3 ways social media can strengthen your speeches

Or has it?

Ian Griffin, a freelance speechwriter, told us otherwise in his session on “Speechwriting in the Age of Social Media: Magnifying the Impact of a Speech.”

We all know the basics of speechwriting: Research your audience, make your point stick with repetition, consider the delivery, etc. But how do PR pros craft engaging, memorable and moving speeches in the era of Web 2.0?

After all, audience members can only take so many PowerPoint bullets before those bullets shoot holes through their attention spans.

Griffin—whose English accent automatically engages you—said speechwriting, like its traditional-media siblings, is good old-fashioned, one-way communication. But with a few techie tips and a little digital flair, a PR pro can make a speech go two ways.

“Social media magnifies the impact of a speech before, during and after an event,” Griffin revealed.

1. Before a speech: Research the audience.

Go beyond Google or Wikipedia, and check out LinkedIn groups and polls.