Any Given Tuesday: 5 Keys to a Great Speech

What makes a great speech?

While there is no single answer to that question, I’ve found some of the best speeches offer unique insight into the speaker’s life — and leave you assessing your own.

And so it goes with the speech Los Angeles Rams lineman Andrew Whitworth delivered after recently receiving the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

In just under six minutes, Whitworth provided a master class in framing a speech with lasting impact.

Here are five things he did right:

He made it seem easy…when it’s anything but: Watching this speech, you can get the impression that Whitworth is speaking impromptu. I suspect the reality is that he wrote, revised and rehearsed his remarks relentlessly so when his moment arrived, he was prepared to deliver his thoughts with ease, humility and maximum impact. It worked.

He showed gratitude, strategically: Many an Oscars speech has gone off the rails with winners chewing up time thanking a laundry list of people who got them there. That’s swell for the 50 people who heard their names for a fleeting instance, but it’s a channel-flipper for a few million others. Whitworth fittingly opened by thanking his wife, Melissa, as well as the Rams owner and the Los Angeles Rams organization. But then he pivoted to thanking us -- the fans and communities that allow people like him to make a career out of playing a “kids game.” Far better to thank 50 million folks you’ve never met than 50 friends and family.

He used the show-don’t-tell magic: For the emotional apex of his speech, Whitworth invited us onto the football field where we could clearly picture in our minds a young player from the Detroit Lions sprinting across the field toward him at the end of a game this season. The player proceeds to thank Whitworth for making a difference in his life years back when he offered encouragement and advice at the Boys & Girls club in Cincinnati. By ‘seeing’ those moments, we can then feel them more deeply.

He shows he’s human: When sharing that story, Whitworth made a simple but powerful confession: On that Tuesday afternoon way back when he would have rather been at home resting up and recovering from Sunday’s game than going to meet with a few kids at the Boys & Girls Club. Taking the time to make a difference in other lives isn’t always easy, and there’s always an excuse to justify why not. The fact that Whitworth acknowledged this shows he wrestles with the same challenges as everyone else. And that if you power through them, there’s no telling what you can achieve.

He made his speech a call to action: Ultimately, Whitworth’s speech wasn’t about him. Rather it was about inspiring others to make a difference by leading and investing their time, money or voices to positively influence others. I was left considering who — if anyone — might be compelled to sprint up to me someday. And that I might want to reconsider how I spend my Tuesday afternoons.

Touchdown.