You know the topic but not how to write a speech about it. Then it’s time to do some research. Getting information about your audience is only the beginning. Equally important is collecting facts and data that you can use for your speech. The best way to do this is not doing it at all. Yes, you heard me right! Others can do this tedious task for you. For free! Okay, I’ll tell you the secret.

Libraries, government agencies, companiesa and other persons and institutions are actually getting paid to answer your questions. In times of the internet people often forget how valuable these sources can be, even for private speaking assignments like wedding or birthday speeches.

Of course the web will still be your number one way to do research. Actually if you’re reading this you already found information on how to write a speech. But the internet provides much more than just raw facts. It’s a treasure trove of quotes, stories and jokes you can use to make your speech unforgettable and unique.

But why just focus on input your get from outside Try some brainstorming instead with this little exercise:

Take a piece of paper and write down everything that comes into your mind when thinking about holidays. Do it now! Don’t read further until you finished writing for at least a minute.

Finished writing? Well done! Maybe you wrote down stuff like: airplane, sun, sea, mountains, travellers cheques, Greece, Hawaii, Europe, dream, bikini, hiking, beach etc.

You can do the exact same thing for your speech. Let your creativity run wild.

• Take a piece of paper and a pen
• Write down the topic of your speech as a headline
• Write down everything that comes into your mind when thinking about this topic
• Limit yourself to 10 or 20 minutes
• Write down everything no matter how useless it seems at the moment
• Don’t judge what you’re writing
• It’s all about quantity no quality
• Do the full 10 or 20 minutes even if you have the feeling that you’re done writing
• Judge and sort your thoughts afterwards

This simple tequnique should definitely help you if you don’t know how to write a speech. What do you do to find inspiration when writing a speech? Where do you gather material? Tell me in the comments!

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