How to Finesse Speechmaking
At its core, Speechmaking is about faking it until you make it. It’s about showing that you know what to say when in fact, all you are really doing is showing off your confidence to the audience, so they won’t even know you’re faking it in the first place! For your benefit, here are some tips from a well salt-and-pepper seasoned speechmaker:
Use your body
Your body can be an incredibly powerful exaggeration tool for speeches on every occasion. In a speech about contortion, you may attempt to contort your body 160 degrees backward while explaining the importance of having a flexible spine from a young age. Then you hear your back crack. You may proceed by saying, “this is an example of how not to contort your body.”Use your voice to adjust the mood
There are so many variations of how your voice can be used to adjust the mood of a speech. In a recent speech I gave, I turned the lyrics of Pitbull’s Time of Our Lives into a depressing, ignominious manifesto of society’s current capitalistic regime. I achieved this by lowering the volume of my voice, using crescendos and diminuendos whenever necessary, and most importantly, by pausing after every three words. By implementing frequent pauses, each word is greatly emphasized, which can either express great artistic value in your speech or bore your audience to death. Nonetheless, it can be extremely entertaining to watch someone finesse a speech.Use your eyes
Adjust your eyebrow height to express extreme approval or disapproval of a concept or an idea. When you deliver a speech, it is important that you weave in personal touches. This may come in the form of raising or lowering your eyebrows, dramatic eye rolls, or suggestive winks towards audience members during your speech to establish rapport. If you are speaking about the importance of the face for today’s changing fashion industry, make sure to ‘smize’ towards the audience and show off your fierce, intense, gaze into the distance to assert your dominance as well as raise your voice to send a clear message about transforming beauty standards in the industry. That speech is inspiring.
And that’s the art of finessing a speech. Hopefully these tips can help you sail through Speechmaking without any obstacles!
