Magic Bullet>> How to Draft Your Stand-Out Speech

Make a copy of the Speech Template here.

Template Outline:

Title

Introduction

Hook: 

Ask a controversial question, announce a surprising fact, make a bold statement that seems unlikely, etc. to get your audience’s attention.

Examples:

• What would you do if…?
• Did you know…?
• What would you say if I told you…?
• Over 90 percent of you here today…

Who am I? 

Give a one-sentence introduction to who you are (make it tailored to the audience and your speech content of use your standard audio logo.

Examples:

• I’m [name], I’m a …, …, and ….

Thesis: 

Explain the purpose of your speech in one or two sentences.

Examples:

• I’m here today to tell you …
• I’m here to show you why…
• I recently learned … and now I need to share that with you.

Open Loop: 

Project your audience to the end of your speech and give them an incentive to listen to the end.

Examples:

• At the end of this session, you’re going to want to…
• Later, I’m going to ask you to…
• When you’ve heard this, you may want to…

Forecast: 

Tell them what you’re going to tell them in a brief summary. No more than one sentence per point. (This can be your thesis point for each point, or it be a description of your thesis point that doesn’t give it away. Ideally, follow the mistake to avoid, what to do instead, pitfalls to avoid sequence.

Example:

• But first, I’m going to tell you why you should never …, how to … and what to do if… .

Segue to First point

Segue into your first point simply and without further preamble.

Example:

• So, why should you never…?

Point 1

Statement

State your first point. Example: “You should never … because.”

Explanation

Expand on your basic point with who, what, why, where, when and how. It can help you focus on common misconceptions/mistakes upfront.

Examples:

• Many people think … but [credible source] says [supporting evidence.]
• You might think … but … . We know this because [supporting evidence.]
• I used to think … . I felt like … . Then I found out [supporting evidence] and realised …

Counterpoint

Raise any counterpoints and address them.

Examples:

• Conversely, [sources] tell us …   because [evidence.]
• Of course, if you are … you might need to … instead because …
• Your mileage may vary. Some people have found … instead.

Summary

Provide your best evidence and summarise your position.

Examples:

• Given that … I believe … because.
• But when you account for … I think it’s clear that … .

Segue into Point 2

Transition from point 1 to point 2 clearly.

Example

• And that’s why you should never … . But what about how to… ?

Point 2

Statement

State your first point. 

Example: “You can … in one of three ways.”

Explanation

Expand on your basic point with who, what, why, where, when and how. It can help to provide a simple list with basic points to consider at this stage.

Examples:

• You can one, [option 1], two [option 2] or three [option 3.]
• You can do it yourself, get help, or get someone to do it for you. To do it yourself you will need to… . When asking for help, you should look for someone who can… and when getting someone to do it for you, you should ask… .

Counterpoint

Raise any counterpoints and address them.

Examples:

• Some might say you can … , but that’s not a good idea because…

Summary

Provide your best evidence and summarise your position.

Examples:

• So, to sum up, you can 1, 2 or 3, but not 4, unless you want [unpleasant outcome.]

Segue into Point 3

Transition from point 2 to point 3 clearly.

Example

• So, that’s how to …. Now let’s talk about what to do if…

Point 3

Statement

State your third point. Example: “let’s say … What do you do?”

Explanation

Expand on your basic point with who, what, why, where, when and how. It can help you focus on problem solving the most common pitfalls.

Examples:

• First thing: don’t… Try … or … instead. And if that doesn’t work, try…
• Well, you might try… . Or you might … Or you might even … But I wouldn’t advise…

Counterpoint

Raise any counterpoints and address them.

Examples:

• Some people have tried… and … 
• You might have limited success with… but…

Summary

Provide your best evidence and summarise your position.

Examples:

• So, unless … you’ll probably want to …
• So, I suggest you first… then… And if that doesn’t work …

Segue into Conclusion

Transition from point 3 to conclusion clearly.

Example

• And that’s the short version of what to do if… So, to summarise.
• And that’s what to do if… So, what have we learned today?

Conclusion

Summary

Restate your main points.

Example

• We talked about why should never… because… . Even though… .  We talked about how to … either by [option 1], [option 2] or [option 3] and why … is a bad idea. And we talked about what to do if…

Reframe Thesis

Restate your thesis statement without any ambiguity.

Example: 

• And that’s why…

Call to Action

Refer to your open loop statement and tell them how to take the next step.

Example

• I said at the start at the end of this session you might want to … . If you want to, you can do that by…

Wrap up

End your speech simply and directly.

Example

• Thank you for listening and I look forward to…

Sample Template

What would you do if…?

I’m [name], I’m a …, …, and ….

I’m here today to tell you …

At the end of this session, you’re going to want to…

But first, I’m going to tell you why you should never …, how to … and what to do if… .

So, why should you never…?

You should never … because

Many people think … but [credible source] says [supporting evidence.]

Conversely, [sources] tell us …   because [evidence.]

Given that … I believe … because.

And that’s why you should never … . But what about how to… ?

You can … in one of three ways.

You can do it yourself, get help, or get someone to do it for you. To do it yourself you will need to… . When asking for help, you should look for someone who can… and when getting someone to do it for you, you should ask… .

Some might say you can … , but that’s not a good idea because…

So to sum up, you can 1, 2 or 3, but not 4, unless you want [unpleasant outcome.]

So, that’s how to …. Now let’s talk about what to do if…

Let’s say … What do you do?.

First thing: don’t… Try … or … instead. And if that doesn’t work, try…

You might have limited success with… but…

So, unless … you’ll probably want to …

And that’s what to do if… So, what have we learned today?

We talked about why should never… because… even though …  We talked about how to … either by [option 1], [option 2] or [option 3] and why … is a bad idea. And we talked about what to do if…

And that’s why…

I said at the start at the end of this session you might want to … 

If you want to, you can do that by…

Thank you for listening and I look forward to…

Value Statement

[Name] is a [description] who [what you do] for [audience] with [problem.]

S/he will be talking about [thesis statement] and explaining why you will want to [call to action].