Writing and Core Message
1st Steps to Writing a Conference Speech / Major Presentation.
Successful speakers concentrate first on their audience, secondly on the theme of the conference and lastly on their own speech. They weave their knowledge and experiences and touch the hearts and minds of their audience by delivering a relevant message that’s tailored to fit the needs of the audience and conference. So, with this in mind….. 1. Audience Who’s going to be in your audience? What are their expectations? Put yourself in their shoes. If you were sitting in your audience, would you feel you’d spent your time wisely? Would you have been impressed? Would you come away with new insights? Would you have improved your personal equity? Never underestimate your audience - their intelligence, knowledge, experience. Don’t fall into the trap of telling them what they already know. Find new angles. 2. Purpose controls content Before you write your speech, ask yourself the following questions…. What is the theme of the conference? Why have you been invited to speak? Who will be in the audience? What do they expect to hear from you? What message should they take away? Should they be taking any action? How will you benefit from speaking? What’s in it for the audience? What are you planning to say of value? What’s your point? Write out your purpose in no more than 15 words – look on it as your working title – keep your purpose top-of-mind as you write your core message. 3. Core message What’s your core message? If someone is unable to make your speech, could you give them a précis of it in the lift and leave them enlightened? You should be able to tell your core message in 2 minutes. Effectively it’s your speech summary that the conference organisers could publish instead of your full script. Like all good communication, it has a beginning, middle and end. It’s not a list of what you’d tell them if they could hear your full speech but a summary of your total communication message. Aim to type a one page A4
Successful speakers concentrate first on their audience, secondly on the theme of the conference and lastly on their own speech. They weave their knowledge and experiences and touch the hearts and minds of their audience by delivering a relevant message that’s tailored to fit the needs of the audience and conference. So, with this in mind….. 1. Audience Who’s going to be in your audience? What are their expectations? Put yourself in their shoes. If you were sitting in your audience, would you feel you’d spent your time wisely? Would you have been impressed? Would you come away with new insights? Would you have improved your personal equity? Never underestimate your audience - their intelligence, knowledge, experience. Don’t fall into the trap of telling them what they already know. Find new angles. 2. Purpose controls content Before you write your speech, ask yourself the following questions…. What is the theme of the conference? Why have you been invited to speak? Who will be in the audience? What do they expect to hear from you? What message should they take away? Should they be taking any action? How will you benefit from speaking? What’s in it for the audience? What are you planning to say of value? What’s your point? Write out your purpose in no more than 15 words – look on it as your working title – keep your purpose top-of-mind as you write your core message. 3. Core message What’s your core message? If someone is unable to make your speech, could you give them a précis of it in the lift and leave them enlightened? You should be able to tell your core message in 2 minutes. Effectively it’s your speech summary that the conference organisers could publish instead of your full script. Like all good communication, it has a beginning, middle and end. It’s not a list of what you’d tell them if they could hear your full speech but a summary of your total communication message. Aim to type a one page A4