While there are many elements to giving a good speech, and several other posts on this site about those elements, today we focus on just one.
How do you write out (and visually format) a speech to make it effortless to read and sound natural?
While I tend to recommend options other than reading verbatim, there are times when this is necessary. So this post is about how to format a speech to read it with ease and clarity.
Write it out in a way that helps you transmit the meaning effortlessly.
Here’s an example. Without peeking at what follows, read aloud this intro to the Constitution of the United States:
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
If you aren’t familiar with it, it might have been a little awkward with some unclear phrases here and there. Now read it aloud again using the following structure.
- Emphasize the words in bold
- Breathe or pause very slightly at the ends of lines,
- Try not to pause within a single line
“When in the course of human events,
it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,
and to assume among the Powers of the earth the separate and equal station
to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them,
a decent respect to the opinions of mankind Requires that they should Declare
the causes which impel them to the separation.”
Was that any clearer? Using a combination of formatting and bolding and capitalization can be a game changer.
- Bold the words that carry the most meaning
- Capitalize the words that are Secondarily vital
- Break up typed lines
- so your eyes can take in just as much as they need,
- and so you know where to pause.
There are a lot of other strategies to employ here, but using just this one can make a huge difference in your speeches.
If you’d like some more personalized coaching on giving speeches, reach out for a session!
