how long should it take to write a 3 minute speech

Introducing Speech Time Calculate

Estimate how many minutes your speeches, presentations, and voice-over scripts will take based on your words per minute rate!

How To Speech Time Calculate Using This Tool?

If you have a certain number of words or a piece of text you want to time, you can either type in the word count or paste the text into the provided area. This tool will then calculate how long it would take to read that text out loud.

The talk time estimate is calculated using the average speaking speed of adults, which is determined to be 183 words per minute based on scientific studies. If you’re interested in how long it would take to read silently, it’s estimated at 238 words per minute ( This data is also backed by research )

You can adjust the slider to change the words per minute value, which will affect the talk time estimate. However, the silent reading time estimate remains fixed at 238 words per minute.

For ease of use, we’ve also provided reference points for slow, average, and fast reading rates below the slider.

To begin anew, simply click the ‘clear text’ button to erase the content and restore the slider back to its original setting of 183.

Who is This Words to Minutes Converter Tool For?

If you are a student wondering how long is my essay or you’ve been tasked with writing a speech and need to know how many words to aim for and how many minutes will it take to deliver or perhaps you are a podcaster, just starting out, who wants the ability to easily synchronize music and spoken word without having to painstakingly calculate seconds between them, then this Speech Time Calculate is precisely for you!

From now on, instead of spending long hours in front of the computer trying to figure out how many seconds it takes for one phrase or section of dialogue to end and another to begin, you can let our innovative tool do all the work and convert your text to time quickly and accurately. With this powerful tool at your disposal, whether you’re giving a TED talk or just need to nail a business presentation, your life will become a little bit easier.

So keep reading to learn more about what this fantastic words to minutes converter has in store for public speakers, aspiring students, and professional radio producers alike!

Whether you want to read the text silently or speak aloud, you can use this tool as both:

• Reading time calculator
• Talk time calculator

Explanation of the Reading Time

Reading time refers to the duration it takes for an average person to read a written text silently while still comprehending its content. Based on an extensive analysis of 190 studies that involved 18,573 participants , research conducted by Marc Brysbaert in 2019 suggests that the typical silent reading speed for an adult individual is approximately 238 words per minute .

To convert word count to read time for a specific text, you can do so by dividing the total word count of the text by this established value of 238. Here is the mathematical equation for determining the duration of reading time in minutes:

Reading Time = Total Word Count / 238

Explanation of the Speech Time

Speech time refers to the duration it takes for an average person to read a text out loud. Based on data from 77 studies involving 5,965 people , it’s been found that most adults read aloud at a speed of approximately 183 words per minute ( research conducted by Marc Brysbaert in 2019 ). To figure out how long it will take to read a specific piece of text aloud, you can divide the total number of words in the text by this average rate of 183 words per minute.

Of course, it’s important to note that talk time can vary depending on factors such as clarity of speech, pauses for emphasis, and use of visual aids. However, using this tool for converting the number of words to minutes can still provide a helpful guideline for planning and practicing your presentation. By having a better understanding of speech rates, you can ensure that your message is delivered effectively and efficiently.

Benefits of Using a Speech Time Calculate

Time management in presentations.

Effective time management during presentations is crucial to ensure the audience remains engaged and the information is accurately conveyed. This is where our words to speaking time converter comes in handy. By using this tool, presenters can easily determine how many words they need to include in their presentation to stay within the allotted time frame.

Not only does it help with time management, but it also ensures that the pacing of the presentation is consistent, making it easier for the audience to follow. With the use of this presentation time calculator, presenters can confidently deliver their presentations without the worry of running over time or rushing through it.

Estimated speech time for public speaking

Public speaking can be nerve-wracking, especially when you have too little or too much information to fill your time slot. You wonder only if there were an accurate public speaking time calculator available so that you could be able to allocate the appropriate amount of time to each section of your presentation, ensuring that you cover all the necessary points without rushing or going over time.

Effective pacing is key in ensuring your message is delivered with clarity and impact.

Most public speakers target an average of 130-150 words per minute for their spoken content, meaning you should aim to limit your speaking time to roughly one minute per 130-150 words. While this may take some practice to achieve, the end result is a confident, well-timed delivery that keeps your audience engaged from start to finish.

Remember, in public speaking, less is often more—take your time to breathe and emphasize key points. Your audience will appreciate your thoughtful and measured approach. For that, you can use this tool and adjust your words to speech time.

Accurate estimations for audiobooks and podcasts

As more and more people turn to audiobooks and podcasts for their entertainment and information needs, accurate estimations of listening time have become more important than ever. After all, there’s nothing worse than settling in for a quick listen only to find yourself trapped in a story that goes on for hours longer than you anticipated.

That’s why it’s great to see publishers and podcast producers taking estimated reading time seriously, providing listeners with the information they need to choose the right content for their schedule. Whether you’re looking for a quick listen on your daily commute or a lengthy distraction for a lazy Sunday afternoon, accurate estimations using this words to speak time calculator make it easier than ever to find the perfect content.

Some Popular Speech Times

how many words in a 2 minute speech

Almost 300 words

how many words in a 3 minute speech

Almost 450 words

how many words in a 4 minute speech

Almost 600 words

how many words in a 15 minute speech

Almost 2250 words

The speech time is calculated taking 150 words per minute as reference value

Common conversions (average speed)

How long does it take to read 500 words?

3.8 minutes

How long does it take to read 750 words?

5.8 minutes

How long does it take to read 1000 words?

7.7 minutes

How long does it take to read 1200 words?

9.2 minutes

How long does it take to read 1500 words?

11.5 minutes

How long does it take to read 1800 words?

13.8 minutes

How long does it take to read 2000 words?

15.4 minutes

How long does it take to read 3000 words?

23.1 minutes

As the world becomes more fast-paced, time is a precious commodity. Determining how long your script will take to read, whether for a presentation or a video, can make a significant difference in engaging and retaining your audience’s attention.

That’s where our Words to Time Converter comes in handy. It’s a valuable tool for anyone working in various professions, from broadcast journalists to teachers to executives. No matter the industry, time is of the essence, and knowing how long your speech or presentation will take is crucial for effective communication.

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How Long is a 3 Minute Speech? Tips for Writing a Short Speech

What could be more nerve-wracking than standing in front of a room full of people and giving a speech in three minutes? It is no surprise that this can be a stressful task for many people. The good news is that most audiences are ready to listen and understand, if you know how to make your points in a clear, concise, and impactful manner.

But that’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? How do you effectively deliver a 3-minute presentation and make sure your message gets across? Well, fear not, in this post, I will be breaking down how you can create an effective 3-minute presentation and tips that you can use to maximize the impact of your speech. So put away the fear and let’s get started!

Quick Answer

How many words can I write in a 3 minute speech? Answer: The number of words for a 3 minute speech will vary depending on the speaking speed, but generally you should aim to have between 300 and 480 words in your speech.

Calculating Speech Length in Minutes

The precise answer to how long a 3 minute speech is can vary depending on the speaker, their speaking rate, and length of words used. It’s important to consider these factors when preparing an effective presentation . While the conventional wisdom might be to assign a fixed word count per minute, the reality is that it takes more than this to calculate an exact speech length . Subject matter is one factor to take into account when calculating speech length. Complex topics require more words and use of larger vocabulary which will naturally increase the length of time the speaker needs to explain the material. Additionally, if there is content specified by a speaker for a 3-minute presentation, that can also affect the actual length of the speech. On average, one sentence will take about three seconds to deliver, so every extra sentence or phrase will add approximately six seconds to your presentation time. To ensure that your 3-minute speech includes all information needed without taking too much time from other presenters speaking after you, practice delivering your speech out loud and adjust as needed. The pros of using a fixed word count per minute approach are numerous. This method allows for easier calculation of speech timing and for comparison against other speakers in terms of number of words spoken. A disadvantage would be that if a presenter uses larger words or has generally slower delivery with longer pauses between sentences or sections, then the estimated “3 minutes” could be inaccurate; meaning less time available for other speakers or related activities. By considering subject matter, language choice and level of detail, presenters should have a better understanding on how to effectively gauge their intended speech length beforehand. This leads into an important measure of success in any given presentation – that being words per minute estimations which we’ll cover in the following section…

Words Per Minute Estimations

Words per minute estimations are key when it comes to preparing a 3-minute speech. Speaking faster than your natural delivery can hinder the effectiveness of a presentation. However, understanding the industry standard of words per minute can help speakers find the right tempo for their presentations. According to some sources , the average person speaks approximately 125 words per minute, making a 3-minute presentation around 375 words. Plans and speeches should be rehearsed in advance to ensure that they fit and exceed the word requirement. While you should practice going over the time limit, keep in mind that it is best practice to finish presentations at or before the allotted time. On the other hand, there is debate around whether simply filling up a speech with words that do not serve any purpose creates a more improved speech. Speakers must remember that quality matters over quantity when it comes to giving a presentation. While it is important to be aware of how many words are being spoken per minute, fillers such as “um” and “like” decrease performance quality and effectiveness of a presentation. It is essential to factor in tempo along with content breathlessness when delivering a powerful presentation. Therefore, it is important for speakers to practice their speech while focusing on both its content and delivery rate so as to achieve maximum impact. Preparing an effective 3-minute speech requires a combination of quality material and proper timing. The next section will cover tips on how one can prepare an effective 3-minute speech.

Preparing a 3-Minute Speech

As with most speeches, those that are three minutes in length must be planned ahead and prepared carefully. The goal of this section is to provide tips and advice that will help the speaker craft an effective 3-minute speech. First and foremost, speakers must decide on their topic . A specific focus should be chosen, as topics that are too broad will be difficult to cover in such a short time frame. Using any research materials needed, the speaker can begin gathering key points and facts about their chosen topic to include in the speech. Speakers may also have to consider time management when constructing their 3-minute speech. It’s important to use the allotted time for the best outcome, which may involve condensing sentences or eliminating examples that don’t fit into the final draft . If necessary, speakers can even work with rhythm and dramatic pauses to create more impactful and memorable moments within their 3-minute window. Finally, the speaker should practice delivering their 3-minute speech. It’s important to know what points they plan on emphasizing, when they will pause, how they will move while they are speaking, and how to vary their pitch and vocal delivery to capture audience attention—but all within the three minutes of allotted time. The more practice given to 3-minute speech preparation, the better chance of successfully delivering an effective presentation on one’s chosen topic. Armed with these preparation tips for crafting a 3-minute speech, speakers can proceed towards structuring their speech accordingly in order to maximize its creative potential and reach its intended purpose. The following section will address structuring the speech itself so that it packs a punch within a short window of time.

Structuring the Speech

A well-structured speech is a key part of delivering an effective presentation. When planning a 3 minute speech, selecting a structure to guide the flow of information can be essential in ensuring an effective outcome. The first factor in structuring a 3 minute speech is deciding whether to present in a chronological order, or alternatively divide into thematic elements. If a chronological approach is chosen, this allows the audience to gain insight on how ideas have developed over time and provides continuity between points. Conversely, when choosing to split the speech according to theme this allows for greater focus on specific topics and highlights any similarities or differences between them. Closely linked to the type of structure chosen, it can be beneficial to consider utilising subheadings, especially if the speech has been divided into thematic elements. Subheadings are also helpful for maintaining focus on the main point and ensure each idea is adequately covered within your time limit. However, too many subheadings may result in an overly structured presentation which could be distracting for the audience. Alternatively, little or no subheadings may mean that the content feels disjointed and difficult to follow. As such, finding the right balance is essential for ensuring successful communication. Finally, whilst considering how long each element should be within your speech, setting yourself a word target can also help achieve this balance. After deciding how long each major element will take up there are often nuances within these sections that would benefit from some additional elaboration. By setting yourself a total number of words you will become more aware of how much detail there needs to be within those subsections and ultimately produce a better outcome overall. Having established the structure of your 3 minute presentation it is now important to consider what content should fill it. Moving forward we will discuss how to choose an appropriate topic that suits both you and your audience…

Choosing a Topic

Choosing a topic for a 3 minute speech can be daunting. It’s important to consider the audience, purpose, and context of the speech when selecting your topic . Your aim should be to select a topic that will interest and engage the audience. Try to pick something that you are passionate about and ensure it is appropriate for the occasion. When debating topics, think carefully about both sides of the argument so your presentation can be balanced and comprehensive. Drawing on both sides of an argument demonstrates good critical thinking and builds respect from your audience. Also you may have to overcome initial opposition or skepticism from members of your audience. This technique encourages full discussion and understanding of a topic, allowing the audience to process both perspectives before coming to their own conclusions and making decisions. Finally, if you decide to debate a topic, consider ending your presentation with a call to action for your audience — this could be encouraging them to take action on what they have learned in your speech or engaging in further research, amongst others. Now that you have chosen a topic for your 3 minute speech, it’s time to move onto finding supporting ideas which will bring depth and clarity to your presentation.

Finding Supporting Ideas

Brainstorming and research are vital components for gathering the information needed to support a 3 minute speech. Asking questions can help identify topics and ideas to provide a focus for the presentation. Think about what the audience needs to hear and then decide which idea will be used as the center of discussion. Gather facts, figures, statistics, quotes, stories and anecdotes to substantiate the central idea. Additionally, consider points of view on both sides of the debate when appropriate. This will help strengthen the basis of evidence to better illustrate a point or opinion throughout the presentation. Use materials that are relevant, concise but still informative. It is important to have a good balance between material that’s interesting and familiar. As well as material that provides an argumentative edge so the audience has something new to think about after the presentation is finished. Thus it’s important to spend time evaluating all of the materials available that may be suitable in order to determine which pieces will provide maximum impact. Having strong supporting ideas can help make a 3 minute speech persuasive and effective. Here’s a few tips for finding great supporting ideas: 1) Research thoroughly – To ensure accurate information that gives authenticity to arguments 2) Brainstorm – Think critically surrounding common topics relating back to your main point 3) Debate both sides – Consider points of view on both sides of the debate when appropriate 4) Select materials with intention – Choose relevant, concise materials that provide maximum impact 5) Utilize multimedia – Media presentations such as videos, slideshows and graphics can bring extra interest and dimension With some brainstorming and careful selection of materials through a combination of research and thoughtful evaluation, finding effective supporting ideas for a 3 minute speech can be attainable! Now that we have discussed Finding Supporting Ideas for our speech, let’s move on to discuss Opening & Closing the Speech in our next section.

Essential Information

When preparing for a 3 minute speech, it is important to brainstorm for topics and ask questions related to the presentation. Furthermore, research facts, figures, statistics, quotes, stories and anecdotes to strengthen the basis of evidence and arguments. When selecting materials to support the speech, be sure it is relevant, concise but still informative in order to provide maximum impact. To ensure maximum effectiveness of the presentation, consider points of view on both sides of the debate, use multimedia such as videos and graphics. With careful research and evaluation when selecting materials one can be prepared to deliver a strong 3 minute speech.

Opening & Closing the Speech

When delivering a 3 minute presentation, opening and closing the speech effectively is critical to ensure the speech is impactful and memorable. An effective introduction grabs the audience’s attention and creates context, while a powerful conclusion provides a sense of completion and allows the presenter to leave a lasting impression. The introduction should be short, clear and interesting so that it immediately grabs the audience’s interest and sets the tone for the rest of the presentation. Presenters should consider using an anecdote or joke to draw people in, and be sure to include a succinct overview of what points will be discussed during the rest of the presentation. It is important to stay within time limits while still ensuring that the main idea is expressed in an appealing manner. In contrast, some argue that with only three minutes allotted, it is better to save time by omitting an introduction all together. This approach can be beneficial in certain circumstances as it allows more time for covering relevant material. Additionally, experienced speakers may have no trouble grabbing the audience’s attention without needing any kind of introduction. The conclusion should summarize key points touched on throughout the presentation while reinforcing the main idea of the speech and leaving listeners with something to ponder. Presenters might close with their opinion on the topic at hand or use ending remarks such as “thank you for your attention” or “questions?” An effective closure will provide a clear picture of why this topic is important or relevant and might use props, visuals or sound clips to deliver a final statement about being heard. Similar to an introduction, some might argue that a conclusion is not necessary given that speaker has only three minutes overall. However, like an introduction, skipping out on a proper closure could be detrimental if not done well as it has potential to leave the audience feeling unfulfilled or confused about what was actually presented. In conclusion, it is important to abide by time constraints while also giving an effective open and close when preparing a 3 minute speech – whether this requires including both parts or depending on individual circumstance. Now that we have covered opening and closing techniques, our next section will focus on how to practice delivering this speech efficiently ahead of time.

Practicing the Speech

Speaking confidently and effectively in public can be intimidating for even the most experienced speaker. Before delivering a speech , it is important to practice numerous times to make sure that it is well rehearsed. This allows the speaker to become familiar with their material and identify potential areas of concern so that they can be addressed before delivering the speech. In addition to practicing aloud, writing out the entire speech is also recommended, as it gives the speaker a better sense of organization and flow. However, memorizing every line may not be necessary if the speaker has walked through their material multiple times with both written words and rehearsed aloud. The advantage of memorizing a speech word-for-word is that it allows the speaker to focus on their delivery and make sure they are speaking at an appropriate pace. This can be especially helpful when timing is an issue or when the allotted amount of time to speak is limited. On the other hand, having a memorized presentation can be dangerous as speakers may get lost in thought if they forget where they are or forget a word. Regardless of whether or not a speech is memorized in its entirety, all speeches should still be practiced several times in order for them to flow naturally and coherently. Doing so will minimize any potential errors or pauses during delivery and offer more confidence to the speaker. To further ensure an effective public presentation, all speakers should practice in front of an audience who can give constructive feedback on both content and delivery. Practicing this way helps speakers become more aware of parts of their speeches that need improvement so that these issues can be addressed before delivering the actual speech. By taking the time to properly practice one’s 3 minute speech, any presenter can deliver their material without feeling nervous or unprepared, making for a successful dialogue. With these pros and cons considered, now comes time to prepare for actually delivering the speech .

Delivering the Speech

Once you have written the speech and chosen your message, the next step is to decide how you are going to present the speech. Even a 3-minute speech can be intimidating, making it essential for presenters to practice their presentation in advance. Ready your voice and familiarize yourself with presentations mistakes so that you can avoid these pitfalls during your actual delivery. When delivering a 3-minute speech, focus on maintaining eye contact with your audience, using strong gestures to emphasize points, and speaking slowly but steadily in order to keep within the time limit. It is also important to know when to pause , as this can help draw attention to key points and help optimize communication of the content. In addition to how you deliver the speech, another area is focusing on what words to omit or add if something is taking too long or too short. Depending on the context of the presentation, there are several approaches presenters can take here – some opt for minimizing or reducing descriptions while others choose to replace or substitute certain words or phrases with newer styles of language. Ultimately, it is up to the presenter’s judgement on what changes should be made in order to ensure an effective and informative presentation within three minutes. Certain topics may require speakers to further analyze their material in order to determine what information should be included or left out within three minutes. Here, it is particularly useful for presenters to determine which aspects of their synopsis holds primary importance by jotting down points that could be used as main points or context highlights. In summary, delivering a 3-minute speech successfully requires expertise in budgeting one’s time while still managing to pass along all necessary information needed by both themselves and the audience. Effective delivery will also enhance engagement with your listeners while strengthening your own self confidence as a speaker. Moving forward, let’s discuss some additional tips for speeches of any length.

Additional Tips for Speeches of Any Length

1) Make It Interactive: Engage your audience in the speech by inviting them to act out certain ideas or roles, giving them handouts that contain specific instructions, or even allowing them to ask questions or participate in discussions. Studies have shown that people are more engaged when they are actively involved in a presentation, so give people something to do! Checkpoints in your presentation can be great opportunities for feedback from your audience that you can use to tailor your content and keep their attention. 2) Vary Your Delivery: Use different techniques to keep your audience’s interest. Consider changing the tone of your voice and/or changing your body language throughout the speech. Doing so will help make the talk more interesting and engaging for everyone. Additionally, varying the pace of the presentation can help you drive home key points and keep listeners on their toes. 3) Focus on Clarity: Communicate with clarity and ensure that each point is clear and concise. This is especially important with longer presentations as listeners may become lost along the way if the central messages aren’t made obvious. Research has found that people are more likely to remember stories than facts , so consider incorporating anecdotes into your talk for greater impact. 4) Use Visuals Wisely: Visual aids such as charts or slides can be a great addition to long presentations, helping you explain complex topics quickly and easily, but it’s important not to overdo it. Too many visuals can take away from what you’re saying and make it difficult for listeners to stay focused. Only use visuals when necessary – if there’s a lot of data involved, consider summarizing some of it instead of going into too much detail. 5) Stick to the Point: You may feel incredibly passionate about a particular topic and want to talk extensively about it – but try not to go off-topic since this could confuse or bore your audience . Keeping an outline nearby should help you stay focused, plus cutting out excess details will leave you free to elaborate on thoughts more connected to the main purpose of your speech.

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

What types of topics are best suited to a 3 minute speech.

A 3-minute speech is best suited for topics which are brief and can be discussed in a short amount of time. It’s important to identify the key points that need to be covered within the allotted time frame. Consider keeping the topic as specific as possible – this helps to make sure all the key points are concisely discussed in the limited amount of time. Some examples of topics suitable for 3-minute speeches include: •Explaining a new product or service •Summarizing a research paper •Discussing the benefits of a particular solution •Outlining a well-known process •Highlighting recent advancements in technology •Providing a brief overview of an issue or current event •Giving an introduction to an unfamiliar concept. Ultimately, any topic that can be accurately presented and discussed in three minutes or less is appropriate for a 3-minute speech.

How much content can I fit into a 3 minute speech?

In a 3-minute speech, you can fit in quite a lot of content but only if it’s concise and well-constructed. To make the most of your time, decide on the main point you want to make, then use supporting evidence to back this up. You may also want to include some relevant anecdotes or stories to further illustrate your key points. When delivering the speech, practice pacing yourself and speaking clearly and confidently – this will make all the difference with how much content you’re able to get across. Ultimately, it comes down to how well you craft your message in such a short time frame; however, with careful preparation, you should be able to fit in a good amount of information that engages the audience.

How can I ensure my 3 minute speech is engaging?

When delivering a 3 minute speech, it is important to make sure your audience is engaged and attentive. To help ensure that your speech is engaging and effective, be sure to: 1. Focus on presenting your main points clearly and concisely. Make sure to choose words that are easily understood, and don’t be afraid to repeat yourself if needed. Keep your language simple , and avoid using abstract concepts. 2. Use stories, analogies or examples when introducing new topics or providing context for what you are talking about. This will allow the audience to better understand the content of your speech, while also making it more interesting and engaging. 3. Maintain good eye contact with your audience when speaking and use gestures when appropriate. This will show that you are confident and engaged in what you are saying. It will also help keep their attention on you rather than other distractions in the room. 4. Make sure to practice your speech beforehand so you can deliver it accurately, at a comfortable pace, and without running over time. Being able to gauge the allotted time of the speech and keep it within bounds will show the audience that you have prepared properly for the occasion. By following these tips, you can ensure that your 3 minute speech is both engaging and effective in communicating your key points to your audience.

How long is a 1 minute speech?

The number of words for a 1 minute speech will vary depending on the speaking speed, but generally you should aim to have between 100 and 160 words in your speech.

How long is a 2 minute speech?

The number of words for a 2 minute speech will vary depending on the speaking speed, but generally you should aim to have between 200 and 320 words in your speech.

How long is a 3 minute speech?

The number of words for a 3 minute speech will vary depending on the speaking speed, but generally you should aim to have between 300 and 480 words in your speech.

How long is a 4 minute speech?

The number of words for a 4 minute speech will vary depending on the speaking speed, but generally you should aim to have between 400 and 640 words in your speech.

How long is a 5 minute speech?

The number of words for a 5 minute speech will vary depending on the speaking speed, but generally you should aim to have between 500 and 800 words in your speech.

How long is a 6 minute speech?

The number of words for a 6 minute speech will vary depending on the speaking speed, but generally you should aim to have between 600 and 960 words in your speech.

How long is a 7 minute speech?

The number of words for a 7 minute speech will vary depending on the speaking speed, but generally you should aim to have between 700 and 1120 words in your speech.

How long is a 8 minute speech?

The number of words for a 8 minute speech will vary depending on the speaking speed, but generally you should aim to have between 800 and 1280 words in your speech.

How long is a 9 minute speech?

The number of words for a 9 minute speech will vary depending on the speaking speed, but generally you should aim to have between 900 and 1440 words in your speech.

How long is a 10 minute speech?

The number of words for a 10 minute speech will vary depending on the speaking speed, but generally you should aim to have between 1000 and 1600 words in your speech.

See How Many Words Is A 3-Minute Speech & How To Prepare One

Preparing for a 3-minute speech and wondering about How many words should your speech have to fit the golden time frame?

You’re at the right place! Today, we’re going to explore the art of giving the perfect 3-minute speech with the right number of words. So, whether you’re getting ready for a school presentation, a work-related event, or a wedding toast, we’ve got the best tips for you!

For giving a 3-minute speech, you’ll need around 420 words, but doing you’re best is about more than just the number of words. It’s all about the content of your speech, your gestures, and the techniques you use to connect deeply with the audience and make them listen carefully!

Want to make everyone stare at you with a smile when you’re giving your speech?

Scroll down and learn how to give the best 3-minute speech of all time!

Table of Contents

The Power of a 3-Minute Speech

What can you say in three minutes? Well, Winston Churchill gave his famous speech “Never Never Give Up” in only 1 minute! So, 3 minutes is enough to share a meaningful message. 

Want to know how many words you use for a 3-minute speech? You can always count them since everyone talks at different speeds! We’ll tell you how.

How Many Words Are in a 3-Minute Speech?

An average speaker needs around 420 words to speak for three minutes. However, the actual number of words depends on your speed, body language, and whether you use any visual aids like slides or not. Slides can slow you down, as you need to wait for the audience to grasp the information.

In general, if you’re a fast speaker you need around 500 to 510 words, if you’re an average speaker you’ll use around 420 words and if you’re really slow or you need to show photos, videos, or slides between your sentences, you’ll need 300 to 330 words in a 3-minute speech.

How you can count? Obviously, there is a manual way, but that can be time-consuming. So, the better option is to go for a word counter tool .

Ideal Words Per Minute (WPM)

You may have heard about the golden “WPM” (words per minute). Everyone has a WPM of their own!

If you want to find the ideal number of words for your own speech, try talking in a way that you neither rush nor linger during your speech and take the time. 

Make sure to do it when you’re calm and alone, and preferably read a pre-written passage with a word count.

How many words did you say in 3 minutes? That’s your ideal WPM! 

Crafting the Perfect 3-Minute Speech

The art of having the perfect 3-minute speech always starts with writing and planning! Now, we’ll give you a step-by-step guide that helps you create the speech of your life!

Step-by-Step Guide to Planning A 3-Minute Speech

Understand your audience.

Before putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), consider who your audience is. Try answering some questions, including where are you going to talk. Who is your audience? In what fields do they have knowledge? What are their interests? What are their expectations?

Write the answers to your questions. This is how you create a unique image of your audience, like a real person whom you know and want to talk to.

Define Your Purpose

What message do you want to send to the audience? Write it on a piece of paper. For example write: “I’m going to teach them about customer service and how it changed in 2023”, or “I want to toast my best friends by telling a story about how they’re made for each other”!

 Be clear about the purpose of your speech. Are you informing, persuading, entertaining, or teaching? This defines your tone.

Structure Your Speech

This is a very important step!

A good speech has a clear beginning, middle, and ending. You should start with an attention-catching introduction, move to the mar in content which is your middle, and finish it with a memorable ending.

You should carefully think about how you’re going to start your speech. You can start with a personal memory, a story, a surprising fact, or a question to engage your audience.

Whatever your content is, remember that a good ending leaves your audience with a feeling of joy and it affects your whole speech. So, the ending is as important as how you start. 

You can finish your speech with a personal note, or talking about a future. A very creative way to end your speech is by asking someone else to finish it with a comment or question. This technique engages your audience and gives them the feeling of being included!

Choose Your Words Wisely

In only 3 minutes, every word counts! So, choose each one of them wisely. Use vivid language and make your point understandable. Avoid using phrases and terms that your audience doesn’t know. 

If you’re making a reference to a book or historical event, make sure everyone knows about it. Otherwise, you may leave some individuals puzzled, which is a negative point for a 3-minute speech.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Rehearsing your speech is crucial. It not only helps you refine your delivery but also ensures that you stay within the 3-minute timeframe.

Choosing the Right Topic

Every speech should have a topic. We don’t mean a general one, like a wedding toast or a university speech, but a more specific thing to talk about.

You can use some techniques for choosing a speech topic. Let’s learn some!

How To Choose A Good Topic For A 3-Minute Speech?

Our first suggestion is to look up the news about what you’re going to talk about. For example, if you’re giving a speech about business in the modern world you can search for new topics in business management.

Or if you’re giving a speech about saving the planet at school, you can search and read news about environmental issues of the day and choose one or two to talk about.

You can talk about people. For example, if you’re going to give a speech at the opening of a science fair, you can choose a scientist and talk about how their work is relevant to today’s science and the theme of your fair.

If you couldn’t brainstorm good ideas for your 3-minute speech, then you can take a look at the calendar! On what day you’re going to give the speech? See if there are any special events on that day. Feel free to check all calendars from all over the world!

You can also talk about something you really care about and relate it to the subject of the speech and your audience in some way. If you want to find the thing you care about, try completing the following questions.

“It makes me angry when…”, “I’d like to change the world to a place where…”, “Happiness for me is when…”. Get angry when someone harasses animals? Get delighted when see two people really in love? Want to change the world to a more just place for women? Here you go! 

Planning for Success

What happens if someone wants to ask you something in the middle of your speech? What if someone doesn’t laugh at your jokes?

You should be ready for every situation, and figure out how to be successful in each!

Using Technology to Prepare the Best Speech

Technology is here to save you from preparing your 3-minute speech! You can prepare your speech using different tools that are already popular and user-friendly.

Let’s see what they are and how to use them. 

Using Artificial Intelligence

AI is now revolutionizing everything, even your speech writing. For instance, you can write a prompt for your preferred AI (including Chatgpt and Bing AI) to help you plan, structure, and even write the content of your speech.

Use this prompt for example: “I want to give a three-minute speech about how to save the planet in my university. My audience includes Environmental Science professors and students. Create a plan for my speech.” 

Once you get the plan you like from the AI, ask it to “Write the speech according to the plan”.

Remember, the more specific and detailed your prompts are, the better speech you’ll get from the AI. so, make sure to tailor it according to what you really want. For example, you can always ask the AI to make your speech funnier, sadder, or even more engaging. Use a video to text converter to repurpose existing video content and seamlessly integrate it into your new speeches.

The Disadvantages of AI for Writing a Speech

AI comes with its own dark side and you need to be aware of its limitations. It produces generic content. This means that it lacks the personalization that a speech needs. This is why speeches generated solely by AI may not connect to the audience as well as human-written ones.

As a speaker, originality is part of your brand and a part of your audience’s experience. So, you shouldn’t just rely on AI. Don’t forget a touch of you in your speech!

When you’re giving a speech, it’s important to use the right tone, the right words, and the right grammar. We may make many grammatical mistakes when we talk to each other, but giving a speech is more than that! 

Having grammatical errors could turn your speech into a drag!

Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant that can improve the quality of your speech. It helps you spot and correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors, ensuring your speech is polished and error-free.

If you’re a premium user, you can also ask it to change your tone, and help you craft a persuading and memorable speech!

Using Speech Writing Services

Want a speech for your Ted Talk and still have no clue?

There are people out there who are experts in writing and planning the best speeches ever! So, if you tried every technique and you just got lost, don’t worry! 

There are many people like you who can give a great speech but can’t plan it without help. Let’s see how you can find someone who writes a speech like it came right from your heart!

PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour is a platform that connects you with talented freelancers from all over the world. Just go on and type “Speech Writer” in its search box and you’ll see many experts who can write what you want at any price!

For a 3-minute speech, you can find a freelancer to do it for $20 to $400 on People Per Hour!   Make sure to read every freelancer’s profile and client experiences before ordering your speech!

ProBlogger Job Board

The ProBlogger Job Board is another platform that connects you to freelancers, but this time only to writers! You can see people and firms who accept freelance writing projects, from website content writing to paper writing for a project, often using SEO writing tools to optimize their work for better search engine performance!

Go on and search for a “Speech Writer”. You can find many freelancers who can tailor a great piece of speech based on your specific needs.

WriterAccess

WriterAccess is a trusted content creation platform that many freelance writers sign up on. You can find someone you can trust to write your speech at the best price on Writer Access! 

Around 15000 freelance writers are on writer access now. Go on and search for someone to write a great speech for you!

Becoming a Master of Public Speaking

A 3-minute speech could be the start of your journey as a public speaker. You may have many things in mind that you want to share with the rest of the world, but you just don’t know where to start and what to do to give a great speech.

Let’s talk about some techniques that help you become a confident speaker in your first 3-minute speech!

Tips and Techniques for Delivering Engaging Speeches

If you’re giving a speech at work, whether to your colleagues or clients, the first thing is to write the most important qualities of your audience. Know what are their needs and concerns. 

The most important thing about a working speech is that it must be clear and right to the point. Avoid lengthy openings and use a clear introduction.

Visual aids like slides and charts could be helpful for this setting.

Remember, work speeches, even three-minute ones, could be boring. Encouraging questions and inviting the listeners to engage is a perfect technique for the perfect address!

The last tip is to have a fun fact or a personal (but not offensive at all joke) for everyone. It helps you have a warmer work speech and create an inclusive environment where everyone from your work belongs.

Get out of that boring and cliche work speech samples with all the facts and figures and try to be someone that everyone likes to listen to.

At a Funeral

Funeral speech is tricky because you’re sad and you must think about giving a good speech at the same time. 

The first step toward a successful funeral speech is showing empathy. Speak from the heart, and realize the pain that every friend and family member shares with you. 

Sharing personal memories, especially happy ones is a great technique since it creates a good view of the deceased’s character. 

Speak at a comfortable pace take deep breaths and pause when you need. Remember, crying in this situation is natural, so let it all go naturally.

Remember to honor all aspects of the deceased’s life, like their achievements, relationships, and contributions. Include everyone! Thank them for coming and try to forgive anyone who had a problem with the deceased on their behalf.

Speaking at school can be a valuable opportunity to build your confidence. Many students will acknowledge you after this! 

Want to do it the best way?

Choose a topic that your classmates are already familiar with. What’s the hot topic among you guys these days? Bands? Friendship groups? Throwing the best parties or a new video game? Choose a topic that everyone listens to!

Remember to start practicing soon. First, read the speech for yourself, and practice it so much that you memorize it! Then give the speech in front of your close friends and family, and ask for their feedback.

If you’re afraid of making eye contact and smiling or having facial expressions, spot some of your best friends and only look at them for the first minutes of your speech. This way, you practice while giving the speech, and little by little, you can move to other students and talk while looking right into their eyes.

This helps you craft the best speech and also shed all that stress and appear very confident for the main speech!

Using visuals like images, diagrams, and props makes everyone engage more with what you’re saying.

At University

When you’re giving a speech at university, your audience consists of your professors and peers, who are all involved in the academic world!

This is why you should keep your speech academic and engaging at the same time!

First of all, choose a title that matches the interest of your audience. Then, start to research. Look up the title and gather the needed information to support your argument.

In the world of academia, even a 3-minute speech needs to be based on well-researched content!

The structure is also very important. So make your introduction clear, and point out your main arguments. Be sure to finish with a solid conclusion that fits the logic of your argument. Don’t be afraid to reference academic sources.

Something that really matters in an academic speech is the ability to manage time effectively. You should respect the time you’ve been allocated, and deliver your points within the time limit! So, 3 minutes is all you got!

Remember, since you’re delivering a speech in a more academic context, you should have a more formal speaking style. Avoid casual speech habits, and try using a professional tone.

A primary mission of academia and academic speech is to create discussion. So, go on and ask questions before and after your speech, and let your peers engage in it as well.

At a Graduation Party

Selected to deliver a speech on the most memorable day of every student? What an opportunity! Make sure to seize it!

First of all, try to include everyone. In this short time, you can highlight the graduates’ accomplishments and tell everyone how you’ve all grown together.

Be positive and encourage your peers, whether they enjoyed their academic life or they’re planning on having a better academic future!

Be thankful to your teacher and the parents who’ve been supporting you through all these years! Express your gratitude by thanking everyone, including the graduates!

Ending on a high note is the perfect technique for finishing this speech. Conclude your speech with a memorable quote or piece of advice about ending or graduation. Something that impresses everyone and reminds them there’s a future to look out for!

At a Wedding Toast

When someone trusts you with their wedding toast, it means they trust that you’re going to deliver the most heartfelt speech.

To do so, begin with warmth. It’s a great idea to congratulate the newlyweds and give them warm wishes. You can say how excited you are to see them at the beginning of their most amazing journey in life!

Share a personal story in your 3-minute wedding toast! This story should reflect the couple’s love and character. You can choose either a funny tone or a romantic one, but try to be engaging!

Remember, wedding toasts are usually sweet and short! So, after a short personal story, conclude your speech by inviting everyone to raise their glasses and join in a toast to the couple’s happiness and love.

More General Tips and Techniques

Before delivering to the public, practice your speech a few times! Start with giving the speech in front of people who you trust. This builds confidence and helps you have a smooth delivery without any voice shakes!

Know Your Material

Know what you’re talking about. Research before speaking and if your speech includes any events, dates, historical or scientific references, make sure your knowledge is legit.

Confidence always comes from knowledge!

Use Engaging Body Language

Pay attention to your posture. Make eye contact with everyone, smile, and don’t forget your hand gestures. Your body also talks and engages the audience. 

Giving a speech with fallen hands or shoulders, with a neutral facial expression, or with your hands knotted on your chest could make it one of your worst speeches of all time. Try searching for Ted Talk videos and looking at how speakers act and move their bodies.

Vary Your Voice

Monotonous speech is the worst! Remember to adjust your tone, pitch, and pace and change them when needed. Your voice can prevent your audience from getting bored!

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should a 500-word speech take.

A 500-word speech usually takes around 4 to 5 minutes to deliver in an effective way. However, it depends on your pace and pauses. If you’re a fast speaker, you can deliver a 500-word speech in 4 minutes!

Is 400 words enough for a 3-minute speech?

Yes, if you speak at an average pace you can deliver 400 words in a 3-minute timeframe. Try practicing it beforehand and calculating your WPM.

What is the ideal duration for a 1,000-word speech to keep the audience engaged?

Regarding that a 1000-word speech is considered a long one, it should take you no more than 7-8 minutes to deliver it. This time is calculated considering the time for pauses and emphasis. If it takes you more than 8 minutes, you may bore the audience. 

How many pages should a 3-minute speech typically span?

It depends on the font size and spacing you use but a 3-minute speech should be 2 pages. Try using word count since it’s a more reliable criterion. A 3-minute speech should have between 380 to 420 words.

How many words are typically spoken in a 1-minute speech?

We can usually speak around 120 to 150 words in a one-minute speech if we aim to deliver a clear speech. If we speak faster than that, the audience is more likely to lose comprehension.

So, now you’re confident to start planning on your speech, right? 

Today, we learned how to craft and deliver a good 3-minute speech. We learned that it usually takes 420 words to speak for 3 minutes, and it’s not a short time! You can deliver many important messages in just 180 seconds!

This is why you should pay close attention to your planning. Every speech should have an opening, main body, and ending. Each of these sections is important and will affect the audience’s perception of your ability as a speaker.

You should also be careful when choosing a topic, and preparing for different occasions. You need different sets of skills and techniques to showcase for giving a speech at work, a funeral, school, university, graduation party, or delivering a wedding toast!

Each situation needs its own tailored ways of delivery, and we learned all about them as well!

If you’re looking for professional assistance, we’ve highlighted the platforms that can help you find the best freelance speechwriters at your budget, including PeoplePerHour, ProBlogger Job Board, and WriterAccess.

Now you know everything about delivering the 3-minute speech of your life, and you’re good to go! Step onto that stage with confidence and share your message with passion. Be sure that you can leave your audience with a feeling of inspiration.

The world is ready to hear your voice. Are you?

Value: the highlighted parts + step-by-step guide to planning a 3-minute speech

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Speech calculator:  how long does it take to deliver your speech?

With this speech calculator, you can easily calculate how long it will take you to deliver a speech.

How many words per minute?

In the English language, people speak about 140 words per minute. A fast speaker will get to 170 words per minute, a slow speaker will use around 110 words.

Professional speechwriters use this speech calculator to find out how long a speech takes.

Copy your full text and paste it in the box below:

The entire analysis happens within your browser. The text will NOT be stored and NOT be sent over the web.

Word count:

Your speech rate:

Speech duration:

FAQ’s

How many words is a 3 minute speech  .

A speaker with an average speaking speed will need 420 words for a 3 minute speech. A fast speaker will need 510 words while a slow speaker will only need 330 words.

How many words is a 5 minute speech?  

A speaker with an average speaking speed will need 700 words for a 5 minutes speech. A fast speaker will need 850 words for the same speech length. A slow speaker will only need 550 words.

Is this a word count calculator?  

The speech calculator is a word count calculator. Insert your text and the tool will automatically calculate the word count.  It will then also calculate the speech length depending on the selected talking speed.

How to best select the right speaking speed?

Fast, average or slow? The answer depends on the speaker, the speech type and the speech setting.

The speaking speed of the speaker

Some speakers are natural fast or slow speakers. The best speakers keep a variance during their speeches. They speed up to keep momentum and slow down to put special emphasis on other parts.

The speech type

The type of speech matters a lot in selecting the right speech speed. If you read the whole speech word for word from paper then your average speech speed will be lower. If you intend to use the written speech as speaker notes then your average speaking speed will be much higher.

The speech setting

An informal setting will have a faster average speaking speed compared to a more formal setting.

Keeping all three factors in mind you will able make a better judgement about selecting the right speech speed in the speech calculator.

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How many words per minute in a speech?

A quick guide for slow, average and fast rates of speech.

By:  Susan Dugdale  

If you're preparing a speech or presentation with a strict time limit it’s useful to have an estimate of the number of words you’ll need to fit the number of minutes you've been given.

And it's even more useful to have those guidelines before you rush into writing, only to discover when you’re done, you’ve written far too much. Something I used to do on a regular basis! (And then, I had the tedious job of pruning to fit.)

What's on this page:

How many words are there in a 1-minute speech, how many words are there in a 2-minute speech, how many words are there in a 3-minute speech, how many words are there in a 4-minute speech, how many words are there in a 5-minute speech, how many words are there in a 6-minute speech, how many words are there in a 7-minute speech, how many words are there in an 8-minute speech, how many words are there in a 9-minute speech, how many words are there in a 10-minute speech, how many words are there in a 15-minute speech, how many words are there in a 20-minute speech, how many words are there in a 25-minute speech, how many words are there in a 30-minute speech.

• How to calculate your own speech rate: 2 easy methods
• How many pages is a 4, 7 or 20-minute speech?     

About this quick reference guide

The following table (below) shows the average number of words spoken per minute for speeches from 1 to 30 minutes long. It's a quick reference guide: one only intended to provide general information.

Who, and what, is truly average?

An average word count for any timed speech (one minute, two minutes, three, four, five, six...or more, minutes) is impossible to give. As there really is no such thing as an average person, who uses an average rate of words per minute when they speak.

We are individuals: each of us different. Speech patterns and speech (speaking) rates vary considerably between person to person for a great many reasons. The best you’ll ever get is an educated guess.

Use as an estimate: test yourself to be sure

That aside, the following estimates will give you a handy indication of the number of minutes it takes to say x number of words depending on whether you talk at a slow speed, a medium speed or you're one of the world's fast talkers.

(And, no, it's never a good idea to gabble at a mile a minute to fit everything you've prepared into the length of time you've been given!)

To be absolutely sure what you've done will fit the time allocation you've been given it's a good idea to test yourself to establish your own speaking rate or speed of speech .

How many pages is a 'x' minute speech?

Multiple variations on the question how many pages are needed for a speech are frequently asked. For instance:

• How many pages is a 4-minute speech?
• How many pages is a 7-minute speech?
• How many pages is a 20-minute presentation?

Unfortunately, the answer is not simple. Calculating the number of A4 pages of text you need for a speech of any number of minutes long is tricky for two reasons.

How many words are on an A4 page?

The first reason is that the number of words on an A4 page depends on how the page has been formatted. The answers to the questions below make a very big difference to the total number of pages needed to print a speech.

• What is the font family being used? (Different fonts take up differing amounts of space because of the shape/design of their characters.)  
• What is the size of the font? (The font size you're reading right now is 20px.)
• What is the spacing between each of the letters in a word?
• What is the spacing between each line of text? Is it single spacing, 1.5 or double line spacing?
• What spacing has been set for paragraphs?
• What size have the margins of the page been set at?
• Are there headings? Sub-headings or lists?

On average if the font is plain, (sans-serif, without embellishment), like Arial or Verdana, its size is set for 12px, and the line spacing is set for 1.5, then a page may have between 400-500 words on it.

Speech rate changes how we calculate the number of words we need

The second reason why using the number of pages to gauge how long a speech will take to deliver is problematical is because we speak at different rates. 

A 500-word page may take someone speaking at very slow rate 4 minutes to get through.

Another person, who has a much faster speaking rate, may take about 2.5 minutes to deliver exactly the same text.

Using the number of pages as a guide for a speech that has to fit a time limit is completely unreliable.

If you need to use a 'guesstimate' use the speech rate table below. Forget about counting the pages! 

If you are a slow speaker, less than 120 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 120 - 160 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 160 - 200 words.

If you are a slow speaker less than 240 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 240 - 320 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 320 - 400 words.

If you are a slow speaker less than 360 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 360 – 480 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 480 - 600 words.

If you are a slow speaker less than 480 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 480 – 640 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 640 - 800 words.

If you are a slow speaker less than 600 words,

If you speak at an average speed between: 600 – 760 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 760 - 1000 words.

If you are a slow speaker less than 720 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 720 – 960 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 960 - 1200 words.

If you are a slow speaker less than 840 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 840 – 1120 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 1120 - 1400 words.

If you are a slow speaker less than 960 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 960 – 1280 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 1280 - 1600 words.

If you are a slow speaker less than 1080 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 1080 – 1440 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 1440 - 1800 words.

If you are a slow speaker a little less than 1200 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 1200 – 1600 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 1600 - 2000 words.

If you are a slow speaker, a little less than 1,800 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 1,800 - 2,400 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 2,400 - 3,000 words.

If you are a slow speaker, a little less than 2,400 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 2,400 - 3,200 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 3,200 - 4,000 words.

If you are a slow speaker, a little less than 3,000 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 3,000 - 4,000 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 4,000 - 5,000 words.

If you are a slow speaker, a little less than 3,600 words.

If you speak at an average speed between: 3,600 - 4,800 words.

If you are a fast speaker between: 4,800 - 6,000 words.

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Find out more about speech rate

• How to calculate your own words per minute speech rate - two easy methods
• The factors influencing a faster rate or slower rate of speech
• How to develop an ideal rate of speech : one matching content, speech purpose and your audience: six exercises for flexible speaking rate

Words per minute calculator

Lastly here's the link to a useful online words per minutes calculator . Once you've completed your speech enter the total number of words, and select whether you want it to give you an average for a minute of your speech at a slow rate, average or fast rate. Again, it's a 'guesstimate'. ☺

The only really safe way to find out whether your speech fits your time allocation is to say it aloud at an ideal rate or pace: one taking into account the content, and the audience who is going to listen to it, while timing it.

(Use the record function on your phone. It will assist in lots of other ways too! You'll hear where you need more vocal variety, where your pronunciation is blurred ...and, so on. It's super helpful.)

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How Many Words Are in a 3 Minute Long Speech?

Answer: At the normal speaking rate of 130 words per minute (wpm), a 3 minutes long speech will have about 390 words .

Speech and publication coach Daphne Gray-Grant  found that, on average, people speak at a rate of 125 to 150 wpm so a 3 minutes long speech uses between 375 and 450 words.

You can use our word counter tool to see how long on average your text will take to speak.

How Can You Measure Your Spoken Words per Minute?

To quickly know what your speaking rate is, write a 650-word essay and then get out a stopwatch. Time how long it takes you to speak all of the words in the essay.

Once you’ve finished, divide the word count (650 words) by the number of minutes in decimals (30 seconds = 0.5 minutes) and you’ll get an estimate of your words per minute speaking rate.

For example, if it takes you 4.5 minutes to speak 650 words, you would divide 650 by 4.5 to get 144 words per minute.

Word Count per Speech Length

To quickly find out how many words a typical speaking length requires, see the table below. You can quickly map word counts to typical speaking rates:

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Do you wonder how long it takes to deliver your speech?

This website helps you convert the number of words into the time it takes to deliver your speech, online and for free. This tool is useful when preparing a speech or a presentation. The number of minutes you will take is dependent on the number of words and your speed of speech, or reading speed.

Note: This calculator provides an indication only.

Enter details below

The overview below provides an indication of the minutes for a speech (based on an average reading speed of 130 words per minute):

• Words in a 1 minute speech 130 words
• Words in a 2 minute speech 260 words
• Words in a 3 minute speech 390 words
• Words in a 4 minute speech 520 words
• Words in a 5 minute speech 650 words
• Words in a 10 minute speech 1300 words
• Words in a 15 minute speech 1950 words
• Words in a 20 minute speech 2600 words
• How long does a 500 word speech take? 3.8 minutes
• How long does a 1000 word speech take? 7.7 minutes
• How long does a 1250 word speech take? 9.6 minutes
• How long does a 1500 word speech take? 11.5 minutes
• How long does a 1750 word speech take? 13.5 minutes
• How long does a 2000 word speech take? 15.4 minutes
• How long does a 2500 word speech take? 19.2 minutes
• How long does a 5000 word speech take? 38.5 minutes

convert words to time .

How long will it take to read a speech or presentation?

Enter the word count into the tool below (or paste in text) to see how many minutes it will take you to read. Estimates number of minutes based on a slow, average, or fast paced reading speed.

Number of words

Reading speed

Common conversions (average speed)

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How to Write a 3-Minute Speech Fast

How to write a 3-minute speech.

A three-minute speech may sound short, but in reality, many words and thoughts can be expressed in that time frame. Despite the time frame, it is possible to prepare quickly for your three-minute speech if you are familiar with the subject material. The key is to write a solid outline that gives you space to add or omit information depending on how much time you have left. Public speaking can be difficult if you’re not prepared with time-limits, body language, speech rates, PowerPoints, eye contact, communication skills, correct subject manner, personal story touches, key points and things to say to keep the audience’s attention.

Like a 5-minute speech or 10-minute speech, time constraints are present and affect the speaker’s speaking rate, formal speech aspects for real-life performance, word counts, subject matter included, number of words shared, and call to actions through your body of your speech said in the amount of time given. Short speeches call for more attention to detail as well as smaller bullet points of subject matter as well as a more impactful end of your speech.

Write one sentence stating the topic of your speech and what you hope to relay to the audience. Decide whether this speech is persuasive, celebratory, argumentative or any other style so you can know how to proceed. This sentence is not to be read during your speech, but is rather a reference for you as you write your speech to help you stay focused.

Write an opening statement that is sure to grab the attention of your audience. Depending on the topic and the crowd, you may want to consider starting with an amusing anecdote, a startling statistic or an interesting quote from a relevant source.

Write a quick outline of the main points you want to make in your speech. Label these with Roman numerals and, if you are typing, highlight them in bold so you can find your place quickly when delivering your speech. For a three-minute speech, choose no more than five main points.

Write three to five short items that support each of your main points. Number them. Using capital letters may help differentiate them from your main points at a glance.

Write as much of your speech word-for-word as you believe you will need, inserting the sentences within the outline. The less you add, the faster you will write your speech. However, this also means you must be comfortable forming coherent sentences and thoughts in the moment of delivery.

Memorize your speech and practice it in front of anyone willing to listen. Aim to glance down at your written speech only once every ten to twenty seconds.

Do not go on a tangent with any of your points. Not only is there no time for this within a three-minute speech, but this will make the writing process much slower. Stick to only the most relevant points you want to make. Type your speech. Not only will this help you write and structure your speech faster, it is neater and easier to read.

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Dramatic Reading Speech Ideas

• The Mental Game Coach: Top Ten Tips for Writing and Delivering Very Brief Speeches
• Harvard Business School: Speechwriting Under the Gun
• Do not go on a tangent with any of your points. Not only is there no time for this within a three-minute speech, but this will make the writing process much slower. Stick to only the most relevant points you want to make.
• Type your speech. Not only will this help you write and structure your speech faster, it is neater and easier to read.

Kara Page has been a freelance writer and editor since 2007. She maintains several blogs on travel, music, food and more. She is also a contributing writer for Suite101 and has articles published on eHow and Answerbag. Page holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of North Texas.

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• Presentations
• Public Speaking

How to Quickly Memorize a Speech (In Under an Hour)

The clock is ticking and soon you've got to get on stage and deliver the speech of your life. But you don’t have a single word memorized yet. What on earth are you supposed to do in such a situation? 

First of all, don’t panic. But second, though this is an understandably stressful situation, it doesn’t need to paralyze you. In fact, you can use a bit of that adrenaline to fuel. It'll motivate you to get the speech memorized and to prepare yourself mentally to deliver it in front of an audience. 

Whether it’s for a packed theater or an audience of one, today, we’ll provide you with step-by-step instructions for memorizing a speech quickly – sometimes under an hour’s time. 

Reasons You May Need to Memorize a Speech Quickly 

You won’t always be under such time constraints, of course, but sometimes speech memorization really does wind up being a last-minute thing. If you’re curious about what situations might cause such restrictions, here are a few possibilities: 

• You've got a last-minute presentation to give. Whether someone else canceled or you were recruited with little notice, having memorization techniques at the ready could prove helpful if you need to prep with limited time.
• You’ve had to update a previously memorized speech. Maybe you’re prepared to give a speech over the past week, but some elements had to be rewritten or amended at the last minute? This is another case where knowing how to memorize information quickly would be invaluable. 
• You’re an actor or performance artist. Memorization is a part of your work-life regularly, so having some extra ways to memorize more quickly could prove helpful. 

Is it Possible to Memorize a Speech in a Day (or Less)? 

Now, you may be wondering if it’s even possible to memorize a speech in a day, let alone a single hour.

The answer is absolutely, yes. You can! But it’s not truly a matter of memorizing a huge chunk of text verbatim. The methods of memorization we’ll be discussing here today are intended largely for the corporate set. These folks need to memorize the themes, intention, and main points of a speech rather than a word-for-word regurgitation. 

How to Memorize a Speech in an Hour (Traditional Method)

The first method to memorize a speech in an hour or less we’ll talk about here's what we’re referring to as the “traditional” method. That is, it doesn’t really use any unfamiliar tricks. It’s a standard approach to memorization that can help you save some time and improve your recall. 

Let’s explore this process now. 

1. Write Your Speech Down 

The first thing you should do is to physically write your speech down. Now you can approach this in any number of ways. But most often people will choose to write out word-for-word what they’d like to say or create a structured outline of the topics and main points they’d like to address. 

Both approaches are valid and workable. The key here is to just get your ideas on paper, so you've got something to work with. This is especially important if there are specific industry terms, jargon, or slogans that you’d like to include to catch your audience’s attention. No matter your approach, get your ideas down on paper first. 

2. Read It Out Loud 

Next, read back what you wrote. Do so out loud so you can hear the flow of the words and get a feel for what it’ll be like delivering this speech to an audience. If you’ve created a script, you can literally read this out loud. But if you created an outline, you can reference your notes as you talk about the subject at hand. 

This process will allow you to identify clunky phrasing or bits that need clarification. It’ll also help you figure out the flow of your speech and what will sound best. 

For even more public speaking tips, review this tutorial:

3. Try a Recall Test 

When you’re happy with how your speech is sounding, you can perform a recall test.

This is just a matter of covering up your notes or script and seeing what you remember. Do your best to see what you remember. You might surprise yourself as to how much you’ve retained. 

4. Memorize the Main Points First 

When it comes to memorization, you’re better off locking in the bigger parts of your speech first before tackling the details. This is where creating an outline is actually really helpful. It helps you see what your main points are and what the primary topics of discussion will be. Then you can commit those large ideas and your main points about them to memory. 

For instance, if you’re giving a speech about a product, your main points might be its main features and how it solves the customer’s problems. Or, if you’re giving an informational speech, your main points might involve the evidence you have to back up an argument. 

5. Add in the Transitions and Small Sections Next

With those big ideas memorized, you can move on to the details and transitions. For some, this will be where you get the exact phrasing down. For others, it’ll be tiny details or the occasional turn of phrase you like and want to include. 

Then you can work on combining the larger points and the finer details into a cohesive whole. 

6. Perfect the Delivery 

Now that the majority of your speech is memorized, it’s time to get the delivery right. Work on saying your speech out loud in the mirror to make sure you’ve incorporated any gestures you’d like to include, movement, or the use of props or a PowerPoint presentation. 

This is also where you hone in on the appropriate intonation. You don’t want to sound like a robot, after all. 

For more tips on perfecting the delivery, review this tutorial:

7. Give the Speech to a Trusted Audience Member 

Once you’re happy with how your speech is sounding, perform it in front of a trusted audience member. This could be a co-worker, family member, or friend who you feel comfortable around and who you know will provide reliable feedback. 

After incorporating their notes, there’s nothing left to do but to go out there and give your speech! 

How to Memorize a Presentation or Speech (Mind Palace Method) 

Though the above method of memorizing a speech is valuable and definitely works, it might not always fit within shorter time frames. To hasten the process, there’s another way to memorize a speech that relies much more on visualization and concepts than on words. 

1. Create an Outline of Talking Points 

The mind palace method starts out similarly to the traditional method in this regard. You begin by creating an outline of your speech. In this case you’re actively discouraged from trying to memorize it word for word. Instead, you'll come up with bullet points that encompass the general topics, themes, and points you’d like to cover. 

This approach leaves room for spontaneity and unique phrases and sentiments that you might express in the moment. 

2. Assign a Mental Image to Each Point 

Once you've got your outline completed, your next task is to give each main idea an image. Picture something really specific in your head to go along with each idea.

So, if you were going to discuss finances as one of your main points, you might picture the dollar sign or a stack of money. Maybe even gold coins? Whatever image connects with the concept is what will work best for you. 

3. Create a Mind Palace in Your Home or Office

With images secure in your mind’s eye, your next task is to create what Ron White , a memory expert, calls a “mind palace.” It sounds a bit new-agey but it’s actually a time-honored practice used by William Shakespeare, even. 

How it works is that you assign a number to each piece of furniture in your home or office. So, you’d enter a room and walk around it in a natural way and assign a number to each large item in the space. So, the couch would be 1, the coffee table would be 2, the main lamp 3, and so forth. 

Walk around the space a few times reciting the numbers you’ve given each furniture item as you pass it. 

4. Assign the Mental Images to Spaces in Your Mind Palace 

With the lay of the land figured out, so to speak, you can now assign the mental images you made a couple of steps ago to each item of furniture. So, walk through the room again and stop at each furniture item then think of the mental image you created. But don’t stop at just a static image. Mentally bring it to life with as much sense-memory and emotion as possible. 

Using the money example mentioned earlier, listen to the sound of coins clattering onto a table, and think of how they’d feel in your hand. You can even imagine the metallic taste of metal if you were to bite a coin. 

The more visceral the imagery, the more effective it'll be for triggering your memory. 

Repeat this same process for each mental image you created. Then practice mentally touring your room and imagine pausing at each furniture item to recall the mental image. This is how you can access your speech’s bullet points – and eventually give the speech itself – without needing a single note in front of you. 

5. Practice, Practice, Practice 

Again, you'll need to practice this technique a bit to enjoy its full effects. But the great thing about the mind palace is that once you’ve created it, you can reuse it over and over with different mental images for different speeches. 

Plus, repeated practice will ensure you’ll always know where you are in your speech even if you don’t have your notes. You can always use visual aids or a presentation to go along with your speech. But with the mind palace, those aids are there for the audience and not something you’ll need to rely on.

Complement Your Speech With a PowerPoint Presentation

Though relying on a presentation isn’t ideal, having a PowerPoint on hand can help to trigger your memory if your mind ever goes blank. It can also help you to illustrate your points and serve as reinforcement for your audience. And thankfully, you don’t have to look very far to find compelling presentation templates to get started. 

Explore PowerPoint Templates

Envato Elements offers access to tons of PowerPoint presentation templates and many other design resources for one monthly subscription fee. 

Learn More About the Art of Giving Speeches 

If you want to take your speech-giving skills to the next level, we’ve covered the topic extensively in the past. Here are just a few tutorials and guides we’ve published on the subject:

Use the Best Way to Memorize a Speech for Your Circumstances

Having to give a speech can be a nerve-wracking ordeal. But if you take the time to bolster your memorization skills, you’ll find that you’re able to deliver speeches more eloquently, with greater confidence, and without forgetting anything important. 

And you can even create compelling graphics and presentations to go along with your speeches with PowerPoint templates , readily available from Envato Elements . 

There’s no time like the present to improve your speech memorization skills, so why not get started? 

Editorial Note: This content was originally published in June 2022. We're sharing it again because our editors have determined that this information is still accurate and relevant.

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Your complete guide to writing a better speech

Reading time:  Just over 6 minutes

Here is everything I know about how to write a better speech and some detailed thoughts on how to deliver a better one as well….

I love TED talks,  and perhaps you do as well, but be aware of the significant problem they’ve created in our society. Everyone now expects  all  public speakers to be as charming, interesting, funny and breathtakingly articulate.  Ken Robinson ,   Elizabeth Gilbert   and  Susan Cain  have set a mighty high bar for the rest of us to try to clear.

I run lots of workshops  and I try to make them engaging and informative but I don’t consider myself the  ne plus ultra  of public speakers. Still, I have written many speeches for industry leaders and CEOs. I’m also a debate coach at my local high school and spend two hours each week helping grade 8 to 12 students become more comfortable with speaking — arguing, really — in public. So here is my comprehensive guide on how to write and deliver a better speech or presentation:

10 ways to write a better speech

1-Learn your time limit and calculate your word count.  The average person speaks at somewhere between 125 and 150 words per minute. It’s almost always better to speak more slowly than too quickly. Thus, if you’re speaking for 20 minutes, you want a total word count of somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 words. Be careful! I once got the math wrong and saddled a good friend with a 48-minute speech when he was trying for 30. Yikes!

2-Once you have experience as a speaker,  work hard to avoid word-for-word speeches unless you have a teleprompter. Your delivery will be more interesting and more natural if you speak from notes or an outline rather than a script. Memorize an introduction if you like, to help get yourself going but use just notes for the rest. Yes, your speech may not be “perfect.” But having a few mistakes is okay if they help you improve your delivery. Your ability to be interesting and to engage with the audience will make up for any small lapses.

3-No matter how long the speech, always divide it into five parts:   an introduction, point 1, point 2, point 3 and a conclusion. Or, in other words, tell people what you’re  going  to tell them, tell them what you  want to say  and then wrap up by telling them  what you just said.  This format is adaptable to a speech of just about any length but I’d divide a 20-minute speech as follows:

Introduction: 2 minutes (250 words)

Point 1: 5 minutes (625 words)

Point 2: 5 minutes (625 words)

Point 3: 5 minutes (625 words)

Conclusion: 3 minutes (375 words)

Total word count: 2,500 words (20 minutes)

If you’re thin on ideas for the three points, consider using a  mindmap  to help you. Mindmapping is the best way for you to make your speech more interesting, more personal and more coherent.

4-Shower your audience with  stories  rather than drown them in facts.  If you have a story (anecdote or example) to illustrate each of your three points, so much the better. Stories are “sticky” — that is, people remember them. I once interviewed a CEO for whom I’d been hired to write a speech. The man was utterly  bereft  of stories. I was at my wit’s end until I decided that I’d have to lard his speech with some stories of my own that I could carefully repurpose to make them sound as though they’d come from him. Don’t tell me that business people don’t want to hear stories. Of course they do! Have you ever listened to  Warren Buffett   speak? Or  Bill Gates ?  Or  Josh Linkner ?  Stories are the spoonful of sugar that make the medicine (facts) go down. Think about the worst speech you’ve ever heard in your life. Now, reflect on the best. I can guarantee that the former was filled with facts and the latter with stories. Human beings are hardwired to appreciate stories and the sooner you stop fighting that fact, the sooner you’ll be able to write a memorable speech

5-Have a purpose but make it a modest one.  Don’t expect your audience to be able to walk away reciting your 10-point corporate plan. Instead, express the  single  key message of your speech — the one important thing you want your audience to be able to remember, for sure — as a single sentence. Write it on a piece of paper and stick it to your bulletin board so you can see it as you’re writing your speech. Keep this purpose at the top of your mind at all times.

6-Understand that repetition is mandatory  because speaking is analogue, not digital. People don’t listen to speeches in the same way they read books. You talk, your words travel into their ears and if they happen to be thinking about what to make for dinner that night, your message will not get through. Worse, your audience has no “rewind” button they can hit. (If their attention has strayed while reading, they can flip back in the book.) This is why you MUST repeat the points you are trying to make at least three times: once in the intro, once when you make them and once again in your conclusion. It may seem overly repetitious to you, but it won’t to your audience.

7) Don’t waste your opening.  I see speakers do this in three primary ways. First, they spend too much time shuffling paper. Don’t do this! Be organized and ready to go as soon as you take the stage. The second mistake is they spend the first 45 seconds thanking an endless number of people. No! Don’t do that! The first 45 seconds are your most precious chance to grab the attention of your audience. Thank the person who introduced you with one brief sentence and then dive into an attention-getting opening. (You can give thanks to others, if you need to, towards the end of your speech.) Finally, some people feel obliged to begin with lame opening jokes that are unrelated to the actual speech topic. These always feel fake and tacked on. You want humour to be organic — that is, related to the topic you’re covering. The best way to begin a speech is with an interesting fact or an attention-getting story. No exceptions!

8-Write for the ear rather than the eye.   Make sure the language you use is easy to say — even if you’re writing the speech for someone else. Say it out loud many times, so you can check to ensure there are no stumbling blocks. For example, the line “a lower-cost alternative to traditional plans” is harder to say than it looks (try it). Change that kind of language, fast. Use concrete, everyday words (for example, “use” instead of “utilize”) and make sure your sentences are short enough that you don’t have to gasp for breath in the middle of them. Be sure to use contractions, because that’s how real people speak. And throw in the occasional rhetorical question (“Why would I say that?”) to engage the audience.

9-Be yourself.   Barack Obama   and  Winston Churchill  are/were both excellent speakers. They’re also totally different. While you can gain pointers from observing great speakers, you need to be true to yourself. Don’t try to be someone you’re not. And if you are writing a speech for someone else, it’s important you spend significant time interviewing them and learning  their   speech patterns — as well as their stories. Are there any expressions that they use regularly? Can you work them into the speech?

10-Be brief.  If you’re asked to speak for 60 minutes, make it 45 or 50. If the goal is 20, make it 18. If the target is five, aim for 3.5. In the history of the world, no one ever complained about a speech that was too short. Your audience will love you for this.

7 ways to  deliver  a better speech

1-Practice more than once.  I know this is hard, particularly if the speech is long, but I spoke once with a TED talk deliverer and she told me that she’d spent more than three weeks, full time, writing and practicing her speech. In fact, she had delivered it more than 48 times before the big day. Was she confident? You bet! (For anything less than a TED talk, you don’t need 48 practice times. Three times might be enough for a long one; five to seven times for a short one.) Whatever you do, remember the expression: Professionals practice in private; amateurs practice in public.

2-Record yourself.  Many of us pad our speeches with verbal filler such as “umm,” “ahh,” “you know,” “like,” etc. The prime minister of my own country,  Justin Trudeau  does this with “uh” and I cringe almost every time I hear him speak. To ensure you don’t make this mistake, record yourself using your cell phone. If you discover you’ve used verbal fillers then slow down your speech and try to be mindful of  not  using them. Slow, careful speaking is the answer. This is been a project of mine for the last two years. I used to be addicted to “umm” and now I use it dramatically less frequently.

3 – Arrive early on delivery day.  Don’t rush to the podium at the very last minute. Instead, get to your venue a good 15 to 30 minutes early so you can scope out the room, become familiar with it and maybe test the sound system. Then — this is the important advice — position yourself in the audience and start talking to people  as they arrive . This will surprise and disarm them and give you a chance to get to humanize them a little bit.

4-Calm your nerves.  For many people, public speaking is more fear-inducing than the idea of death. Here’s how to get over that idea: Practice your speech beforehand. If you have practiced adequately then your body will already know what to do, even if your nervous system is vibrating. Pay attention to your breathing when speaking. If we take shallow, inadequate breaths then our bodies start to panic — I can’t breathe! I might die! Talk yourself through slow, deep belly breaths to help calm your nerves. Have your notes on firm paper so it won’t shake. (Cardstock is better than regular paper for this reason.) Finally, many people have discovered that pressing their index finger to their thumb is also a calming manoeuvre (it’s known as  gyan mudra ). No one in the audience will ever notice you doing it.  

5-Use your eyes effectively.  We all have the same two powerful public speaking tools in our arsenals: our eyes. Many speakers waste this ammunition by looking directly  above  the heads of their audience or by fanning their eyes vaguely across the group as a whole. Instead, I suggest you look directly in the eyes of ONE of the people in the audience. Do this for at least a full sentence at a time, longer if you can bear it. Then switch to another person and do exactly the same thing. Be sure to move to different parts of the room as you do this. And what happens if the person becomes embarrassed and looks away? Move on to someone else. This human-to-human contact should be every speaker’s secret weapon. Also, remember to smile. People enjoy seeing cheerful speakers.  

6-Vary your speaking speed.  Audiences sometimes get bored listening to speeches — even good ones — and that’s why you should try to make your delivery as interesting and varied as your words. One of the ways you can do that is to change your speed. If you have a story or statement that excites you then speak quickly so that the speed of your talking matches your excitement. If you’re saying something important or dramatic, then S-L-O-W down for emphasis.

7-Be careful with your volume.  Some speakers seem to like to shout or shriek. Recently, I was obliged to watch a debate where the speaker spoke far too loudly for the rather small room. I spent the entire time thinking, “please, dial back your volume” and I missed almost all of her content because my ears were too busy quivering. This is another good reason for arriving early in the room so you can test your volume. Just remember that once the room becomes stuffed with people, their bodies will act like a sound buffer and you may need to speak up.

Becoming an effective speaker  can increase your sales, improve your effectiveness and boost your career. It’s worth investing your time to develop this crucial skill.

* My video podcast last week  answered a question about how to budget your writing time effectively. See it  here  and consider subscribing. If you have a question about writing you’d like me to address, be sure to send it to me by  email , twitter or Skype and I’ll try to answer it in the podcast.

How do you keep your speeches or presentations interesting and relevant? We can all learn from each other so, please, share your thoughts with my readers and me in the “comments” section below. Anyone who comments on today’s post  (or any others) by March 31/17, will be put in a draw for a copy of  Ifferisms , by Mardy Grothe. Please, scroll down to the comments, directly underneath the “related posts” links, below. Note that you don’t have to join the commenting software to post. See  here  to learn how to post as a guest.

Best 3 Minute Speech Topics (How to Come Ideate)

Hrideep barot.

• Body Language & Delivery , Presentation , Public Speaking , Speech Topics , Speech Writing

It’s challenging to deliver a speech in front of a large crowd, but choosing 3-minute topics is far harder. Moreover, the audience would not be engaged in the speech from the start if the speaker did not have an engaging or compelling topic or title.

You’ve come to the perfect article if you want to learn everything there is to know about 3-minute topics in order to improve your public speaking skills. So, READ ON.

Importance of 3-minute speeches

Speaking for three minutes is undoubtedly difficult to master. You must unquestionably conduct an adequate study and choose crucial issues to include in your speech. It is crucial to realise that you must deliver the most essential information first while speaking in a restricted amount of time, such as a 3-minute speech.

A three-minute speech is undoubtedly a wonderful starting point for public speaking. This is because you need to communicate with your audience more effectively when you just have a short amount of time. In addition, the speech ought to be concise, pertinent, and clear. Be more relatable to the audience and speak for them. To be the best, you must improve your communication abilities.

While giving a three-minute speech is fantastic, the fear of public speaking might frequently prevent you from doing it effectively. Without a doubt, practice and dedication will aid you in overcoming your deficiencies. You will undoubtedly master the art of public speaking if you overcome all of these obstacles. You can overcome your fear of public speaking by developing a few specific abilities.

What to say in a 3-minute speech?

Although a three-minute speech may seem brief, a lot of words and ideas may be said in that time. Despite the time constraint, if you are conversant with the subject matter, you may prepare for your three-minute speech swiftly. The secret is to create a strong outline that allows you to add or remove details based on how much time you have left.

1. Choose a topic

The topic of your speech and the main points you want to convey to the audience should be stated in one phrase. Choose the speech’s style—persuasive, celebratory, argumentative, or any other—so that you’ll know how to move on. This phrase should not be spoken aloud during your speech; instead, use it as a guide to help you focus while you write it.

2. Prepare an introduction 

Write an attention-grabbing introduction paragraph to draw the audience in. You could wish to think about opening with a humorous anecdote, a stunning statistic, or an intriguing quotation from a relevant source, depending on the subject and the audience.

3. Summarise the key points

You should quickly summarise the key points you wish to cover in your speech. Roman numerals should be used to identify these, and if you are typing, bold it to make it easier for you to see where you are in your speech. No more than five key points should be used in a three-minute speech.

4. Support the key points with evidence/examples

Each of your primary claims should be supported by three to five brief paragraphs. Count them. Using capital letters may make it easier for readers to quickly distinguish them from your major arguments.

5. Make an outline

Write as much of your speech as you think you’ll need to, word for word, then enter the phrases inside the outline. You’ll be able to write your speech more quickly the less you include. However, this also requires that you feel at ease structuring logical phrases and thoughts just before speaking.

6. Practise the speech

Prepare your speech in advance and memorise it before giving it to anyone who would listen. Aim for no more than one quick peek at your written speech every ten to twenty seconds.

How to prepare for a 3-minute speech?

1. organize yourself.

Before speaking in front of an audience, it’s a good idea to organise yourself. Furthermore, you must be aware that speaking clearly requires organising your thoughts and ideas.

2. Practice a lot

Hard labour, which you need to practise for, is the secret to excellent public speaking. Do it as much as you can; practice is something you just can’t get enough of. Moreover, start by putting the key points of your speech into practice.

3. Stay focused

Keep your speech on topic by avoiding letting other things distract you. Moreover, you can deliver your finest work by remaining focused. In addition, it is crucial to maintain your attention on the essential ideas and avoid being sidetracked by anything else.

4. Stay calm

You do have a fear of public speaking, but try to calm yourself down and remember that it won’t last forever. You can certainly get past it. Simply calming down and taking deep breaths can help a lot, especially when confidence is being threatened by fear.

5. Grab the audience’s attention

Keeping the audience interested is essential to giving a successful speech. Yes, it naturally improves confidence when you know that the audience is interested in hearing you and that you can engage them with strong information. Furthermore, by being more appealing to and relatable to the audience, you may gain their attention.

Length of a 3-minute speech 

At a normal speech rate of 130 words per minute , a three-minute speech would typically contain 390 words (wpm) .

In addition, the average speaking pace, according to speech and writing instructor Daphne Gray-Grant, is 125 to 150 words per minute , or 375 to 450 words for a three-minute speech.

Exploring 3-minute topics

• Look for events in periodicals, journals, and newspapers. At this point, it makes no difference if the information is current or historical; what matters are recent interesting facts that grab people’s attention. Articles on topics that interest you and those you feel at ease discussing are solid indicators.
• Note down any suggestions you may have for engaging speech topics. For a public speaking engagement, create a brief list of potential topics for yourself. Then skip the ones that are too hard and tough to prepare for in 8 to 10 minutes.
• For further in-depth knowledge about your topic, look up some online books on it. Alternately, visit a library and ask for books and scholarly articles on your topic. Moreover, try to comprehend the author’s treatment of it. How is he structured? Which facts, evidence, or arguments are the most persuasive? What instances and examples has she or he used?
• Peerless trustworthy statistics and recent findings can aid with writing and editing. Keep an eye out for debates, unusual viewpoints, and oddities. How do you feel about it? What do you hope they will make of it?
• Consider interesting interpretive cues to discuss that are linked. Try to add new ideas, consider things from different perspectives, or simply flip your assumptions as you look at your rough list. Furthermore, look at the unique features that shock the listeners. That has the potential to greatly enlighten the public’s judgement. What you try to explain or demonstrate in a few minutes, they can also feel, see, taste, and smell.
• Look for remarks, arguments in favour and against, and supporting and opposing opinions. Where you wish to draw attention to or underline a seemingly impossible point in your intriguing topic concept, include graphic aids.
• Watch debate programmes, historical documentaries, and newscasts, such as the morning and evening news. In particular, they are useful for creating a basic list of wheedling brainstorms.

General 3-minute topics

• Why is it so hard for us to fathom life without technology?
• Why are effective communication skills so crucial?
• An excellent sense of humour is crucial.
• My worst life event and the lessons it taught me.
• Helpful advice for acing an interview.
• Every firm should prioritise cybersecurity.
• How well does technology match our expectations?
• How can I choose a good career?
• Why being young is not all that it seems to be?
• Why do manners matter so much in defining a person?

Simple 3-minute topics 

• How the globe is becoming more united because of social media
• Why pets are preferable to kids
• My most embarrassing circumstance
• How to deal with the issue of online trolls
• My hope for mankind
• How to get the ideal selfie
• Why veganism is the way to go
• 5 tips for cutting down on cooking time
• Why lying is occasionally required
• What I wish a wise person had told my parents before I was born 

Funny 3-minute topics 

• Most amusing childhood memory 
• One Occasion I Got Caught 
• Quickly Make Money 
• When I Was Arrested
• My 15 Minutes of Fame
• A Time When I Escaped My Home
• Best Reasons To Miss Work
• How to Cheat on a Test
• The Weirdest Person I’ve Ever Known
• We are the individuals of whom our parents warned us.

Unique 3-minute topics 

• The finest kind of advertising will always be word of mouth.
• Racism will always exist.
• Sale flyers are ineffective.
• Text communications were destroyed by WhatsApp.
• People’s responses to you are influenced by your attire.
• The best form of government is democracy.
• There should only be organic farming.
• There is reincarnation.
• The most enthusiastic teachers are those who are young.
• People who lack order are more inventive.

3-minute topics for students

Everyone has interests, and everyone enjoys discussing them. You know, hobbies could also be passions. Simple inquiries to pose include:

• What interests you?
• Why are your activities so appealing to you?
• When do you engage in these pastimes?
• What are your hobbies, how long have you been doing them, and how did you start?
• What pastimes did you once enjoy but no longer do?
• Is it necessary to engage in hobbies? Why or why not?

Everyone enjoys music, and the majority of people have extremely strong feelings about it, especially when it comes to the music they enjoy (or detest) the most. Simple inquiries to make include the following:

• What genres of music do you enjoy or find boring?
• What emotions do various musical genres evoke in you?
• What genres of music are produced in your nation?
• What song, artist, or album is your favourite?
• What music is now in vogue in your nation?

3. Motivation

Whether or whether the pupils are motivated, it is a good idea to talk about motivation in order to motivate them. Examples of questions are:

• In general, how motivated are you?
• What spurs you on to action?
• What inspires people to accomplish the most?
• What actions do you do when you lack motivation?
• How can one effectively inspire others?

Everybody has objectives, and discussing them really makes us more motivated to take action. Goal-setting can be aided by sharing them with others. An excellent set of inquiries are:

• What are your present life objectives?
• How are your goals going to be attained?
• How frequently do you set yourself goals?
• What objectives have you previously set and attained?
• How do you feel after achieving your objectives?

Everyone has dreams, sometimes on a nightly basis, and discussing them in class is a terrific activity since it encourages pupils to be imaginative and even whimsical. Excellent inquiries on this subject include:

• How would you characterise your dreams?
• What do dreams represent to you?
• What percentage of your dreams can you recall? Why?
• What are your thoughts about prophecies? Are they genuine?
• What are some instances of your most cherished dreams?

Read the article for more useful insights: Speech titles and topics: Everything you need to know

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Final words 

Any speech, whether it be persuasive, informative, or emotive, must start with its theme. Moreover, the topic of the speech is chosen to convey a particular message to the audience and persuade them to accept the speaker’s views.

Making oneself a better and more persuasive speaker may benefit from the wise choice and effective utilisation of speech subjects.

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Speaking time calculator

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To begin, delete the sample text and either type in your speech or copy and paste it into the editor.

The average reading speed and speech rate is 200 words per minute and is the default setting above. Once you paste your speech, click “Play” and Speechify will analyze your speech by the number of words and generate a time to speak it at the default rate.

You can listen to your speech in various accents or languages. If you are aiming for a specific timeframe for your speech, click edit to either increase or decrease the number of words to see how long it would take to speak them.

You can also increase or decrease the speaking rate to gauge how fast or slow you should speak in order to get to a specific time with the number of words you have in your speech.

To get to that perfect word count to fit with the speech length time, you’ll have to keep editing between words per minute (WPM) and number of words.

The best part is that you can share your speech in audio format to your friends, relatives, or peers to review it. They can simply click play and listen to your speech.

Frequently Asked Questions

Based on the average speed of speech, there are 150 words in a 1 minute speech.

There are 300 words per minute in a 2 minute speech. 2 minutes isn’t a long time so when you speak, you could endure the average speaking rate.

On average there are 450 words in a 3 minute speech. This is based on the average speech rate of 250 words per minute. At the 3 minute mark, even a novice speaker could keep going at the rate they started – with some practice.

On average there are 600 words in a 4 minute speech. This is based on the average speech rate of 250 words per minute. Still, even a novice speaker could maintain the 150 words per minute rate. Try it in the Soundbite above. Set your words per minute and speak along to see if you could endure consistency over 4 minutes.

On average there are 750 words in a 5 minute speech. This is based on the average speech rate of 250 words per minute. While this is simple math, we after all are humans and 5 minutes can be pushing the boundaries of a consistent speech tempo and words per minute.

In a 10 minute speech aim for 1000 words. The math might tell you 1,500 words but consider your speech. You might need pauses, rest for your voice, dramatic effects, and perhaps even audience interaction. Also, it becomes quite difficult to endure a consistent 150 words per minute speech rate for 10 minutes. Consider your listeners. We doubt very few people would want to listen to a precisely 150 words per minute speech for 10 minutes. It wouldn’t be engaging. And in a speech, you should engage and communicate.

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How to Write a Speech About Yourself

Last Updated: June 24, 2024 Approved

This article was co-authored by Michelle Golden, PhD . Michelle Golden is an English teacher in Athens, Georgia. She received her MA in Language Arts Teacher Education in 2008 and received her PhD in English from Georgia State University in 2015. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 28 testimonials and 98% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 865,716 times.

There is a lot of work and preparation that goes into writing a speech. If you're writing a speech about yourself, you need to consider a variety of factors, including your audience, the purpose of the speech, and how long your speech should be. With a good amount of preparation, planning, and editing, you can craft a speech that introduces yourself effectively and entertainingly.

Sample Template

Prewriting Your Speech

• One method for brainstorming is to create a mind map. You can do this with a paper and pencil, starting by writing your central idea or theme in the middle of the page. Then use lines to connect ideas and points that branch off from this central idea. For a speech about yourself, you might start with a central bubble labeled "Me". Then you might have three or four bubbles connected to the central one that say things like "Interests", "Aspirations", etcetera. Then as you continue branching out the bubbles will get more specific.
• There are other methods for brainstorming you might find useful. You could try the alphabet method, where you list a few things related to the subject of your speech for each letter, starting with A and working down.
• Another brainstorming method is the three perspectives method. You think about the subject of the speech in three perspectives. First, describe the subject, which is yourself in this case. Then, trace it. Trace your history, where you came from and where you've come to, and how you've changed over that journey. Finally, map it. Think about who and what has influenced you and how. How do you fit into the bigger picture. [3] X Trustworthy Source University of North Carolina Writing Center UNC's on-campus and online instructional service that provides assistance to students, faculty, and others during the writing process Go to source

• It's worth thinking about various aspects of the audience, because this will determine various aspects of your speech, such as its length, its tone, etcetera.
• For example, if your audience is a wedding reception, and this is a best man speech, your audience will be most interested in your relationship with the groom and your history with him. You also don't want a speech like this to drag on because the best man isn't the focal point of the event.

Writing Your Speech

• The most important difference between a long and a short speech is the amount of detail. A two minute speech in which you introduce yourself to a class will have a short intro that might be just your opening statement. There might be only a paragraph or two in the body of the speech, and the conclusion will probably be only a sentence or two.
• A ten to fifteen minute speech will have an introduction that in itself has a beginning, middle, and end, an opening statement, an introduction fo the main points of speech, and a summary of the main theme. The body might consist of four to six paragraphs, and each one will include both explanations of the main points, as well as examples. The conclusion will be a lengthier summary, and might include a sentence or two that ties the theme of the speech into a broader context.

• Depending on the length of your speech, you may need to break up the body section into multiple parts, like "Paragraph 1," "Paragraph 2," etcetera.
• Speeches two minutes and shorter should have one or two main points, which can probably fit into a single body paragraph.
• Speeches between two and five minutes should have two to three main points, given a paragraph each in the body.
• Longer speeches, over five minutes, should have up to five main points, given a paragraph each in the body.
• At this stage, you should also begin thinking about how your content will be organized. For a speech about yourself, it would make sense to either organize your content chronologically, with each main point being a different period in your history, or topically, with each main point as a different topic related to yourself.

• If this is a simple, short speech, meant to introduce you to your class or group, you can start with a basic introduction that includes a brief greeting, your name, and the purpose of the speech. This can look something like "Good morning everyone! My name is so-and-so and I'd like to take this chance to introduce myself to the group."
• If this speech about yourself is for a more specific purpose than just introducing yourself, you may want to make the introduction a little more entertaining and interesting. You can start with a provocative question, a shocking fact, a joke, or an evocative image. For example, if your speech is about an interesting aspect of your life, like your unusual profession, you can start with something like "Imagine waking up every morning to sound of safari wildlife in every direction around you."

• For example, if you're giving a small speech about yourself to your class you can say something like "First I'll tell you a little bit about my past, and then I'll tell you about some of my interests and aspirations. I'll close with my plans for my career."

• For example, if you're writing an introductory speech for a college organization, like a photography club, you might start the body with a paragraph about how you got interested in photography. The opening sentence might go like "Photography caught my interest very early on, especially with its ability to caption and preserve life's precious moments." The closing sentence might look like "Since then, I've been eagerly pursuing more knowledge on the ins and outs of what makes a photo great."

• For example, if your speech was about your interest and experience in the film industry, you can tie your own experiences with the idea of cinema on a grand scale. The conclusion should focus on the overarching importance of the topic of your speech.
• If your speech is simply to introduce yourself, you can end with a less grand conclusion. The conclusion of a self-introduction speech should reiterate and summarize the most important parts of your speech, the main details about yourself that you shared.

Improving Your Speech

• Read your speech out loud as well. This will help you hear the rhythm of the speech and make adjustments to improve its flow. Fragments are okay, as long as they're used sparingly. Use active verbs in favor of passive ones.
• When reading your speech out loud to yourself, note any sentences that are too long to be spoken comfortably in one breath. Split these sentences up as you edit.

• When running through a short list of ideas, numeric signposts are used like "first," "second," and "third," or "firstly," "secondly," and "thirdly."
• Signposts that show how two ideas relate to each other include, "furthermore," "in addition," "nevertheless," "however," "subsequently," and "for instance."
• Major signposts tell the listener where in the speech you are. For example, the first paragraph will often start with something like, "I'd like to start by..." and the final paragraph will often start with something like "To summarize..."

• What do you replace cliches with? First you have to deduce the basic meaning of the cliche phrase, then you can either think of a more interesting way to say the same thing, or, in many cases, you can forgo the phrase entirely.
• For example, the phrase "in conclusion" means that you are signaling that you going to summarize all the ideas previously stated. This can be replaced by something like, "So what does this all mean?" or "I've told you a lot about myself. Here's the reason."
• Often, cliche phrases are just filler that don't add anything important to the speech. Instead of saying, "Today I'll be talking to you about..." just start talking about it.

• Avoid speaking too highly of yourself. For example, saying "everyone know's that I'm the best soccer player on the team..." when receiving the captain award in the presence of your entire soccer team probably won't go over well.
• If, for example, you're the best soccer player on your team, you can instead humbly highlight your accomplishments by saying something like, "I've beat my personal record this season and scored 12 total goals. While it feels great to set this record, I know that it wouldn't be possible without the hard work and help of my teammates."
• If you feel uncomfortable, it's okay to add some humor or briefly acknowledge that you feel awkward about talking about yourself. This will just make your audience feel like they can relate better to you.

Community Q&A

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Share a quick video tip and help bring articles to life with your friendly advice. Your insights could make a real difference and help millions of people!

• Make cue cards, these are good because if you've practised well enough, you will be able to be reminded on what you're saying by looking at a couple of words written on some card. Your flow will come out more naturally and you can also ad lib around it (if you're allowed). Avoid reading directly from the card. Thanks Helpful 14 Not Helpful 0
• Always stay connected to your audience and make eye contact with them. Thanks Helpful 19 Not Helpful 1
• When you've written your speech, be sure to practice it until you feel comfortable. Thanks Helpful 167 Not Helpful 36

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.hawaii.edu/mauispeech/html/your_purpose.html
• ↑ https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/WC116
• ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/brainstorming/
• ↑ http://pac.org/content/speechwriting-101-writing-effective-speech
• ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/understanding-assignments/
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/publicspeaking/chapter/10-2-keeping-your-speech-moving/
• ↑ https://www.lib.sfu.ca/about/branches-depts/slc/writing/organization/conclusions

About This Article

Before you start writing a speech about yourself, create an outline on a blank page with the headings Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. Then, add bullet points under each section, and fill them in with the key issues you want to discuss. In the Introduction, tell your audience who you are and explain briefly what you'll cover in the speech. Additionally, you'll want to have 1-2 main ideas in the body if the speech is for 2 minutes, or 3 ideas if it's a 5-minute speech. Finally, write a conclusion to sum up the main points you've made. For tips on how to take inspiration from other speeches and how to edit your first draft, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to write a speech that your audience remembers

Whether in a work meeting or at an investor panel, you might give a speech at some point. And no matter how excited you are about the opportunity, the experience can be nerve-wracking . 

But feeling butterflies doesn’t mean you can’t give a great speech. With the proper preparation and a clear outline, apprehensive public speakers and natural wordsmiths alike can write and present a compelling message. Here’s how to write a good speech you’ll be proud to deliver.

What is good speech writing?

Good speech writing is the art of crafting words and ideas into a compelling, coherent, and memorable message that resonates with the audience. Here are some key elements of great speech writing:

• It begins with clearly understanding the speech's purpose and the audience it seeks to engage. 
• A well-written speech clearly conveys its central message, ensuring that the audience understands and retains the key points. 
• It is structured thoughtfully, with a captivating opening, a well-organized body, and a conclusion that reinforces the main message. 
• Good speech writing embraces the power of engaging content, weaving in stories, examples, and relatable anecdotes to connect with the audience on both intellectual and emotional levels. 

Ultimately, it is the combination of these elements, along with the authenticity and delivery of the speaker , that transforms words on a page into a powerful and impactful spoken narrative.

What makes a good speech?

A great speech includes several key qualities, but three fundamental elements make a speech truly effective:

Clarity and purpose

Remembering the audience, cohesive structure.

While other important factors make a speech a home run, these three elements are essential for writing an effective speech.

The main elements of a good speech

The main elements of a speech typically include:

• Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for your speech and grabs the audience's attention. It should include a hook or attention-grabbing opening, introduce the topic, and provide an overview of what will be covered.
• Opening/captivating statement: This is a strong statement that immediately engages the audience and creates curiosity about the speech topics.
• Thesis statement/central idea: The thesis statement or central idea is a concise statement that summarizes the main point or argument of your speech. It serves as a roadmap for the audience to understand what your speech is about.
• Body: The body of the speech is where you elaborate on your main points or arguments. Each point is typically supported by evidence, examples, statistics, or anecdotes. The body should be organized logically and coherently, with smooth transitions between the main points.
• Supporting evidence: This includes facts, data, research findings, expert opinions, or personal stories that support and strengthen your main points. Well-chosen and credible evidence enhances the persuasive power of your speech.
• Transitions: Transitions are phrases or statements that connect different parts of your speech, guiding the audience from one idea to the next. Effective transitions signal the shifts in topics or ideas and help maintain a smooth flow throughout the speech.
• Counterarguments and rebuttals (if applicable): If your speech involves addressing opposing viewpoints or counterarguments, you should acknowledge and address them. Presenting counterarguments makes your speech more persuasive and demonstrates critical thinking.
• Conclusion: The conclusion is the final part of your speech and should bring your message to a satisfying close. Summarize your main points, restate your thesis statement, and leave the audience with a memorable closing thought or call to action.
• Closing statement: This is the final statement that leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the main message of your speech. It can be a call to action, a thought-provoking question, a powerful quote, or a memorable anecdote.
• Delivery and presentation: How you deliver your speech is also an essential element to consider. Pay attention to your tone, body language, eye contact , voice modulation, and timing. Practice and rehearse your speech, and try using the 7-38-55 rule to ensure confident and effective delivery.

While the order and emphasis of these elements may vary depending on the type of speech and audience, these elements provide a framework for organizing and delivering a successful speech.

How to structure a good speech

You know what message you want to transmit, who you’re delivering it to, and even how you want to say it. But you need to know how to start, develop, and close a speech before writing it. 

Think of a speech like an essay. It should have an introduction, conclusion, and body sections in between. This places ideas in a logical order that the audience can better understand and follow them. Learning how to make a speech with an outline gives your storytelling the scaffolding it needs to get its point across.

Here’s a general speech structure to guide your writing process:

• Explanation 1
• Explanation 2
• Explanation 3

How to write a compelling speech opener

Some research shows that engaged audiences pay attention for only 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Other estimates are even lower, citing that people stop listening intently in fewer than 10 minutes . If you make a good first impression at the beginning of your speech, you have a better chance of interesting your audience through the middle when attention spans fade. 

Implementing the INTRO model can help grab and keep your audience’s attention as soon as you start speaking. This acronym stands for interest, need, timing, roadmap, and objectives, and it represents the key points you should hit in an opening. 

Here’s what to include for each of these points: 

• Interest : Introduce yourself or your topic concisely and speak with confidence . Write a compelling opening statement using relevant data or an anecdote that the audience can relate to.
• Needs : The audience is listening to you because they have something to learn. If you’re pitching a new app idea to a panel of investors, those potential partners want to discover more about your product and what they can earn from it. Read the room and gently remind them of the purpose of your speech. 
• Timing : When appropriate, let your audience know how long you’ll speak. This lets listeners set expectations and keep tabs on their own attention span. If a weary audience member knows you’ll talk for 40 minutes, they can better manage their energy as that time goes on. 
• Routemap : Give a brief overview of the three main points you’ll cover in your speech. If an audience member’s attention starts to drop off and they miss a few sentences, they can more easily get their bearings if they know the general outline of the presentation.
• Objectives : Tell the audience what you hope to achieve, encouraging them to listen to the end for the payout. 

Writing the middle of a speech

The body of your speech is the most information-dense section. Facts, visual aids, PowerPoints — all this information meets an audience with a waning attention span. Sticking to the speech structure gives your message focus and keeps you from going off track, making everything you say as useful as possible.

Limit the middle of your speech to three points, and support them with no more than three explanations. Following this model organizes your thoughts and prevents you from offering more information than the audience can retain. 

Using this section of the speech to make your presentation interactive can add interest and engage your audience. Try including a video or demonstration to break the monotony. A quick poll or survey also keeps the audience on their toes. 

Wrapping the speech up

To you, restating your points at the end can feel repetitive and dull. You’ve practiced countless times and heard it all before. But repetition aids memory and learning , helping your audience retain what you’ve told them. Use your speech’s conclusion to summarize the main points with a few short sentences.

Try to end on a memorable note, like posing a motivational quote or a thoughtful question the audience can contemplate once they leave. In proposal or pitch-style speeches, consider landing on a call to action (CTA) that invites your audience to take the next step.

How to write a good speech

If public speaking gives you the jitters, you’re not alone. Roughly 80% of the population feels nervous before giving a speech, and another 10% percent experiences intense anxiety and sometimes even panic. 

The fear of failure can cause procrastination and can cause you to put off your speechwriting process until the last minute. Finding the right words takes time and preparation, and if you’re already feeling nervous, starting from a blank page might seem even harder.

But putting in the effort despite your stress is worth it. Presenting a speech you worked hard on fosters authenticity and connects you to the subject matter, which can help your audience understand your points better. Human connection is all about honesty and vulnerability, and if you want to connect to the people you’re speaking to, they should see that in you.

1. Identify your objectives and target audience

Before diving into the writing process, find healthy coping strategies to help you stop worrying . Then you can define your speech’s purpose, think about your target audience, and start identifying your objectives. Here are some questions to ask yourself and ground your thinking : 

• What purpose do I want my speech to achieve? 
• What would it mean to me if I achieved the speech’s purpose?
• What audience am I writing for? 
• What do I know about my audience? 
• What values do I want to transmit? 
• If the audience remembers one take-home message, what should it be? 
• What do I want my audience to feel, think, or do after I finish speaking? 
• What parts of my message could be confusing and require further explanation?

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is crucial for tailoring your speech effectively. Consider the demographics of your audience, their interests, and their expectations. For instance, if you're addressing a group of healthcare professionals, you'll want to use medical terminology and data that resonate with them. Conversely, if your audience is a group of young students, you'd adjust your content to be more relatable to their experiences and interests. 

3. Choose a clear message

Your message should be the central idea that you want your audience to take away from your speech. Let's say you're giving a speech on climate change. Your clear message might be something like, "Individual actions can make a significant impact on mitigating climate change." Throughout your speech, all your points and examples should support this central message, reinforcing it for your audience.

4. Structure your speech

Organizing your speech properly keeps your audience engaged and helps them follow your ideas. The introduction should grab your audience's attention and introduce the topic. For example, if you're discussing space exploration, you could start with a fascinating fact about a recent space mission. In the body, you'd present your main points logically, such as the history of space exploration, its scientific significance, and future prospects. Finally, in the conclusion, you'd summarize your key points and reiterate the importance of space exploration in advancing human knowledge.

5. Use engaging content for clarity

Engaging content includes stories, anecdotes, statistics, and examples that illustrate your main points. For instance, if you're giving a speech about the importance of reading, you might share a personal story about how a particular book changed your perspective. You could also include statistics on the benefits of reading, such as improved cognitive abilities and empathy.

6. Maintain clarity and simplicity

It's essential to communicate your ideas clearly. Avoid using overly technical jargon or complex language that might confuse your audience. For example, if you're discussing a medical breakthrough with a non-medical audience, explain complex terms in simple, understandable language.

7. Practice and rehearse

Practice is key to delivering a great speech. Rehearse multiple times to refine your delivery, timing, and tone. Consider using a mirror or recording yourself to observe your body language and gestures. For instance, if you're giving a motivational speech, practice your gestures and expressions to convey enthusiasm and confidence.

8. Consider nonverbal communication

Your body language, tone of voice, and gestures should align with your message . If you're delivering a speech on leadership, maintain strong eye contact to convey authority and connection with your audience. A steady pace and varied tone can also enhance your speech's impact.

9. Engage your audience

Engaging your audience keeps them interested and attentive. Encourage interaction by asking thought-provoking questions or sharing relatable anecdotes. If you're giving a speech on teamwork, ask the audience to recall a time when teamwork led to a successful outcome, fostering engagement and connection.

10. Prepare for Q&A

Anticipate potential questions or objections your audience might have and prepare concise, well-informed responses. If you're delivering a speech on a controversial topic, such as healthcare reform, be ready to address common concerns, like the impact on healthcare costs or access to services, during the Q&A session.

By following these steps and incorporating examples that align with your specific speech topic and purpose, you can craft and deliver a compelling and impactful speech that resonates with your audience.

Tools for writing a great speech

There are several helpful tools available for speechwriting, both technological and communication-related. Here are a few examples:

• Word processing software: Tools like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or other word processors provide a user-friendly environment for writing and editing speeches. They offer features like spell-checking, grammar correction, formatting options, and easy revision tracking.
• Presentation software: Software such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides is useful when creating visual aids to accompany your speech. These tools allow you to create engaging slideshows with text, images, charts, and videos to enhance your presentation.
• Speechwriting Templates: Online platforms or software offer pre-designed templates specifically for speechwriting. These templates provide guidance on structuring your speech and may include prompts for different sections like introductions, main points, and conclusions.
• Rhetorical devices and figures of speech: Rhetorical tools such as metaphors, similes, alliteration, and parallelism can add impact and persuasion to your speech. Resources like books, websites, or academic papers detailing various rhetorical devices can help you incorporate them effectively.
• Speechwriting apps: Mobile apps designed specifically for speechwriting can be helpful in organizing your thoughts, creating outlines, and composing a speech. These apps often provide features like voice recording, note-taking, and virtual prompts to keep you on track.
• Grammar and style checkers: Online tools or plugins like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor help improve the clarity and readability of your speech by checking for grammar, spelling, and style errors. They provide suggestions for sentence structure, word choice, and overall tone.
• Thesaurus and dictionary: Online or offline resources such as thesauruses and dictionaries help expand your vocabulary and find alternative words or phrases to express your ideas more effectively. They can also clarify meanings or provide context for unfamiliar terms.
• Online speechwriting communities: Joining online forums or communities focused on speechwriting can be beneficial for getting feedback, sharing ideas, and learning from experienced speechwriters. It's an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and improve your public speaking skills through collaboration.

Remember, while these tools can assist in the speechwriting process, it's essential to use them thoughtfully and adapt them to your specific needs and style. The most important aspect of speechwriting remains the creativity, authenticity, and connection with your audience that you bring to your speech.

5 tips for writing a speech

Behind every great speech is an excellent idea and a speaker who refined it. But a successful speech is about more than the initial words on the page, and there are a few more things you can do to help it land.

Here are five more tips for writing and practicing your speech:

1. Structure first, write second

If you start the writing process before organizing your thoughts, you may have to re-order, cut, and scrap the sentences you worked hard on. Save yourself some time by using a speech structure, like the one above, to order your talking points first. This can also help you identify unclear points or moments that disrupt your flow.

2. Do your homework

Data strengthens your argument with a scientific edge. Research your topic with an eye for attention-grabbing statistics, or look for findings you can use to support each point. If you’re pitching a product or service, pull information from company metrics that demonstrate past or potential successes. 

Audience members will likely have questions, so learn all talking points inside and out. If you tell investors that your product will provide 12% returns, for example, come prepared with projections that support that statement.

3. Sound like yourself

Memorable speakers have distinct voices. Think of Martin Luther King Jr’s urgent, inspiring timbre or Oprah’s empathetic, personal tone . Establish your voice — one that aligns with your personality and values — and stick with it. If you’re a motivational speaker, keep your tone upbeat to inspire your audience . If you’re the CEO of a startup, try sounding assured but approachable. 

4. Practice

As you practice a speech, you become more confident , gain a better handle on the material, and learn the outline so well that unexpected questions are less likely to trip you up. Practice in front of a colleague or friend for honest feedback about what you could change, and speak in front of the mirror to tweak your nonverbal communication and body language .

5. Remember to breathe

When you’re stressed, you breathe more rapidly . It can be challenging to talk normally when you can’t regulate your breath. Before your presentation, try some mindful breathing exercises so that when the day comes, you already have strategies that will calm you down and remain present . This can also help you control your voice and avoid speaking too quickly.

How to ghostwrite a great speech for someone else

Ghostwriting a speech requires a unique set of skills, as you're essentially writing a piece that will be delivered by someone else. Here are some tips on how to effectively ghostwrite a speech:

• Understand the speaker's voice and style : Begin by thoroughly understanding the speaker's personality, speaking style, and preferences. This includes their tone, humor, and any personal anecdotes they may want to include.
• Interview the speaker : Have a detailed conversation with the speaker to gather information about their speech's purpose, target audience, key messages, and any specific points they want to emphasize. Ask for personal stories or examples they may want to include.
• Research thoroughly : Research the topic to ensure you have a strong foundation of knowledge. This helps you craft a well-informed and credible speech.
• Create an outline : Develop a clear outline that includes the introduction, main points, supporting evidence, and a conclusion. Share this outline with the speaker for their input and approval.
• Write in the speaker's voice : While crafting the speech, maintain the speaker's voice and style. Use language and phrasing that feel natural to them. If they have a particular way of expressing ideas, incorporate that into the speech.
• Craft a captivating opening : Begin the speech with a compelling opening that grabs the audience's attention. This could be a relevant quote, an interesting fact, a personal anecdote, or a thought-provoking question.
• Organize content logically : Ensure the speech flows logically, with each point building on the previous one. Use transitions to guide the audience from one idea to the next smoothly.
• Incorporate engaging stories and examples : Include anecdotes, stories, and real-life examples that illustrate key points and make the speech relatable and memorable.
• Edit and revise : Edit the speech carefully for clarity, grammar, and coherence. Ensure the speech is the right length and aligns with the speaker's time constraints.
• Seek feedback : Share drafts of the speech with the speaker for their feedback and revisions. They may have specific changes or additions they'd like to make.
• Practice delivery : If possible, work with the speaker on their delivery. Practice the speech together, allowing the speaker to become familiar with the content and your writing style.
• Maintain confidentiality : As a ghostwriter, it's essential to respect the confidentiality and anonymity of the work. Do not disclose that you wrote the speech unless you have the speaker's permission to do so.
• Be flexible : Be open to making changes and revisions as per the speaker's preferences. Your goal is to make them look good and effectively convey their message.
• Meet deadlines : Stick to agreed-upon deadlines for drafts and revisions. Punctuality and reliability are essential in ghostwriting.
• Provide support : Support the speaker during their preparation and rehearsal process. This can include helping with cue cards, speech notes, or any other materials they need.

Remember that successful ghostwriting is about capturing the essence of the speaker while delivering a well-structured and engaging speech. Collaboration, communication, and adaptability are key to achieving this.

Give your best speech yet

Learn how to make a speech that’ll hold an audience’s attention by structuring your thoughts and practicing frequently. Put the effort into writing and preparing your content, and aim to improve your breathing, eye contact , and body language as you practice. The more you work on your speech, the more confident you’ll become.

The energy you invest in writing an effective speech will help your audience remember and connect to every concept. Remember: some life-changing philosophies have come from good speeches, so give your words a chance to resonate with others. You might even change their thinking.

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Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

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How To Write A Killer Best Man Speech (With Templates)

A funny, heartfelt speech from the best man is one of the most memorable parts of a wedding. Here’s how to give a great toast (without embarrassing yourself).

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A best man speech is the perfect way to send your brother or friend the best wishes in their marriage, but standing up in front of the crowd can be super nerve-wracking. If you’ve been invited to be the best man at a wedding but have no idea what to say in your speech, you’re not alone! 

Over 75% of the population cites public speaking as one of their biggest fears. Thankfully, it’s a people skill that anyone can develop. A great event toast can be a game-changer and make you feel like a celebrity amongst the wedding guests. 

Watch our video to learn the best (and worst) speech openers:

Here’s how to overcome your public speaking anxiety and give a knockout best man speech that will incite laughter, smiles, or even sentimental tears. 

Quick Answer: How to Write a Best Man Speech Fast (with Template!)

A killer best man toast has a formula:

• Start with a funny or complimentary introduction
• Lead into a short story
• Add a dash of vulnerability
• End with genuine congratulations to the bride and groom. 

You won’t want to wing the speech after you’ve had a few drinks when you feel strapped for time before the wedding. Instead, take just 30 minutes of planning and note-making to save you (and the bride & groom) the embarrassment of an excessively long or inappropriate ramble. 

If you want to write a best man speech fast, follow this brief template for a great toast. Your toast should be roughly 3 to 5 minutes long. You can use numbered index cards to jot down the highlights of each section. Then, rehearse a few times in the mirror in the days leading up to the event. 

The most straightforward speech outline includes seven main components: 

• A great one-liner : This could be a funny joke, a compliment, or an inspirational quote about brotherhood or marriage. The first 15 seconds of the toast should capture the audience’s attention and leave them excited for more. Modify this:

“I’d like to begin by congratulating the groom for his superb taste in choosing the best man [chuckle].” 

• Compliment the wedding : Build your respect with the guests by highlighting things you like about the wedding. For example, you can compliment the beauty of the venue, the delicious food, or the great choice of music. Modify this:

“All jokes aside, this is a beautiful wedding. The bride and groom look like a movie star couple together. And if you didn’t taste the cake, you are missing out!” 

• Express gratitude : Say “thank you” to those who made the wedding possible and show appreciation to the groom for choosing you as his best man. Modify this:

“I am so grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Zimerman for hosting us here today, and thank you to the bride and groom for inviting me to be part of their special day.” 

• Tell a story : Did you and the groom meet as kids on the baseball field? Were you there when he first met his bride? Did you share a funny experience in college that is appropriate to share? The “meat” of the speech will be a short story about your relationship with the groom. A great story sounds like this:

 “When I first met Jeff, he was in a period of transition in life, like we all go through. He had just started a new job at my office in San Francisco, and we met because of our mutual addiction to double shot espressos (iced with a little cream) at 6 AM every morning from the corner coffee shop Bob’s Cup O’ Joe. When we both arrived at the office at the same time, 3 days in a row with eyes like this [widen eyes big], I knew we would be friends for life. A million espressos, meetings, and after-work beers later, I am so proud to call Jeff my best friend. When he told me about meeting a beautiful blonde named Anne at Bob’s Cup O’ Joe a few years later, I knew something would become of it. She even drank the same double shot espressos, iced with a little cream!”  

• Admire the couple : Strengthen your bond with the newlyweds by expressing your support for their marriage. If you know a bit about the bride and groom’s relationship, list a few things you admire about their bond. You may emphasize how the bride has positively impacted the groom’s life or how they make a great team. 

“Jeff and Anne are a perfect pair, and it seriously warms my heart to see a couple so amazingly in love. They compliment each other in every way and radiate joy when they are together.” 

• Summarize your thoughts : Before you wrap up your speech, go back and highlight your key ideas. You can pre-write 2-3 crisp sentences summarizing your support of the couple’s marriage. Modify this:

“I wish I could say I predicted this day would come, but Jeff’s incredible character and charm won Anne over. I am so grateful to be friends with both of them and to join you all in this celebration.” 

• Toast to the future : At the end of your speech, raise your glass for a toast to the couple’s love. Modify this: 

“Please join me in raising our glasses to a lifetime of happiness and espressos for Jeff and Anne Allison!” 

Here is an awesome example of a short and sweet 4-minute toast that left the crowd cracking up:

It’s best to memorize your speech, but there is no shame in bringing a few index cards in your pocket to reference if you get nervous. Don’t forget to prepare and rehearse in advance. 

For a more in-depth speech, see our step-by-step guide below. 

What to Say in a Best Man Speech (Do’s and Don’ts)

A best man’s speech traditionally takes place at the wedding reception after the maid of honor gives her speech. The best man’s speech should be positive, respectful, and congratulatory. It can last 3 to 5 minutes and should focus on a central theme or story about the groom. 

Remember, a best man speech is not the time to “wing it.” If you do that, there may come the point when everything suddenly goes silent, and a crowd of 50-100+ people is staring at you, waiting for what you’re going to say about the groom. You probably don’t want to end up with a cringing audience while telling a story about the groom’s previous relationships:

Instead, remember these key best man speech tips for a successful toast: 

Here are a few examples of what you should say in a best man speech:

• How did you meet the groom?
• What is one of your favorite memories with him?
• How did the groom meet the bride? Were you there?
• What is special about the groom?
• What do you like most about him? 
• What are his positive traits? 
• Playful banter : You don’t want to be too corny and cheesy with your bro. Depending on your relationship with the groom and the culture of the wedding, you may want to throw in a little banter with your dude. For example, you might make a funny joke about how much the groom loves going out to eat:

You should also avoid some key topics in a best man speech. 

Do not mention:

• The groom’s past relationships
• Sexual jokes
• Drugs, alcohol, or past mistakes
• Insecurities of the groom
• Financial or personal information 
• Insults to the bride or the wedding guests 
• Overly embarrassing stories
• Teasing the bride
• Anything that could potentially harm your friendship

Keep things positive and lighthearted. While a little witty banter or playful teasing can be fun (depending on your relationship with the groom), you should avoid insulting him or highlighting any major insecurities. The “playful” part of the speech is an excellent fun icebreaker, but it shouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings or make them feel publicly embarrassed in front of their wedding guests.

How to Write a Best Man Speech for Best Friend or Brother: Easy Step-by-Step Guide

If you’re ready to prepare something more in-depth than the quick ideas above, this step-by-step guide can help you write a thoughtful speech that the groom may remember forever. After all, being named the best man at your friend or brother’s wedding is a tremendous honor. But like any honor, it comes with some responsibilities. After you finish all your bachelor party and wedding duties, an epic best man speech can be like the fireworks at the show’s end. 

Here are 5 simple steps to make it count:

#1 Start with a theme

Before you start writing and rehearsing your speech, it helps to decide on a theme for your talk. This will give a nice flow to the speech. A theme ensures that you stay on track to communicate your congratulations and appreciation to the groom. 

What is the main message you want to get across? A few theme ideas include:

• Anecdotes : Best man toasts center around storytelling. This theme is the easiest way to stay on track because you are telling a simple story from beginning to end. 
• Humor : Whether you’re naturally funny or working on your jokes ,  your speech is the perfect opportunity to get the audience laughing. Best man speeches are known for getting a little saucy, but you must be careful about offending the crowd or making crude jokes that might insult the bride and groom. If you want to tease the groom with some witty banter, it helps to make fun of yourself or reference an appropriate inside joke.
• Inspirational : Have you and the groom achieved an important business goal or accomplishment together? Do you have a shared role model or favorite motivational book you both read in college? This speech theme can leave the audience feeling inspired.
• Morality : Use your speech to highlight the great person the groom is. Perhaps you give examples of his integrity, trustworthiness, or generosity. You can emphasize how lucky you are to know the groom and how glad you are that he found a woman to spend his life with. 
• Sentimentality : When humor and storytelling aren’t your fortes, it doesn’t hurt to get a little corny. Sentimental speeches require a level of emotional vulnerability, but they can leave a huge impact on the newlyweds and their attendees.

#2 Create an outline

You wouldn’t go on a road trip without a navigation system, so don’t go into your speech without a plan. The best toasts and speeches follow the same structure. Pull out a piece of paper and brainstorm some ideas using this format, then use the following steps to fill in the details:

• Hook/Opening statement : The opening statement should be a 1 to 3-line description about the groom. The first 7 seconds of the speech should hook the audience immediately. It warms them up to you and makes them want to pay attention to the amusing stories. You’ll find an abundance of opening-line ideas in the next section. 
• Background context : Now comes the why of your speech. This is where the context of your relationship with the groom comes in. You can throw in some funny jokes and a few details about your experience with him. Use this intro to build up the anticipation for the story to come. Write down a few ideas of stories you can tell. 
• Tell the story : Choose 1-3 short stories about the groom that is funny, slightly embarrassing, or interesting. Jot down a few of the sensory elements you want to reference, like the smelly locker room or the squeaking of tire wheels. Most stories follow a bell-curve pattern—they start with an intro, lead to rising action, peak with a capstone moment, then tie back to the beginning. Keep this in mind as you brainstorm and follow the story-planning steps below. 
• Take-home message : After you get a good laugh or “awww” out of the audience, you’ll want to bring the story back to the beginning. What do you want them to remember about your speech and friendship with the groom? 
• Thank the wedding party : Use a quick sentence to thank the wedding party and hosts. Express your genuine gratitude for being invited. 
• Closing toast and congratulations : After wrapping up the story and thanking the wedding party, you should invite the audience to toast the bride and groom with you. For an extra cheery finale, act as if you are speaking on their behalf and include lots of well-wishes for the newlyweds. 

Pro Tip : Before filling in your outline details, watch this video for an overview of how to give a memorable toast. Human behavior expert Vanessa Van Edwards explains the most common mistakes (don’t start with “I,” “me,” or “my”) and a few secrets to getting the audience to perk up in their seats. 

#3 Nail the opening line 

Once you have your outline, it’s time to dig into the details. People decide their first impression of you within 7 seconds, so it’s extra important to nail the opening line of your speech. Best men use this opportunity to crack a joke, compliment the wedding, or set a sentimental tone for the speech. 

Avoid making the first lines about you. No “me”, “I”, or “my”. Instead, start with a juicy or mysterious line about the groom, for example:

If you need a little inspiration, here are some hilarious and quirky best man speech opening lines: 

• “Caring, loyal, honest, good-looking, and an all-around-great guy… OK, enough about me, onto the groom…!” 
• “This is the perfect chance to tell you about [Groom] and how talented, special, smart, good-looking, and… sorry, man, I can’t read your handwriting here.” 
• “I’d like to give a toast to the bride and groom.” [pull a piece of toasted bread from your pocket and give it to them]
• “[Groom’s name] is the kind of person you call when you lock yourself out of the dorm bathroom without any clothes on.” 
• “The bride and groom asked me not to share embarrassing stories or crude jokes during my speech… so that’s it from me! Thanks for listening, everyone.”
• “I’d like to start by congratulating the groom for his excellent taste in choosing the best man.” 
• “[Groom] had a tough time choosing his best man. First, he called his most handsome friend, but he said no. Then, he called his smartest friend, and he said no. Then, he called his most successful friend, who also said no. Then he called me, and I said, ‘Bro, I can’t say no to you four times.'”
• “What can I say about [Groom]? I guess I’ll start at the very beginning. He was born on [groom’s birthday]. Our parents were hoping for a girl, but I’ve always said… close enough.”

Here is a genuinely funny opening line from a best brother wedding speech:

Pro Tip : Don’t forget to pause for laughter. If it doesn’t come, you can chuckle at yourself and cue the audience that they are supposed to laugh by saying, “This is where you are supposed to laugh,” or joking, “Sound guy, can you please cue the laugh track?” Then, keep going with your speech.

Don’t worry. You need not be a jokester to give a great opening line. If you want to go the nostalgic or tearjerker route, be sure it is highly personalized and thoughtful. Here are some sentimental opening line ideas:

• “There are friends, and there is family, but friends also become family. This is so true for [Groom] and me. We’ve been best friends since we were X years old, and I’ve always considered him my brother.” 
• “There’s an old Irish proverb that says a good friend is like a four-leaf clover—hard to find and lucky to have. I think that’s true. Good friends are hard to find, and I’m lucky to have called [Groom] my best friend for the last X years.” 
• “I’ve heard that the best relationships come from the foundation of a deep friendship. Experts say that laughter, mutual respect, and enjoying each other’s company are the ingredients for a long-lasting, joyful marriage. After knowing [Groom] and [Bride] for X years, there is no doubt in my mind that they will make a great pair.” 
• “In Good Will Hunting , Robin Williams said, ‘It doesn’t matter if the guy is perfect or the girl is perfect as long as they are perfect for each other.” Anyone who has seen [Groom] and [Bride] together can agree that this is true for them. I haven’t seen a perfect pair, and I’m happy to be part of this celebration of their love.” 

To learn more about the best speech openers, use this guide on How to Start a Speech: The Best (and Worst) Speech Openers . Some top tips include:

• Avoid starting with a lackluster nicety like “thanks for having me.” 
• Don’t mention your nervousness.
• Avoid mentioning technical difficulties like the microphone or saying, “Can you hear me?” 

Bonus Tip: Learn the Art of Stage Presence

Did you know that public speaking is actually a skill? Many people struggle with stage anxiety because they feel they ‘missed the memo’ on public speaking or they are lacking because they do not have a natural stage presence. Not true!

Stage presence and public speaking are skills you need to be taught—very few people have them naturally. 

Watch our video to learn 7 steps to overcome stage fright and beat performance anxiety:

Here are all the aspects of public speaking you can master.

• How to make a first impression with an audience
• How to have stage presence
• Powerful body language
• How to speak with a commanding voice
• What to do with your hands while speaking

For every speaking skill you add to your toolbox, the less speaking anxiety you will feel.

If you want help really diving into your presentation skills, be sure to sign up for our course…

Master Your People Skills

• Create a Memorable Presence
• Communicate with Confidence
• Achieve Your Goals

Have a question about the presentation or People School? Email Science of People support .

#4 Background context

Now that you’ve grabbed the audience’s attention, it’s time to give them a little background on why you are giving a speech in the first place. This is another sneak peek at some details you’ll cover in the speech. 

The whole point of this part is to tell them how you know the groom—but it isn’t about you. You’ll often hear wedding speeches that start with a drab, “I met the groom in college” or, “My name is ___, and I’m the best man.” You can do better than that! Try saying:

• “The groom was the first friend I made on the high school football team. I had no idea we would become roommates in a bachelor pad throughout college.” 
• “As little kids, the groom and I were known to be a dangerous duo in the neighborhood. He always carried the eggs and toilet paper, then instructed me where to throw them. But you can guess who always took the blame for his antics….” 
• “The groom and I have been friends and business partners for X years, and as you’ll hear shortly, he is the main reason I broke my arm during the last office basketball game. But first, I want to tell you a less embarrassing story….” 

Pro Tip : Focus on the groom, and don’t make it about you. One of the biggest mistakes people make during wedding speeches is talking too much about themselves. Your speech shouldn’t discuss where you’re from, what you think, or how you ended up at the party. The best man’s speech is a time to focus on the groom and his bride. 

#5 Tell the story  

After your punchy opening line and background info, it’s time to tell the perfect story about the groom. Depending on the length of your speech and the details of your story, some best man speeches cover 1 to 3 short stories. 

Reference back to the memories you wrote when brainstorming. Pick a story that includes the most of these captivating elements:

• A little bit of embarrassment : Whether it’s you, the groom, or a mutual friend, it helps to poke some fun at someone in the story. If you fear being offensive, the best person to joke about is yourself.  
• Audience member references : You can get major bonus points if you bring wedding guests into the storytelling moment. You might say, “Mom, you might want to close your ears on this one!” or, “Brian, we’re talking about you!” 
• Sensory details : What did the scenery look like? What were the prominent smells, sounds, and tastes at the moment? A great story should make the audience feel like they were with you. Don’t forget to mention the frigid cold lake you jumped into or the outrageously spicy food that left you both panting and crying for water. 
• A final punch line : Ideally, the best story ends with a shocking moment or funny line. It should leave the audience laughing, crying, surprised, or even gasping. For example, in an epic adventure story about you and the groom on a hunting trip, you may end with, “Just as the shark was about to bite the line, Joe reeled in the massive bluefin and yelled, ‘I think we’re gonna need a bigger boat!’”

Pro Tip : If you have to ask, “Is this appropriate?” it probably isn’t. Some stories are better for late-night beers than they are for weddings. Avoid telling stories related to sexual topics, drugs, alcohol, illegal activities, or anything you wouldn’t want grandma to hear. 

#6 Take-home message

When the story finishes, you’ve hopefully elicited some laughter or maybe some tears. All jokes aside, there is a reason you were the best man, and you are probably a significant person to the groom. This is a great time to emphasize the best qualities of the groom and why you’re so happy for his new love. 

Here is an excellent example of tying together the opening and closing lines with a heartfelt message about finding the perfect soul mate:

#7 End your speech with a heartfelt toast

We’ve all heard “let’s raise a glass to [Bride] and [Groom]” before. You can do better than that! The final toast is like the fireworks at the end of your best man speech. Instead of something mediocre, invite the audience to join you in a genuine, thoughtful congratulations. Examples include:

• “Please join me in raising our glasses to the beautiful bride and handsome groom. May your lives together be long, healthy, and happy. We love you so much and are excited for you. Cheers!” 
• “Lift your glasses to thank Mr. and Mrs. [Bride’s Parents] for hosting this beautiful wedding. Let us all toast to the perfect union of the bride and groom. We wish you a bright and beautiful future. Cheers!”
• “Here’s to the past, for all you’ve learned. Here’s to the present for this beautiful moment we all share. Here’s to the future for all you’ve got to look forward to. Cheers to the happy couple!” 

Pro Tip : Make your toast inclusive and communal, so the audience feels like they’re cheering for the couple with you. Use words like “we”, “lets”, and “us”. This congratulation invites them to join as if you are speaking on their behalf. 

#8 Use a best man speech template

A template makes things simple if you’re still feeling uneasy about writing your best man speech. You can take the structure of an example speech and incorporate your ideas and stories to make it your own. 

Best man speech example for a best friend :  

“Tonight, you’ll learn why the groom was destined to marry [Bride]. The year was 2002, and we were all in a bar with friends on New Year’s Eve in New York City. Snow was falling outside, and we were sipping champagne, waiting for the big ball to drop. Seemingly out of nowhere, a woman with a red dress entered the room, and everything seemed to stop. All the bachelors in our group were captivated, but only [Groom] had the guts to walk up to her. Rumor has it that his first opening line was ‘

Everyone talks about a woman’s glow when she’s falling in love, but I swear that [Groom] was smiling from ear to ear from the second they met. We could hardly get him to stop talking about her by the following week. We’d be watching football and drinking beers only to have [Bride’s] name brought up every 5 minutes. 

Fast forward 3 years, and we’ve all seen how much [Bride] has positively impacted his life. When he came to me to tell me he was proposing, my only response was, ‘ Finally, dude !’

There’s something extra special about these two. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. They love and respect each other so much. [Bride] was the one for [Groom] from the second they locked eyes in that hazy NYC bar. We are all so happy to be here for your big day. Let’s raise our glasses to the beautiful bride and groom! Cheers!” 

Another Best man speech example for a best friend :  

“The groom was the first friend I made on the high school basketball team. He wasn’t very good [pause for laughter]. I was the tallest player and obviously had the best free throw, but I was majorly lacking in the ladies department. Thankfully, [Groom] took me under his wing and showed me how to be a true gentleman. That includes opening doors for women and carrying their bags instead of just running in with my own. What would I have done without you, man?

Even though he was no good at basketball, [Groom] always had his head on his shoulders. He’s a respectful, intelligent, and relatively clean-cut guy. All joking aside, it’s no surprise that he ended up with a woman as intelligent and beautiful as [Bride]. You both deserve a lifetime of love, happiness, and success together. Please raise your glasses and join me in congratulating the bride and groom! We love you!” 

#9 Practice your body language

Public speaking isn’t only about what you say but how you carry yourself. Your body language can drastically affect your confidence, your delivery, and how the audience perceives you. Use these body language hacks to take your speech to the next level: 

• Signal “friend” : Smile and show your open palms to send the message that you are the audience’s friend. This makes people feel more comfortable with your presence and more likely to listen.
• Stand up straight : When you look confident, you also feel more confident. Check your posture if your voice is a little shaky before the speech. Roll back your shoulders and tuck your shoulder blades down towards your back. Slightly lift your chest and chin as you speak. 
• Make eye contact: Throughout the speech, you should change your eye contact with different audience members. As you mention specific compliments or thanks, make eye contact with the bride, groom, groomsmen, bridesmaids, and the bride’s father.
• Genuinely smile : Smiling may seem obvious, but it’s easy to forget when you feel so focused on a perfect delivery. At the same time, you don’t want to look like you’re fake smiling throughout the speech. Use these 9 Simple Tips to Smile Better (in any situation!)
• Use your hands : It’s easy to let your nerves get the best of you and feel like a “deer in the headlights.” Instead of tucking your hands in your pockets, widen your stance and take up space. Use your hands and gestures while you talk to show that you are comfortable and happy during the speech. 

Want more tips? Here are 17 Body Language Presentation Cues to Use in Your Next Speech . 

#10 Rehearse before the big day

Experts say you should rehearse a speech 10 times before performing it. Research also shows that people who mentally prepare themselves before a speech by imagining it going well are more likely to perform fluently and easily. So before you get in front of an audience, be sure you’ve gone over your speech at least 10 times, either in your head or out loud. Better yet, practice in the mirror, on camera, or in front of a trusted friend. 

It also helps to review the gist of the speech with the groom (without giving away any secret details) to make sure it’s alright with him. A few weeks before the wedding, you may pull him aside and ask, “Hey man, is it OK if I tell the story about ____ in my best man speech? I think it’ll get some good laughs.” 

Although this example is long, this best man very clearly rehearsed his speech for a near-perfect performance without any notes:

Key Takeaways: Express Gratitude and Sentimentality in 3-5 Minutes

Ultimately, a best man speech is an opportunity to make your best bro look good in front of all his friends and family. Your speech should demonstrate how much you value your brotherhood or friendship. At the same time, you can enjoy 5 minutes of wedding fame without making things all about you. A great toast can make you a memorable celebrity at the wedding and have people laughing at your

Before jumping up at the reception and speaking off the cuff, remember to:

• Outline and plan your speech ahead of time. Use notecards if needed.
• Focus on the groom and his bride. Don’t go on and on about yourself. 
• Nail the opening line with a funny joke, quote, or teaser that leads into a great story. 
• Avoid inappropriate or cringey topics that could embarrass the groom.
• Express gratitude to the groom and wedding hosts. 

Giving a toast or speech is an essential social skill that can make you one of the most likable people in a room. If you want to learn more about the art of giving showstopping toasts, read this guide on How to Give an Awesome Toast: Advanced Strategies for Speeches . 

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Election 2024 live updates: Harris and Trump set for first presidential debate

What to know about tonight's debate

• Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will face off in their first presidential debate together.
• The stakes are high for both candidates: Harris, who entered the race just seven weeks ago, has limited time to define her candidacy and win over voters. Meanwhile, Trump's allies hope that he can stay on message and turn around what has been a rocky summer for his campaign.
• The two campaigns agreed to use the same rules and format as in June's debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, including muted microphones (a rule the Harris campaign had sought to change).
• The debate — hosted by ABC News and simulcast on NBC — is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET and last roughly 90 minutes.
• Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz , will be participating in a watch party in Phoenix after delivering remarks there tonight, while Trump's vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, will attend a watch party in Philadelphia and is expected to join the "spin room," where campaign allies speak to the media, after the debate

One Thing to Watch: Can Trump stick to his campaign's strategy?

Garrett Haake

Reporting from Philadelphia

Trump’s campaign has a well-defined and thoroughly prepped strategy tonight: Define Harris as “dangerously liberal” and unfit to be president. His advisers believe that a tight focus on Harris’ record and past policy statements are the key to victory not just tonight, but in this campaign. 

Sound familiar? 

The challenge for the Trump campaign has long been for Trump, the candidate, to commit to this framework, in which he has often appeared disinterested. Trump doesn’t change. But he does focus. I’m watching to see if he can focus for 90 minutes tonight on Harris’ weaknesses — not his own grievances.

One Thing to Watch: How will the candidates address their vulnerabilities?

Kristen Welker

Tonight, I will be watching to see how each candidate addresses their biggest vulnerabilities on the issues — for Trump that’s abortion, and for Harris it’s her pivots on some key policy positions.

Trump has yet to find a clear answer on where he stands on reproductive rights. For example, last month he suggested he might vote to oppose the Florida abortion amendment which would overturn the state’s six-week ban on abortions. Then the very next day after backlash from anti-abortion advocacy groups, Trump changed course and said he would vote in favor of the amendment while trying to make it clear he still opposes a six-week ban. Similarly in my interview with running mate JD Vance, he told me Trump would veto a national abortion ban if it came to his desk. But when Trump was pressed on whether he would in fact veto such a ban, the former president was vague saying: “You’re never going to have to do it because it’s being done by the states.” 

For her part, Harris has not yet addressed in a detailed way why she has changed course on some key issues for voters. In 2019 when she was running in the Democratic primary for president against progressives like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Harris said she supported a ban on fracking, decriminalizing the border and Medicare for All. But when she joined the Biden ticket, Harris changed course on all of those positions. In the only interview she has given since becoming the nominee Harris explained that her positions may have changed but her “values” have not. With a recent New York Times/Siena College poll  showing  28% of likely voters saying they need to know more about Harris, she will undoubtedly be under pressure tonight to fill-in more of the blanks.

Bottom line — with so few major events left until November, the candidate who emerges looking more presidential tonight, will have a significant dose of momentum heading into the homestretch.

The first, and maybe only, presidential debate between Harris and Trump is set to take place tonight, and it punctuates a frenetic three-month political stretch. NBC’s Peter Alexander reports for TODAY.

One Thing to Watch: Who are the candidates talking to?

One of the things I’ll be looking for tonight at this debate is which voters each candidate goes out of their way to address directly.

Every campaign has a theory about what coalition of voters they need to win. What’s striking is how both campaigns have the same challenges but, so far, appear to be going about their challenges differently. 

Take the small slice of voters who truly are vacillating between the two candidates.  These voters are MOSTLY moderates but not totally. Some are conservative Republicans who simply can’t support Trump due to character issues — the Cheneys are the avatar of this group. Others are very progressive folks who don’t trust either party (Cornell West is trying to appeal to these people) and still others fall into the libertarian column, who may lean right in theory but worry that both parties want to grow government too much and that the Republicans are bit too involved in the country’s personal life.  And, yes, still many truly are centrists and simply looking for reassurance that the most extreme forces of both parties will NOT have too much influence. 

Harris has been targeting these voters more on tone than on substance. She’s simply trying to paint herself in the broad mainstream of politics, using the “turn the page” motto as a way to appeal to both the left-leaning progressives and the disaffected Cheney Republicans.  

The Trump folks have been going after undecided voters differently. They are no longer trying to win these folks over as “pro-Trump.” Instead, their theory is to find more MAGA-inclined supporters from voting groups who normally don’t turn out (think younger single working-class men) and then do what they can to disqualify Harris with this center-left and center-right voters, perhaps simply convincing them to vote third party or skip the presidential. They simply want to deny Harris these voters, even as they don’t fully attempt to win them over as Trump voters.  

Trump’s entire campaign strategy has been trying to make 48% a winning number and that only happens if he can deny Harris the support of what we used to refer to as the “double hater” voter, named after voters who held unfavorable views of BOTH Trump and Biden.

For me, the candidate that is most effective in moving these disgruntled voters in one direction or the other will be who I consider “the winner” of this debate. Ultimately, a debate is won or lost based on whether voters shift, not based on what an individual pundit, partisan or columnist thinks. The way to know whether either has a successful night with this crucial group of voters: look at Harris’ personal rating; do her unfavorables grow or stay the same or shrink? If they grow, it likely means Harris didn’t do enough (or Trump did enough) to convince the skeptical moderates that she isn’t as progressive as Trump is trying to paint her.  If her numbers don’t move much or even slightly improve, it likely means she made progress convincing these voters she’s a safer risk than Trump. 

One more thing to look for, will either candidate admit a mistake. After all, voters fired Trump in 2020 because they thought his first term was a failure. Now, Trump is trying to convince folks that Biden was worse and that in hindsight, his term wasn’t so bad. But normally, a candidate who tries to win an election after losing, does some mea culpa . Trump and mea culpas go together about as well as a mustard and jelly sandwich. But that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t try. As for Harris, the voters decided earlier this year that Biden’s term hasn’t been a success. Obviously, she can’t accept the premise his term was a failure, but she can admit that they got some things wrong and that she’s learned some lessons from it. Does she do this? If so, how will she do it? Does she subtly separate herself from Biden, or do it a bit more dramatically? 

I’m skeptical either will admit any mistake about their time in power, but I do think if one of them did, it could do wonders for them with those former double-hater voters. 

Walz to participate in a virtual debate watch party tonight

Katherine Koretski

Summer Concepcion

Walz said in a post on X that he will participate in a virtual debate watch party tonight from 8:30 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET.

Walz’s press team said he will physically be at a watch party in Phoenix that will be livestreamed for the virtual watch party.

In remarks delivered at a fundraiser for the campaign in Las Vegas, Walz touted Harris as “the most qualified person” for president and slammed Trump as a “showman.”

“Let’s just all be very clear, this is the most qualified person who’s ready to do the job,” he said. “Tonight, we’ll get an opportunity to see that. And as we’re saying, now look, Donald Trump’s a showman, this is his seventh general election debate. No one in modern times has done more of these. The good news is that this is his seventh debate, and we know exactly what to expect.”

Trump-leaning voter says Harris could sway him over with debate performance

Rome Navarro, 22, a Trump-leaning undecided voter who voted for Biden in 2020, told NBC News that Harris still has a chance to win him over if she’s challenged at the debate and fares well.

“I feel like she hasn’t been challenged enough in a lot of these interviews,” he said.

Navarro, who lives in Phoenix and works as an operations specialist, said that if Harris is pushed about issues he is concerned about during the debate and does well, he is open to changing his mind about voting for Trump.

“As long as my concerns get addressed, I’m open to vote for anyone who can address those issues,” he said.

Asked about what issues are important to him that he hopes comes up in the debate, Navarro mentioned inflation and border control.

Navarro, however, predicted that Trump will win the debate because he is not impressed with Harris’ public speaking skills.

“I don’t know if Harris — her public speaking is not too well,” he said. “So Trump’s kind of got her there. And so, I mean, she’s gonna focus on using her notepad and things like that. I think that can screw up and what she’s gonna say and things like that.”

What to watch in a Harris vs. Trump debate focused on substance and style

Peter Nicholas

The presidential debate in June pitted Trump against an enfeebled Biden, who flopped so badly that he was forced to drop out of the race.

The sequel unfolds tonight in Philadelphia, with a much younger Harris hoping to flip the script and expose Trump as the aging candidate unfit to lead.

Trump faces a different challenge. Will he be disciplined enough to forgo the familiar insults and gripes that risk pushing away voters who aren’t part of his loyal base? Can he stick to issues and possibly gain ground by painting Harris as a flip-flopper for having  changed her stances  on health care and energy policies?

For both candidates, the debate hosted by ABC News may be the best chance to seize the advantage in a campaign that polls show is a tossup. The debate starts at 9 p.m. ET, and millions will be watching. There is no bigger stage during the eight-week sprint to Election Day.

Read the full story here.

Congress pays tribute to service members killed in Afghanistan

Dareh Gregorian

One day after House Republicans issued a scathing report on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Congress paid tribute to the 13 American service members who were  killed at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan .

The 13 who lost their lives in a terrorist attack at Abbey Gate were posthumously honored with the body's highest honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, at a ceremony that included remarks from Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and minority leaders Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

"Our nation owes a profound debt of gratitude to these service members," as well as "something deeper, and that is an apology," Johnson said.

"We are sorry. The United States government should have done better to protect our troops," he added.

The 350-page report by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee blamed the Biden administration for the failures of the withdrawal. Democrats and the White House blasted the report as partisan, with the State Department placing much of the blame for the chaos in the final days of the pull-out on the terms of the withdrawal agreement that was approved by Trump.

Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is helping Trump prepare his first debate against Harris in a move that calls back to the 2020 Democratic presidential debate. NBC News’ Monica Alba explains how Gabbard targeted Harris in that debate and how Trump’s team is using that experience.

Other Harris spin room guests include head of abortion group and several governors

Yamiche Alcindor

Monica Alba

Harris' campaign is lining up a series of surrogates to appear in the spin room for her after the debate — the supporters who try to talk up the performance when the debate is over.

Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All, will be among those backing Harris, a source familiar with the plans tells NBC News.

Separately, two other sources familiar with the Harris campaign confirms a list of Democratic governors who will be on hand: Gavin Newsom, of California; Michelle Lujan Grisham, of New Mexico; Josh Shapiro, of Pennsylvania; and Roy Cooper, of North Carolina.

House speaker's government funding gambit likely to fail amid opposition from fellow Republicans

Despite mounting opposition from his own party, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., vowed Tuesday to stay the course and put  his government funding package  on the House floor on Wednesday.

His initial strategy to avert  a government shutdown  at the end of the month is expected to fail and deal House Republicans an embarrassing blow. Due to their paper-thin majority, Republicans can only afford a handful of GOP defections on the vote, and many more than that have publicly voiced their opposition.

But the party’s standard bearer, Donald Trump, has called on Johnson and Republicans to shut down the government if they can’t link a funding bill to  the SAVE Act , which would overhaul voting laws to require people to show  proof of citizenship when registering to vote .

Father of slain Muslim Army captain and retired general to support Harris in the spin room

Khizr Khan, the father of a slain Muslim Army captain who gained national attention by pointedly criticizing Donald Trump during the Democratic National Convention in 2016, will be in the spin room for the Harris campaign, an official with the campaign tells NBC News. Khan endorsed Harris in an interview with NBC News and plans to act as a campaign surrogate for her.

The official also tells NBC News that retired Brigadier General Steven M. Anderson will also be in the spin room for the Harris campaign. Anderson is a Republican retired one-star general and one of several military officials who released a letter yesterday supporting Harris.

Julian Castro says Harris' 'no-nonsense style' is her strength heading into the debate against Trump

Julian Castro, who ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, outlined what he views are Harris’ strengths and Trump’s weaknesses heading into the debate tonight in an opinion piece for MSNBC .

Castro, who served as secretary of housing and urban development in the Obama administration, recalled watching Harris on stage during the first Democratic primary debate in the last election and being impressed by “her command of the moment” as the candidates talked over each other.

“Harris’ poise, her no-nonsense style and her grasp of what voters wanted to know continued to impress me when we shared the stage at more than a dozen candidate forums and three debates in 2019,” Castro wrote on MSNBC.

Castro praised Harris’ ability to “stay on message in even the testiest moments and to make the case against Trump and for herself,” saying that she “undoubtedly sharpened” that skill in her years serving as a local prosecutor, California attorney general, senator and vice president.

“And they will be key in Tuesday night’s debate,” Castro wrote. “Trump regularly lies, hurls insults and stirs chaos in debates to keep himself at the center of attention, smear his opponents and distract voters from his utter lack of policy knowledge.

"Trump, in short, lives for the food fight," he continued, contending that the former president's "nastiness" hasn't gone over well with debate viewers.

Castro added that Harris has a compelling message as the daughter of immigrants and can point to the country's post-pandemic economic recovery during the Biden administration.

Harris' husband, sister and brother-in-law to attend debate

Kelly O'Donnell

Doug Emhoff, Maya Harris and her husband, Tony West, are expected to attend with the VP tonight, a campaign official said.

It's unclear whether Melania Trump will attend.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff to hit Nevada, Arizona and Florida later this week

Ghael Fobes

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will campaign in Henderson, Nevada, on Thursday and deliver remarks in Tucson, Arizona, in the evening, his office announced. On Friday, he will be in central Florida to deliver remarks at a campaign event.

Melania Trump blasts law enforcement response to the Trump assassination attempt in memoir plug

Jillian Frankel

Jake Traylor

Former first lady Melania Trump in a new video plugged her upcoming memoir and criticized law enforcement’s response to the attempted assassination of her husband in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.

“The attempt to end my husband’s life was a horrible, distressing experience,” she said in a video posted to X. “Now, the silence around it feels heavy. I can’t help but wonder why didn’t law enforcement officials arrest the shooter before the speech? There is definitely more to this story. And we need to uncover the truth.”

The former first lady on Sunday posted a video to X narrating a message about what she said were challenges to her husband’s free speech.

“The 2020 election results changed our lives forever. It impacted our quality of life, cost of food, gasoline, safety, and even the geo-political landscape,” she wrote in the post. “America is more divided today than ever before. It has become increasingly apparent that there are significant challenges to free speech as demonstrated by the efforts to silence my husband.”

House and Senate Democrats blast GOP plan to attach proof-of-citizenship bill to government spending

Alexandra Bacallao

Syedah Asghar

Frank Thorp V producer and off-air reporter

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu, both Democrats from California, slammed the chamber's Republican leadership for proposing to advance a bill to require voters to present proof of citizenship along with a measure to extend government spending at current levels to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month.

Calling House Republicans "isolated" and without much support in the Senate for the voting measure, which most Democrats oppose, Aguilar said "we’re going to keep talking to our members, and our members want to avert a government shutdown. ... House Republicans are the only ones that flirt with catastrophe on this side of the dome, and we expect that to continue."

“Members are going to make their their own decisions on where they land on these bills," he said. "But I can tell you, judging by the totality of what is in front of them, this is not a serious piece of legislation, and this is not a good piece of legislation."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also blasted the proposal in remarks on the Senate floor this morning, saying House Republicans were "struggling with a bad case of 'Groundhog Day.'"

"Oh yes, it is certainly 'Groundhog Day' once again, as the Republicans repeat the same mistake they’ve made over and over again, and that is the House Republicans led, unfortunately, by Speaker Johnson," Schumer said.

"As I’ve said, we’ve seen this play out time and time again. Is it any surprise that the speaker’s purely partisan CR seems to be running into trouble?" the majority leader asked, referring to the government spending measure, known as a continuing resolution. "The answer is very simple. The House should stop wasting time on a CR proposal that cannot become law."

Speaker Mike Johnson to advance voter proof-of-citizenship bill with government spending as shutdown looms

Kate Santaliz

House Speaker Mike Johnson. R-La., announced this morning that he’s sticking with his plan to hold a vote tomorrow on a continuing resolution on government spending with a bill to require proof of citizenship to vote attached, despite mounting opposition within his party. 

“Only U.S. citizens should vote in U.S. elections, and the Democrats apparently don’t agree with that," Johnson said at his weekly press conference. "When we put it on the floor in July, 198 House Democrats voted against it. We’re going to give them another opportunity, and I believe we can do both things. I believe we can fund the government responsibly, and I believe that we can do right by the American people and ensure the security of our elections, and I defy anybody to give me any logical argument why we shouldn’t do that.”

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, would require voters to present proof of citizenship, although it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote.

Johnson didn’t rule out the possibility of bringing up the continuing resolution, which would extend government spending at current levels to avoid a lapse in government funding, telling reporters that he won’t “engage in conjecture” when asked if he’ll cave to Democrats’ demands. 

“I am in this to win this,” Johnson said. “This is a conviction I feel deep in my heart. I’ve been a co-sponsor of the SAVE act from the beginning, and I think it’s something we must do. That’s why it’s worth fighting for. I’m not going to engage in conjecture and, you know, try to game out all the outcomes.”

Johnson did not give a direct answer when asked by NBC News after his news conference whether he was willing to shut down the government over the SAVE Act, as Trump has suggested.

“We are going to put the SAVE Act and the CR together, and we’re going to move through that process," he said. "I am resolved to that, and we are not looking at any other alternatives.” 

Harris campaign to host more than 1,300 debate watch parties across the country

The Harris-Walz campaign is set to hold more than 1,300 debate watch parties in all 50 states, with more than 100 planned on college campuses alone, the campaign said in a news release.

Walz is also scheduled to deliver remarks and attend a debate watch party tonight in Phoenix. His wife, Gwen Walz, will attend another watch party in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

The watch parties are part of the campaign’s efforts to mobilize volunteers, with attendees set to make calls to voters in battleground states and share debate content online. The campaign will also host digital creators at watch parties in battleground states to share content with their networks.

The watch parties include more than 300 coalition-specific gatherings such as Republicans for Harris-Walz and Veterans for Harris-Walz events in Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia. Latinos supporting Harris will host house parties such as ¡Fiesta de Mirada del Debate Latino! in Nevada. There will also be events with organized labor such as the Service Employees International Union watch party in Pennsylvania.

“With less than 60 days until Election Day, Team Harris-Walz is turning energy into action. This debate is yet another moment our campaign is using to engage voters and volunteers for the fight ahead," Harris campaign spokesperson Seth Schuster said in a statement. "This will be an incredibly close race. That’s why we are relentlessly mobilizing volunteers across the battlegrounds to activate their friends, families, and neighbors around the clear choice between Vice President Harris’ vision for the future and Donald Trump’s plans to drag us back.”

Harris campaign to bring former Trump officials to the debate

Nnamdi Egwuonwu

The Harris campaign is set to bring former Trump officials Anthony Scaramucci and Olivia Troye to the presidential debate tonight in Philadelphia, where they will speak out against the former president to the press before the debate begins, a campaign official said.

The former Trump officials will act as Harris campaign surrogates at tonight’s debate. Scaramucci briefly served as Trump’s White House communications director. Troye, who warned that Trump was “laying the groundwork to undermine” the November election in her speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, was a homeland security adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence and served as a top aide on the Trump White House’s coronavirus task force.

“Listen, don’t take it from us: Take it from the ones who know Donald Trump the best and who are telling the American people exactly how unfit Trump is to serve as president,” Michael Tyler, the campaign's communications director, said in a statement.

“They saw firsthand the abject failure of Donald Trump’s presidency: the way in which he constantly put himself above the American people, the ease with which he dismissed the rule of law, the embarrassment that he brought to the entire Republican Party," he added.

Harris has gained dozens of Republican endorsements in recent weeks, including prominent vocal Trump critics such as former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney , R-Wyo.

‘You don’t know what to expect’: Trump outlines his biggest challenge in debating Harris

PHILADELPHIA — Trump said the biggest challenge in debating Harris tonight will be that she’s shifted her positions on so many issues.

“You don’t know what to expect. She’s changed all of her policies over the years,” Trump told NBC News in phone interview this morning.

He added, however, that he believes that makes it “easier” to define her in the minds of voters.

“It makes it much easier. She’s no longer believable,” Trump said.

The debate here Tuesday night, sponsored by ABC, is Trump’s second of the 2024 election — but his first against his new opponent. It’s Harris’ first general election debate as a presidential candidate.

Trump enters debate day feeling — in his words — “great.” The former president’s debate preparations have been  far less extensive and structured  than Harris', but he participated in extensive sessions over the past two days, according to a source familiar with the preparations.

Three sources who speak to Trump regularly, including one directly involved in the debate prep process, described Trump as either nervous or disengaged with debate preparation in the past few weeks. But that changed as the debate grew closer, and he’s been much more dialed in.

Bingo! D.C. bars roll out debate-night attractions

Gary Grumbach

Washington, D.C., has long been a place for the chattering class to find a way to participate in the topic du jour — and tonight’s presidential debate is no exception.

Bars and restaurants around the nations capital are stocking up on coconuts and orange juice ahead of tonight’s face-off. Never wanting to miss a cultural moment, Union Pub, a popular hangout for Hill staff just blocks from the Capitol, is selling a $9 “coconut drink” and $10 “orange drink.”

Madhatter in DuPont Circle is offering $5 red, white and blue Jello-shots along with deals on tacos and smash burgers during debate between Trump and Harris.

Interested in playing a drinking game while you watch tonight? Whitlow’s on U Street will be putting together a Bingo game built around both campaign’s buzzwords

Harrison: 'I'm not really worried about the debate'

Ben Kamisar

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison sounded an optimistic note ahead of tonight's presidential debate, framing the election as being about "progress versus chaos" and projecting faith in Harris.

"We need to start treating him like he's not all there, and that's dangerous to this nation," Harrison said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" about Trump.

He went onto say that Harris' "presidential" performance will set the stage for the party to "ride into this November election" by removing any potential questions voters might have about Harris, less than two months into her presidential bid.

As Trump and Harris get ready to debate for the first time, and months after the June debate between Trump and Biden ultimately led to Biden dropping his re-election bid, Harrison preached confidence in Harris. And he advised her to speak directly to the American people and to not "cram so much data in your head that you're trying to remember the data and not listening for the opportunity."

In a DNC strategy memo provided exclusively to NBC News ahead of the presidential debate tonight, DNC Communications Director Rosemary Boeglin said the voters can expect to hear Trump mostly talk about himself, a nod to former President Bill Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention last month calling on voters to not just “count the lies — count the I’s.”

“As Trump takes the debate stage tomorrow night, voters will hear both his I’s and his lies — that reveal more about the motivations behind his extreme Project 2025 agenda than the shameless spin operation he and his campaign are running,” Boeglin wrote in the memo, referring to a proposed agenda for a second Trump term by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which Trump has attempted to dissociate himself from.

“When you hear Trump’s endless lies and I’s tomorrow night, one thing will be clear: he’s in this for himself, NOT for the American people,” she added.

The memo comes on the heels of Harris’ recent remarks saying that she expects Trump is “going to lie” during the debate.

"He plays from this really old and tired playbook — right? There’s no floor for him in terms of how low he will go. And we should be prepared for that,” Harris said in an interview on "The Rickey Smiley Morning Show" that aired yesterday. “We should be prepared for the fact that he is not burdened by telling the truth. And we should be prepared for the fact that he is probably going to speak a lot of untruths.”

Freedom Caucus says 'Good, bye'

After Virginia Rep. Bob Good lost a tight re-election primary, his time as head of the rabble-rousing House Freedom Caucus is coming to a close. The outgoing Republican told fellow members last night that they would hold nominations for a new chair on Friday and that his tenure atop the group would end then.

Good's chairmanship actually diminished the group’s ranks — kicking out Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, because Davidson endorsed his challenger in the primary. That prompted Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, to drop out of the group to show his disapproval. 

The pending leadership change comes amid a government funding fight. The caucus has laid out staunch parameters on it and will need to be in close touch with GOP leadership. 

New Harris-Walz campaign ad features Obama ripping Trump's 'weird obsession' with crowd sizes

A new Harris-Walz campaign ad features former President Barack Obama knocking Trump over his “weird obsession” with crowd sizes during his speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, in which he also made a hand gesture that drew laughter from the crowd.

In the ad, titled “Crowd Size," Obama decries Trump for “whining about his problems” such as his “weird obsession with crowd sizes.” Trump has falsely claimed that Harris has manipulated photos to make crowds at her campaign rallies appear larger.

"This weird obsession with crowd sizes ... it just goes on, and on, and on,” Obama says. “America’s ready for a new chapter. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris.”

In a statement, Harris-Walz communications director Michael Tyler said voters can expect tonight’s presidential debate to “present the stark choice Americans will face at the ballot box: between Vice President Harris who is fighting for the people to make our lives better, and the guy who can’t seem to stop obsessing about himself and the size of his crowds.”

Walz to stump in the Southwest today

Walz will deliver remarks at a campaign reception in Las Vegas at 12:30 p.m. ET and then attend a political engagement in the city.

He is scheduled to arrive in Phoenix at 2 p.m. ET and will join a series of political engagements there in the afternoon before delivering remarks at an event at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Here's where Vance will be today for the debate

Lindsey Pipia

Trump will arrive at the Philadelphia International Airport around 6:30 p.m. ET tonight before the presidential debate at 9 p.m. ET.

Vance will take part in a closed press fundraiser in Greenville, North Carolina, and a closed press debate watch party in Philadelphia hosted by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-chair Lara Trump.

Following the debate, Trump’s running mate is expected to be in the spin room on behalf of the campaign.

N.H. primary to set up key battleground state governor’s race

Adam Edelman

Emma Barnett

New Hampshire voters will head to the polls today for a primary that will set up the matchup for one of just two governor’s races in presidential battleground states this year.

On the Republican side, former Sen. Kelly Ayotte has a substantial polling lead against former state Senate President Chuck Morse in the race to replace outgoing GOP Gov. Chris Sununu. As for the Democrats, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig will face off against Cinde Warmington, a former health care lobbyist and a member of the state’s Executive Council, in what polls show is a relatively close race .

In addition to North Carolina , New Hampshire is the only other swing state to hold a race for governor this election cycle. Reproductive rights, housing costs and the opioid crisis have already emerged as the most prominent themes for the November general election, which the nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter has rated as a “toss-up.”

How Tulsi Gabbard’s big moment with Harris is playing into the debate

Natasha Korecki

It was 2019, and the second Democratic presidential primary debate was unfolding in Detroit when then-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii went for the jugular. 

Gabbard didn’t target Biden, who at the time was the front-runner. 

She turned instead to Harris, then the junior senator from California, and unleashed a bitter attack that took her prosecutorial record apart in detail.

Harris and Trump battle to be the ‘change’ candidate

Mark Murray

It’s not too surprising that the latest national  New York Times/Siena College poll  finds a razor-close contest between Trump and Harris. After all, most national and battleground polls have had the race within the margin of error.

It’s also not surprising that Trump has the advantage on the economy and immigration, while Harris is ahead on abortion, as other polls show.

But what  is  surprising in the survey is that Trump is winning the “change” argument, which could very well be important in deciding this contest between a former president and a sitting vice president. 

Read the full story here .

After 75 days of political upheaval, a changed race prepares for another debate

Alex Seitz-Wald

People who went on summer vacation the day of the last presidential debate might not believe their eyes when they watch the next one.

Tonight’s debate between Harris and Trump is the culmination of 75 days of utter and unprecedented campaign chaos — and the beginning of a 55-day race to Election Day through equally uncharted waters.

“It’s like running a 5K after riding the Tilt-A-Whirl: The world is spinning and you have to quickly figure out which end is up,” said Democratic strategist Jared Leopold.

What to watch in a Harris-vs.-Trump debate focused on substance and style

Trump faces a different challenge. Will he be disciplined enough to forgo the familiar insults and gripes that risk pushing away voters who aren’t part of his loyal base? Can he stick to issues and possibly gain ground by painting Harris as a flip-flopper for having changed her stances on health care and energy policies?

Trump allies hope the debate will turn the page from Harris’ ‘honeymoon’

Katherine Doyle

Allies of Trump see tonight’s debate as a pivotal moment for the Republican presidential nominee — a chance to shore up support and turn the corner from Harris’ post-nomination “honeymoon.”

“Failure would give people permission to leave,” said a former adviser, adding that Trump must clear a bar set by his own performance against Hillary Clinton in the second presidential debate of 2016, when he was seen as taking her to task on policy issues and skipped the rage-infused language of his stump speech.

Democrats to target voters on Philly college campuses ahead of debate

Marquise Francis

The Democratic National Committee plans a large youth voter push in Philadelphia today by urging area college students to “Google Project 2025” in a concerted effort to energize Gen Z registered voters ahead of the presidential debate, according to a memo shared first with NBC News.

The DNC plans to target 100,000 students through campus kiosks, mobile billboards and flyers tying Trump to Project 2025 , an outline of far-right policy proposals created as a blueprint for the next Republican president.

“Young people in Philadelphia have the power to make a difference in this election,” DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman said in a statement. “As students in Philadelphia return to campus, Democrats are making sure they know that their future hangs in the balance this November.”

The campus kiosks will appear at Drexel University, Lafayette College, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania and Widener University with material arguing that Project 2025 would negatively affect students’ lives.

Trump has  publicly denied  any knowledge about Project 2025 on several occasions.

The latest  NBC News Stay Tuned Gen Z Poll found that half of  Gen Z voters say  they’ll vote for Harris in November, while one-third say they’ll vote for Trump.