This would have been timelier posted on this past Monday as a form of recognition for Martin Luther King Day, but, as in any worthwhile thing, there is no time like the present. At the start of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, King stated his case boldly and for all levels of society to hear and understand. In an article found in the London Times authored by Simon Maier and Jeremy Kourdi this speech and this man demonstrate techniques that are helpful for the times when one has to make a presentation that will motivate your listeners to productive action.

Whatever your stage skills (and we all have some), hone them: King had a physically commanding presence. Strong, energetic, tall and broad, he possessed a deep, sonorous voice that had the power to project his message with clarity and authority across America.

Build a powerful rhythm and cadence, using tone and language: King’s speeches had a strong, driving rhythm that was almost musical. It drew the listener in. It comforted and then excited. This came from his speeches’ structure, the tone and use of language. For example, “I have a dream today” is one of several sentences that are repeated at regular intervals in the speech. Like a chorus in a song, it becomes a familiar refrain that people can, and want to, repeat and remember.

Provide a specific, compelling, exciting but truthful vision of the future: King was inclusive, with a message that had an appeal as wide as it was deep. The images and vision of the future invoked by him were powerful and universal.

Know and respect your audience: King understood that his audience passionately wanted progress and change and that they were peaceful, ordinary people. He projected this normality as a stirring and virtuous stand, for example by saying: “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”

Use metaphors and familiar, appealing images: King dipped into the natural world as well as the Bible to find stirring, evocative popular images. For example: “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.” And: “We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream”. The images express power: the energy of the Sun, the force of a torrent. The point he is making is that his ideas are both natural and inexorable. The language is superb and soaring.