Sometimes we are faced with the need to write a speech and not wing it…and thus we dive into the trenches of actually writing a speech. While the most important step of speechwriting is to get that first draft on paper, there are a few things you want to consider before you start writing. Some happen immediately before you write, some are ongoing.

Research and collection of data: One matter that is ongoing is research and the collection of intellectual capital. When I was in high school and complained about some onerous school assignment, my father would say, “Learning is a constant joy for those who seek the truth”. He would conclude by saying, “By the way, you need to learn to clean your room, because it truly is a mess.”

Research is also an ongoing proposition. We must constantly watch for interesting ideas, stories, quotations, and facts to use in presentations. Store it as you will, but good research never ends, and is a constant joy for those who want to craft good presentations. While I never tire of the feel of an open book, the internet and the mass of data that is on CD-Rom makes research that much easy, that much more convenient, and that much more fun.

Remember this is an ongoing collection of raw data. As you draft you need to cull and sort your data for the items that offer the most compelling support for your point of view.

Type of Speech: You also need to determine what kind of speech you need to give, as that will impact what you write when you crank out the first draft. There are many ways of doing this, and I would offer a few ideas.

I think that there are a limited set of purposes a speech might have, and they are:
 To inform
 To persuade
 To inspire
 To entertain, or a
 Combination therein

Others take a more sophisticated view. Speechwriter Alan Perlman says a speech must be based in an analysis of audience conduct you want to impact. He believes that Mr. Perlman suggests that in any speech you want to confirm/challenge/change the audience’s Emotions/Belief’s/Behavior, and offers a chart to help you create a visual picture of where you are going:

SPEAKER ACTION	AUDIENCE…
	Emotions	Beliefs	Behavior
Confirm
Challenge
Change

( from Writing Great Speeches: Professional Techniques You Can Use  by Alan Perlman)

Whatever your goal, you need to know where you want to be at the conclusion of the speech before you can effectively begin to write the speech.

Recognize the Likely Event Dynamic: As you contemplate the type of speech you will give and what your goal should be is to consider the setting and the event dynamic. Every setting has an inherent emotion, or lack thereof. That emotion has to be considered as you prepare to write. You may have some killer jokes to tell, but perhaps that Church annual fund drive is not the place to use them. More important, you can use that emotion to your advantage. By the same token, perhaps there is a limitation that will impact the speech. For instance, if you are the first speaker at a conference, you get the group perhaps not fully awake, but rested. If you are the last speaker, the group is tired and ready for supper, or a break, or bed! Now, assume you have the same goal in mind regardless of which slot you speak in. The time of the day imposes certain conditions or limitations that you have to consider as you choose your goal.

Time Limit: You will need to be aware of your time as you plan your speech. Returning to the example above, imagine you are making a presentation this conference about a new product you are selling. The morning session is twenty minutes long, and the afternoon session is fifty minutes long. You not only have to have a goal, you have to be able to use your time to best advantage. Be aware of your time limits, especially if you are speaking immediately prior to meals or a highly anticipated speaker or event. You will be thought poorly of if you run long, and the more you overrun the worse opinion you will create.

So, that is our start. Before you put pen to paper, you must:

1. Regularly conduct and collect research and increase your intellectual capital;
2. Know what type of speech you want to give, or what reaction you want to create;
3. Recognize the Likely Event Dynamic;
4. Be aware of your time limit

Is it easier this way-