How to write a world-changing speech in 6 days

I do a ton of public speaking at my job.

And I’m going to be honest with you…

It’s still terrifying. 🫣

And while the nerves will probably never completely go away, it’s a skill I’ve gotten much better at over time.

Most public speaking is persuasive – you’re trying to convince your audience to take action on a particular idea. Whether you're addressing a small team of investors, or speaking to a packed auditorium, the pressure to connect and communicate effectively is ever-present.

But here's the thing: public speaking doesn't have to be a dreaded experience.

In fact, it can be an incredibly empowering and rewarding skill to master.

This is what we teach our students. 👇

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How a high-schooler got the attention of the United Nations

In March, BETA Camp alumna Diya Kalia was invited to speak before policymakers at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

(Fun fact: she’s not the only BETA Camp alum to speak in front of world leaders!)

She was asked to share her story as a girl in STEM, a field in which women and girls have consistently been underrepresented.

Up to that moment, she’d already been fighting to get more girls in STEM for several years:

🧪 As a teen ambassador for the Canadian Association of Girls in Science

✍️ By writing an article to help educate girls about STEM role models

⭐ As the operations manager at her local Girl Up chapter, which focuses on advancing gender equality

So how did Diya know that this was where she wanted to spend so much of her energy?

“It was nothing I ever set out specifically to do,” says Diya.

As a kid, she’d attended a summer camp on aviation, where she was one of only four girls in attendance.

“That was the first time I realized what it’s like to be a woman in STEM,” says Diya. “And then I started to learn it wasn’t a one-off thing. Fewer girls were in my coding clubs or in computer science camps.”

So Diya decided to change that.

And a few years later, Diya found out she’d have a chance to speak directly to policymakers at the UN:

“I got the email and then I jumped out of my room and I screamed to my parents, ‘I’m going to be speaking at the United Nations!’” recalls Diya.

She was thrilled, and also a little nervous — she needed to come up with a ten-minute speech, something she’d never done before.

Oh, and she only had six days. 🤯

The pressure was on…

Most people fear public speaking more than death. No, I’m not making that up.

Where does this fear come from? Scientists trace it back to a prehistoric fear of being watched:

“Humans perceived eyes watching us as an existential threat. Those eyes were likely predators.” 👀

Enter our body’s fight-or-flight response, making it all the more difficult to:

• Connect with the audience

• Speak slowly, clearly, and confidently

• Remember what we came here to say in the first place!

That’s why many speakers get help from professional speechwriters. And most speechwriters spend dozens of hours perfecting their speeches.

But after writing her speech herself in just six days, Diya got a crash course in writing (and delivering!) speeches.

Here are her best tips for how kids can give a killer speech: 👇

Know your audience (and yourself)

Your speech is going to depend on two key factors:

• Who your audience is

• Who you are (your unique perspective, stories, and gifts)

Before you start writing your speech, ask yourself: What can I teach my audience that they don’t already know? 🤔

For Diya, this meant not using a single statistic in her speech:

“They’re all very well-versed in statistics, they’ve been at this conference for days,” says Diya. “I felt like what was special about me was my personal experience as a girl in STEM in 2023.”

Ali Abdaal, whose YouTube channel boasts over 4.77m subscribers, suggests letting your personality shine through:

“When you’re your own unapologetically weird self, the audience really appreciates that,” says Ali.

What’s the big idea?

“If there’s one idea that your audience leaves with, what do you want that to be?” asks Diya.

Here are some examples:

👉 For the UN speech: “It’s not just me. Girls everywhere are facing barriers to entering STEM.”

👉 For a panel in front of a group of parents: “Your kids’ interests are important, and you have to find ways to cultivate them so they feel confident and have the skills they need for the future.”

As you can see, your thesis depends on your audience.

This is what renowned MIT professor Patrick Winston (whose lecture “How to Speak” has over 16m views on YouTube) called an empowerment promise:

“You want to tell people what they're going to know at the end of the hour that they didn't know at the beginning of the hour… It's the reason for being here.”

Create your first draft

“Get a notebook and sit down for 30 minutes and brain dump everything that’s important to you,” suggests Diya.

• Next, go through your notes.

• Find similarities and group your ideas together.

• These groups will become your main talking points. 👏

At this point, you might realize your thesis needs to change.

“That happens 100% of the time,” says Diya. “The thesis you start out with is never the one you end up delivering!”

Once you’ve revised your thesis, start playing with how these ideas relate to one another. This will help you transition between them.

After all that work, you’ll have your first draft! 📄

Bring in an outside opinion

Audience attention is fickle, to say the least:

What can you do to avoid losing most of your audience before the ten-minute mark?

Bring in a friend. 🙋

Diya suggests asking your parents or getting a friend on the phone and reading out some of your ideas:

“Sometimes something that sounds really good in your head isn’t actually that good,” she says.

The only way to know what will work is by testing it out on a real audience.

Study great speeches

If you want to give a great speech, pull inspiration from great speakers. 🗣️

Writer James Clear has a list of “Great Talks Most People Have Never Heard” that we highly suggest checking out.

After watching these presentations, ask yourself:

• What made this so engaging?

• How does it compare to other presentations you’ve seen?

• Is there anything you might want to add to your speech after watching this?

Emulate the speakers you most relate to – there’s no need to reinvent the wheel!

Successful people know how to communicate their ideas and get others on board. You must be able to both do the work and present the work.

"Being able to present to people who I know could make a difference was a great opportunity," says Diya.

That’s why knowing how to give a good speech is about more than just about impressing an audience — it’s a critical life skill!

Until next time,

Ivy

CEO Prequel, BETA Camp, Apollo

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