Patricia H Browne

When asked to speak, my first questions are: what do you want the audience to take away?  What should my audience do after hearing me?  This sometimes puzzles the people who ask me to speak.  But it is the heart of a great speech.

Many speakers have a standard speech which they deliver, almost regardless of their audience.  While I certainly applaud the economy of this approach, it does a disservice to the audience.  For example, when I talk about creating a website, I want to know why I have been invited.  If I have a group of small business people who are trying to make every marketing dollar do triple duty, they have a completely different agenda than a group of high school students who are considering a career.  My speech to the business audience may actually dissuade some owners from creating an elaborate website - which is a good thing. 

For example, a small, local landscaper in a Boston suburb may only need a page or two describing their services, contact information and showing some photos of their work.  An elaborate site, while pretty, is not going to make his business attractive to the 99.9% of the world-wide audience who could view it.  Let’s face it, the guy’s not going to Peoria to mow lawns.  He needs to meet with clients at their site to estimate and sell services.  A website will probably not persuade anyone that one lawn service is better than another.

A high school student will be evaluating my speech from a completely different point of view.  They need a completely different approach.  Depending on the group, the speech may be about careers in web design or the latest technology.  Same topic, different needs from the audience.

If you think this is all wrong, consider this:  At the dedication of a cemetery, a noted public orator was invited to be the keynote speaker.  He was world-renowned for his speaking skills.  Tens of thousands of people showed up just to hear this guy.  He spoke without pause for over two hours.  After he finished, another speaker, invited only as a courtesy, stepped up to the podium.  He unfolded a single sheet of paper with 272 words written on it.  It began:

 ”Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is widely considered one of the greatest speeches ever given.  He captured, in a just a few words, the pain and suffering of those who had “consecrated the ground” of the cemetery and the resolve to hold the Union together.  Today, no one remembers Edward Everett’s two hour speech.  It is the few, well chosen words by Lincoln that rang true and are still with us today.

So…the next time you are asked to speak, don’t be afraid to ask questions.  Your audience will thank you!