Get your message across – clear communications count. Whether you are saying to an audience “Improve your concentration” or telling them how to conduct more effective business meetings your speech has to be clear and concise.
That’s the ultimate challenge for a public speaker. Far too many of them use flowery language, or get sidetracked from what they intended to say. What they have to ask themselves before writing the speech is what they want to say, why the want to say it and how they should go about saying it. The answers to those questions should give them the basis for a good speech.
Obviously you have to illustrate your points. You should be careful how you do it. Give one or two examples of what you mean and then go on to the next point. Don’t have too many of those points though because that will confuse your audience. Make sure your paragraphs flow from one to another. Always end with a catchy sentence that summarises exactly what you want your audience to believe or know. Put simply, make clarity your keynote when speaking in public.

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Bring a buddy when you are rehearsing your speech. That’s one sure way of finding out just how good the speech is and how well you deliver it.
Obviously you will need to bring someone who will be absolutely honest and helpful. There is no good having a critic who isn’t critical. There is no point whatsoever in having someone who wouldn’t like to offend you in any way. Instead you want to bring someone who cares enough about you to tell you where you made mistakes and how good your speech actually is. Your buddy should be someone who really wants you to wow your audience.
Your critic should, of course, be able to help you by pointing out your errors. So if you are talking to a group of engineers and he doesn’t know the first thing about engineering he’s unlikely to prove helpful. However if you are speaking as father of the groom a friend who knows the family well may be of immense help to you in getting it right. So select someone who can really be of help.
He might point out that your speech is far too long or that you keep tripping up over a certain word. Then you could use a simpler alternative. He may suggest that you have forgotten to thank somebody important. He may suggest a different way of wording a sentence. Your buddy must have the time and the inclination to help you rehears over and over until you get it just right.
You’ll know you’ve got it right when he gives you the thumbs up when you are finished your speech.

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Where are you giving your speech? Professional speakers usually give their speeches in venues that are professionally equipped. And soundproofed. For the speaker who is giving a eulogy for the death of a friend or the incoming President of a sporting organisation that may not be the case. So if you are giving a speech in less formal surroundings it is a good idea to check the venue first.
A church will usually have a microphone system but if you are speaking at a funeral home or a graveside this won’t be the case and your eulogy will have to be delivered in a loud, clear voice. Your venue may be beside a motor racing track or a nosy factory? If so, your speech could be drowned out by the sound of the engines racing or machines working and you will have to allow for the fact when speaking. Does the microphone work? It’s too late to discover it doesn’t when you start your talk. Practise using it and ask someone to check that they can hear you from the end of the room.
If you are speaking at your mother’s birthday or your grandson’s Bar M mitzvah the party may be held at home. If so you will probably not have a microphone at all and you should practise throwing your voice so that your wonderful toast can be heard by all present. Another tip would be to arrange beforehand for a little stand of some sort. When people gather around the table where the birthday cake is placed for instance you may not be seen by those in the back of the crowd. That is, of course, unless you are seven feet tall!
Even professional speakers can have problems with venues. If they are opening a business conference in a hotel for instance the room may be beside where the beer crates are unloaded and that’s a very noisy procedure. Alternatively, there may be a wedding in another room with a band belting out tunes. You need to be sure too that you won’t be interrupted while giving your speech so arrange for dishes to be cleared away before you begin. So whatever the occasion or wherever the speech is being given check out the venue first. That way you can be sure of getting your message across.

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Link your speeches to someone or something. That’s one of the secrets for giving a good speech. It’s nearly Valentine’s Day for instance so you mention love. Naturally if you are speaking at a business function you would have to tailor what you say to the occasion. You might, for instance, mention how the floristry industry loves the economic benefits of Valentine’s Day. I f you are speaking to a group of schoolgirls you might speak of the long and romantic history of valentine cards.
That’s a very obvious one of course but there are thousands of holidays and festivals that can be mentioned and of course there are always saints. If you are speaking to a group of accountants for instance you could introduce the fact that St. Matthew is their patron Saint while police officers have St. Michael as theirs. It’s the kind of interesting titbit that makes your speech different and catches the attention of the audience.
If you are speaking just now a mention of earthquakes will be very relevant because of Haiti. You can link your speech to a particular day or event in history or to an event that has some relevance now. Perhaps you may be giving a fundraising speech for AIDS? If so you might like to mention the fact that the first charity walk took place on the 26th December 1959 in aid of the world refugee fund.
So do your research, find the link and tell your audience about it.

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A good speechwriter should be able to write variations on the theme. After all there are many occasions when there are the same fundamental things to be said. It’s how you tweak them to the occasion that really matters.
A birthday speech is one example. A good speech will reflect on the past and toast the future no matter whether it’s a coming of age or a 60th birthday. Within that framework the writer has to provide the variations that will make the speech special and personal. You might mention that the birthday boy or girl loves The Beatles or is a theatre buff who adores Shakespeare. Your speech might refer to a favourite bit of poetry or the love that person had for a particular game. A retirement speech is another example. The speechwriter will talk of work well done and of a future without work. The challenge is to make the rest of the speech relevant to the particular employee. The speech may contain references to his or her particular skills or leadership ability. It may speak about the doughnuts the retiree ate every morning at coffee break. It could contain a reference to some achievement during his or her working life. A good speechwriter will, of course, have done some homework and found out about the retiree’s personal life and mention his or her retirement plan to sail the Atlantic ort write a book. The speeches will have the same format but, just as people are different so too should the contents of those speeches.

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Could you sell your message to yourself? That’s the question a speechwriter should ask himself before he puts pen to paper. If he can’t convince himself he can’t convince an audience. So any speechwriter who is giving a motivational or persuasive speech has to be sure in his own mind of the message he is trying to get across.
Obviously he must think about his message and what it means to him personally. If the subject is that your attitude determines how high you can fly he must be convinced that the right attitude changes things for the better. He must be able to show how the wrong attitude can badly affect one’s whole life. He has to think about his subject and give concrete examples of both good and bad attitudes in the same situation.
If he is trying to motivate people by telling them believe and you will achieve he has to be able to speak from the heart and show how that belief has helped him personally. He has to ask himself how he got that particular belief and how he used it. He has to ask himself how he can share it with others.  Saying a few polite words at a birthday party is one thing. Selling an idea or a belief to an audience is another. So try it out in front of the mirror and see if you can convince yourself before you try to convince anyone else.

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Sometimes when you are giving a speech you are giving it for posterity. If it is your son’s Bar Mitzvah day or you are the father of the bride the words you say should be words that will be remembered through the years. Your son or your daughter should treasure those words and when it is time for their daughter’s wedding or their son’s Bar Mitzvah they should tell their children what their fathers said to them on their special day.
What you say can be funny or tender but it should relate specifically to your child. You may want to give your son advice on how to behave as an adult or to tell your daughter how to make her marriage work. Sometimes your speech may contain a story or tell of an incident in your own life. Maybe you can speak of someone or something that made a big impression on you and say why. You may pass on a verse or saying told to you by your own parents, something that will make them think.
Whatever you say though should influence your son or your daughter in the coming years. They may not always remember the words in their busy day to day lives. Hopefully, though, when they have to make a decision that will affect their lives they will think of what you said and act on your good advice.
So your speech should be about more than pleasantries. It should have a message that touches the heart and that will be remembered perhaps from generation to generation.

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Why are you giving your speech? That’s the first question every public speaker should ask. It may be because it is you are the father of the groom and you want to tell your son how much you love and admire him. It could be because you abominate abortion and want the audience to see it as sinful too. You might just want to share your enjoyment of the Beatles by talking about them.
So the kind of speech you will give will depend greatly on its purpose. You may want to motivate people to donate blood or to walk to work. You could be suggesting ways that they could live life to the full. You could be talking at a church conference, a political gathering or a family party. So ask yourself why you are speaking and what you want to say. Obviously a lot will depend on your audience. If it is the golden wedding anniversary of your parents you r speech can include stories of family life. If you are a politician your speech should convey the beliefs of your party. If it is a church conference your speech might address moral issues. You cannot write an appropriate speech unless you first answer that important question “Why am I giving this speech”.

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Say it from the heart. That’s probably one of the best bits of advice anyone can give a speechwriter. However sophisticated your audience nobody can help being moved by heartfelt emotions expressed by another. That is not to say, of course, that every subject is an emotive one. If you want to speak about domestic violence, and have experience of it, you will have no trouble reaching your audience. If, however, you want to speak about buttons it is much more difficult to speak from the heart. You will have to work harder at preparing your speech. You will need to do research into the subject or speak about how you hope those buttons keep the homeless from freezing to death on a winter’s night. You might even get your audience to empathise with you by saying how much trouble you had researching the whole subject of buttons. No matter what the subject matter is you have to present it as something that really matters to you.
So if you are speaking at a sports meeting you have to be passionate about the need for new club facilities. If it is a business meeting you have to show how important it is to you that the company has better sales. If you are talking at a neighbourhood meeting your audience has to know that the new road being mooted is important to you. You may not, of course, want a new road and if that’s the case you should express your belief that it would ruin the countryside locally. Wherever you are speaking or whatever you are saying believe in your topic. Then, whether or not they share your beliefs, your audience will listen and, hopefully, be touched.

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Make them angry. That’s one sure way of capturing the attention of your audience. If you tell a group of professional women that mothers should stay at home you’ll be sure to raise some hackles but they’ll listen even if it is only to be able to tell you later why you are wrong.
Of course using this approach can be dangerous for a public speaker. You have to be able to give very good reasons for what you are saying. If you say prayer in school should be the rule you want to be able to back up your statement with statistics showing that those who pray are happier, more contented and live longer. Your own personal beliefs will show through, of course, but if you are facing an audience who doesn’t share your beliefs you have to be able to convince them with logic and facts.
So it is wise to understand the opposition viewpoint and to acknowledge that people have reasons for their beliefs too. What you have to do is to try to make them doubt those beliefs. There are some people who will never change their minds or their convictions. If you do your homework well you might be able to change minds and make them forget why they got angry in the first place. Now that’s a challenge for any public speaker.

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