...These famous words from an extremely famous speech by Martin Luther King Jr, Kept circulating my mind, right before the speech, for some reason. Maybe because, the speech reminded me of how and effective speech should be...or maybe because my mind was so tense at that time that I was thinking about wierd dreams that I had!! Errr...I’d like to believe the former of the reasons!!

Well anyways, the occasion was the Student Council election day, and I had to deliver a speech in front of the WHOLE school...and even worse, persuade them to Vote for me as Vice President! Now, this experience was exceptionally painful, since four years ago I had stood on the same platform and delivered, well, I wouldn’t Exactly call it a speech, more of an attempt to talk!

I was soooo nervous that time that my hands we shaking and I was blabbering and stuttering at Every single word! OBVIOUSLY, I lost!!! Hehe, so this time, as a more prepared speaker I approached my speech with certain points in mind! Here goes....

1. Writing a clear and concise speech- This is the first and MOST important step to deliver an effective speech. Put yourself in the position of the audience, and imagine what THEY would want to hear from You. They surely do not want to hear about things that they know are not achievable or ideas that are soooo far fetched that anyone would need a map to go trace them!! What the audience wants is to hear an argument that is direct. The speech should not be beating about the bush, but straight to the point. If it is a persuasive speech, write down WHY you want the audience to believe what you’re trying to persue. Always remember, a Loooong speech is not necessarily a good speech, so do NOT try to make it extended like Ekta Kapoor soaps!!


2. Adding Humour to you Speech- Unless you’re attempting a REALLY serious issue in you speech, NEVER forget to add the humour element! Believe me, the audience does NOT want to hear a monotonous monologue from you!! Imagine yourself trying to pay attention while a boooring speaker is trying to explain an equally boring concept!! Would you be able to keep ur eyes open?? If humour doesn’t come easy to you, find a joke, off the net maybe, that is related to you topic somehow, and begin or end your speech with it. TRUST me, you’ll get great results!!


3. Body Language and Speech- How many times have you found yourself towards the back of an audience, trying very hard to try to comprehend what the speaker is trying to say?? If the speaker is not clear and loud enough, you eventually stop trying after a while. So, ALWAYS remember that your audience will pay attention only as long as they can distinguish Each and Every one of your words! Also remember that people who are looking at you do NOT want to look at someone shifting from side to side, or fiddling with something, or ruffling sheets of paper all the time. To make your speech affective you need to stand straight and firm, and make sure that your hand gestures are not a display of your nervousness. And last but not the least...

4. Confidence- According to me, this is the MOST important key to deliver and effective speech. If your audience views you as a confident speaker, they will put a trust in your capability to truly support the topic you are presenting. If they can sense that you are competent enough to give a speech, you Surely will be competent to discuss your argument. However, to a speaker, speaking in front of an audience, the thought itself might be unnerving that all the attention is on him. A tactic I usually use is look just above the head of the audience, so that I don’t get nervous by their faces. I also tend to try to find familiar faces in the audience, and before I know my speech is over!!


Always remember, that the speech should be as much of interest to you as your audience!


Hehe, and by the way, I won the Student Council elections this year!! And I can say, it was mainly because of the speech...see how useful an speech can be, even someone like me gets elected! Hehe!!


THANKS FOR READING THE REVIEW...NOW ONE CLICK MORE AND YOU’LL BE IN THE COMMENTS SECTION...DO VENTURE!! WAITING TO SEE YOUR COMMENTS!!

Neha!