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Tips for Creating Oral Presentations The unpardonable sin in public speaking is the sin of inadequate preparation.

50 Tips for Organizing & Presenting Your Speech 
Use Quotations to Impress and Dazzle

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50 Tips for Organizing & Presenting Your Speech

1. Research your topic
2. Jot down any ideas as they come to you
3. Decide on  and focus upon a central idea
4. Develop main points
5. Investigate the particulars of your subject (collect examples, definitions, comparisons, statistics, anecdotes)
6. Answer the questions: who what when where why how
7. Choose only information with relevance. Information not directly related to your speech is a confusing distraction
8. Make an outline to help you organize & pace your talk
9. Write your speech in simple Anglo-Saxon language
10. Follow a general statement with specifics - substantiate generalities with authority
11, Don't overestimate your audience's information or underestimate their intelligence (Don't talk down but give information they need)
12. Be careful in your selection of humor
13. Choose visuals that help tell your message
14. Begin a speech with an attention grabber (if you don't capture your audience in the beginning, you won't get your whole message across).
15. Develop smooth transitions - show continuity
16. Don't be afraid to pause
17. In closing, sum up the main points & repeat the central idea to reinforce your message
16. End with an appeal for action
19. Stay within your time allotment
20. Put your speech on note cards or PowerPoint to ensure you stay organized and cover the main points.

 How to present a speech

21. Rehearse , Rehearse, and Rehearse. Nothing makes a speech perfect like practice
22. Posture counts: Stand erectly but not stiff.  Avoid standing on one foot, shifting foot position, leaning over the podium, chewing gum, pulling on hair or clothing, showing your back to the audience when pointing to the board....
23. Notes, handouts, software.... taken to the lectern must be   organized & orderly.
24. Start with a pause and pleasant facial expression. Relax. Don't start talking until you have everyone's attention. You will know the audience is ready only if you look at them.
25. Start with a strong opening (Once the audience is yours, hold them. Try a meaningful joke or story. Ask the audience a pertinent question.)
26. Explain why you are there. Create an intimacy between you, your topic and the audience
27. State your central idea directly and clearly. This is the foundation upon which your speech is based. Be sure your audience understands it.
28. Make one point & then go on to the next.
29. Work to a climax. Know the goal of your speech & work directly towards it. Don't get detoured.
30. Speak in a varying tone. An animated conversational voice - not rushed. All should hear you.
35. Gesture - use your face & body to express what you're saying.
36. Make eye contact
37. Use visual aids, but don't hide behind them. The aid are not the focus.
38. Unveil your props as you go along if you have any.
39. Talk to your audience; don't preach
40. Make use of pauses to let your audience digest the ideas. Pauses are as important as words.
41. Invite the audience to participate. (They'll remember more)
42. Summarize the main points
43. Close with a rousing plea for action - if applicable. Be sincere, honest & enthused
44. When you're done speaking, hold eye contact for a few seconds. Ask if there are any questions. Wait for applause & sit down

Additional Tips

45. Make your script obvious but not awkward
46. Know your script
47. Don't correct small mistakes - you'll only draw attention to them & disrupt the continuity of your speech
48. Say it; don't read it. Maintain eye contact.
49. Speak slower and louder whenever you must read a direct passage
50 Have fun - enjoy the opportunity to express yourself!

Achieve Maximum Results In Minimum Time And With The Least Amount Of Effort:   USE QUOTES

       One of the most effective ways to add punch and power to your speech and writing is to use quotations by influential people.

       Woodrow Wilson, the 28th US President stated, "I not only use all the brains I have but all that I can borrow."

       And Jim Rohn, one of the world's most respected success coaches and motivational speakers, claims, "Don't be afraid to borrow if someone else has said it well. Winston Churchill said, 'The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.' That's so well said. You could stay up all night and not think of that."

       Here's what the American author and lawyer, Christian Nevell Bovee, observed about quotations many decades ago: "Next to being witty yourself, the best thing is being able to quote another's wit."

       And Isaac D'Israeli, the British historian, stated, "The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation."

       French philosopher and essayist, Michel Eyquem De Montaigne, commented in the sixteenth century, "I quote others in order to better express myself."

       And here's what the famous American essayist and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said about quotations: "Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it. Many will read the book before one thinks of quoting a passage. As soon as he has done this, that line will be quoted east and west."

       And last but not least, here's what Henry W. Fowler, the British lexicographer, advised us about the use of quotations at the turn of the century: "Quotation... A writer [or speaker] expresses himself in words that have been used before because they give his meaning better than he can give it himself, or because they are beautiful or witty, or because he expects them to touch a cord of association in his reader, or because he wishes to show that he is learned and well read."

       If you've attended a seminar or read a motivational book recently, then you probably have noticed the speaker or author used some quotations to emphasize certain points throughout his or her speech or book... in order to have the most impact on you, the audience or reader. So when you use quotes in your speeches and writing...

      No matter what you want to write or say, it usually has already been written or stated very nicely, effectively, convincingly, persuasively, and powerfully by somebody else. In addition to helping you make your presentation or writing more successful... quotations will also help you generate new ideas.

       How many times have you sat at your desk, staring at a blank piece of paper or your computer monitor, trying to figure out the "perfect" line or sentence for your presentation, newsletter or article?

       I don't know about you, before I started using quotes to help generate ideas for my speech or article, I'd sometimes stared at a blank piece of paper for, believe it or not, hours, trying to come up with the "right" words.

       But after discovering the exciting world of quotations, by learning what some of the wisest men and women have said about a specific topic, I am able to generate great ideas at a very rapid rate. And you can do the same, too.

       For example, if you're giving a speech or writing about "forgiveness" then, in my opinion, one of the greatest quotes ever written or spoken on this topic was by Mark Twain when he stated, "Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it."

       I'm sure you'll agree with me this one sentence, alone, can summarize your whole presentation or article on "forgiveness," am I right?  Top speakers use quotes by other authors and speakers to make their points more concise and powerful.

       Since one of the main objectives of your presentation or article is to get the audience or reader to take immediate action, whether it's to buy your product or to elect you for the position of president in your company, and so on, I know you're always looking for ways to make your message more and more powerful, allowing you to...

      And here's a summary of what you can use great quotations for...

1. Expressing your thoughts more clearly and powerfully!
2. Adding sparks and punch to your paper, article, or speech!
3. Getting your points across more effectively!
4. Becoming more authoritative!
5. Commanding attention and respect from your readers or audiences!

       (Some information on quotations taken from Cybernation)

Bonus information: Monroe's Motivational Sequence

1.  Attention :  Get people's attention
2.  Need:  Show the problem
3.  Satisfaction: Here's my plan
4.  Visualization:  Picture it:  either /or
5.  Action:  Take a small step

My Cardinal Rule:   Don't put people to sleep.