Every student is now used to writing different academic assignments.
However, many people forget that writing and delivering a speech is also a useful skill to have in your life. Furthermore, producing speeches is often more complicated than writing a simple essay.
Many people are afraid of public speaking and cannot put a meaningful sentence together in such situation. In many cases, even the best speeches are not necessarily paid much attention. But there is one such speech that many people tune into, and that is an entertainment speech.
An entertainment speech strongly differs from a formal speech. It isn’t based on scientific research and doesn’t require the speaker to bring forward any sort of objective facts or thoughts. The speaker is free to speak on any topic they desire, and structure it in their own way.
Because of this, it’s possible to be fairly relaxed and choose a subject based on your own preferences. Such speeches often use humor as a major medium to convey the message they want to get across – and to relax both themselves and their audience.
Development of Your Topic
Each speech begins with a selection of the topic. It should be catchy and interesting for your audience. A witty, entertaining speech topic can perfectly highlight an important issue. Accordingly, you should take the selection of this topic seriously.
Here are some useful tips to develop your topic properly:
- Review your topic and have a brainstorming session. Use different perspectives to be sure that you will cover the most important aspects of your research.
- Choose an unusual style. Think up an unusual approach. This will attract attention and help to dispel the boredom of ordinary speeches.
- Make a catchy title. Your topic should sound fascinating. Try to give an ordinary topic a dramatic twist or something like that.
- Add dialogues and metaphors. You can make your subject more lively by using dialogue and metaphor in the text. It could be something like: “Well, I told her…” and she answered in a strange voice: “That can’t be possible! Don’t trick me, buddy!” The metaphorical style also makes your texts more original, because you explain some important things with the help of symbolism.
- Use personal experience. The audience tends to prefer speakers who tell real life stories that they have experienced themselves. Think about stories related to your topic and relate them in the form of a humorous anecdote.
- Use mockery. To banish boredom, make mocking comments about some ordinary things, other people’s actions, etc. In this way, things that by their very nature are not funny become really interesting.
- Make fun without insulting. Sometimes speakers make fun of large institutions, jargon and so on. This makes speeches captivating. Nevertheless, you should not cross the forbidden line. Never insult people and organisations.
- Think of similarities. Often similar things or characteristics of people and other topics give a speaker additional points. Try to find similarities between opposing topics in your speech. This can be really entertaining.
How to Deliver Your Speech?
There are some special tips and tricks borrowed from a high-quality speech writing service and its professional writers. These guidelines will help to deliver your speech more effortlessly:
- Organize the content. Perfect the structure of your text. It should contain the main sections of each story and go logically from one point to another. Review the content and plan each stage. Decide when the climax and/or culmination should begin, etc.
- Establish goals. Your speech should have a clear objective. Otherwise you can go on talking without a logical conclusion. Make sure that you talk about the same point.
- Be sensitive. If you mention some people in a humorous way, be careful not to abuse their feelings. You have no right to insult other people.
- Stay smart. Every speech should be well planned. Nevertheless, rhetoric is generally based on spontaneity. Your audience can react in very different ways. So ask some of your friends to listen to your speech and react in different ways. In this way you will practise an extemporary style and nobody will be able to surprise you.
- Watch the time. Every assignment has a time limit. A speech is no exception. Accordingly, you should plan your presentation perfectly. You should practise as much as possible. That way you know for sure how much time the whole presentation will take. If it is too long, consider which parts can be shortened without omitting the main points of your speech.
Don’t forget these recommendations. They are universal because they are suitable for whatever topic and discipline you select.
10 Best Entertainment Speech Ideas You Can Try!
If you’re stuck with the choice of a topic, here are some interesting ideas:
- My worst date.
- A Joke that Spoiled Everything.
- How I Got Caught for the First Time.
- The Funniest Event in My Life.
- My Funny Nickname.
- How a Mistake May Lead to Success.
- The Most Uncommon Way to Fall Asleep.
- How I Slipped Away from My Parents.
- The Funniest Trip of Mine.
- How to Make Fun without Consequences.
Consider these concepts and use them if you wish. The topic can be exactly the same, but the content will be different, and that is really important. You are free to compose similar ideas.
Guide to Writing a Great Entertainment Speech
Who will listen to you?
You should know well ahead of time who will be listening to your speech. How well-educated will the audience be on the topic at hand? Are you the expert, or are they the experts? Even an entertainment speech has certain levels, and you should know about these before you even start planning your speech.
If it is a conference, don’t forget to check where you are in the program.If it’s the first day before lunch, this is primetime and you’re probably a headline event. But if it’s the end of the second day, it’s like showing up to a party with cake two hours after it has finished – so consider the mood your audience will be in.
The more tired the audience is, the more entertainment pauses you need.
Why should they listen to you?
Of course there is a reason for you to tell your story, to give your entertaining speech, the question is why your audience is interested. You should formulate your answer in one sentence. It is better not to sit in front of the computer when you are thinking about goals.
Academic experts from a cheap speech writing service recommend to take some time, drink coffee or tea, and note down some ideas with a real pen — it activates the creative capacities of your brain much better than typing.
Create a structure
Remember, you are not writing a stand-up show. A entertaining speech still has some goal, which means it still should solve some problem. Think about the structure and anything else will be easy as pie.
1) Advantages and disadvantages
There is a traditional decision and your decision. The conventional solution has many shortcomings, but everyone is sure that it has no alternatives. And here you come, casually throwing on Superman’s cape. Another option: without offering anything, you discover new facets of the situation. In a scattered form they may have come to the audience’s mind, but after your great speech, full of humour, everything becomes clear immediately. This format is very suitable for inexperienced speakers – the audience already knows the context, nothing needs to be explained.
2) Problem and solution
This is easy when you go to your potential customers. Then you are certainly selling something and your product is the solution to the customer’s problem. The main thing is that the customer agrees that he has such a problem. Don’t dramatise, but don’t belittle the need to solve the problem; the presentation should still be entertaining.
3) Logical chain.
It is great when you present a new solution, a discovery, a start-up. It’s terrible when you sell the hundredth type of lawnmower to large retailers with this aplomb. The logical conclusions are only advantageous if your final destination is fresh and can surprise you. Always think of entertaining and yet very logical speeches by Steve Jobs.
You should deliver your entertainment speech, no matter which one, numerous times. Record yourself, talk to a mirror, learn by heart, make cards – do everything you can to make yourself an expert in that particular speech. Of course, you expect everything to be perfect – light, sound, audience, your feelings, etc. – but that rarely happens. If you know your best entertainment speech well enough, it will not harm your performance.
