Launchpad Activity 9

A speech does not just happen, it needs to be drafted, edited, polished and practised. All great speeches go through several iterations – drafts before the final polished performance.

Activity 9 – Prepared Speech Draft 1

Duration: 5 mins
Pre-requisites: Activity 1-8.

Outcomes

By the end of this activity, you will be able to:

  1. Prepare and deliver a speech – from initial draft through to final performance – over three presentations of the same speech topic  (Same topic and same coach, preferably).

Objectives

To do this, you will need to keep the following objectives in mind:

  • Choose a topic from the list (of four) provided.
  • Identify an interpretation, approach, theme or angle.
  • Design a draft focusing on structure and sequence.
  • Capture coaches feedback in preparation for the next activity: editing and polishing.

The Why…

A speech does not just happen, it needs to be drafted, edited, polished and practised. All great speeches go through several iterations – drafts before the final polished performance.

Where do I start?

Your club program director will have given you four topics to choose from. Choose the topic that gives the most scope because you will be doing 3 speeches on the same topic – Activity 9, 10 and 11. These three activities are designed to introduce you to the crucial skill of drafting, editing and presenting. So the three activities are on the same topic so you can re-draft and edit after the first to improve it, and the same again after the second speech.

Use all the skills you have learned in the first 7 activities to plan, design, structure, sequence and finding angles. Talk to experienced people in your club and don’t be afraid to ask for assistance. The more effort you put into these three activities, the greater will be your reward. The really important thing to take away from these three activities is a very clear understanding that great presentations are the result of drafting and editing. They very rarely happen with the first draft.

The How

Specific guidelines on how to tackle this activity.

Choose a topic from the list (of four) provided

  1. The Program Director will provide a list of 4 topics.
  2. Choose the topic that gives the most scope because you will be doing 3 speeches on the same topic – Activity 9, 10 and 11.

Identify an interpretation, approach, theme or angle

  1. Whatever topic you choose, you should decide from the outset what is the purpose of your speech. Write it down in one sentence. If you’re not sure, keep going until it is clear. Keep your purpose in front of you as a guide during your preparation. If you are unsure of your purpose, you cannot expect to communicate it clearly to your audience.
  2. Your task is to find an angle or approach to the topic that is likely to interest the audience. If a clear angle springs to mind, then all is well, and an important decision has been made. If an angle does not emerge from your thinking about the topic, then the brainstorm technique below may help.
  3. Write down your topic and your purpose at the top of a large piece of paper. Jot down any idea, or angle, that can be linked, however remotely, with both of them. Leave plenty of room on the paper between the ideas. There is no need, at this stage to try to link one idea with another. What you have written may spark off another idea. Let your mind wander to encourage wild ideas that have some connection with both your purpose and your topic. Jot them down but don’t try to evaluate them yet. Spread your ideas all over your paper. When you have exhausted even the wildest of ideas, look them over to discover which might be candidates for inclusion in your speech. Examine each carefully, then start deleting those least likely to advance the purpose of your speech. Keep eliminating until no more than three or four coherent ideas, or arguments, remain. 
  4.  Another way is to ask lots of people about what the topic brings up in their mind. You will get lots of ideas that way.

Design a draft focusing on structure and sequence

  1. Determine the coherent ideas which best support your purpose. Progressively cross out those ideas least likely to support your purpose. What is left is the raw material for your speech. You now have a topic, a purpose, and some key ideas on which to prepare a framework for your speech.
  2. The ideas must now be developed and incorporated in an easily understood structure, and the right words. 
  3. Look back at Activity 7 for a clear way to build, structure and sequence your argument. 
  4. Build your conclusion first (following the instructions in Activity 7).
  5. Build your introduction. The introduction is really important because the first  few words can have your audience on the edges of their seats wanting to hear more, or they can foreshadow boredom and confusion. The former is your goal. The introduction earns the confidence and interest of the audience. You are putting them in a receptive mood. In most introductions you will find it helpful to establish your credibility and to erect a few signposts for the route your speech will follow. As you become more experienced you will discover variations to this approach, but your aim in all of these is to capture the interest of the audience.
  6. Now you must create the paragraphs, sentences and words for the speech. Some people find that they do not need to go further, the ideas trigger the right language in their minds. You too may come to this enviable stage, however, for now you will probably feel more confident in the result if you write out your speech based on the ideas. There are several advantages.
    1.  It will enable you to explore the merits of different words to communicate your ideas.
    2. It will give you a reliable test of the length of the speech. 
    3. It will help in memorising the content.
  7.  Before you write anything though, be warned. It is easy to slip into the style of a written essay, which could be unsuitable for oral delivery. Be conscious of the need to use oral language that listeners can easily understand. You are not writing an essay!

Capture coaches feedback in preparation for the next activity: editing and polishing

  1. Listen carefully to the feedback from the coach.
  2. Write down the main points so you can re-visit them when you prepare Activity 9 which will be on the same topic.

Tips and traps

Note: Activities 9, 10 and 11 are designed to work consecutively so these tips and traps apply to all three activities.

  1. These three activity (9, 10 and 11) are where the rubber really hits the road. You have completed the first 7 activities and it’s time to really develop the skill of building a presentation.
  2. From the given topics, choose a topic that “grabs”, inspires, excites, challenges or is meaningful to you.
  3. Make sure your speech has a message.
  4. Remember, all great speeches have gone through a process of drafting and editing.
  5. The shorter the speech, the more preparation time is required.
  6. Find a way – one that works for you – to remember the structure and content.
  7. Be prepared to completely change your speech from #9, to #10, to #11. It is highly likely that your second speech in activity 10, will be completely different to this one.
  8. Be willing to sacrifice parts which don’t impact the audience.
  9. Give the speech aloud before presenting the activity at your Club.
  10. Take notes on feedback from activities #9 and #10 and seek clarification from coach.
  11. Consider all feedback and be open to changing your speech to reflect the feedback.
  12. As you move through the three activities, refer back to feedback received, to ensure you’ve considered and incorporated all feedback.

Traps:

  1.  Writing the speech out. You are delivering a speech. Not writing and essay.
  2. Not rehearsing (or only rehearsing in your head).
  3. Over-reliance on notes. 
  4. Having notes which are too large.
  5. Using notes which distract the audience – large, loose paper, etc. (should be minimal and unobtrusive, e.g. 3-4 palm cards).
  6. Not putting the time into reworking the speech and just repeating the same speech you gave before. 

Guidelines for Program Director:

  • The rostering of activities 9, 10 and 11 is different to every other activity.
  • The aim is to give a new speaker a solid understanding of the process of drafting a speech – that a great speech almost never happens without going through a few iterations.
  • The speaker needs to be given a choice of 4 topics but once they have chosen a topic they need to stay with that topic through the following activities – 10, and 11.
  •  Make the topics quite broad and general.
  • It is wise NOT to allow the speaker to choose their own topic.
  • The idea is that they deliver Activity 9 (this one) and then considering the coach’s comments and their own feelings about their speech, mould and model it to be better for Activity 10 and then again for Activity 11.

Resources that may be helpful

  1. Links to speaking hacks (#7, #9 etc)
  2. video links
  3. how to sheets