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How To Use Quotes in Speeches and Presentations

Guide To Choosing Quotes for a Speech

Using a quote to open a presentation and speech is a good way to sum up the theme of your lecture or discussion by getting the attention of your audience.

When you’re new to public speaking, having a quote that’s worked for another speaker or writer before sometimes give you the confidence to give your presentation.

Or maybe you want to crystallize your thoughts into one quick, cogent sentence. That’s where great quotations come in handy when making a presentation, so here’s how to use quotes in your own speeches.

1. Complete Your Speech Without Quotes

First of all, write your speech or presentation. Make sure to set down the points you want to make and make them. Include a tenative opening and closing. Once you have the outline of a good speech, you’ll know better the kind of quotation that will work best with your speech.

Don’t start with a quote you want to use and then write a speech around it. The whole point of a speech or presentation is to sway your audience or get a certain point across to them. Make that the overriding goal of your speech.

If you prefer, jot down the ideas you have for your presentation and then find the quote. Some speech writers might be having trouble getting inspiration or organizing their thoughts, so a quotation spurs them on to write their speech. Have ideas on paper before you start thinking about quotations to sprinkle into your speech, though.

2. Find Quotations to Use

Google quotations based on the theme of your speech. For instance, if you’re giving a presentation about “efficiency” in the workplace, Google the words “efficiency” and “quotes”. If you’re giving a speech about ethics, Google “ethics quotes”. Use various permutations of the word (ethics, ethic, ethical, unethical) if the quotes you find on the first search don’t suffice.

Those who prefer to use a library to their computer should find quotes books like Barlett’s Famous Book of Quotes, Quotable Quotes from Reader’s Digest, Great Quotes From Great Leaders, Mankind’s Greatest Quotes, The Wise and Witty Quotebook or Quote Junkie. Those are just a few of the quotations books you can pick up in a library or book store. Google those titles and find the author of each if that helps you with your search.

3. Match a Quote with Your Presentation

Whether you use your laptop or a library, jot down a list of quotations that might fit your presentation. Read through them, insert them into your speech and test out which ones make the most sense for your speech. Test them for how they sound out loud and how long the quote is. Find the right size quotes that is clear, concise and makes sense when spoken aloud. Some great quotes are better read than spoken, so keep that in mind.

4. Don’t Overuse Quotes

Quotes are a good way to open a speech. Quotations might be a good way to summarize or close a presentation, even. But if your speech is rife with quotes, quotations and references, it’s going to come across as a big, pretentious mess. Most of your points need to be your own. Quotes are there to illustrate and emphasize the points you are making.

5. Don’t Choose Cliched Quotes

This is a personal choice for me. Quotes that people have heard time and again are often some of the best quotes, but I prefer something fresh to get the audience’s attention. A less famous but equally effective quote from a famous person sometimes works better, because it’s something new to the audience.

A great quote from a less famous person often sticks in the minds better than the most-quoted authors and speakers, sort of like that one great song from a one-hit wonder in pop music can sometimes be your favorite tune.

Either way, you want a quote to get attention and speak to the audience. If your audience has heard a quote a hundred times, they’re less likely to perk up when they hear it again. This is a general rule. If a famous quote is simply the most appropriate quotation you can cite, make the decision to use it in your presentation.

6. Weave the Quotation Into Your Speech

Make the quote fit seamlessly into your presentation. Cite the author of the quote so that odd person who knows the quote doesn’t think you’re plagiarizing, but make the citation simple enough that it doesn’t ruin the effect of the quote.

When you’re giving your speech, give your quote effortlessly, too. Don’t trip over the words. Give the speech enough in front of the mirror that you can pull off the quotations with no trouble. Don’t be self-conscious (any more than you have to) about the quote or the presentation or it will make your quotation seemed forced, even if it’s not.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 2:57 pm and is filed under How To Guides, Quotes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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