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Speechmaking Essentials: Pace,Poise and Polish.

September 24th, 2008

If someone were to ask you how many Ps there are in speechmaking, you’d be forgiven for thinking that there is only one. Strictly speaking, of course, you’d be right. But if you intend to make a speech, you had better remember that there are, in fact, three Ps in speechmaking - Pace, Poise and Polish.

And if you can incorporate these three Ps into your speechmaking, you will be certain of making a good impression on just about any audience you may come across.

Pace. This P can make or break your speech - it’s that important. Get this wrong and you will either bore your audience to tears OR they will be nudging their close neighbour to ask whether he could understand a garbled word you say.

Have you ever had the misfortune of listening to a speech made by a slow speaker? If you have, you’ll already appreciate just how tedious a slow delivery can be. Even the most interesting topic will be made boring by a slow drawl and your audience will be itching to scream “Speed it up Buddy - I want to be home by Midnight!”

Delivering your speech too slowly is guaranteed to make even the most generous audience fidgity and irritated.

Too fast a delivery, on the other hand, will simply mean that a large portion of your audience will miss what you have to say and others will find making sense of your ideas extremely hard work. Your job, when speaking to an audience, is to take the hard work out of listening to you speak and allow the audience the luxury of simply relaxing and letting your words seep effortlessly into their consciousness.

Speak slowly enough for your audience to absorb what you are saying yet fast enough to prevent your delivery from becoming tedious. Learn to vary your pace throughout your presentation so that your delivery remains interesting to those listening to it.

Poise. Most speakers only focus on the subject matter of their speeches and work long and hard on the actual construction of their speech. Hours are spent collecting information, arranging it into the correct sequence, choosing the most appropriate opening and closing words and making sure that the rhythm and flow of their delivery is just right.

And of course, all that effort is essential to producing an excellent speech. But it doesn’t stop there. How you present yourself is just as important as how you present your words.

Run through this checklist immediately before you step out in front of your audience:

1. Is your clothing presentable, clean, appropriate and arranged correctly? 2. Is your hair neatly combed? 3. Does your body language convey the right impression?

Your audience will start forming their opinion of you from the very first time that they set eyes on you and certainly long before you begin your speech. Your poise - that is, the visual impression given to the audience - will be the first thing that will influence their opinion.

Make sure that your impression is a positive one.

Polish. This is what will make a good speech great! It is also the thing that will help you kill off any of those pre-speech nerves. Good and thorough preparation is the key to most things in life and speaking in public is no exception.

Practice rehearsing your speech in front of a mirror, or if you can persuade them, in front of your friends and family. Familiarise yourself with the content of your speech and work out which is the most effective style of delivery. Decide on the incorporation of suitable hand gestures, in fact, anything that you feel needs to be practised until it becomes second nature.

Take time to scrutinise your stage outfit and pay close attention to your posture. Don’t lean, don’t hunch, don’t slouch and don’t allow yourself to display any outward signs of tension. Polish your performance until it shines! You must strive to appear relaxed, confident and in control at all times - even if you don’t feel it.

If you can remember the three Ps in ’speechmaking’ - Pace, Poise and Polish, you will be certain that your speech will be delivered in such as way that any audience will be enthralled, entertained and enraptured by your performance.

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