When I started to prepare my speech for the presentation of my first novel, I remembered how boring and monotone had been all my exams and, above all my graduation speech.
Almost all my exams at university were merely a repetition of concepts that I had learned by heart in books, only a sequence of questions and answers. No wonder if my teachers appeared terribly tired and bored, I wasn't the only one with this entertaining "style". When the examination was over, I usually got home feeling frustrated, even if I had had a good mark. I was used to reformulating the answers in my head for days.
I still remember my graduation day. I had my most formal outfit ready. I wrote my speech and arranged all the questions with the examiner. Everything seemed perfect.
My family, relatives, and friends were there and I was excited.
I sat in front of the commission and I started talking in French because I was graduating in French Literature, so I had to prove that I was fluent. After a few minutes, I was asked to speak Italian, as planned.
Observing the professors, I noticed how they seemed bored. Almost nobody was really listening, the majority looked completely lost in their thoughts. Some of them were just browsing my thesis and watching the pictures. The audience couldn't understand much of my speech, because it was very specific and was meant for teachers and students.
The ceremony finally ended with an applause and we soon went out to celebrate. I completely forgot about everything for many days.
A few weeks later a friend told me that she had been to another graduation and that she had been surprised because, even if the subject was Economics, she had been able to understand and even have fun. The student was capable of expressing the concepts simply and entertainingly. It had been a great success. Then I realized how anonymous, monotone, and boring my speech had been.
First of all, nobody had ever told me how to prepare a speech and, moreover, nobody usually told us how to study, so I decided to group some important points.
- When we prepare a speech we should consider the audience and try to express our concept understandably and interestingly for the majority of people. I didn't even think about that at the time of my graduation and, for this reason, my speech was boring and sounded obscure to almost everybody. While preparing the speech, it would be a good idea to explain the concepts to a person who doesn't know anything about the topic, to make sure we master the subject and can make it understandable and interesting for everybody.
- The posture is important. I was giving my back to the audience and only looking at the graduation commission, just like all my family and friends didn't exist. Of course, they didn't care, but this created a distance. We should always face the audience and make eye contact because this creates a real connection between the speaker and the people listening.
- We should also involve the audience, for example, asking simple questions, or telling some interesting personal anecdotes, just to break the ice and create a pleasant atmosphere.
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