Here’s some food for thought. Whenever you give a speech or a presentation, do you deliver value to your audience? Value could come in the form of tips or solutions that your audience can take home and use immediately, be it to solve a problem or to become more effective. In other words, your speech or presentation must contain substance!

Patricia Fripp, a well respected speaker in the industry defined substance as “what makes an audience’s business and personal life better if they act on it”. It could come in the form of a three step strategy, a recommended book to read or tips to solve a problem.

If there is no substance then there is really no point wasting your audience’s time delivering the speech. And for those of who are always seeking to impact your audience, this would be a good starting point. The next time you deliver your speech, first take a step back and ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does my speech contain substance?
2. Can the audience use it right away, like today?
3. Do they get better after hearing my speech?

If yes, thank you!
If no, get going. Your audience deserved it.

Inspired by “Speaking for Impact - Connecting with Every Audience” by Shirley E. Nice. This is the second time I am reading it but there is still a lot to get out of it. Strongly recommended!

This entry was posted by Erick C. Vice, on Saturday, January 20, 2007. You can leave your response.