How do you balance rehearsing your speech and researching your topic?

When speaking, one may have all the information beautifully outlined, but it is passion that will make the presentation memorable. People tend to remember passion and energy more than information and data. Human beings are wired to hear stories, and through them, make sense of the world. So regardless of the information being delivered, connect with the topic at a personal level. Instigate your audience. Believe what you are speaking with your whole heart. Someone once said that if something is not worth saying, then it’s absolutely not worth remembering.

Researching your audience can be daunting, especially if you're speaking at an event that will have a multitude of people from various backgrounds and industries. I've always focused on researching previous speakers and looking at their speaking styles, watching 3 or 4 speakers from the previous year can help me to get a sense of the type of attendees.

Start with clarifying your purpose. Before you begin rehearsing or researching, have a clear understanding of the purpose of your speech. What message do you want to convey? What are your main points or key takeaways? This will help you stay focused during both rehearsal and research.

For the 3 parts of the speech structure: Introduction - Grab attention with a compelling opening, such as a quote, question, or story. - Establish your credibility and connection with the audience. Body - Present your main points or key arguments, supported by evidence, examples, or anecdotes. - Organize your points logically and coherently, using transitions to guide the flow of your speech. Conclusion - Summarize your main points and reinforce your purpose. - Leave a lasting impression on your audience.

2 biggest tipss on research: Fact-check information: Verify the accuracy of information using multiple sources. Cross-check facts, statistics, and data to ensure they are reliable and up-to-date. Consider different perspectives: Examine different perspectives, arguments, and viewpoints related to your topic. This will help you provide a balanced and nuanced analysis in your speech, and anticipate potential counterarguments.

A contrarian perspective: Deeply understand the content you are going to present, review it, digest it, know the nuances. Don't rehearse. When you rehearse, you'll switch from a conversational tone to a bit more robotic. When you rehearse, you'll easily get thrown off if you forget a word or sentence (you'll notice it, you'll get flustered). When you rehearse, you lose spontaneity. You lose an emotional connection with the audience. I am NOT saying wing it. :) I am saying, know your content, know your stories, if you use slides know the order/animations. Then, stand up, start having a conversation. Since you've not memorized every word and sentence, it'll be like talking in real life. It'll be human. It is not easy. But, it is magical!

To quickly prepare for a speech, use each line on an index card for a one to two sentence concept. Let's say you're talking about how to give a speech. You might, in that case, have a line saying "Deliver slowly and clearly" when what you mean is "Speakers tend to speed up when presenting relative to practice. Intentionally delivering your speech slowly cancels that out to keep you on time, and helps you present more clearly." If you've rehearsed enough, the line will cue up your memory. There's another easy way to determine whether you've adequately rehearsed your speech. When you get to the point where you think "Why am I still rehearsing? I've got it all down", go over everything one final time. After that, you'll be ready to go.

Script marking your speech helps in the emotional voice control of one's delivery. Use ellipsis, underlining, caret, prolongation, crescendo, descrescendo, timing Mark's, hyphen, parentheses

Quick actionable tips: Practice out loud. Time yourself. Use visual aids. Seek feedback. Memorize key points. Practice in different settings. Record yourself.

Refining your speech helps you to hone your delivery skills, such as tone, pace, and gestures. You can practice your speech multiple times to gain confidence and ensure that you emphasize key points effectively.

My speeches are focused on promoting travel and getting information to my potential clients. I agree with Lukas on this topic: people definitely remember something much more if you can make them laugh or tell them a story to illustrate a point. Essentially, that's what all people want - to have fun and enjoy their life. If you can give them that, they will want to buy what you're selling. I try to include the audience in my dialogue, to use their names if possible, to use past anecdotes or stories.

Prep is important. Some will talk it down saying it’s for amateurs to prepare heavily. It is not. Do whatever you feel will help you be most prepared. You are utilizing people’s most valuable asset-their time. You better make sure it is worth their time and you are bringing value. This does not mean be scripted, just know your material super well.

Neuroscientists teach that there is no correct answer to this question. The question should be phrased to determine whether a speaker is an improvisational personality type, or someone who must have every word written out and memorized. The observations from others in this string apply to those who must have a prepared speech to practice repeatedly to commit to memory. There are other speakers whose brains draw analogies on the fly and assemble facts and experiences in a compelling narrative without preparation. For these people, a prepared speech interferes with their natural approach to speaking. There is a test called the Kolbe Index that will identify which kind of speaker you are.

After establishing your goals and anticipating what your audience already knows about a subject, focus on teaching rather than on complex details. Establish your expertise, then use teaching techniques like R.E.I.A. to help people see the practical value of the information. Remember, an average teacher tells. A good teacher explains. A superior teacher demonstrates. A great teacher motivates. If your audience is motivated to make changes in their lives, thinking, or careers, your presentation was a success.

A tip for balancing rehearsing your speech and researching your topic is to allocate specific time slots for each task and prioritize practicing your speech, ensuring that you have enough time to polish your delivery while also having a solid understanding of your topic.