Planning your speech or presentation involves putting specific information or content into your Speech Development System. Together the System and the Planning steps create a modular approach to speech or presentation writing.
Before you open your slide software to begin your presentation or speech planning--STOP! You may choose to use slides as part of your plan, but the planning is not linear from first slide to last. To be successful, you can't do the planning through the software.
The planning/writing part requires that you use a writing surface and writing instrument. Paper and pencil/pen works, or a whiteboard and markers, or a flip chart and markers.You may like sticky notes to put on a wall. This is your choice.
My Speech Development System has four parts: Call-to-Action, Key Points, Leading Materials and Attention-Getting Opening.
Call-to-Action: this is what you inspire your audiences to do after they have listened to your speech or presentation. Think external action, not internal mind-shifting. Every speech must lead to an action that will resolve or address the audience's main problem. It should be artfully written and delivered with impact.
Key Points: these are straightforward statements that drive to your key point. They are short sentences that the audience could tick off their fingers later. When they are chosen well, the audience is totally ready for your Call-to-Action.
Leading Materials: this content makes up the meat of your speech or presentation. Included in the Leading Materials (LM) category are quotations, statistics, props, handouts, exercises, visuals of all kinds, stories of all kinds, references to movies, music and other popular culture. They are called Leading Materials because you share them with the audience in advance of making a key point.
The sequence is LM 1, LM 2, LM 3, Key Point. When done well, the leading materials make the Key Point clear and indisputable. This is the opposite of stating a key point then following it up with justifications, which only makes you feel like you're climbing out of a deep hole.
Leading Materials give you the opportunity to captivate your audiences, keep things interesting, create a little intriguing mystery, and deliver very artfully.
Attention-Getting Opening (AGO): You grab the attention of the audience and keep it by getting off to a fantastic start. No boring "thank you" or "I appreciate this opportunity"--the audience wants to hear you speak about them immediately.
Here are 3 AGO options:
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"Imagine you are/have/need..."
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"Did you ever want to..."
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"There you are (in a setting) and X happens. What would you do?"
Make handwritten notes for each of these 4 parts. Write and re-write the notes until your plan takes solid shape. By notes I mean a few words that serve as a trigger for more elaborate thoughts you will need later. Right now you're focusing on the highest level content and order and flow.
Make sure your AGO ties into your Call-to-Action. Think about how the key points drive to the Call-To-Action. Sift through your mind for ideas about the Leading Materials--an image, a quote, a statistics, etc.
I'll show you how to elaborate on your content in the post on Research.
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