How To Start And End a Speech William

Confidence and quality speeches is dependent the two most important parts of our speech are the start and the finish. But most of us spend a lot more time concentrating on how to kick-off our speech rather than how to end it. Too often speeches have good beginnings and fizzling endings.

That's a mistake because the end of our speech is our chance to give audience members something to walk away with. The start of our speech is important to establishing rhythm for us and credibility for our audience. The end of our speech is our explanation point.

One of the people who offered words of wisdom about how to properly end a speech is the great William Penn, a man who gave innumerable speeches during his lifetime. If you're like most Americans, William Penn is probably a name you remember from school but would be hard-pressed to explain the role he played in our nation's history. This is not usual for a nation rich in important historical characters.

For the record, Penn was a real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, early Quaker and founder of the province of Pennsylvania, which became the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The democratic principles that he set forth served as an inspiration for the U.S. Constitution. He walked among us from 1644 to 1718.

Here's what William Penn had to say about ending a speech in a manner that accomplishes its intent: "Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly, for the end of a speech is not ostentation but to be understood.

In other words, don't try to be showy or flowery. Don't get abstract or overly metaphorical. Don't be given to romanticized soliloquies. Instead, focus on directness and clarity. People respond far better to directness and clarity at this stage. Get too flowery or metaphorical and our message is likely to be misinterpreted or watered down.

So we should carefully consider our parting message. What's appropriate? What will actually penetrate? We might want to:

* Reiterate our key message, the one we started with and reinforced along the way.

* Echo something we said at the start of the speech, so come full circle and give our audience a sense of   completeness.

*This gives our comments a holistic feel.

* Present a call to action, if we're asking or expecting audience members to act on what we have said. If we don't make the request or challenge, we don't get the desired action.

* Contribute money to a cause they can get behind, based on the information we have imparted.

* Change their behavior in ways that benefit them.

In any case, we give speeches for a reason, and that is to influence others in some manner, shape or form - whether to educate, entertain, motivate, manage or chastise. The end of the speech is our final opportunity to put our stake in the ground and drives audiences to action.

William Penn's advice is sound and practical. Simply put, it is to articulate our closing thoughts with directness and unmistakable clarity.

Rules of Direct Speech And Writing

How can the US Marines help you communicate your message effectively?

I am asked is how to write a speech.One of the best ways I have found when writing a speech to both plan a speech and to present your information is the Rule of Three. Used extensively by Barak Obama in his speeches, and also by John F Kennedy, I find it an invaluable tool. I have recently taught it to my daughter who used it in her first history essay at school.

Developed by the U.S. Marine Corps to help aid the delivery & retention of information, the Rule of Three carefully segments your information into three key headings. Each key heading may contain three sub headings. Each sub heading will contain three points and so on rather like a very well ordered family tree. This approach is, as I have said, excellent for laying out your ideas as you give a presentation and for your audience to recall the information that you deliver to them. One additional benefit of the Rule of Three is that it gives you a framework that is a lot easier to remember when you are up there delivering your speech.

Research by the Marine Corps suggests that the human brain can cope with learning three points but struggles thereafter. For those of you who are sceptical try remembering a list of 12 items on a shopping list from your partner! Most of us will struggle.

So the Rule of Three is great for organising your presentation.

It is also a highly beneficial way of helping your audience to identify which points are crucial and which are interesting but less important. For those of us who enjoy cooking, we are aware that not all 12 items on that shopping list are of equal importance. Let's take a simple recipe; Spaghetti Bologna's. The recipe that I use requires 11 ingredients. 

The chances of me (or my other half) remembering all 11 ingredients when I pop down to the supermarket are pretty small. If you are anything like me, you remember all the minor ingredients but forget the spaghetti! Thinking about it, there are only three core ingredients - mince, tomatoes and spaghetti. As long as I remember these we can produce a dish that might not be a classic but is certainly Spaghetti Bologna's.

That's the same with your speech. The rule of three allows you to logically structure your flow; it allows you to remember your points more easily, but above all, due to it's hierarchical nature you will definitely cover the crucial main points.