Overview

Properly organized, even crime pays.

—Jim Fisk and Robert Barron

Eliminating the six major speaking faults from your speech is like climbing a ladder: It's a methodical, successive practice; you use each rung to get to the next. Clarifying your purpose is essential. The next thing to avoid in the climb to a powerful speech is a lack of organization.

A poorly organized speech wreaks havoc with even the most compelling ideas. You could have the most interesting topic and the most willing audience, but if you don't structure the speech, it's like slipping when you discover there's a rung missing on your ladder. You're left dangling and so is your audience. Good organization also helps prevent audience boredom. The people in your audience don't have to wonder where you are going if they see you are proceeding logically. So they remain focused on your ideas and don't get sidetracked. They put themselves in your hands much more willingly if they sense you know where you're going and how you're going to get there.

Unfortunately, organization is not a sexy or popular topic. However, there is another way to think about it that makes it more appealing. Organization puts you in a leadership position. If you want to be a leader, people have to be able to follow you—and the easiest person to follow is the one who is best organized.