Speeches need facts. They are the seasoning. Without them a speech is tasteless and unmemorable. Persuasive speeches need more than most. Without facts, and facts that are backed up, a speech is nothing more than uninformed opinion. Finding facts to use has never been easier. Check, cross check and double check those sources. Get the facts right and your speech will be informative and memorable. Get them right and they will back you up. They will even make you sound like you know what you are talking about.

Always, always cite your sources.

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It still amazes me to find so many people dread speaking in public. The fear, such as it is, is rarely to do with the speech. Remove yourself from the focus and stop worrying about how bad you’ll look. This is not about you. If it was about you, there’d be posters advertising your amazing personal appearance. Then you might have a point. You might even have to learn a song or two. It’s about the message. Always the message and only about the message.

Worry about that instead.

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Eulogies inspire? I don’t think so.Ok, I admit it. It’s difficult to see how a eulogy could inspire. But if you think about it, that person’s life, years and years of it amounted to something. The reason you are here is because that person meant something to you. They brought something into your life. They gave you something precious, from genes to love, example and beyond. It is a gift you will always have. Your challenge is to turn it into something even better. It’s the reason you are here. How inspiring a thought is that?

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ALL SPEECHES SHOULD ASPIRE TO INSPIRE

I think that every speech whether it is a eulogy, a wedding speech, a persuasive speech in fact pretty much any speech, should have one thing in common. That thing is inspiration. You must inspire the audience. You may look back at the past, and here you make reference to the ‘best of’.

You may look to the future. Here you can really inspire, because the future hasn’t (in most people’s opinions anyway) happened yet. In theory anything is possible. So, it is up to you to paint the most inspiring scenario of what is possible.

And what audience would fail to respond to that?

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