How to Add Pizzazz to Your Speech

How many times have you heard a mediocre speech or one that was just downright boring? Is that the kind of speech you want to give? No! You want a speech that will set you up for success— a speech that’s got pizzazz.

How Do You Add Pizzazz?

You don’t need to be a great speaker to add pizzazz; you just need to follow these 7 different techniques. You can use all 7 or pick and choose the ones you are most comfortable with. It’s more important to be authentic, to be yourself. People buy what? They buy you! Let your audience fall in love with you, then fall in love with your product, then fall in love with your business opportunity.

#1 Enthusiasm

No matter what you add to spice up your speech, to have pizzazz you must be excited about what you are talking about. You’ve seen speakers who don’t seem enthusiastic—they’re not connected to what they’re selling. Their lack of passion shows. So, if that’s you, and you’re not passionate about your product or what it is you do for your clients or how you contribute to the world, then you might want to change the topic of your speech, or maybe even your business. You must be excited. You must be enthusiastic. You can’t practice this; it is something that you believe in so that when it comes time to talk about it, you just let it flow. Enthusiasm comes out naturally in your voice, and it will also come out in your body language.

#2 Be the Story

Stories are so important. In the past I’ve talked about storytelling in terms of making sure your personal story is part of your speech—to show your journey and your right to be there. Because this is part of rapport-building, it doesn’t always add pizzazz. To add pizzazz, you need to “be the story.” Why? Because people will live vicariously through you. These are stories that would typically happen to you, that you relate to in a certain part of your speech.

For example: Several years ago I lived in Claremont which is a really quaint little city—just like Mayberry. One day as I was driving home, I saw two neighbor kids had orange juice stands, not lemonade stands. To my left was a little girl and to my right was a little boy, selling the same thing for 5 cents. The little girl was jumping up and down and saying, “I got the best orange juice on the block!” She got my attention. So instead of pulling over to the right, I parked in front of her and bought a glass. Was the orange juice the best? No, it was just Tang—you remember Tang? But because she grabbed my attention with her life, her spirit, her verbal words, I bought from her.

So that’s a story that actually happened. That’s a story I shared with you, and a story you can relate to in your subconscious mind.

Another example: My mentor and I were walking down the street in LA to a seminar. There was this homeless guy sitting on the curb. He was dirty, teeth black, smelled. He asked us, “Do you know what the best nation is on the planet?” We said, “Yes, it’s America, the United States.” He laughed and said, “No, it’s donation.” We got the message.

Stories like that happen every single day, and most of the time they are funny. How can you incorporate those stories into your speech? Think about stories you’ve experienced and bring them into your speech at the appropriate times. They will provide a lot of pizzazz.

#3 Let Your Body Speak

You want to be connected so much to your message that you don’t have to worry about your body language. Your hands need to be free to make whatever motion you want them to make. Your posture needs to be firm and powerful so that you can move about the stage. Let your body express part of the story that you are telling. Don’t worry about looking silly or foolish. Sometimes it can make you look vulnerable, but it’s that vulnerability that will make your audience laugh and connect with you.

#4 Use Picture Words

What’s a word picture? If I said, “you are going to become profitable” or “going to increase your income 50%,” there's no picture there. If I said, “you are going to make a boatload of cash;” now there’s a picture! Think of ways you can use word pictures in your speech. To demonstrate, let’s use the word “house” instead of the word “home.” When you say “house,” it’s just a stick figure. If you say “home,” you see warmth, flowers, a dog, picket fence, etc. Certainly not every single word can be a word picture, but remember to choose your words wisely. Use metaphors, too. We remember pictures a lot longer and a lot easier than words.

#5 Use Props

One of the props I use in my presentation is throwing candy to the audience. I also have $$ eye glasses—always gets a laugh. Remember: humor is good because funny equals money. If at any time you can add humor to your presentation, it will not only add pizzazz but will add money to your pocket. Don’t be too funny or too silly. Use your natural gift of humor. Include a funny story about your experiences. You can use fun things, pictures of things, something that is very specific to your talk.

One of my clients did a talk at Whole Foods. She brought in samples of the food that she was talking about--the fermented food, kefir, and probiotics. She also brought drinks so people could get a visual picture of what it looked like as she talked about it. If you are selling something that is consumable, absolutely bring them every single time you talk.

#6 Involve Your Audience

The more your audience can physically experience, the more locked in they are to what you are offering. Does that say everybody’s going to participate? No, only the ones who care. There are so many different ways to involve your audience: small breakout sessions, high five, repeat the last word of your sentence. If you are not sure what to do, observe other speakers and what they do. Borrow whatever works for you. One of the things I borrowed is from Mark Victor Hansen. Borrow techniques that resonate with you, that are appropriate for your speech. But, be careful as too much of a good thing can become too much.

#7 Have Fun

When you are up on stage and are having fun—letting go of the self talk and the self doubt and just being present in the moment—your audience will have fun, too. This is when you are delivering the meat of your presentation because this is where you can relax. You know this stuff. When you are doing your beginning, you are going to do whatever you memorized and rehearsed; same with the close.

The great masters of closing are people who are able to sense their audience. I’ve seen some of the greatest speakers and watched them in action. But even they can lose sight of their audience. I had the pleasure of dining with Matt Baysak, a multi-millionaire who made all his money on the internet. He admits he’s not a good speaker. When it came time for his close and he made his offer, nobody budged—so he immediately changed his offer.

The ones who are present in the moment are waiting for someone to move, and if someone doesn’t move they change their offer. Being there to the very, very end is when the chips fall. If you are not getting the results you want, stop and look at your close. Make sure it’s a benefit to your client, not to you.

People buy benefits, and they buy value. It’s not about sales, it’s about helping people. You cannot help people if they do not go into a longer program with you. Even I make that mistake sometimes because I’ll get so wrapped up in my training that my clients can’t always see the benefits. Sometimes I take it for granted that they can see what kind of life they can have by getting up there and speaking; that their business will grow just by becoming more visible. I have to remember to paint that picture a little more clearly so that they will want the same thing.