How to Remember What to Say

• 00:04 So, how do you remember what to say during a presentation?
• 00:09 And would it be easier, safer, to just read the speech,
• 00:13 that way you get every single word just right?
• 00:17 No!
• 00:18 Whatever you do, don't do that.
• 00:20 The absolute hardest thing in the entire world you could ever do is read a speech
• 00:26 in front of an audience unless your goal is to put everybody to sleep.
• 00:33 The second you read a speech, you are destroying eye contact,
• 00:37 unless you're using a teleprompter and that's a separate issue.
• 00:41 Typically, if you're not a professional at it, your speed becomes very constant,
• 00:46 you become sort of monotone, your volume is the same,
• 00:49 your speed the same, the pacing is the same, the pauses, same.
• 00:54 It is the absolute kiss of death for most speakers.
• 01:01 You're nervous?
• 01:02 Fine. You don't wanna mess up?
• 01:05 Fine.
• 01:06 Believe me, reading your speech is not the answer.
• 01:10 If you're the president of a country and you're giving your inaugural speech, fine.
• 01:15 You're gonna have to read a speech.
• 01:16 You can practice, you've got a whole team, teleprompters.
• 01:19 You're about to win the Nobel Peace Prize, fine, have it all written out,
• 01:25 practice it a thousand times, use a teleprompter.
• 01:27 But for everyone else in the real world, don't try to read a speech.
• 01:33 What you think you're gaining, by not forgetting and
• 01:37 having the safety of the script.
• 01:40 You're loosing 99% of your ability to communicate because of the eye contact,
• 01:45 the speech not sounding conversational.
• 01:48 Just think for a minute.
• 01:49 Think of the times you have been to some conference or some meeting, and
• 01:53 somebody read a speech to you.
• 01:56 There's something about that tone of voice.
• 01:58 It just instantly puts you to sleep.
• 02:01 And what do we do?
• 02:02 We get out our cell phones and we check email.
• 02:06 I know I do.
• 02:08 So that begs the question, how do you remember what to say?
• 02:13 Do you have an extra 40 hours to rehearse and memorize a whole speech?
• 02:17 I don't.
• 02:19 So I'm not suggesting you do that.
• 02:20 I'm not gonna ask you to do anything that I'm not willing to do.
• 02:24 What I recommend and what I do when I give speeches is I cheat.
• 02:30 I have a cheat sheet.
• 02:32 I had a single sheet of paper and I fold it over, and
• 02:36 I use bullet points, and I make the font really large.
• 02:41 That way I don't have to stop, and sort of do this every time,
• 02:48 and I use two or three words per line.
• 02:52 It's not full sentences.
• 02:54 It's not paragraphs.
• 02:55 It's just enough to remind me what the point was.
• 02:59 And a couple of words to remind me of the story.
• 03:02 If there's a particular number, or fact that's absolutely critical,
• 03:06 I'll put it on there.
• 03:08 So it's five main points on the sheet of paper.
• 03:11 A couple of other bullet points underneath to remind me of the story, and one or
• 03:16 two big numbers that are associated, and that's it.
• 03:20 It's one sheet of paper, it's large font.
• 03:24 And that way I don't have to remember anything.
• 03:28 And I'll even print up three copies of it.
• 03:30 So I'll put it in different places around the room.
• 03:34 If there is a lectern or
• 03:35 a table where there's a glass of water I'll put it there.
• 03:38 And I may put it other parts there, I might even put it in the back of the room.
• 03:41 That way I can walk around the room occasionally go and took notes.
• 03:46 No one ever has any idea, because I'm not picking up paper.
• 03:51 I'm not getting behind the lectern.
• 03:53 I'm not turning notes, so it creates the illusion that I'm just talking to people.
• 03:59 That I'm in the moment.
• 04:01 And I do this even when I'm using PowerPoint slides.
• 04:05 No one ever has any idea I'm using notes, because I am doing it in a natural way.
• 04:12 And I'm not having to pick it up and read it, and
• 04:15 I'm able to look at my audience 95% of the time.
• 04:18 That's really the most effective way.
• 04:21 And I know some of you are saying well, but, TJ, it won't fit on one page.
• 04:24 If you can't condense your ideas down to a page,
• 04:28 what that really tells me is you haven't done a good enough editing job.
• 04:33 You haven't really refined what's most important to your audience.
• 04:39 And you're being lazy and you're doing a data dump.
• 04:42 It's not going to work.
• 04:44 If you can't remember those most important concepts without having
• 04:49 multiple pages of notes, how do you expect your audience to remember
• 04:54 when they're probably not taking any notes at all.
• 04:57 So condense the big ideas of your speech to a single page.
• 05:02 Use your outline.
• 05:04 Don't waste time trying to memorize.
• 05:07 That's tough and when you're feeling stressed when you're speaking,
• 05:11 that's the hardest time of all to remember stuff.
• 05:14 And whatever you do, I beg you.
• 05:17 Do not read a speech unless
• 05:23 it's the inauguration speech and you've just become president or prime minister.
• 05:28 If that happens, give me a call.

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