There are so many charities it is difficult to make an original type appeal for funds. Your speech needs to be motivational, showing exactly what will be done with the donations you hope to get. Make it personal too saying that the wheel chair you can buy with the funds will help Mary join the local youth club or your funds will change John’s life by enabling him to travel to Russia for the treatment he needs for his illness. Motivate your audience to make a contribution and help them to emphatise with those in need.

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Alphabet games are great fun and they make you think when trying to write a birthday speech. Think of an animal starting with the letter A for ass and go through the alphabet until you reach zebra. You can do the same for colours. It’s a great way to break the ice at a birthday party.

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Colour seems to be essential to the way we speak and feel. We say we “Feel blue� or we go “green around the gills� when we are ill. When things go well we are “In the pink� and avoid us if we “White with anger�. Naturally too we have “Black� moods and you can tell we are really mad when we go red with rage.

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Have you ever noticed how many sayings we use from the Bible not only in sermons but in every day use? Like the seed “We fall by the wayside�. We are exhorted to “Love our neighbour� and to “Forgive those who injure us seven times seven�. We kill the “Fatted calf� when we are entertaining. We know that in our father’s house there are many mansions. And we all know that “The first shall be last and the last first.�

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My neighbour John has been invited to be best man at a wedding. “What will I say?� he asked worriedly. “The groom is my best friend but I don’t know what to say. His mother and father are ok I know them years, but I’ve never even met the bride’s parents and her uncle is coming home from Australia. Should I mention him? The speech is supposed to be funny but I’d better not mention our escapades over the years. After all my own wife will be there and she certainly wouldn’t appreciate hearing about our holidays in the sun�. John’s worries are typical of many best men. They want to make a good impression but they don’t know what to say. The answer is not to try to be funny because John is not a comedian and doesn’t have the training or the timing. Instead his speech should be light-hearted speaking only of the good times they had together or mentioning incidents like when they lost their luggage or got on the train going to Paris instead of to Cannes. . too. He should do his research and find out something about the bride and her parents so that all the important guests are included. He should, check whether the bride wants her uncle’s long journey mentioned. A good speech is about preparation.

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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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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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Words tumblin’ down like hail. Hot tip. Had to listen to another undecipherable mutton soup of a speech last night. Listen people, words are like waves, slow and steady, let them wash up on that beach of an audience. Slow and pace your speech delivery. Let the words come out one by one with pauses, and breaks. Always always slower than you think. Project what you are saying clearly, making each baby gem count.

DONTJUMBLETHEMALLTOGETHERITSCONFUSING. Too many waves together equals tidal wave. Words are like snowflakes (not really but go with me on this one) softly (but audibly) falling, steadily building up, settling down and sinking in. Too many snowflakes bundled on top on one another equals avalanche.

Those are your words, this is your speech. Make it count. Nobody likes getting drowned.

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Simple stuff.
I’m nearly all through with the speech on Simplicity. I think it is worthy of another and more profound post.
There is nothing it seems that is not better for being simple. It works for design, fashion, technology (think Google and ipod). It works for art. Picasso anyone? It works for poetry, science, religion and even according to some, God.
Simplicity is the key.
So why should speeches be any different?
And why is it sooo hard to make things simple, eh?

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