Quick, think about America’s most common fears! Ghosts and mortgage payments may come to mind, as perhaps they should. But 75% of Americans are afraid of public speaking.
When you are asked to prepare a keynote speech, you may feel quite anxious. Yet you shouldn’t panic. You can learn how to write a keynote speech in no time, especially if you break things down into a few concepts.
What should your keynote speech include? What outline should your speech follow? How can you make an emotional connection with your audience?
Answer these questions and you can make a great keynote speech without fear. Here is your quick guide.
Think of a Theme
Speeches can do a few different things. Some people give speeches to educate their audience, while others give speeches to motivate people to do something. A few speeches are entertaining, telling stories to keep an audience occupied for a few minutes.
Think about what the purpose of your keynote presentation is. Then select a message you want your whole speech to convey. Every detail in your speech should relate to your purpose and make it clearer to the audience.
Outline Your Thoughts
Once you have a basic idea of what you want to do, you can start writing a speech. You should think of a few points that support your key message. You may want to do some research and bring up statistics that show your perspective is correct.
You should also think about the structure of your speech. You should have an introduction that summarizes your thoughts and hooks your audience in. You can then proceed into the body and conclude with another summary that tells your audience to do something with the material they learned.
Tell Stories
Statistics are good pieces of evidence, but stories are even better. They help you illustrate your ideas and create emotions in your audience.
If you’re stuck, you can tell your own story. Explain to the audience why the theme is so important to you and relate it to an episode in your life. You can also talk about your parents, friends, and work associates.
Connect With Your Crowd
When you give a keynote speech, you need to make eye contact with your audience. This encourages them to listen to you and examine your facial expressions.
You should gesture to your audience as well so you can illustrate key points. When you have something important to say, you can extend your hand out or point in the air. You can get a motivational speaker here and watch them so you understand how to gesture with your body.
Write a Terrific Keynote Speech
A keynote speech shouldn’t petrify you. Your speech should have a purpose to it and a theme that connects all of the ideas inside of it.
You should flesh out the theme with an informative intro and an invigorating conclusion. To prove your point, you should use statistics and tell stories, including ones from your own life.
Never forget about your audience. Connect with them using bodily gestures that facilitate trust and emotional reactions.
You can get over your fear and develop your skills with the facts. Read more public speaking guides by following our coverage.