How many Ps are there is speechmaking? You’d be forgiven for saying that there was just one. In fact, if you intend to make a speech, you had better remember that there are, in fact, three Ps in speechmaking – Pace, Poise and Polish.

And if you can remember to make use of all three in your speechmaking then you are guaranteed to impress each and every audience that you address.

Pace. This is a ‘make or break’ P. Get this wrong and your audience will either be bored to tears and will be struggling to hide their yawns from you OR they will be nudging their close neighbour to ask whether he heard what you said because they missed it.

Have you ever had the misfortune of listening to a speech made by a slow speaker? If you have, you’ll already appreciate just how tedious a slow delivery can be. Even the most interesting topic will be made boring by a slow drawl and your audience will be itching to scream “Speed it up Buddy – I want to be home by Midnight!”

Delivering your speech too slowly is guaranteed to make even the most generous audience lose their concentration and their patience.

On the other hand, if your pace is too fast, many people in your audience will simply lose the thread of what you are saying and listening to you will become too much like hard work. Your responsibility is to make the audiences’ task of listening to your speech easy, not difficult and you should be striving to give your audience the luxury of simply relaxing and letting your words seep effortlessly into their minds.

Speak fast enough to avoid your delivery becoming tedious yet slow enough to allow each member of your audience to easily take in your words and ideas. Be sure to vary your pace throughout your speech so that your presentation remains interesting and upbeat.

Poise. Most speakers are only concerned with the subject matter of their speeches and with the actual construction of their speech. They will spend hours collecting information, organising it into the correct sequence, choosing an appropriate opening and closing style and making sure that the rhythm and flow of their words is just right.

And of course, all that effort is certainly required to produce an excellent speech. But that’s not the end of it. How you present yourself is just as important as how you present your words.

Take a moment to run through this checklist before you step out in front of your audience:

1. Is your clothing smart, clean, appropriate and arranged correctly? 2. Is your hair neatly combed? 3. Does your body language convey the right impression?

Always remember that the audience will start forming their opinion of you from the second that they set eyes on you and long before you start to speak. Your poise – that is, the visual impression given to the audience – will be the first element that will influence their decision.

Make sure that your impression is a positive one.

Polish. This is what will make a good speech great! It is also the thing that will help you kill off any of those pre-speech nerves. Good and thorough preparation is the key to most things in life and speaking in public is no exception.

Make time to rehearse your speech in front of a mirror, or better still, in front of your family or friends. Make sure that you become very familiar with the content of your speech. Practice until you find the most effective style of delivery and think about the incorporation of suitable gestures. Spend time on anything that you feel needs to be practised until it becomes second nature.

Closely scrutinise your stage outfit and pay detailed attention to your posture. How you stand will certainly display any outward signs of tension you may be feeling so don’t lean, don’t hunch, don’t slouch and don’t allow yourself lose concentration. Polish your performance until it gleams! In spite of all these efforts, you must strive to appear relaxed, confident and in control at all times – even if you don’t feel it.

If you can remember the three Ps in ‘speechmaking’ – Pace, Poise and Polish, you will be certain that your speech will be delivered in such as way that any audience will be enthralled, entertained and enraptured by your performance.