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.

Check out our sample speeches

The Irish have a saying that a good beginning is half the work. That certainly applies to conferences.  Whether it’s a business conference or a church conference the way you begin sets the tone for the whole event.
So you need a good welcoming speech. That speech should make your audience or congregation feel as though they are special. It should encourage them to feel that they are participants rather than mere listeners. It should make them feel that this conference is for and about them, their business or their beliefs.
Your speech should be warm in tone. It should lay out the procedures for the conference. It should make people feel involved.  When they listen to you they should feel that they will benefit from the event in some particular way.
It’s hard to convey all this in a short speech, but it can be done. Think of what you would like to hear said to you in that hall or that church. You’d want to feel wanted and needed wouldn’t you? You’d want to feel appreciated for your effort in coming.  In the business conference you’d need to feel that you were getting value for your money. In the church conference you’d want to feel that somehow this conference would make you a better person or would enrich your faith..
Starting a conference is one thing. Ending one is another. Your ending of a business conference speech should sum up the event clearly and concisely. It should make people go home feeling satisfied that they have achieved something, learnt something new or done something worthwhile. Above all, it should make them want to come back to the next conference.

Check out our sample speeches