A speech needs to make you feel something

Content.

(The stuff, not the feeling)

The word has been swirling around in my head all morning.


And it’s a terrible word really.

It’s dry, it’s academic, it’s functional.

It’s a table of contents in a textbook or the list of contents on your chip packet (never read that).


But, like many of my friends here ‘content’ is at the heart of what we do.

Because your content is critical.

The content of your writing, the content of your website, the content of your speech.

The content is the substance.

But you need more than just the facts.

Your content needs to connect with your audience.


We don’t eat chips because of the ingredients- we eat them because of how they make us feel. (I swear I’m going to open a pack of ruffles for breakfast at this rate)

A great speech should be the same.

It needs to make us feel something.

Even if it’s academic or deeply technical - for your audience to really engage with what you’re saying you need to connect with them, as human beings.

How do you do that?

Share stories.

Show the audience why you care.

Make them care in return.

- Why do you do what you do?
- Why do you want it to succeed?
- How and why did you change/ adapt/ keep going when you came across a hurdle?
- Why should the audience care about it?


A speech (whether it's 3 minute remarks or an hour long presentation) becomes great not because of the list of contents, but because of how you make the audience feel about it.


Need some support building stories and connection into your public speaking? let's chat https://lnkd.in/eG4HCr52


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