◆ SpookStack

* There's nothing more likely to put an audience to sleep than a memorized speech. It sounds teo mechanical. And you know how foolish a speaker looks when he forgets part of his memorized speech and gets a blank look on his face and etammers. 5. Work on opening and closing sentences. Your opening and closing sentences are the most important part of your speech. Your opening sentence should get your audience interested in what you're going to say and should tell them your main idea. Don't talk around your subject. dump right in. You know how restless you get when a speaker rambles on and on and never seems to get to the point. Don't say: "Brothers and Sisters, I'm here tonight to speak on the subject "Political Action and Local Unions." SAY: "Brothers and Sisters, Political Action is the most vital issue facing local unions today." Your closing sentence should sum up what you've been saying - should repeat your main idea, should make your audience want to get out and do something about what you've been saying. Your closing sentence is the last thing your audience will hear, the sentence that will stay in their minds when they leave. Make the most of it - make it really a punch line. Above all DON'T: 1. Say, "Well, I guess I'm through," or "I guess that's all" - end with a bang. 2. Sit down or walk off while you're saying your last sentence - it's an awful letdow and detracts from the force of what you're saying. 6 Use stories, facts and figures. Tf you want to convince your audience that you really know what you're talking about and aren't just talking through your hat, use some facts and figures. Only don't use too many - they can get very tiresome. Make sure that they fit into your speech and make sure that they are easy to understand. Your audience won't have time to sit down and figure them out with pencil and paper.