Six Important Things to Know Before you Write Your Speech

There is definitely a process to writing a speech! Before my clients start working with me, many of them have one idea about the speech creation process and then have a totally different idea after. It’s often like night and day when they see the difference in how their speech comes out. This is because there are some key things you need to know before you start crafting your content. Knowing them will keep you from going off on tangents, engage your audience much better because they’ll feel like this was written just for them (because it was), and make your speech more memorable.

Before you start writing your speech, make sure you…

1. Are crystal clear on who you’re speaking to. Audience due diligence is a must! I’m not just talking about demographics like age, gender, job role, or ethnicity. You have to go deeper. What do they believe? What is their attitude toward your topic or perspective? What is meaningful to them? How much do they already know about your topic? You can’t write a speech that resonates if you don’t know who your listeners are.

2. Identify your core message. There is always one central theme or premise a speech is built on. So are movies and books, if you think about it. Once you know the ONE important message the audience needs to have, it’s easier to decide on the content to include and what needs to be cut.

3. Know why this message is important to YOU. You will feel the difference when you’re writing a speech you care about versus a speech you feel no connection to in any way. Think about when you were back in school learning about a subject you had an interest in. Didn’t it feel more enjoyable compared to when you had to study a subject you weren’t enthusiastic about?

4. Determine how the speech will flow. Decide on the best structure for your speech. There are multiple structures to choose from: problem-solution, chronological, comparison and contrast, and categorical/topical are a few very popular ones. A clear structure helps keep your speech organized and engaging, so the audience can follow easily. You never want your audience to be confused about where you’re taking them.

5. Anticipate Audience Objections or Questions. This step is especially important if you are creating a persuasive speech. Think about potential concerns, counterarguments, or questions your audience might have and address them proactively in your speech. Finding out this information can be done in a variety of ways, from asking the event organizer, sending out a survey to audience members, poking around online forums on the issue/topic, or good ol’ fashioned talking to concerned individuals beforehand.

6. Decide on your call to action. You’ve heard about starting with the end in mind. The same principle applies when creating your speech. You need to be clear on what it is you want the audience to do, think, or feel by the time you’re done speaking. Bonus: if you want them to take an action, tell them to do it within 48 hours. Longer than that and they probably will forget about it. You want them to act on your message somehow.

Make sure you’ve covered all these bases before you start creating your speech.

If you feel stumped once it’s time to organize your content, check out my “Create Your Memorable Speech” template. You’ll learn the three parts of a captivating speech opening and much more!