How to prevent the speech from being boring

There is nothing more discouraging than a monotonous, lifeless speech. A speaker who simply reads slide after slide, failing to connect with his audience. Sometimes he tries to be humorous or make eye contact, but his efforts are unsuccessful and he quickly dives back into his reading.

Inspiring and making your speech interesting is easier than you think. As a future speaker, are you ready to take the initiative? Do you really want to captivate your audience? If you answer yes to both questions, then you are on the right track.

Logical or emotional part: Inspiring is a powerful tool to avoid boredom. Emotions allow us to establish a closer relationship and make our message more engaging.

However, it is important to balance the emotional approach with a proper preparation of the content. A logical and well-founded message, presenting facts and concrete data, can persuade or convince. If we focus only on emotions or theoretical information, our message can be unreliable or distant. Finding a balance between these two aspects is key to transmitting our message.

Commitment: Commitment to the topic of the speech is essential to avoid it being monotonous and superficial. To achieve this, it is useful to know how the topic relates to your personal interests.

Even if a topic is not interesting to you at first, delving deeper into how it affects your life can change your perspective. For example, climate change can impact the quality of the air you breathe and political decisions can affect your finances. By understanding how the topic relates to you and how it can influence your life, you may feel a deeper connection and be more interested in talking about it.

Metaphors: A skilled speaker knows how to use rhetoric and the power of metaphor to enhance his or her speech. Metaphor adds an engaging dimension to spoken language, as when we say "the heart of the speech," using heart in a figurative sense.

It is not about speaking only with metaphors, but about incorporating them into inclusive language. Metaphors evoke unique emotions and, along with additional details, make the story or anecdote you are telling more believable.

Some examples of metaphors that can be used in a speech and can help convey ideas and concepts in a more vivid and memorable way for the audience are:

• "Life is a gift" to talk about how our positive attitude can help us appreciate and enjoy what we have.

• "Time is money" to emphasize the importance of valuing and making the most of every moment.

• "Words are powerful" to talk about how what we say can have a significant impact on other people's lives.

Necessary information: Earlier we mentioned the importance of content. Now, it is important to clarify that these should contribute to develop the topic and not divert us to irrelevant aspects. Avoid delving into unnecessary information. For example, if your objective is to talk about the consequences of climate change, it is not necessary to delve into the scientific research on climate in the 1990s.

One way to determine whether a piece of information is important or not is to ask yourself if you can do without it without affecting the main message of the text.

Remember: When telling a story, it is important to focus on the future and what could happen if action is taken. This helps the audience visualize the benefits of taking action and overcoming their fears.

Although it is already common knowledge, pauses and reflections are powerful tools to achieve fluency and avoid boredom in the speech. In addition, gestures play an important role in communication, as well used they help convey attitudes and feelings.

Remember:

• Use simple language that connects or threads with previous ideas.

• If your target audience is university students, you can include technical terms, but still keep it simple and use language adapted to different cultural levels.

• Include elements of humor to provide entertainment and keep things lively.

• Keep your motivation to keep your words dynamic and energetic.