Speech impact: 8 must-do moves to create a ripple effect

Are you eager to deliver a speech that creates a ripple effect — in your company, industry or community — long after your speech is over?

Learn what makes a speech memorable beyond the moment.

Use the checklist in this post to design your next speech to deliver the outcomes you seek — and drive speech impact.

A great speech is far more than a fleeting moment on stage. Instead, a great speech can set a ripple effect in motion, creating a profound impact not just today, but in the weeks, months and maybe even years ahead.

Speech impact can be lasting, actionable and measurable. Here are eight must-do moves you can make to create a ripple effect with your next speech.

1 – Decide upfront: After you speak, what will be DIFFERENT for the audience tomorrow?

Next week?

Next month?

Next quarter?

Next year?

Be specific because outcomes can accumulate — and accelerate — over time.

Examples:

Different tomorrow: People trust the speaker, believe the message and feel motivated to act.
Different next week: People are sharing your idea in hallway conversations and discussing it with their teams.
Different next month: People are making small changes to test your idea.
Different next quarter: People are participating in a new initiative launched on a bigger scale.
Different next year: People are evaluating results and adopting a new standard based on your idea.

Remember: The strongest speech impact shows up in what people remember, repeat and do after the speech is over.

2 – Own it: Say something only YOU can say.

Share a perspective, story or hard-won lesson from your experience that no one else can claim as their own.

Personal storytelling that sparks engagement and movement makes what you say sticky — memorable! — and in the end, actionable.

Example from a Cicero Speechwriting Award-winning speech:

“Courage,” (said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), is the “inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles.”

In 1977, it took courage for my family to become the first Black family in an exclusive, all-white neighborhood in Decatur, Georgia.

Right after we moved in, the Homeowners Association made a few changes. First, they took us to court just for moving in; then, they banned us from our neighborhood swimming pool because we were Black. …

Despite the obstacles in our neighborhood, my parents — college students in the ’60s who marched with Dr. King — found courage inside themselves to go forward. Persist! And initiate a change.

In the end, what the speaker shared is actionable:

Inspired by the courage of Dr. King, whenever we feel tempted to “surrender to our circumstances” — “to stay silent,” “to sit by,” “to wait” — we can ask the question Dr. King asked himself many times: “Is it right?”

And if you feel it is NOT right, the next logical question to ask yourself is this:

“Do I have the courage to DO SOMETHING about it?”

3 – Have a RALLY CRY: the single, repeatable message that anchors your entire speech.

Decide on a single message that everyone in the room can remember and repeat so your rally cry can begin to spread.

Examples from Cicero Speechwriting Award-winning speeches:

We need to double down on mentoring: double down on our commitment to help each other get better.
We need laws that shine a new light on adoption, and make adoption easier for birth mothers, so more women choose it.
This is your moment — now is your time — to be the catalysts to narrow our divide and heal our nation.

4 – Add other REPEATABLE words and phrases throughout your speech that support your rally cry.

Be intentional — and precise — with the words you choose so listeners hear patterns they can follow, remember and repeat.

Examples from Cicero Speechwriting Award-winning speeches:

You need to get more curious about people. … You need to get more curious about data. … You need to get more curious about what is not working well — and why.

Before you can grow and take more profitable market share, you need to have a growth mindset. … If you want to grow and take more profitable market share, the processes at your company must be the best and ready to scale. … To grow and take more profitable market share, you have to be able to innovate. …
Heroes demonstrate courage, selflessness, and moral fortitude in the face of adversity. Heroes are driven by a bigger purpose — a higher calling. Heroes go above and beyond the expectations of society to make a positive impact — an extraordinary impact! — on the lives of others. Which is why hero is a fitting title for every birth mother, who puts the needs of the child far above her own.

5 – GROUND your speech to this audience, this event, this place, this moment in time.

Meet the expectations of your audience today. Why does what you say matter right now?

Example from an anniversary speech:

Five years ago, when mom and dad celebrated their 60th anniversary, we talked about the diamond — the traditional symbol for 60 years of marriage.

We talked about the brilliance of a diamond: its twinkle and sparkle. And we talked about the strength of a diamond: its durable, everlasting bonds.

Bright luster, strong bonds, at 60 years. Enduring love! How can it possibly get any better than that five years later, at 65 years?

Well, it does.

In case you don’t know, the deep blue sapphire is the traditional symbol for 65 years of marriage because it represents the depth of wisdom, the depth of faithfulness, the depth of harmony that can only be achieved through so many years together.

In other words, moving from a diamond anniversary to a deep blue, sapphire anniversary is about deepening rather than just enduring. Because a deepening love goes even further than an enduring love.

The audience will connect their experience today to what you have asked them to do tomorrow and beyond.

6 – Build URGENCY into your CALL TO ACTION that’s tied to this particular moment.

To maximize speech impact, be sure to name the stakes, provide context and be clear about what to do next.

Example of a call to action from a Cicero Speechwriting Award-winning speech celebrating Women’s History Month:

Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the most influential first ladies in our nation’s history, used her voice, understood her impact and chose many times to Speak Up.

Eleanor Roosevelt said this: “The choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.”

And so I’d like to leave you with two important questions:

How will YOU choose to respond the next time you hear a woman’s voice taken as a whisper — reframed and reclaimed by someone else?
How will YOU choose to respond the next time you hear a woman’s voice simply dismissed?

The choices YOU make are ultimately YOUR responsibility.

7 – Beyond the audience in this room: Decide WHO ELSE needs to hear what you have to say.

Then determine how you will get this message to these other audiences.

Examples:

Will you take the time to identify other groups, organizations, events or communities where your message needs to be heard — and volunteer to deliver a presentation tailored specifically for them?
Will you invite each person in the audience to share your message through their own words, actions and channels?
Will you ask attendees to introduce you to another organization that needs to hear what you have to say?

8 – After the speech is over: AMPLIFY your message to ensure it begins to create a ripple effect.

Embrace the chance to keep talking about what you’ve just talked about.

Examples:

Host a one-on-one discussion after the event
Share a recording of your remarks with people who could not attend
Send short video clips of key moments, or quote graphics of takeaways or steps, in a series of social media posts
Provide a resource — a flyer or handout — that makes it easy for people in the audience to pass your message along
Reinforce and extend your message in blog posts, intranet articles, newsletters and team update meetings
Continue the conversation in a podcast episode