What to write for your speeches?

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What to write for your speeches?

If you want to start, but don’t know where to start, or if you are running out of ideas for what to write.  Relax! You are not alone!

The speech projects describe the ways, but do not provide the topics

Let’s talk about what to write for your speeches. I have two articles that I would like to share with you. The first one is “Setting Up a Speech Databank – the Real Secrets to Creative Speech Ideas” written by ATM-G Ng Seng Chuan.

Basically, we have to create a speech databank. “Set up an account book for depositing ideas, and you will have a wealth of materials from which to draw inspiration for your speeches.”

As stated in the article, “good ideas abound in life. All we need is a system for harvesting them”.  The system is that you have to read widely. How about setting aside half an hour each day for reading. Make time to read and you will be generating ideas.

The next step is that you have to create “thinking time”.  How to create the best thinking time? There are two suggestions. First, exercise regularly and you may get interesting ideas. When you are exercising, your mind is free to imagine.  Secondly, make use of your “mindless time”. When you are traveling or doing daily routines, you can think clearly. Remember to jot down good ideas when they come, or else you will forget them.

Finally, you have to make time to write. Plan to do one speech a month.

Here is a simple plan as stated in the article.

“Week One: read the manual requirements, and start to think how you are going to fulfill them.
Week Two: Settle on a topic, then start to develop a simple speech outline.
Week Three: Write out your speech early in the week, then edit and refine.
Week Four: Practice and rehearse.”

By setting up your speech databank and following this simple plan, you should have no problem for doing your projects.

The second article that I would like to share is “Looking for Speech Ideas? Look at Your Life!” by DTM Dee Dees in the July 2007 issue of the Toastmasters magazine.  If you don’t know what to talk about, look no further than your own life experiences.

For Project One “Ice Breaker”, you can talk about a brief overview of your life.
For Project Two “Organize Your Speech”, you can talk about your hobbies or areas of expertise. For Project Three “ Get to the point”, you can discuss an issue that is important to you, for example, your college education or the impact of having served in the army.
For Project Four “How to Say It”, you can talk about your favorite holiday destination, or a major event in your life – marriage, the birth of your child, or retiring from your job.

I think now you should have ideas on what to write for your speeches.

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Resources:
“Setting Up a Speech Databank – the Real Secrets to Creative Speech Ideas” by ATM-G Ng Seng Chuan.
“Looking for Speech Ideas? Look at Your Life!” by DTM Dee Dees
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By Yetti Chiu
Club President 2007-2008
Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club