The Successful Public Speaking Structure

The Three Is of Public Speaking

You have probably heard the three Ts of public speaking – Tell ‘em, Tell ‘em and Tell ‘em.

You may even have heard the three Ss – Stand Up, Speak Up and Shut Up.

More important than even these great aphorisms are the three Is:

Information

Inspiration

Entertainment (okay, you have to adopt an Aussie accent for the third one but, hey, the three Rs were a bit iffy too).

So what are we getting at here?

First, each talk, speech or whatever must be a mixture of all three with the proportions changing according to the type of talk you are delivering. For our purposes we can divide the types of talk into four types depending on time of day:

Opening: 45 – 90 minutes. Sets the theme for the (day).
High energy with more information and inspiration than entertainment. (Ratio
- 40:40:20)
• Graveyard: c.30 minutes. High on entertainment and audience participation is recommended. Keep ‘em awake! (Ratio – 30:30:40)
• Closing: c.30 minutes. Send them off on a high. Refer back to other speakers. (Ratio – 20:30:50)
• After dinner: 30 – 45 minutes. Entertainment! Be funny or be magic! (Ratio – 5:5:90)

These ratios are only rough guides, of course. Different clients, different types of meeting, conference, event will require subtle adjustments to the proportions – but this is a start!

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If you have any other questions or would like assistance or advice with your arrangements, pleas email info@ifps.org.uk. We will be delighted to help.