Nervousness - it is all bad?

When SkyEagle1 suggested never fear giving a bad performance or a good one for that matter. If you live in fear of blowing your speech, you will blow every speech you do, the difference between nervousness and fear was raised by Jacquilynne in the thread Repeating A CTM in December 2003.

Nervousness and fear are different words for a reason. There are lots of reasons why I might feel nervous before a speech - a desire to impress a specific audience, less than complete familiarity with the subject matter, etc. Some of those result from bad things. But some of them, like the desire to impress, are necessary to elevate a speech from the ordinary. If your speech matters so little to you that you aren't at least somewhat nervous about how it's going to go, why are you bothering to give it at all?

Joy tries to channel her nervousness into energy that makes her performance better.
The one time I competed and wasn't at all nervous, my performance was flat. The problem isn't with being nervous, but what you do with the nervousness. You can let it turn to fear that paralyzes you, or you can turn it into energy for a dynamic speech.

For JohnF a little bit of nervousness gets the adrenalin flowing. There are a whole bunch of physiological changes in our bodies as a result that help us perform just that little bit better.
What we want to get away from is the kind of fear that is debilitating, that causes us to freeze up and not perform at all.

Mark knows that when the stakes are higher, I dig deeper and I tend to do better. When I'm not nervous, it's too easy for me to slack off and do a mediocre job.
I need to get out of my comfort zone and put some terror back in my talk.

In April 2000 the thread was Public Speaking and Matt said when I'm giving a presentation or a speech, it goes fine for five or ten minutes, but then I get this scratchy tickle in the back of my throat and I end up in a coughing fit. Drinking water throughout the speech prolongs it a bit, but not long enough. Is there anything I can do to prevent this?

When Sally suggested if it's a problem of "nerves" getting to you, then practicing in a Toastmasters club would be the way to go. Or, perhaps a throat lozenge, if you could pull that off without looking silly.

Matt followed up with this explanation :
it's not really a matter of nerves. I'm completely comfortable speaking in public. I think it just has to do with my throat being dry. A lozenge might work, but it would kind of make it hard to talk. :-)

Jenny said
If it's not nerves, then perhaps it's one (or a combination) of these common speaking troubles: - you're breathing through your mouth, rather than your nose - you're trying to project your voice by "pushing" with your throat, rather than from your diaphragm - you're speaking in too high OR too low a pitch for you, instead of using your natural tone. - you're speaking too fast (you'll have been told this before, if this is the case) - you're holding your face/jaw/throat too tensely (check if your back molars touch when you think your face & jaw are at rest).
All of these will cause you to strain your voice and throat, and it will become more noticeable the longer you speak.

Careful NOT to drink very cold water (eg the ice water that seem to be ubiquitous at speaking functions!), because you'll make your vocal cords too cold to work well. That's why singers and speakers need to "warm up" their voices, after all.

I have found, too, that eating certain foods can cause a "lump" in my throat that causes me to cough or gag. For me, it's milk products, fruit juices and McDonald's milk shakes that seem to coat my throat and make my voice sound "phlegmy". Better to stick with plain, room-temperature water for the hour or two before you're scheduled to speak.

Frank thought it may also be your breathing method, while delivering your presentation. Which means that your are not including your entire breathing passageway. That includes your nose, throat and diaphragm. If you practice holding in your diaphragm and releasing it when your voice rises to deliver your message, your entire passageway will be filled with air. Thus keeping your throat moist.

This is the same technique practiced in martial arts and dance theory.

In May 2003 Eric had some serious issues with speaking. The main issues being my legs shaking and losing my train of thought. The thread was Speaking and looking people in the eyes

Rick advised in anything that you do, you can't fix everything at the same time.

To improve a process, you should hold a post project review. It's the same idea as the evaluation in Toastmasters. At the end of a 9 month project, with half a dozen people, you pick the 3 biggest issues to work on. For myself, I like to take the biggest problem and eliminate it. When it's gone, I find the new biggest problem.

From your description, I would start with nervousness. I might even avoid the eye contact issue by looking between the people instead of at them. (It's a little less obvious than looking above them.) As your comfort level increases, you could pick out friends. People who you are used to talking to and talk to them. Then you could look at the rest of the audience.

The key is practice. I didn't remember standing up in front of the club for the first three speeches I gave at Toastmasters. By #4, I had learned that I was going to survive. It's a matter of doing it until you are comfortable.

Toastmasters was suggested as a place to practice. Our club has one member for whom English is a second language. We also have one professional speaker. Everyone else is somewhere between those extremes. However, everyone is there to learn and to help the other learn whether they are ahead or behind us on the learning curve.

Hans felt almost exactly the same way when he started Toastmasters a year ago.

There are many, many suggestions and tips and techniques to resolve the sensations and problems you note. The reason for the large number is simple - every speaker has at least two in their pocket, and no two speakers have the same. (What I'm saying: you need to develop your own tricks and techniques and they must fit your needs, personality and the specific situation).

In my case - I've been in front of audiences for over 15 years presenting in the computer industry. I know my material. I know my audience. I am confident. I would get in front of the audience and present - knees shaking and eyes fleeting wandering to avoid fixed contact. I finally got so tired of it that I joined TM.

So here are some thoughts based on my case (and as we say on newsgroups and chat sessions - YMMV or Your Mileage May Vary):

1) The nervous knees now last about 15 seconds - until I have completed the opening grabber. I rehearse that opener until it's totally automatic. After that, I know things will flow.

2) I worked on the nervous knees situation by consciously trying to move the energy being expended to my vocal cords (and then I worked on keeping an even voice). Being in the non-threatening Toastmaster audience helped practise this.

3) My first 'in front of the podium' speech was nerve-wracking and the knees were worse than ever. At one point I simply stopped and took a drink of water just to let me get a deep breath. That helped.

4) The topic & situation you described is one of the more difficult ones to work. You are presenting yourself, not just your speech, for evaluation. This is different from an Ice Breaker, where everyone is simply evaluating your courage to stand in front of an audience, not the content or style.

A year ago I attended a course with a number of colleagues, peers and friends. We needed to do a similar presentation. The two most successful people in the group, and I (all of whom had made several presentations a week for years) fell apart during the presentation. One, who regularly presented multi-million dollar proposals to CIOs, CFOs and CEOs with complete confidence, started hyper-ventilating and had to cut short.

When we discussed this after we felt it was because our objectives were getting confused. We had a topic and should have presented on that topic's objective ... but our internal objective was to impress or realign the opinion of our peers.

5) Fixing on faces during that kind of speech makes me wonder why they have that expression on their face. My solution is to prepare a smile before looking at one - when I look, they acknowledge and very rarely can resist some sort of smile. I know they are responding to my smile and nothing else, which stops me from second guessing myself.

6) If the eyes make you lose it, concentrate on the pimple on the left side of their nostril. Or try to overlay some second vision. Or imagine them in their underwear or wearing clowns noses. There are many tricks you can play with yourself.

7) When I practise or rehearse, I do the first rehearsal in front of the mirror and the second in front of the TV. If you can learn to keep you concentration through that you should be able to hold it in front of an audience.

8) Do NOT let your nerves or shaky knees or your lost concentration discourage you.

9) If at first you don't succeed, try a different approach. If you do find a minor success, [briefly] analyze to see if there is something you can expand ... but don't over analyze.

In February 1996, John's throat tends to close up during public speaking. the thread was Nervous Public Speaker

Peanut suggested having a glass of warm water before you speak and during the speech. Drinking something cold freezes the throat muscles. A glass of warm water, or rather room temperture would relax the throat muscles

Rick D suggested when you feel this happening, take a deep, cleansing breath. Relax and continue.

Pat sings out loud in the car on the way to the meeting. It really helps me. And smile when you get to the lecturn. Someone will smile back, and that can help you to relax.

Joanne suggested the next time you are rehearsing a speech, pay close attention to how you breathe. As a matter of fact, take a deep breath right now. Does your chest stick out and do your shoulders rise? If so, it means that you are not breathing properly. When you do this, your breathing passages become tighter, rather than open up. Your shoulders go up to your neck, causing more tension instead of relaxing you. Too, when you stick out your chest to breathe in more deeply, you are in effect using what oxygen you have available to you in an inefficient manner.

I have been able to transfer some vocal training techniques to assist me with nerves when giving a speech.
First, when rehearsing your speech, take deep breaths, without moving your shoulders. Keep them relaxed. Your diaphragm should expand, allowing you to take in more oxygen. As you're breathing, put your hands on the upper part of your stomach. If, when taking deep breaths, you can feel that area expanding, you're on the right track. As an added bonus, it also goes a long way to getting rid of nerves and relaxing you.

Try this when rehearsing your next speech, and once you become comfortable with this technique, use it while giving a speech. With enough practice, it becomes second nature.


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Things to avoid

In May 2000, Rogermac advised Ktar to NEVER tell the audience you didn't have time to prepare. It reduces their expectations and a few of them will stop listening. Also, when you're an experienced TM, it implies to new members that it's OK to "wing it".
Even when you don't have as much time as you'd like, just go ahead and give the speech anyway. Most times no-one will know you didn't have time to prepare.

This led to a thread Turning off the audience which I started with:

One of the promises that Toastmasters makes is Better Listening, but obviously there are some things that cause us to turn off - for Roger, and I guess for many others is being told that the speaker is unprepared.
Are there other turn offs for you?
Perhaps we could generate a list of the top ten (or one hundred or seven thousand) things to NEVER do if you want to keep the audience on side.
Any thoughts?
Perhaps as a starting point, how do your turn offs rate against:

• Over dressed
• Under dressed
• Holding notes
• Hiding behind the lectern
• Using false accents
• Laughing at your own jokes

Anthony added:

• Knowing this speaker is _going_ to go 8 minutes overtime.
• Knowing I am going overtime :-)

For Joy it was

• Saying, "I'm going to tell you a joke."
• Taking the "Tell them what you're going to tell them; tell them; then tell them what you told them" rule too literally. When someone says, "I'm going to tell you ..." I feel they're saying I'm to stupid to figure it out, and that definitely turns me off.
• Too many visual aids, or visual aids that are too small or too poorly placed for everyone to be able to see them.
• Turning one's back on the audience to read an overhead.

Janis added:

• Saying "Here's a good joke" or "Let me tell you a joke that shows what I mean"
• Obviously "winging it" on a topic or speech that should have had preparation
• Exceeding the time limit extensively
• Commenting about another speech when it doesn't have anything to do with their own presentation "I'd just like to take a second and say something about Billy-Bob's speech..."
• Apologizing for every "Um" or other audible pause: "Um -- oh, I"m sorry! Um -- sorry! Well -- oh, that's another one."
• Rhythmic movement; swaying/rocking; hair twirling: understandable and fixable for new speakers but excruciating to watch for experienced (but unthinking) speakers
• False enthusium in a presentation;
• Inappropriate self-deprecating remarks: "I'm not an expert...", "I didn't think of this myself...", "I don't really understand, but...".
• Nervous laughter at odd moments

JohnF evaluated a speaker once who was constantly tapping one foot beneath the table while he did his speech.

Denis tries to be a low maintenane audience, but does draw the line at

• Jokes that are not at all related to the content don't do a thing for me.
• But my big turn-off is any speaker apoligizing or "explaining".
• Well, "mean" humor is not my favorite either.
• Any speaker that has a power-point, overhead or other such presentation better be ready to rock and roll right off the bat or I am likely to be very impatient. No delays or glitches! I would rather the speech was without anything then to have an explanation of why "it's out of focus, etc"
• All the awful things which accompany a microphone in the hands of the unprepared. "Is this on", feedback, juggling acts, "tapping" etc, etc.
  One of the best conference sessions I have ever attended was one where there were several microphones set-up, and we all got to try-out the different styles. This was/is useful skill!

SciFiTwin added

• "Reading an overhead" period. The purpose of an overhead or other textual visual aid is for the audience to "read" it themselves. The presenter should expand on what's written on the overhead or give examples, but not merely read it to us. I hated that tactic in 5th grade and I still hate it.
• Failure to make or maintain some sort of eye contact with the group.
• An evaluator who spends even one precious second of the evaluation telling the speaker about how something from the speech reminded him or her of something from the evaluator's life. ("I liked your choice of topic, Bill. I think we can all relate to a dog getting loose. When I was eight, our dog, Grover, ran away and ...")
• People who believe that ALL forms of speaking must be done away from the lectern. I can't stand watching people move around aimlessly. There are valid and correct times when one should deliver a message from behind the lectern and it wouldn't be considered "hiding." (I personally think the lectern has ironically become an anathema of Toastmasters rather than the proper tool it is--the most closely guarded, though).
• People who speak with a sort of waxy transparent sincerity that comes off as hucksterism. Eeew.
• S--L--O--W, .... D--r--o--n--i--n--g, ... m--o--n--o--t--o--n--e voices.
• Speeches on topics that are so obscure that no one except the speaker is interested in it, AND he or she fails to hook us into the topic sufficiently to arouse our interest.
• "Recycled speeches" without some sort of additional value above what was given before.
• Emcees who make jokes at the expense of others (outside of a roast situation).
• General Evaluators who feel the need to re-evaluate individual speeches.
• Table topics respondents who don't answer a question directly, but decide to go off on their own tangent that has nothing to do with the topic.

Carmen is annoyed by anyone who quotes anything, either when writing or orally, that is in another language, *and does not translate it*!!!!! This drives me nuts! I'm flattered that people would think I speak every language and dialect that exists, but I have some bad news for them: I don't.

I used to notice this is University research papers, where I could almost accept it from those cerebral types, but then someone actually gave a speech and did the same thing...

She told us she is bilingual and for her realizing that the so-called "bilingual presentation" is giving different content in both languages (ie. the speaker is assuming that the *entire* audience is bilingual).

JohnF expanded in Canada, the practice is fairly common in federal political circles, where the audience will often have people who speak on of our official languages--but not the other--and vice versa. In fact, it is quite common for the Prime Minister to deliver a speech, doing a paragraph in English, switching to French (presumable to repeat what he just said in English), then back to English for the next paragraph. Any politician addressing a national audience has to assume that not everyone speaks English and not everyone speaks French. In fact, it seems one of the unwritten qualifications for the position of Prime Minister is to be bilingual in both official languages.

That said, I can see where Carmen is coming from with her beef. By covering different material in the two languages, the speaker is leaving out a part of the audience, and possible for a significant portion of the speech.

For Regina, most of the so-called "turn-offs" have come from other distractions in the room. I won't go into them now, just let me say that they may be unique to certain clubs (food service, late arriving members [as Treasurer, I need to take their money], etc.)
As far as speech (or Table Topics) turn-offs go, I could only think of two things that tend to turn me off:
1. Financial services presentations, even when (maybe especially when) it's a member employed in that field who is giving a manual speech.
2. Religious testimonials, or speeches on the topic of religion, new age ideas, or philosophy.

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Visuals - Flip Charts

B.O.B. was looking for guidelines for how big visual aids should be for a small audience of about 20 - 25 people? I will be using several visual aids on a flip-chart and want to make sure the graphics and text is the appropriate size. The thread was Visual Aids and ran in December 2005

Rod advised:
It depends on distance rather than audience numbers, and it's not a matter of size alone - thickness, colour, contrast, and lighting intensity are also important factors. Not all members of your audience will have equal visual acuity.

Red/green colour blindness is the most common, so try to avoid combinations where confusion of these colours might cause problems.

Remember, you're presenting a speech and not administering an eyesight test!

With an audience of 25, the distance from your flipchart to the back of the audience is likely to be around eight metres (25 feet). For this arrangement, my recommendation is to use a character height of at least 40mm (an inch and a half). Avoid thin point markers. Make it easy for your audience to see and understand your visual aids.

For graphics, make sure that the important features are clearly illustrated and avoid non-essential detail. Visuals are support for your message - they're not the message itself. You can explain detail. For example, on a graph, label an axis with a large 'P' rather than the word 'Price'.

Keep each visual simple. Rather use a larger number of visuals with less information on each. Use different colours to differentiate ideas, items on lists, etc.

You can check the effect by looking at your flipchart under incandescent lighting from a distance of eight metres. Fluorescent lighting is closer to daylight and doesn't have the same effect on colours as incandescent lighting. Colours at the red end of the spectrum (reds, oranges, and yellows) sometimes become difficult to read. If you can't read your text easily and instantly, change size, boldness, and/or colour.

Once you've planned your size and chosen your markers, if you need to go 'live' on your visuals, set out your chart in feint pencil on the chart beforehand. It's then a simple matter to write boldly over the pencilled letters (which are invisible to your audience).

Rick added:
Standard fluorescent lights are just as different from sun light as incandescent. Incandescent lights are heavy in the red end of the spectrum and light on the blues. Fluorescent lights are the opposite. Warm fluorescent lights have more reds (but they aren't as energy efficient). Full spectrum fluorescent lights do a good job of imitating the sun.

I haven't seen any problem seeing reds and oranges if they are dark enough. (Dark yellow is brown.) Printed material under fluorescent lights could be had to read because they don't have a lot of red component. Actually, the human eye can see the least detail in the blue range because we have the fewest blue receptors in our eyes. However if this is causing a problem with your graphics, reread Rod's paragraph on simple and bold.

From the 1984 edition of the _Technical_Presentations_ manual, the Supplement says, text should be half (13 mm) and inch for every 10' (3 m) away the back row is. It also suggest no more than three colors except for pictures. It suggests limiting text to seven lines of seven words.

John F suggested if you have a marker that has a short edge and a long edge, use the long edge for writing as this will produce thicker lines that are easier to read.

Joy warned never, never use yellow or other pastel colors. They can't be read more than a few feet away.



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I speak therefore I ummm

The question of umm and ahh counter has raged since the early days of this list.

Here are some extracts from er-ah grammarian in March 1995

Clay usually listens for pauses, incorrect grammar, sentence re-starts and of course er/ahs.

Sylvia listens for repeat words or combinations of words. For example, one speaker would use the expression "You know" very often, and it was not known to him until it was brought to his attention. There is also the use of unlimited AND to merge together sentences. Many use this as they are thinking ahead, making ANDS as much a crutch word as ER or AH.

Barbara found a lot of problems with subject-predicate agreement. In other words, the subject of the sentence is singular, and the verb is plural, or the other way around. It's one of those things that bugs me. Often it's a problem with using the word "there" to begin a sentence. Many people start out with a singular noun in mind (which "there" is replacing), but switch mid-sentence into a plural verb, i.e, "There is, according to the latest polls, many things which people do not understand." Better to eliminate "there" completely and say "The latest polls say people do not understand many things."

In Janice's club one person assumes the function of ah counter, and a second person fills the function of grammarian. The grammarian comments on incorrect grammar, but also on good uses of the English language, good uses of vocabulary, good word pictures, etc.

CDayton usually will comment on verbal crutches -- Like, You Know, Stuff that certain people use over and over. Could be many different things, one speaker used to say "Each and Every One of " us, you, etc. at least 3 times per speech. Also the grammarian will sometimes comment on a particularly apt phrase or word use.

Andrew looks for repetitions like "and, and", "but then, but then"

Vince added there's always the "you know" and unnecessary "and"s before/between sentences.
You could also note where people are putting the "er-ah"s.

In October 2001 the thread was Ah Counter equals No Sale

When Moira does a grammarian's report she notes "the good, the bad and the ugly". One thing that was very beautiful, descriptive etc., one thing which was incorrect, and one thing that was not wrong, but either overused or just sloppy.

Sam: the grammarians in both of my clubs include an "ah" count, and do it in such a way that it is seen in the proper perspective...a habit that needs to be tamed, but not one that will destroy your public speaking career!
Neither club uses bells, whistles, fines, or other means to embarrass or pummel people over this matter. We simply mention it as part of the grammarians report. I find more often than not it serves as a humanizing factor, as even skilled speakers use "ahs", and noting their presence shows less experienced speakers that no one is perfect and that all speakers have room for improvement.

To Gene: By having an "Ah Counter" attention can be put on ums and ahs without the speakers having to worry about it. It's difficult to do something when you have to put your attention on exactly how you're doing it as you are doing it. This applies to public speaking, typing, playing piano, anything where there is a large element of automaticity.

Some of those who are umming and ahing may not even realize that they are doing so. Having an Ah Counter is a gentle way of bringing it to someones attention so that he can do something about it.

Jim's club includes the AH counter as part of the grammarian's role. They do give a count of AH's, UM's and "ands" for the entire meeting. They never single out individuals, unless it is a positive report where they can say that they didn't have any AH's or UM's. The "AH count" is a very small part of the grammarians report and no one feels that threatened by it.

Fred: It is difficult, if not impossible, to overcome the problem of 'word whiskers if the problem is not addressed. Unfortunately, the remedial side of the problem is rarely commented upon. People use word whiskers in different ways which call for different solutions. In many clubs that is not recognized.

I do not agree with a system of fines. I prefer the analysis of why the word whiskers occur: is it because one is speaking faster than one thinks? Is it because one did not listen to the question and is waffling? Whatever the reason there are remedies, and these cannot be suggested unless the problem is diagnosed.

The word whisker counter, in many clubs, has become a sort of 'gotcha game' rather than a valid evaluation tool. I used to use word whiskers when I first joined. I don't any longer (or at least, rarely). I credit my improvement to the 'ah counter' and some recommendations from senior Toastmasters of the day as to how to avoid them.

Please do not throw the baby out with the bath-water. Reform the manner in which the problem is addressed, but do not deprive the speaker of this valuable evaluation.

Susan is not in favor of the role of Ah Counter! but thinks that whenever we are assigned to evaluate a speech (not a speaker!), we would be well advised to include comments about EXCESSIVE use of fillers, of any nature, along with what type of situation it was that resulted in the speaker using a filler, and a couple of suggestions on how to avoid similar ones in the future.

Joy reported: Occasionally someone will mention that a particular member (always known to be someone with a good sense of humor and not easily hurt) was the "wizard of ah's" for the evening.


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Speaking without notes

It is hard to imagine a speaking skills topic that has more air-time on the newsgroup than speaking without notes. The post title is included with the contributor so that you can follow the thread at http://groups.google.com/group/alt.org.toastmasters/.

Here are some of the suggestions that have been made over the years.
May 1998 - Speech without notes

Anthony
I don't find taping it much help. On the other hand, I find reading it out aloud as I type it and listening to its sound, I can find the right words and rhythms.

James
1. I don't write the speech out word for word. At most, I write a bare bones outline.
2. I flesh the speech out by talking to myself. My family thinks I'm crazy--so let them.
3. I don't memorize words so much as I memorize ideas.
4. I tape record myself and listen critically.
5. Most importantly, I practice, practice, and practice.

July 2002 Own Speaking Style = Own Speaking Voice - NOTES
Michael
I write out a draft, and then rehearse it, making sure I know what the structure is - i.e., the points I want to make and what follows what. if I have any particularly cute bits of language I want to use, I'll work on that a bit. But once I get up to give the speech, I don't worry about giving it verbatim - I hopefully am comfortable enough with the *flow* of what I want to say that the actual words come out fairly cleanly on their own.

In April 2001, Dennis was looking for ideas in the thread "How do you Memorize your talk?"

Frank uses memorization by association.
For instance let's say I am delivering a speech about "Life Lessons" I memorize the following
1. Book
2. On top of the Book is an ice cream cone
3. Over the ice cream cone is a TV
4. Sitting on the TV is a Cat

Book will remind me of a story regarding school and how learning is important.
Ice Cream Cone will remind me of a story that illustrates a young boy who after eating an ice cream sundae made sure that he had enough money to tip the waitress.
TV will remind me of the story of the widow of Nat King Cole, who sent a TV to a white man that picked her up; overcoming bigotry; in time for her husband's funeral
Cat will remind me to conclude.

Rod agreed but expanded:
All memory is associative in some or other way, so your statement is generally true, but memory techniques vary from individual to individual. What works for one may not work for another.
I've tried this 'stacking' technique many times over many years, and it just doesn't work well for me. Neither do mind maps, another very valuable technique.
One of those that works for me is numbers. Also an associative technique, but different to 'stacking'.
It's only necessary to remember one list and, based on 1-10, here's the way it works for me.

1 gun 2 shoe 3 tree 4 door 5 hive 6 sticks 7 heaven 8 gate 9 mine 10 hen

If these words don't 'fit', find substitutes that rhyme with the numbers. Then associate (preferably as wildly as possible) each heading with the appropriate number, in order.


I prefer direct associations with my rhyming master list:

1 gun (schools - learning is important) Think of the problems of guns in schools and the recent disasters.

2 shoe (money to tip the waitress) The money for the tip is kept in the boy's shoe, so that he won't spend it on anything else.

3 tree (story of Nat King Cole's widow and the TV) I see her waiting under a tree and being picked up by the white man.

4 door (conclusion) This door is at the END of a long passage.

We will all create different mental pictures and associations, so this technique is very flexible.

The more wild, detailed and colourful the images, the better. One of the nice things about this technique is that you can run through your list forwards, backwards, or pick individual items by number. If it works for you, that's great. If it doesn't, you haven't lost anything.

Mykill added:
I find that all I have to do is practice reading the speech about 4-5 times in advance and I get the speech pretty much bang on. I actually have a harder time remembering short things like the Toast or Thought of the Day. It also means everytime you do the speech, it's a little different and the audience can usually pick up on that.

Charles hasn't memorized a speech in years, but often speaks without notes.

It comes down to first knowing your topic very well, figuring out what you want to get across, and organizing it. What little I do memorize falls into the categories of openings, closings, quotations, and transitions.

If you use visual aids or handouts, these can substitute for notes. I like the PowerPoint program and use it to make overhead projection transparencies. However, it also lets you prepare note sheets for your audience. A chart or an overhead transparency or a slide can keep your speech on track.

Ledema finds rehearsing it in bed just before going to sleep helps me to learn it better than rehearsing it at any other time. Start with a portion of the speech and repeat that portion until you have it memorized, then add the next portion until you have the whole speech memorized. Doing this just before sleeping seems to plant it in my mind better than working on it at other times.

For James it's important to read it aloud and practice your gestures. You cannot memorize a spoken delivery by reading silently. Your entire series of movements, if consistent, will help you remember. I've had it happen where I thought "if I'm looking at the back left corner of the room, holding my prop, then I'm at this part in my speech". I've heard this called "muscle memory".

Next, I try to ignore the exact words and memorize only the key points and logical flow. Example: for a short joke, memorize the punchline and the question will take care of itself. For a longer joke, memorize the punchline and the basic logic (what is the difference between ministers, priests, and rabbis, and why is that difference funny when they walk in to a bar together?)

A speech is the same sort of animal. I spend the most time memorizing the start and finish, which are the key parts to getting attention when I begin and making it memorable when I'm done. Then, I just remember the logical flow that connect the two.

Sometimes I imagine a conversation, where my speech is the answers to a series of questions. What does my imaginary friend want to ask next, based on what I just said? I then give my answers to the imagined questions.

When you offer a quotation, I think it's okay to read it (demonstrating your attention to accuracy and the fact it isn't your words).

The problem with memorizing something word-for-word is that you might find yourself talking without thinking. This is essential to politics, but otherwise dangerous. Did you ever get stuck because you forgot what you just said?

Always have a few dramatic pauses...they let the audience absorb your information, and give you a chance to collect your thoughts.

For Rick, technical speeches almost always involve notes. Even presentations by professional speakers. The note are just very big and called visual aids.

For stories, I visualize a progression that I'm walking though. For example, I gave a speech about the summer I was a councilor at a Y camp. I visualize myself at the cabin. I talk about Brian (the subject of the speech - a boy who is at camp all summer not just one session) leading the other boys in pine cone soccer on the roof the the cabin. I visualize myself walking to the field. I talk about the importance of the day and why the whole camp is headed toward the field. I visualize the children heading toward the lake for dinner as their parents pick them up. I explain process of children and parents headed to dinner. I then explain how the last of the children are picked up. I visualize Brian and me headed down to dinner. I explain how Brian is sure his mother will show up and we decide to eat dinner while we wait for her then we spend the evening playing the games together. I never memorize the speech - just the flow.

In May 1998 when Mark suggested speaking without notes is like not wearing deodorant -- there is no excuse for it and folks can usually tell, the thread was Speech without Notes

Joy doesn't have any notes. I work my speech out in my head, the way I think I want it. Then I tape record it. I play back the tape, listening for rough spots, things that need clarification, or other changes I want to make, and at the same time I time it. Then I know if I need to add or delete material. I make the changes, practice a few more times, and tape it again. This way I learn it but I don't ever have any notes. This does not work for everyone, but I still feel that getting away from notes is a desirable goal.

I also find that taping makes me more aware of repetitions and other poor speech habits I may not have been told about by an "Ah" counter or Grammarian.

Mike reported that at the District Spring Conference, Marshall Gibson, a Toastmaster and professional storyteller, gave some advice about storytelling that applies to giving speeches. It should never be exactly the same twice.

Reasons for the speech to be different are:
(1) the audience - telling the story to children, and telling the same story to adults will be different due to the level of understanding.
(2) Lessons learned - Each time you tell a story or give a speech, you will learn what works, and what doesn't. You can then improve your story or speech.
(3) Staleness - If you give a memorized speech several times, you become burned out, and the speech loses its vitality, and
(4) Sometimes the audience knows of you, and will want to hear the speech again, and be pleasantly surprized with the newness of the speech or story.

Michael thought if you write and rewrite it as an essay it will be a nightmare to present without notes. If you prepare it using keywords and saying it out (not necessarily out loud!) then it will be much easier.

Organization is also very important. The first speech I tried without any notes was the number 3 where logical structure is emphasised. If your structure is logical enough, you CANT get lost.

To build up confidence try starting with a speech that you can't forget. A good choice, in my view, is a story, "what I did on my holiday", or some such.

Finally, impormptu practise at table topics will eventually give you the confidence that if you get a little lost, you can rewrite your speech on the fly. This is not meant to be an excuse---a real expert (not me!) will rewrite her speech as she goes to suit the audience reaction.

Of course, it will take lots of preparation. No question...

Professional speaking coach and seminar leader Bill disagreed with the no notes philosophy:

I NEVER suggest that my students go to the lectern without access to their notes. A five minute speech is one thing but a longer speech is an entirely different matter. Notes are the rails on which the train runs smoothly to the station. They should not be an excuse not to practice or know your material but they certainly should not be omitted. Always have them handy.

Even the most practiced professional can lose his or her place and notes can save the day.

When John F delivers a speech, if you follow with a print copy you will find that what I say and what is written are very close. But then, that is the musician in me who is trained to reproduce a piece of music exactly as it appears on the printed score.

The material I've read on public speaking encourages us as public speakers to get away from memorizing a speech word for word. Instead, what we should be working on is memorizing our outlines! Then, with the memorized outline, we add the words as we deliver the speech. On of the advantages of learning to do it this way is--we don't get thrown in the middle of the speech if we forget a line, and then wind up looking like dolts.

James finds the following helpful:
1. I don't write the speech out word for word. At most, I write a bare bones outline.
2. I flesh the speech out by talking to myself. My family thinks I'm crazy--so let them.
3. I don't memorize words so much as I memorize ideas.
3. I tape record myself and listen critically.
4. Most importantly, I practice, practice, and practice.

For Rick, the type of speech affects the approach:

For a story, I learn the flow of the story.

On a technical speech, visual aids like flip charts and overhead transparencies are good for you and the audience.

The outline and figures help to communicate the information to the audience. It also helps to keep you on track and reminds you of details.


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