|
Use_Headline_Cards_to_Improve_Your_Speeches
| Use Headline Cards to Improve Your Speeches
Use Headline Cards to Improve Your Speeches By Arthur Cooper (c)
Copyright 2003 http://www.arthurcooper.com
Here is a simple and effective aid to confident and
professional delivery when speaking in public. Are you making
use of it?
The first golden rule to follow if you want your speech or
business presentation to flow smoothly and spontaneously, is not
to read it word for word from a written script. Your speech will
sound stilted, and you will be looking down at your notes most
of the time when you should be looking at your audience.
But unless you can memorise the entire talk as an actor would
memorise his lines you are almost certainly going to need
something to help you remember the vital points that you want to
make.
That previous statement holds the key. All you need is a
reminder of the vital points of your speech, the main headings.
The filling in between can be added spontaneously at the time of
delivery. If you know your subject well enough you will find
that the infilling can quite safely be left unscripted and you
will have no difficulty providing it when needed. You do need to
know your subject, though. You can’t escape from that.
If you are less confident, then keep a scripted speech as
‘standby’ in case you get stuck and need to refer to it to get
going again, but do try to do without it when you give your
talk. Just the fact of having this emergency script available in
case of total blockage will give you the confidence necessary to
succeed without it.
However, you still need something to remind you of the main and
important topics of your talk, and this is where ‘headline
cards’ come in.
Many experienced speakers use ‘headline cards’ to jog their
memories. These are postcard sized cards held in the palm of the
hand and listing just the principal subjects that they want to
cover. Each card shows the main bullet points for one section of
the talk and at any given moment the card that is uppermost in
the speaker’s hand will show the points to be covered in that
section of the speech.
Before moving on to the next section the speaker glances quickly
at the card to check that he has covered all the points and then
puts that card to the bottom of the pack. He glances quickly at
the new card now revealed in order to remind himself of the
points he must cover next, and away he goes again with his talk.
Practical Tips.
1.Cards of postcard size fit most comfortably into the hand.
2.Stiff paper or cardboard is best. It doesn’t flop about.
3.Only use one side of each card.
4.Write in large clear letters that you can read at arms length.
5.Put only a few points on each card. 3 or 4 is good.
6.Number each card so that you can put them in order quickly.
(You might drop them!)
7.Identify in some way (colour is good) cards that you can skip
if you find you are running out of time.
8.If you are right-handed, hold the cards in your left hand (and
vice-versa). This avoids you waving the cards about when you
make hand gestures (normally made with your ‘strong’ hand).
With this simple memory aid you will find that you will quickly
gain fluency and confidence in delivering your talks.
About the author:
Arthur Cooper is a business consultant, writer and publisher.
For his mini-course ‘Better speeches’ go to: htt
p://www.barrel-publishing.com/better_speeches.shtml
|
|
| |
| |
