Ted Sorensen is one the the greatest speech writers of all time. He was even the mastermind behind JFK’s moon speech. The secret to his success? Just…

4 words…

1. Brevity ⏱️
   Less is more.

2. Levity 🪽
   Keep it light - even the heaviest topics need humour.

3. Clarity 💡 
   Make your subject accessible to everyone in the room.

4. Charity 💝
   Every talk should have a greater purpose.
   To challenge a status quo, create change, start a movement.

I wonder, which one of these do you find the most challenging to implement?

5 lines:

1. An outline
   The journey you’re going to take your audience on.

2. A Headline 
   A political speech writer’s goal is to create tomorrow’s headline. Your goal is to ensure your audience leaves with the message you want them to.
   
   Challenge: Can you distil your presentation down to one single sentence?
   

3. A Front Line:
   The Hook: How are you going to get the audience’s attention?
   
   ❌ ‘Before I start, let me give you a little background on me.’
   ✅ Set the tone with a statement (or question) that piques curiosity.

4. A Sideline
   Think quotes, unexpected anecdotes and analogies. How can you make your subject fun?
   

5. A Bottom Line
   The call to action. The one big takeaway. The feeling you want to leave your audience with.
   
   ❌ ‘Does anyone have any questions?’
   ✅ Capture your audience’s imagination.

A big thank you to IBM’s communication designer Jeremy Connell-Waite for this inspiration for this week’s article. (Highly recommend giving him a follow!)

Inside MicDrop, we don’t help our members communicate like politicians, but we do help them communicate like thought leaders.

Why?

So that when they are invited to speak:

1. At conferences (like TEDx, Slush and WebSummit) 🔴

2. At internal company events (where they are getting paid) 💰

3. And on podcasts (to build their personal brand) 🎧

They’re ready.

If you’re ready to take your public speaking skills from good to great, our October intake is filling up... Click here to find out more.

Alex