How to Make Your Speech Sound Like Music with John Watkis.

Welcome to Public Speaking with Peter George. Do you want to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then stay tuned as we discuss public speaking tips, techniques, and tactics that help you increase your impact, influence, and income.

John Watkis is a high-stakes performance coach, professional speaker, voiceover artist, and award-winning performer. He is the author of Speaking Notes: The Eight Essential Elements to Make Your Speech Music to Their Ears and the first Canadian-born actor to play Mufasa in the Disney musical The Lion King. With more than two decades of experience developing speeches and workshops for clients in seven countries, he helps speakers steal the spotlight when they stand up to speak. Here's my conversation with John Watkis.

How a Client's P.S. Sparked an Entire Framework

John: A client I'd written a speech for sent me an email saying everyone loved it. At the end, she added a P.S.: "Do you play a musical instrument?" She'd been told long ago that if you're going to hire a speechwriter, make sure they're musical — because a speech is meant to be heard, not read. Like music, it should have highs and lows, pauses, rhythm, and timing. She felt my speech had all those elements. That question sent me on a research journey. I studied the composition of music and analyzed the greatest speeches in history. That's when I found the eight essential elements that appear in both.

Element One — The Chorus

John: The first element is the chorus: the central focus your speech keeps returning to. You should be able to sum up what your talk is about in one word, one phrase, or one sentence. Think about how often you walk away from a talk not knowing what it was about. That's a speech without a chorus. In music, the chorus is the part you keep going back to — in a speech, it works the same way. You repeat it throughout, connecting every main point back to it.

Peter: I teach my clients to include a repeatable phrase. The most obvious example is "I have a dream." You can expound on the dream, but it anchors everything.

John: Exactly. If you weren't there and someone asked what the talk was about, can they say it? That is the key — and it's missed because speakers pack in so much detail that they never land on the one chord they should be hitting repeatedly.

Element Two — The Hook

John: A hook is the part of a speech the audience will keep repeating. Think of music first: there's a part every person sings even if they know nothing else. "Sweet Caroline" — and everyone knows what comes next. In speeches, hooks include "Give me liberty or give me death" and "Ask not what your country can do for you." These are phrases that catch the ear and stay there. You can create hooks through antithesis — putting two words or phrases in opposition — or through alliteration. When I talk about a successful speech, I say it's one your audience will remember, repeat, and respond to. I return to that phrase throughout the talk. That's my hook.

How to Make a "Boring" Topic Engaging

John: If you think your presentation is boring, you are going to bore the people listening. You have to find the interesting angle. The way you take a subject that seems boring and make it exciting is to show either the consequences of not knowing the information, or the benefits of learning it. Take labor law — sounds dull. But if someone in HR didn't know a specific law and the company was sued for an enormous sum, suddenly that topic is urgent. Show what's at stake and you can make any subject compelling.

The Biggest Mistake — Canned Speeches

John: Canned speeches are a huge problem. Some people deliver the same speech so precisely that they cry at the exact same moment every time. It's so choreographed it's no longer natural. A speech should be flexible and adaptable. If something happens in the room, if something has changed, you need to be able to adjust. The speaker who walks in and says "Good morning — I can't hear you!" the morning after a big party is going to have instant enemies. You have to meet people where they are.

Handling a Resistant Audience — Mental Chess

John: I developed a process I call mental chess. In chess, the key to winning is thinking about your opponent's moves, not just your own. If I move here, how will they respond? You can apply that to your presentation. If I make this statement based on what they believe, how are they going to react? Now you're on the other side of the chessboard, seeing it from their perspective. And then you say it — you state their point of view as well as they would. The mistake most speakers make is following that with "but." When you say "but," everything before it disappears. Instead, use "and." I can see why you feel that way. And another way of looking at this is — now you've reduced resistance without dismissing them.

Always Close with a Call to Action

John: One of the biggest mistakes presenters make is thinking that giving information is sufficient — that people will know what to do with it. They don't. People have different backgrounds, different experiences. They won't process your message the same way you do. You have to tell them what you want them to do. A standing ovation doesn't tell you the speech was successful. Success is when someone remembers what you said, repeats it to someone else, and takes action based on it. That's the measure.

Peter: John, where can listeners learn more about you?

John: The easiest place to find me is johnwatkis.com — W-A-T-K-I-S. You can also find me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter at John Watkis.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Public Speaking with Peter George. Are you ready to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then visit petergeorgepublicspeaking.com and let's make it happen. I'll see you next time.