Vocational English and Academic Development

31 Don’t be afraid to take risks and present new material. Remember, practice makes perfect. Genuine speech preparation means digging something out of yourself. You need to both gather facts and arrange your thoughts. It is not enough to simply collect ideas. You must also nurture them and reflect on how to present them in a unique, organized manner. A speech needs time to grow. Prepare for weeks. Sleep on your topic, dream about it and let your ideas sink into your subconscious. Ask yourself questions. Write down your thoughts. Keep adding new ideas. Once you’ve determined your purpose for delivering this speech, state the purpose in a sentence and focus your speech around that purpose. Ask yourself, “How does this purpose relate to the audience?” Let your purpose drive your speech. Try to come up with a good title, too. Aim not only to inform your listeners, but also persuade them. As you prepare each presentation, you should develop a simple and orderly outline. In developing the sequence of your presentation, mind-mapping or webbing techniques can be very useful. Remember to decide, too, on the transitions between sections and examples you will use. Real-life anecdotes can be particularly effective. The use of personal stories always works best for many audiences. Most professional speakers always use personal stories and quite often it is a personal story that becomes their “signature” story. To be successful it is extremely important to start gathering information as soon as possible. Many people ask: “How far in advance should I begin preparing for my speech?” The answer is; “You should begin preparing your speech the moment they ask you to speak!” The sooner you begin the more time you will have to practice your speech. As many of you may or may not know, Mark Twain was a great speaker. In fact, Mark Twain is o...