On this week’s episode of Show Me the Science, Professor Luke O’Neill gave his top eight tips for writing and delivering a speech.

Prof O’Neill said he became interested in the topic after recently coming across a viral speech from author Brad Meltzer, which he gave at a graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan.

“He used magic as the basis for his talk,” Prof O’Neill said.

“He had a structure to his presentation, and that’s extremely important to have some kind of structure because then the audience goes with you.

“He said magicians use four tricks, and in your life – imagine now, he’s speaking to these burgeoning young graduates – you should use these four tricks as you go out to the big bad world.”

Microphone on stage in front of a crowd. Image: Sergio Azenha. 1 March 2018

According to Prof O’Neill, Brad Meltzer’s four tips were have clear goals, to use your fears and anxieties to your advantage, to see things from other perspectives and to forge strong friendships.

Prof O’Neill explained the success of Mr Meltzer’s performance by breaking down his top eight tips for writing a good speech.

“Number one, have a clear purpose,” he said.

“What the hell are you talking about, right?

“Think about what the purpose of the speech is, what’s it about?

“Then the audience should be in no doubt at the end of it what you were talking about, there should be a clear message in the speech.”

Opener

Secondly, Prof O’Neill said it is important to have a strong opener.

“You’ve got to grab the audience early on because they will decide whether they can be bothered listening to you,” he said.

“In this age of endless distraction, if you can’t get them in a few couple of opening sentences, you’ll never get then back.”

Prof O’Neill’s third piece of advice was to try and use stories and anecdotes to make things feel personal, while his fourth point was to make sure you still have a clear beginning, middle and end laid out.

Nervous stressed sweaty businessman speaker feel public speaking fear. Image: Aleksandr Davydov. 13 October 2018

For his fifth point, he said it is important not to overcomplicate your language.

“Short, vivid sentences are really effective,” he said.

“Avoid jargon at all costs because one word of jargon, people turn off.”

Emotional connection

Prof O’Neill’s sixth tip was to connect emotionally with your audience.

“How do you connect emotionally? Well, the storytelling is part of it,” he said.

“Humour can be effective – you've got to be careful, mind you.

“If you’re not comfortable using humour, don’t, because you’ll hear a dog barking in the silence.

“Empathy again – compassion is a great emotional connection, whatever you’re talking about."

Point seven, be authentic, would also help to connect with an audience according to Prof O’Neill, while his final point was to make sure you have a good ending.

“Very often, to end with a call to action can be useful,” he said.

“You might end with, without being too didactic, a kind of statement that calls people to action, because people do love that.”

Main image: Prof Luke O'Neill talking on The Pat Kenny Show in Newstalk studios. Image: Newstalk