The_Essential_Manager_s_Handbook

258 / SPEAKING AND WRITING

Preparing your speech

Once you have a clear picture in your mind of why

you are giving the presentation, who your audience

is, and what they want to hear from you, start to

make a detailed plan of your speech. This planning

stage is vital, so make sure that you don’t leave

it to the last minute. You need to be completely

familiar with the structure and content of your

speech by the time you deliver it. There are eight

key steps to preparing a successful presentation.

Steps to

preparing

a speech

COMPOSE A THESIS

STATEMENT

Write a one-sentence

declaration of what you

want the audience to know,

understand, believe, or

do. Make it brief, simple,

comprehensive, and

as complete as possible.

DEVELOP THE

MAIN POINTS

Restrict yourself to just two

or three main points, so that

you will have time to explain

and support them all. Make

sure that all of your evidence

relates to and is supportive

of your principal reason

for speaking.

GATHER SUPPORTING

MATERIALS

Now gather evidence to

support your main points.

Use your knowledge of the

audience to select the kinds

of proof that they will find

most convincing. Make your

evidence compelling, recent,

and fully transparent to

your listeners.

THINK ABOUT

STRUCTURE

Consider the order in

which you will deliver the

information, and think

about what you will say in

your introduction, in the

body of the speech, and

in your conclusion.

US_258-259_Planning_Your_Speech.indd 258 30/05/16 3:04 pm