The Three P’s of a

Successful Speech
Introduction
The positive outcome of a speech does not depend solely on the oratory skills of the speaker.
It is influenced by many factors such as the topic of presentation, the attitude of the audience,
the quality of the material, the length of the speech and so on. Some of the factors are out of
the speaker’s control. However, the remaining 98% of the success will depend on how well the
presenter follows the Three P’s:

- Preparation
- Practice
- Performance

At each of these stages public speakers should watch out for pitfalls that can trip them up.

Preparation
“Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident.” - Dale Carnegie

Here is why the most experienced public speakers never go to talk in front of an audience
unprepared - they know that speech preparation is their credibility.

It is true that success or failure of a speech becomes evident on the day of the
speaking engagement. However, the outcome of the speech is largely
predetermined by the weeks of preparation undertaken.

If you have not done your homework well, it will show on the day of the speech.

Just like hours of material research, preparation and planning will help you to reduce
nervousness and appear more confident and more knowledgeable to your listeners. As you walk
onto the podium feeling the eyes of your audience on you, you will be grateful for every bit of
effort you have invested into your speech preparation.

A Vital Step before the Speech Preparation

In order to make your speech both interesting and memorable for the listeners, it is important
to consider three key elements:

- The audience – WHO is the speech written for?

- The purpose – WHAT is the main objective of the speech?
- The direction of the speech – HOW will the speech be
presented?

WHO: You can spend weeks researching your subject and preparing elaborate visual aids, but
if you do not understand the people who will be listening to you, you will not be able to reach
them. Knowing your audience – their number, age, gender, professional background and
interests will give you a few valuable ideas on what to talk about and how to find the right angle
for the speech that is both original and easy for your listeners to understand. Find out
beforehand if the head of the company will be present? If all participants are experts in the topic?
If there are people from different technological and cultural backgrounds?

WHAT: The purpose of the presentation does not end with simply delivering the information.
Why are you speaking? What do you want the audience members to know, think, believe, or
do as a result of your presentation? Is your goal to inspire? To entertain? To Persuade? To
educate? To sell? Or to challenge old beliefs and dogmas? Identifying the main objective of the
speech helps to choose the best presentation style. For example, a speech that has as its main
goal to “sell” an idea to potential investors will sound differently from a speech that is designed
to educate a group of employees on a new marketing strategy.

HOW: Professional speakers plan on HOW they are going to present the material before even
thinking about WHAT it is that they want to say. Preparing a speech is similar to directing a
movie. As a public speaker you become a director of your presentation, not just a mere actor
repeating the words. There are some organizational details of the speech that need to be
decided upon and brought together.

Finding time to Prepare Your Speech

When you are developing a new presentation set about an hour of time for each minute that you
spend speaking on the stage. In other words, if your presentation lasts 20 minutes you should
block off at least 20 hours for material research, presentation development, outlining of the
speech and for its rehearsal. 20 hours may seem like a lot of time at first, but at the end it is the
hours of preparation and continuous effort that makes the speech look effortless and
spontaneous to the audience.

1 hour of preparation = 1 minute of presentation

SMART Speech Preparation
After you have learned as much as you can about your audience, their needs and speech
settings, the next step is to create an amazing presentation. Easier said than done?

What ideas do you want to share with your audience? How do you make your presentation
memorable? What do you start with?

All these questions in combination with a blank sheet of paper or an empty Word file can
intimidate and overwhelm even the most creative and knowledgeable people.

A SMART Speech Preparation formula allows any speaker to overcome writer’s block and put
together a great presentation.

1. Select your material.

The information presented by a speaker can be compared to the tip of an iceberg. Only 20%
of an iceberg is seen above water. The rest is hidden below the surface. Similarly your
knowledge and experience of the subject should be much greater and much deeper than what
you decide to cover during your presentation.

It is crucial that your listeners are not left with the impression that they know more on the
subject than you do, otherwise you will quickly lose your credibility while your presentation will
lose its appeal.

To make sure that this does not happen, gather as much information as possible about
the topic of your speech:

 Start with what you already know. Write down all the information that might
be interesting or relevant to your listeners.
 Choose 1-3 major points that you must get across to your listeners and
organize your presentation around them.
 Remember, that the best speeches should leave the listeners with insights and
“aha!” moments that they did not have before they went to hear you speak.
Therefore, try to think ‘out of the box’ and find a unique angle from which to
tackle a particular event, topic or story. This is not always easy to do, but finding
an effective story angle allows you to put a spin on your speech, making it useful
and captivating at the same time.
 Conduct solid research to supplement your presentation with stories,
examples, interesting facts, statistical data and visual aids which should give
you fresh ideas on how to make your speech even better. If you are intending
to use statistics and financial data, make sure that they are meaningful, easy
to understand and, above all, reliable and up-to date.
 2. Map out an outline.

Planning a presentation or speech can be challenging, particularly if you are starting with a
relatively blank sheet. Where to start? What ideas to focus on? How to make it work?

Creating an outline of the presentation could be a great starting point. An overview or an

outline of the presentation allows you to organize ideas, highlight the major points, and bring
together the elements of the speech in a logical sequence.

The basic speech outline template contains 5 main elements:

- Attention grabber
- Introduction
- Body
- Conclusion
- Call-to-action

Let’s look at each of these elements separately.

Attention grabber is an unusual statement, a question, a gesture, a story, a prop, or a long

pause that is intended to start the presentation on a strong note, to “grab” the audience’s
attention and to help the speaker build confidence in the very beginning of the speech.

A challenging question “Do you think it is possible to take your company to the next level by
firing yourself and going on a year long vacation?” or a powerful quote “The successful man is
the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do.” (Roy L.
Smith) are some of great examples to open your presentation. A phrase, “I’m delighted to be
here today” is not.

Introduction is the opening part of your presentation where you state your core message, list
key points that you would like to talk about in your speech, or name a problem that needs to be
solved. Ideally, a well-written introduction should prepare the audience for the main part of the
speech, build anticipation and answer the question “What is in it for your listeners and why
should they care?” If you cannot answer these two questions, you probably have not studied
your audience well enough.

Body of the speech makes up around 70% to 80% of your speech. It contains the detailed
explanation of the key points stated in the introduction, supports the main theory and links
various concepts together.

Conclusion summarizes the core message of the presentation, recaps the main points and
states the main idea that has been mentioned throughout the presentation.

Conclusion should take only 5%, maximum 10% of your speech and, just as with the
introduction, should end on a strong note.

Call to action is the closing punch line of the speech that leaves the audience with something
to think about or empowers them to take specific action steps.

This 5-part outline works for a wide range of speech topics and is adaptable to most types of
presentation from business briefings to conferences, from fundraisers to social events.

3. Add humor and personality

After you have mapped a clear outline of the presentation the next logical step of the SMART
speech preparation is to create a written draft of your speech.

You do not have to write the whole speech, but you should definitely include the paragraphs
that you do not want to forget or rephrase.

Just make sure that it does not sound like an essay or a detailed description of a scientific
experiment. Whether you are explaining the confluence of multiple market dynamics on the
company’s profits or sharing the latest strategic decisions with your team, let your personality,
your opinions and even your sense of humor shine through your speech.

The advice that the famous author, speaker and founder of Authentic Jobs Inc. - Cameron
Moll gives everyone who wants to master the art of public speaking - is to entertain and
provide the meaty content to the listeners.

He states:

“Your primary responsibility is to entertain a room full of people. This doesn’t

necessarily equate to jokes and magic tricks, but it does not mean that the content
of your presentation, and the delivery of the content, should be compelling and
engaging. Keeping the audience’s eyes on you rather than their laptops benefits
both you and the audience.
Keep that in mind when writing your presentation. Write as if you had to speak to just one
person in the audience, not a faceless mass of people. Avoid hype, big words and corporate
talk for something genuine and meaningful. Your listeners should feel that you are talking to
them, not at them.

4. Revise your speech

After you have finished the draft of your speech, think of how it can be improved even further.

● Consider making your sentences shorter, especially the ones loaded with emotional
content, e.g. “Failure is not an option”, “No excuses”, “If not us – who? If not now -
when?”, “Period.” Doing this will not only make your message more powerful and easier
to understand, but also creates more pause-and-breathe opportunities.
● For longer sentences consider putting the main verb early. For example, instead of saying
“When we have all the facts and the rest of the marketing research data we will make a
decision” say, “We will make a decision after we have all the facts and the rest of the
marketing research data”
● Use memorable adjectives and adverbs to make your speech more powerful. There is
a difference between stating “Our organization faces many challenges” and saying “Our
organization faces many exciting challenges”. The first sentence is impersonal, the
second reflects your attitude and invites your listeners to look at the situation from a
different perspective.
● Add strategically placed pauses for impact.
● Repeat the key idea over and over again throughout your presentation. It helps your
listeners to remember it and allows you to tie your main concepts together
● Include questions, phrases and stories that allow you to interact with your audience and
establish an emotional connection with them. A great way to promote interaction with your
audience is to ask them a question that they can relate to. One of the most common
questions formula used by most successful public speakers is asking “Who has ever
been/felt/did …, raise your hand!” while raising their hand as well.

5. Tie loose ends together.

Make sure that the ends of your speech are tied together, that you start and end with a strong
statement, that your introduction is consistent with your conclusion, and that your visual aids
are coherent and support your main ideas.

To Summarize:

You can use the table below to double-check that you have done everything and to make sure
that your presentation flows smoothly and all of its elements are tied together in a logical and
meaningful way.
Practice
“If I don’t practice the way I should, I won’t play the way that I know I can.” - Ivan Lendl

Public speaking, just as any other skill, requires constant practice in order to be improved. The
more you talk in public, the more you train your mind and body to recognize speaking as a
familiar and safe situation, the more confident you will feel in the spotlight.

As paradoxically as it may sound, practicing your speech ten, twenty and even thirty times
before the actual speaking engagement is what will make your presentation look a lot more
spontaneous, natural and effortless. Of course, practice alone will not necessarily make your
performance stress-free, but practicing your speech at least a couple of times before the
presentation holds 3 Significant Benefits:

 It allows you to discover awkward phrases and tongue-twisters that are hard
to notice when you first write your speech.
 It reduces nervousness and helps to transform anxiety into excitement
on the day of the presentation.
 It helps you to gauge your timing.

Practice alone
Before practicing your speech it might be a good idea to prepare “cue” cards or your cheat
sheets that you will use during the presentation. The cue cards may contain the high-level
speech elements mentioned in your outline, as well as transition phrases, key words, statistic
data or punch lines that you want to share with your audience.

After you have your cue cards – you can start practicing your speech. Find a place where you
will not be distracted by anything or anyone, close the door, turn your cell phone off and
concentrate solely on your speech. As you practice, pay particular attention to the transition
between sections and slides so that your presentation flows smoothly. An audience struggles
to follow a speech, when a speaker loses their train of thought or jumps from one idea to another.

Many public speaking books advise new speakers practice in front of a mirror. Research
 suggests that this may not be as helpful as people often become distracted by how they look
and lose their ability to stay focused on the content of the speech and the listeners.

The only case when practicing your speech in front of the mirror could be beneficial is when you want to
‘polish’ your body language and gestures for the presentation.

Practice in front of other people

Speaking in front of a small and supportive group of friends and family members can be the next step to
overcoming stage fright and to train your mind to associate speaking in public with a positive experience,
rather than a frightening one.

Listen objectively to the feedback. Do not take any suggestions or observations as personal criticism. Instead
seek ways to enhance your presentation and improve your performance.

Do the final dress rehearsal

The environment you are to speak in can have a huge part to play in shaping the final presentation of your
speech. If it is possible try practicing at least once in the actual auditorium where the presentation will take
place. Walk on the stage, consider where you will be in relation to the audience, test the required audio-visual
components, note if your presentation is visible from all parts of the room. Then go all the way through your
presentation without stopping.

Being familiar with your environment and having all the technological aids ready and tested will mean one
less problem to worry about on the day of your public speaking event.

Performance
“If something can go wrong it will.” - Murphy’s law

When getting ready for your speech, become a long-term optimist and a short-term pessimist. Believe in your
heart that your presentation will go wonderfully and that the audience will love it, but prepare yourself for little
slips, unexpected technical troubles, and other problems that may arise on the day of your performance.

Here are some tips that will allow you to improve your performance even more:

● Relax before you get up to talk. Remember to stop and take a few deep breaths to slow down your heart rate
and reduce muscle tension. Feel your feet on the floor. Gently roll your shoulders back. This opens your chest,
drops your shoulders, opens your throat, releasing tension and making you look more confident.
● Greet your audience with a smile. Even if the topic of your business presentation is a serious one, you can
 still greet your listeners with a genuine, welcoming smile to win their favor and regain your confidence.
● Do not rush through your presentation. Give your listeners time to absorb your concepts and key ideas.
● Make yourself be heard. Speak to the person sitting farthest away from you so that your speech can be easily
heard by everyone in the room.
● Face your audience at all times. In presentations where visuals are used avoid turning your back to the
listeners and looking at the slides too much. The audience is the focal point of your speech. Visuals are merely
a tool to convey a message. Besides, speaking towards the screen or the wall makes it hard for your listeners
to hear you.
● Talk to people, not at them. Find a few people that you know in the audience and imagine yourself talk directly
to them. Shift your gaze through your audience and as you feel more confident, establish eye contact with other
listeners as well.
● Claim attention. The attention span of an average person lasts about 5-10 minutes. It is the task of the
speaker to keep the listeners focused on the presentation by bringing their attention back through
fluctuation of the voice, storytelling, questions, and body language.
● Do not stick your hands in your pockets, hook your thumbs under your belt, or engage in other creative
diversions as you speak.
● Do not introduce a topic with “Just real quick,” “Briefly,” or similar words. The subconscious message that your
audience receives is “this isn’t really important or relevant, but I’m going to inflict it on you anyway.”
● Answer any questions as succinctly and briefly as possible. Not everyone may be interested in this specific
question.
● Do not diminish or underestimate your audience. Even if you are a world-known expert in your area of
expertise, it is still not a good idea to use phrases like “this is probably new to you” or “you probably don’t know
what this means”, unless you are sharing ground breaking news that nobody has heard of.
● Wrap up your talk on time. People rarely want to listen to someone, who talks longer than was expected.
Therefore, assign to a person that you know the task of giving you time cues, indicating when you have ten
minutes left, five minutes, two minutes and when you should stop talking.
● Be flexible. Organize your business presentation and know it well enough to have the flexibility to skip certain
parts or expand on others depending on the circumstances and non-verbal cues that you receive from your
audience.
● Be your best self. Too often, people giving business presentations believe that to look professionally they
need to act or speak in a certain way, a stiff way. There is a huge difference between being professional and
being downright boring. People came to listen to YOU, so let your personality shine through. Share something
real about yourself, either in words or delivery, which connects you to your listeners.
● Have fun. If a speaker is relaxed and enjoying every moment of their speech, it will make the speech much
more enjoyable for the audience as well.

Becoming a great public speaker, feeling at ease with the audience, controlling your body language
and delivering killer business presentations takes some time. Of course, it would be much easier to
just speak with one person at a time. With some creativity, intelligent planning and consistent practice
absolutely ANYONE can become a brilliant public speaker.