Be Confident Public Speaking by Mastering a Simple Three-Point Outline

INTRODUCTION

Ever notice how many things in life come in threes? Ready, set, go. Green, amber, red. Lights, camera, action. Land, sea, air. Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Before, during, after. Three strikes and you're out. Human beings use threes to conceptualize everything. So if you want to deliver a speech that is both easy to follow and easy to remember, divide your talk into three parts-beginning, middle, end-using the outline feature in Microsoft Word. There are three advantages to doing so.

ADVANTAGE #1: Creating a three-point outline helps you see your talk at a glance.

a. Type your outline on one sheet of paper and you'll quickly see what you are going to say.

b. Your three points will be obvious only after you've taken all you can say and distilled it down to what you should say.

c. One bonus of outlining your talk on one page is that your confidence grows and your fear of public speaking subsides.

ADVANTAGE #2: Creating an outline shows you how each part of your message relates to the others.
a. If your talk lacks a logical flow, if the points you are making are not related to each other, you will lose your way or lose your audience, or both.

b. The relationship between your main points must be obvious to you and to your listeners.

c. Outlining your talk is the surest way to establish the explicit connections between your points.

ADVANTAGE #3: Creating an outline helps you discover what you need to say.
a. Is this point you're reading right now really a sub- point of this point, or does it belong somewhere else? Outlining helps you find out.

b. Moving your points around, promoting sub-points to main points, demoting main points to sub-points, also helps you overcome writer's block.

c. Another bonus of outlining is that it helps you discover what you don't need to say (or don't have time to say).

CONCLUSION

The secret to creating an effective outline is simplicity. Choose an outline that's easy to remember-for you and for your audience. In Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, for example, if you are invited to tell your story of recovery, you are encouraged to describe: 1. What Life was Like, 2. What Happened, 3. What Life is Like Now. Simple outlines help you prepare your message and deliver it.

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About the author
Alan Sharpe is an executive speech coach and business writing trainer. On-site, online and over the phone, Alan teaches executives and managers how to express themselves clearly, concisely and convincingly using the written and spoken word. Receive a free tip like this each week by subscribing to his public speaking and business writing column.