Speak with Impact

by Allison Shapira

  If you are bored with your subject or if you hate your job, it’s going to be very difficult to give a powerful, authentic speech. And in those cases, you do have a couple of options. You can change careers, as my friend did. He wound up quitting his job and pursuing his dream to revitalize an abandoned building in his city. But maybe you have three kids to support, college bills, and a mortgage. So instead of searching for what you’re passionate about, think about what you like about your work.

  Working with investment bankers, I sometimes find resistance to the word “passion.” They’ll say, “I work hundred-hour weeks in a high-stress environment. I’m not just doing it for the money, but I wouldn’t exactly say I’m passionate about it. I do like being able to solve problems for my clients. It’s like a puzzle, and I like putting together the pieces of the puzzle.” That works.

  You can find your “Why you?” in a few different ways. Ask yourself:

  •Why do you care about your audience or about the occasion of the speech?

  •Why do you care about your subject or your organization?

  •What are you proud of in your work?

  How will you know when you find the answer that resonates? You’ll know, because you’ll feel it and think, “Yes, that’s the thing I’m looking for.”

  Now that you’ve researched your audience and determined the goal of your speech, ask yourself “Why you?” Speak it out loud before you write it down. Ask it a few times to go deeper into your motivation, and then try to explain it further. Share it with a trusted friend or colleague. You’ll know when you’ve found it.

  DETERMINING YOUR MAIN MESSAGE

  Once you’ve asked yourself the Three Questions, you’re ready to determine the main message of your speech. In fact, now it should be much easier to arrive at the message.

  Imagine an audience member leaving your speech. She goes into an elevator, and someone asks her, “What was that speech about?” Her answer should be your main message. The main message should be relevant and compelling to your audience; what will they get out of the speech? Be explicit.

  “In today’s presentation, I’ll show you how to improve client satisfaction in a way that helps you retain more clients, get more referrals, and exceed your sales goals.”

  “Every single one of us will feel the effects of climate change, and we have to act before it’s too late.”

  “If we work on our company culture, then business growth will follow.”

  When you focus on a single message, you increase the power of that message. When you throw in five different messages, you dilute each one.

  Write your main message in one sentence and read it out loud. It can be a compound sentence, but keep it short and simple. What are you going to talk about, and why is it important to your audience?

  CHAPTER 3

  Write the Speech

  A Process to Write Any Speech or Presentation

  FINDING THE RIGHT TIME

  Are you an early riser who gets more done between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. than most people in an entire day? Or do you only truly wake up in the afternoon, and 10 p.m. is your productive time? Whichever time you prefer, that’s when you should write your speech or presentation.

  I come from a long line of early birds, and I’m no exception. My mother says that, by 10 a.m., the day is half over. If I sit down to write a speech at 4 p.m., it’s going to feel like an uphill battle. My mind will be overwhelmed by everything that’s already happened that day, my energy level will be sinking into the ground, and I’ll be hungry and distracted. That’s not the best state of mind to do my most creative work.

  As you prepare to write, look at your calendar and block off time during your most productive time of day. In fact, while you’re in your calendar, look at the date of your upcoming speech, and block off time to practice it.

  How far in advance of your speech should you start to prepare? The amount of time you spend depends on two major factors: how important the speech occasion is, and how often you have spoken on the subject.

  Imagine you’ve just been promoted to the head of a line of business within your multinational corporation. You’re speaking at a company off-site to about two hundred leaders, and the CEO of the corporation is there. Your job is to inspire your new leadership team and talk about your vision for the coming year. Time to start preparing: one month in advance.

  Now imagine you’re presenting the findings of a project you’ve been working on for the past few weeks. You’re speaking to a group of colleagues who know you, like you, and just need a quick update. You know exactly what you want to say—in fact, you gave this exact presentation last week to another group. Time to start preparing: one day before.

  Writing a speech or presentation is an iterative process, so I recommend working on it in blocks of time. Spend forty-five minutes, take a break, and then come back. Give yourself time to think about the material, and then come back the next day with a fresh head. Unfortunately, most people have no process at all. They stress about the presentation for weeks without actually doing anything; and when they do sit down to write, their mind goes blank. Finally, the night before the event, in a fit of desperation, they come up with something they can say and spend all night adjusting text boxes in their slide deck because it’s too late to ask someone else to do it, only to come in the next morning exhausted and think, “Let’s just get it over with already.”

  Or, worse, they don’t prepare at all and just try to wing it. That’s when they stand in front of their peers and start umm-ing and ahhing as they wait for a flash of inspiration to strike.

  In this book, I give you a repeatable process you can use to prepare for every speech, presentation, or conversation, no matter how much time you have.

  Do you like to write on a sheet of paper, or a digital device? There’s no wrong answer: whatever works for you is what you should use. If you use a device, simply make sure you’re saving your work constantly and backing it up.

  Can you write from your office? If you’re in a cubicle or shared workspace, that might be difficult. Maybe you’re the kind of person who finds inspiration in the white noise of a coffee shop or who can sit out on your back porch. Or maybe you need the complete silence of a library. There’s no wrong answer; there’s only what works for you.

  As you prepare for the writing process, make sure you are in the right mental space. If you meditate, spend some time in meditation beforehand. Make sure you’re fed, caffeinated if necessary, and comfortable so you don’t get distracted. And turn off all your digital distractions: turn off message notifications, put your phone on silent with no vibration, and close your door.

  Should you write together with someone else? It can be helpful to brainstorm your speech topic and your message with a friend or colleague who knows the audience. My coaches and I spend a lot of time helping our clients answer the Three Questions and craft their main message. If you’re giving a group presentation, answer the Three Questions together with your group, and then decide who is taking what section of the presentation.

  Should you work with a speechwriter? I’ve served as a speechwriter in the past, and now I recommend people work with professional speechwriters when they have an important speech and don’t have the time or bandwidth to write it themselves, or if they are in an executive role where they are constantly speaking in high-stakes situations.

  Stephen Krupin, a White House speechwriter to President Barack Obama and currently the head of the executive communications practice at SKDKnickerbocker, says, “Your story is only as good as your ability to tell it to the stakeholders who matter. When speechwriters look at a collection of ideas, data, and anecdotes, we can see an argument that will grab someone’s attention and move them to act.”

  Matthew Rees, a White House speechwriter to President George W. Bush and currently the founder of the speechwriting firm GEONOMICA, offers this guidance when working with a speechwriter: “Communicate to the writer the content you’d like to have included
(you’d be surprised how rarely this happens). A meeting or phone call can suffice, but most effective is preparing an outline for the speech, as this ensures nothing gets lost in translation. Share your previous speeches or articles, as well as articles that you think are relevant to the topic you’ll be covering. Speechwriters have many talents, but they’re not mind readers. The more guidance you give them, the more likely it will be that they give you a speech that you actually want to deliver.”

  Determine the best time of day to write your speech. Look at the speech date on your calendar and block off times to prepare. Think of the best place to write, and ask yourself if you should engage the help of a speechwriter. Talk through ideas with a friend, colleague, or coach.

  BRAINSTORMING THE CONTENT

  Everyone has their own writing process. I’m going to share with you my process and the one my team and I use with our clients. You are free to use it or adapt it to your own needs. Whether you write the script word-for-word or just use bullet points depends on how comfortable you are with the material. Regardless of what you choose when you write, reduce your speech to bullet points before the day of the speech.

  Start by reviewing the Three Questions: Who is your audience? What is your goal? Why you? Then read through your one-sentence main message. Adjust it if necessary.

  What comes next is critical and should not be interrupted. Just write.

  Brainstorm everything you would want to say on the topic, all the main points, and all your ideas about the subject. Just write.

  Think of all the relevant stories or examples you could share on the topic. Just write.

  Think of what was in the news about your subject lately and any interesting facts. Just write.

  Don’t judge, don’t edit, and don’t think about what others will think of you. Just write.

  In his book On Writing, Stephen King says, “Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.”1 Write for yourself, then edit for others. This process is so important because it’s usually our judgment and self-awareness that holds us back from writing.

  Once you’ve finished writing, read it to make sure you got everything out of your head and onto paper or screen.

  Then take a break. Physically get up and walk around. Get a drink, use the restroom, and go outside for a breath of fresh air.

  Congratulations! You’ve finished the hardest part of the writing process.

  During your most productive time of day, ask the Three Questions and then brainstorm your speech without interruptions or judgment. Just write.

  FINDING THE RIGHT STRUCTURE

  Look at the content with a critical eye. Now you can “rewrite with the door open,” as Stephen King says. Look through your text and pick out the key arguments. Which are the most compelling points for your audience? How do you rearrange them into a structure?

  One of my favorite structures is called Monroe’s Motivated Sequence: a five-step outline developed by Purdue University professor Alan Monroe in the 1930s. I learned it from the book The Political Speechwriter’s Companion by Robert Lehrman.2 The book, which I highly recommend even for those outside politics, delves in more depth into this structure.

  Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

  1.Attention: Grab the audience’s attention immediately.

  2.Need or Problem: What is the problem you are addressing?

  3.Satisfaction or Solution: What is the solution you are proposing?

  4.Visualization: What will the world look like if you are successful? Or unsuccessful? Paint a picture.

  5.Action: What is your call to action for the audience?

  Let’s choose a message and use Monroe’s Motivated Sequence to outline the structure.

  Message: Together, we can eradicate homelessness in the United States.

  To help craft this message, I call my friend and colleague Jacki Coyle, Executive Director of Shepherd’s Table in Silver Spring, Maryland. Shepherd’s Table is a local community organization that supports men and women experiencing homelessness by providing basic human services such as meals, clothing, and crisis intervention, among many other services.

  1. Attention: Last night, the temperature fell below freezing. How many of you would sleep outside in this weather? I didn’t think so. Imagine if you had to sleep outside with only a flattened cardboard box separating you from the frozen pavement. How well would you sleep? Think of the emotional cost of being on the street: the fear and lack of self-esteem. Now imagine you had a job interview this morning so you could earn enough money to rent an apartment and get off the streets. How confident would you feel that you could ace that interview and land the job? [shaking head] I didn’t think so.

  2. Problem: At any given point in time, there could be half a million people experiencing homelessness in the United States.3 This includes people who are sleeping on the street, in transitional housing, or in emergency shelters. Without permanent and affordable housing, they are held hostage to an endless cycle from which they can’t break free. Affordable housing is crucial for them to get back on their feet. This is not something that happens far away from our communities; it happens literally right on our doorsteps.

  3. Solution: We can’t just wait for others to fix the problem; we are all stakeholders. We all have a part to play, whether we work in federal, state, and local governments, whether we are landlords, developers, donors, or simply concerned citizens. The solution to homelessness will happen when everyone combines their skills and their resources to confront the problem. Helping those who are most vulnerable improves life not only for them but also for the community at large. It affects all of us.

  4. Visualization: Now imagine that instead of sleeping on the cold pavement last night, you slept in a warm bed. Your name is on the lease. Your self-esteem has improved, and your emotional and physical energy is replenished. You feel like part of your community. You are ready to ace that interview.

  5. Action: Each one of us can make this vision a reality. If you’re a landlord, set aside housing for people in need, knowing that there are government programs to reimburse you. If you are in local government, protect and expand those programs. And if you’re an individual, get involved: volunteer, learn the issues, meet the people, and use your voice to change the systems that keep people on the street. Together, we can eradicate homelessness in the United States.

  Pretty powerful, right? You could use that structure with any message, whether you’re running for office, advocating for a new business strategy, or persuading your community to save a historic building.

  If I’m not using Monroe’s Motivated Sequence, I might simply use the rule of three: introduction, three main points, and conclusion. Or I might use a chronological structure: past, present, and future. Once I brainstorm what I want to say, the structure usually emerges from the content, and that structure guides the audience through the speech.

  Focus on Signposts

  Simply having the right structure does not ensure a compelling speech. We also need to spend time on the transitions between points: building momentum from one point to the next, and taking the audience on a journey. I’m a big fan of using rhetorical questions as transitions. You can ask questions like, “How does this apply to us?” to transition from theory to practice, or, “What’s our next step?” to transition to action items. These transitions are called “signposts.” Other signposts include structural phrases such as: “I’m going to talk about three things today: first . . . second . . . and finally . . .” Putting your structure into words at the beginning of your speech provides clarity for your audience and keeps them engaged throughout.

  When we read a written report, we know where it starts and ends. We know where Chapter 1 ends and Chapter 2 begins, and we can look ahead to see how long it’s going to take to read it. In a speech or presentation, the signposts tell your audience where they are and where they are going. It’s as if you’re taking the audience on a journey through the woods. If you simply walk them down a long dirt road,
with no mile markers or indications of their progress, they start to get distracted. They feel tired and hungry. But if there are signposts such as a map up front and mile markers along the way, they can see their progress and understand how close they are to the end. Don’t leave them wandering in the woods.

  Research Your Subject

  At this point in your speech, you might find areas that need more research. Maybe you’re talking about a groundbreaking new medicine and want to see what has been done to date. Maybe you quote a colleague and want to make sure that quote is accurate (and that you have her permission to say it). Now is the time to fact-check the material and make sure you’re saying exactly what you want to say. Think about the speech being posted online—what do you need to adjust so that your speech can stand the test of time?

  There are endless ways for you to research your subject. You can easily get lost in articles, papers, and studies, and lose precious time that you could have spent preparing. In fact, when people over-prepare, they usually over-research their subject.

  When researching a speech subject, I like to interview experts. Not only do I find quotes for the speech, but I also build my professional network. You could read books on your subject, though you may not have the time before a speech. If you have a research assistant, you can ask him or her to read the book and summarize the key points for you. If you have access to academic journals, you can look at past studies on your subject. And, of course, you can search online for your subject, though be sure to check the validity of the source before you use it. Check news sources about your subject to see what the latest developments or controversies are. These research methods will also help you anticipate questions or audience pushback.