You might find a one-minute speech awkward, because it is too long to talk off the top of your head and too short to deliver like a full-length presentation. You might write out a full speech, which looks like a good idea on paper but turns out to sound unnatural. Or you try to speak extempore, and your one point disappears before the minute is up. An effective approach is to draft a speech outline.
Start with one point. Not a subject, but the specific idea you want the audience to hear. “Teamwork” is a subject, whereas “Clear roles are the foundation of effective teamwork” is a point. That distinction is crucial in one minute, because you will not have room to develop multiple, competing ideas. Narrowing the point makes it easier to develop an opening, an example, and a close.
Develop a three-part structure: an opening, an example, and a close. The opening says something about your topic. The example gives substance to the point. The close restates the point so you can finish, rather than just say that’s all or, well, that’s it. For one minute, you might have three lines of notes, like: The point is, The example was, so remember that.
Read the outline out loud. Put your phone on the one-minute timer and, without trying to correct yourself, read out loud. This first run is not for perfection, but for finding structural problems. For instance, the opening is too general or the example drags too long or the close is abrupt. None of these are fatal, and you should welcome them.
Choose two spots in the speech to pause. One should occur after you have made the point, giving listeners time to understand. The other should occur right before the close, making the point sound deliberate and intentional. Pauses are useful for those with nervous tendencies to speak too quickly. If we fill every void with um, like, and so, we lose the natural rhythm, which makes the speech less interesting, not more. Pausing is preferable, especially if you are in a rush.
Keep the outline simple. Long sentences can tempt you to read. Single words might seem too general to a nervous speaker. The middle ground is useful, using short phrases such as, “Roles,” “Example from group work,” “So remember.” That is helpful if you have forgotten what you were saying, because the outline reminds you rather than the outline. The outline is there to help you follow your point, rather than to keep you from memorizing it.
One way to judge the progress of your speech is to listen for whether the speech has a clear arc. Could someone hear the speech and repeat your point? Did the example support the point or is it just a random story? Did you slow down toward the end or speed up in a hurry to say that’s all? Improving the one minute is not a matter of trying to get the speech right but of answering those questions at each rehearsal. One minute speech is not a question of making the speech perfect, but of making the speech clearer to follow, from the first line to the last pause.