1. With help from Forbes contributor Jeff Schmidt

2.  Schmidt teaches to condense theme into 15-20 word sentence and build around that.  Rhetoric  Metaphors  Analogies  Surprise  Axioms  Use these at the end if possible

3.  Audiences expect a path and a destination  This idea is addressed in “Speaking with a Purpose.” Chapter 4 gives 5 objectives of introductions, the last is:  Preview Main Points

4.  Get your audience engaged early  Share shocking fact or statistic  Keep preliminaries short  Come out swinging

5.  Consider these questions in order to speak appropriately:  Who is my audience?  Why are they here?  What do they want or expect from me?

6.  You will list your qualifications to speak about the topic in the introduction HOWEVER…  You should also be personable  Crack a joke  Personal stories  Reference to family

7.  The audience will remember your point better if you say it more than once. “In writing a speech, repetition is the key to leaving an impression. Hammer home key words, phrases, and themes. Always be looking for places to tie back and reinforce earlier points. And repeat critical points as if they were a musical refrain.” Jeff Schmidt

8. Transitional phrases signal intent Saying something like, “What does this mean?” or “The point is…” followed by a slight pause will perk up audience attention

9.  Stephen Covey had visual object lesson with rocks, pebbles, sand and water  Use everyday objects so that audience is familiar with them and won’t forget  Keep props, storyline and lesson from theatrics simple

10.  A Call to Action  Rhetorical Question  Positive Vision of the Future  Restatement of Your Central Idea  Summary of Main Ideas  Negative Vision of Future Don’t hold back, this is the what the audience will talk about.

11.  The worst sin of public speaking is to try to do too much!  Make your point and sit down—this is their time not yours!