How to open a serious speech?
I need to speak at the unveiling of a memorial plaque (this one, incidentally).
I have an idea of what I want to say, and how I want to arrange it. My struggle is with the opening.
I have spoken in public before - in academic settings, on fantasy/sci-fi conventions. In all those circumstances, my go-to strategy has been (introduce myself, then) "start by saying something funny". When I've got everybody laughing, I've got everybody engaged, and it helps me get over the first moments of petrifying stage-fright.
This approach isn't going to work here: the holocaust is not funny. And the people who are going to be in attendance are not the friendly geeks of sci-fi conventions, which doesn't help the stage-fright one bit.
How do I open this kind of speech? How do I start strong, and engage the audience at once? I can't afford to stand there and blabber.
2 answers
I would begin with a story, about somebody you are memorializing. I'd expect it to be tragic, obviously, but the point of the memorial is to remember what was taken from so many. To prevent that from being a faceless crowd, we do what writers do: Focus on an individual. Photojournalists do the same: I'll never forget this photo. (NSFW, naked napalm girl). One person representing a horror that befell thousands.
If you can make it a personal connection, that may be good, but it doesn't have to be.
There is a reason for this memorial, and it comes down to individuals. Find a story of contrast, that represents the love and kindness that was destroyed by hatred and cruelty.
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When I taught Presentations in Tech Writing, one of my biggest tools was "ROPES" - review/rapport, overview/objective, present, exercise, summary.
In more social settings, you're using the comedy opening to establish rapport with the audience. Here, you want to instead connect with them by explaining your connection to the memorialized people and to those attending. It doesn't need to be fancy.
Overview/Objective - this is where you can directly state the "thesis statement" - why this memorial is here. Perhaps also point out the distinctness - what makes this group of memorialized people significant/different from the ones represented in existing memorials.
Present - this is the "body" of the talk - any specific details you want to point out, anything about the creation of the memorial, any of those elements.
Exercise - in a strictly educational/informative setting, you'd alternate a Point Presented and an Exercise or Interaction. For a memorial, you may want to give a moment now and then asking the audience to reflect - maybe on what they'd say to the deceased, maybe on how they would represent these concepts in their own designs. No need for you to fill all the time. Allow some silences.
(Feel free to also remind people of any other interactions - if there's a guestbook to sign, or if others can speak if they want to.)
Summary - this is just a quick restatement of any key things you want people to walk away with -- people tend to remember the starts & ends of things.
I hope this structuring tool is useful.
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