It helps to know what you intend to achieve.
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In journalism, cub reporters are taught to answer the 5W's and an H: Who, What, When Where, Why & How. It works for speakers, too. Here's one way to see it:
Who is the audience? Who am I to them? What's the setting? What's the topic? What's their expectation? When is the program? When should I arrive? When must I finish? Where is it? Where will I take them? Why have they asked me? Why have I accepted? How am I going to satisfy their expectations?
The effective speakers I know have program defining processes. Many use a checklist to insure they have covered the essentials. Mine is a form which prompts me to identify all I need to prepare. Create one that works for you. Write it in pencil. It will evolve.
For me, the essential is knowing: knowing the audience, knowing what they want me to achieve before, during and after, knowing when I am to finish and knowing where the nearest exit is in case I need to escape. |
© 2016-22 Gordon Hill (1/1/22)