Speech Writing: 6 Unique Strategies for College Students

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It feels a little bit awkward when you write a speech for the first time. You have already got used to writing essays and research papers, but everything’s different when it comes to creating a speech. The matter is that it has a different purpose: the speech should be spoken but not read. Thus, the way you write it should also be different although it still preserves many aspects of writing an essay.

To make speech writing a little bit easier for you, we are going to reveal 6 working strategies that will make your speech stunning. Do remember that each of these strategies has equal importance, so you need to follow all of them.

1. Who, Why, and Where

These are three questions that you need to ask yourself before you start to write the speech or personal statement. The matter is that every high-quality piece of writing is never created by just following intuition. You are to be sure that it perfectly suits the situation and that your listeners are interested in what you say.

Who
This is your audience. When you write something, you must be sure that the topic will be interesting to those that will listen to you, and what is more important, that they will understand you no matter how difficult the questions you raise are. You must speak to your audience in the same language they speak and you should find proper words to reach every single person who will be listening to you.

Why
Of course, most of the students write their speeches just because they need to do that. However, to make it stunning, it would be better to find some more important reasons. For example, you want to share some knowledge with other students or you need to discuss some questions that are usually ignored.

Where
Do you need to create a speech for a conference or just to present your ideas in front of the class? The place also has a huge importance so keep that in mind.

2. Use simple phrases

No one likes long and twisted sentences no matter whether people read or listen to you. Do remember to keep it as simple as possible. Give preference to simple phrases and structures. Avoid words with double meaning unless they can highlight some points of what you are talking about. Stick to the idea that the longer your sentences are, the more confused the audience is. And this is not what you want.

3. Create proper introductory part

You have only one minute to catch the attention of your audience. If you are not capable of doing that with the first sentences, you won’t be able to catch it later. Thus, when working on your speech, pay a lot of attention to the introduction.

Some say that the best way to start a speech is to use a joke. However, this is not the only method. You can also tell some brief story or start with some impressive statistics. It’s up to you, but do remember that this information should be related to the topic of your speech.

4. Remember the time you have

When you write a speech, you should always remember that it should be short enough so you can present it in a limited time. It is always better to present your ideas clearly and stick to the point than to start dwelling on the aspects that are hardly related to the topic of your speech.

5. Read out loud

When you finish writing a speech, you may think you are done with it, but it’s not the end. Here, the most important part of the work comes. You need to read it out loud to define the phrases that are difficult to say, to check the pronunciation of the words, and to make it smoother. If you are not sure whether the speech sounds good, ask someone to listen to it. Mind the comments and change everything that seems to be too hard to understand for the listener.

6. Keep proper pitch, tone, and intonation

When reading your speech out loud, always pay attention to such important things as the pitch, tone, and intonation. These are three basic aspects that make you sound right. By using them properly, you can underline your ideas and draw the attention of the audience to what you are talking about. To understand how they work, we recommend listening to a couple of speeches of famous politicians. You can also find the analysis of these speeches and check how exactly pitch, tone, and intonation have been used to create a proper impression.

It takes some time to learn how to write a speech, but it is definitely worth it. The matter is that this skill will be of use both when you are a college student and in your future career. So, start to work on it now to enjoy the benefits soon!

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