Load your speech carefully
In 1889, the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov gave this advice to young writers:
“One must never place a loaded rifle on stage if it isn’t going to go off. It’s wrong to make promises you don’t mean to keep”.
This approach is called Chekhov’s Gun.
(For obvious reasons, really, and I’m sure I don’t have to explain why)
And it’s a simple principle which you can take across into speaking and social media and pretty much most things you do in your life.
Everything you introduce has to have a place.
If you mention something.
If you tell a story.
If you introduce an idea.
It all has to have a purpose.
No purpose? Then get rid of it.
Early on in the process of writing a speech, people want to include everything.
From the stories they know to the things they find interesting in every bit of content that they’ve worked hard to develop.
Because it all feels important and relevant, it all gets thrown in.
The biggest challenge with this is confusion.
Not necessarily with you, because you understand your stuff, but with the audience.
Content in itself is not bad. It’s just how you use it.
Try this analogy on for size.
You go to a beautiful restaurant to celebrate something.
You’re with a person who you love.
And you want to enjoy that time.
It’s the most perfect cuisine.
The food is sourced locally.
The chef has the most amazing ability to draw the flavour out of all of the ingredients.
You are so excited that you’re drooling like a dog owned by Pavlov.
You watch the chef cook the food perfectly.
Seasoned in a way that you could only dream of being able to do.
Then they take all of that food, pop it into a blender, blitzing it up and serve you ten times what you can consume.
Same ingredients.
Cooked perfectly.
Mashed into a brown slop.
If you keep everything in your speeches, that’s what it feels like for your audience.
When I work with clients on a speech we are being very careful to make sure that every story earns its place.
Whether it has a resolution that connects with the thread.
If it actually adds something.
Sometimes the answer is no.
It might be a story they’ve been telling for years and is personally significant and they love deeply.
But it just doesn’t work in the context of this speech.
It’s a gun that never gets fired.
And it has to go.
Which is really bloody hard.
I know this from my own experience as well.
As my material has developed and the more I speak and deliver, I’ve had to let go of things that I’ve used in the past.
Not because it’s not good content, but it just doesn’t fit into where I am now or serve the audience.
To be honest, that’s how these things should be.
While I’ve talked about everything earning its place within speech, you have to remember that this is simply a guide.
It’s not the law, and if you put a story in there which doesn’t really have a resolution or a place, no one is going to come and arrest you.
In fact, Chekhov actually breaks his own rule.
Only in one play - The Cherry Orchard - where there is a gun that never gets fired.
Sometimes a part of your speech doesn’t directly serve the message, but it will help with how the thing flows.
A bridge between different parts.
A bit of humour to create warmth and light relief.
Even just to give your audience a bit of time to process things.
With practise, you will know when to do this.
When something is actually serving the narrative, the thread or the flow of your speech.
And not just because you’re so closely attached to it.
So when you write a speech, ask yourself - does this earn its place?.
If the answer is yes, keep it.
If it’s no, then think about what it’s actually doing there.
Load your speech carefully.
And if you want some help working all this stuff out, give me a shout.