Improve your speech delivery so people will listen to you. As I have said, even good enough speakers can become paid motivational speakers.
But you don’t have to stay in being good enough when you have opportunities to be excellent in what you do.
Speaking, like acting, is performance. When you practice excellent delivery, you will win.
How to make a speech easy to understand?
I will offer a course on writing persuasive speeches. But I want you to get started.
The typical speech organization is the introduction, body, and conclusion. Simple. You must have studied that before.
Another way of doing it is to tell them what you want to say to them, tell it to them, then tell them what you told them. If you follow this layout, you will likely deliver the most common speech: a boring lecture.
I won’t give you the typical organization patterns like AIDA, PPF, SMG, and C&E.
Motivational speeches answer four crucial questions.
What is that which you are selling us? Be clear about what it is that you are offering your audience. If it is unfamiliar to them, you have to make it known. One way to do that is to contrast what you offer with what people currently have.
What’s in it for us? Your speech needs to show the advantages and benefits of buying what you offer them. People want to ease their pain, and they seek pleasure. Amateur speakers tend to tell testimonies which has nothing to do with the audience.
Why do we have to believe you? Some speakers are trusted even before they open their mouths. Bo Sanchez, Mike Velarde, and Appolo Quiboloy deliver speeches to the converted.
We need to establish our credibility for most of us who are less known. Excellent personal stories that showcase our credibility helps. A well-written introduction read by someone trusted by your audience will also help.
How much? This is not just a question of money, though it is often a given. People want to know how much effort and time they need to invest in getting what you offer them. If you promise to lose weight in one year by exercising daily, they won’t be excited.
Be a motivational speaker to your starving crowd.
How can you do more storytelling than teaching?
You are going to teach your audience the solutions to their problems. Teaching is essential. If you are not teaching, you are not helping.
But it does not mean you have to teach like a lecturer.
In delivering motivational speeches, you spend twenty percent teaching and eighty percent telling stories.
Because in motivational speeches, people want more inspiration, not information. Stories inspire; facts inform.
Storytelling is a craft you can master.
Be a motivational speaker who tells unforgettable stories.
Where to find great stories?
Not all stories are equal. Whoever tells the best story wins.
Drop any story which has nothing to do with your solutions. If it has nothing to do with your message, drop a humorous story you regularly use to get the audience’s attention.
Drop a tear-jerker story if it has nothing to do with your message.
How to do rehearsals?
Professional speakers craft their speeches. Though the theme and topics may be the same, you should tailor-fit speeches to your audience, your starving crowd.
You also ought to rehearse your speeches. And when you do, consider possible scenarios. Consider your audience’s response, the technology, and the size of the stage.
People say that practice makes perfect. This is not true. Wrong practice won’t make your speech perfect.
When you rehearse, you are looking for ways to improve the speech, not just to master it. You are not joining a declamation contest; you will have a projected conversation with your audience.
Where to find humor?
I mentioned humor earlier. You will find here ten tips on how to embed humor in your speeches.
Frankly, I don’t spend much time looking for humorous stories. I look for stories that inspire and illustrate. But I do believe in the power of humor to persuade the audience.
It is easier to trust a person who can make you laugh. Human beings love humor.
How to use visual aids?
PowerPoint presentation isn’t the only visual aid available to us.
Your whole body is a visual aid. Use gestures and be mindful of your facial expressions. Rehearse your body movements. Just don’t overdo it.
You may flip charts too. Simon Sinek effectively uses a flip chart in his speech. In his speech, Bill Gates used water from human feces and urine as a visual aid, but he also drank it.
That’s because visual aids’ primary use is to demonstrate what a simple word cannot do.
