WOW – what a firestorm Part One ignited. You’ll recall I suggested that your presentation, whether to a large audience, a small group or a one-on-one sales presentation, should be memorized. Realizing that would bring up certain objections/questions, I alluded to those in the article with the hope I could get to them in due course. But responses were immediate and several left no doubt that the fears I mentioned might be a concern…were indeed a concern.
So, I’m having to “call an audible” here and assure everyone that having your presentation memorized does not mean that you:
- Will sound like a robot; that people will know it’s memorized. Actually, just the opposite. When you realllly know it to the point it becomes part of you, you’ll be able to totally relax instead of worrying in the back of your mind that you might forget something important. And, it appears to your audience to be as natural as it now is.
- Cannot interact with audience and/or respond to individual audience situations, questions, challenges. Again, the opposite is true. A (truly) memorized presentation allows you to focus on the audience instead of yourself because you never have to worry about being thrown “off track.” It allows you flexibility.
- Are phony. Again, when you realllly know your material you get to come from total authenticity, just as the musician who has rehearsed for countless hours plays that instrument directly from his or her heart instead of having to consciously consider every note.
Memorizing your presentation does not constrict you; it frees you. There is freedom in knowing your material so well that you can test new material, answer questions, read your audience, have fun, relate, get thrown off by outside circumstances and be able to come right back to where you were. You are able to truly connect because you can now focus 100 percent on them and not on yourself and your presentation.
More than anything though, is (in my opinion), the following huge benefit:
Because you know the material so well, rather than having to focus on yourself, you can focus on bringing ultimate value to your audience, whether large or small group, or the one person right in front of you who can most benefit from owning your product, service or the valuable ideas you desire to communicate.
Does this make sense or are the same concerns still present? I truly want to know your thoughts.
Enjoy this post? Receive an update when our next post is published by entering your best email address below and clicking Get Updates.
I’m with you Bob. Knowing your presentation dead cold word for word gives you the freedom to make it live and fresh with every new prospect. But you know what? It takes a lot of hard work to do that. First, you really have to know exactly what you want to say. And, secondly, you have to know exactly where you’re going with it. I think the key is passion and belief in what you’re doing. Without passion the best presentation – word for word or on the fly, will sound “canned”.
Thanks
Dave
Amarillo, TX
I’m finding this interesting as I am new to presenting and preparing for my first “big” presentation. Thank you for addressing this topic. I want to be prepared, know my presentaion inside and out, feel at ease but don’t want to sound like a robot 🙂
As usual my friend, we’re in sync. It’s the semantics! Ahhh, communication.
When I give a preso – I know the content backward and forward every time. Your absolutely right. I do know my subject matter. So well in fact, that I can stray from it to make a unique or tailored point for a specific audience, meander off course – and then go right back to where I left my ‘core’ and start right back up. So – we are saying the same things.
This conversation reminded me of when I played piano competitively in my younger years. My teacher (a very wise and experienced concert pianist) had me memorize my performance pieces in phrases – BACKWARD. Yep – I memorized from the back. Why?
Well, I spent as much time on the ending as the beginning that way. You normally learn and memorize from the beginning. Problem is that means it’s the most comfortable place .The close is the weakest place in the normal method. Ailene’s approach solved that. I had to be able to begin from whatever phrase she randomly called to me. Sounds easy but on a 16 page McDowell Concerto it’s anything but. Trust me.
I thought she was eccentric at the time (being all of 16 or so). Then, in one BIG competition, I was in the prelims, flowing along when suddenly, I came into consciousness, tried to remember where I was and stopped dead – mid performance. OMG. BRAINDEAD at 17. BTW – stopping with a blank stare on your face is quite embarrassing. But I didn’t freak – I just looked at the judge and asked if he’d give me a phrase number to start (they are always marked in the music you give the judge). He gave me one, I started RIGHT THERE and kept going.
He passed me through the prelims BECAUSE I started right up and kept going. I won that competition – and it paid for a year of my college piano education. All becuase I had memorized my presentation backwards and forwards.
So -I think that’s what you’re talking about – the KNOWING of something so well that you can flex it, bend it, change it and still have the same whole, the same result.
Thanks as always for the great sharing Bob – we all benefit from your GIVING..
keep smilin’
reb
Hi Bob,
I couldn’t agree with you more about this!!! It is the secret weapon of sounding REALLY passionate about what you’re talking about. If you know your material frontwards and backwards, you can then go off on anecdotal, mini-tangents, mentioning relevant and fresh examples that may have just happened to you in a cab on the way to the talk. You can keep your material really updated and fresh this way.
It is so true; ultimately, it really frees you up to be spontaneous and bold, all the while feeling good about knowing that you’ll never get off track. This is because every point and move of our core material is completely engrained into your consciousness. I remember a drama teacher said to me once: learn your lines by rote memorization FIRST. THEN study the character and add the emotion. NEVER before… The worst thing an actor can do is have a flash of a look of puzzlement on their face as to what their next line is. It’s only natural that this would also apply when giving a talk as hesitation and lack of confidence. This would obviously take away from the message.
It does absolutely free you up in the end to really EXPRESS yourself in your own style. Thank you Bob for blogging this really awesome and provocative topic.
The people who are against memorizing their material are the people who have seen it done badly.
Have you ever seen a great movie? Do you honestly think Dustin Hoffman or Meryl Streep are just winging it? How many times do you think they practice a scene before they give the performance makes you soar or weep?
The moment when they authentically connect emotionally is the moment when they no longer have to worry about their lines, or the staging, and can focus all their energy on making the words come alive for you.
Mediocre speakers serve us their message, but the great speakers memorize their message so they can serve up their soul.
Your three points describe so clearly the advantages of memorizing the presentation. But the final point you mentioned relates to the reason for delivering the presentation in the first place. The purpose of the presentation is to provide value to your audience. Memorizing your material enables you to focus on bringing ultimate value to your audience, by being free to focus on them instead of on yourself, and your text.
We finally seem to all be on the same page 🙂
Thank you all for your kind feedback. Lots of excellent teaching within your comments. Much appreciated!!!!!
Lisa, you said exactly what I wanted to say, however, you said it much, much better. That last paragraph is a classic.
Lisa
Having been an actress – and what’s HOURS of footage of the craft of acting…
Many of the top film scenes are NEVER rehearsed… But the actor has come – like you say – to know and deliver the soul of the character…
They often are done in a time when things are rushed, the pressure is on, and synchronity happens.
What the good actors HAVE done is got to know the soul or the essense- then every word or gesture comes from that place. Often the script they feel limits them – and it’s the off script pieces where the actors excel… and venture beyond what’s known that brings the diamonds.
So Bob – it leaves me with wondering (not being a speaker yet) if your “message” per say is to own, relish, and adore your lessage in sucha way that it becomes part of who you are, and you can speak it from the depths of your being?
Luscious love to you all
Natalie
I can’t hold my tongue any longer!
This too is kind of like football. As each game starts, you have a plan of what you feel you can accomplish. The plan is implemented by a number of perfectly rehearsed plays. If the plan is wrong, you have a number of other plays which are also perfectly rehearsed, these are called “audibles”. There are countless plays in your playbook, but you never use all of them in any one game. The defense will show you which plays work and which plays don’t work.
In my twisted mind, I can see how this football analogy is parallel to that of public speaking. You start with a topic (or game plan). You deliver your topic points (plays) by what you feel will work best for the audience. If your points are not getting the reactions from the audience that you are looking for, you change the way the point is being delivered (audible’s) but not the point your trying to make. The key’s are to read your audience, have a number of rehearsed plays, and stay on track.
In the end, you have countless ways to deliver the exact same message and, your audience is receiving what works for them.
Joe
Hi Joe, just as Lisa did, you hit the nail on the head and explained it perfectly. Much better than I did. I’ve got to admit that I’m still not sure what the challenge is that some have had in understanding the importance of memorizing a presentation. I can understand after the first article, but between my responses (and explanations) to comments after the first article, the explanation in the second article, and your and Lisa’s explanations here, it would seem it should be cleared up. So, I think it’s one of those things where, those who can relate will relate and those who can’t relate won’t…and we’ll all live happily ever after. 🙂 Thank you again, my friend.
I actually do not recommend memorizing your speech: Although the outcome can
be very effective, memorizing a speech word for word and
then delivering it requires a lot of preparation and practice.
First you must write or type out the speech. Since most people
do not write the way they speak, this creates an immediate
problem. For example, the use of gestures and proper voice
inflection in conjunction with a memorized speech tends to
be very flat and unengaging. Even if you are successful in
using gestures and a lively tone of voice, it’s entirely possible
that you will forget portions of your speech. Listening to
thousands of speeches over my career, I have watched even the
most polished speakers forget their words halfway through.
With memorizing, mental blocks are inevitable, and it is not a
question of “Will you forget?” but “when you will forget?”
Can you memorize a speech? Yes. Should you memorize a
speech? I don’t recommend it. Speakers who rely strictly on
memorization are setting themselves up for failure.