Making Speeches Compering an Event and Agenda, Notes and Minutes of a Meeting

Making Speeches  Compering an Event  and Agenda, Notes and Minutes of a Meeting 

How to Prepare and Deliver a Speech Effectively

1. Focus on the Main Message

The first step is to choose a focused message. Even if you’ve been given a theme for your speech such as “inspiration” or “strength,” this is more a general umbrella under which your specific points (and point of view) will fall. Make a short list of five ideas for your speech. It can be helpful to write them in command form. “Strength” a brainstorm of five speech messages could include: “don’t ever give up, “overcome failure,” “build physical strength” and “know your strengths.” If you feel stuck for ideas, a reference to your current political or social context can bring new insight to your theme.

 

2. Build Three Supporting Points

By focusing on your central message with supporting evidence, you strengthen it. A stronger message will resonate more with your listeners. To come up with supporting points, ask yourself “why” about the speech message you’ve selected. For example, for “don’t ever give up,” you’d ask, “Why should you never give up?” Make a list of several possible supporting ideas. Read through your finished list, and at the end, cross off the weaker ones that don’t support your main point.

 

3. Keep your Audience in Mind

After looking into the central message and supporting points for your speech, you can flesh out the rest by considering your audience. Knowing who your audience are and what they are expecting from this encounter can help you pick the right tone to optimal effect.

 

4. Be a Tactful Speaker

Some speakers choose to generalize complex topics in a speech because they think it’s easier for the audience to understand. It’s actually better to do the opposite. Listeners tend to connect better with concrete examples and personal stories, so embrace detail in your speech. A personal anecdote about why one shouldn’t give up is more effective than just saying not to. Areas where your passion and knowledge overlap are generally the richest. If appropriate to the context, don’t be afraid to tell a joke about the topic. A little self-deprecating humor goes down well with the crowd, one can always give it a shot.

 

5. Brevity Is The Soul Of The Wit

Some of the most effective speeches of all times have been brief. “The Gettysburg Address” was only 15 minutes, while “I Have a Dream” was for 17 minutes. Aim for brevity. A good formula is to speak for less time than you’ve been asked to, as people tend to overestimate the attention span of their audience.

 

6. Feedback is Important

As the speech has to be delivered to an audience, it is important to get feedback from theoretical listeners. Read your speech to someone you trust and ask for some honest feedback. In particular, it can be helpful to ask if anything is confusing or unclear. Your speech will have more impact if the message is engaging.

 

7. Eye Contact is Important

During your speech, look at your audience while you are speaking.  Put the content of your speech, either fully written out or in bullet points, so you are not staring straight down at a piece of paper while you speak. Engaging your audience visually makes you appear secure and confident.

 

8. Use Appropriate Gestures

A well-placed gesture can add humor or aid greater understanding of your speech. For optimal effectiveness, punctuate your speech with gestures when appropriate. If you’re a very nervous public speaker, try just resting your hands against the podium. It will make you feel steadier.

 

 

 

9. Walk When Required

If your speech is informal, walking from one side of the stage to the other can help engage people sitting in different parts. It will draw your audience in and enhance your confidence.

 

10. Use Props

If appropriate, bring props to punctuate your speech for your audience. This can be anything useful such as a graph to handout to all attendees or even a personal item to drive home your speech’s content. Props can personalize your speech and add interest or humor. Limit yourself to one or two props maximum per speech.

 

F. Compeering an Event

Compeering or hosting an event is a very different skill to speaking but Is a very useful 'string' for any speaker or business leader to add to their bow. The compere or Chair sets the tone of the whole event and can make or break an event.

 

Tips for Compeering

As far as a speaker is concerned, the opportunity to act as a compeer for a programme is a great joy. It calls for all his skill, grace, and eloquence. Success as a compere is not a matter of chance. Instead careful preparation and precise execution is what makes compering a thing of beauty.
A compere can lift the mood and quality of a programme to great heights. Here are a few simple tips to do so.

 

#1. Be sure about all the names of people you have to mention. Try to understand how names that are strange to you are pronounced. Never get the names of people wrong; especially that of guests. Be also sure about their Profession or Qualification. Do not label them different from what they wish to be presented as. (Read more on this point: 7 Mistakes to Avoid While Compering)

 

#2. Be clear about what you are supposed to do. Is it to introduce them, felicitate them or simply invite them? Be clear about roles you are to play during the course of progress of the programme. Do the organizers expect you to hand over some memento to the Chief Guest to be given to its recipient? and so on.

 

#3. It is excellent if you can write down the entire script for the compering before you actually do it. This not only gives you confidence but gives you freedom to make last minute adjustments. You need to remember that last minute adjustments come in plenty. Type your script in large, easy to read fonts in double space. Leave a lot of margin and spaces in between to insert comments.

 

#4. Be lively and enthusiastic in your presentation. A compere sets the tone for the entire programme. It is his privilege to keep the momentum going. Along with the words spoken, dynamism of the compere on stage helps the audience to eagerly anticipate the segment that follows.

 

#5. The way you begin is important. It is the starting block from where you will start sprinting. Have a smile from your heart on your face; show confidence in the way you stand; let your movements be with grace and be loud and clear when you begin. More than this, the introduction has to set the tone for the entire programme for the day.

Tips for Compering 7 Great Songs of Christmas

 

#6. Find a few apt quotations (not commonplace jokes) which you can quote between speeches or programmes. If the audience can feel the connection between those lines and the program, then it would be fantastic. Humour arising out of situations or content of speeches can be used to connect with the audience.

 

#7. Be careful about voice modulation and clarity. Reduce speed without letting go of enthusiasm. It needs practice. Be loud enough to be heard. You may have to put in 10% to 25% extra effort than your normal speaking to get this right.

#8. Try to make transitions smooth through comments which are brief and to the point. Do not talk for long. Your role is to facilitate not to dominate. You are like the salt of the earth; adding taste without really clamouring for attention. As is said, a man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.

 

#9. Anticipate everything to go wrong. Because many times things do wrong unexpectedly. For example, power failure while someone is singing or speaking. Then you may have to step on stage and take control of things. Be prepared to do so. And also be prepared with knowledge in advance as to what can be done as back-up to redeem the situation.

 

#10. Finally, it would be great if you can go and practice your compering on stage at the actual venue a day before the event. You Too Can Compere!

To sum up, if you can enjoy your performance with confident enthusiasm and connect with audiences, you will do well.

 

G. Agenda, Notes and Minutes of a Meeting

1 What Is an Agenda?

An agenda is a list of activities to be done in an ordered sequence. In meetings, business agenda refers to the activities and topics that need to be discussed or performed at a particular time or the things to achieve during a meeting. The agenda is also used to determine the goal of a meeting.

Agendas are the documents that give those attending meetings prior notice of what is being discussed. Agendas also give all the relevant details of when and where the meetings take place and who attends. Normally they have reports attached.

What Is the Purpose of an Agenda?

The main purpose of an agenda is to give the participants a clear understanding of the meeting or subject at hand and logically guide the participants with the whole process. It also makes the participant be familiarized with the topics to be discussed.

 

What Should Be Included on an Agenda?

Almost all business follows a similar format of an agenda to run their meeting effectively and ensure that it stays on time. To make your meeting as effective as them, include these things in your agenda

 

·   The title of the agenda. The titles are important in any agenda example as it can be used as identification.

·  The objective of the meeting. The objective of the meeting should also be included in the meeting to remind the participants about what the meeting is all about and what it hopes to achieve.

·  The topics and/or activities. The agenda should list all the topics or activities to be addressed in a meeting.

·  The time allocation. Every topic and/or activities must have a time allocation so that it will be followed accordingly.

·  Call to action. The agenda should have a call to action that signifies the start and end of the meeting.

 

Easy Steps to Writing an Agenda

·   Follow these easy step in writing an agenda.

·  Write the title of the agenda.

·  Followed by a who, when, and where information.

·  Write an overview of the meeting.

·  Outline the topics and/or activities and give a sufficient allotted time.

·  Add extra instructions.

·  Check for errors.

2 Meeting notes

What are meeting notes?

Meeting notes are special type of notes which are compiled at meetings by an appointed note-taker. The note taker could be a professional, or they could be one of the attendees who has been assigned the task for that meeting. They provide a written report about the meeting, which includes the place, date and time of the meeting, the purpose of the meeting, who attended the meeting and a list of the things which were discussed at the meeting.

 

What are meeting notes like?

Meeting Notes are like an incredibly accurate diary entry, which everyone is able to read. Participants in a meeting can look at these notes to help to jog their memory about the events of the last meeting and to get clarification about the points which were discussed therein.

 

What is the purpose of meeting notes?

Meeting Notes act as an official record of the debates and decisions which were taken at a meeting. They are recognised as the official version of events, and are ratified as such by the people who attended the meeting. These notes are often distributed to attendees before the next meeting. Certain companies and government bodies are required to keep their meeting notes on file.  

 

What’s involved with meeting notes?

Formal meeting notes include

·       Date, time and location of the meeting.

·       The purpose of the meeting.

·       Names of attendees and those who were unable to attend.

·       Agenda items.

·       Decisions that were made.

·       Actions that need to be done. ...

·       Follow up meeting.

 

 When the meeting starts, the note-taker is expected to keep a true and accurate record of what transpires during that period. The notes must clearly state the outcome of each point and any actions which are going to be taken. Once the meeting has come to an end, the note taker compiles their notes into a formal document. Once this document is ready, it is approved by the chairperson and circulated amongst those who were in attendance (as well as those who sent apologies for their absence). If there are any problems with the notes that need changing, they can be addressed by the group at the next meeting.

 

What terms are used in recording and transferring meeting notes?

Action Points – These are things which a person has been tasked with doing before the nest meeting.
Ratification – The agreement that the notes from the previous meeting are correct.
Amendment – Changing the notes to reflect the correct version of events, if they are wrong

 

3 What are meeting minutes?

The "minutes" of "meeting minutes" don't refer to the minute measurement of time, but to the "minute" (my-newt) notes taken during meetings.

 

Meeting minutes, or mom (for minutes of meeting) can be defined as the written record of everything that's happened during a meeting. They're used to inform people who didn't attend the meeting about what happened, or to keep track of what was decided during the meeting so that you can revisit it and use it to inform future decisions. 

 

What should you include when writing meeting minutes?

The five steps that you must include are: 

1. Pre-Planning

2. Record taking - at the meeting

3. Minutes writing or transcribing

4. Distributing or sharing of meeting minutes

5. Filing or storage of minutes for future reference

 

1. Pre-planning meeting minutes:

A well-planned meeting helps ensure effective meeting minutes.  If the Chair and the Secretary or minutes-taker work together to ensure the agenda and meeting are well thought out, it makes minute taking much easier. For example, depending on the meeting structure and the tools you use, the minutes-taker could work with the Chair to create a document format that works as an agenda and minutes outline as well.

 

What is the agenda of a meeting?

Meeting agenda = outline:

At the very least, it’s important to get a copy of the meeting agenda and use it as a guide or outline for taking notes and preparing the minutes – with the order and numbering of items on the minutes of meeting matching those of the agenda.

In addition, the agenda and/or meeting notice also provides information that will need to be included in the minutes, such as:

·       The names of all the meeting attendees, including guests or speakers

·       documents that are sent out with the agenda or handed out in the meeting – copies (digital or hard copy) of handouts should be stored with the meeting minutes for future reference and for sharing with those who were unable to attend the meeting (and others as determined by the meeting’s Chair).

 

2. What should be included in meeting minutes?

Before you start taking notes, it’s important to understand the type of information you need to record at the meeting. As noted earlier, your organization may have required content and a specific format that you’ll need to follow

 

Meeting minutes usually include the following:

1.      Date and time of the meeting

2.      Names of the meeting participants and those unable to attend (e.g., “regrets”)

3.      Acceptance or corrections/amendments to previous meeting minutes

4.      Decisions made about each agenda item, for example:

5.      Actions taken or agreed to be taken

6.      Next steps

7.      Voting outcomes – e.g., (if necessary, details regarding who made motions; who seconded and approved or via show of hands, etc.)

8.      Motions taken or rejected

9.      Items to be held over

10.   New business

11.  Next meeting date and time