Summary: There are three main keys to a good public speech. Preparation, preparation and preparation - and there's no shortcut. TRANSCRIPT: The key to any successful speech is preparation. I can't emphasise that enough, you must prepare, no matter how well you know your subject, no matter how good you think you are on your feet. When the blowtorch goes on, and you're up there in front of a group of people, if you haven't done the preparation, if you haven't done the practice, if you haven't rehearsed and rehearsed, they're going to be chinks in the armour, you're going to not do the job that you want to do, you might think it's a good performance. But believe me in this day and age, people expect more. So preparation is the key. The key to any successful speech, you must organise your speech, have an opening main points and a summary. And your opening has to be a grabber, you have to grab your audience in the first few seconds, they've got to see why you're there, they've got to have a reason to get on board with what you have to say. So start with a question with a bold statement with something that will make them say, Hey, where are we going with this, then link your bold statement or question with your main points, and have pre prepared points off course, Firstly, you probably prepare 10 or 15 points, and then narrow them back to about three to five key points. Then after you've delivered those points, with a story, to emphasise and reiterate what you're talking about, you have a summary. And then a call to action. Practice and rehearse, practice and rehearse. You can't do it enough. Whether you do it in front of a mirror, or probably one of the best things is a smartphone, you can video, your talk. And that's it's amazing where you'll pick up some weird mannerisms that you might have, or things that you realise that you probably shouldn't do. So practice and rehearse and put it on video. And if you've got a willing audience, that will be critical, that will make wise and obvious and reasonable statements perform in front of them. Then another thing you must do is know where you're going to perform. You don't want to just walk in there at the last minute and realise that, Oh, dear, oh dear, I've got these notes and there's no, there's no lectern, or there's not enough light, or there's no microphone. You need to find these things out first, a by speaking to the organisers and saying, if you've got this, that and the other, or turning up quite early enough, so you can look around the room and get the feel for it. So know your setup. And your appearance is very important. It is not good enough to go casually dressed as the keynote speaker, and find out that it's a formal black tie event. Visual aids are wonderful. But you've got to know how to use them. props, PowerPoint, things of that nature are all well and good. But remember, it's what you're saying that is the most important thing. Don't be a slave to visual aids. So you get to the point where you're spending time trying to set up a delivery of a of a sight gag or something like that. And you're not saying anything, because you're concentrating on setting up this wonderful, whatever it is. So sure, if you're going to have visual aids, make sure that you rehearse and practice with those so by the time you get to perform onstage, you've got that off Pat, there are a whole range of things, the preparation is the most important. And the preparation leads you to confidence, the better prepared you are, the more practice you do. By the time you get to do it in front of a group of people live, you'll feel very confident about it. And that goes a long way to allaying any fears to but the bottom line is, if you're up there, speaking in public, you'll get a real adrenaline rush. It's a great joy to be able to communicate with people. Remember, it's about having fun, and passing on the knowledge that you have.
