If you’ve ever tried to memorize your speech by:
Repeating a tricky line over and over and over again…
Mumbling your speech as you read it off your computer screen a few times every morning…
Rehearsing in front of a mirror or walking around your house as you mutter your lines to yourself…
You might agree that attempting to memorize a speech can be pure drudgery. These typical memorization methods can feel like the opposite of creative work.
And here’s the thing: none of those methods actually works. Sure, they might help you regurgitate your lines onstage, but they won’t help you deliver a transformational experience for your audience. In fact, using those traditional techniques might even sabotage your performance.
Why Rote Memorization Is Extremely Risky
Rote memorization might work for learning the Pledge of Allegiance or a poem for a fifth-grade poetry contest. But if you want your speech to sound authentic, conversational, and like ideas are spontaneously coming to you at that moment for the very first time, rote memorization isn’t the way to go.
You see, when a professional speaker delivers a rote-memorized presentation onstage, it often sounds robotic. To your audience, it can sound like you’re just “pressing play” and spewing off some memorized lines. In a way, it excludes the audience, because it feels like they’re not a part of this live experience. It feels like a monologue rather than a dynamic dialogue with your listeners.
It’s not spontaneous. It’s not vital. It’s not memorable. And it’s most definitely not something that creates a transformational experience for your audience.
And, it's risky.
When you memorize your script as one long, unbroken string of text, any little bump in the road or unexpected moment could throw you off and break up your memorized rhythm. If at any moment during your speech something interrupts you, you’ll lose your place, and it’ll be hard to get back on track.
The Difference Between Memorization and Learning
Learning a speech, while similar to rote memorization in the sense that you’re still staying true to your script, feels different both for you and your audience.
To your audience, it feels like it’s the very first time you’ve ever said those words onstage. It feels like there’s a dynamic dialogue between you and your audience, uniquely curated for them, for that specific moment in time.
It feels alive, spontaneous, new, and urgent to your audience. It seems like thoughts, ideas, and words are coming to you in the moment, rather than just being repeated for the umpteenth time.
When you truly know your speech, you can get right back on track after any unexpected interruption. Your speech is so deeply integrated into your body that you can thrive in new situations, handle curveballs from the audience, and even create on the fly and follow divergent rabbit holes if you need to because you know you’ll always be able to pick up right where you left off.