- Timing is important in this setting. Take great care to practise your speech ending. Know that it will take exactly one or two minutes depending on the warning bell times. When the warning bell rings you need to edit your speech to get to your ending. Edit out extraneous details that do not lead to your main message. You may have to leave out some wonderful phrases or interesting details but the audience does not know that these were in your planned speech so they won't miss them!
- You might be extremely nervous but as long as you are not holding loose and shaking notes the audience will most probably not know. I remember one speech where my name was called and I couldn't get my legs to stand up. My stomach was churning and I was sure that everyone could see. Not true. Your body has mechanisms to help you cover up the nerves and once you get going with your speech you will be too busy to concentrate on them. The audiences at Rostrum are respectful and supportive. We all personally know about nerves.
- You must have a message for the audience. Why should they listen to you? The speech is not just about you, it also needs to be framed and delivered to be of interest to your audience.
- Prepare so that you only need to remember the main points of your speech. Find an easy way to remember the main points of your speech. You can associate message one with your toes, message two with your feet, supporting point with your thigh etc. You might like to draw a diagram showing the main points. Look for a way to make it easy to know where you are up to and what is coming next.
- Practise at your club and ask for feedback from the club members. You will always get interesting ideas from your fellow members. Follow the advice that suits your approach to the speech.
Do you have any other tips for our newer competitors?
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