Have you ever watched someone delivering a speech in a tone monotonous enough to disinterest you?
The loss of interest happens because they might be reading their speech and not speaking it. There's a considerable difference in both actions.
If you are constantly looking at your reading material, your audience is bound to get bored and inattentive.
It presents you as unprepared and underconfident. But, that doesn't mean that reading your speech is the wrong thing to do. You have to be witty while pulling the act.
Few tips to help you speak your speech, instead of reading it, are:
- Write in a natural tone - If the words of your speech are not your own, it is improbable that you'll be able to remember them. When you write the speech yourself, it reflects your natural speaking style. This technique helps you in recalling the points of your speech easily. Also, you sound effortlessly natural while delivering it.
- Short Sentences - Do not write your speech in paragraph format. While on stage, you wouldn't have leisure time to locate your point in the heap of words. Divide the contents of your speech into points. Also, keep the points short with not more than ten words. Remember that the purpose of the material is to give you hints.
- Clear Formatting - This is one common thing that many people do wrong. The formatting of your printed material should be clear. Use legible font and a good enough font size too. Write the main points or immediate things in bold. Also, go for double spacing if possible. Double spacing will help you get a picture of everything in one glance.
- Make cue cards - Do not take the entire encyclopedia with you while you get on the stage. This way, you will be lost in turning pages, and there will be an empty room when you find what to say. So, make small cue cards to give you a hint wherever you lose track. Write one point on one cue card and arrange them in the respective order. The order will help you stay focused and organized.
- Pause - While you are reading from the cards, pause after you lookup. Recollect all your thoughts during this pause. A pause is an efficient tool for effective communication. Inserting a pause over here will help you in building anticipation.
- Rehearse - Though there are many tricks to make your reading look like speaking, nothing beats a well-rehearsed speech. If you have enough knowledge about the subject you are speaking about, this shouldn't be a problem. Try to rehearse your speech enough times to help you become familiar with it.
- Eye contact - There is no better way to win someone's trust than by looking into their eyes. Look at your cue cards for the hint, but make sure you establish eye contact with the audience while making the speech. An eye contact assures that the other person is as much involved in the activity as you are. Eye contact also projects you as a confident speaker.
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