Having worked for a variety of bosses with varying degrees of people skills, I have been spoken to critically and judgmentally a few times. There was one time, however, that I know I deserved it. 

I was a speechwriter on an important political campaign, and the candidate was promising to enact a certain new policy. Showing my draft for the evening’s speech to our Chief of Staff, he highlighted a few lines and told me to delete them from the version I was uploading to the teleprompter.

As the speech went on, I noticed one of the lines hadn’t been deleted properly. “Oh well,” I thought, “that line wasn’t too bad.”

Our Chief of Staff, however, was steaming mad. The problem wasn’t that the line was “bad”. The problem, he explained to me, is that it was “too good” but it wasn’t tied directly to the policy the candidate was announcing.

This lesson has served me better as a speechwriter than any actual writing tips.

It is essentially this: “The most memorable line in your speech must be about your main point.”

We humans struggle to retain more than one strong memory from any interaction. Therefore, make sure that your main point is indeed your main point.

Here are three common pitfalls to watch out for as you put together any speech, presentation, or seminar. 

Watch out for tangents that are a particular passion of yours. 

If someone has invited you to speak on topic X, make sure you are actually delivering on said topic, and not making sure everyone leaves discussing tangent Y. 

If you have attended a church with any regularity, I’m sure you have probably heard at least one sermon that was introduced as, say, “Love as taught in 1 Corinthians chapter 13,” but was instead dominated by a fascinating and much more intriguing discussion on which biblical translation is most faithful to the original texts. It’s easy to assume which discussion will actually follow the congregants home.

Be careful how funny you are. 

Humour is a powerful tool that can make any talk you’re giving more memorable. However, it is so much easier to remember a joke than a powerful and life-changing fact. Because of this, we need to be careful how and when we use humour. If people are walking up to you after your talks to tell you how much they were laughing instead of discussing the issue you are there to speak on, your humour is stepping on your point.

The “One More Thing.”

Business and marketing guru Seth Godin, gives the excellent advice that when you’re doing a panel discussion never say, “Oh, one thing I’d like to add,” at the end. Undoubtedly it will become the main thing the audience takes away. This isn’t just great advice for Q&As but any speech, talk, or sermon.

As you’re finishing your talk, you may glance at your notes and realize you left out something important. Sometimes (very rarely, I would say), it may be so important that you need to overshadow your own conclusion. But unless it’s absolutely vital, let it go. Trust yourself and the preparation you put into your summary that your audience will walk away remembering your main points. 

Summary:

In conclusion, as you prepare for any talk you are going to give, simply ask yourself whether or not your most powerful memorable lines are the ones you most want your audience to remember.