The ingredients of a good stand-up speech

The older I get, the higher the odds of me holding a (in)voluntary speech. It’s one of the things that you cannot dodge. One day or another, a relative, a friend, or simply your professional career will put you into a situation in which you better come up with something to say. In the beginning my forays in this field were clumsy at best. They are still not perfect but tips from colleagues, friends, and other sources helped me to collect three core ingredients of a good speech. Add to that George Orwell’s six do’s and don’ts and you’re ready for the next minutes following the spoon-strike of the glass.

Picture from within the Paulskirche in Frankfurt
(first seat of the German parliament in 1848)

What do you mean "I'm quasi-rational?"

"Sooo," the left gentleman with the black glasses and the sleek, tailored suit begins another question, "after you've told us how you successfully managed a business unit for two years (you nod assent), and you accomplished the turn-around at your former employer (again, hastily nodding assent), and you single-handedly raised the funding for a future fortune 500 company ("journalists", you hear yourself say fighting to restrain your beam), please tell us a bit about what you are actually not so good at." A wet thud and the room's air suddenly turned into gelatin muffling anything rudimentary reminding of a noise. Your grip at the knot of your tie misses its destination and you feel the first beads of sweat trickling down your forehead. This would be the perfect time for a cricket to come out of the hideout and hit the legs, but the pedantically cleaned offices on floor 75 in Chicago's Willis Tower are hostile habitats to insects. You try to make sense of the pandemonium in your head but after a while that feels like an hour you come to terms with the stinging fact: you have no clue about your weaknesses.

Source: sxc.hu