You’ve made it to the final speech in your Toastmasters curriculum! The last of your speech projects encourages you to incorporate many of the skills you have accumulated throughout this journey to become a more competent communicator. This article walks you step by step on how to build an inspirational speech during the allotted 8–10-minute timeframe.
The specific purpose of an inspirational speech is to motivate an audience to improve an aspect of their personal or professional life. It acknowledges why we do things a certain way and the potential flaws in continuing to function in such a way. An inspirational speech draws the audience together by creating a mood of fellowship and shared experience. It builds the audience’s enthusiasm for change and proposes different ways to achieve it. The outcome of such a change(s) leads to greater fulfillment and/or success.
How to Frame Your Message
An inspirational speech relies more heavily on emotional appeal than on the logical appeal – which we discussed in Speech 9 Prep: How to Persuade with Power. It strives to:
1. Connect with listeners’ feelings, including potential fears, hesitations or indifference, on a particular topic. Once listeners realize that you understand their concerns and recognize their accomplishments, they will be more receptive to your message. This is a critical part of inspiring your audience.
2. Explain why and how the situation is changing or why these feelings, fears and goals may be inadequate or counterproductive.
3. Motivate and challenge listeners to adopt higher, nobler feelings, values and goals, including the benefits of doing so. Inspire them to move outside their comfort zone and live life to the fullest.
An Example
Let’s break down the big main points of an inspirational speech with a high-level outline that hits on the above criteria.
Example Speech Topic: Putting Yourself First
1) Connect with listener’s feelings: Do you finding yourself constantly rushing to meet the needs of others, at work and/or at home, at the expense of not meeting all your physical and mental health needs? Does this ever make you feel tired, unfulfilled or even unhealthy?
2) Explain why these goals may be inadequate or counterproductive: Serving your children and family members is certainly a noble deed. Saying yes again and again may feel like the way to get ahead in your career. But, if you are constantly pouring into the cups of others, your cup will eventually empty leaving you parched and unable to continue at your current pace.
3) What listeners can do to bring about this change. By shifting your mindset to a “make sure my cup stays full” mentality, you will learn the art of saying “no” to others so that there is adequate time to prioritize rest, friendships, learning, exercise and/or hobbies for your own fulfillment. By being in better balance, you are able to serve both yourself and others in a healthy way.
Adding in the Details
Once your high-level outline is in place, you can further build out the details.
- Introduction: good morning; good afternoon; introduction of topic. This is where you will dive right into #1 above with the goal of grabbing the audience’s attention right away. It is effective to lead with questions to the audience. These can be rhetorical or, you can solicit actual input from fellow club members.
- Explain flaws in current thinking (#2 above). This is where you want the audience to start questioning their current way of thinking or operating. Word choice matters so be thoughtful!
- Explain how to bring change (#3 above)
- How to #1
- Supporting Point for Main Idea 1
- Supporting Point for Main Idea 1
- How to #2
- Supporting Point for Main Idea 2
- Supporting Point for Main Idea 2
- How to #3
- Supporting Point for Main Idea 3
- Supporting Point for Main Idea 3
- Final Statement
Once your content is in place, you can then start thinking through which visual aids might support your points in a meaningful way. Since emotional appeal is important, you will want to use expressive body language and facial expressions throughout your speech. Build in extra time to practice your delivery as it matters such as much as the actual words you say. Vocal variety can help stir the audience to move towards change.
Related Articles
- Toastmasters Speech 9 Tips: Persuade with Power
- Toastmasters Speech 8 Tips: Speaking with Visual Aids
- Toastmasters Speech 7: How to Research Your Topic
- Confidence in Communication: How to Build Skills
- Fun Ideas for Toastmasters Table Topics Questions
- A Creative Guide to 100+ Toastmasters Table Topics Questions
- Public Speaking Exercises to Improve Your Speaking Skills
- How to Effectively Practice a Speech or Presentation
This article is terrific. I wish I had seen it 20 years ago. Hettie Allsup