Here's your opportunity to take the platform and give a speech. So how do you write a good
speech? Hi, everybody, I'm John Graden. I'm a professional speaker, trainer, and the author
of seven books including The Imposter Syndrome. I have given hundreds of speeches. Key note
presentations, training programs, this is a subject that I'm not just familiar with,
but I love to do this stuff. It is exciting for me. It's fun. It gives me a reason to
get up in the morning. So let me share with you some of my experience. When I'm writing
a speech, I have to first know who my audience is. I want to make sure that I know what the
goal of the presentation is. So I'm going to talk to the boss who hires me. The meeting
planner that hires me. I'm going to call the very supervisors within that company and find
out what do you, what would you like your people to walk away from this presentation
with? I want great, and I provide great take home value. I want to be entertaining, I want
people to say hey, man that guy is a really good speaker. That's all very nice. It's ego
stroking. The hard work is to create a presentation that makes change. That helps people to improve
their lives, to improve their productivity, and to improve overall outlook on how they
face the challenge of everyday. That's what I love doing. That's why I'm so thrilled about
talking about programs like The Imposter Syndrome, which is how to replace self doubt with self
confidence and train your brain for success. Boy, isn't that exciting for everybody to
learn? So when I write a speech, A, number one, who's my audience? In order, number two,
what is the take home value? OK, so I've got that assignment from the person who's hired
me, or it's one of my own presentations. I know what it's, what I want them to leave
with. From there, I'm going to start to write the speech in three parts. There's going to
be the beginning, a middle, and the end. Let's say that it's going to be about an hour speech,
maybe forty-five minute speech. I'll write it in eight to ten minute segments. That's
about how long a television program lasts between commercials. So that's in our attention
deficit rule. That's about how long you can keep somebody locked in on one particular
point or subject before having to transition into another angle or another spin on that
same story. I'm going to use three sections within that eight to ten minute sections.
So, I'm going to have three little points that I want to make. So, it helps spend a
little, OK section number one, I'm going to do my intro, I'm going to talk about the overview
of the company, and I'm going to have point one, point two, point three. Section two,
I'm going to have point one, point two, point three. And then, I'm going to move this speech
all the way towards its conclusion, which is where I'll have my call for action. Humor,
of course, is big part of every speech. It's difficult to write humor into a speech. For
me, humor typically is a spontaneous comment or quip that's made from the stage. I don't
usually structure humor into my speeches, even though they turn out to be entertaining
and funny. That's just the nature of the way that I speak when I'm on stage. But one of
the secrets that I'll share with you is a great way to get a laugh every time. If it's
appropriate. When the person gives you your introduction, they read off this great introduction.
It's glorious. It just builds you up to be the greatest speaker since me. You walk to
the microphone, grab the microphone, and say, Mr. Jonas I want to thank you for that great
introduction. You read that just like I wrote it for you. That's a guaranteed laugh. And
the beauty is, that's a great way to start off your presentation. It loosens everybody
up. Ever notice that if you go to a Broadway play, when the curtain pulls back, there's
about thirty seconds of a maid sweeping the ground, or somebody reaching for a book, or
some kind of activity that is meaningless. That's designed to allow the audience to focus
in on the new subject and to get comfortable with what is about to happen. So when I make
that initial comment, that little joke, it gives my audience a chance to aw, I like him.
He made me laugh right off the bat. Then I'll dive into my presentation. I'm John Graden.
I love making presentations. I hope one day to make a presentation for you or your organization.
In the meantime, that's how I like to write a great speech, and I know you'll do the same.
Thanks so much. Bye.