Making a public speech can be terrfiying, in particular if it’s something you have never done before. Keynote speeches can be made anywhere. As a common example, if you are best man at a wedding. If this is something required of you, then stop for a second. Enjoy a few tips on delivering a great speech.

Be an expert in the topic at hand

Do you want to listen to someone that hasn’t a clue what they are saying? Being serious, it’s important to feel comfortable about what you are talking about. Let’s face it, if you are the best man at a wedding, you should probably know about the groom already. However getting to know the bride although difficult, is worth it for delivering a good speech. If you are a business speaker at a business event, know your subject matter. If you are giving a promotional speech on a product, know the product inside out before hand. Try and test the product or service. The internet is a good basis for research. You should find a website detailing the product or service. For generic products or services, why not try Youtube or Wikipedia? If the product is well known, try Wikipedia or even Youtube for further information.

Learn about your audience before hand

Interacting with your audience is super important. If you stood and just talked for an hour, you’ll bore your audience. It will do nothing for your reputation, and they won’t be listening to what you have to say. Avoid being a bad speaker. Do some research on the audience before you come to making the speech. What companies do they work for? Do they have any general interests? Can you teach them something useful? Be an entertainer, use humour. Visual aids are a good idea. Even the dreaded Powerpoint presentations. Whether you choose to allow your audience to participate is a difficult one. It does depend on the type of audience. Try and pick the more confident audience member. Try not to pick out members of the audience that are clearly nervous and don’t want to be picked on. We’ve all been there!

Benefit your boss

Whether it be for free drinks, or presenting an important speech, work for the employer. Don’t use aggressive tactics to try and sell. When promoting a product, give it your best shot. Should you fail, don’t expect to be asked to give a speech again.

Practising equals best preparation

The worse keynote speech will come through lack of preparation. The most skilled keynote speakers will practise over and over again. What about preparing cue cards? Memorise the speech as best you can. Then if you do get stuck you have your cue cards to fall back on. So whether you are speaking at wedding, or making a motivational speech to your sales team- best of luck!

Speakers Associates can help find the best keynote speaker for your conference, as well as expertising in business speaker