Icebreaker Speeches
The Icebreaker is your first speech from the Competent Communicator Manual.
Here are some suggestions to help you prepare and deliver it.
General points You only have 6 minutes – pick an interesting feature of your life, not your whole life story.
2 Write some notes about what you will say. You can read from notes in your early speeches.
3 Practice giving your speech out aloud in front of a mirror or to your partner or friends and make sure it fits in the time.
Planning the start of your speech
4 Start your speech with about half a minute introduction to what you are going to talk about.
5 Don’t waste time explaining that this is your Icebreaker, why you decided to talk about this topic etc. Just start!
6 Don’t start with an apology I’m not very good at this, haven’t had time to prepare this.â€
7 Try to start with a big statement. For example, “If there is one thing I love, it’s parties. Then go on to tell about your life as a partygoer
Preparing the middle part or body of your speech
8 Pick about three main points for the body of your speech. For example if you are a party person, tell three favourite party stories.
Concluding your speech
9 Spend about half a minute on the conclusion, summarising what you talked about in your speech.
10 Link your final sentences to the start of your speech. For example, So that is why I love parties.
11. Dont say Thank You at the end. The audience should thank you for speaking.
Help notes prepared by Mike Helm DTM 2007/08 District 73 Governor