How To Give A Really Bad Speech

London, UK

For the past couple of years I've posted a number of items concerning public-speaking, or rather "how to be better at giving a speech". Along with Nick R Thomas and Lisa Braithwaite, The Media Coach, Alan Stevens, often gives brilliant advice on how to put your point across in public. His short article posted in his weekly e-zine today is no exception.



HOW TO GIVE A REALLY BAD SPEECH

As Yogi Berra used to say "You can learn a lot from watching". Well I've been watching people make speeches for over thirty years, and many of them were fantastic. Some were just average. A few were - well, utterly dreadful would not be too harsh a description. So I've come up with a checklist of how to give a really bad speech. Here it is.


Start badly
Not know how to use the microphone or other technology
Have a confusing message (or no message at all)
Patronise the audience
Read from a script
Turn your back on the audience
Try to tell jokes
Use jargon or technical language
Run out of time
End poorly

No prizes for guessing what you have to do to give a really good speech.




"This information was written by Alan Stevens, and originally appeared in "The MediaCoach", his free weekly ezine, available at www.mediacoach.co.uk."