3 Steps to Better Public Speaking

The phrase "I have a dream" continues to resonate more than 40 years after the speech that made those words famous was given. The words invoke feelings of hope, even for people who may never have heard the full text of Dr. Martin Luther King's 1963 speech. So, why does a speech given more than 40 years ago live on?

Because Dr. King was accomplished at using visual language and focusing on his goal.

"One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity."

Every single person who will ever need to speak in front of people would benefit if he or she would take just one lesson from Dr. King. We speak to others to inform, to persuade and to entertain. Whether speaking to thousands of people marching on the Mall in Washington, D.C., or speaking to the parent group at your child's school, your message will be better understood if you keep three ideas in mind.

First, develop your central idea. This means clarify what you plan to talk about.

"But, one hundred years later the Negro is still not free."

Be able to write with precision in one sentence the information that you want your audience to carry out of the room.

Second, use visual language. You want to engage the audience's mind. Conjure up pictures, images, emotions.

"Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice."

Vivid language is anything that appeals to the audience's senses. Tell them how something smelled, how it looked, how it felt or tasted.

Third, make certain you end on a strong note. Give your audience a definite conclusion. The conclusion should indicate that you are closing. Make certain not to continue rambling, because that will only irritate the audience. Then, make certain you reinforce the central idea.

When you speak to a crowd there are two speeches in the room: the speech you are giving and the speech each person hears because every person is different.

Opening with a clear central idea and closing with a clear central idea will reinforce your message, and help you succeed in communicating the message.

"And when this happens, when we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

The next time you stand in front of a crowd remember your central idea, use vivid language and reinforce your idea in the conclusion.