Stephen E. Lucas The Art Of Public Speaking

There are key elements to providing an effective, well informed speech and it starts with an idea. It does sounds simple, however, an idea won’t get you very far if that is all you have in your hip pocket when it is time to present. According to chapter four in Stephen E. Lucas’ “The Art of Public Speaking”, preparing for your speech is the true key to a successful delivery.
You would start by focusing on your topic to ensure that it conforms to what is being asked of you as a presenter. You now move to further developing the topic. This is truly a creative process as you want to think of ways to make the presentation meaningful, but also have some hooks to keep the audience engaged. For instance, well placed humor is always a good option, however, you never use it as a weapon or to target a person or groups. The use of descriptive and colorful language will help your story flow and allow the audience to fully use their imagination.
Like any good story, you need a solid introduction to what you’re speaking about. From an introduction, you now transition into the main body of your speech. It’s important to limit your points to ones that really matter to the purpose statement of your speech and that each item is specifically covered and not blended with the others in such a way that it comes across as confusing to the audience. The conclusion to a presentation allows you the opportunity to not only reinforce your topic and main points, but provides you the platform to make a lasting