How To Prepare a Script For A Speech?

As someone who has delivered short speeches for Toastmasters to full day workshops, I have come to realize this trick mostly through my experience.

The most critical part of preparing the content is same regardless of whether it is a 5-7 minutes speech or a 2 hour presentation or even a full day workshop.

I’ll come to what that is, but let me first tell you what it isn’t.

• It’s not researching the content. As a matter of fact, we can get into an endless research trap which is to be avoided. Just to give an idea – If you have an hour to prepare the script, don’t spend more than 10 minutes on the research.
• It’s not finding the best available quotes or stories on the topic. In fact, the more natural and personal you keep the anecdotes, the better your script would turn out to be.
• It is not randomly scribbling down anything that comes to your mind. Your content would be all over the place and you would get frustrated soon if you did that.
• It is not looking up to Internet to copy someone who has already delivered a speech.

Okay, so if none of that is the first and most important step in creating the script / content, then what is?

Well, it is the writing down of the speech title. As simple as that.

Unless you write down the speech title, you won’t have clarity on the key message you want to deliver.

If you’re not clear of that, you might be busy but it’s not helping in the process. In whatever sessions, and speeches I have delivered, it was only when I was able to narrow down, zero in and actually write down the Speech title that I was able to create the script around it.

Every thing else falls in place when you have the speech title ready. Of course when I say speech title, it means a complete clarity of what you’re going to speak about.

More importantly, it tells you what you are not going to speak about.

Until next time, this is Mohit signing off. Ciao.