Give Them Structure

a framework for public speaking

At one point in my life, public speaking wasn’t so terrifying. But most of the time now, it is.

I don’t know how I got to the final round in my fourth-grade speech competition, but somewhere in between that year and my first year of university when I enrolled in a mandatory public speaking course, I lost whatever badassness I had that got me speaking in front of a gymnasium of people at age 9.

Public Speaking 223 was the only time in my life that I walked out on the first day of a class and thought to myself,

“I actually can’t do this. I’m sweating just thinking about the syllabus. No way. Three speeches to present? All videotaped? I’m not even allowed to memorize them!!? And I’m critiqued afterwards!? And she just made us all do an impromptu speech. On the first day. I was horrible! How did I even start talking about my coffee cup?? And pizza is not my favourite food, why did I say that. I’m so boring. WHO AM I EVEN!?!

I need to drop this class.”

But irrespective of my intense internal monologue of self-doubt, day two of Public Speaking class came, and I showed up. The self-doubt didn’t go away, but I showed up and I listened and observed and participated to the levels I was most comfortable. This meant I did all the funny facial muscle exercises and shouted out all the tongue twisters. ’Cause being silly is fun.

Then, as I learned more in class, got more comfortable with the room, and shared more in discussions, I could envision myself standing up at the podium a little more clearly each time. Ultimately, I learned… the only way out is always through. And the best way through is through preparation!

The first key element to consider when preparing for a presentation is the structure you’ll use to deliver your content. Good structure is your speech’s skeleton — without it, the words you use and how you speak sound like a discombobulation of scattered thoughts. Additionally, if you miss the mark on your content and delivery, a solid structure still allows your audience to follow along (though not to say that they’d want to, really).

Here’s a straight-forward do-no-wrong approach to building the structure for any talk:

Choose your type (the “WHAT?”): Decide on the topic and type of speech you want to give — humorous? persuasive? informational? a bit of everything? Set the tone. Formulate your ideas about the topic with this tone in mind. Free write. Mind map. Research. Reflect. And when you’re done, don’t forget to also…

Understand your audience (the “SO WHAT?”): The only way you will make an impact on your audience is if you can make clear WHY your topic matters to them. What do they already know about the topic? What would they want to know?

A group of 20-year-olds may not be very concerned about their retirement plan. But if you’re speaking to a group of them about financial literacy, you could still engage them on the topic if you hit ’em where it matters. Like telling them they could be millionaires by the time they retire if they start saving only $300 a month at their age (and then, you tell them how to start saving that $300 a month!)

Present extemporaneously. This means, prepare enough to know what you’re saying and how to say it, but deliver it with few notes, or none at all. To do this well, practice and pay most attention to the most critical parts of your speech:

• Attention Getter: How will you open your talk? What will you say to grab the audience’s attention? It could be a quote, a question, a statistic, or the beginning of a story you are painting in their minds as you speak. Write it out, exactly how you want to say it.
• Frame the talk: What’s your objective? Let the audience know what they’re going to hear from you, loud and clear. For example, “I’m going to share with you my top three tips for giving engaging presentations,” or “By the end of this talk, you’ll know my tried-and-tested method for speech preparation,” or “You’ll learn how to handle three specific scenarios when giving a presentation: 1) what to do when no one laughs at your joke; 2) what to do if you forget what to say next; and 3) how to tactfully answer questions in the Q&A.” Be short and simple. You don’t need to give any surprises away, but don’t keep the topic of your talk a surprise either.
• Major Point #1: How will you introduce your first major point? Write it out, exactly how you want to say it. Bullet-note the sub-points.
• Transition 1: How will you move from your first major idea to the next? Good transitions are critical. An audience knows when transitions are not done well because they hear and feel something missing. They may not be able to put their finger on it, but it’s important that you make it easy for them to know where you’re going next. Keep it smooooooth and connected.
• Major Point #2: How will you introduce your second major point? Write it out, exactly how you want to say it. Bullet-note the rest.
• Transition 2: See above. Smooth and connected.
• Major Point #3: How will you introduce your third major point? Write it out, exactly how you want to say it. Bullet-note the rest.
• Transition 3: SMOOTH AND CONNECTED.

Depending on your talking time, you may be able to include 4 or 5 major points. That’s cool, just stick to the same process.

• Conclusion (the “NOW WHAT?”): Reiterate your major points in a complete and connected fashion. What’s the story that they weave together? You’ve already shown the audience how your points all make sense separately; now, show them how they all make sense together. Let them know how, where, and when they can make use of what you’ve shared with them. End with something memorable and convincing. Connect back to the attention getter, if it works. Leave them with a call to action. Close the gap.

And there you have it! Consider this a do-no-wrong functional framework for speech-giving. The next time you hear a talk, notice whether the the speaker guides you along using this structure. A solid framework is the only way the content and delivery will be easy to grasp.

Now that you’ve got the basic structure down, stay tuned for future posts about the various content found in a great talk, delivery and presentation techniques, and different strategies for practicing your speech before show time.

Let me know: What other areas about preparing and giving presentations are you curious about? Do you have any other frameworks for speech structure to share?

P.S. Here’s a quick and fun illustrated video that sums up what it takes to be a more confident public speaker.

Originally published at www.influxtion.com on March 16, 2015.