Written by Richard Lindeborg
The introduction to William Safire's speech anthology Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History (Norton 1992), takes the form of a mock oration extolling the virtues of speech reading as a way to learn speech writing, and concluding with the author's 10- steps to a great speech.
Ten Rules for Good Speeches
According to Safire, writing and delivering great speeches is more art than science, but he says following a few general rules increases your chance of achieving greatness in a speech.
One way to produce good speeches is to learn and use the basic secrets of speeechwriting. Read enough good speeches aloud, and these secrets will reveal themselves to you.
The ten steps?
1. Welcome: At the beginning of the speech, "shake hands with the audience," i.e., make contact in a personal way.
2. Shape: The structure of a speech should include three statements of the major points: in the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.
3. Pulse: Establish a beat or rhythm. A sense of movement gives life to a speech.
4. Occasion: The event must be worthy of the speech. In addition, the speech must be given the right audiences.
5. Focus: Build systematically on your topic. Prepare the audience to receive the key message.
6. Purpose: Deliver a speech only for a good reason, never to flatter or intimidate the audience.
7. Quotation: Include appropriate quotations, but put them in the context of a story or example.
8. Phrase: A memorable speech contains a few carefully crafted phrases that are memorable in themselves.
9. Theme: You should be able to state what the speech is about in one simple sentence.
10. Delivery: Eloquence comes from practice, discipline, and drill.
Safire feels every audience needs a sense of completion, so a good speech must have a strong conclusion emphasizing the major message in a way that clearly ends the speech.
This article was orginally published in Speechwriter's Newsletter, November 12, 1993. [Editor's note: For more on the Speechwriter's Newsletter see: www.speechwritercity.com]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard Lindeborg has written speeches in Washington, DC, for nearly 20 years for the heads of the U.S. Forest Service, Internal Revenue Service, and Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Comments? Members who have submitted an article can comment on Richard's article here:
http://www.washingtonspeechwriters.com/blog/_archives/2005/7/24/895104.html
(The link will fail if you don't qualify).
