CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – DECEMBER 24, 2021-1
Public Speaking: 12 (free) tips for Christmas!
Until the boss pipes-up to speak and throw a wet blanket over the entire office party.
Quarterly updates, business progress reports and corporate ‘to do’ lists all have their time and place in the public speaking calendar. Just not at the annual office party.
This is the time of year when otherwise thoughtful, empathetic and inspiring business leaders inadvertently become irrelevant and dull. Or, potentially, even worse, they attempt to be hilariously funny, demonstrating a worrying lack of self-awareness. Which is such a waste. Because the office party provides a wonderful opportunity to give a speech that really does make a difference. It can do so by conforming to our twelve very simple public speaking tips.
For those who prefer watching to reading, here they are in technicolour:
For the readers, here’s how to be relevant, clear and really pretty special at your office party:
Preparation
Put your audience first: Tonight of all nights is the one to be generous. You might be writing the speech on a cold Monday morning in early December, but you’ll give it at an event where your team are feeling upbeat and sociable. Put yourself in their shoes and write something equally positive, charming and brief.
Key message: It’s hard to retain an audience’s attention ta the best of times. Tonight is not the time for complex strategic thinking or detailed insights. In our experience, you will be lucky if your team remember more than one thing about your speech the next day. So make sure you decide what you want it to be.
Balance: Too serious and you’ll be forgotten before you’ve finished your first minute. Trying to be too funny and you risk them laughing at yu rather than with you. It’s a very fine balance. You need to know where you sit on that scale before you start writing.
Seamless: Don’t allow yourself to be end up giving a list (be of awards, achievements or thank yous). A great office party speech will link them all into what appears to be a seamless stream of consciousness.
Writing
Punch: It’s a party, so you need to sound even more punchy and energetic than normal. So don’t write your speech in paragraphs. Write it in short-sharp sound bites that link to create a narrative. Ensure that you don’t waste a word.
