If you’re asked to do some speechwriting for a conference, before you start, you should make sure you know:
- Who will be delivering the speech?
- Why is the speech being given?
- What topics will it cover?
- What’s the make-up of the audience?
- How much understating will the audience have of the topics?
- If it’s at a conference, in what order will the other speakers be appearing and what topics they will cover?
- Will the speech have any supporting visuals, video, PowerPoint, live actors and so on?
- What does the speaker want the speech to achieve? Is there a particular action they want people to take away?
- If it’s at a conference, how long will the speech last?
Note: This last point is different from video script writing where the golden rule is to say what you have to say to meet the video’s objectives, then stop.
As a conference speechwriter, your script has to be written to fit into the allocated time slot, and so must the other speakers. You don’t want the conference finishing too early, and you certainly don’t want it dragging on.
Conference speechwriting: Interviewing the speaker
The professional speechwriter’s next step is to interview the speaker.
I recommend taping the interview as the speaker might come up with ‘gems’ – key phrases, ideas, data, case studies or anecdotes – you can incorporate.
You can also transcribe the interview to act as a starting point for the script.
Start your speechwriting interview by confirming the objectives, then work through and agree a structure based on the main points the speaker wants to get across, ranked in order of importance.
Usually, a speechwriting structure consists of three steps:
- Introduction
- The main points of the speech
- The conclusion.
You’ll often hear this reworded as:
- Tell ’em what you’re goin’ to tell ’em
- Tell ’em
- Tell ’em what you told ’em
Let’s look at these three conference speechwriting stages in more detail.
Conference speechwriting: Stage 1. Introduction
This should contain the speaker’s opening remarks and something to hook the audience onto the topic.
For example, the speaker could start with an amazing or shocking statistic, a personal (relevant) story, a question that deals with a problem the audience is facing, or a powerful quote from a famous person.
Never start with a joke. I’ll tell you why later in the blog.
Having got the speech started, the speaker should summarise what it’s going to be about, if possible, giving an overview of the benefits for the audience. People always like to know if there’s something ‘in it’ for them.
Conference speechwriting: Stage 2. The main points of the speech
Use a link ‘signpost’ sentence to let the audience know the introduction is over and the main part of the speech is about to begin.
A simple ‘signposting’ sentence should be inserted every time you change topic. It gives the audience a breather from wall-to-wall information and helps them keep track.
The body of the speech should start with the most important information and, whenever possible, be backed up by key phrases, ideas, data, case studies or anecdotes.
Speechwriters can also use rhetorical devices to punch home messages. Here are three from the inaugural address of President John F Kennedy in 1960.
The triad, otherwise known as the ‘Power of Three, is particularly effective as people tend to remember phrases that come in threes.
JFK: ‘Where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.’
Another technique used by Kennedy was Chiasmus. This is a phrase first is used then inverted to make a new, but related point.
JFK: ‘Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.’
JFK: ‘Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.’
You can also build in some audience participation by asking the audience questions at key stages of the presentation. This breaks the speech up and makes the audience feel involved.
For example, ‘How many people here have been injured at work?’
Conference speechwriting: Stage 3. Summary
The speaker should end with a summary of the main points and the benefits to the audience.
If appropriate, they should add a Call-to-Action. Here’s an example:
“As I’ve pointed out, great opportunities lie ahead, and if we work together as a team, we will, for certain, make this the most profitable year in the company’s history.’
And, if the speaker feels confident enough, they can finish with a motivating statement.
Ideally, this should only consist of two or three sentences and should leave the audience with something impressive to remember.
It is not enough to say, ‘Thank you very much’. That would kill the speech stone dead.
Closings statements must relate to the main and, if possible, link to the opening remarks. They can feature emotion, drama, rhetorical questions or a rephrasing of the Call-to-Action. They may also involve a motivating quotation or humour (but only if the speaker is experienced).
Relationships
If a business speechwriter builds a good relationship with the speaker, there will be countless occasions where you can pass on advice that will help ensure success on the day. Here are some useful tips, in no specific order.
Advice you can give the speaker
Don’t expect the speech to be about your needs and wants. The speech is about the audience, so there will be lots of ‘you’ (plural) and ‘we’ (together) rather than ‘I’.
Avoid jargon, unless you know the audience will understand it. Jargon is OK if the audience are all aero engineers, financial advisors or pharmaceutical salespeople.
Some people will advise you to make eye-contact with the audience throughout the speech. I would only suggest this if you are super-confident.
Here’s my tip based 1200 gigs as a stand-up comedian (my past life) dealing with audiences of up to 2000. Look around by all means, but look at the audience’s foreheads. They’ll think you’re making eye contact.
If I had an audience that was really laughing at everything, I could guarantee that, if I made direct eye contact with someone, that someone would be the one person in the room who thought I wasn’t funny. One thing you don’t need when you’re presenting anything is to come eyeball to eyeball with a stony-faced glare.
If the speaker has a lectern, they should move away from it occasionally – four steps to the left or right will be enough – and address their remarks to the people sitting at the audience edges. Bring them in. Make them feel they’re part of it. This might drag you away from any lectern notes or your autocue, but it’s worth it. Of course, if there are floor autocue monitors, the speaker should be able to move around the stage without any trace of anxiety.
Check the lighting before the event. If the only source of illumination is the lectern light, you could end up looking like an extra from a Boris Karloff movie.
If there are spotlights, the speaker should check they’re focused on where they will be standing. One simple way of doing this is to stand at the lectern and look directly at the spotlight for five seconds. Then close your eyes, and you should see a green version of the light’s filament. That means the spotlight is on target and the audience will be able to see you.
As I said earlier, never, never, never start your speech with a joke. If it fails, the audience will lose confidence and you’ll never get them back. If you plan to use humour, insert, perhaps a humorous description or observation about 3 minutes in. It’ll come as a little light relief after the seriousness of the first 3 minutes, and you may well get a response, sometimes far exceeding what you might be expecting. You can build the humour from there, if you want to.
A good way of introducing humour or lightening the tone of a speech is to use appropriate humorous quotes from famous people. So if, for example, you quote Groucho Marx, you’re on very safe ground. If the audience finds it funny they laugh and you take the credit for choosing such a funny quote. If the audience don’t laugh, just carry on smoothly, knowing that the lack of response was Grouch Marx’s fault.
Never acknowledge any mistakes. Correct them, if essential, but never say stop and say ‘sorry’. I learned this from an experienced musician who told me the average audience never know anything has gone wrong, unless your trousers catch fire.
Conference speechwriting: PowerPoint
Conference speeches are often supported by PowerPoint. Here are some tips.
Don’t transfer your speech verbatim to the PowerPoint slides and don’t read from them. I remember one occasion where the audience was reading along, slightly ahead of the presenter!
If you have to use bullet-points I recommend a limit of five words per line and five lines per slide.
With PowerPoint you can introduce bullet-points one at a time. Always do this – as it prevents the audience reading ahead and assuming they know what you’re going to say.
But try not to make every slide a bullet-point slide. Light and shade always improves a presentation.
Don’t overdo the PowerPoint Special Effects or Clipart. These are fun to play with but can often distract the audience.
Don’t overload sides with information. People can’t take it in.
Extreme example: I remember a Financial Director who’s first slide was a grid, 24 columns across and 15 rows down. Each cell of the grid contained a different 5-figure number in tiny type.
He started his speech with the words, ‘As you can clearly see from this slide…’ and was surprised when the whole audience burst into laughter.
Don’t start speaking as soon as the next slide loads. Give the audience a few seconds to scan the words so they are ready to hear what you have to say.
Don’t put up the next slide as soon as you’ve finished talking about the current one. Give people time to let your messages sink in.
On your slides, a font size of 20pt should be the minimum, ideally 25-28pt.
Conference speechwriting: Rehearsing a speech
A speech is a live, usually a one-off, performance. As a speech writer, you should encourage the speaker to rehearse to make the whole thing as smooth as possible.
Experts reckon that a speech should be rehearsed, in full, at least 10 times.
Here are some of the ways to rehearse:
Practice in front of a mirror.
Record the speech, play back and make notes.
Videotape the speech, play back and make notes. Check for, and remove, awkward mannerisms such as fiddling with glasses or, touching the mic.
When the speech is fairly polished, the speaker should recruit someone to be their test audience.
When confidence grows, that single person can be expanded to a small group (probably trusted work colleagues).
Don’t be afraid to make expansive gestures from time to time, usually to emphasise important points. Big gestures for big venues. Smaller gestures for more intimate gatherings.
If possible, you should have at least one practice at the conference venue, including lights, sound system, PowerPoint and video – with full technical support.
Ideally, the speechwriter, should be at the venue to give the speaker notes and further advice on their performance.
Conference speechwriting: Take-aways
When the conference is over, arrange for every delegate to be given a ‘Take-Away’ pack, containing your slide deck images, your speech along with addition information.
You can also include examples of things they can do the very next day.
At one conference, I attended as a speechwriter, the speech was about improving efficiency. Delegates were asked by the speaker, to write down three things they would do to improve efficiency on a pre-stamped postcard, and mail it to themselves at the company address.
This idea got everyone involved and took the speech’s message of ‘improved efficiency’ from the conference hall back into the workplace, in their own handwriting!
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