4 More Speech Types Guaranteed to Please

Last week, I wrote about four different speech types: informative, how-to, persuasive, and oratorical. Read it here and learn from a speech writer in NYC.  Now, I’ll cover four more types of speeches that speechwriters often compose.

Motivational — Tony Robbins. Les Brown. Zig Ziglar. These are three speakers who mastered this speech type in which the speaker inspires and excites the audience to make a change.

I don’t know who wrote their speeches, but whoever did knew that the speaker had to have the audience’s trust, so the writer had to use words that demonstrated subject knowledge, share common experiences with the audience, and make the audience believe the speaker cares about them. That means stories must be front and center in this speech, preferably stories with some sort of emotional appeal. The stories (and the speech itself) also should end with some sort of inspiring conclusion with a sense of purpose and a clear call to action.

One of my favorite motivational speeches I ever heard was from my class valedictorian. Instead of the usual address in which he looked back at high school and looked ahead to college, he talked about how all of us were entering our own genesis, or beginning, and what we do with it is up to us. 

Thirty-nine years later, I still fondly recall it, and it’s one speech I wish I had written. That’s why whenever I write a commencement speech, I use it as a model, which I will be doing as I help a salutatorian compose her speech.

Entertaining — This is the type of speech I wrote most often because most of my clients need this type. These are the wedding speeches: best man and maid of honor speeches, the parent of the bride/groom speeches, and after-dinner speeches. Humor is often used, but it needs to be appropriate.

When writing this speech type, several principles need to be remembered. First, make sure there are plenty of stories that typify and exemplify the speech’s subject. When I write a wedding speech, I always ask clients to give me the one story that when you tell it, the audience will nod and smile and say, “Yeah, that’s so (name).”

Second, know the audience to understand its expectations. For example, I went to a wedding in which the best man spoke about himself and not the groom. It was the worst best-man speech I’d ever heard because the audience expected to hear about the groom. Only a handful of people knew and cared about this clown. The rest of us were bored.

Next, keep it brief and make it unique. Leave the audience feeling something and wanting more. My brother’s best man toast at my wedding was four minutes long, but it was memorable because he sang it. There weren’t too many dry eyes in the house, and years later I had people come up to me and say “That still the greatest best-man toast I’ve ever heard.”

Special occasion — These are the speeches that honor somebody. It could be a roast or a toast, an acceptance speech, or a lifetime achievement speech given either by the person introducing the honoree or by the honoree himself/herself. These also could be wedding speeches, confirmation or Bar/Bat Mitzvah addresses and sermons; or retirement, resignation, or farewell speeches.

A speechwriter must do some preparation before writing. He/she must know the occasion, the audience, and the proper tone for the speech. Also, the speech’s goal must be defined: What do you want the audience to feel or remember? Then the writer should compile the appropriate stories and anecdotes, keeping it as brief as possible.

When writing this speech type, remember to grab attention immediately, acknowledge the occasion, explain why the speaker is the right person for this occasion, and use only the minimum number of words. Remember, the fewer the words, the more powerful they are.

I’m currently working on a lifetime achievement speech in which the honoree has 12-13 minutes to summarize a 40-plus-year career. He wants to make it more like a keynote about the need for civility in the legal field. I’m excited.

Impromptu — Because this is an off-the-cuff, spontaneous, and unscripted speech type, you might think there’s no writing involved. That’s simply not true.

An impromptu speech might be nothing more than a Q&A session or a debate topic. You get asked a question and you answer it. To do this most effectively requires knowing the subject matter, and that could mean writing out answers to anticipated questions in advance and then memorizing them so when the question comes, you know exactly what to say.

For me, what’s on my website is often what I use when giving an impromptu speech. I wrote the website copy, so I can quote it from memory. Unless you’ve read my website, you won’t realize that I’m on familiar ground. The words come naturally to me.

And they can for you, too. If not, consider hiring a speech writer adept at the type of speech you need. Contact Lee Barnathan to be your speech writer in DC. 

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