THE SECRET OF WRITING A GOOD SPEECH

In the context of Public Relation (PR), a speech is simply defined according to Oxford English Dictionary as a formal talk delivered to an audience. Speech is a vital or should I say the most important tool in communication. It helps you to communicate your interest, opinion or ideas to the audience in a more interesting and prospective manner. In Media Collaterals, speech is one of the important focus for a PR practitioner.

As a PR practitioner you are expected to know how to write speeches for different categories of clients, from CEO’s to managers, supervisors etc. Furthermore, a PR person should be able to write a remarkable speech to the satisfaction of his/her clients. It’s very important to educate your client(s) on how to comport and conduct himself/herself in other to deliver the speech in a positive manner that will affect the audience. This is because a good speech not well delivered is as good as a bad written speech.

Since I started my internship I wrote a lot of Media collaterals, but I enjoyed speech writing among them all even though I was not opportune to do much of it at school. I found it to be the easiest among the list of collaterals I have done since I have started my internship. The secret of writing a good speech is to knowing and understanding your audience and the objectives of your speech. Knowing your target audience will help you select the rightful language that is suitable to attract the attention of your audience to the speech. The structure of the speech has to be simple, clear and smart to aid the person who will be giving the speech to engage the audience. Avoid use points without explanation and repetition of words because your audience will get bored hearing points they cannot understand or explain, and repetition of words will definitely make them uncomfortable though repetition of words are needed in some situation to emphasize your point. Another important factor is the length of the speech; you have to be very careful with the length because it can cause the speech to lose its meaning, and frustrate the concentration of your audience. Keep in mind that the formality of your speech demands an introductory part, the body and conclusion.

The introductory and concluding parts of your speech are the most important; hence it should be able to grab the attention of your audience. In addition, make your introduction breath taking, and furnish your conclusion with solutions, suggestions and/or encouragements to/for the issue. Always put yourself in the position of the audience and ask yourself if the speech is communicative, the last but not the least, don’t forget to thank your audience for their time and listening.

Cheers!

Shiroi Bats

LUCT