Speech has enormous power. It has the power to incite mutiny or to create spirit. It has the ability to turn a hostile situation into a friendly one or to turn a friendly gathering into a hostile move. It has the ability to both create and relieve tension. Many political leaders, industrialists, business magnets, and salespeople attribute their success to their ability to deliver an effective speech.
The importance of speech can be understood by considering the “Farewell speech” of our beloved Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (SM). His words will live on as a guide for humanity’s well-being.
Industrialists and businessmen are expected to speak at various conferences, seminars, and public gatherings. With a growing understanding of the importance of public relations in business, most companies encourage their executives to attend public functions, appear in public, and accept invitations to be the chief guest or speaker at meetings. A salesman must also deliver hundreds of mini speeches, which is unavoidable in business.
Characteristics of a good speech
- Dynamic
Dynamism is an important characteristic of a good speech. There must be variation in style, tone, voice, approach, and timing depending on the situation and timing, or the audience will lose interest and suffer from a monotonous presentation.
- Clarity
Clarity is an important aspect of a good speech. A good speech should be understandable by the audience or listener. A speech should be clear and unambiguous in order for the audience to easily understand it. A speech must be successful in order to achieve its goal by expressing itself clearly. It will be ineffective if it is not clear enough to express its meaning to the audience.
- Informal talk
Speech should be like an informal talk. A good speech is closer to a personal and informal chat between two intimate friends. There should be perfect contact between the speaker and the audience. When you speak there should be a perfect rapport between you and your audience.
- Live and concrete
A good speech is one that is vivid and concrete in nature. A good speech is lived in nature and contains concrete facts that are simple to understand, for example, Grameen Phone is a leader in the Cell-Phone industry, with a 65 percent market share, reflects a live and concrete statement. Include facts in a clear and comprehensive manner. A speech should not contain any irrelevant or insufficient information. For example, the fact that India’s population is growing at a rate of 2.3 percent per year is a striking statement.
- Brevity
The importance of brevity in a god speech cannot be overstated. On average, the audience cannot concentrate for more than fifteen to twenty minutes. Speeches should be succinct, concrete, and comprehensive. The average audience’s concentration lasts no more than fifteen to twenty minutes. So, unless the audience requests more, speeches should not be longer than this. It is preferable to finish your speech within five to twenty minutes.
- Interesting
A speech should be delivered in an interesting and pleasing manner in order to motivate the audience to pay attention. It’s an interesting one with quotes, anecdotes, and humor. Various stories, examples, quotations, and jokes can be used to make the speech more interesting. Quotations should be unique, and anecdotes should be fresh and succinct. Humor, on the other hand, should be refined and tasteful.
- Audience oriented
A good speech is one that encourages the audience to interact with the speaker. It’s always geared toward the audience. It takes into account the listener’s age, gender, religion, social, and economic status and makes it communicative. That is, the audience will maintain their attention by actively listening, expressing their support for the speech, and so on.
Aside from the aforementioned criteria, a good speech also possesses characteristics such as factual relevance, timely presentation, and objective orientation. A well-organized and well-arranged speech is always a good speech. The pats or points of a speech should be organized logically in order to attract and retain the audience’s attention.
