How to prepare a high-quality speech

For inexperienced speakers, physical performance is the most difficult part of the speech, but people will overestimate its role too easily. Using the right words and telling a good story, the content of the speech determines the success of the speech to a greater extent, not how you stand and whether you look nervous. A certain degree of training is very helpful for typhoons.

The most common mistake we found in early rehearsals is that people move their bodies too often. They will swing, or move their center of gravity between their legs. People often do this unconsciously when they are nervous, but it is easy to distract the audience and make the speaker look unconvincing. As long as the exercise of the lower body is reduced, the typhoon can be greatly improved. However, some people can walk freely on the stage during the speech, as long as they are natural enough. But for most people, it is best to stand still and emphasize the key points only by hand posture.

Perhaps the most important body language on the stage should be eye contact. Find five or six people who look pleasing to the eye under the stage and communicate with them with their eyes during the speech. Think of them as old friends you haven't seen for a long time, and imagine that you are bringing them into your work. This kind of eye contact is quite effective and more helpful to your speech than any other method. Even if you don't have enough time to prepare and have to read according to the script, raising your head and making some eye contact will make all the difference.

For inexperienced speakers, another great challenge is nervousness, whether in front of or on the stage. Different people have different ways to deal with nervousness. Many speakers will stay off the stage before giving a speech, which is very effective, because listening to the previous speaker can divert attention and reduce tension. Amy Cuddy, a professor at Harvard Business School, said

Cuddy) studied what posture can produce aura, and she used the most unusual preparation technique I have ever seen. She suggested that the speaker walk around, stand on a high place or stretch his limbs before giving a speech. These postures can make you feel confident. That's what she did before she took office, and her speech was wonderful. But I think the simplest and most practical way is to take a deep breath before going on stage. It really works.

Generally speaking, people are too worried that they will be nervous. Nervousness is not a disease, but the audience actually expects you to be nervous. Nervousness is a natural physical reaction, which can actually make you behave better: it gives you the power to express yourself and keeps your mind sharp. Hold your breath and everything will be fine!

Admit that nervousness can also bring charm. Boldly showing your vulnerability, whether it is nervousness or intonation, as long as it is true, is a powerful weapon to win the hearts of the audience. Susan Kane, who has published books about introverted personality, gave a speech at the ted conference on 20 12 (Susan.

Cain) is very afraid of giving a speech. You can feel her fragility on the stage and make the audience cheer for her-everyone wants to hug her after the end. Efforts to make her beautiful also made her speech one of the most popular speeches of the year.

Proper use of multimedia technology

There are countless multimedia technologies used for us now, so I think it's a bit embarrassing for the audience to use slides anyway. Now most people know the secret of PPT: keep it simple; Don't make a speech with slides (it's like making a list of everything you want to say-it's best to write them down in a small card in your hand); Don't read the contents of the slide out loud intact. Except for the similar problem that may occur when using the teleprompter-"Holy cow, she is reading a book!" "Often only the freshest information can arouse people's interest, and people don't like to see and hear the same information over and over again. This should be clear to everyone by now, but if you go to various companies, people will still make this mistake every day in their speeches.

Many top TED speakers don't use slides, nor do many speeches. If you want to show some photos or illustrations to make the topic more vivid, use them, otherwise, at least for some parts of the speech, try not to use them. If you want to use slides, the replacement of PPT is also worth a try. For example, Prezi, the investment object of TED, the company's demo software provides a two-dimensional picture with focus tracking. Compared with the traditional plane image switching mode, the demo software allows users to move or enlarge the demo screen as needed. Proper use of multimedia technology can greatly improve the visual impact of speech and deepen the connotation of speech.

Artists, architects, photographers and designers will have more opportunities to use video materials. When the speaker has to use technical terms, slides can help the speaker better express and grasp the rhythm and help the audience better understand. Art is difficult to express in words, so it is better to experience it with vision. I have seen some wonderful speeches by artists or designers. They set the slide picture to switch automatically every 15 seconds. I've also seen speakers give speeches after videos. This can keep the rhythm and freshness of the speech. For example, industrial designer Ross lovegrove (Ross

Lovegrove), he used these methods to take the audience into an unforgettable creative journey.

Another way, the innovator may choose to use it, that is, pause in the speech and let the work speak for itself. Reuben Maglin, a dynamic sculptor

Margolin) infects others in this way. The key is not to think "I am giving a speech", but to think "I want the audience to have an unforgettable experience of my work". The most tragic thing for artists and architects is to express their opinions in abstract conceptual language.

Videos are very useful to many speakers. For example, in a TED talk about the wisdom of crows, scientists played a video clip showing the process of a crow bending a hook to hook food out of a pipe-that is, the process of a crow creating tools. This video is more convincing than any language.

Proper use of video can make a speech very effective, but there are also some common mistakes to avoid. Video clips need to be short enough-if they exceed 1 minute, you may lose viewers. In particular, don't use corporate videos. They look like self-promotion or information advertisements, but the audience will automatically block them. Any video with a soundtrack may turn people off. And in any case, don't show videos of yourself being interviewed by CNN or something. I've seen speakers do this, and it's really not so good-no one wants to know your arrogance. The audience has already heard your live speech in front of you, so why let them watch you appear in the close-up of the news interview at the same time?

Put the line away.

We begin to help the speakers prepare their speeches at least six months before the speech, so that they can have enough rehearsal time. We hope that the speaker can make a final speech one month before the event. The more they rehearse in the last few weeks, the better the final effect will be. Ideally, they will rehearse by themselves or in front of an audience.

One problem with rehearsing in front of others is that the audience will feel obliged to provide feedback or make constructive criticism. Feedback from different people is often very different and even contradictory. This may make the speaker feel overwhelmed or even collapse, so it is particularly important to choose who will watch the rehearsal and give feedback. Generally speaking, people with rich speech experience can give good advice.

I personally experienced this at 20 1 1. My colleague Bruno Mohammed Gizani, the planner of TEDGlobal.

Giussani) pointed out that even though I have worked at ted for nine years, presided over various meetings and introduced so many speakers, I have never made a TED talk of my own. So he invited me to give a speech, and I accepted.

I feel more stressed than I thought. Even though I have spent so much time instructing others on how to build a story frame, it is still quite difficult to switch to my own story. I decided to give a speech and not write online videos to promote global innovation, but the process was very difficult: even though I spent so much time getting all kinds of reliable advice from my colleagues, I still felt a little caught off guard and even began to doubt my ability. I really think I'll stop eating. I was nervous just before I went on stage. But in the end, everything got better. Although this speech is definitely not one of the best speeches that TED has ever given, it was well received-I survived under this great pressure.

In a word, I personally realized what our speakers have excavated in these 30 years: the success of a speech depends on the quality of ideas, the way of narrative expression and the mood of the speaker. This is related to the content, not the speaking style or all kinds of gorgeous multimedia. Through training, it is easy to get rid of the minor faults in the speech, but training alone cannot build the whole story and idea itself-the speaker must have goods in his heart. If you have something to say, you can make a great speech. But if there is no central idea, then you'd better not say it. Refuse the invitation to speak, go back to work and come back when you really have something worth sharing.

Ten ways to turn a speech into a tragedy

Although it is difficult to make a good speech, it is easy to screw it up. Here are some common mistakes that TED advises speakers to avoid.

1. Spend a lot of time explaining the theme of your speech.

2. Speak slowly and exaggeratedly. Why not pretend when you can?

Be sure to let everyone know how skilled you are.

4. Mention your book repeatedly. It would be better if you could quote yourself.

The slides are filled with all kinds of key points and long sentences, preferably all kinds of fonts.

6. Let a bunch of vague technical terms make you sound more witty.

7. You must focus on describing the glorious history and achievements of your organization, and the more the better.

8. There is no need to rehearse it specially to check whether it is overtime.

9. You'd better be heard behind your back.

10. Never make eye contact with any audience under the stage!

Remember the most important point, there is no shortcut to making a good speech. The most memorable speech, there are always some new things that everyone has never heard of. The worst speech is full of platitudes. So don't try to copy all the suggestions I offer here under any circumstances. Of course, you should understand the general meaning of these suggestions. But after all, the content of the speech should be drawn up by yourself, because only you know what makes you different from your thoughts. Give full play to your strengths and make a speech that truly belongs to you.