Keep it short for audience's sake

gzlaser

HOW long should I make my speech? How long will my audience concentrate on my speech? How slowly should I speak to make myself clearly understood?

In dealing with these questions, we see how important timing is to a speech.

Keep your speech less than 15 minutes

Lin Yutang, the famous writer and translator, once said about the length of a speech, \"the shorter the better\". Speaking around the topic should be seriously avoided, not only in speech, but in all conversations in English. Being indirect and roundabout in your approach may be thought skilful in Chinese, but in English speech? No way. The most prized approach is conciseness and sticking to the point (简洁扼要).

According to scientists, audiences can generally only manage to concentrate for about 13 minutes. So, a 10- to 15-minute speech is about right.

The following is the famous Gettysburg address, delivered by Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863. At only about 200 words, this speech still managed to convey the idea that people are born equal.

Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new Nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now, we are engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether that Nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who gave their lives that the Nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us; that from these honoured dead, we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that this Nation, under GOD, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.

150-160 words per minute

Speaking speed is often influenced by the occasion for the speech. The number of people in the audience also has a major influence on speaking speed.

If you're speaking to hundreds or even thousands of people, especially outside, you'll speak rather slowly. The idea is to let the audience understand every single word. For example, when Martin Luther King spoke, even to smaller groups, his usual speaking speed was only 110 to 120 words per minute.

When you're giving an indoor speech to a smaller group, say, 10 or 20 people, you may speed up a bit. A speed of around 200 words a minute can still get the audience's attention.

So, we can see that an average speed of about 150 to 160 words per minute will work.

No matter whether you're speaking slowly or rapidly, the real point is to pronounce every word clearly. Otherwise, no matter how wonderful you think your content is, the audience won't get you. Note the differences between short and long vowels, and voiceless and voiced consonants. If you often pronounce \"Thank you very much\" as \"Sank you baly much\", use phonetic symbols (音标) to mark the places you often mess up, in advance, and practise every day before you get up on stage.

Pause for dramatic effect

If you want a particular sentence or expression to leave a deep impression, you can pause a while before finally uttering it. During the pause, the audience grow curious about why you chose to pause suddenly and they wait for the next sentence. Which is exactly what you planned.

But don't make yourself as dull as dishwater by using pauses. Eye contact and a smile, with a bit of body language, will help your audience follow your speech. If you simply stop suddenly and stand there for several seconds before you start again, they'll likely think, \"Oh, he (she) forgot the script.\"