Bring order to the chaos - An introduction to Speech Organisation
Author : Robert Green DTM

Date : 16-06-2005

Organise your Presentation

Have you ever sat through a presentation and been overwhelmed by ideas? Have you ever found yourself trying to work out what is the message the speaker was trying to convey?
When we deliver a presentation it is important that we “carry” our audience. This process involves using several sets of skills, including using appropriate language, having an interesting opening, adding colour to our presentations through the use of gestures and ensuring that our speech structure is organised and easy to follow.

Focusing on improving our speech structure, it is worthwhile to note that learning how to think in a clear logical flow and applying that process to delivering a speech is a skill that anyone can learn.

Poor disorganisation is usually a symptom of one of three things:

1. Nervousness: Sometimes even when we have planned and crafted a beautiful presentation nervousness can prevent our delivery being smooth and organised. Practice will enable you to gain confidence. Most people were nervous the first time they sat behind the wheel of a car, yet those people
who have been driving for years probably give little thought to nerves before driving.

2. Distractions: It would be nice to think that every presentation will occur without any distraction; however you will encounter situations in which your train of thought will be disrupted. If this occurs to you, simply pause, take a deep breath and collect your thoughts before continuing.

3. Lack of Preparation: You have already chosen the topic that you wish to speak on and know what you want to say, however for your speech to convey your message with power, you need to take the time to work out how you are going to say it.

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From What to How

Each presentation should have a key theme that captures the spirit of the message that you wish to convoy. While different people use different terms for this, we will call it the theme of the speech. Let us take an example of: “Learning from Mistakes”

Breaking the theme down

In presenting a training session, you should focus the number of key points that you wish to include in the presentation. Factors that
In a presentation of 7 minutes you will have time for only 3 key points.
you should consider in determining the number of key points include:

• The amount of time you have available

• Your audiences familiarity with the topic

A speech will lose its impact if there are too many key points.
Returning to our example, your key points for Learning from Mistakes might include:

A mistake you made as a child, A mistake that someone else made that affected you and a historical mistake.

Adding to your key points

Once you have identified your key points, use a variety of tools to illustrate those points.
Tools you may wish to use include:

• Quotes

• Humour

• Examples

• Rhetorical questions

By including a variety of these tools your presentation will now contain a well prepared body.

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Transitions

Once you have the 3 key points, determine the order in which they would most logically flow. The order you choose might be determined a variety of factors, in our example we might use Chronological, which is a historic mistakes, then mistakes as a child followed by mistakes that affected you. Once you have determined the order, work on finding a set of words that will link one key point to another.

“Some people may think that we are far more sophisticated than the ancient peoples of Africa, however I will now tell you of a time when I was just as silly ….”

Introduction and Conclusion

Now that you have your body in place, you need to add an introduction and a conclusion.

In brief an Introduction should capture your audience’s attention and introduce your presentation.

Your conclusion is important as it is the final message you will leave will your audience, and therefore the most likely to be remembered. Your conclusion should contain the essence of your presentation and if appropriate the call to action for your audience.

Returning to our example your conclusion might be “ You can see that we all make mistakes … the next time you make a mistake that effects you, view it as an opportunity to learn better”

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