Skip to main content

That Role Called Speaker

How to prepare and memorize a speech 


Awesome, you've been assigned to speak! Ideally, you will have at least 3 weeks to prepare. Taking a 3 weeks prep time as a sample, this is how to use my speech prep formula:

Week 1

  1. Review speech objectives in the manual – this will influence the topic you choose.
  2. Once you have your topic, you'll need to focus in on a single facet and consider what message you want to convey.
  3. Ideate and hone your message and then start typing out your speech -- keeping within your speech timeframe. Typical speech lengths are 4-6 mins, 5-7 mins, 7-9 minutes. Target the middle minute – for example, for a 4-6 minute speech, target for the 5 minute mark. Target for 4 and you may risk ending too early or not developing your message enough. Target for 6 and you might go over. 
  4. A logical breakout of that 5 minutes is: 1 minute intro, 3 minute body, 1 minute conclusion. 
  5. For reference, a minute translated to word count is roughly 100 typed words per minute (for me, personally). So for a 5 minute target, it would be a roughly 500 word speech. Based on how slow or fast people talk, this count may fluctuate!
  6. I like to use PowerPoint to construct my speeches. For this 5 minute speech example, I might create 3 squares – one each for my intro, body and conclusion and label them as such. Sometimes, I might break out my 3 minutes of body content into smaller chunks which helps with memorizing transitions between thoughts.
  7. Now start filling in your squares! Fill in your introduction, keeping to roughly 100 words...etc.
  8. Once all squares are filled in and in a good state, use a voice recorder app to record yourself as you read your speech. You do this for a few reasons: to make sure you are within your target time frame, to hear if you are emphasizing the rights words/phrases and overall you'll most likely find things to tweak after listening to yourself say them aloud. Once you're satisfied with how it's shaping up, it's most likely week two.

Week 2  

  1. Start to practice, a lot! Think it to yourself and say aloud everywhere you go, in the shower, in the car driving, while doing yoga. You'll eventually stop referring to your typed notes because you've started to memorize it.
  2. Live it, breathe it! It's important to know your story inside and out so that it becomes part of you. This will make you feel more confident because you've prepared and you're ready to deliver it to it's fullest potential!

Week 3

  1. Start to say it out aloud more often, practicing your vocal variety and body language.
  2. If you can, practice it in front of someone like your mentor or a friend.

I hope this formula makes it easier for you to dive into speaking. Having a framework is always helpful, especially when just starting out. Good luck!
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Idea generation

Explore books related to generating new ideas The Psychology Book , DK This is a book that isn't a cover novel but a reference if you are looking for something interesting to talk about in terms of human behavior. Referring to this book is a great way to read up psychology studies in a brief fashion.  It starts at the beginning to philosophical times before scientific approaches emerged. Towards the end, it goes into fields of psychology that are relatively new such as optimistic psychology, social psychology, and logotherapy.  50 Psychology Classics , Tom Butler - Bowden This book covers the top 50 most influential studies in psychology, which is what is discussed in your typical psych 101 courses. Not meant to be a cover to cover read but as a reference for ideas, or genuine interest. Studies learned in this book and "the psychology book" can be applied in real life context. Overall this is a useful guide. 48 Laws Of Power , Robert Greene Hard to read...
Read more

Speech crafting & delivery dynamics

Explore books related to crafting a speech and delivering with dynamism Trivium , Wooden Books This book is a part of a four series of nonfiction novels(Quadrivium, Sciencia, Designa, and trivium). Liberal arts based books that talks about grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Not really meant to gain ideas, but helps for people to understand the fundamentals of spoken language. If you do decide to pick up this book, skip over the poetry section, it doesn't provide much unless you are actually writing a poem.  Language, Cognition, and Human Nature , Steven Pinker This book is for people who are proficient readers and are really looking into how language connects to cognition, social relationships, child development, human evolution, and theories of human nature. It is not a book for your typical audience, it is just a mere collection of 13 essays each outlining broad topics. It can be dry and tedious but if you are a linguistic enthusiast this could be a book of your liking....
Read more

The Awesome Power of Storytelling

Image by Виктория Бородинова from Pixabay Sometimes, precious gems can be found in places where you might not think to look. Ross Morrissey (President) and I discovered such a treasure by chance at the Mill Creek Retirement Center (where our meetings are held) last November. The precious gem we ran into was Carol E. Titus, who was a Story Weaver with the  New Jersey Storytelling Network . Of course, we  had  to invite her to speak at one of our meetings! On December 3rd, she graced us with a thought-provoking and captivating storytelling workshop. Not only did we learn the importance of using vivid words but also how telling a story creates a bond between the speaker and the audience  and  between audience members.  It was an enjoyable experience!   When I first met Ms. Carol, she made a comment that stuck with me. She said that audience members aren't looking at the speaker but picturing what the speaker is saying inside their heads. ...
Read more