How to Write and Deliver a Speech (That People Will Actually Want to Listen to)

From researching and planning, to writing, editing, practicing, and beyond

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If you’ve landed on this page, you’re either preparing to give a speech for a specific event, or you’re interested in learning how to improve your public speaking skills. Know this:

You have something unique to share and learning how to give a good speech will help your audience understand and connect with your message. Along the way, you'll develop the communication skills and confidence that can help you succeed in nearly any setting.

This article breaks the process down to a series of manageable steps.

  • Research and Plan a Speech
  • Outline a Speech
  • Write a Speech (Introduction, Body, Conclusion)
  • Edit a Speech
  • Practice a Speech
  • Other Preparation Tips
  • Final Thoughts

But first: Remember that preparation is key. Plan to give yourself plenty of time before you’re scheduled to speak, if at all possible.

How to Research and Plan a Speech

The first step in writing a speech is identifying your purpose:

    • Do you want to inform the audience about something they may have never heard about?
    • Persuade them to act?
    • Inspire them to improve something in their life?
    • Educate them to make better-informed decisions in the future?

Once you understand your purpose and choose your subject, it’s time to research. If you’re not already well-versed in the topic, find reliable sources. If your speech will be about something personal to you, do some self-reflection.

If listeners only remember one thing from my speech, what do I want that one thing to be?

During this process, determine the one core message your speech will express. This is your theme, or main idea. Ask yourself, If listeners only remember one thing from my speech, what do I want that one thing to be?

Maybe your message is how “resilience is the key to success.” Or you’re urging your audience to “follow top tips for healthy eating.” Or expounding on “the three movies that will change your life.” Audience members should be able to summarize what you said in one sentence.

Everything you include in your speech needs to support your main idea. If it’s extraneous or not engaging, cut it!

How to Outline a Speech

You’ve selected your topic and identified your main point. You may be eager to start writing, but taking the time to create a speech outline now will save you time later and leave you with a more polished speech.

First and foremost, aim for simplicity. At its heart, a good speech is an unfolding story, and a good story has a beginning, middle, and end. So, take your audience on a journey from inaction to action, from confusion to clarity, from wherever they are to the place you want them to be.

Take your audience on a journey from inaction to action, from confusion to clarity, from wherever they are to the place you want them to be.

Think of how to conclude your speech with a relevant call to action. In other words, direct the audience to actually do something with the information you share. A call to action can be something simple, like, “Before you go to sleep tonight, think of one thing that made you smile today.” It could also be something more concrete, like, “Sign up to volunteer at your local food bank today.”

A helpful outline includes an introduction, body (with supporting points), and a conclusion.

  1. Introduction: Find the opposite condition from the speech’s conclusion to set up how your speech will evolve to a different place by the end. For example, if your maid of honor speech ends with how happy you are that the couple found each other, you might kick off the speech with an appropriate story about the couple’s failed first date.
    Brainstorm creative ways to start your speech. Perhaps sharing a personal anecdote, belting a relevant song lyric, inviting the audience to do something, or interacting with a prop. The only three guiding principles are that the introduction serves the main point of your speech, that it’s appropriate for your audience, and that it grabs the audience’s attention.

  2. Body: What supporting points are necessary to lead your audience from the introduction to the conclusion? Plot those points, then expand on them with sub-points, such as examples.
  3. Conclusion: Emphasize your main point and deliver a call to action based off it.

Learn from a World Champion of Public Speaking: In his 2022 championship speech, Cyril Junior Dim opened by introducing the audience to the word “ndini,” a Shona word meaning “this is me." He then went on to explain to the audience that he wasn’t always comfortable with who he was, sharing that he was ashamed of his Nigerian middle name for most of his life. In the turning point of his speech, he explains how he found inspiration in his college friend’s self-confidence before inspiring the audience to claim “ndini” for themselves, too.

A rough outline of Dim’s speech may have looked something like this:

  • Introduction:
    • Introduce the word “ndini”
    • Explain that I haven’t always accepted myself
  • Body:
    • My long, Nigerian middle name
      • How I felt about my name
      • Conversations with my mother about my name
      • How the kids at school reacted to my name
      • Moving away for college, feeling even more out of place
    • Finding inspiration in my friend’s self-acceptance
  • Conclusion:
    • Everyone has something they dislike about themselves
    • But we can all proudly say “ndini,” this is me
    • Call to action: Say it with me, “This is me! Ndini!”
 

How to Write a Speech

With your outline as your guide, you’re ready to start writing! This section will break down tips for each of the three main parts of your speech (introduction, body, and conclusion). Remember that the most important step of this phase is the actual writing! Your first draft is just that—a draft. Give yourself permission to write poorly so you can get the essence of your ideas out of your head and onto paper (or screen). You’ll refine your work during the editing phase.

Speech Introduction

You have about 30 seconds to capture your audience’s attention before they start to tune you out. So, jump right in! One powerful technique is storytelling, especially when it involves a conflict of some kind. Science even suggests that the brain is wired to listen for—and respond to—stories. Allow the audience to step into an unfolding challenge or situation so they can arrive at the resolution with you by the end of the speech.

For example, at the start of your speech, place your audience in the middle of a problem, such as arriving late at the airport. The natural question for listeners is, “Did she make her flight?” Choose a story that reflects the message of your speech. Perhaps the main point of this hypothetical speech is finding inspiration in the kindness of strangers, and the story in the opening illustrates that by showing that the speaker would not have made the flight if a stranger hadn’t offered to swap places in the security line.

Additionally, humor is a quick way to break down the invisible walls between the speaker and audience. Let’s look at our “arriving late at the airport” example. You can describe frantically running from your car and tripping because you put your shoes on the wrong feet while dashing to leave the house. You could describe the reactions of people as you run past them like a human tornado. Nobody expects you to be a professional comedian but finding humor in your experience will put the audience on your side from the start.

Another useful approach is to apply a universal theme to something personal. Distinguished Toastmaster Christine A. Robinson began a speech with an empty chair accompanying her onstage to represent her absence from her family. From there, the speech built to a call for the audience to consider the empty chairs in their own lives, to restore absent members to the “table of life.”

It can be difficult to craft the perfect introduction that both encapsulates and teases the rest of your speech. When you’re starting your first draft, have the mindset that you’ll find your footing along the way and will likely revise (or completely change) your introduction later.

Speech Body

Your outline will be especially helpful when writing the body of your speech. Look over the points that you planned and start fleshing them out in your writing. As stated in the “How to Outline a Speech” section, the body of a speech consists of all the supporting points/evidence to logically lead your audience to the conclusion of your speech.

Remember, your outline is just a guide. You can disregard something if it doesn’t feel right, or if a different idea has come to you, explore that.

Here are techniques to add structure to your speech and keep your audience engaged:

  1. Rhetorical questions: Ask questions that don’t need a response. For example, “What’s not to love about it?” or “What do you think happened next? You guessed it, I lost my carry-on bag.” Listeners can’t help but play along and answer such questions internally.
  2. Puzzle solutions: This is like the structure of a joke with a set-up and punchline. While the punchline doesn’t need to be funny, it should come as a surprise. For example, “I am always early. So, of course, when I had to catch a flight for one of the biggest presentations of my career, I arrived so late I almost missed the flight.”
  3. Stories: As you saw in the “Introduction” section, stories resonate with people. But a word of caution: Be highly selective about the stories you choose to incorporate. Like any other tool worth using, they lose power if you rely on them too much or tell stories that don’t support your point. We’ve all had the experience of seeing a memorable commercial but not actually being able to remember what service or product the commercial was trying to sell. Don’t let your stories overshadow your point.

As you write, consider how much time your speech should take. Will you speak for five to seven minutes, or are you expected to fill 20 minutes? Considering time parameters will help you fill out or scale back on what you had outlined for your speech. If there’s not a clear expectation for how long you should speak, reach out and ask. Otherwise, err on the side of shorter. Your audience will appreciate it.

As you write, consider how much time your speech should take.

Write the points you planned on making, but keep in mind that every three pages of size 12, double-spaced text will take about five minutes to say out loud, and likely a bit longer if you use pauses throughout your speech (more on that in the “How to Practice a Speech” section). If you’re aiming to speak for seven minutes and you’re already at six pages before working on your conclusion, expect to make some serious cuts when you edit.

Speech Conclusion

A good speech conclusion ties up loose ends for your audience and reemphasizes your main point. Write a conclusion that leaves your listeners with your strongest impression. Strategies include:

  1. A call to action: Directs and/or inspires your listeners to do something. For example, “Be the kind of stranger who shows kindness to others,” or “Sign up to help at your local animal shelter.”
  2. An upbeat ending: Particularly helpful if your speech focuses on a sadder topic. Perhaps a positive lesson you learned, or a happy memory you carry that encapsulates the speech.
  3. A circular structure: The ending picks up the threads of the opening. For example, the 2022 World Champion of Public Speaking, Cyril Junior Dim, opened and closed his speech by having the audience join him in saying “ndini,” which means “this is me.”

Remember that you must reinforce the main idea of your speech in your conclusion. It should also be referenced/alluded to in other parts of the speech, but if it isn’t in this part, your speech may not be effective.

How to Edit, Revise, and Polish a Speech

After finishing the first draft of your speech, take a break! Returning to your work with fresh eyes will help you catch silly mistakes and find places where you didn’t make your point effectively.

Before you start editing each section, time yourself reading the entire speech out loud from start to finish. This will give you a loose understanding of how under, or likely over, time you are and help you edit accordingly. Keep in mind that while reading the speech to yourself, you’ll probably read faster than you would in front of an audience.

Similarly, read each section of your speech out loud as you edit. Remember, your audience won’t have the opportunity to read your work and skim back over sentences. You’ll find sentences that are too long, words that are difficult to say next to each other, and passages that don’t sound natural. Edit as necessary.

While you should read through and edit/update your speech several times, there are two larger phases you can break editing down into: big picture edits and line edits.

Phase 1: Big Picture Edits

  • Cut and streamline: Focus on the purpose of your speech as you edit, and clear away anything that doesn’t directly support it. A lot can seem relevant in the drafting phase that you’ll discover is a tangent in the editing phase. If it makes you feel better, start a separate document with phrases or even entire sections that are too difficult to lose forever. But cut them from your speech.
  • Ensure everything makes sense. When you write, you know what you’re trying to say, so it can be difficult to see when you haven’t said exactly what you intended. Alternatively, you may have forgotten to include foundational pieces of information that your audience will be lost without. By returning to your speech after a break, you’ll be further removed from your writing thought process and able to strengthen your work with a fresh perspective.
  • Use repetition. Repetition throughout your speech clarifies, emphasizes, and reinforces your message. While this is technically more of a “line edit,” it’s helpful to do this step while you’re already editing to tighten up and emphasize your main point. There are two ways to effectively use repetition:
    • Within a passage. Don’t be afraid to repeat an important word or phrase. For example, in a 1941 speech during World War II, Winston Churchill said: “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never. … In nothing, great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” The people of Great Britain didn’t have to guess what he meant!
    • Throughout the speech. It may be helpful to return to the same word or phrase at spread out intervals. Learn from a World Champion of Public Speaking: In her 2018 speech “Still Standing,” Ramona J. Smith returned to that phrase, “still standing,” at different points of her speech to great effect.
  • Nail the title. In some situations, you won’t need a title for your speech because it won’t be said or written anywhere (like a wedding toast, for example). However, if you will be introduced or if your speech is included in a printed program or on a screen, you need a title. Five words or less is ideal. Think about the main theme of your speech; the most straightforward, descriptive title may be the best option. Alternatively, there may be an opportunity for cleverness or a play on words. But, again, only if this supports the theme and tone of your overall speech.

Phase 2: Line Edits

  • Correct grammar. Take advantage of grammar-correcting tools. But remember: You want to sound authentic when you speak. There may be moments in your speech when it’s better to go with technically incorrect phrasing. But do so intentionally.

  • Replace passive voice with active voice. In a passive sentence, the action is done to someone or something (usually by someone or something not directly stated in the sentence). For example:

    ❌ The ball was thrown. (Who threw the ball?)

In an active sentence, the subject acts upon someone or something else. For example:

    ✅ Aaliyah threw the ball. (Much better.)

  • Streamline with verbs. For example, when you have a word that ends with “ation,” such as “consideration,” choose the verb that hides within the long term, in this case “consider.” For example:

    ❌ We are pleased to inform you that your application has been received and that it is being taken under consideration.
    This sentence takes 20 words to deliver this message:

    ✅ We have received your application and are reviewing it.

  • Fact-check. The writing phase is about getting all your thoughts out. Use the editing phase to ensure that any objective facts you include are correct.
  • Use transitional statements to connect different parts of the speech. While you’re reading your speech out loud, you may notice places where it sounds awkward moving from one section to the next. You can fix this by introducing or strengthening transitional phrases between them. However, if the transition between sections doesn’t sound awkward, there is no need to fix it! Here are some examples to get you started:
    • To tie your introduction to your first point in the body of the speech:
      • Let me give you an example …
      • To get started, let’s think about …
      • First, it’s important to understand ...
    • To move from one point within the body to the next:
      • In the same way, this item tends to melt in the heat …
      • Let me show you something equally troubling …
      • This is similar to the kind of speech we’re studying ...
    • To begin the conclusion to your speech:
      • All in all, this educational journey was …
      • Looking back, I’m glad that I …
      • To sum up, these three reasons are why …
  • Use “we/us” more than “I/me”: As often as possible, use “we,” “us,” and even “you.” Audiences are naturally more engaged when they’re subtly pulled in as participants in your speech. For example, instead of saying, “I looked at the research about treating people with kindness,” the speaker could include the audience by saying, “Let’s look at some of the research about treating people with kindness.” It’s a subtle difference, but more engaging for the audience.
  • Find opportunities to incorporate audience involvement. Ready for an obvious statement? Audiences are more engaged when you engage them. This is important for both in-person and online audiences. As you edit, look for one, two, or even three moments that you can invite the audience’s involvement. Some simple, yet effective, ways to do this:
    • Raise your hand if ...
    • Turn to your neighbor and ...
    • Say it with me ...

    Inviting the audience’s involvement will fall flat if you force it (meaning it doesn’t serve the point of your speech). But chances are that with some tweaking, there are already moments in your speech that could be strengthened by inviting the audience in.

    How to Practice Giving a Speech

    The greatest speakers today emphasize the importance of practice, so don’t assume that you’ll be able to wing it. Here are eight tips to practice giving your speech:

    Practicing your speech out loud is the foundation to all the tips that follow.

    1. Practice out loud. It’s good to go over parts of the speech in your head, but you won’t be telepathizing your speech into the minds of your listeners; you’ll be saying it to them. Practicing your speech out loud is the foundation to all the tips that follow.
    2. Create a speech tempo. Vocal variety keeps people engaged. Find places in your speech to build in volume, speed, and intensity. Also find the moments to slow down, lower your voice, and pause. Yes, really pause! Five seconds may feel like an eternity to you, but it may be just the right amount of time for the importance of what you just said to sink in.
    3. Plan meaningful movement. Plan to move yourself around your given speaking area, if possible. This will energize you, and, in turn, energize and engage your audience. But don’t pace for the sake of moving; that’s distracting and comes across as nervous energy. Here are some ways to use movement to your advantage:
      1. Move to a different part of the stage to speak directly to a handful of individuals there by making eye contact with them.
      2. Use an array of gestures to support your point.
        1. Descriptive gestures: Describe things like the size, shape, and location of objects you’re discussing. For example, holding your hand out to show how tall your nephew is.
        2. Emblematic gestures: Movements that show a strong emotion, such as earnestness and conviction. For example, in many cultures, placing your hand on your heart communicates strong, heartfelt emotion.
        3. Representational gestures: Movements that give information about action. You might use your hands to demonstrate chopping, throwing, or picking something up. 

Learn from a World Champion of Public Speaking: In her winning 2023 speech, “Have You Been There?,” Jocelyn Tyson uses her arms to demonstrate swimming while describing a pivotal swimming race.
    4. Practice in the outfit you’ll wear. You may find that the classy shoes you planned on wearing restrict your movement and distract you as you speak. Or that your go-to blazer is tighter than you remembered. The goal is to be as comfortable as possible when you speak in front of an audience, so don’t underestimate the importance of planning your outfit well ahead of time.
    5. Record and listen to/watch yourself. You’re probably not excited to watch or hear a recording of yourself, but this is the best way to critically assess your speaking performance. You’ll notice your filler words (such as “ah,” “um,” and “like”), hear if you’re talking too fast (or slow), see if your movement is effective or lacking, and notice any nervous tics, such as adjusting your sleeves.
    6. Get meaningful feedback by asking specific questions. You won’t be giving the speech to yourself, so it’s important to hear other people’s thoughts. Ask loved ones or colleagues to watch you practice your speech. But afterward don’t just ask them, “What did you think?” They’ll likely give you unhelpful compliments like, “Well done! That was great!” Instead, give them specific prompts that will help you work on the aspects you’re most focused on, such as:
      • What was the main point of my speech?
      • Did you notice fillers like “um” and “ah”?
      • Was my movement distracting or helpful? Should I move more?
      • How was my talking speed?
      • Where did I lose you?
    7. Memorize. If you’ve ever seen a TED Talk, you probably noticed that the most inspirational speakers aren’t referencing a speech printout. (And, no, there aren’t typically teleprompters, either.) While you shouldn’t memorize your speech word for word, being comfortable with each section and how they flow together will help you really connect with your listeners. These techniques will help:
      • Practice first thing in the morning and right before bed. This will set you up to think about your speech throughout the day, and for your subconscious to ruminate on it while you’re sleeping.
      • Listen to your recorded speech whenever you can: driving, making dinner, getting ready for bed, walking the dogs, commuting to work.
      • Develop muscle memory by practicing your speech with the movements you plan on using as often as possible. Not only will this ensure that your movements are intentional, but it will also help you remember which portions of the speech are attached to those movements. You can also activate your muscle memory simply by practicing your speech while walking.

      If you really need something to help you remember your speech, use simple bullet points so you’re not tempted to read to your audience.

    8. Practice a Q&A, if applicable. If you know that your speech will be followed by a question-and-answer session, don’t leave that part up to chance. Of course, you can’t anticipate everything that an audience may ask. However, you can brainstorm questions they might be interested in based on your speech. The more you prepare for questions, the more likely you’ll be able to apply this preparation to a question you didn’t foresee. You can also invite your loved ones or colleagues to ask you questions about the speech’s content when you practice in front of them.
    9. Bonus: Join a Toastmasters club to practice and get meaningful feedback. Practicing in a judgement-free space is your most powerful tool. In a Toastmasters club, you’ll get helpful feedback from people who are also working on their public speaking skills. Find a club close to you and visit (for free) to see how they can help you practice and polish your speech before the big day.

    Other Speech Preparation Considerations

    You’ve written, edited, and practiced. You’re so close to delivering a memorable speech! There are a few other considerations before you take to the stage, though.

    • Confirm the physical and technical features where you will be speaking. In the days (or hours, if that’s the only option) before you are scheduled to speak, scope out the conditions so there are no surprises. Will you have a handheld or lapel microphone, or none at all? Will you have a stage or raised platform, or be on the same level as your listeners? Will there be a lectern (commonly referred to as a podium)? Will you be presenting to a hybrid audience, with some viewers at home that you need to connect with through a camera? Will there be a projector screen if you plan on using slides?
      • A word of caution about presentation slides: Unseasoned speakers tend to use them as a crutch, and they become distracting for both the speaker and the audience. Only use slides if you absolutely need the aid of a specific image/graph/chart to make your point. Don’t assume that you do; practice the speech in front of someone without the slides and see if they understood your point without the visual aid. Remember, your overall goal is to hold the audience’s rapt attention on your story. Don’t give them something else to pay attention to unless necessary.
    • Ensure you are introduced favorably. If someone will introduce you before you speak, touch base with them beforehand. Although they probably don’t have bad intentions, they could ramble for too long, give irrelevant or inaccurate information about you, or fail to establish what makes you qualified to give the speech. You don’t want to start your speech by giving yourself the introduction you assumed you would receive.
      ​
      Give your introducer three facts, credits, or accomplishments that show your competency. You may even choose to write up an introduction for them to read. Approach this tactfully, though. Instead of delivering a prepared introduction to them, you might first ask to see what they’ve already prepared and note there are some items you’d like to omit or include. The goal is to demonstrate to the audience why you’re the best person to make the point you’re about to make.
    • Dress how you want to be perceived. Before you ever open your mouth, the audience’s first impression is how you present yourself before them. This will most likely call for dressing up more than you do in day-to-day life.
    the audience’s first impression is how you present yourself before them.

    Final Thoughts

    Ultimately, you want to deliver a speech that is impactful and memorable. Follow these steps to research, plan, outline, write, and practice, and your speech will be a soaring success!

    For more practical strategies, explore the Public Speaking Tips page.

    Get Comfortable Speaking in Front of Others

    The best way to get better as a speaker is to practice and get quality feedback.

    If you’re ready to try it out in a supportive, low-pressure setting, check out a Toastmasters club. You’ll get to practice in front of real people who are also trying to get better at public speaking. They’ll tell you what’s working and give you tips you can use right away.

    You can visit a club (in person or online) for free, so it’s easy to see what you can get out of the experience. No matter what club you try, you’ll find a welcoming group that’s there to help you build confidence and keep improving, one speech at a time.

    This article is based on the following Toastmaster magazine articles:

    Build a Great Speech by Christine A. Robinson, DTM

    5 Easy Tips for Crafting a Speech by Judith T. Krauthamer

    Prep Talk by Joel Schwartzberg

    How to Build a Speech by Ruth Nasrullah

    10 Ways to be a Better Speechwriter by Elizabeth Danziger

    How to Succeed in Speechwriting by Caren S. Neile, Ph.D.

    About Toastmasters International

    Toastmasters International helps people build confidence and improve public speaking skills in clubs around the world. At meetings, members practice speeches, respond to impromptu questions, and give constructive feedback. This consistent practice empowers members to meet personal and professional goals.