I work with public speakers, singers and performers every day in my vocal training practice, yet many people who want to more effectively use their voices have never given a speech or presentation. Whether you speak publicly often or never have, there’s something both exciting and scary about giving a new speech for the first time. Especially if it’s a particularly vulnerable and/or personal story, and you’re sharing it for the first time with people you don’t know.

That was my experience last Wednesday speaking to Kwesi Millington’s Spectacular Speakers mastermind group. Here’s Kwesi’s YouTube Video of the meeting. My maiden voyage of this speech (about 10 minutes) starts at 13:32.  

And here’s where you come in, friend! Kwesi gave me several wonderful suggestions for perfecting the speech (which I’ve summarized below, both for my own benefit and to hopefully help you with your next speech) but so far I’m stumped on changing up the catch phrase, Why I Know Dreams Come True.

Please listen to my whole speech first. Then think something along the lines of:

Dreams come true when…

If you ____, your dreams will _____.

Doing ____ will _____ your dreams.

Etc.

You get the idea. Something catchier, a bit more specific to my personal circumstances, and memorable. Please, no clichés like “dreams come true when you follow your heart” – something more unique and original.

The person with the winning speech title and catch phrase to use throughout the speech receives a $65 gift certificate for an hour of vocal training with yours truly (for you or someone you care about) OR a $25 gift card to your favorite takeout/delivery restaurant or coffee shop. The judges will be me, my husband, and Kwesi – although I haven’t actually asked either of them yet.

Yay, this is fun – it’s a contest! Let me know your thoughts, please – there are no bad ideas!

To register for Kwesi’s next meeting, email kwesi@kwesimillington.com.

Regarding the video: please disregard the poor sound and light quality and my gestures. Focus instead on the content, the stories, and what the ideal title and/or repeated catch phrase might be.  

Thanks so much – I can’t wait to read your suggestions!

Evaluation Notes:

-Consider three dates for structure. Keep people curious right at the beginning.

-Preface with the three dates or points.

-For example, the dates of running into Paul, starting with TVI, and the “grandma.”

-Describe her more clearly – “grandma” can put different images into people’s heads.

-Keep the cat consistent throughout and drop the car, food, etc.

-Bring more essence into the feeling at the beginning, why you couldn’t just quit the lousy job.

-As much as we love Ricky, we don’t need him in this speech. Come up with the catch phrase to repeat and keep in only what pertains to that.

-Devil Wears Prada movie will be obsolete, find other ways to describe the manager. Smashing under thumb image, etc.

-People will remember the phrases and the stories.

Please spread the love and pass this along to a friend!

Love Your Voice and Voice Your Love,

Laura

Lake Oswego’s Transformational Voice® Teacher (Transformational Voice® is a registered trademark of Transformational Voice® Training Institute, LLC, and Linda Brice.)