Make Speech Prep Easier With One Simple Move

The first thing I ask people when I start working with them on their speaking skills, is “On a scale of 1-10, how comfortable are you with public speaking?” The answer is almost always, “It depends on how prepared I am.” But “preparation” can mean lots of different things. It can mean that you write lots of beautiful words and you practice them over and over until you’ve got them memorized. Which is great if you have the time - but not everything is a TED talk, and you’ve got stuff to do. 

In my experience, the single most impactful thing you can do to prepare for anything - a speech, a pitch, even a voicemail - is to boil down (what you want the audience to do) and (why) into to one single sentence. One ordinary, grammatical, non-run-on sentence that a 14-year-old could understand. 

If you can’t do that, it means you haven’t gotten clear enough on your idea to deliver it convincingly to an audience. If you can, then you’re ready to build shimmering castles around it - and you’re even in a good position to improvise if you need to. 

So I challenge you to do this today: whatever you’re working on right now, say it in one sentence. Write it on a Post-It, stick it somewhere that you’ll see it. This is definitely a challenge, but it will make your life a whole lot easier.

Want to make it even easier? Download a free speech-writing cheat sheet to take the guesswork out of your next presentation.