Tip 5: Make your speech great

Demosthenes, the father of Greek oratory, described four elements of a great speech:

1. A great person

2. A great occasion

3. A great message

4. A great delivery

You might not always be that great person giving a speech on a great occasion with a great message and great delivery. However, there are nonetheless, things you can do to improve in your favour the odds of giving a great speech.

1) Be a great person

Become a great person in the eyes of the audience, and be the best person that you can be. Let your experience, values, character, vision, even your sense of humour permeate every word you say and how you say it. Do the best research and preparation you can. Let yourself shine through in what you say.

2) Make it a great occasion

Think of any occasion that you speak as being a great occasion for you. Make it memorable and useful, so that your audience will look back and think of it also as being a great occasion because of you and your presentation.

3) Have a great message

Creating a memorable message takes preparation. Develop one idea that you truly care about and that the audience will benefit from. Be as clear and honest as you can be. Don't try to impress the audience. Care about your audience and for your message and convey your message with sincerity.

4) Give a great delivery

The only sure way to improve delivery is to practice. Know what you want to say and how you plan on saying it. Don't memorize your speech word for word. Establish eye contact, one person at a time. Speak from the heart, with passion.

Conclusion

As you prepare for your presentation, always be thinking about how you can be a greater person, how to make it a greater occasion, how to make it a greater message, and how to give a greater delivery.

"Wow! This guide and handbook made a huge difference to my delegates at my online workshop. They loved everything we did. Thanks to Dr Mandar Marathe's book I developed my presentation skills quickly whilst enjoying all the new concepts and ideas this book offers in a very easy to read and practical manner.
 
All professional speakers, trainers and sales people should get a copy of this book!"
- Ash Ali, Online Marketing Expert & Founder of Sandalstore.co.uk

Table of contents
(Click to view sample pages from the book)

Introduction
About the author
How to use this book
Who needs this book?
Chapter 1: Planning for your presentation
Chapter 2: Preparing the delivery
Chapter 3: Preparing effective PowerPoint® slides
Chapter 4: Preparing a handout
Chapter 5: Rehearsals
Chapter 6: Just before the presentation
Chapter 7: Last-minute tips for confidence
Chapter 8: Delivering the presentation
Chapter 9: 'Any questions?'
Chapter 10: After the presentation
Chapter 11: Final Thoughts

About the author

Dr Mandar Marathe graduated from Southampton University with an honours degree in Biomedical Sciences in 1998 and a Bachelor of Medicine degree in 1999. He holds advanced qualifications in Emergency Medicine and in Toxicology.

He juggles a career as a doctor working in Accident & Emergency, while raising three children with his wife, writing books, and endlessly surfing the internet looking for the next "big thing".

With almost two decades of public speaking experience in both academic and professional arenas, he is today an enthusiastic and popular educator who is well qualified to share his ideas about what makes a successful speaker and a powerful presentation.

Dr Mandar Marathe is the course director for the FCEM Course.