--- title: 10 Rules to Follow Before Giving a Speech description: Never speak before the main course in a dinner speech canonical: https://time.com/3773795/10-rules-utilize-speeches/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-24T11:00:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:19:55.333Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 10 Rules to Follow Before Giving a Speech og:description: Never speak before the main course in a dinner speech og:url: https://time.com/3773795/10-rules-utilize-speeches/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte65c42b8faa6032e/698786f60b72e376036de86f/476806693-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: public-speaking-theater og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 10 Rules to Follow Before Giving a Speech twitter:description: Never speak before the main course in a dinner speech twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte65c42b8faa6032e/698786f60b72e376036de86f/476806693-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 10 Rules to Follow Before Giving a Speech by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Apr 24, 2015 11:00 AM UTC  Performer on stage in theater Performer on stage in theaterGetty Images by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Apr 24, 2015 11:00 AM UTC From [5 tips to present like Steve Jobs](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/09/5-tips-to-present-like-steve-jobs/) and [what you can do in the first 60 seconds of a presentation to aid your ability to persuade](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2010/06/what-you-can-do-in-the-first-60-seconds-of-a-presentation-to-aid-your-ability-to-persuade/) to [the art of telling stories through presentations](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2012/02/the-art-of-storytelling-through-presentations/), we’ve talked a lot about presentations. To this growing pool of advice we can add Seymour Schulich’s Ten Rules to Utilize found in [Get Smarter: Life and Business Lessons](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1552639428/farnamstreet-20): 1\. Be Brief: --- > “” --- 2\. Try to communicate one main idea: --- > “” --- 3\. Create a surprise: --- > “” --- 4\. Use humour: --- > “” --- 5\. Slow it down: --- > “” --- 6\. Use cue cards and look up often: --- > “” --- 7\. Self-praise is no honour: --- > “” --- 8\. Never speak before the main course in a dinner speech: --- > “” --- 9\. Reuse good material: --- > “” --- 10\. Use positive body language: --- > “” --- [Get Smarter: Life and Business Lessons](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1552639428/farnamstreet-20) is full of life advice from one of Canada’s most successful businessmen. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/)**_._** **Join over 50,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3773795/10-rules-utilize-speeches/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3773795/10-rules-utilize-speeches/"},"headline":"10 Rules to Follow Before Giving a Speech","datePublished":"2015-04-24T11:00:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:19:55.333Z","description":"Never speak before the main course in a dinner speech","url":"https://time.com/3773795/10-rules-utilize-speeches/","keywords":["Etiquette"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte65c42b8faa6032e/698786f60b72e376036de86f/476806693-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte65c42b8faa6032e/698786f60b72e376036de86f/476806693-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"public-speaking-theater","caption":"public-speaking-theater","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/etiquette/","name":"Etiquette"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3773795/10-rules-utilize-speeches/","name":"10 Rules to Follow Before Giving a Speech"}}]}] ```