An Easy Signature Talk Structure: Episode 10

Write a Signature Talk Outline without Memorizing the Whole Thing!

In this episode of Mic Drop Mindset, Jenn challenges listeners to write a business speech in 15 minutes by using a practical framework rather than traditional school speech rules. 

She defines a business presentation as any talk that leads to a program or service and says the framework works for formats from short breakouts to half-day trainings. 

Jenn starts with defining success and “beginning with the ending in mind,” emphasizing that audiences remember how you close and that the conclusion should deliver a deliberate emotional impact. 

She advises against memorizing entire speeches, recommending memorizing only the introduction, key transitions (especially into the call to action), and the conclusion. 

For the main content, she teaches a 3-2-1 method (e.g., three points, two examples each, one takeaway or question) to stay structured and avoid rambling, and notes she provides templates and modular structures in her coaching.

Resources mentioned:

Signature Speech structure: https://bit.ly/signaturespeak

How to Use the 3-2-1 Method

• 3 Main Points: Select three key arguments, steps, or ideas for your speech.
• 2 Sentences Per Point: Elaborate on each point with two examples/case studies/stories to force clarity, prevent rambling, and keep the content concise.
• 1 Core Conclusion: Close with one clear transition, pause and audience engagement question

00:00 15 Minute Speech Challenge

00:12 Business Speech Rulebook

01:22 Define Success and Purpose

01:57 End With Emotional Impact

04:20 What to Memorize

05:43 Consistency Over Control

06:39 The 3 2 1 Method

08:45 Templates and Coaching Support

09:36 Recap and Next Steps

10:16 Wrap Up and Call to Share

Have a question or suggestion for a future episode topic? Email me jenn@jennspingo.com.

Ready to deliver mic drop moments in your next presentation? Schedule a call to learn more about coaching www.calendly.com/jennchat

Looking to book a speaker for your corporate or association event on topics including leadership and communication? View my programs at www.jennspingo.com

Transcript

15 Minute Speech Challenge

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What if you could write your next speech in 15 minutes or less? That's a challenge for today's podcast episode. Let's dive in. When it comes to crafting a speech for business purposes, let's throw out the school books that we learned back in our, you know, K through 12 days, if you went to college, if you went to graduate school. There's a very particular way you develop speeches when you're going to school. Let's pretend we don't know any of those things. Okay? Because when it comes to writing a speech for business purposes, we need our own rule book for that. And I'm going to give you some of the pointers for what to do when it comes to speech craft for a business presentation. You might be thinking, well, Jen, I'm not a keynote speaker. Maybe someday I will be, but I'm not a keynote speaker. Guess what? A business presentation is anything that leads to a program or service that you offer. So it doesn't have to be a keynote presentation. It can be a breakout within an annual conference of 60 minutes or 90 minutes. It can be a half-day training at a retreat. It doesn't matter what format that presentation takes, the principles we're going to be talking about are the same no matter what. Does that relieve you just a little bit? I know it makes me feel a little bit better. So it's the same framework regardless of how long your presentation should be. Where I always start when it comes to my coaching clients is think about the purpose of your speech. Now that's one thing we do steal from our school books, right? What is the purpose of your speech? But I like you to spin that perspective just a little bit more. What does success look like for you when you're done presenting? What does success look like for you when you're done presenting? Once you are able to answer this question, everything else will just naturally fall into place. And what I like to say too, when you're crafting your speech, is you always begin with the ending in mind. Many people focus their energy on the beginning of their speech. How do I open? How do I kick things off with the right amount of energy? That's a great question. You know what a better question is? How do I leave my audience at the end of my presentation? Because guess what? Your audience is probably going to remember how you left them more than they're going to remember how you opened. Lots of speakers don't give enough attention to the ending of their speech. Here's why that's important. How your audience leaves you will indicate whether they're going to take action or not. Now I'm not saying that your audience always has to take action based on your speech. Part of being a thought leader is you help them think differently or do something differently. Either one applies. But your audience will remember what you finish with more than they'll remember what you started with. So think about the impact you want to leave them with. It could be victorious, happy, excited, energized, or maybe it's thoughtful or even a little sad. I would not encourage you to leave your audience with sadness because that is a difficult place to get up from, especially if you're in the middle of an agenda for a full-day conference. But you get to determine as a speaker how you're crafting that experience from beginning to end, and make sure you leave on the note that you want to leave on. So what is the emotional impact and what elements lead up to that? So, for example, if you want to end on excitement, and maybe some of your stories are sad or deal with some other challenges that people might experience, make sure those are at the beginning of the presentation so that you arc up into that excitement by the end of the presentation. That's how you lead up to the right emotions. So focusing on what that emotion will be at the end of your presentation is where you get started. For those of you who are listening, you're like, oh, chronologically, that does not make sense, Jen. I like to start with my slides, I like to start with this and that. You can start wherever you want to, but make sure you know what that emotional impact will be by the end of your presentation, and make sure everything that leads up to that is giving service to that. Fair enough. Let's also look at the rest of the structures of your speech because a lot of people ask me, Jen, do you memorize your speeches? I have not memorized a speech in 15 years. And when I memorize speeches, I can't say that I do a very good job because I get stuck on the words. And sometimes you get in your own head, well, I meant to say this, and I ended up saying this, and it just did not work for me. If you feel discombobulated, your audience will experience that, even if they're not conscious of it. So let's avoid those kinds of mishaps when you're on stage. There's already enough for you to think about. When it comes to memorization, though, what I would like to say is there are three main parts of your speech that I absolutely encourage you to memorize. Those three parts of that speech are your introduction, transitions, especially transition into your call to action. And by the way, you're not introducing your call to action early enough. We'll talk about that in a future episode. If you would like, reach out to me on social and let me know if you'd like me to talk about when to transition to your call to action so it's most effective. And then the third part that we need to memorize as professionals is the conclusion. Because your conclusion leaves them with that emotional impact we want them to have when you leave the stage. That is a lot of responsibility, isn't it? Oh my gosh. What if I try to leave them on this note, Jen, and they end up over here? Well, I'm sorry to say we can't control how our audience receives us. If you've listened to my previous episodes, I had people cry, I've had people laugh. None of those were things I knew were gonna happen in the moment. And whatever shows up is beautiful in its own way. We can't control that, but we can craft an experience that is consistent. Our audience is not consistent, and their reactions might vary, but the experience should be the same. And consistency is part of the work that I do with clients, and why a signature speech is a part of that work. You need that consistency so you can keep showing up on stages. Can I share a really easy way to deal with the different sections that you're not memorizing in your speech so you don't mess up? Let's dive into that. There's a 3-2-1 method you can focus on for the modules that are the rest of your presentation. So we've already talked about memorizing the intro, the transitions in between your main points, and the conclusion. What about the actual meat and potatoes of your speech? What do you do with that? Well, if you use the 3-2-1 method, you won't mess up. And you don't have to memorize a darn thing. So, what does the 3-2-1 method mean? And this is not a framework I developed, this came from others, but it's a way to structure your thoughts to speak clearly and avoid rambling or going off on a tangent, kind of like what I feel like I'm doing sometimes when I'm doing off-the-cuff conversations. You may have experienced this when you have an off-the-cuff conversation, is you go somewhere you had no idea. We want to be more intentional when it comes to a prepared presentation. So, an example of how you might use the 321 method is having three main points in your 60-minute presentation. These are also known as audience takeaways, or learning objectives might be another way they're described. Providing two examples for each of those three points and one audience takeaway. You could also use variations of this 3 to 1 method by pausing for three seconds, maybe as your transition point. Giving two key points after that pause, and asking one question to re-engage listeners. As a coach, I literally cannot help myself. I always ask questions. That's just my default. I think I came out of the womb asking why. That's my favorite question in the world to ask. It's important to make sure your audience is with you. And so that pause can be an opportunity for your audience to catch up with you. Restate your two points, and then one question so that they can respond in whatever way makes sense for that particular venue. Now, this may sound like a lot. We talked about the purpose of your speech, the emotional impact you want to have at the end, what to memorize, and the three one method. When you work with me, I give you templates for how to do this, a signature speech structure that makes sense. And I also have a template for how to transition. Because one of the biggest challenges my folks have is not in the stories they're telling or their content. They are brilliant people. I get to work with the coolest people in the world with amazing ideas. I wish everyone got to do what I get to do. The problem is when we don't put structure and filters on what we're talking about, we ramble and we go off on tangents. So when you work with me, I give you templates to help and resources to help. I can also assist you with using the modular framework, the 321, including how to do that for a five-minute speech, a 10-minute speech, up to a half-day speech or two-hour long speech. You use the same framework for any speech you're doing. So let's recap what we've talked about today. We've talked about how to develop a speech in 15 minutes or less. If you're like, well, Jen, I just got started, I need these frameworks, I need these resources, let's have a conversation. But if you're like, okay, Jen, I know what I need to do, I need to make sure I have an intro, my transitions, a conclusion, I know what emotional impact I want to leave my audience with, and I know how to develop modules, the next step from there is what are your key audience takeaways? What are those learning objectives? Now, this is something we use market research to inform so that we're speaking to the right audience and we're addressing their problems, but that's for a future episode. If you have any questions around what I talked about for speechcraft for business owners, and if you have a different procedure that you use, I'd love to hear from you. I can't pretend that I'm the only one who's ever written a speech in the entire world. So I love to take people's different approaches and make it something that anyone can use going forward. Synergy is important. If you've enjoyed listening to this episode of Mic Drop Mindset, please give me a rating and a like, and make sure you share it with your friends. Until then, I'll see you on the next stage.