How long do you need for an A4 speech?
“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”
Terry Pratchett
Among the skills you learn in Toastmasters is speech writing. For a long time the world at large did not think that you could be a professional speech writer. That was until Barack Obama released some pictures. In these he was along Jon Favreau - President's Speechwriting Director.
Jon was perhaps one of the youngest members of Obama's team ever since he was a senator. And if you take a look at Favreau’s Wikipedia page you will find a lot of information about what this job means.
For example, when he gave his first interview with Obama, Jon was not asked about the information in the CV. The senator wanted to know what motivates him to work in politics and what his writing technique is. Jon's description was like this:
A speech can broaden the circle of people who care about this stuff. How do you say to the average person that's been hurting: 'I hear you, I'm there?' Even though you've been so disappointed and cynical about politics in the past, and with good reason, we can move in the right direction. Just give me a chance.
Favreau got up at 5 am and his routine often made him stay up until 3 in the morning to work on speeches. Although he was leading Obama's writing team, he had an informal style of leadership. He did not lead meetings with an structered agenda - being among the youngest of Obama's team must have been hard! If you do not listen to Favreau's podcast I recommend it. Also take a look for interviews with him to see what the oratorical preparation of the one who wrote the speeches of the most powerful man in the world.
One thing you can take from the stories above - discipline. It’s present in all success stories. Part of the discipline is also the responsibility to prepare a project or writing a speech. In Toastmasters you learn and test the writing (how to compose a speech) and with experience you will get to know how many words you can say in the given time. The choice of words is important throughout this process, but delivery also makes a difference. I don't think the current US president would be able to deliver a speech written by Favreau.
Now let's talk a little bit about time. It is up to your training and organization as a speaker. For example, do you know the length of speech that is noted on a full A4? Speech writing is one of the most beautiful parts of oratory. It is desirable to choose the words to arouse images in the minds of the listeners, or metaphors that you use to raise emotions in the audience's soul - these make the difference between a good speech and a memorable one. That means art! And this, like the one of public speaking, is learned. Above all people appreciate having a memorable speech that fit in time. You talk 2-3 minutes more, so do those before you and those after you and a two-hour event turns into a 3 hours one or even more. Time is precious - and if people give you such a gift - respect it!
When you are in the beginning, you need exercise - to get yourself timed and get used to what your words mean in minutes. You will write the first speeches and in order to be without the pressure of time when you repeat them, I will give you a site that offers you counting options. It tells you practically how long it will take if you have written an A4 piece of paper, if you speak rarely, medium or fast. On average, an A4 sheet written on a computer, at 1 spacing - means 500 words. That is, practically 5 to 7 minutes depending on how fast you talk. (5 fast forward, 7 rarely back;)) Use it wisely!
And here is a tool you can use:
