How to Give a Wonderful Speech
As you prepare to speak, marketer Seth Godin says, “Don’t memorize your speech. Remember your stories. Ten stories are told. “
This is how most stand-up comedians structure their performances. They do not so much write jokes as retell them over and over again. Each time they focus on connecting with the audience and not letting words get in the way of the presentation.
You don’t have the luxury of rehearsing your speech in front of a live audience night after night. But you have already done this in your ordinary life. When Godin asks your 10 stories, he asks you not to invent 10 new ones, but to take the stories that you already tell in a conversation, or write, or otherwise share with people. “Stories” are any mini-speeches that you often give in front of several people because you care about them. This applies to conversations in the workplace or to the stories you tell your friends.
So choose from these stories and repeat them again. You don’t need to memorize words, only ideas. Choose which parts are interesting enough for a large group and which ones you should skip in this particular delivery.
Then, when you are on stage, you do not need to keep the whole script in your head. All you need to remember is which familiar stories you choose to tell. You will be more present. You will be able to communicate with your audience and adapt to their reactions, as if you were doing it in a small conversation. And you will sound like a professional speaker.
Inconvenient memorization | Seth’s blog