Writing a Speech About Yourself
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Writing a speech about oneself is not an easy task as it includes encompassing many real insights of one’s life. In the event you have to know how to write a speech about yourself, you need to start preparation immediately because it may take a lot of time to finish. Most importantly, you need to consider the audience to be addressed, the topic, and the amount of time you have to deliver the speech.
If you prepare well and focus on the guidelines below, then you will write the best speech that presents yourself efficiently and entertainingly.
Preparing your speech
- Speech Theme
Here you need to focus on the topic that you will discuss in your speech. This includes life lessons of experiences you had as a child. Even though the address can include little snippets of your life, it will make much difference if you concentrate on conveying one message that will impact the audience.
- Gather Information
After determining the objective of the speech, you need to start gathering information on suitable instances relevant to your goal.
- Calculate the appropriate word count depending on the time limit
On average, a person speaks approximately 125 and 250 words per minute; hence, if the speech time let’s say 20 minutes, you will need a speech of 2500 to 3000 words.
- Speech Outline
Regardless of the length of the speech, it needs to be subdivided into five main parts including the introduction, body (Where you will have 3 points), and conclusion. In simple terms, it means telling your audience what you are going to say to them, conveying what you want to say and wrapping up what you just said.
- Know Your Audience
Research on your audience likes and dislikes so that the speech can be more influential to them. For example, when Steve Jobs was giving his speech during the graduation event at Stanford, he concentrated on letting the scholars know that they should not fear to be different and should always pursue what they love. Additionally, be brief with the speech, if it’s meant to last 20 minutes, use 18 minutes and of 5 minutes use 3.5. Your audience will love you for being brief.
- Focus more in Stories instead of facts
It is always safer to incorporate stories to expound on your points as opposed to suing facts. This is because stories are easier to recall so your audience is bound to remember your speech.
Day of Speech Delivery
- Practice the speech
Before the day of delivering the speech, you need to practice infinite numbers of times to perfect your art of delivery which will ensure more confidence on the big day. You can do this before a mirror and also avoid word fillers like ‘umm’ and ‘ahh’ by recording yourself and practicing even more.
- Be at the Venue Early
You need to be at the venue approximately 20 minutes before your turn on stage to avoid last minute rush to the stage. Moreover, you can visit the site a day earlier and also test the sound system to know the right place to stand during your delivering of the speech.
- Efficient use of your eyes
Most speakers avoid looking into the eyes of their audience by looking above their heads or circulating their eyes across the audience as a whole. This should not be the case; you need to find one person and look into their eyes directly for specified duration of time then move on to someone else and do the same. Besides, do not forget to smile as individuals enjoy speech from jolly speakers.
Vary speaking Speed and Volume
Most audiences will get bored if the speech speed is the same all through; hence, to ensure their attentiveness, change the rate of speaking. When telling a story that is exciting be quick in the speech to match your excitement. On the other end, if you are relaying something significant or dramatic then slow it down to emphasize.
The other important concern is to use the appropriate volume so that you are neither too loud nor soft. You can test your capacity during your visit to the venue before the speech day but keep in mind that bodies of the audience will be buffering your voice, so you will need to speak up.
