How to Prepare A Speech

As I was preparing for my trip of a lifetime in South America a couple of years ago, an exciting thing happened. 

I was invited to give a speech to 1000 Mexican students. 

In my head, I’m thinking: Ok, I have zero time to prepare it before I leave but hey, it sounds exciting. I ask: When is it? 

The answer: This friday. In 4 days.

I’m struck by anxiety for the tight schedule, but I push it aside and accept. 

Fast forward a few days.

In the backstage, chatting with another speaker right before the show, he asked me how I prepared my talk. I showed him my framework. Seeing his face light up with that glow that people get when they’re learning something useful, I decided to share my process with you. Mistakes and all. I hope it will help you prepare for your next big talk. 

So, how did I start off?

I had already had a phone call with the organizer. I had asked about the audience - who are they, what do they want to hear, what are they currently thinking about, what are their current challenges, and what I could bring to the table that would make their lives better. 

I then started off by thinking about my main message. 

Makes sense, right? 

Well, I wasted a lot of time thinking about my main message. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to say, drawing storylines, ideating material in free flow, writing a script, then rewriting the script. 

Only then did I realize I was lost. 

This was Thursday. The talk was going to be on Friday. 

I had to bite the bullet and take my own advice. 

I usually have my clients do a quick exercise the first thing when preparing their speech. It helps them find focus and understand what they actually want to say. Since it helps you direct your attention to what is essential, I call it the Home Beacon excercise. It was just what I needed. 

Here’s the framework: 

Topic: ______
Goal: ______
Main message: _________
Key points: _______, _________, _________

This is what my speech looked after completing the framework: 

Topic: Doing interesting things, finding meaning 

Goal: Inspire 1 person in the audience to take action on something they’re interested in

Main message: you don’t need to wait for 10 years and 3 university degrees before you can start doing things that interest you

Key points: 
1. You don’t need to be qualified
2. If you do anything well, it’s meaningful
3. When you do anything important, your brain will throw shit in the way

I then expanded my three key points with subpoints and anecdotes, and added an opening and an ending. 

This was the end result that I showed my fellow speaker backstage that day:

--
[open] 
Story: Stefano & escape to Europe -> had something on his mind, asked why not and went for it

1. You don’t need to be qualified
What I’ve accomplished... without being qualified
Had I waited… I’d never have...
You don’t need to be qualified - you just need to be curious

2. Stuck in meaning: If you do anything well, it’s meaningful
story: a friend & shoes -> People get stuck in trying to find meaning
If you do anything well, it’s meaningful
Follow curiosity instead

3. When you do anything important, your brain will throw shit in the way
Me feeling out of place -> fame & fortune vs uncertain dream -> went for brazil
My brain threw shit in my way - think less, do more

[ending] 
Ask yourself why not, and go for it. 
You likely have something you're curious about right now (examples) - maybe starting a new hobby, trying out something you saw on youtube, asking that hot guy or girl out, a business idea in the back of your mind. Stop thinking. Ask yourself why not, and just go for it. That way, you will find the meaning you're looking for.

--

Note that you likely don’t understand much of my script. That’s how a script should be: Short enough to only make sense to you.

It was Thursday night. Now I was ready to rehearse. 

I grabbed my phone, headed to the roof terrace of my friend’s home, and gave my talk to the camera a couple of times. This helped me get a taste of the words when spoken out loud. However, I was jet lagged and tired from a full day of activities in a new country, so I did not have the energy to practice much. Stressed out about the lack of practice, I went to bed. 

The next morning, I walked to the venue - this huge theater in the middle of the city - and asked to give my talk to the other speakers in the backstage. 

I delivered my speech, not knowing what to expect. I felt nervous and underprepared. I finished. With uncertainty, I looked at my audience of 3 and asked them what they thought. But then I noticed their eyes were shining. They said to me that they got my message, and even more importantly, that they connected with my story. My stress vanished, and I started looking forward to delivering the speech. Mere minutes ago, I had been a bundle of stress and anxiety. Now I was the polar opposite - feeling confident, with a composure so calm even my fellow speakers were asking me what my secret was.

I walked confidently to the stage. I gave my talk with ease. It was a success. 

In the afterparty, writing in google translate, someone even came to me to tell me how they got inspired by my stuff. 

Anyway, to make it easy for you to learn, here's my steps in short:
 

1. Talked with the organizer to get an understanding of the audience (very useful)
2. Hazily figured out what I wanted to say (vague)
3. Drew a storyline and placed my key points in there (fairly useful but difficult because main message was vague)
4. Free flow of writing (found useful stories and material, but lost time because the main message was vague)
5. Wrote script (realized I’m lost)
6. The Home Beacon excercise (should have started here)
7. Expanded key points into subpoints (easy)
8. A couple of rehearsals on video (too little, too late)
9. One rehearsal with live audience on presentation day (Very helpful. Saw that I connected and felt relieved)
10. Delivered the speech (felt comfortable and got great feedback)

There are three points I want to make. 

First, you don't need to be perfect. Preparing speeches rarely goes as planned - even if you're a pro. Life intervenes. The schedule might be tight. The venue changes at the last minute. You find out a key piece of information about the audience - fifteen minutes before the show. That is okay. Not everything needs to be perfect. Just do the best you can and you will be surprised how far that will take you. 

Second, having a great process saves you days' worth of time & stress. It turns your speechmaking from stressful and hard to easy and fun. This speech taught me that I need to work on my process. The work eventually lead to me discovering my speechmaking process, which I call CHARGE. It will help you prepare captivating speeches in a short amount of time, while helping you get rid of anxiety. I love it, my clients love it, and I'm confident you will as well. You can find out more by clicking here. 

Third, it pays off to say yes. Even if you're feeling like a nervous wreck, say yes to your next speaking opportunity. Good things will follow. At worst, you will at least learn a lot. At best, you might experience something like this: One of my coachees, Jessica, gave her big speech to an audience of 1200. She was nervous, but she did it anyway. Her speech blew my mind away. After her speech, an elderly woman came to her, looked her in the eyes, and said: "Thank you. You changed my life." Still gives me the chills everytime. 

So keep at it. One day, sooner than you might think, you too might change someone's life.