1. Define Your Message
All good speeches center around a clear message. Figuring out what message you want to deliver is your first step. Start by defining a topic area, if your instructor has not already done that for you. For example, let’s imagine that your speech must be on the topic of wellness and health. This topic is too broad for a speech. In order to define your message, you have to narrow things down. As you learn how to write a speech, you will begin to understand that the sharper the focus of your message is, the greater the chance that it will be well received. One of the best ways to define your message is to find something about your topic that is meaningful to you. Maybe a loved one inspired you by working hard to lose a lot of weight. If this is the case, your message could be that anybody can become healthy and get into shape no matter what.
2. Create a Basic Outline
This is a bit like writing an essay. Your speech needs a beginning, middle, and end. Forming an outline is an extremely important aspect of speech writing because it forces you to define that beginning, middle, and end in a very concrete way. Here are some things to include in your outline:
- Introduction (beginning)
- Introduction of yourself
- Letting the audience know what the topic is and why it is meaningful to you
- Telling a story or giving some facts that will have an emotional impact
- Body (middle)
- Giving the facts
- What the audience can do
- Why they should care
- Inspiring the audience to take action
- Conclusion (end)
- Reiterate faith in the audience
- Restate the message
3. Choose an Approach
Much of this decision will be driven by your own personality and the subject matter. You will find it difficult to deliver a fiery speech if you are naturally an introverted and subdued personality. If you are speaking about a topic that is sensitive in nature, you may not be able to write a humorous speech. Learning how to write a good speech means selecting an effective approach based on your own personality, audience, and subject matter.
4. Use Power Words
What makes a good speech? The use of power words is what makes a speech compelling and inspirational. Power words are words that have an emotional impact, and that makes people want to take action. These are words such as force, strength, achieve, develop, tyranny, triumph, bravery, brazen, wonderful, thief, jail, and privacy. Many internet resources contain lists of power words and the emotions that they evoke. Keep one of these lists handy as you write your speech, and it is sure to be inspiring. It will also help you to keep your audience engaged during your delivery.