The #1 Thing to Avoid When Presenting

Why writing out your speech could damage the quality of your presentations and what to do about it.

Setting yourself up to remember each and every word on a page is basically one step away from setting yourself up for a nervous breakdown.

You only remember one word because you remember the word before, meaning you remember the sequence, not the story. Similar to when we sing the alphabet! What comes after the letter F? Did you sing the song to get there? You get our point…

  • Some of the best speeches out there are made up of stories. Painful, incredible, joyful, real human stories. Whatever the story may be, people will connect to it and people will be drawn to it. So rather than remembering your speech, remember your stories. Use a story journal to jot down an emotional experience, recording how it made you feel and what was around you. Get specific — this way you’ll know every detail and be able to pull from any story to fit any talk and any audience. How easy would that be when it comes time to prepare your speech?

Rather than remembering your speech, remember your stories.

  • Write out a diagram so you know to touch on certain points, how much time you can spend on each story, and which order will be the most effective. This will ensure your talk comes from your heart, not your brain. Feeling all the more organized in your talk can take away those butterflies and give you the confidence you might be needing to really nail the talk. It’s your story — you’re the best person for the job of telling it.

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Speaker Nation is an international community that provides education, career development, and coaching for aspiring and professional public speakers.

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Speaker Nation

Speaker Nation is an international community that provides education, career development, and coaching for aspiring and professional public speakers.