Yes, "what we say and how we say it" is a speaking essential. Still, all is for naught when audiences gain no insight from the words we offer. When I assess the perfect programs I've heard, this clear model comes to mind.

The speaker's first line gets my attention. The following opening introduces the topic, establishes the speaker's credibility and engages the audience as an experiential community encouraged to take a journey.

Next come the program proper delivered to inform and influence in a progressive flow from point to point until the topic has been covered.

Finally, a closing which reinforces salient points ending with a memorable closing line, something I may recall years later.

Using this experience I focus on creating programs which begin with a set up line, open to create a bond with the audience, deliver a program with a seamless flow from point to point, ending with a summarizing, followed by a closing line like...

"While a speaker's goal may be to create and deliver a perfect program, its existence is found only in the mind of the listener."