud, you have to pay attention to your tone as well. The most typical errors in writing a speech get college and university students frustrated when it’s time to deliver a speech, and things don’t run smoothly.
Below, we listed some of the most common mistakes that undergrads tend to make in their speeches. You’re welcome to check them to ensure you will create a speech free from errors and up to the listeners’ expectations.
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Your Opening Part Doesn’t Have a Hook
The opening part of the speech is the key point of it. A lot of college and university students do not create a powerful beginning. The price they pay for this carelessness is the loss of interest on the listeners’ part. Your task here is to pay attention to the way you open up your work in order to make sure that you successfully capture the interests of your audience. After all, rendering apologies for a boring speech won’t save the day.
You Don’t Remain a Human
Before you dive into the speech, make sure to familiarize yourself with the listeners and let them familiarize themselves with you. In other words, it is important to show that you’re a human too and engage your listeners by sharing some personal experience or telling a story that is directly related to the point you’re about to make.
In some cases, students might need to write as if they’re having a friendly conversation with an old friend. This simple strategy gives an opportunity to gain listeners’ trust and prove you’re all the same.
Your Speech is Too Complex
It is important to make your speech easy to understand even for the mere mortal. If you choose to make it complex, you will simply create confusion. Which is why you have to stay away from making your work too complicated. You are not going to deliver the speech to Ph.D. holders. So ensure to keep it simple so that every listener can get the idea of your message.
Speaking for a Long Period of Time
“How should I write my speech to ensure my listeners won’t fall asleep while listening to me trying to convey my message?” is a very popular question. Just like college essays, where you have to include a certain number of words, speeches work best when crafted average and straightforward. In other words, you need to make sure that you won’t speak for more than 4 minutes. No speaker would ever want listeners to zone out!
You Don’t Make Pauses
Oh, this is a huge mistake. You’re not speaking in front of robots, which means you have to do your best to make sure your listeners enjoy your speech. And the best way to help your audience enjoy your presentation is by not being in a hurry. If you rush on a speech, you disrespect your audience and show that there is something more important waiting for you out there.
You Joke Too Much or Not Enough
It’s no doubt that nobody can tell how much humor should be integrated into your speech, especially if you have never dealt with your audience before. But the truth is that you have to employ some pieces of humor to ensure your listeners won’t get bored.
A dry and boring speech with a serious speaker is the worst combination in this case. Always remember that your audience prefers some humor instead of solid seriousness.
Your Speech Lacks Structure
If your speech contains no logical path, your listeners will lose their interest sooner than you can imagine. The structure is the key whether you’re delivering an informal or formal speech. As a rule, listeners expect any speech to have a destination and a path to it. If your speech has a strong and logical structure, your audience will be aware of where you’re going to take them and how. Stay away from the words, phrases, and sentences that might confuse your readers. Your task is to convey your message. And in case you see something in your speech that will definitely confuse your listeners, make sure to get rid of it.
Do you feel like writing a speech is something you can’t handle? It’s time to seek professional assistance for the task. If you’re not familiar with the art of speech writing, it is better to let professionals do the job.
Once you give proper attention to the issues discussed above, you will make your next speech an outstanding presentation that will linger in your listeners’ minds for a very long time.
