Emcee Singapore: If the thought of sitting down and learning how to write a speech sends chills down your spine and little drops of sweat down your face, you’re not alone.

For a lot of people, just thinking about the word “speech” is enough to set off that anxiety, especially if you aren’t very comfortable with public speaking. However, if you have a really good speech, public speaking is a lot easier.

When it comes to writing a good speech, learning the right way to do it can be a big game changer for your confidence in both your writing skills and your public speaking skills. Standing in front of your audience with that perfect speech in your hands makes a world of difference, and even if you don’t really believe that right now, when you’re done with this article you will.

1. Know your audience

Knowing your audience is a major key to writing and delivering an exceptional speech. The demographics of your audience should dictate what kind of word phrasing you use, what kinds of jokes you may or may not want to include, and more. An older crowd will not receive a message the same way a high school crowd would. Keep in mind who you are talking to, and what makes them tick.

2. Start and end strong

The beginning and end of your speech should be symmetrical in strength. If you start strong and end weak, it will be noticeable. Attention grabbers like quotes, relevant questions and tasteful jokes are good ways to start and end a speech. If you start with a quote, you don’t necessarily have to end with the same quote—or a quote at all. Your speech may fare better if you end with a question or a joke. Every speech is different.

3. Have a clear purpose

Before you start writing your speech, you should consider your goal. Do you want the audience to be in awe of what you said? Are you persuading them to take an action? Do you want to inspire them or cause them to think? Distinguishing your end result will help you to write an exceptional speech to support your purpose.

4. Practice

Practice, practice and practice more. Say your speech out loud in front of your mirror. Recite your speech over and over again until you feel confident that you could give the speech without any notes. You may still want to use an outline in case you stumble, but being prepared goes a long way. Find someone who you trust to be supportive, and recite your speech to that person and see what advice, questions or suggestions they might have for you. Try to eliminate “ums” and “uhs” as much as possible. You may want to have someone count how many times you say “um,” and try to get that number down to as few as possible.

5. Outline

An outline is a piece of paper that portrays the main points of the speech. Your outline may have a short phrase per line just to remind you how of you ordered your speech. The goal would be to give the speech without referring to your outline. Use eye contact with most, or all, of your audience members. Only glance at your outline if you have to.

H/T: Businessmagazine