Everyone can find the right words - all it takes is practice and some guidelines to help you structure an effective presentation.

Firstly, and most importantly, start with the end in mind. Set aside enough time to determine yourpurpose and intentionin preparing and presenting your speech. Your purpose may be to entertain, to educate, to inform, to persuade or even a combination of the fore mentioned. A clearly defined purpose is a blueprint or a template that structures a meaningful and focused speech.

Your second step to finding the right words will be tobrainstormthe topic by spontaneously writing down your keyword ideas.

The third step is theplanningphase. People tend to rush through this important phase, but it is time well spent. Plan your speech here. You may wish to use a mind-map, a flow chart or even a horizontal plot-line to help structure your thoughts. Concentrate on theintroduction, the development of thebodyof your speech and finally theconclusion.

These three phases can be likened to a sausage dog. Picture a sausage dog in your mind.

The head is yourintroduction. It should introduce your topic, capture your audience's attention and lead the audience into the purpose of the presentation. Remember, that  the sausage dog's head is relatively small in comparison the rest of its body - so short, pertinent and gripping work well here.

The introduction is followed by thebodyof your address. A visual reminder is the long body of the sausage dog. This section of your speech should consist of four or five paragraph that individually develop a different aspect of your speech, but at the same time are all linked to a common purpose - pretty much like the body of our dog.

Finally, the tail - possibly with a twist or a loop? Theconclusionshould sum up your speech. It may tie up loose ends, finalize an argument or highlight the end of your speech. Either way, your audience should clearly see that this is the end of your speech, just like the tail is the end of our dog!

It is only now that  the planning phase is over, that you will choose your words to achieve your initial aim and the purpose of writing your speech.

This is the easy part. There are so many resources out there to help you to find the right words to say it best. The internet, book stores, friends, magazines and libraries are all invaluable resources at your disposal. Finding the resources is relatively easy, but it is very important that you personalize the content.

Trust your instinct. You have within you right now the necessary skills to find the words .

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