Mr. Hopkins, dear fellow students.
Congratulations! After these final speeches you will have survived 14
lectures of English Public Speaking. I believe we have all learned a lot
during this course and improved our public speaking skills immensely. But
unfortunately, we have not had time to talk about the process of writing a
speech, so that's what I'm going to talk about this morning.
A number of years ago Mary Clifford, the wife of the noted Washington
lawyer Clark Clifford, gave a dinner party at her home. Mrs. Clifford had
planned a particularly elegant menu in honor of a special guest —
Mary Garden. Ms. Garden was an aging opera singer and had been quite a
glamorous diva earlier in the century. The meal was to be a feast of
culinary delights, starting with freshly shucked Cape Breton oysters,
flown in especially for the occasion.
When the oysters were served, Ms. Garden politely declined them. That
wasn't too alarming — many people don't like fresh oysters. But when
the second course was served, she declined that, too. Mrs. Clifford became
alarmed when the main course was served and her guest would have none of
that either. As it turned out, all Ms. Garden wanted for dinner was what
she always had: a bowl of chocolate ice cream and a cup of black coffee!
There was scrambling in the kitchen, and they had to send someone on a
quick trip to the store because they were out of ice cream. Mrs. Clifford
managed to accommodate her guest and save the occasion — but just
barely.
This story holds an important lesson for those who are going to write and
deliver speeches.
Jane Tully, a speechwriter and the president of Tully Communications in
New York City, has a theory that giving a speech is a lot like giving a
party. You, the audience, are the invited guests. As the speaker, I am the
host. The speech I am delivering to you is like a meal. I want it to be
nourishing food for thought — full of substance, with interesting
ideas for you to chew on. I want to present it in a way that's appealing,
so you'll be eager to take in my ideas. And like a good meal, I want my
speech to be appropriate for this particular occasion.
So, here's a basic recipe for a successful presentation. Follow this easy
three-step recipe and you can't go wrong:
- Know who's coming to the party,
- Use only the best ingredients, and
- Focus on the main course.
First, know who's coming.
If Mrs. Clifford had done some advance research on her guest list, she
might have learned about the peculiar diet of her special guest and been
prepared to graciously accommodate her. Likewise, speakers need to be
alert to their audience's special needs and interests. Knowing who's going
to be in the audience will help you shape the message so that your
listeners won't simply reject your ideas one by one as you serve them up.
To the extent that it's possible, it's useful to know the size, age
range and gender mix of the audience. These affect the kinds of stories,
humor, and other support material you should choose.
Second, use only the best ingredients. When I give a dinner party, I like
to experiment with recipes that have an exotic twist — like a
special ingredient I can't get down the street — maybe something
I'll only find at Stockmann's or at the marketplace. The new ingredient
gives a special flavor to the whole meal.
Once you have the information you need for a speech, spice it up!
A
speechwriting guide called American Speaker points out that "Good
quotes in a speech, like good seasoning in a stew, are meant to add zest
without detracting from the essential nature of the dish and its basic
ingredients." That's true not only of quotes, but of anecdotes and humor
as well. Make sure your illustrations relate to your message, and make the
connection clear for the audience.
Most stories can be used to make any number of points. When you find a
good story, feel free to use it whenever and wherever it will do the job.
Let me give you an example. There's a story about a little girl who
was studying first aid in her fifth grade class. One day when she went
home there was a car accident right in front of her house. The next day
she ran to school to tell her teacher all about it.
"There was a man with his arm bleeding, but I knew what to do!" she
said.
"Oh, good," her teacher said. "Did you use first aid?"
"Oh, yes," she said. "I put my head between my legs so I wouldn't faint!"
That story has all kinds of possibilities. It could be a story about
applying academic learning in the real world. It's also a story about
communications, so you could use it to illustrate how we personalize the
information we're given. Your audience will enjoy the story, but more than
that, they'll enjoy the way you use it to reinforce your message.
So . . . know who's coming to the party, and use only the best
ingredients.
Third and last is to focus on the main course. Every great meal has a
great main course. Every successful speech has a main focus, a central
idea that listeners can take home. This is the concept that pulls the
whole speech together.
But how should one focus the message of the speech? The key question in
speechwriting is: "If your audience remembered only one thing, what would
you want it to be?"
I want you to remember that a speech is like a meal.
A good meal also needs a dessert, a good ending. You don't want your
listeners to feel like that grand old lady who died during dinner. She was
the sister of an 18th century French writer named Brillat-Savarin, and she
expired at the table one night just before turning 100. Her last words
were, "Bring on the dessert. I think I'm about to die."
We can only eat so much at one sitting, and we can only hear so much at
one sitting.
So keep it short, but don't forget the dessert!