Over the years, I’ve listened to hundreds of presentations and speeches in different countries - and in different contexts - from simple and personal to more complex and corporate. In the end, I always come back to this basic question: “How can I move, inspire and engage my audience?” In other words, how can you make sure you are memorable to your audience? 

Below are some main points that I believe are essential to creating a memorable speech and at the end you'll find my FREE Fresh Eyre ten point plan. And remember, you can find out a lot more in my book, Speak Easy.

 
Doing your homework

 "The best way to sound like you know what you're talking about is to know what you're talking about.” -Author Unknown

The key to writing a memorable speech is preparation. If you give yourself enough time to prepare properly without pressure, you’ll be able to sort out any problems and make sure you’re saying what you really want to say. What’s the job in hand? What do you want/need to say to your team, your staff, your business, your local community, your shareholders suppliers, clients, stakeholders, constituents? If it’s more personal – what do you want/need to say at a family gathering,funeral, wedding – or celebration you’re leading for friends?  Alternatively what have you been asked to talk about?

 
What’s the Context?

 The more you can find out about the event you’re speaking at the better.

• Why is it being held, what do you or the organisers want from it?
• Is it an opening or closing speech?  If so what else is  likely to happen i.e. cutting a ribbon, placing a plaque, or taking the cork off a bottle of champagne?  
• How big will it be?  
• Who will be in the audience?

Content

Once you have the context for the speech, know and understand what’s required, you can start thinking about your content.  

• Being original is all-important
• If the speech is about your life story you’ll obviously know the content, however you may need help to make it interesting.

Endings — curtains fall

While the beginning and the middle of a speech are very important the ending is an opportunity to reinforce your main points. How do you want to be remembered? Take as much care with the end of your speech as with the beginning. Know your ending well. You have an opportunity to add value to people’s lives. Don’t waste that moment. Be memorable. Be sincere and be yourself.

One of the most powerful ways to end a speech or a presentation is to finish with a great quote, even if it’s by your grandmother, or an excerpt from a book that is relevant to the key message. Leave people feeling pleased they invested the time to listen to your presentation.

 “Personality is the glitter that sends your little gleam across the footlights and the orchestra pit into that big black space where the audience is.” -Mae West, Actor

And finally, here is my Fresh Eyre ten point plan:

1. Do your homework
2. Focus on what you want to say (The 1 main thing)
3. Support it with two or three supporting messages
4. Cut the jargon - write it to speak it
5. Bring it to life with stories, anecdotes and examples
6. Provide context and back yourself with great statistics
7. Develop a coherent structure and stick to it
8. Hook your audience with a powerful introduction
9. Tie it all up with a strong ending
10. Review, read it aloud (constantly) and edit, edit, edit.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember when you are trying to be memorable is to be yourself. If you allow your true personality to shine, your speech will be memorable and your audience will talk about you for years. As they say in the theatre, you’re only as good as you’re last gig.

 If you'd like to learn more about how to be memorable when presenting why not join us at our public workshop. Click here for more details.

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