how to write a speech to entertain

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Entertaining Speech Topics [195 Ideas To Keep Audience Engaged]

Amanda Green was born in a small town in the west of Scotland, where everyone knows everyone. I joined the Toastmasters 15 years ago, and I served in nearly every office in the club since then. I love helping others gain confidence and skills they can apply in every day life.

You need to offer persuasive speech that is informative with a specific purpose that will bring the event to life. Above all, to be an entertaining speaker, you need an interesting  and unique speech topic or even impromptu speech (though that is difficult to achieve) that will last more than a few minutes and engage the audience with an interesting story/stories. There are a lot of topics you can cover that will be entertaining, such as funny speech topics , informative speech topics , or even demonstrative speeches , but make sure you consider your audience before you choose one.

In this article:

How To Develop An Entertaining Speech Topic

How to deliver an entertaining speech, entertaining speech ideas.

There are many ways to write and develop a topic for a speech to entertain. And there are lots of fails to report.

My main objective is to make you aware if the fact that you  do not pretend to by the nice and humorous girl or guy . Nope, better is to set up a flat face and deliver the lines dry with an English stiff upperlip – that is why I used the word pokerfaced … A trick I have learned from my masters …

Use this speechwriting checklist for every issue of your choice.

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It is possible to bring a serious message with funny proven techniques listed below. Like these examples of serious/funny entertaining speech topic chapter. And stay to that theme. My main advice is: just talk on a specific theme.

• Consider your entertainment topic from different points of view.
• Choose for an unusual or strange angle of approach.
• Wonder what the reason is for some habits or daily grind.
• Give a normal issue, subject or topic a personal, dramatic twist.
• List xx ways to …
• Perform dialogues and metaphores.
• Tell a story about a personal experience, interrelate the humorous anecdote in the main theme.
• Give mocking comments on perfectly ordinary things, persons, places, values or thoughts.
• Ridiculize large organizations or institutions. But do not offend.
• Laugh at and ridiculize professional jargon or dialogues.
• Find similarities between opposing subjects. That can be a very humorous and entertaining for your audience.
• Ask:  What If and press the possibilities till it becomes ridiculous, funny and amusing.

My five additional rousing tips for further development are:

• Organize and structure your diverting text in a way your presentation will flow just right; try to work to some sort of a climax.
• Establish your speechwriting goal or purpose. That’s no problem if you talk about one theme.
• If you tell funny or humorous things about some individuals in your public: don’t insult and be sensitive.
• Try to deliver your public speaking speech topics extemporaneously as much as you can. So practice a lot. Ask a friend if it is witty enough.
• And practice on the timing the smooth flow of your entertaining speech topic:
• The Worst Joke I Ever Heard
• The First Time I Got Caught
• Why Did the Chicken Actually Cross the Road
• How I Got My Nickname
• How to Get a Toddler to Go the Sleep in 383 Easy Steps
• The Funniest Thing My Kid Ever Said
• Deep Fried Oreos and Dieting
• My Worst Date
• That Time I Shot Milk Out of My Nose
• My Favorite Misheard Song Lyric
• How to Embarrass Your Teenager
• A Middle Aged Mom Figures Out Snapchat
• Pick Up Lines that Will Never Work
• The Key To Being Successful at Watching Television
• How to Live in Your Mom’s Basement
• My Biggest Pet Peeve
• Things a T-Rex Can’t Do with Its Little Arms
• How to Ruin a Date
• How to Stay a Bachelor
• What Not to Do On a Blind Date
• Why Pineapple Is Not a Pizza Topping
• How to Fail a Driver’s Test
• Ways to Take the Worst Passport Picture Possible
• The Worst Ideas for Halloween Costumes
• My Biggest Auto Correct Fail
• How to Trick Your Dog into Going to the Vet
• The Time I Laughed at a Completely Inappropriate Time
• Something That Made Me Laugh So Hard, I Cried
• Lost in Translation
• My Dinner with My Favorite Video Game Character
• That Thing I Shared on Facebook that Maybe I Shouldn’t Have
• The Right Way to Lie
• My Most Embarrassing Childhood Memory
• The Worst Haircut I Ever Had
• My Life Motto
• How My Cat Will Take Over the World
• How to Be the Center of Attention
• How to Freak out Your Roommate
• Passive Aggressive Ways to Get Your Spouse to Do the Dishes
• Alternatives to Cleaning
• The Best Dad Jokes of All Time
• Skinny Jeans or Where Have All the Men Gone?
• Why does Halloween Have to Be the Only Holiday We Wear Costumes For?
• Horrible How To Instructions
• Going Out Versus Going to Sleep at 9 pm on a Saturday
• My Worst Traffic Violation
• That Time I Sent the Email to the Wrong Person
• How To End a Bad Date
• Why I Make the Best Pancakes
• Nutella: Why I Just Can’t
• How To Survive Your Brother’s Wedding
• Why I’m Still Single
• How to Fall In Love in 308 Easy Steps
• An Argument for Leaving Your Christmas Tree Up All Year
• Horrible Valentine’s Day Cards
• I Love to Say I Told You So
• My Biggest Fashion Mistakes
• How To Act Like a Dude
• Worst Twitter Mistakes
• How to Lose Your Mind in 10 Days
• Ten Dumb Things I’ve Done So You Don’t Have To
• Things I’ve Only Told My Therapist
• How I Knew I Didn’t Get the Job
• Getting To Know the Little Voice in the Back of My Head
• When To Give Up
• How To Pretend to Have It All
• Don’t Touch the Thermostat: My Rules for Surviving Winter
• Sleeping with the Fan On Just for the Noise
• How to Make the Worst of a Best Situation
• Lies I Told Myself
• Why I Sleep with Five Pillows
• Hogging Your Side of the Bed: My Strategy to Sleep Alone
• Why My Dog is My Best Friend
• Why Nothing Rhymes with Orange
• The Worst Color in the World
• How to Ruin a Marriage: My Trip to Ikea
• Why Hipsters Are the Worst
• There Is No Such Thing as Too Much Caffeine
• My Worst Hair Dye Experience
• The Ugliest Facial Hair I’ve Ever Seen
• The Case for Bubble Baths
• The Worst Life Hack I’ve Ever Tried
• That Time I Got Arrested
• My Funniest Online Dating Story
• How I Lost My Pants
• The Worst Habit I Know I Have
• The Worst Thing I Ever Smelled
• That Time I Was a Hypochondriac
• My Worst Experience with Rain
• How to Make Sure He Doesn’t Call
• How to Be Patient When You Just Can’t
• Shoe Size: Does It Matter?
• Why I Love You Anyway
• The Worst Sound in the World
• The Best Thing about Being Me
• The Worst Song Lyric I Ever Heard
• How to Be Lame
• Times When Ice Cream is Appropriate
• How Not to Decorate a Cake
• Where Do All the Missing Socks Go?
• Ten Things That Are Better Than Doing the Dishes
• The Worst Chore I’ve Ever Had to Do
• The Worst Punishment I Ever Had as a Kid
• How I Knew I Was Done Having Children
• Why I Don’t Bother Keeping Up with the Joneses
• How to Pretend to Be Interested
• How Not to Be Subtle
• Why Are Horses the Only Animal We Ride?
• What Your Dog Really Thinks about You
• Best Reasons to Quit Your Job
• The Best Thing I Ever Ate
• The Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Seen
• Why I Can’t Even
• My Real Life Superpower
• How to Win at Life
• How to Cheat at Cards
• How Not to Make Friends
• Popcorn Is Underrated
• Making the Least of Your Time
• If I Were Invisible
• Why I Still Use a Nightlight
• Leaping Before You Look
• What I Learned from High School
• How to Be Awesome
• Socks and Sandals Are Okay
• If I Had A Million Dollars
• How to Get Fired
• When to Do the Grand Gesture
• How to Panic
• Relaxation Techniques that Haven’t Worked For Me
• Reasons to Be Scared of the Dark
• Why I Make My Bed Every Morning
• The Perks of Being the Life of the Party
• Changing My Mind, Again
• My Guilty Pleasure
• Best Places to Nap
• Something I Thought I Knew
• My Biggest Regret
• The Invention of Lying
• When I Knew I Wasn’t a Kid Anymore
• The Kid’s Toy I Still Love to Play with
• My Childhood Imaginary Friend
• Hobbling Across the Finish Line
• Finger Painting: Not Just for Kids Anymore
• Why we don’t win the lottery.
• Excuses for every occasion.
• How to buy condoms discreetly.
• Most stupid labels.
• I am new in this place, entertain me!
• IQ tests revealed.
• How to impress a woman.
• Crime does pay.
• Breaking up isn’t hard.
• Comparisons that won’t hold.
• Grandchildren’s phrases.
• Stereotypes of college students can generate lots of speech topics.
• How to slowly drive your girlfriend crazy.
• The male guide to selecting an outfit for a high school prom.
• Crazy things to do in a final that doesn’t matter.
• Chinese proverbs explained.
• What to do when you are bored on a lazy Sunday.
• Don’t say this to a police officer.
• Things men would never say.
• Extreme golf courses in the world.
• Freudian slips of the tongue.
• Test your popularity.
• Marriage advice and strange counseling assistance.
• Why Santa Claus is a woman.
• About the French.
• Things I learned from sports.
• Things you wouldn’t know without watching films.
• How to sing the blues from the heart.
• Rare pronounciations of ordinary words and phrases.
• The art of kissing.
• Bad hair day solutions.
• Shopping guide for a man.
• Problem solving in an entertaining way.
• Funny facts of life are popular topics for an entertainment speech.
• Golfing at night or in the snow.
• Lawyers and the truth.
• Creative marriage proposals.
• How to play the singing saw.
• Gift wrapping tips for men.
• How to photograph a puppy.
• Are you ready for children?
• Strange dress codes.
• A man’s dilemma: beer or women?
• Clean your house in 30 minutes.
• Stages of a hard working employee.
• Office work rules up side down.
• Insults from famous people.
• Basic rules for driving in – fill in a big city.
• Things your mom would never say.
• Explain baseball or football to a foreigner.
• Applicant speaks in job letters is a great material-oil well too.

Types of Public Speaking

136 Speech Topics About Animals [Persuasive, Informative]

5 thoughts on “Entertaining Speech Topics [195 Ideas To Keep Audience Engaged]”

How useful your school stationeries can be for survival!! (e.g. permanent marker can be used as lightening)

Noice topics!

Things you don’t say to your husband!

Hi, I’m Lila. I have to write a speech and I am completely stuck! I would like a entertaining speech, but still informative. I am so stuck on the topic I should do! Do you have any ideas what to do?

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How to Write an Entertaining Speech for Any Occasion

When we hear the word “entertainment,” the first association that comes to mind is laughing and smiling. Jokes, comedies, stand-up — we consider these genres to be entertaining.

However, entertainment isn’t only about fun and laughter. Horror stories, tragic plays, and sad movies are also aimed at entertaining the audience. Therefore, entertainment is about holding the attention of your audience and triggering strong emotions.

Giving entertaining speeches requires confidence, well-developed public speaking skills, and, of course, charisma. You can improve all these skills and abilities and deliver great speeches on any occasion. We hope that our guide on how to write an entertaining speech will be helpful.

Read our instructions, tips, and example and entertain your audience like a professional!

How to Write an Entertaining Speech Step by Step

As we’ve mentioned, entertaining speeches aren’t necessarily funny. You may give an entertaining speech at a wedding, birthday party, or Christmas party — these speeches are called special-occasion speeches.

But this kind of speech is very specific — every company and group of friends needs an individual approach. That’s why we’ll give you recommendations on how to write an entertaining speech for an unknown audience, for example, for a contest.

1. Pick the topic

If the topic isn’t specified, you may pick it by yourself. We recommend you to choose a theme that is related somehow to your experience and worldview. In such a manner, you’ll sound more persuasive and confident.

2. Generate and select the best ideas

Brainstorming works well even if you don’t have a team, but work on your own. Think about all the associations related to your topic. Read a few articles, or watch inspirational movies. Write down all your ideas (even the weirdest) and then choose the best ones.

3. Make an outline

Your entertaining speech, like an essay, should be well structured. Compose an outline and think about smooth transitions between different parts of your entertaining speech.

4. Think of examples

Examples make any speech more understandable and exciting. Think about real-life stories or episodes from popular movies/books that may help to illustrate your speech.

5. Write jokes and test them

Entertainment isn’t only about laughter; entertaining speeches are mostly aimed at amusing your audience. And jokes are an effective way to make someone smile. Before giving a speech, we recommend you to test your jokes and make sure that they are fun not only for you.

6. Practice and note the time

Public speeches have time limits — you can’t talk forever. Read your speech out loud and write down the time. Make sure that you don’t go beyond the specified limits.

7. Mind your gestures and body language

Your speech might be brilliant, but you won’t be able to make a good impression if you don’t control your body and gestures. Practice in front of the mirror and mind your gestures.

8. Use various intonations

Your voice is your main tool. Slow down, make emphasis on concrete phrases, or talk quietly — every change in your intonation will attract the attention of your listeners.

9. Compose a motivating and memorable ending

Your audience will get a general impression from your speech, but the only thing that they probably will remember is the ending. You have to do your best while composing your final sentences.

10. Give a test speech

Even professionals rehearse before going on stage. Practice at home, with your friends, and in front of the mirror to make sure that you’re ready for a bigger challenge.

How to Write an Entertaining Speech: Quick-Fire Tips

A good plan isn’t enough to write an impressive entertaining speech. You need some tips to make it smooth and memorable. Below, you’ll find tips both about the writing process and public speaking:

• Start with a greeting

An unusual greeting will grab the attention of your audience and make them interested. Instead of a standard “Hello everyone,” you can say something unexpected or ask a question to make contact with your listeners.

• Keep in mind your audience

Although you don’t know everyone in your audience personally, you are probably aware of some basic characteristics — average age, interests, level of education, etc. You should understand that entertaining speeches for college students, adolescents, and grown-ups are totally different. Students won’t understand jokes about raising kids, while adults won’t get your superhero movies quotations.

This tip is basic, but amateur speakers frequently find it challenging. Smiling is an indispensable part of your charisma. Remember that even though your listeners don’t know you as a person, they can still see the difference between a sincere smile and a forced facial contortion. So, forget about your worries and give your audience your best smile!

• Visual aids

Pictures are much easier to memorize than words. If you want to entertain your audience but also teach them something at the same time, prepare a presentation for your speech.

• Be confident

Being confident is key to a successful speech. You should worry about how you speak, look, and move before your performance. As soon as you walk on the stage — forget about your anxiety. Be 100% confident about your words, clothes, and gestures. And you’ll rock it!

• Engage with the audience

Engaging with the audience is crucial for an entertaining speech. There are three basic methods to build a connection with your listeners. The first and most classy technique is eye contact. You can’t look at all the faces simultaneously, but you should never look at the ceiling or floor. Imagine that you’re serving champagne to your listeners:focus on one guest, then move to the next.

The second standard way to interact with your audience is to ask questions — rhetorical or real. The third technique is to make your listeners do something, for example, raise hands or clap. That will keep them awake!

• Forget about complex sentences

You’re not at an exam! Forget about complexity. Use simple words, expressions, and sentences. Don’t make your audience google every single word you say.

• Adopt your speeches

When you’re giving a speech, you always need a back-up plan. If your audience seems bored — add some humor. If your audience is eager for communication — don’t be afraid of asking some extra questions.

• Keep an eye on time

Inspiration and adrenaline may take you far, but don’t forget that you have time limits. If you’re bad at sensing the time, then you should take care of it before the presentation. You may wear a watch or ask an assistant to give you a sign.

• Enjoy your speech

Sincerity is the key to the heart of your audience. Your entertaining speech is your opportunity to share your emotions and worldview with the general public. It might be scary, but you’ll enjoy it – we promise!

How to Write an Entertaining Speech: Example With Comments

The best way to explain something is to give a good example. Below, you’ll find an entertaining speech provided by one of our writers. We’ve also added comments so that you can learn more about the proper structure of entertaining speeches.

Click the images to see their full size.

Now, you know how to write an entertaining speech and amuse your audience! We hope that our guide, tips, and example are enough to inspire you for writing your own speech. Remember that entertaining speeches require as much hard work and preparation as a speech at a conference or wedding.

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How to write a speech that your audience remembers

Whether in a work meeting or at an investor panel, you might give a speech at some point. And no matter how excited you are about the opportunity, the experience can be nerve-wracking . 

But feeling butterflies doesn’t mean you can’t give a great speech. With the proper preparation and a clear outline, apprehensive public speakers and natural wordsmiths alike can write and present a compelling message. Here’s how to write a good speech you’ll be proud to deliver.

What is good speech writing?

Good speech writing is the art of crafting words and ideas into a compelling, coherent, and memorable message that resonates with the audience. Here are some key elements of great speech writing:

• It begins with clearly understanding the speech's purpose and the audience it seeks to engage. 
• A well-written speech clearly conveys its central message, ensuring that the audience understands and retains the key points. 
• It is structured thoughtfully, with a captivating opening, a well-organized body, and a conclusion that reinforces the main message. 
• Good speech writing embraces the power of engaging content, weaving in stories, examples, and relatable anecdotes to connect with the audience on both intellectual and emotional levels. 

Ultimately, it is the combination of these elements, along with the authenticity and delivery of the speaker , that transforms words on a page into a powerful and impactful spoken narrative.

What makes a good speech?

A great speech includes several key qualities, but three fundamental elements make a speech truly effective:

Clarity and purpose

Remembering the audience, cohesive structure.

While other important factors make a speech a home run, these three elements are essential for writing an effective speech.

The main elements of a good speech

The main elements of a speech typically include:

• Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your speech and grabs the audience's attention. It should include a hook or attention-grabbing opening, introduce the topic, and provide an overview of what will be covered.
• Opening/captivating statement: This is a strong statement that immediately engages the audience and creates curiosity about the speech topics.
• Thesis statement/central idea: The thesis statement or central idea is a concise statement that summarizes the main point or argument of your speech. It serves as a roadmap for the audience to understand what your speech is about.
• Body: The body of the speech is where you elaborate on your main points or arguments. Each point is typically supported by evidence, examples, statistics, or anecdotes. The body should be organized logically and coherently, with smooth transitions between the main points.
• Supporting evidence: This includes facts, data, research findings, expert opinions, or personal stories that support and strengthen your main points. Well-chosen and credible evidence enhances the persuasive power of your speech.
• Transitions: Transitions are phrases or statements that connect different parts of your speech, guiding the audience from one idea to the next. Effective transitions signal the shifts in topics or ideas and help maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.
• Counterarguments and rebuttals (if applicable): If your speech involves addressing opposing viewpoints or counterarguments, you should acknowledge and address them. Presenting counterarguments makes your speech more persuasive and demonstrates critical thinking.
• Conclusion: The conclusion is the final part of your speech and should bring your message to a satisfying close. Summarize your main points, restate your thesis statement, and leave the audience with a memorable closing thought or call to action.
• Closing statement: This is the final statement that leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the main message of your speech. It can be a call to action, a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or a memorable anecdote.
• Delivery and presentation: How you deliver your speech is also an essential element to consider. Pay attention to your tone, body language, eye contact , voice modulation, and timing. Practice and rehearse your speech, and try using the 7-38-55 rule to ensure confident and effective delivery.

While the order and emphasis of these elements may vary depending on the type of speech and audience, these elements provide a framework for organizing and delivering a successful speech.

How to structure a good speech

You know what message you want to transmit, who you’re delivering it to, and even how you want to say it. But you need to know how to start, develop, and close a speech before writing it. 

Think of a speech like an essay. It should have an introduction, conclusion, and body sections in between. This places ideas in a logical order that the audience can better understand and follow them. Learning how to make a speech with an outline gives your storytelling the scaffolding it needs to get its point across.

Here’s a general speech structure to guide your writing process:

• Explanation 1
• Explanation 2
• Explanation 3

How to write a compelling speech opener

Some research shows that engaged audiences pay attention for only 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Other estimates are even lower, citing that people stop listening intently in fewer than 10 minutes . If you make a good first impression at the beginning of your speech, you have a better chance of interesting your audience through the middle when attention spans fade. 

Implementing the INTRO model can help grab and keep your audience’s attention as soon as you start speaking. This acronym stands for interest, need, timing, roadmap, and objectives, and it represents the key points you should hit in an opening. 

Here’s what to include for each of these points: 

• Interest : Introduce yourself or your topic concisely and speak with confidence . Write a compelling opening statement using relevant data or an anecdote that the audience can relate to.
• Needs : The audience is listening to you because they have something to learn. If you’re pitching a new app idea to a panel of investors, those potential partners want to discover more about your product and what they can earn from it. Read the room and gently remind them of the purpose of your speech. 
• Timing : When appropriate, let your audience know how long you’ll speak. This lets listeners set expectations and keep tabs on their own attention span. If a weary audience member knows you’ll talk for 40 minutes, they can better manage their energy as that time goes on. 
• Routemap : Give a brief overview of the three main points you’ll cover in your speech. If an audience member’s attention starts to drop off and they miss a few sentences, they can more easily get their bearings if they know the general outline of the presentation.
• Objectives : Tell the audience what you hope to achieve, encouraging them to listen to the end for the payout. 

Writing the middle of a speech

The body of your speech is the most information-dense section. Facts, visual aids, PowerPoints — all this information meets an audience with a waning attention span. Sticking to the speech structure gives your message focus and keeps you from going off track, making everything you say as useful as possible.

Limit the middle of your speech to three points, and support them with no more than three explanations. Following this model organizes your thoughts and prevents you from offering more information than the audience can retain. 

Using this section of the speech to make your presentation interactive can add interest and engage your audience. Try including a video or demonstration to break the monotony. A quick poll or survey also keeps the audience on their toes. 

Wrapping the speech up

To you, restating your points at the end can feel repetitive and dull. You’ve practiced countless times and heard it all before. But repetition aids memory and learning , helping your audience retain what you’ve told them. Use your speech’s conclusion to summarize the main points with a few short sentences.

Try to end on a memorable note, like posing a motivational quote or a thoughtful question the audience can contemplate once they leave. In proposal or pitch-style speeches, consider landing on a call to action (CTA) that invites your audience to take the next step.

How to write a good speech

If public speaking gives you the jitters, you’re not alone. Roughly 80% of the population feels nervous before giving a speech, and another 10% percent experiences intense anxiety and sometimes even panic. 

The fear of failure can cause procrastination and can cause you to put off your speechwriting process until the last minute. Finding the right words takes time and preparation, and if you’re already feeling nervous, starting from a blank page might seem even harder.

But putting in the effort despite your stress is worth it. Presenting a speech you worked hard on fosters authenticity and connects you to the subject matter, which can help your audience understand your points better. Human connection is all about honesty and vulnerability, and if you want to connect to the people you’re speaking to, they should see that in you.

1. Identify your objectives and target audience

Before diving into the writing process, find healthy coping strategies to help you stop worrying . Then you can define your speech’s purpose, think about your target audience, and start identifying your objectives. Here are some questions to ask yourself and ground your thinking : 

• What purpose do I want my speech to achieve? 
• What would it mean to me if I achieved the speech’s purpose?
• What audience am I writing for? 
• What do I know about my audience? 
• What values do I want to transmit? 
• If the audience remembers one take-home message, what should it be? 
• What do I want my audience to feel, think, or do after I finish speaking? 
• What parts of my message could be confusing and require further explanation?

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for tailoring your speech effectively. Consider the demographics of your audience, their interests, and their expectations. For instance, if you're addressing a group of healthcare professionals, you'll want to use medical terminology and data that resonate with them. Conversely, if your audience is a group of young students, you'd adjust your content to be more relatable to their experiences and interests. 

3. Choose a clear message

Your message should be the central idea that you want your audience to take away from your speech. Let's say you're giving a speech on climate change. Your clear message might be something like, "Individual actions can make a significant impact on mitigating climate change." Throughout your speech, all your points and examples should support this central message, reinforcing it for your audience.

4. Structure your speech

Organizing your speech properly keeps your audience engaged and helps them follow your ideas. The introduction should grab your audience's attention and introduce the topic. For example, if you're discussing space exploration, you could start with a fascinating fact about a recent space mission. In the body, you'd present your main points logically, such as the history of space exploration, its scientific significance, and future prospects. Finally, in the conclusion, you'd summarize your key points and reiterate the importance of space exploration in advancing human knowledge.

5. Use engaging content for clarity

Engaging content includes stories, anecdotes, statistics, and examples that illustrate your main points. For instance, if you're giving a speech about the importance of reading, you might share a personal story about how a particular book changed your perspective. You could also include statistics on the benefits of reading, such as improved cognitive abilities and empathy.

6. Maintain clarity and simplicity

It's essential to communicate your ideas clearly. Avoid using overly technical jargon or complex language that might confuse your audience. For example, if you're discussing a medical breakthrough with a non-medical audience, explain complex terms in simple, understandable language.

7. Practice and rehearse

Practice is key to delivering a great speech. Rehearse multiple times to refine your delivery, timing, and tone. Consider using a mirror or recording yourself to observe your body language and gestures. For instance, if you're giving a motivational speech, practice your gestures and expressions to convey enthusiasm and confidence.

8. Consider nonverbal communication

Your body language, tone of voice, and gestures should align with your message . If you're delivering a speech on leadership, maintain strong eye contact to convey authority and connection with your audience. A steady pace and varied tone can also enhance your speech's impact.

9. Engage your audience

Engaging your audience keeps them interested and attentive. Encourage interaction by asking thought-provoking questions or sharing relatable anecdotes. If you're giving a speech on teamwork, ask the audience to recall a time when teamwork led to a successful outcome, fostering engagement and connection.

10. Prepare for Q&A

Anticipate potential questions or objections your audience might have and prepare concise, well-informed responses. If you're delivering a speech on a controversial topic, such as healthcare reform, be ready to address common concerns, like the impact on healthcare costs or access to services, during the Q&A session.

By following these steps and incorporating examples that align with your specific speech topic and purpose, you can craft and deliver a compelling and impactful speech that resonates with your audience.

Tools for writing a great speech

There are several helpful tools available for speechwriting, both technological and communication-related. Here are a few examples:

• Word processing software: Tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or other word processors provide a user-friendly environment for writing and editing speeches. They offer features like spell-checking, grammar correction, formatting options, and easy revision tracking.
• Presentation software: Software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides is useful when creating visual aids to accompany your speech. These tools allow you to create engaging slideshows with text, images, charts, and videos to enhance your presentation.
• Speechwriting Templates: Online platforms or software offer pre-designed templates specifically for speechwriting. These templates provide guidance on structuring your speech and may include prompts for different sections like introductions, main points, and conclusions.
• Rhetorical devices and figures of speech: Rhetorical tools such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, and parallelism can add impact and persuasion to your speech. Resources like books, websites, or academic papers detailing various rhetorical devices can help you incorporate them effectively.
• Speechwriting apps: Mobile apps designed specifically for speechwriting can be helpful in organizing your thoughts, creating outlines, and composing a speech. These apps often provide features like voice recording, note-taking, and virtual prompts to keep you on track.
• Grammar and style checkers: Online tools or plugins like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor help improve the clarity and readability of your speech by checking for grammar, spelling, and style errors. They provide suggestions for sentence structure, word choice, and overall tone.
• Thesaurus and dictionary: Online or offline resources such as thesauruses and dictionaries help expand your vocabulary and find alternative words or phrases to express your ideas more effectively. They can also clarify meanings or provide context for unfamiliar terms.
• Online speechwriting communities: Joining online forums or communities focused on speechwriting can be beneficial for getting feedback, sharing ideas, and learning from experienced speechwriters. It's an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and improve your public speaking skills through collaboration.

Remember, while these tools can assist in the speechwriting process, it's essential to use them thoughtfully and adapt them to your specific needs and style. The most important aspect of speechwriting remains the creativity, authenticity, and connection with your audience that you bring to your speech.

5 tips for writing a speech

Behind every great speech is an excellent idea and a speaker who refined it. But a successful speech is about more than the initial words on the page, and there are a few more things you can do to help it land.

Here are five more tips for writing and practicing your speech:

1. Structure first, write second

If you start the writing process before organizing your thoughts, you may have to re-order, cut, and scrap the sentences you worked hard on. Save yourself some time by using a speech structure, like the one above, to order your talking points first. This can also help you identify unclear points or moments that disrupt your flow.

2. Do your homework

Data strengthens your argument with a scientific edge. Research your topic with an eye for attention-grabbing statistics, or look for findings you can use to support each point. If you’re pitching a product or service, pull information from company metrics that demonstrate past or potential successes. 

Audience members will likely have questions, so learn all talking points inside and out. If you tell investors that your product will provide 12% returns, for example, come prepared with projections that support that statement.

3. Sound like yourself

Memorable speakers have distinct voices. Think of Martin Luther King Jr’s urgent, inspiring timbre or Oprah’s empathetic, personal tone . Establish your voice — one that aligns with your personality and values — and stick with it. If you’re a motivational speaker, keep your tone upbeat to inspire your audience . If you’re the CEO of a startup, try sounding assured but approachable. 

4. Practice

As you practice a speech, you become more confident , gain a better handle on the material, and learn the outline so well that unexpected questions are less likely to trip you up. Practice in front of a colleague or friend for honest feedback about what you could change, and speak in front of the mirror to tweak your nonverbal communication and body language .

5. Remember to breathe

When you’re stressed, you breathe more rapidly . It can be challenging to talk normally when you can’t regulate your breath. Before your presentation, try some mindful breathing exercises so that when the day comes, you already have strategies that will calm you down and remain present . This can also help you control your voice and avoid speaking too quickly.

How to ghostwrite a great speech for someone else

Ghostwriting a speech requires a unique set of skills, as you're essentially writing a piece that will be delivered by someone else. Here are some tips on how to effectively ghostwrite a speech:

• Understand the speaker's voice and style : Begin by thoroughly understanding the speaker's personality, speaking style, and preferences. This includes their tone, humor, and any personal anecdotes they may want to include.
• Interview the speaker : Have a detailed conversation with the speaker to gather information about their speech's purpose, target audience, key messages, and any specific points they want to emphasize. Ask for personal stories or examples they may want to include.
• Research thoroughly : Research the topic to ensure you have a strong foundation of knowledge. This helps you craft a well-informed and credible speech.
• Create an outline : Develop a clear outline that includes the introduction, main points, supporting evidence, and a conclusion. Share this outline with the speaker for their input and approval.
• Write in the speaker's voice : While crafting the speech, maintain the speaker's voice and style. Use language and phrasing that feel natural to them. If they have a particular way of expressing ideas, incorporate that into the speech.
• Craft a captivating opening : Begin the speech with a compelling opening that grabs the audience's attention. This could be a relevant quote, an interesting fact, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking question.
• Organize content logically : Ensure the speech flows logically, with each point building on the previous one. Use transitions to guide the audience from one idea to the next smoothly.
• Incorporate engaging stories and examples : Include anecdotes, stories, and real-life examples that illustrate key points and make the speech relatable and memorable.
• Edit and revise : Edit the speech carefully for clarity, grammar, and coherence. Ensure the speech is the right length and aligns with the speaker's time constraints.
• Seek feedback : Share drafts of the speech with the speaker for their feedback and revisions. They may have specific changes or additions they'd like to make.
• Practice delivery : If possible, work with the speaker on their delivery. Practice the speech together, allowing the speaker to become familiar with the content and your writing style.
• Maintain confidentiality : As a ghostwriter, it's essential to respect the confidentiality and anonymity of the work. Do not disclose that you wrote the speech unless you have the speaker's permission to do so.
• Be flexible : Be open to making changes and revisions as per the speaker's preferences. Your goal is to make them look good and effectively convey their message.
• Meet deadlines : Stick to agreed-upon deadlines for drafts and revisions. Punctuality and reliability are essential in ghostwriting.
• Provide support : Support the speaker during their preparation and rehearsal process. This can include helping with cue cards, speech notes, or any other materials they need.

Remember that successful ghostwriting is about capturing the essence of the speaker while delivering a well-structured and engaging speech. Collaboration, communication, and adaptability are key to achieving this.

Give your best speech yet

Learn how to make a speech that’ll hold an audience’s attention by structuring your thoughts and practicing frequently. Put the effort into writing and preparing your content, and aim to improve your breathing, eye contact , and body language as you practice. The more you work on your speech, the more confident you’ll become.

The energy you invest in writing an effective speech will help your audience remember and connect to every concept. Remember: some life-changing philosophies have come from good speeches, so give your words a chance to resonate with others. You might even change their thinking.

Elevate your communication skills

Unlock the power of clear and persuasive communication. Our coaches can guide you to build strong relationships and succeed in both personal and professional life.

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

Self-management skills for a messy world

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A Guide To Making Your Speech Interesting

Hrideep barot.

• Speech Writing

Everyone knows how to talk, but only a few know how to  speak . 

The words, however clichéd they might sound, are true. 

As is the fact that, even if you know how to  speak , no one’s really going to recognize it unless you manage to spark enough interest to make them actually  listen to  your speech. 

Listen to. Not  hear . 

Just like the words ‘talking’ and ‘speaking’, there’s a subtle but important difference between  listening to  something and merely  hearing  it. 

Delivering a speech that’s both powerful and persuasive is a tricky job. Add  interesting  to the mix and to most people (especially if you’re an introvert by nature) the task begins to sound downright torturous. 

But, worry not! 

The secret to both, delivering an interesting speech and cooking a lip-smacking dish is the same: it’s not a single ingredient, rather an amalgamation of them that makes it magnificent.

An interesting speech needs not only to pique your readers’ interest but also to sustain it. There are a variety of factors that go into its making, ranging from the length and phrasing of your speech to your skill with storytelling techniques and using props.

Still confused? Stick till the end of this article and I guarantee you’ll be out of your quandary. 

What Makes A Speech Boring?

Before we delve into how to deliver a speech that’s going to leave your audience speechless, let’s skim over the other side of the equation: what makes a speech boring?

Continuing with the lip-smacking dish metaphor, a boring speech isn’t the consequence of a single but multiple elements that go into the making of it. A few of them are:

You’ve messed up the beginning

The beginning of the speech is one of its most important components. It’s also where most people tend to mess up.

While introducing yourself is important, you don’t want to spend a quarter of your allotted time providing information about yourself or telling your life story. Try to get to the point as quickly as possible.

Many inexperienced speakers tend to start off their speech by thanking someone. While showcasing your gratitude as a speaker is important, save your thanks for the end of your speech instead of its beginning.

It’s Too Complex

Another factor that makes a speech boring is making it too long or too complex or worse: both. Try to keep your speech to the time limit or slightly under it. Whatever you do, don’t exceed the time limit.

You haven’t structured it properly

Another common ingredient in boring speeches is the structure. Or rather, a lack of structure. A lot of speakers tend to throw points around without tying them together.

Or they might end the speech abruptly, perhaps after realizing that they’ve run out of time, pilfering the audience of a satisfactory conclusion. Just like beginnings, endings matter too, and this is another area where most speakers tend to make mistakes–or downright ignore it.

There’s nothing unique about it

If there’s nothing in your speech that stands out or makes it unique, then the odds are in the favor of your viewers forgetting about the speech the moment you finish delivering it. You can practice your speech a hundred times, but if there’s nothing distinctive about it, then your efforts are for nothing as nobody’s going to be actually hearing it.

So, next time you’re practicing your speech in front of the mirror, ask yourself: what’s different about my speech than the hundreds of other speeches that are delivered everyday?

No Storytelling

Churning out information without giving it some form of a narrative structure is another factor that guarantees for a boring speech. If you’re simply mentioning facts and figures, you’re going to lose your reader’s interest before it’s even piqued. If you wish to captivate your audience’s attention, then one of the best ways to do it is delivering your speech like you’re telling a story.

After all, who doesn’t like a good story?

Steps To Make Your Speech Interesting

If you’ve ever daydreamed through a drab speech delivered by insert-the-name-of-a-random-authoritative-figure in your school days, you know exactly how long a thirty (or if it’s your lucky day,  sixty)  minute talk can be. 

I’ve been there. You’ve been there. We’ve all been there. 

And I’m certain that none of us want to be there again. 

Especially  not if  we’re  the ones delivering the speech. 

To make sure you land on the sweet spot named ‘the-most-interesting-speech-I’ve-ever-heard’ and keep you from stumbling into the deep, deep pit of ‘a lecture’, I’ve listed out some points for you below. 

1. Keep It Short & Sweet

Studies have shown that the optimal attention span for an audience (that is, the attention span that can be retained by an interested human listening to a speaker) is about twenty minutes. 

This doesn’t mean that people will be unerringly focused on your speech for twenty minutes and then promptly lose interest the moment the time is up. What it means is that you need to structure your speech in such a way that you can optimize your audience’s attention span.

Look, I know that most speeches are going to last longer than twenty minutes. However, you don’t have to necessarily speak for twenty minutes non-stop. To get around the 20 minute barrier, you can break your talk into different components, with each constituent lasting for around twenty minutes. 

Make a smooth transition between the different components by giving your audience enough time to relax and then begin to refocus their attention on what you’re saying. 

This way, not only will you be able to hold their interest for longer, but you will also increase the chances of them remembering important bits of your speech long after you’ve finished speaking. 

2. Choose your words wisely 

“ Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” 

These words by Martin Luther King Jr. are a great example of how a sentence doesn’t necessarily have to be long and employ eloquent language to be powerful. 

On the contrary, concise sentences where no word is redundant but rather every character is handpicked so that it adds to the overall meaning have a far greater impact as well as reach.

I’m not asking you to cut down on important points or to use banal words in order to fit the above description. 

Rather, I’m asking you to ask yourself while you’re writing the speech: is there anything that I’ve said in fifty words that could be better said in ten or five words?

Go through your speech multiple times to make sure that no word or sentence is redundant. If you find a paragraph or sentence that you feel doesn’t really add anything impactful to your speech, cut it out. It may actually be taking something away from your speech, and after deleting the extra part, you might find that your speech sounds better. 

You can also take the use of Thesaurus or other online dictionaries to discover new words or phrases that might help you express your ideas more concisely. 

3. Grab Their Attention In The Beginning 

I’ve got a question for you: how do you decide whether you want to buy a particular book? 

Most people (many more than who care to admit it, anyway) either choose the much-denounced path of judging-a-book-by-it’s-cover or they read the synopsis at the back of the cover or skim through the first couple of pages to glean an idea of whether it’s worthwhile to spend their precious time or money on a particular title. 

Because authors/agents are smart, they know that if they can’t hook you in the beginning, you’re going to drift away. This is why the first line in a book is always an attention-grabber. 

The same rule can be transcribed to a public speech: grab their attention in the beginning or stand to lose it before you even reach the end of the beginning. 

Make the opening lines of your speech one of the most—if not the most—intriguing parts of it. There are many ways to do this. 

You could start with an anecdote, for one. Or you could ask your audience a question. You could even go with a joke or a fun-fact. 

What matters is the shock-value. You want to give the audience a taste of what the rest of your speech is going to be like. You want them to feel like the time and/or money that they’ve invested is going to be worthwhile. 

4. Make Them Laugh 

A day without laughter is a day wasted. 

While I certainly agree with Charlie Chaplin’s famous words, I have altered them into my personal motto: a speech without laughter is an opportunity wasted. 

Now, I’m not saying that you want your audience to be rolling on their stomach throughout your speech (unless you’re doing a stand-up comedy). I understand that might be counter-productive. I also understand that sometimes cracking a joke during a speech might not even be encouraged or even appropriate. 

However, if there is nothing to stop you from adding a dose of humor to your speech but uncertainty about your own comic timing, then my friend, you have wasted a glorious opportunity. 

Some of the best speeches in the world, which have been viewed by millions of people all around the globe besides standing the test of time, have humor in them. A majority of the most successful public speakers in the world have natural charisma, charm, and a good sense of humor. 

Take Barack Obama, for instance. Many of his speeches are punctuated with comic jabs and funny anecdotes, and that is a key factor that makes his speeches so interesting to hear, besides making him more relatable—more human, like them—to the audience. 

5. Tell Them Stories  

Who doesn’t love a good story? 

Stories not only help make your speech more interesting, but they might also strike a personal chord with your audience, thus making you more relatable and increasing the chances of cementing your speech in their minds. 

Anecdotes, when used as examples, can also make it easier for your audience to understand a complex message or point. 

Besides, you can use stories as a transition when you’re moving from one important or critical component of your speech to another. This will give your audience a break from the more serious bits of your speech and allow them to return to the next part in a fresher state of mind. 

Stories make you more human in your audience’s mind. Especially if they resonate with the audience’s own experiences, they might make the onlookers think of you as one of  them. 

However, make sure that your transition into storytelling territory is smooth. Don’t randomly add a story to any part of your speech. This will not only make your speech sound awkward but might also throw off your audience and confuse them. 

A good place to add an anecdote is at the beginning of your speech or the end of it (the middle also works, but as I mentioned before, provided that your transition is smooth). If you add a story to the beginning of your speech, it can act as an attention-grabber

If you add it in the end, try to choose something that will resonate with your audience and make your speech linger in their minds long after you’ve finished speaking. 

6. Express Yourself Expressively 

If there’s one thing that’s worse than a sixty-minute uninterrupted speech, it’s a sixty-minute uninterrupted speech with a speaker that is as expressive as a rock. 

Speaking  isn’t the only component of a good speech. 

How  you speak is just as important as  what  you speak. 

Facial gestures, hand movements, body language, the pitch and timbre of your voice…all these are as crucial to the delivering of an interesting speech as the speech itself. 

No matter how intriguing the contents of your speech, if you deliver them monotonously and in an unanimated way, then you can kiss capturing your audience’s attention goodbye. 

To understand, try remembering a speech that really moved you. Now recall the most boring speech you’ve ever heard in your entire life. 

Ask yourself: what makes these two speeches so different? 

Chances are, one of the key points that made the first speech especially interesting and memorable and the second speech especially uninteresting and drab was the manner in which the speaker delivered the talk. 

7. Use Concrete Evidence & Simple Language

An important thing to keep in mind is using concrete evidence. This includes things like numbers, statistics, real-life incidents, facts, photographs, etc. If you don’t ground your story in real life, then it might be too abstract for your audience to connect with. 

While using grandiose language might make you sound impressive, using complex grammar or words plucked from some random page off of a thick dictionary is going to make it difficult—if not impossible—for the general public to connect with you. If they cannot understand what you’re saying, how will they remember it?

Thus, it is always wise to be cognizant of your audience’s intellectual capacity or their familiarity with the particular language you’re going to be delivering your speech in. If your audience is not native to the language, try to keep your word-choice as humble as possible. And even if they are, it’s best not to flaunt your verbosity.

8. Know & Understand Your Audience

What’s your audience going to consist of? Is it going to be mainly comprised of college-going adults or school-going kids? Do a majority of them belong to a minority community or do they share some common privileges?

By doing prior research on your audience, you can structure your speech in such a way as to incorporate things that they are familiar with and will be able to relate to. This will help them formulate a connection with you, the speaker, and thus increase chances of them remembering you in the future.

9. Interact With The Audience

The more involved your audience is in your speech, the greater the chances that they will remember it. People like being made to feel like their opinions—and they—matter. Try to ask questions to your audience, and also to encourage them to ask questions to you. You can do this by adding a question-answer round at the end of your speech.

Tell funny stories and ask them to share their own experiences with you. As mentioned before, cracking jokes is another good way of connecting with your audience. 

10. The Ending Matters Too

The ending of your speech is just as important as the beginning. While the beginning helps set the tone for your speech and give the audience an idea of what to expect from their speaker, the ending is the big takeaway after you’ve finished speaking.

The note that you end your speech at is going to determine whether your audience thinks and discusses about your speech long after you’ve finished speaking or if they mumble a few words and forget about it a couple of moments after it finishes.

Like disappointing book or movie endings, a substandard end to a speech can leave a bitter taste in your mouth—to make matters worse, a bad ending might also ruin everything that came before it. On the contrary, a good ending can have the exact opposite effect and make your story resonate in your audience’s mind long, long after you’ve finished speaking. 

Need some inspiration for a resonant ending? Check out our article on 15 Powerful Speech Ending Lines (And Tips to Create Your Own) for some inspiration!

7 secret ingredients to spice up your speech

“Memory is a strange thing. It doesn’t work as I thought it did.”

These lines, enunciated by the amazing Louise Banks in the movie Arrival, perfectly capture the elusive nature of human memory. We remember things we’re supposed to forget. We forget things we’re supposed to remember (like where you kept those goddamned car keys). The human brain works in mysterious ways, period.

Since we’re not yet smart enough to out-smart our own brain (if that makes any sense), how do we side-step the obstacle of the ever-changing nature of memory and cement your awesome speech in your audience’s mind for years to come?

Well, for starters, the above-listed points are a good means to not only make your speech interesting but also interesting enough to be memorable. But there are a few additional things that you can do to increase the chances of immortalizing (or getting as close to it as possible, anyway) your speech in your audience’s mind.

A few other things you can do to make your speech memorable are:

1. Using Props

The apt use of a well-suited propped can add that extra kick that can catapult your presentation from good to awesome. For example, if you’re giving a speech on environmental degradation, you can take the model of a forest with you to physically demonstrate the effects of the degradation of forests.

However, while using props, you need to keep a few things in mind. Make sure that the prop that you use is relevant to the message. Also, don’t use too many of them. Another thing to keep in mind is that your prop is appropriate for and clearly visible to your audience.

2. Playing a game

Adding a short game round in the middle of your speech is another great way of making yourself stand out, besides giving the audience a chance to promote themselves from mere spectators to active members of the event.

However, just like while using props, make sure that the game you choose is appropriate and relevant to the topic. Another thing to keep in mind is to not make the game too long or complicated. Remember that you want whatever game you chose to add to your speech and not distract your audience from it.

3. How about a video?

While you can certainly include an interesting video or clip that you found on YouTube or from the internet, one way to make your speech stand out is to record something beforehand and include it in during your speech.

The video can comprise anything, from a factual documentary to a short movie to a speech that you’ve given in the past to a personal attempt at stand-up comedy! Not only will it give your audience a break from listening, but it will also allow you a chance to breathe and grab a quick sip of water or just a moment to yourself before you dive into the next part of your speech.

4. Using Different Storytelling Approaches

As mentioned before, telling stories are a great way of engaging your audience. You can also take this advice a step further by specifically incorporating various storytelling techniques in your presentation.

For example, the Rags to Riches Approach is focused on portraying a certain character (generally the protagonist) rise from poverty to achieving, not without a good deal of struggle, wealth, and status.

By inculcating this technique in your speech or presentation, you increase the chances of connecting with your audience, as life struggles are something that most people can resonate with. For more similar techniques, check out our article on 9 Storytelling Approaches For Your Next Speech Or Presentation.

5. Adding Impromptu Activities

An impromptu game is exactly what it sounds like: it’s a spontaneously chosen game that hasn’t been predetermined by you, the speaker. Instead, any time during course of your speech, ask your audience members to pitch in with any game suggestions that come to their mind.

If there are many suggestions, then go with the one that gets the most number of votes. Let the audience be the decision makers for once!  

6. Use Audience Polls

This is another great way to increase increase the audience’s involvement even further! Not only this, but an audience poll can also help you glean an insight into your audience’s mind! You can use the poll to ask a variety of questions. For eg. if you’re delivering a speech about facing racism at workplace, you could ask the audience if any one of them has faced racism in their own workplace before. 

7. Get People To Join You On The Stage

You can do this in two ways. First, you could invite other experts of or people related to your topic.

For instance, if you’re launching a beauty product, you could invite on the stage people who’ve used your product in the past and can vouch for it. Another way to do this is to invite members of the audience to join you on stage!

This will take your audience’s involvement to another level, as you are inviting them to be a part of the space that’s been traditionally reserved for speakers. You could ask them for their feedback, or ask if they’ve got any questions for you, or even if they want to pitch in with a short speech on the topic themselves! 

Examples of Interesting Speeches

I’ve linked below videos to some of the most popular speeches in world history. As you watch them, focus on how the speaker is delivering the speech. Note their body language and facial expressions, their hand-gestures, and intonations. Study the videos and try to inculcate what you learn from them into your own speech. 

1. T he Speech That Made Obama President :

Without a doubt, Barack Obama is one of the most gifted orators of our time. This is one of the best speeches that he delivered.

As you watch it, notice how he interacts with his audience, keeping them engaged throughout the speech and making them feel involved in it.

Use what you learned from your observation of the former president to understand how you can keep your audience involved in your speeches and make it a better experience for them overall.

2. Martin Luther King Jr.: I Have A Dream :

This remains one of the most-watched and admired speeches throughout history. And for good reason! The speech employed flawless rhetoric. Not a word used in this speech was redundant. Although it lasted merely sixteen minutes, it got across more information in that time than speeches that last twice as long. Listen to the words used in the speech very carefully.

For a more in-depth analysis of the language, you can also lookup the transcript of the speech online.

Use the information gleaned from this analysis to learn how to use language more effectively as well as efficiently in your speech.

Check out our article on Drawing Public Speaking Lessons From ‘ I Have A Dream ‘ for a more detailed analysis of the speech.

3. Michelle Obama Final First Lady Speech :

This is one of the best speeches that I’ve heard.

As you watch it, keep an eye on Michelle’s body language and facial expressions throughout the speech. For example, the way she uses hand gestures to emphasize a point, or how her expression changes when she’s talking about something serious versus when the topic is something lighter.

You can use this as a guideline to understand how to effectively employ body-language during your speech to increase it’s impact.

4. Inside The Mind Of A Master Procrastinator :

This is one of the most interactive Ted Talks I’ve come across.

Especially notice how the speaker makes use of comic caricatures and other attractive visual imagery on the screen behind him to make his presentation more engaging.

Also, notice how he keeps involving his audience in his speech, making frequent references to them and mentioning things that are easily relatable, to make it a more lively experience. You, too, can make use of visuals that your audience can easily relate to in order to make it easier for them to connect to what you’re saying.

To sum it up, an interesting speech is a result of a successful combination of factors. These include having a powerful opening as well as ending, the effective employment of language, humor and storytelling techniques, respecting the time limit as well as your audience, and adding sprinkle of uniqueness to make it truly memorable.

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Ace the Presentation

Entertaining Speech: 6 Tips for Amusing your Audience

An entertaining speech is not a mere joke, it’s the art of delivering valuable information in an amusing and interesting way. Many people make the mistake of thinking of it as just another joke, while in fact, you could very well entertain people in all sorts of ways. Let’s start with a clear definition of an entertaining speech…

This is one of our posts on the types of speech series, should you be interested in learning about other types of speeches, please click on of the links below when you are done reading this article. For now, let us dive into how to deliver a memorable and effective entertaining speech first.

Part I. 8 Persuasive Speech Techniques & Topics

Part II . 9 Tips for Writing and Amazing Informative Speech and 120+ Topic Ideas

Part III. 5 Quick Tips on how to Give an Effective Motivational Speech

Part IV. 15 Demonstration Speech Ideas and Techniques

Part V. How to Give an Effective Special Occasion Speech?

Part VI. 6 Key Tips for a Memorable Entertaining Speech + Topics and Ideas

Part VII. Explanatory Speech: 7 Key Tips to Help You Deliver an Effective Speech

Part VIII. 5-Step Strategy for an Effective Debate and Speech Delivery

Part IX. 7 Oratory Secrets: How to Deliver Effective Oratorical Speeches

Part X. Public Speaking Contests: 7 Ways to Nail at Forensic Speech Competitions

Part XI. 80+ Impromptu Speech Topics & 7 Ways to Nail One

Part XII. 13 Ways to Effectively Deliver Pitching Presentations

Part XIII. Farewell Speech – An 8-step guide to help you deliver a Memorable one

Part XIV. Eulogy Guide: How to Give a Heartfelt Funeral Speech (with 4 Eulogy examples)

HOW TO GIVE AN EFFECTIVE ENTERTAINING SPEECH? 6 Basic Tips

All speeches should be entertaining. Of course, it all depends on the occasion and the audience. But I believe everyone should try to make their speeches as entertaining as possible.

Here are some tips to consider in giving an entertaining speech

1. set the tone.

How you start your speech is important. How you begin will either make your audience relax and look forward to what you have to say or become defensive and nit-pick your every word. A joke, witty comment or an unusual greeting are all great options. For maximum effect, make sure you understand your audience, know what to say to get them into a relaxed mood. Stories on the state of the economy will appeal to adults while the latest Disney cartoon will resonate with kids.

However, there is no one size fits all, your opening might not appeal to everyone in the room, but if you have a majority on your side, you are set. The fun energy will hopefully transfer to the other “less-impressed” members of the audience as the speech goes on.

Here’s 10 best tips on how to start your Speech with a Bang!

2. STRUCTURE IS STILL IMPORTANT

Related Article: 4-Stage Strategy on How to Outline your Speech

3. ENGAGE THE AUDIENCE

When it comes to delivering entertaining speeches, its all about confidence. Your audience needs to see you as someone who is worth listening to. If you believe you have no confidence, then fake being confident when giving an entertaining speech, who knows? That confidence might stick you.

Constantly interact with your audience, ask questions, give relatable examples and tell funny and emotional stories. Another great way to engage your audience is to have your audience perform one task or the other, like raising their hands, standing to their feet or yelling out some words. Always be aware of the overall mood in the room, if the energy seems to have tanked, drop a bombshell to get things going again.

4. USE SIMPLE LANGUAGE

How do you intend to entertain your audience if they can’t even understand what you are saying? An entertaining speech shouldn’t be an avenue for you to talk about the nuances of quantum physics, except if your audience is made up of physics professors.

Use language and words that your audience will have no trouble understanding. You don’t want your audience trying to figure out what the words you are speaking mean instead of enjoying your speech. Avoid touchy subjects. An entertaining speech shouldn’t be used to advance any agenda your audience may not agree with. All in all, keep it simple.

5. USE TIME AS AN ALLY

6. a memorable ending is the way to go.

Keep the best stuff for last. Make those ending moments as memorable as possible. Your audience might not remember all that you said during your speech, but your conclusion has the potential to stay with them for a while. Put some effort into crafting concluding sentences that can’t easily be forgotten.

ENTERTAINING SPEECH TOPICS

• Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
• Why you should try meditation.
• Why we need to take care of our planet.
• How to stay grateful.
• How to communicate in the 21 st century.
• Online dating, good or bad.
• Here’s why you should skip college.
• Why you should learn a new language.
• Dogs are truly man’s best friend.
•  How will future cities look like?
• Is world peace attainable?
• Half-full or half empty.
• What does it mean to be an average person?
• Where do we go when we die?
• What does happiness mean to you?
• Is following your passion a good idea?
• How would you tackle world problems relating to lack?
• Books you need to read before you die.
• Does being normal do you any good?
• Movies that will change your life.
• How to best describe yourself.
• How to get fired.
• Do lawyers actually lie?
• How to get arrested.
• Fake it till you make it.

Rules and principles aside, it’s important that you be yourself. Sincerity and honesty will always crack any audience, any day, anytime. Be sure to enjoy every moment of your speech and hopefully your audience will too. Draw upon your unique strengths and abilities in giving an awesome speech that your audience won’t forget in a hurry.

REFERENCES & FURTHER READING

https://answershark.com/writing/informal-presentations-and-speeches/how-to-write-entertaining-presentation.html

Entertaining Speech Topics [195 Ideas To Keep Audience Engaged]

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How to write a good speech in 7 steps

By:  Susan Dugdale  

- an easily followed format for writing a great speech

Did you know writing a speech doesn't have be an anxious, nail biting experience?

Unsure? Don't be.

You may have lived with the idea you were never good with words for a long time. Or perhaps giving speeches at school brought you out in cold sweats.

However learning how to write a speech is relatively straight forward when you learn to write out loud.

And that's the journey I am offering to take you on: step by step.

To learn quickly, go slow

Take all the time you need. This speech format has 7 steps, each building on the next.

Walk, rather than run, your way through all of them. Don't be tempted to rush. Familiarize yourself with the ideas. Try them out.

I know there are well-advertised short cuts and promises of 'write a speech in 5 minutes'. However in reality they only truly work for somebody who already has the basic foundations of speech writing in place.

The foundation of good speech writing 

These steps are the backbone of sound speech preparation. Learn and follow them well at the outset and yes, given more experience and practice you could probably flick something together quickly. Like any skill, the more it's used, the easier it gets.

In the meantime...

Step 1: Begin with a speech overview or outline

Are you in a hurry? Without time to read a whole page? Grab ... The Quick How to Write a Speech Checklist And come back to get the details later.

• WHO you are writing your speech for (your target audience)
• WHY you are preparing this speech. What's the main purpose of your speech? Is it to inform or tell your audience about something? To teach them a new skill or demonstrate something? To persuade or to entertain? (See 4 types of speeches: informative, demonstrative, persuasive and special occasion or entertaining for more.) What do you want them to think, feel or do as a result of listening the speech?
• WHAT your speech is going to be about (its topic) - You'll want to have thought through your main points and have ranked them in order of importance. And have sorted the supporting research you need to make those points effectively.
• HOW much time you have for your speech eg. 3 minutes, 5 minutes... The amount of time you've been allocated dictates how much content you need. If you're unsure check this page: how many words per minute in a speech: a quick reference guide . You'll find estimates of the number of words required for 1 - 10 minute speeches by slow, medium and fast talkers.

Use an outline

The best way to make sure you deliver a perfect speech is to start by carefully completing a speech outline covering the essentials: WHO, WHY, WHAT and HOW.

Beginning to write without thinking your speech through is a bit like heading off on a journey not knowing why you're traveling or where you're going to end up. You can find yourself lost in a deep, dark, murky muddle of ideas very quickly!

Pulling together a speech overview or outline is a much safer option. It's the map you'll follow to get where you want to go.

Get a blank speech outline template to complete

Click the link to find out a whole lot more about preparing a speech outline . ☺ You'll also find a free printable blank speech outline template.  I recommend using it!

Understanding speech construction

Before you begin to write, using your completed outline as a guide, let's briefly look at what you're aiming to prepare.

• an opening or introduction
• the body where the bulk of the information is given
• and an ending (or summary).

Imagine your speech as a sandwich

If you think of a speech as a sandwich you'll get the idea.

The opening and ending are the slices of bread holding the filling (the major points or the body of your speech) together.

You can build yourself a simple sandwich with one filling (one big idea) or you could go gourmet and add up to three or, even five. The choice is yours.

But whatever you choose to serve, as a good cook, you need to consider who is going to eat it! And that's your audience.

So let's find out who they are before we do anything else. 

Step 2: Know who you are talking to

Understanding your audience.

Did you know a  good speech is never written from the speaker's point of view?  ( If you need to know more about why check out this page on  building rapport .)

Begin with the most important idea/point on your outline.

Consider HOW you can explain (show, tell) that to your audience in the most effective way for them to easily understand it.   

Writing from the audience's point of view

To help you write from an audience point of view, it's a good idea to identify either a real person or the type of person who is most likely to be listening to you.

Make sure you select someone who represents the "majority" of the people who will be in your audience. That is they are neither struggling to comprehend you at the bottom of your scale or light-years ahead at the top.

Now imagine they are sitting next to you eagerly waiting to hear what you're going to say. Give them a name, for example, Joe, to help make them real.

Ask yourself

• How do I need to tailor my information to meet Joe's needs? For example, do you tell personal stories to illustrate your main points? Absolutely! Yes. This is a very powerful technique. (Click storytelling in speeches to find out more.)
• What type or level of language is right for Joe as well as my topic? For example if I use jargon (activity, industry or profession specific vocabulary) will it be understood?

Step 3: Writing as you speak

Writing oral language.

Write down what you want to say about your first main point as if you were talking directly to Joe.

If it helps, say it all out loud before you write it down and/or record it.

Use the information below as a guide

(Click to download The Characteristics of Spoken Language  as a pdf.) 

You do not have to write absolutely everything you're going to say down * but you do need to write down, or outline, the sequence of ideas to ensure they are logical and easily followed.

Remember too, to explain or illustrate your point with examples from your research. 

( * Tip: If this is your first speech the safety net of having everything written down could be just what you need. It's easier to recover from a patch of jitters when you have a word by word manuscript than if you have either none, or a bare outline. Your call!)

Step 4: Checking tone and language

The focus of this step is re-working what you've done in Step 2 and 3.

You identified who you were talking to (Step 2) and in Step 3, wrote up your first main point.  Is it right? Have you made yourself clear?  Check it.

How well you complete this step depends on how well you understand the needs of the people who are going to listen to your speech.

Please do not assume because you know what you're talking about the person (Joe) you've chosen to represent your audience will too. Joe is not a mind-reader!

How to check what you've prepared

• Check the "tone" of your language . Is it right for the occasion, subject matter and your audience?
• Check the length of your sentences. You need short sentences. If they're too long or complicated you risk losing your listeners.

Check for jargon too. These are industry, activity or group exclusive words.

For instance take the phrase: authentic learning . This comes from teaching and refers to connecting lessons to the daily life of students. Authentic learning is learning that is relevant and meaningful for students. If you're not a teacher you may not understand the phrase.

The use of any vocabulary requiring insider knowledge needs to be thought through from the audience perspective. Jargon can close people out.

• Read what you've written out loud. If it flows naturally, in a logical manner, continue the process with your next main idea. If it doesn't, rework.

We use whole sentences and part ones, and we mix them up with asides or appeals e.g. "Did you get that? Of course you did. Right...Let's move it along. I was saying ..."

Click for more about the differences between spoken and written language .

And now repeat the process

Repeat this process for the remainder of your main ideas.

Because you've done the first one carefully, the rest should follow fairly easily.

Step 5: Use transitions

Providing links or transitions between main ideas.

Between each of your main ideas you need to provide a bridge or pathway for your audience. The clearer the pathway or bridge, the easier it is for them to make the transition from one idea to the next.

If your speech contains more than three main ideas and each is building on the last, then consider using a "catch-up" or summary as part of your transitions.

Is your speech being evaluated? Find out exactly what aspects you're being assessed on using this standard speech evaluation form

Link/transition examples

A link can be as simple as:

"We've explored one scenario for the ending of Block Buster 111, but let's consider another. This time..."

What follows this transition is the introduction of Main Idea Two.

Here's a summarizing link/transition example:

"We've ended Blockbuster 111 four ways so far. In the first, everybody died. In the second, everybody died BUT their ghosts remained to haunt the area. In the third, one villain died. His partner reformed and after a fight-out with the hero, they both strode off into the sunset, friends forever. In the fourth, the hero dies in a major battle but is reborn sometime in the future.

And now what about one more? What if nobody died? The fifth possibility..."

Go back through your main ideas checking the links. Remember Joe as you go. Try each transition or link out loud and really listen to yourself. Is it obvious? Easily followed?

Keep them if they are clear and concise.

For more about transitions (with examples) see Andrew Dlugan's excellent article, Speech Transitions: Magical words and Phrases .

Step 6: The end of your speech

The ideal ending is highly memorable . You want it to live on in the minds of your listeners long after your speech is finished. Often it combines a call to action with a summary of major points.

Example speech endings

Example 1: The desired outcome of a speech persuading people to vote for you in an upcoming election is that they get out there on voting day and do so. You can help that outcome along by calling them to register their support by signing a prepared pledge statement as they leave.

"We're agreed we want change. You can help us give it to you by signing this pledge statement as you leave. Be part of the change you want to see!

Example 2: The desired outcome is increased sales figures. The call to action is made urgent with the introduction of time specific incentives.

"You have three weeks from the time you leave this hall to make that dream family holiday in New Zealand yours. Can you do it? Will you do it? The kids will love it. Your wife will love it. Do it now!"

How to figure out the right call to action

A clue for working out what the most appropriate call to action might be, is to go back to your original purpose for giving the speech.

• Was it to motivate or inspire?
• Was it to persuade to a particular point of view?
• Was it to share specialist information?
• Was it to celebrate a person, a place, time or event?

Ask yourself what you want people to do as a result of having listened to your speech.

For more about ending speeches

Visit this page for more about how to end a speech effectively . You'll find two additional types of speech endings with examples.

Write and test

Write your ending and test it out loud. Try it out on a friend, or two. Is it good? Does it work?

Step 7: The introduction

Once you've got the filling (main ideas) the linking and the ending in place, it's time to focus on the introduction.

The introduction comes last as it's the most important part of your speech. This is the bit that either has people sitting up alert or slumped and waiting for you to end. It's the tone setter!

What makes a great speech opening?

Ideally you want an opening that makes listening to you the only thing the 'Joes' in the audience want to do.

You want them to forget they're hungry or that their chair is hard or that their bills need paying.

The way to do that is to capture their interest straight away. You do this with a "hook".

Hooks to catch your audience's attention

Hooks come in as many forms as there are speeches and audiences. Your task is work out what specific hook is needed to catch your audience.

Go back to the purpose. Why are you giving this speech?

Once you have your answer, consider your call to action. What do you want the audience to do, and, or take away, as a result of listening to you?

Next think about the imaginary or real person you wrote for when you were focusing on your main ideas.

Choosing the best hook

• Is it humor?
• Would shock tactics work?
• Is it a rhetorical question?
• Is it formality or informality?
• Is it an outline or overview of what you're going to cover, including the call to action?
• Or is it a mix of all these elements?

A hook example

Here's an example from a fictional political speech. The speaker is lobbying for votes. His audience are predominately workers whose future's are not secure.

"How's your imagination this morning? Good? (Pause for response from audience) Great, I'm glad. Because we're going to put it to work starting right now.

I want you to see your future. What does it look like? Are you happy? Is everything as you want it to be? No? Let's change that. We could do it. And we could do it today.

At the end of this speech you're going to be given the opportunity to change your world, for a better one ...

No, I'm not a magician. Or a simpleton with big ideas and precious little commonsense. I'm an ordinary man, just like you. And I have a plan to share!"

And then our speaker is off into his main points supported by examples. The end, which he has already foreshadowed in his opening, is the call to vote for him.

Prepare several hooks

Experiment with several openings until you've found the one that serves your audience, your subject matter and your purpose best.

For many more examples of speech openings go to: how to write a speech introduction . You'll find 12 of the very best ways to start a speech.

That completes the initial seven steps towards writing your speech. If you've followed them all the way through, congratulations, you now have the text of your speech!

Although you might have the words, you're still a couple of steps away from being ready to deliver them. Both of them are essential if you want the very best outcome possible. They are below. Please take them.

Step 8: Checking content and timing

This step pulls everything together.

Check once, check twice, check three times & then once more!

Go through your speech really carefully.

On the first read through check you've got your main points in their correct order with supporting material, plus an effective introduction and ending.

On the second read through check the linking passages or transitions making sure they are clear and easily followed.

On the third reading check your sentence structure, language use and tone.

Double, triple check the timing

Now go though once more.

This time read it aloud slowly and time yourself.

If it's too long for the time allowance you've been given make the necessary cuts.

Start by looking at your examples rather than the main ideas themselves. If you've used several examples to illustrate one principal idea, cut the least important out.

Also look to see if you've repeated yourself unnecessarily or, gone off track. If it's not relevant, cut it.

Repeat the process, condensing until your speech fits the required length, preferably coming in just under your time limit.

You can also find out how approximately long it will take you to say the words you have by using this very handy words to minutes converter . It's an excellent tool, one I frequently use. While it can't give you a precise time, it does provide a reasonable estimate.

Step 9: Rehearsing your speech

And NOW you are finished with writing the speech, and are ready for REHEARSAL .

Please don't be tempted to skip this step. It is not an extra thrown in for good measure. It's essential.

The "not-so-secret" secret of successful speeches combines good writing with practice, practice and then, practicing some more.

Go to how to practice public speaking and you'll find rehearsal techniques and suggestions to boost your speech delivery from ordinary to extraordinary.

The Quick How to Write a Speech Checklist

Before you begin writing you need:.

• Your speech OUTLINE with your main ideas ranked in the order you're going to present them. (If you haven't done one complete this 4 step sample speech outline . It will make the writing process much easier.)
• Your RESEARCH
• You also need to know WHO you're speaking to, the PURPOSE of the speech and HOW long you're speaking for

The basic format

• the body where you present your main ideas

Split your time allowance so that you spend approximately 70% on the body and 15% each on the introduction and ending.

How to write the speech

• Write your main ideas out incorporating your examples and research
• Link them together making sure each flows in a smooth, logical progression
• Write your ending, summarizing your main ideas briefly and end with a call for action
• Write your introduction considering the 'hook' you're going to use to get your audience listening
• An often quoted saying to explain the process is: Tell them what you're going to tell them (Introduction) Tell them (Body of your speech - the main ideas plus examples) Tell them what you told them (The ending)

TEST before presenting. Read aloud several times to check the flow of material, the suitability of language and the timing.

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13.1: Understanding Entertaining Speeches

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Learning Objectives

• Understand the purpose of entertaining speeches.
• Explain the four ingredients of a good entertaining speech.

Chris Hill – Chris Hoy – Acceptance Speech – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

In broad terms, an entertaining speech is a speech designed to captivate an audience’s attention and regale or amuse them while delivering a message. Like more traditional informative or persuasive speeches, entertaining speeches should communicate a clear message, but the manner of speaking used in an entertaining speech is typically different. Entertaining speeches are often delivered on special occasions (e.g., a toast at a wedding, an acceptance speech at an awards banquet, a motivational speech at a conference), which is why they are sometimes referred to as special-occasion speeches. However, they can also be given on more mundane occasions, where their purpose is primarily to amuse audience members or arouse them emotionally in some way. Remember, when we use the word “entertain,” we are referring not just to humor but also to drama. The goal of an entertaining speech is to stir an audience’s emotions.

Of all the types of speeches we come in contact with during our lives, the bulk of them will probably fall into the category of entertainment. If you spend just one evening watching a major awards show (e.g., the Grammys, the Tonys, the Oscars), you’ll see dozens of acceptance speeches. While some of these acceptance speeches are good and others may be terrible, they all belong in the category of speaking to entertain.

Other speeches that fall into the entertaining category are designed to inspire or motivate an audience to do something. These are, however, different from a traditional persuasive speech. While entertaining speeches are often persuasive, we differentiate the two often based on the rhetorical situation itself. Maybe your school has hired a speaker to talk about his or her life story in an attempt to inspire the audience to try harder in school and reach for the best that life has to offer. You can imagine how this speech would be different from a traditional persuasive speech focusing on, say, the statistics related to scholastic achievement and success later in life.

Entertaining speeches are definitely very common, but that doesn’t mean they don’t require effort and preparation. A frequent trap is that people often think of entertaining speeches as corny. As a result, they don’t prepare seriously but rather stand up to speak with the idea that they can “wing it” by acting silly and telling a few jokes. Instead of being entertaining, the speech falls flat. To help us think through how to be effective in delivering entertaining speeches, let’s look at four key ingredients: preparation, adaptation to the occasion, adaptation to the audience, and mindfulness about the time.

Be Prepared

First, and foremost, the biggest mistake you can make when standing to deliver an entertaining speech is to underprepare or simply not prepare at all. We’ve stressed the need for preparation throughout this text, so just because you’re giving a wedding toast or a eulogy doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think through the speech before you stand up and speak out. If the situation is impromptu, even jotting some basic notes on a napkin is better than not having any plan for what you are going to say. Remember, when you get anxious, as it inevitably happens in front of an audience, your brain doesn’t function as well as when you are having a relaxed conversation with friends. You often forget information. By writing down some simple notes, you’ll be less likely to deliver a bad speech.

Be Adaptive to the Occasion

Not all content is appropriate for all occasions. If you are asked to deliver a speech commemorating the first anniversary of a school shooting, then obviously using humor and telling jokes wouldn’t be appropriate. But some decisions about adapting to the occasion are less obvious. Consider the following examples:

• You are the maid of honor giving a toast at the wedding of your younger sister.
• You are receiving a Most Valuable Player award in your favorite sport.
• You are a sales representative speaking to a group of clients after a mistake has been discovered.
• You are a cancer survivor speaking at a high school student assembly.

How might you adapt your message and speaking style to successfully entertain these various audiences?

Remember that being a competent speaker is about being both personally effective and socially appropriate. Different occasions will call for different levels of social appropriateness. One of the biggest mistakes entertaining speakers can make is to deliver one generic speech to different groups without adapting the speech to the specific occasion. In fact, professional speakers always make sure that their speeches are tailored for different occasions by getting information about the occasion from their hosts. When we tailor speeches for special occasions, people are more likely to remember those speeches than if we give a generic speech.

Be Adaptive to Your Audience

Once again, we cannot stress the importance of audience adaptation enough in this text. Different audiences will respond differently to speech material, so the more you know about your audience the more likely you’ll succeed in your speech. One of our coauthors was once at a conference for teachers of public speaking. The keynote speaker stood and delivered a speech on the importance of public speaking. While the speaker was good and funny, the speech really fell flat. The keynote speaker basically told the public speaking teachers that they should take public speaking courses because public speaking is important. Right speech, wrong audience!

Be Mindful of the Time

The last major consideration for delivering entertaining speeches successfully is to be mindful of your time. Different entertaining speech situations have their own conventions and rules with regard to time. Acceptance speeches and toasts, for example, should be relatively short (typically under five minutes). A speech of introduction should be extremely brief—just long enough to tell the audience what they need to know about the person being introduced in a style that prepares them to appreciate that person’s remarks. In contrast, commencement speeches and speeches to commemorate events can run ten to twenty minutes in length.

It’s also important to recognize that audiences on different occasions will expect speeches of various lengths. For example, although it’s true that graduation commencement speakers generally speak for ten to twenty minutes, the closer that speaker heads toward twenty minutes the more fidgety the audience becomes. To hold the audience’s attention and fulfill the goal of entertaining, a commencement speaker would do well to make the closing minutes of the speech the most engaging and inspiring portion of the speech. If you’re not sure about the expected time frame for a speech, either ask the person who has invited you to speak or do some quick research to see what the average speech times in the given context tend to be.

Key Takeaways

• Entertaining speeches are speeches designed to captivate an audience’s attention and regale or amuse them while delivering a clear message. Speakers engage in entertaining speeches generally at special occasions (e.g., weddings, funerals) or are asked to deliver a keynote address.
• Entertaining speeches should include four key considerations: preparation, adaptation to the occasion, adaptation to the audience, and mindfulness of the time. As with all speeches, speakers need to prepare the speech. Second, speakers need to think about the specific occasion. Third, speakers need to adapt their speeches to the specific audience. Lastly, speakers need to think about how long they should speak.
• Type in the word “roast” into YouTube and watch a few minutes of a roast. Did the speaker clearly exhibit the four clear ingredients of an entertaining speech?
• Watch several toasts and acceptance speeches on YouTube. Can you identify specific ways in which each speaker adapts the speech to the occasion and the audience?

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Types of Speeches: The Entertaining Speech

In the context of this series, an entertaining speech is one whose sole purpose is to have the audience enjoy the presentation. The purpose of an entertaining speech is not to educate, inform or inspire … it is to make the audience smile, relax, enjoy and maybe even laugh their heads off. (Figuratively, of course … real heads falling off would cause a nasty mess!)

If you decide to become a professional speaker or use speaking as an integral part of your marketing strategy, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the various types of speeches you might be asked to give. In this series of posts, I’ll give you the basics of a variety of types of presentations you can prepare. At the end of this post, I’ve listed previous articles in this series.

Let’s be honest here, entertainment truly is in the eye of the beholder. What one person finds entertaining, another may find duller than dishwater. So, you really have to know your audience in order to entertain them.

But what does that mean?

Although many — if not most — entertaining speeches are funny, they do not need to include humor to be entertaining. Dramas are entertaining but not funny, right? Here are some tips for creating an entertaining speech:

How to write an entertaining speech

There are many ways to entertain an audience. You can:

• tell funny stories
• dramatize an anecdote
• tell a scary story

When it comes right down to it … there are probably as many ways to entertain as there are entertainers … and audiences.

That said, there are some guidelines for creating an entertaining speech.

• Chose an appropriate topic: You don’t want the topic to be too dense, complicated or heavy. Remember, you’re not trying to give your audience a greater understanding of anything. You’re there to help them have a good time.
• Enjoy yourself: Believe it or not, it is hard for an audience to enjoy your presentation if it looks like you are not enjoying presenting it!
• Keep it simple: Your presentation should be easy to follow. Don’t make it hard for your audience to keep up with you mentally … or in any other way.
• Make it visceral: Use vivid word pictures. This is not the type of presentation where you can be lazy in your descriptions. Make your words pop with strong images that pop in their minds.
• Say it like a roller coaster, baby! Add unexpected twists and turns to your presentation. When you surprise your audience with where your story is going, that adds to the entertainment factor.

Resources for developing entertaining speeches:

• List of Funny Speech Topics
• How to Write an Entertaining Speech for Any Occasion
• How To Make An Entertaining Speech/Presentation

Did you miss these?

Here are the previous posts in this “Type of Speeches” series:

• The Keynote Address
• The Training Session
• The Motivational Speech

The next post in this series is The Demonstration .

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About the author

Carma Spence, is author of Public Speaking Super Powers. She is fiercely committed to guiding women to Owning their Superpowers and turning their knowledge and interests into a profitable business. She is masterful at helping her clients see what is possible for them and supporting them on the journey from where they are to where they want to be, releasing the Mind Goblins of self-doubt, self-sabotage and second-guessing that keep them stuck.

With 20+ years experience in marketing communications and public relations, natural intuitive skills and certification in using some of the most effective transformational coaching tools available, Carma’s mission and commitment is to unleash the inner power every woman entrepreneur possesses so they can boldly go out into the world, transforming the fabric of people’s lives in meaningful and positive ways.

You can find her on Facebook , Twitter , Google+ and LinkedIn . Her website is CarmaSpence.com .

2 comments on “Types of Speeches: The Entertaining Speech”

What this handout is about

This handout will help you create an effective speech by establishing the purpose of your speech and making it easily understandable. It will also help you to analyze your audience and keep the audience interested.

What’s different about a speech?

Writing for public speaking isn’t so different from other types of writing. You want to engage your audience’s attention, convey your ideas in a logical manner and use reliable evidence to support your point. But the conditions for public speaking favor some writing qualities over others. When you write a speech, your audience is made up of listeners. They have only one chance to comprehend the information as you read it, so your speech must be well-organized and easily understood. In addition, the content of the speech and your delivery must fit the audience.

What’s your purpose?

People have gathered to hear you speak on a specific issue, and they expect to get something out of it immediately. And you, the speaker, hope to have an immediate effect on your audience. The purpose of your speech is to get the response you want. Most speeches invite audiences to react in one of three ways: feeling, thinking, or acting. For example, eulogies encourage emotional response from the audience; college lectures stimulate listeners to think about a topic from a different perspective; protest speeches in the Pit recommend actions the audience can take.

As you establish your purpose, ask yourself these questions:

• What do you want the audience to learn or do?
• If you are making an argument, why do you want them to agree with you?
• If they already agree with you, why are you giving the speech?
• How can your audience benefit from what you have to say?

Audience analysis

If your purpose is to get a certain response from your audience, you must consider who they are (or who you’re pretending they are). If you can identify ways to connect with your listeners, you can make your speech interesting and useful.

As you think of ways to appeal to your audience, ask yourself:

• What do they have in common? Age? Interests? Ethnicity? Gender?
• Do they know as much about your topic as you, or will you be introducing them to new ideas?
• Why are these people listening to you? What are they looking for?
• What level of detail will be effective for them?
• What tone will be most effective in conveying your message?
• What might offend or alienate them?

For more help, see our handout on audience .

Creating an effective introduction

Get their attention, otherwise known as “the hook”.

Think about how you can relate to these listeners and get them to relate to you or your topic. Appealing to your audience on a personal level captures their attention and concern, increasing the chances of a successful speech. Speakers often begin with anecdotes to hook their audience’s attention. Other methods include presenting shocking statistics, asking direct questions of the audience, or enlisting audience participation.

Establish context and/or motive

Explain why your topic is important. Consider your purpose and how you came to speak to this audience. You may also want to connect the material to related or larger issues as well, especially those that may be important to your audience.

Get to the point

Tell your listeners your thesis right away and explain how you will support it. Don’t spend as much time developing your introductory paragraph and leading up to the thesis statement as you would in a research paper for a course. Moving from the intro into the body of the speech quickly will help keep your audience interested. You may be tempted to create suspense by keeping the audience guessing about your thesis until the end, then springing the implications of your discussion on them. But if you do so, they will most likely become bored or confused.

For more help, see our handout on introductions .

Making your speech easy to understand

Repeat crucial points and buzzwords.

Especially in longer speeches, it’s a good idea to keep reminding your audience of the main points you’ve made. For example, you could link an earlier main point or key term as you transition into or wrap up a new point. You could also address the relationship between earlier points and new points through discussion within a body paragraph. Using buzzwords or key terms throughout your paper is also a good idea. If your thesis says you’re going to expose unethical behavior of medical insurance companies, make sure the use of “ethics” recurs instead of switching to “immoral” or simply “wrong.” Repetition of key terms makes it easier for your audience to take in and connect information.

Incorporate previews and summaries into the speech

For example:

“I’m here today to talk to you about three issues that threaten our educational system: First, … Second, … Third,”

“I’ve talked to you today about such and such.”

These kinds of verbal cues permit the people in the audience to put together the pieces of your speech without thinking too hard, so they can spend more time paying attention to its content.

Use especially strong transitions

This will help your listeners see how new information relates to what they’ve heard so far. If you set up a counterargument in one paragraph so you can demolish it in the next, begin the demolition by saying something like,

“But this argument makes no sense when you consider that . . . .”

If you’re providing additional information to support your main point, you could say,

“Another fact that supports my main point is . . . .”

Helping your audience listen

Rely on shorter, simpler sentence structures.

Don’t get too complicated when you’re asking an audience to remember everything you say. Avoid using too many subordinate clauses, and place subjects and verbs close together.

Too complicated:

The product, which was invented in 1908 by Orville Z. McGillicuddy in Des Moines, Iowa, and which was on store shelves approximately one year later, still sells well.

Easier to understand:

Orville Z. McGillicuddy invented the product in 1908 and introduced it into stores shortly afterward. Almost a century later, the product still sells well.

Limit pronoun use

Listeners may have a hard time remembering or figuring out what “it,” “they,” or “this” refers to. Be specific by using a key noun instead of unclear pronouns.

Pronoun problem:

The U.S. government has failed to protect us from the scourge of so-called reality television, which exploits sex, violence, and petty conflict, and calls it human nature. This cannot continue.

Why the last sentence is unclear: “This” what? The government’s failure? Reality TV? Human nature?

More specific:

The U.S. government has failed to protect us from the scourge of so-called reality television, which exploits sex, violence, and petty conflict, and calls it human nature. This failure cannot continue.

Keeping audience interest

Incorporate the rhetorical strategies of ethos, pathos, and logos.

When arguing a point, using ethos, pathos, and logos can help convince your audience to believe you and make your argument stronger. Ethos refers to an appeal to your audience by establishing your authenticity and trustworthiness as a speaker. If you employ pathos, you appeal to your audience’s emotions. Using logos includes the support of hard facts, statistics, and logical argumentation. The most effective speeches usually present a combination these rhetorical strategies.

Use statistics and quotations sparingly

Include only the most striking factual material to support your perspective, things that would likely stick in the listeners’ minds long after you’ve finished speaking. Otherwise, you run the risk of overwhelming your listeners with too much information.

Watch your tone

Be careful not to talk over the heads of your audience. On the other hand, don’t be condescending either. And as for grabbing their attention, yelling, cursing, using inappropriate humor, or brandishing a potentially offensive prop (say, autopsy photos) will only make the audience tune you out.

Creating an effective conclusion

Restate your main points, but don’t repeat them.

“I asked earlier why we should care about the rain forest. Now I hope it’s clear that . . .” “Remember how Mrs. Smith couldn’t afford her prescriptions? Under our plan, . . .”

Call to action

Speeches often close with an appeal to the audience to take action based on their new knowledge or understanding. If you do this, be sure the action you recommend is specific and realistic. For example, although your audience may not be able to affect foreign policy directly, they can vote or work for candidates whose foreign policy views they support. Relating the purpose of your speech to their lives not only creates a connection with your audience, but also reiterates the importance of your topic to them in particular or “the bigger picture.”

Practicing for effective presentation

Once you’ve completed a draft, read your speech to a friend or in front of a mirror. When you’ve finished reading, ask the following questions:

• Which pieces of information are clearest?
• Where did I connect with the audience?
• Where might listeners lose the thread of my argument or description?
• Where might listeners become bored?
• Where did I have trouble speaking clearly and/or emphatically?
• Did I stay within my time limit?

Other resources

• Toastmasters International is a nonprofit group that provides communication and leadership training.
• Allyn & Bacon Publishing’s Essence of Public Speaking Series is an extensive treatment of speech writing and delivery, including books on using humor, motivating your audience, word choice and presentation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Boone, Louis E., David L. Kurtz, and Judy R. Block. 1997. Contemporary Business Communication . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Ehrlich, Henry. 1994. Writing Effective Speeches . New York: Marlowe.

Lamb, Sandra E. 1998. How to Write It: A Complete Guide to Everything You’ll Ever Write . Berkeley: Ten Speed Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How To Write A Speech That Inspires You Audience: 13 Steps

Learn how to write a speech that will effectively reach your audience.

A good speech is a powerful tool. Effective speeches make people powerful, whether in the hands of a world leader trying to get people to believe their ideology or in the mouth of a teacher trying to inspire students. A well-written speech can lift the hearts of a nation in times of war, inspire people to action when complacency is commonplace, honor someone who has died, and even change a nation’s mind on a particular topic, which, in turn, can change history.

Excellent speech writing is a skill that you must learn. While public speaking may come naturally to some people, the sentence structure and nuances of a powerful speech are something you must learn if you are going to gain the audience’s attention.

So how can you learn how to write a speech? The writing process is a little different than the process you’d use to write a paper or essay, so here is a guide that can help.

Materials Needed

Step 1: define your purpose, step 2: determine your audience, step 3: start your research, step 4: choose the right length, step 5: create an outline, step 6: craft the introduction, step 7: write the body, step 8: use transitions, step 9: conclude your speech, step 10: add some spice, step 11. implement spoken language, step 12: edit your speech, step 13: read it out.

• Research materials
• Audience demographic information

Before you can write a speech, you must know the purpose of your speech. You can deliver many types of speeches, and the purpose will determine which one you are giving. While there may be more than these, here are some common types of speeches:

• Informative speech: An informative speech strives to educate the audience on a topic or message. This is the type of speech a teacher gives when delivering a lecture. “ First World Problems ” by Sarah Kwon is an excellent example of an informative speech.
• Entertaining speech: This speech strives to amuse the audience. These are typically short speeches with funny, personal stories woven in. A wedding guest giving a speech at a wedding may be an example of this type of speech.
• Demonstrative speech: This speech demonstrates how to do something to the audience. A company showing how to use a product is delivering this type of speech.
• Persuasive speech: This speech aims to persuade the audience of your particular opinion. Political speeches are commonly persuasive. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “ I Have a Dream ” speech is an example of a persuasive speech, as it called the government to make changes that protected civil and economic rights.
• Oratorical speech: An oratory is a formal speech at an event like a funeral or graduation. The goal is to express an opinion and inspire the audience, but not necessarily to persuade.
• Motivational speech: These speeches inspire people to take action, such as to improve themselves or to feel better and happier. For example, a coach may deliver this kind of speech to his players during halftime to inspire them to win the game. Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address is an excellent example of a motivational speech.
• Eulogy: A Eulogy is a funeral speech. This speech is given to the mourners at someone’s funeral and talks about the excellent character rates of the person who died. “ Eulogy for Rosa Parks ” is a famous example of this type of speech given by Oprah Winfrey in 2015.
• Explanatory speech: This final speech type describes a situation or item. These speeches often have step-by-step instructions on how to do a particular thing.

Your audience members are an essential part of the speech writing process. Consider taking notes about your audience before you start writing your speech. You can even make a fake audience member you are writing toward as you prepare your speech. Even though they do not directly impact what you talk about, they should impact how you talk about it. Therefore, you must write your speech to reach that particular audience.

For example, if you are writing a speech for an audience that does not agree with you, you will need to bring more facts and figures to persuade them of your opinion. On the other hand, if you are writing a speech for an audience already on your side, you must encourage them to hold the line. To get to know your audience, consider factors like:

• Income level
• Pain points
• Questions they might ask

Before you outline or write your speech, you must know some facts about the big idea or speech topic. So perform some research, and take notes. See if you can find any new or surprising information in your research. If it was new and surprising, it also might be to your audience members. You can use this research to make the essential points of your piece.

Finally, know the required length of your speech. Speeches usually have time limits, not word count limits. You will need to know the desired length before you can start writing the speech, or you will end up with a speech that is too long or too short. The length of your speech will vary depending on where you are giving it and who your audience is.

Generally, a 20-minute speech is standard when delivering a speech to adults in a professional or academic setting. However, if you are a student who is preparing a speech for a classroom, you may be limited to three to five minutes. Sometimes speakers will get booked to take on a 60-minute session, but if you talk for 60 minutes, you will lose the attention of some of your audience members.

Remember, some of the most famous speeches in history are very short. President Abraham Lincoln’s “ Gettysburg Address ” was less than 300 words long and took less than two minutes to deliver. President Franklin Roosevelt’s “ Day of Infamy ” speech lasted less than 10 minutes. However, knowing your speech’s length can be challenging after you prepare it. Generally, a double-spaced page of writing will take about 90 seconds to speak. Thus, a 20-minute speech will take about 13 typed, double-spaced pages if you type out your entire speech.

Consider using a words-to-minutes calculator to determine how long your speech likely is. Remember that the average English speaker speaks 140 words a minute. You may get up to 170 words a minute if you speak fast. If your speech is slow, it may be as little as 110 words a minute.

Now you are ready to start writing. Before you write a speech, you must create an outline. Some public speakers will speak from an outline alone, while others will write their speech word-for-word. Both strategies can lead to a successful speech, but both also start with an outline. Your speech’s outline will follow this template:

• Introduction: Introduces your main idea and hooks the reader’s attention.
• Body: Covers two to three main points with transitions.
• Conclusion: Summarizes the speech’s points and drive home your main message.

As you fill in these areas, answer these questions: Who? What? Why? and How? This will ensure you cover all the essential elements your listeners need to hear to understand your topic. Next, make your outline as detailed as you can. Organize your research into points and subpoints. The more detail on your outline, the easier it will be to write the speech and deliver it confidently.

As you prepare your speech, your introduction is where you should spend the most time and think. You only have moments to capture your audience’s attention or see them zone out in front of you. However, if you do it right, you will cause them to turn to you for more information on the topic. In other words, the introduction to a speech may be the most memorable part, so it deserves your attention. Therefore, you must have three main parts:

• Hook: The hook is a rhetorical question, funny story, personal anecdote, or shocking statistic that grabs the listener’s attention and shows them why your speech is worth listening to.
• Thesis: This is your main idea or clear point.
• Road map: You will want to preview your speech outline in the introduction.

Here is an example of a good introduction for a persuasive speech from Jamie Oliver’s TED Talk about children and food:

“Sadly, in the next 18 minutes when I do our chat, four Americans that are alive will be dead from the food that they eat.”

This shocking statistic gets the audience’s attention immediately. In his speech, Oliver details why America’s food choices are so poor, how it affects them, and how we can teach children to do better.

Here is an example of an informative speech about pollution and what can be done about it. This introduction follows the template perfectly.

“I want you to close your eyes for a minute and picture a beautiful oceanfront. The sound of the waves crashing on the sand while seagulls fly overhead. Do you have it? Now I am going to say one word that will destroy that image: Pollution. What changed in your mental picture? Do you now see sea turtles with bottles on their head or piles of debris washing on shore? Marine pollution is a massive problem because plastic does not decompose. Not only does it use up many resources to create, but it rarely gets disposed of properly. We must protect our natural areas, like that beautiful beach. Today I am going to show you how destructive the effects of plastic can be, how it is managing our natural resources, and what steps we can take to improve the situation.”

Now you are ready to write the body of your speech. Draw from your research and flesh out the points stated in your introduction. As you create your body, use short sentences. People can’t listen as long as they can read, so short and sweet sentences are most effective. Continuing the theme of the marine pollution speech, consider this body paragraph.

“You might be thinking plastic isn’t a big deal. Let’s think for a minute that you’re at the beach drinking bottled water. According to “The Problem with Plastic,” an article by Hannah Elisbury, one out of every six plastic water bottles ends up in recycling. The rest become landfill fodder. Worse, many get dropped in nature. Perhaps you are packing up at the end of your beach trip and forget to grab your bottle. Maybe your kid is buried in the sand. Now it’s adding pollutants to the water. That water becomes part of the drinking water supply. It also becomes part of the fish you eat at your favorite seafood restaurant. Just one bottle has big consequences.”

As you write the body, don’t stress making every word perfect. You will revise it later. The main goal is to get your ideas on paper or screen. This body paragraph is effective for two reasons. First, the audience members likely use water bottles, which resonates with them. Second, she uses a resource and names it, which gives your work authority.

It would be best to use transitions to move from each speech section. This keeps the audience engaged and interested. In addition, the transitions should naturally merge into the next section of the speech without abruptness. To transition between points or ideas, use transition words. Some examples include:

• Coupled with
• Following this
• Additionally
• Comparatively
• Correspondingly
• Identically
• In contrast
• For example

You can also use sequence words, like first, second, third, etc., to give the idea of transition from one thought to the next. Make sure your speech has several transition words to drive it through to completion and to keep the audience engaged.

In his speech “ Their Finest Hour ,” Winston Churchill uses transitions well. Here is an excerpt from his conclusion:

“ But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Therefore, let us brace ourselves to our duties and bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”

Notice that he uses “therefore,” “so,” and “but.” Each of these transition words effectively moves the speech along.

Your conclusion needs to restate your thesis but differently. It should personalize the speech to the audience, restate your main points and state any key takeaways. Finally, it should leave the audience with a thought to ponder.

Here are some practical ways to end a speech:

• Use a story
• Read a poem
• State an inspirational quote
• Summarize the main points
• Deliver a call to action

Here are some examples of fantastic conclusions:

• Here is an excellent example of a concluding statement for an inspirational graduation speech: “As you graduate, you will face great challenges, but you will also have great opportunities. By embracing all that you have learned here, you will meet them head-on. The best is yet to come!”
• A CEO that is trying to inspire his workforce might conclude a speech like this: “While the past year had challenges and difficulties, I saw you work through them and come out ahead. As we move into the next year, I am confident we will continue to excel. Let’s join hands, and together this can be the best year in company history!”
• In “T he Speech to Go to the Moon, ” President Kennedy concluded this way: “ Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, “Because it is there. Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.” Many speechwriters say something like “in conclusion” or “that’s all I have for you today.” This is not necessary. Saying “in conclusion” could cause your audience to stop listening as they anticipate the end of the speech, and stating that you have said all you need to say is just unnecessary.

Now that you have the basic structure, you’re ready to add some spice to your speech. Remember, you aren’t reading a research essay. Instead, you are making an exciting and engaging spoken presentation. Here are some ideas:

• Consider giving your speech some rhythm. For example, change the wording, so it has a pace and cadence.
• Work to remove a passive voice from your sentences where possible. Active speaking is more powerful than passive.
• Use rhetorical questions throughout because they make the listener stop and think for a moment about what you are saying.
• Weave some quotes into your speech. Pulling famous words from other people will make your speech more interesting.
• Where possible, use personal stories. This helps your audience engage with you as the speaker while keeping the speech interesting.

You may not use all of these ideas in your speech, but find some that will work for the type of speech you plan to give. They will make it more exciting and help keep listeners engaged in what you are saying.

Writing a speech is not like writing a paper. While you want to sound educated with proper grammar , you need to write in the way you speak. For many people, this is much different from the way they write. Not only will you use short sentences, but you will also use:

• Familiar vocabulary: This is not the time to start adding scientific terminology to the mix or jargon for your industry that the audience won’t understand. Use familiar vocabulary.
• Transitions: Already discussed, but spoken language uses many transition words. Your speech should, too.
• Personal pronouns: “You” and “I” are acceptable in a speech but not in academic writing.
• Colloquialisms: Colloquialisms are perfectly acceptable in a speech, provided the audience would readily understand them.
• Contractions: We use contractions when we speak, so we also use them in speeches, while some writing platforms and assignments do not allow them.
• Repetition: Repeating words and phrases makes them memorable. This helps emphasize the main ideas and works well in speeches.

Now you are ready to edit your speech. Remember, spoken language is acceptable, but grammar errors may not be ideal. As you edit, pay attention to the length of sentences. Shorten any long ones. Also, watch for those transition words. Add them in if you need to. Remember, a well-written speech takes time. Put in the effort to revise and improve it, and you will be rewarded with an effective speech that is easy to deliver. If you still need help, our guide to grammar and syntax explains more.

Now that you have written your speech, you are ready to read it. Read it out loud at your average speaking speed, and time yourself. This will tell you if you are within your allotted time limit. However, reading it has another benefit. When you read the piece, you can determine if it flows smoothly. You may catch grammar issues or poor transitions that you can change. Look for places where the speech may be hard to speak and adjust those sentences to make them more accessible.

After you update the speech, practice it again. Reading it, revising it, rereading it, and repeating it will help you create a speech that flows well. This process will also help you become familiar with the speech so you can deliver it confidently when your speaking engagement comes.

Looking for inspiration? Read our round-up of argumentative essays !

Nicole Harms has been writing professionally since 2006. She specializes in education content and real estate writing but enjoys a wide gamut of topics. Her goal is to connect with the reader in an engaging, but informative way. Her work has been featured on USA Today, and she ghostwrites for many high-profile companies. As a former teacher, she is passionate about both research and grammar, giving her clients the quality they demand in today's online marketing world.

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Giving an Entertaining Speech

If you need to give a speech in the near future and it needs to be an entertaining ones, consider our product. Many people are afraid of public speaking, but even those who do so on a regular basis get nervous about delivering a speech to entertain. That is because these speeches not only need to convey information to and in front of an audience, it also has to be entertaining. This can be tough to calibrate and even harder to practice. Fortunately, our product can walk you through the whole process and even provide you with some of its own entertainment. Speech samples are provided as well so you know exactly what to aim for. With our service, you will be sure to produce a speech that is as entertaining as it is informative.

Choosing a Topic

All entertaining speeches need a topic. While we will provide you a list of entertaining speech topics, you may not have a say in the matter. Your topic may already be decided and you simply need to find a way to combine this topic with some entertainment. Speech topics, no matter what they are, can almost always be injected with some kind of humor or theatrics. Our product will show you how to take the topic you are given and look for the entraining angle, while still being appropriate for the audience and covering all the pertinent material. We show you how to balance entertainment, speech basics and delivery into a confident talk you will be proud of upon completion.

Outlining the Idea

All good speeches, even those aiming to entertain, begin with a solid outline. Your outline helps keep you focused on the task at hand and making sure you cover all your important points. It also helps balance the informative side of the speech with the part that provides entertainment. Speeches with a solid outline are better organized and better written. As such, they will make you more confident beforehand which will show during your speech. It also makes it easier to add in the entertainment in appropriate places that are spread out well.

Though giving a speech can be tough, giving one that is entertaining can be even harder. Do not let the challenge at hand keep you from doing your best. Our product will provide you with the instruction necessary to speak well and entertain at the same time. We will take you though picking your topic and even provide a list of entertaining speech ideas. The outline that comes with it will make sure you plot out the subject matter you are covering in such a way that no important point goes missing, while at the same time, keeping it full of entertainment. Speech ideas and the outline are only part of what you will receive though. You will also get samples of other entertaining and informative speeches so you have a goal to aim for and measure yourself against. With our service you will approach your speech with the confidence to deliver it perfectly and make it entertaining at the same time.

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PRDV008: Preparing and Delivering Presentations

Entertaining speeches.

Read this chapter to learn about presentations whose general purpose is to entertain.

The final general purpose people can have for public speaking is to entertain. Whereas informative and persuasive speech making is focused on the end result of the speech process, entertainment speaking is focused on the theme and occasion of the speech. An entertaining speech can be either informative or persuasive at its root, but the context or theme of the speech requires speakers to think about the speech primarily in terms of audience enjoyment.

Why We Entertain

Entertaining speeches are very common in everyday life. The fundamental goal of an entertaining speech is audience enjoyment, which can come in a variety of forms. Entertaining speeches can be funny or serious. Overall, entertaining speeches are not designed to give an audience a deep understanding of life but instead to function as a way to divert an audience from their day-to-day lives for a short period of time. This is not to say that an entertaining speech cannot have real content that is highly informative or persuasive, but its goal is primarily about the entertaining aspects of the speech and not focused on the informative or persuasive quality of the speech.

Common Forms of Entertainment Topics

There are three basic types of entertaining speeches: the after-dinner speech, the ceremonial speech, and the inspirational speech. The after-dinner speech is a form of speaking where a speaker takes a serious speech topic (either informative or persuasive) and injects a level of humor into the speech to make it entertaining. Some novice speakers will attempt to turn an after-dinner speech into a stand-up comedy routine, which doesn't have the same focus. Roye, S. (2010). Austan Goolsbee a funny stand-up comedian? Not even close… [Web log post]. After-dinner speeches are first and foremost speeches.

A ceremonial speech is a type of entertaining speech where the specific context of the speech is the driving force of the speech. Common types of ceremonial speeches include introductions, toasts, and eulogies. In each of these cases, there are specific events that drive the speech. Maybe you're introducing an individual who is about to receive an award, giving a toast at your best friend's wedding, or delivering the eulogy at a relative's funeral. In each of these cases, the speech and the purpose of the speech is determined by the context of the event and not by the desire to inform or persuade.

The final type of entertaining speech is one where the speaker's primary goal is to inspire her or his audience. Inspirational speeches are based in emotion with the goal to motivate listeners to alter their lives in some significant way. Florence Littauer, a famous professional speaker, delivers an emotionally charged speech titled "Silver Boxes". In the speech, Mrs. Littauer demonstrates how people can use positive comments to encourage others in their daily lives. The title comes from a story she tells at the beginning of the speech where she was teaching a group of children about using positive speech, and one of the children defined positive speech as giving people little silver boxes with bows on top.

Sample: Adam Fink's Entertainment Speech

The following speech, by an undergraduate student named Adam Fink, is an entertainment speech. Specifically, this speech is a ceremonial speech given at Mr. Fink's graduation. As with our earlier examples, while this speech is written out as a text for purposes of analysis, in your public speaking course you will most likely be assigned to speak from an outline or notes, not a fully written script. Notice that the tenor of this speech is persuasive but that it persuades in a more inspiring way than just building and proving an argument.

Good evening! I've spent the last few months looking over commencement speeches on YouTube. The most notable ones had eight things in common. They reflected on the past, pondered about the future. They encouraged the honorees. They all included some sort of personal story and application. They made people laugh at least fifteen times. They referred to the university as the finest university in the nation or world, and last but not least they all greeted the people in attendance. I'll begin by doing so now.

President Holst, thank you for coming. Faculty members and staff, salutations to you all. Distinguished guests, we are happy to have you. Family members and friends, we could not be here without you. Finally, ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2009, welcome to your commencement day here at Concordia University, Saint Paul, this, the finest university in the galaxy, nay, universe. Really, it's right up there with South Harlem Institute of Technology, the School of Hard Knocks, and Harvard. Check and check!

Graduates, we are not here to watch as our siblings, our parents, friends, or other family walk across this stage. We are here because today is our graduation day. I am going to go off on a tangent for a little bit. Over the past umpteen years, I have seen my fair share of graduations and ceremonies. In fact, I remember getting dragged along to my older brothers' and sisters' graduations, all 8,000 of them – at least it seems like there were that many now. Seriously, I have more family members than friends.

I remember sitting here in these very seats, intently listening to the president and other distinguished guests speak, again saying welcome and thank you for coming. Each year, I got a little bit better at staying awake throughout the entire ceremony. Every time I would come up with something new to keep myself awake, daydreams, pinching my arms, or pulling leg hair; I was a very creative individual.

I am proud to say that I have been awake for the entirety of this ceremony. I would like to personally thank my classmates and colleagues sitting around me for slapping me every time I even thought about dozing off. Personal story, check  and now, application!

Graduates, don't sleep through life. If you need a close friend or colleague to keep you awake, ask. Don't get bored with life. In the words of one of my mentors, the Australian film director, screen writer, and producer Baz Luhrman, "Do one thing every day that scares you". Keep yourself on your toes. Stay occupied but leave room for relaxation; embrace your hobbies. Don't get stuck in a job you hate. I am sure many of you have seen the "Did You Know?" film on YouTube. The film montages hundreds of statistics together, laying down the ground work to tell viewers that we are approaching a crossroad. The way we live is about to change dramatically. We are living in exponential times. It's a good thing that we are exponential people.

We are at a crossing point here, now. Each of us is graduating; we are preparing to leave this place we have called home for the past few years. It's time to move on and flourish. But let's not leave this place for good. Let us walk away with happy memories. We have been fortunate enough to see more change in our time here than most alumni see at their alma mater in a lifetime. We have seen the destruction of Centennial, Minnesota, and Walther.

Ladies, it might not mean a lot to you, but gentlemen, we had some good times there. We have seen the building and completion of the new Residence Life Center. We now see the beginnings of our very own stadium. We have seen enough offices and departments move to last any business a lifetime.

Let us remember these things, the flooding of the knoll, Ultimate Frisbee beginning at ten o'clock at night, and two back-to-back Volleyball National Championship teams, with one of those championship games held where you are sitting now. I encourage all of you to walk out of this place with flashes of the old times flickering through your brains. Reflection, check!

Honorees, in the words of Michael Scott, only slightly altered, "They have no idea how high [we] can fly". Right now you are surrounded by future politicians, film critics, producers, directors, actors, actresses, church workers, artists, the teachers of tomorrow, musicians, people who will change the world. We are all held together right here and now, by a common bond of unity. We are one graduating class.

In one of his speeches this year, President Barack Obama said, "Generations of Americans have connected their stories to the larger American story through service and helped move our country forward. We need that service now". He is right. America needs selfless acts of service.

Hebrews 10:23–25 reads, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching".

Let us not leave this place as enemies but rather as friends and companions. Let us come back next fall for our first reunion, the Zero Class Reunion hosted by the wonderful and amazing workers in the alumni department. Let us go and make disciples of all nations, guided by His Word. Let us spread God's peace, joy, and love through service to others. Congratulations, graduates! I hope to see you next homecoming. Encouragement, check!

18.1 Understanding Entertaining Speeches

Learning objectives.

• Understand the purpose of entertaining speeches.
• Explain the four ingredients of a good entertaining speech.

In broad terms, an entertaining speech Speech designed to captivate an audience’s attention and regale or amuse them while delivering a clear message. is a speech designed to captivate an audience’s attention and regale or amuse them while delivering a message. Like more traditional informative or persuasive speeches, entertaining speeches should communicate a clear message, but the manner of speaking used in an entertaining speech is typically different. Entertaining speeches are often delivered on special occasions (e.g., a toast at a wedding, an acceptance speech at an awards banquet, a motivational speech at a conference), which is why they are sometimes referred to as special-occasion speeches. However, they can also be given on more mundane occasions, where their purpose is primarily to amuse audience members or arouse them emotionally in some way. Remember, when we use the word “entertain,” we are referring not just to humor but also to drama. The goal of an entertaining speech is to stir an audience’s emotions.

Of all the types of speeches we come in contact with during our lives, the bulk of them will probably fall into the category of entertainment. If you spend just one evening watching a major awards show (e.g., the Grammys, the Tonys, the Oscars), you’ll see dozens of acceptance speeches. While some of these acceptance speeches are good and others may be terrible, they all belong in the category of speaking to entertain.

Other speeches that fall into the entertaining category are designed to inspire or motivate an audience to do something. These are, however, different from a traditional persuasive speech. While entertaining speeches are often persuasive, we differentiate the two often based on the rhetorical situation itself. Maybe your school has hired a speaker to talk about his or her life story in an attempt to inspire the audience to try harder in school and reach for the best that life has to offer. You can imagine how this speech would be different from a traditional persuasive speech focusing on, say, the statistics related to scholastic achievement and success later in life.

Entertaining speeches are definitely very common, but that doesn’t mean they don’t require effort and preparation. A frequent trap is that people often think of entertaining speeches as corny. As a result, they don’t prepare seriously but rather stand up to speak with the idea that they can “wing it” by acting silly and telling a few jokes. Instead of being entertaining, the speech falls flat. To help us think through how to be effective in delivering entertaining speeches, let’s look at four key ingredients: preparation, adaptation to the occasion, adaptation to the audience, and mindfulness about the time.

Be Prepared

First, and foremost, the biggest mistake you can make when standing to deliver an entertaining speech is to underprepare or simply not prepare at all. We’ve stressed the need for preparation throughout this text, so just because you’re giving a wedding toast or a eulogy doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think through the speech before you stand up and speak out. If the situation is impromptu, even jotting some basic notes on a napkin is better than not having any plan for what you are going to say. Remember, when you get anxious, as it inevitably happens in front of an audience, your brain doesn’t function as well as when you are having a relaxed conversation with friends. You often forget information. By writing down some simple notes, you’ll be less likely to deliver a bad speech.

Be Adaptive to the Occasion

Not all content is appropriate for all occasions. If you are asked to deliver a speech commemorating the first anniversary of a school shooting, then obviously using humor and telling jokes wouldn’t be appropriate. But some decisions about adapting to the occasion are less obvious. Consider the following examples:

• You are the maid of honor giving a toast at the wedding of your younger sister.
• You are receiving a Most Valuable Player award in your favorite sport.
• You are a sales representative speaking to a group of clients after a mistake has been discovered.
• You are a cancer survivor speaking at a high school student assembly.

How might you adapt your message and speaking style to successfully entertain these various audiences?

Remember that being a competent speaker is about being both personally effective and socially appropriate. Different occasions will call for different levels of social appropriateness. One of the biggest mistakes entertaining speakers can make is to deliver one generic speech to different groups without adapting the speech to the specific occasion. In fact, professional speakers always make sure that their speeches are tailored for different occasions by getting information about the occasion from their hosts. When we tailor speeches for special occasions, people are more likely to remember those speeches than if we give a generic speech.

Be Adaptive to Your Audience

Once again, we cannot stress the importance of audience adaptation enough in this text. Different audiences will respond differently to speech material, so the more you know about your audience the more likely you’ll succeed in your speech. One of our coauthors was once at a conference for teachers of public speaking. The keynote speaker stood and delivered a speech on the importance of public speaking. While the speaker was good and funny, the speech really fell flat. The keynote speaker basically told the public speaking teachers that they should take public speaking courses because public speaking is important. Right speech, wrong audience!

Be Mindful of the Time

The last major consideration for delivering entertaining speeches successfully is to be mindful of your time. Different entertaining speech situations have their own conventions and rules with regard to time. Acceptance speeches and toasts, for example, should be relatively short (typically under five minutes). A speech of introduction should be extremely brief—just long enough to tell the audience what they need to know about the person being introduced in a style that prepares them to appreciate that person’s remarks. In contrast, commencement speeches and speeches to commemorate events can run ten to twenty minutes in length.

It’s also important to recognize that audiences on different occasions will expect speeches of various lengths. For example, although it’s true that graduation commencement speakers generally speak for ten to twenty minutes, the closer that speaker heads toward twenty minutes the more fidgety the audience becomes. To hold the audience’s attention and fulfill the goal of entertaining, a commencement speaker would do well to make the closing minutes of the speech the most engaging and inspiring portion of the speech. If you’re not sure about the expected time frame for a speech, either ask the person who has invited you to speak or do some quick research to see what the average speech times in the given context tend to be.

Key Takeaways

• Entertaining speeches are speeches designed to captivate an audience’s attention and regale or amuse them while delivering a clear message. Speakers engage in entertaining speeches generally at special occasions (e.g., weddings, funerals) or are asked to deliver a keynote address.
• Entertaining speeches should include four key considerations: preparation, adaptation to the occasion, adaptation to the audience, and mindfulness of the time. As with all speeches, speakers need to prepare the speech. Second, speakers need to think about the specific occasion. Third, speakers need to adapt their speeches to the specific audience. Lastly, speakers need to think about how long they should speak.
• Type in the word “roast” into YouTube and watch a few minutes of a roast. Did the speaker clearly exhibit the four clear ingredients of an entertaining speech?
• Watch several toasts and acceptance speeches on YouTube. Can you identify specific ways in which each speaker adapts the speech to the occasion and the audience?

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Chapter 18: Speaking to Entertain

The nature of entertainment.

Alan Bell – Entertaining – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Often the speaking opportunities life brings our way have nothing to do specifically with informing or persuading an audience; instead, we are asked to speak to entertain. Whether you are standing up to give an award speech or a toast, knowing how to deliver speeches in a variety of different contexts is the nature of entertaining speaking. In this chapter, we are going to explore what entertaining speeches are; we will also examine two specific types of entertaining speeches: special-occasion speeches and keynote speeches.

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Make an Outline for an Entertaining Speech

The words "public speaking" strike fear into the hearts of many otherwise brave men and women. Yet, with careful preparation and practice, anyone can deliver a speech that is both informative and entertaining. If you have been given a public speaking assignment -- whether for a wedding, business gathering or civic event -- you can outline your remarks in a three-part format comprised of the introduction, the body of the speech and the conclusion.

Write your introduction. In the outline, begin by greeting your audience and thank them for their attendance. Be sure to acknowledge your hosts as well. In addition, give a brief statement establishing your credibility. This statement may reference your personal or professional experience, for example. Preview your speech's main points in this part of the outline.

Begin the next portion of the outline with a transition statement that moves the speech from the introduction to the main body. This statement may be a "review/preview," a rhetorical question or a signpost.

Write the body of your speech. Start your speech proper with an "attention grabber." This might be a question, an anecdote, a quote or an analogy. In a sentence or two, tie your theme to the audience. This can be done, for example, by stating something like "The reason we're all here today..." Write your main points, making sure that each one has at least two sub-points. For each sub-point, give at least two statements of evidence in support.

Write your conclusion. This portion of the speech will allow you to review and summarize your main points. Reconnect to the audience, reminding them of the purpose of the gathering. Make your concluding remarks, thanking audience members for their time and attention and signaling the end of your talk.

• Use transition statements between the introduction and the body, between each main point and between the main body and the conclusion.
• Northern Virginia Community College; Sample Outline for a Talk
• University of Southern Mississippi; Speech Transitions

Colby Phillips' writing interests include culture and politics. Phillips received a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Oregon and a Master of Arts in philosophy from Boston College.

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8 Public Speaking Techniques to Wow Your Audience

What is the goal of professional speaking?

The goals of professional speaking are to entertain, inform, inspire, and get the audience to take action.

The truth is, in order for your presentation or speech to have its greatest effect you need to be able to entertain and wow your audience.

I’m going to give you 8 presentation skills I use in my speeches to keep my audience on the edge of their seats until the end of my talk.

1) Say Something Right Off The Bat That Connects to The Audience

Let me give you an example of how I open a talk, and you know I’ve given over 5,000 talks and seminars. I almost always open with the same words.

I say, “Congratulations for being here. This means that you are in the top 10% of adults in our society today.”

I say this in Russia, I say it in China, Finland, Canada, and I say it in Atlanta.

“You are among the top 10% of adults in our society today.  Why is that?  It’s because you’re here.  You see, only the top 10% of people in any society ever come to a seminar like this to learn how to be better in some way. The other 90% always have a reason for not being here.”

Then I’ll ask, “How many of you know people who could have been here but had an excuse for not coming?”

Everybody in the audience nods and visualizes and thinks of the person who’s not here, who is usually not a very successful person.

Then I tell them that,

“The fact they are here means that they are in the top 10%.  And by the way, how can you tell who a person really is?  How can you tell what they believe in, what their goals are, and what their hopes, dreams and values are? Can you tell by what they say? Is it what they hope or wish?  No.  It’s only what they do. The fact is that you are here. You’ve taken the actions to be here, and that means you’re in the top 10%.”

Then I’ll say,

“Many of you are thinking that if he knew how much money I’m making, he wouldn’t say I was in the top 10%.  Maybe not, but remember that it doesn’t matter where you’re coming from. All that really matters is where you’re going.  And where you are going is determined by what you are doing at the moment. And the fact that you are here means that you intend to have a great future. Remember that future intention determines present action.”

That’s how I start off.

I’ll even say that I’m going to share some ideas with them, that are practiced by the top 10% of people in this field. I’ll tell them that these ideas can help them to move ahead faster than they ever imagined possible. Then do my best to avoid filler words like um and like, and with this in mind – I launch into my talk.

2) Connect with Emotion

Sometimes when I’m talking to my audiences I will say,  “Tell me, what percentage of people’s thinking is emotional, and what percentage is rational or logical?”

And people will guess for a while, and then they’ll finally say,  “Oh, well it’s 10% logical and 80% or 90% emotional.”

I tell them “No. People’s thinking is 100% emotional.”

What does this mean? This means that people think emotionally and justify logically. The subconscious mind, and our emotions actually function at several thousand times the speed of logic.

For example, you may meet a person and instantly like them. You may find later that there are a lot of reasons for you to instantly like that person. Your emotions acted like a switchblade, instantaneously, but your logic followed after and you figured out the reasons.

3) Tell The Audience How Good They Are

Throughout the talk, I will loop back and say.

“Because you’re in the top 10%, you know this…”

“People in the top 10% like yourself do this…”

“People who aspire to be in the top 10% set goals or manage their time this way.”

So I’m always linking back and telling them that they are in the top 10% and that’s how good they are. Now that’s one way to make it entertaining and enjoyable, because people will all smile and feel happy.

They’re thinking…

“Boy, this guy’s really smart. I didn’t even realize I was in the top 10% until he told me.”

4) Link Back to Your Opening During Your Speech

Starting with a strong opening line or a really good story that you can link and hook your whole talk back into, is very, very powerful.

And I’ve done this year after year.

More on storytelling to come…

5) Relate To The Audience’s Self-Interests

What motivates people to be really interested in your talk, aside from the subject, which many of them may have to be there for?

Many people have told me that they were forced to come to my seminar. They didn’t want to come, because they didn’t think they would learn anything.

So they weren’t there because I was such a wonderful person. They were there because they had to be.

The question you have to ask is, what are the motivations that you need to appeal to so that they will really listen?

Truthfully, I’ve found is that one of the great motivations is self-interest.

That’s why I ask how many people would like to double their income.

They all raise their hands spontaneously.

Then I say,

“Well, in the time we spend together I’m going to give you several ways that you can double your income. These are ways that have been tested and proven by people all over the world. They’ve done these things over and over, and I’ve used them myself to go from rags to non-rags. I’ll give you those same ideas. Would that be a good use of our time together today?”

And they all say,  “Yes! Yes!”

I have their total interest.

If you’re speaking on golf, for example, you ask if they would like to reduce their score by five strokes, every single game consistently.

“Well, I’m going to show you how to do that using psychological and physical techniques.”

6) Entertain Your Audience With Stories

The key to entertaining an audience is stories. Stories are the most important part of a good presentation.

Read this article I wrote if you need help with coming up with great ideas for a PowerPoint presentation .

You can tell very short stories, and they can be your stories or someone else’s stories.

If it’s your personal story, that’s even better.

But if it’s someone else’s story that is just fine.

Start by saying, “I heard a story just the other day.”

And then you tell the story.

Or, “Let me tell you a story,” or “This is something I heard recently that really moved me.”

Whenever you start to tell a story, the whole audience pays 100% attention.

When you’re giving facts and figures and details and strategies, methods and techniques, they will pay a certain amount of attention.

But when you tell a story they will listen intently.

And if you can design your talk around three stories, you’ll be amazed at the response.

Design Your Talk Around 3 Stories

When you think about your talk, remember that “Less is more.”

This should be the basic structure of your talk:

• Your opening
• Your 3 key points

You have a strong opening, first key point, and then a story.

Transition, second key point, and a story.

Transition, third key point, and a story.

Summarize, and then a close.

The stories link it all together. And you can tell stories that are inspiring, or emotional; that make people feel very strongly. You can tell stories that are motivational; that have to do with greater success and achievement as the result of persisting.

7) Appeal To Patriotism, Loyalty or Personal Gain

You can appeal to certain motivations to gain the attention of your audience.

For example:

“Our country is going through great difficulties today and I’m going to give you five things that we have to do to make America once again the land of the free, the home of the brave, and full of opportunity for you, and me, and for our kids.”

So, you have to ask yourself what are the motivations of the people in your audience.

Related: There’s only 1 tip left, if you want more speaker training, check out my best blogs, videos, and courses on the public speaking resource page .

8) Tell the Audience EXACTLY What They are Going to Gain

Great motivation is a desire for gain.

If you can convey to them that they’re going to gain things from your talk, like time, money, or greater success or prestige in any area, then they will be listening and they’ll want to know how they can do that.

A wonderful way you can open a talk, by the way, is you can say “There are three things you need to do if you want to double your income in the next 12 months.”

Then you pause.

The Power of the Pause

When you pause, do you know what happens?

People lean forward and say to themselves,  “I wonder what it is. They wonder what the three things are.”

Then you say,

“The three things are these. You have to be able to do this, and this, and this.”

And then the question they ask in their mind is,  “I wonder how to do that.”

Now it’s almost like fishing…

You just reel them in.

Using any of these tips can help you entertain an audience throughout your entire presentation, no matter how long it is without feeling any speech anxiety . What do you think?

« Previous Post 8 Business Variables That Can Change Your Bottom Line Next Post » 9 Tips to End a Speech With a Bang

About Brian Tracy — Brian is recognized as the top sales training and personal success authority in the world today. He has authored more than 60 books and has produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on sales, management, business success and personal development, including worldwide bestseller The Psychology of Achievement. Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. You can follow him on Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest , Linkedin and Youtube .

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• Entertainment

How to Write an Entertainment Speech Professionally

Need to prepare an entertainment speech for a special occasion? Have no idea how to attract your target audience? You aren’t the only one who finds it difficult to create an interesting speech.

Writing a speech is not an easy thing to do as you need to know how to please your audience. However, with proven tips and strategies at hand, it can be less stressful and challenging. That’s what this blog post is all about.

You need to allocate enough time to writing an entertainment speech as it should be not only entertaining but also informative. If you lack the time now, you’d better not take risks and ask someone from professional writing services, like this site – WriteMyPaperHub: “Please write a speech for me!”.

Even if you have more time than needed but noticed that you tend to procrastinate, it’s indeed of utmost importance to ask yourself whether you’re really going to schedule your preparation and complete it in stages.

Putting such things off till the last minute may only harm your reputation. Hectic writing is not something everyone can pull off. And it’s better that you assess your abilities adequately from the very beginning. In any case, for the speech to revolve around truly your ideas, you can draft an outline or the main points. The latter may swirl in your head constantly while the inspiration to develop them – be absent.

Another option is to draft the whole speech and ask an expert to edit it if you’re unsure of the flow, word choice, and grammar. Subjective look of the author at their own work is a typical issue. Therefore, it wouldn’t hurt anyway to have a fresh opinion on what you wrote. Of course, it can be a person you know, but a professional assessment is less biased and based on experience.

So, if any of these options suits you and your needs, just search for an Essayhub review at NoCramming and choose a service.

No doubt that skilled and professional speech writers will help you create an entertainment speech that will engage your audience like a charm. Do you have free time and want to create it on your own? Excellent! Give it a shot. Just follow these effective tips that we’ve collected for you. Of course, there is a chance you won’t be able to implement all of them at once, as if you have never written entertainment speeches before, you would feel overwhelmed. Well, there is a little secret for you  — no one can. Everyone has difficulties in writing speeches, and any manual should be used step-by-step. So, choose the points you find the most suitable for your task, and use them one by one. Some will stay as a part of your practice and make your entertainment speech writing easier. Let’s start!

Is an Entertainment Speech Only about Fun?

If to ask: “What is an entertainment speech?” most would answer: “It’s the speech that makes people laugh”. It’s a misconception that entertaining is only about fun. An entertainment speech can be created not only for weddings and parties but also for funerals.

The main objective of writing this type is to attract the attention of the target audience and cause emotions. What is the difference between good and bad entertainment speech ? You’ll feel it immediately.

A great one is the one you’ll remember for long while the bad one is the speech that makes you feel bored. Want to be the one who can hook the audience easily? It’s a very useful skill to write entertainment speeches that you can gain if you follow step-by-step guidelines.

7 Tips for Writing Great Special-Occasion Speeches

And finally, we came to the point where you can grab useful tips on entertainment speech writing with both hands. Here are the effective tips that will help you to entertain any group of people, regardless of the occasion.

1. Choose the topic

If the topic hasn’t been specified, you need to choose it on your own. Do it carefully as it’s very important to pick the right topic. You’re recommended to think of your personal experience related to the occasion. If you choose the topic you are familiar with, you’ll sound more persuasive. Also, it will be much more fun for you to research it. Don’t agree with writing on the topic that irritates you or makes you uncomfortable.

2. Brainstorm interesting ideas

Make a list of all the associations with the specific occasion and brainstorm original ideas you could use for the speech. If you don’t have any, then, look for them on the Web. You’ll definitely find the materials that will inspire you. However, it is a good idea to limit the time you spend on brainstorming or research because it can become an issue, especially if the deadline is scarily close.

3. Think of the structure

There is no big difference between an essay and an entertainment speech. Both should be structured properly. Write an outline that will help you organize all the thoughts and ideas and not miss anything. Keep everything neat and clean. Your speech should have an opening sentence, the main body, and the conclusion.

4. Make it exciting

The best way to entertain an audience is to give examples from your life or the life of famous people. Tell stories that will serve the evidence of your words. Storytelling is the basis of nowadays culture. You can see it everywhere — in PR and advertisement, in education, in politics. A good story can sell anything, and your speech is not an exception.

5. Create a speech within a certain word count

A public speech shouldn’t be too long. Even if it’s fun, your target audience will get bored if you talk for hours. You should check how much time it takes you to read it aloud.

6. Practice in attracting your audience with the help of intonation

The role of the intonation is more important than you can imagine. If you don’t change the intonation when reading the speech for several minutes, your target audience will fall asleep. So, don’t be afraid to be emotional if it’s necessary.

7. Write a powerful ending

Some unknown author has compared a speech with a love affair meaning that everyone can start it but not everyone can end it. The ending isn’t less important than the beginning. Most people remember only the final words of the speaker. So, your task is to write the ending that will make an unforgettable impression on your target audience.

Remember that you should be focused on your target audience from the very beginning until the end. It’ll be great if you add some visual elements that will make your speech brighter.

And one more thing you should bear in mind. Forget about all the worries when you are on the stage. For you to feel confident, check whether the speech is effective by reading it aloud to your friends and relatives.

Follow the tips above and don’t forget about the eye contact when presenting the entertainment speech! Ready to rock? Give it a shot. Do your best and don’t let the fear or the feeling of uncertainty stop you. Just do it, champion! Good luck!

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Entertainment Speech Maker

• ✅ 6 Benefits of the Tool

💬 What Is an Entertainment Speech?

🔢 entertaining speech types, 📍 how to write an entertainment speech, 💡 top 21 entertaining speech topics, 📝 4 world-famous entertainment speech examples, 🔗 references.

Do you have a pending entertainment speech assignment but aren’t sure how to write it well? No need to worry because our instant AI entertainment speech generator can help you with this critical school task.

You can use it to create the most entertaining and persuasive speeches. Try our free online entertainment speech maker today.

✅ 6 Benefits of This Informative Speech Generator

How does this free informative speech generator benefit your efforts?

We will focus on the 6 essential benefits:

Broadly, we can define an entertainment speech as one that seeks to captivate or entertain listeners’ attention while delivering a crucial message.

This speech exploits an audience’s emotions and communicates to it in a manner that melts the ice of formalities.

Speakers often deliver entertainment speeches on special occasions.

These events include:

• Award ceremonies
• Conferences

That’s why entertaining speeches are also called special-event or occasion speeches. However, speakers give them in more mundane events, intending to amuse listeners. Remember, the main focus here is entertainment, which stirs an audience’s emotions.

Entertainment speeches come in 3 main forms:

Do you want to master how to draft a long or short 3-minute entertainment speech? Here is a detailed explanation to make you a master speech writer.

Below are the steps to prepare an amusing entertainment speech.

• Determine your speech’s purpose . Clarify what the aim of your speech is before embarking on its creation. While this speech is amusing, don’t confuse it with a stand-up comedy strip. Therefore, you should understand clearly why your audience has gathered before drafting a speech.
• Identify your audience’s laughter points . Research what makes your listeners laugh. This stage requires an in-depth understanding of your audience because what amuses you may not sound funny to your listeners.
• Match your topic with your listeners . Do sufficient audience research and match your topic with it. Your title should be as simple as possible. Therefore, just include enough amusement in your speech to make it more palatable and drive your message home.
• Avoid insults . Don’t make comments that could insult anyone, even if they sound funny. A safe choice is to make funny comments that make listeners laugh at you instead of saying things that make them feel you are insulting them.
• Use plain language . Use plain everyday language everyone understands. Avoid all jargon and the “big word” syndrome.
• Be precise . Be precise and keep your presentation short and sweet.
• Use your personal experiences . When possible, use the examples related to your life to illustrate your message.
• Involve your listeners . Let your audience ask questions, answer questions, and make comments.
• Be yourself . Draft your speech to portray the original you and not a clone. Remember, your listeners came to listen to you and want to see the real you.
• Finish on a witty note . End your speech on a witty, amusing note.
• My best joke.
• My first day in marriage.
• How I got my nickname.
• My first lie.
• My worst holiday.
• Humour and jokes: what’s so funny?
• My first international visit.
• The first day I boarded a plane.
• Humor as a way to cope with stress .
• The first day I swam alone in the ocean.
• How to live with teenagers.
• Humor in the workplace: does it help?
• Maximizing the benefits of teenage period.
• Optimizing your singlehood.
• Different tastes of humor .
• How to be the best employee.
• Why truth is better than lies.
• Comedy and humor in world literature .
• My secret to happiness.
• The best alternative to exams.
• Sense of humor: how does it help?

Below are descriptions of entertainment speeches focusing on inspiration and acceptance.

Sandra Bullock - 2010 Oscar Acceptance Speech

Sandra Bullock delivered this acceptance speech in 2009 when she won an academy award in the Actress in a Leading Role category. She won it based on the role she played in the film The Blind Side. The emotionally charged speech appreciated all who helped her scoop the award.

Will Smith - The Best Things in Life Are on the Other Side of Fear

Will Smith made this speech while discussing why and how to face one’s fears as the key to getting the best things lying beyond the comfort zone. The speech’s moral is that the best things in life arrive after you stop being afraid and move on.

Frances McDormand - 2018 Oscar Acceptance Speech

This speech focused on Frances’ quest for gender equality in the entertainment industry after accepting the Oscar for Best Actress at tonight’s Academy Awards.

Ray Lewis - The Two Sides of Pain

This speech focuses on Ray’s life story . He used it to share his inspiring childhood, where he learned the two sides of pain. He discussed suffering and examined what pain drives one to do. His moral is that success is the end of pain.

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This free online entertainment speech maker will quickly generate an exciting speech example for you. Just follow the prompts and add the details so that your result will fully meet your requirements. As a bonus, find here entertaining speech examples and topics.

3 ways to generate entertaining speech topics (naturally)

Entertaining speech topics are NOT out there.

Here’s the big misconception.

I’ll come to it but first let’s talk about you.

You want to start writing an entertaining speech.

Maybe.. you want to participate in a humorous speech contest.

Maybe.. you want your presentation to stand out from the crowd of boring presentations.

Maybe.. you want to just spread happiness in the world!

…But… Wait.

Why should you listen to me?

I am not a stand-up comedian…..I am not a full time humorist…..I am not son of Bill Gates.

Precisely, for the above reasons!

I am sure you also satisfy the above criteria. I am just like you. But there is ONE difference.

I studied the concepts of humor and applied them to get results and maybe you have NOT.

Check this video of mine. Hey, it’s all good. Don’t worry :).

Hope you enjoyed my entertaining speech.

Remember I talked about misconception…common that’s the first line of this blog post.

The misconception is that people think that they need to look for entertaining speeches topics  OUT THERE.

Yes, OUT THERE: in joke books, articles, TV series.

Even if you find OUT THERE, it’s just a matter of time before it will stop working. Chances are that someone else in the audience also might have heard the story or joke from the same place where you saw or heard.

So, what do you do?

GOOD QUESTION.

Even though, many say it is difficult to come up with a topic for an entertaining speech, I believe finding entertaining speech ideas is not difficult.

Because you have a reservoir of untapped resources to find material.

You are going, “Really?”

Yep, that’s true.

And now you are asking, “What is it?”

It’s your LIFE.

You can write an entertaining speech based on your life. There are literally hundreds of funny topics hidden in your life experiences.

It’s all about HOW YOU SAY IT.

It depends on the UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE of the life and life experiences.

And this unique perspective can be transformed as laughter matter for your audience.

I cannot stress this enough: you can create HUMOR from your own life experiences. You don’t need to look for jokes in a joke book or from someone else’s material.

If something can make you laugh, why not use that as content for your speech.

I hear you say Enough Rama…. Ok, let us get going to the heart of the matter.

A word of caveat: this blog post is not about how to create HUMOR. If you want to know about creating humor, please check out the free ebook .

Check out my video where I explain three different ideas to start creating entertaining speeches.

Following are three ways to find entertaining speeches topics from your own life:

1) largely relatable unexpected events:.

Let us understand this with an example. Let us say, you are a guy and you are going on a date. Maybe you are a girl and you are taking a guy on a date. It is possible. Let us not rule this out!  On the way, your vehicle ran out of fuel. And it turned out to be the worst date. I am pretty sure; you will share this incident with your buddies at the coffee table. Just note the way you describe the incidents to your friends. Note down the instances and sentences at which they laugh. Jot down the exact sentences. It will be easier to create an entertaining speech.

2) Any unusual physical traits can lead to entertaining speech topics:

Your physical traits are what the audience will see at the first place. If someone else uses your physical trait, then it becomes offensive. If you self-depreciate your own physical trait, it is comedy! Just think what is unique about your appearance. Are you very tall, good looking, not so good looking? Write down instances where you had embarrassing experiences / funny experiences because of that trait.

Let us see an example. I have seen a speech, where the speaker won the Humorous Speech Championship with just one idea: Being short. He constructed the whole plot with his height. He shared his embarrassments since he was a child. He cited funny incidents at school and public places. He described his relationship with his wife who was taller than him. It was a laughter riot. What ideas does this give you?

Are you dark in color? I don’t want you to spark any racist feelings. Only if others talk about your color, it can be called as racism. If ‘you’ joke about your color, it is not racism. There must be certain instances where you were embarrassed or had unique experiences because of your color. This could be your idea for an entertaining speech topic.

3) Your current life situation is an awesome place for entertaining speech topics:

Think about your current life situation. In whatever stage of life you are currently in, you could easily generate entertaining speech ideas.

For example, are you a teenager? You can talk about your experience with your ‘girl’ friends. It does not mean, you need to have one. Even if you don’t have one, write how hard it is to have one. If you have a girl friend, write how hard it is to maintain one!

Are you in your 20s? Can you talk about your quarter life crisis? Maybe you are not happy with your job. Maybe you don’t want to get married. Maybe you want to get married but are scared. May your got married! In that case, I think your every day life will be material for your entertaining speech! Just complain!

Even if you are in 30s, 40s, or 50s, I am sure some part of your current life situation worries you. By being real and authentic, you build trust and credibility with the audience. This is very important to create humor. And humor is the main ingredient in an entertaining speech.

I hope these ideas directly or indirectly helps you start off on your entertaining speech writing process.

Wish you all the best!

Award-winning author (by Readers' Favorite 2018) and award winning speaker (won more than 25 contests), and husband (he doesn't take this role for granted), and a proponent of adding value to this world. His mission is to help people become confident through the invaluable skill of public speaking. He has helped professionals all around the world through his unique online program "Secrets to Rock in Public Speaking." His 7 books related to public speaking and career are ordered by more than 70K amazon customers.

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Writer Sandra Hamada on What It Was Like to Pen Her First Episode

L ike millions of others across the globe (at one point, more than 20 million people each week would tune in to Grey’s !), Sandra Hamada spent her high school years obsessed with Grey’s Anatomy , consuming each week’s episode alongside her equally devoted family. Yet when her father grew sick with terminal cancer, he declared Grey’s taboo in their household, no longer wanting to see a show set in a hospital. Teenage Sandra, disappointed but understanding, ceased her fandom.

Nearly two decades later, she decided to give the series another go — but this time not just as a fan. In fall 2022, Hamada joined the Grey’s crew as a researcher, helping the writing team find medical experts, looking up terminology, and brainstorming topics for Meredith’s iconic episode voice-overs. “I’d go to work and talk Grey’s Anatomy , then come home and watch three or four episodes,” she tells Shondaland over a recent Zoom call. “It was my entire life last year.”

The dedication paid off because this spring, Hamada, now 36, made her debut as a Grey’s writer, penning (and producing) this week’s episode, “The Marathon Continues.” The opportunity was “an amazing first experience,” she says.

“Watching as a fan, it’s so intimidating to see how they are able to produce such a realistic and authentic medical show on television,” Hamada explains. Getting to help make an episode, she adds, “was really exciting for me.”

The writer’s journey from Grey’s fan to employee was far from a straight line. The daughter of a Mexican immigrant mother and a fourth-generation Japanese American father, Hamada grew up in Los Angeles but “didn’t know anyone in the business,” she says. She spent her childhood studying hard, graduating at the top of her high school class — while writing fan fiction on the side, inspired in part by her father, a fan of Star Wars and Star Trek . “I got that love of entertainment from him,” she reflects.

In 2005, when Hamada was 18, she learned that Congress was trying to pass H.R. 4437 , a bill that, among other things, would turn undocumented immigration status into a federal crime (it was passed by the House but failed in the Senate). Angry and determined, she organized her first immigration march that same year.

“I realized I had a choice — I could either continue down this path of seeing this country through rose-colored glasses, or I could go down my dad’s path of just escapism and cynicism,” Hamada says. “Instead, I found a third path, which was community organizing.”

Getting involved in politics “completely changed my life,” she remembers. Indeed, she would go on to spend more than a decade in the activism world, working as both a community organizer and a speechwriter. “I worked with Black and brown families and students to help turn their personal stories [into speeches] to win over some of the most powerful politicians in L.A.,” Hamada explains. Among other achievements, her efforts were instrumental in locating millions of dollars for underfunded city schools.

As rewarding as this line of work was, however, she eventually decided to pursue a different path. “I realized that I had spent all this time helping other people tell their stories, but that I had my own stories I wanted to tell,” Hamada says. She quit organizing and started studying screenwriting, simultaneously taking on any Hollywood internship she could find (including at Gina Rodriguez’s I Can & I Will Productions, which focuses on creating opportunities for underrepresented groups both in front of and behind the camera).

A few years later, Hamada’s big break came in the form of a writer’s assistant job on the Disney Channel’s Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion , a teenage action-comedy that was Disney’s first Latinx superhero show. In 2022, she wrote her first episode of TV for the series; shortly after, she earned a new-writers fellowship from the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE). When Grey’s Anatomy producers reached out to CAPE to see if any of its fellows would be interested in a researcher position for the show’s 19th season, Hamada immediately threw her hat in the ring.

“Every chance I could get, I was just trying to do the best I could to support the writers,” she remembers. Becoming a Grey’s writer herself, she adds, “was always the goal.”

Hamada pitched the idea for “The Marathon Continues” last year, drawing inspiration from a real-life personal tragedy: In summer 2023, a loved one passed away from cancer while being incarcerated in the Utah penitentiary system. The 26-year-old “died due to medical neglect,” Hamada says. When he told staff that he needed to go to the hospital, they “completely ignored his medical needs,” wrongly assuming he just wanted to get out of prison for a few days.

“Devastated” by the loss and its preventable circumstances — “if someone in the incarceration system had cared for him, he could’ve lived,” Hamada says matter-of-factly — the writer channeled her emotions into a moving Grey’s storyline involving a sick prisoner whose condition sends him, far too late, to the hospital. The unjust reality behind the plot surprised Hamada’s fellow writers, who “were just in complete disbelief that this could happen,” she recalls.

Hamada says she was “so grateful” to have the opportunity to share the story with viewers, many of whom, like the show’s other writers, may not have known about how hard it often is for incarcerated people to receive medical care. “There’s not enough coverage in the media; there’s not enough studies being done,” she says. “We’re not talking about how we’re completely neglecting the health care of incarcerated people in our country.”

In the Grey’s episode, Dr. Mika Yasuda (Midori Francis) is assigned to the patient’s case and is deeply affected by his troubling circumstances. Hamada was “so excited” to write for the character, whom she described as a “tough, bad*** surgeon who doesn’t really show her emotions” — making her reaction to the incarcerated patient all the more poignant. Hamada also enjoyed writing a touching plotline involving Yasuda’s fellow interns Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.) and Simone (Alexis Floyd), who surprise themselves by bonding over the mental toll of their internships (and whose friendship evolves in a major way by the episode’s end).

“This episode is really about the broken health systems in our country,” Hamada says. “It’s an issue that’s impacting everyone around us.”

Writing about such delicate and personal topics — and sharing them with the rest of the Grey’s team — was “so intimidating,” she says. “You kind of put your heart on the line when you tell that type of story.” Luckily, Hamada adds, “Everyone in that room was so supportive, and they were like, ‘Yes, we need to tell this story.’”

Grey’s is currently on hiatus (season 20 consists of just 10 episodes due to the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes), but production on the next season begins soon, and Hamada says she’s “really excited” to get back in the writers’ room. A big fan of Grey’s original cast member Sandra Oh and the path she blazed for Asian American actors on the series, Hamada adds that she hopes to create future episodes that reflect the star’s impact. “I would just love to be able to write more stories that help to honor Sandra’s legacy on the show,” she says.

Considering Grey’s ongoing popularity, it seems likely she’ll have the chance. “The show is gonna live long after us,” Hamada says, adding with a laugh: “It’s just gonna be Grey’s Anatomy and the cockroaches.”

Rachel Simon is a writer with work in The New York Times , Glamour , NBC News , Marie Claire , and many other outlets. Follow her on Twitter @rachel_simon .

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