Three things in the structure of your speech that will guarantee your impact on your audience

To create an impact with your speech or presentation, the audience has to

1.  “get” the message.
2.   Be engaged
3.   Remember

All of these things are intertwined.

First  they have to be able to hear the message and to understand it.

And to do that, then they must listen.

So the very first step in this whole process is to gain their attention and then keep it,

so that they listen,

hear what you say, understand it,

remember it,

and then they can be influenced by it  …  which is, after all, the essence of impact.

There are several strategies to keep attention, build clarity of message and create memorability and the one we’re looking at here is designing the structure of your speech.

That structure has to work flawlessly to combine and strengthen those three essentials.

The first thing to do is get that attention – arouse it, focus it and keep it.  Don’t waste your breath on the expected or the blah.  If you must begin with something like “Good evening”, then make it different, or unusual.  Here in Australia, we might say “G’day!”  That would be unexpected. Otherwise use your voice and body language to make the greeting unusual, challenging, noticeable.  Use pause here.  Then use an opening that grabs the attention.  You can use a question, a joke, a comment about the people or surroundings or event.  You can make a statement, use a quotation, or simply use body language or gesture.  But choose that opening to grab attention, to align with the audience and their needs, hopes and aspirations, and to lead into your message.

“Tell them what you’re going to say. Say it. Then tell them what you said”

And that is so true!!

We must take into account that we have such short attention spans. And so do audiences.

If we want to make a point that will stay with an audience after they leave the room, we have to repeat and reinforce it throughout the presentation.

Your introduction to the speech should lead into the first point and give a short background for the points to follow (Tell them what you are going to say)…

The body of the speech (Say it) should present points that are pertinent and support the theme or premise support the points with examples, illustrations, etc.

Use different strategies to appeal to different interests and learning styles present original ideas or a new approach to familiar materials…

The conclusion should summarise the points and restate them briefly,

emphasise the theme or premise again to make the purpose of the speech clear

provide a strong finish for the speech.

Your closing is your last chance to create impact, to influence, to call to action.  Make it very clear.

It is also true that people will remember the last thing they hear and the lt impression you make.  This is one of the memories they will take.

So right through the speech, there has to be a reiteration in as many ways as you can find, and clarification in as many ways as you can think of, of the message you wanted the audience to take with them…to make that message clearly heard and understood, and remembered.

(This assumes, of course, that you articulated the impact you wanted and the message you intended to convey at the beginning.  That step is vital – visit my article “Defining the wow”)  

The structure of your presentation introduced your well defined theme, presented that theme, and repeated it to conclude.

And you will have given your audience a great chance of remembering it.