1. Condense Your Main Message. Ideally you should get it down to a 30 second blurb. How do you do that? Start with the goal of your speech. Is it to convey knowledge? If so what is the main thrust? Perhaps your goal is to inspire your audience to take action. If so, what action do you want them to take Maybe your goal is to make your audience feel something. This is your overarching message. Write your first draft without attention to length at first. Once you’ve done that, then condense it. When you deliver your speech, touch on it at least 3 times or whenever appropriate, but be sure to include it in the beginning, middle, and especially at the end.

2. Have Three Main Points. Even if you need to cover many different ideas, try to categorize them into 3 main points that all tie back to your Main Message. Let your audience know you’ll be talking about those 3 main points in the beginning. This will help them to follow along, especially if you are not using visual aids. And keep in mind that this holds true regardless of the length of your speech.

3. Include only the Most Powerful Data and Facts.

4. Visual Aids.

5. Speech Outline Cue Cards.

6. Practice.

7. Release the Nerves.

8. The Pep Talk.

9. Smile and Have Fun.

10. When You Can’t Smile.

This list has been severely abridged. To read the full list and full descriptions, view the original post at it’s source:

10 Fail Proof Tips for Delivering a Powerful Speech (DumbLittleMan)