Rehearsing your speech is a crucial step to deliver it with confidence and clarity. But how can you practice your presentation without spending too much time or losing your focus? Here are some tips to rehearse your speech in a time-efficient way.
Before you start rehearsing, you need to have a clear plan of what you want to achieve and how you will measure your progress. Set a specific goal for each rehearsal session, such as improving your eye contact, reducing filler words, or adding more emotion. Then, decide how long you will rehearse, where you will do it, and what tools or feedback methods you will use. For example, you can use a timer, a recorder, a mirror, or a friend to help you evaluate your performance.
Sure all this is fine, good stuff. For ultimate impact-on a national Ted-Talk level 10 out of 10- the crowd erupts as the silence pauses with finality-here's the secret. Well more like a path to there: If you own, live, work, embody your core message, and it's corollary truths - these will flow from you with no more than mental 3 x 5 cards. And, these are quantum-ly dog-eared in the view of your sub-conscious, so it knows only you as this. From that place of source acquired as true self, you effortlessly flow into a performance prodigy of the authentic. No one can turn away from the draw of this because its highest energy in any room is that powerful a magnet.
Planning for the rehearsal begins with becoming familiar with the keypoints you want to highlight and the time that you have to actually deliver your content. Having this knowledge beforehand helps cut out redundant phrases and improves the ability to stick to a script. I practice with a timer in front of a mirror and have found this to be helpful.
Rehearsing a speech is about practicing presence and speed. Imagine being your audience. What will be their experience? Imagine how they feel, how they think throughout your speech. Will they (hopefully) laugh after a joke? Will they need time to digest a sentence? Do they need to "experience" a meaningful, powerful point? Give pause, think of how your gestures and facial expressions can enhance your speech. Then use your mirror, timer and/or friend to manage your performance.
The key to connecting with your audience is sounding conversational and natural. Often, people assume a ‘community theatre’ / ‘orator’ tone that is distancing and can be hard to focus on. Instead, imagine that you are talking with your best friend and deliver your message in a more relaxed tone. Rather than inflecting dramatically, add pauses to emphasize points, allowing the audience to have the statement you’ve made sink in. Laugh at yourself and don’t take yourself too seriously. As you practice, remind yourself that in the history of speeches, yours isn’t likely to make the books. As such, the most important thing you will accomplish is helping a few people in the audience to make improvements for themselves. Speak to them.
In my experience, prioritizing the skill I am least comfortable with by rehearsing it the most allows for a more comfortable performance. If it is a group that is not well known to me, I may allow more practice for engagement with the audience. Using a timer and recorder at first gives me confidence in the content and practicing later with a mirror or friend helps me adjust delivery.
One of the most common mistakes that speakers make is to rehearse their speech silently or only in their heads. This can lead to a disconnect between what you think you are saying and what you actually sound like. To avoid this, you need to rehearse your speech out loud, using the same tone, volume, and pace that you will use on stage. This will help you get used to your voice, catch any errors, and adjust your delivery accordingly.
I once heard a story about the actor, Jack Nicholson, who rehearsed his famous "You can't handle the truth" speech from A Few Good Men over and over again whilst the director was filming the jury reaction shots. When it came time to deliver the speech to camera, Nicholson nailed it first time because he'd retained the muscle memory with his previous deliveries and rehearsals. The moral of the story? Practice, practice, practice out loud. Yes, it will be uncomfortable at first (okay, maybe even the first few times), but I promise that it will stand you in good stead for your speech.
In my experience, an extra helpful part of rehearsing out loud is recording yourself during your speech. Even if you cringe initially, you'll find areas where you can improve your speech - whether it's your script, pace, or even filler words.
It can be helpful to record yourself via video, to practice your posture, eye-line, pause points, and general reading. Voice memos or video chatting a trusted friend or colleague can also let you feel the reality of the speech, while opening yourself up for competent feedback.
Trying to rehearse your entire speech from start to finish in one go can be overwhelming and inefficient. Instead, you can break down your speech into smaller chunks, such as the introduction, the main points, the transitions, and the conclusion. Then, you can rehearse each chunk separately, focusing on the key messages, the supporting evidence, and the connection to the audience. Once you feel comfortable with each chunk, you can rehearse them together in different combinations until you master the whole speech.
The chunking method is particularly effective because of the way the mind structures information. Each chunk is "tagged" so to speak and then you just need to remember the tags. It would take a very long time to internalize a 10 page speech on launching a new product. But it's fairly easy to remember 5 tags each corresponding to a chunk of information (e.g. Context - Opportunity - Product Fit - Investment - Summary).
Breaking down your speech, just like when you break down a to-so list, helps you memorise and flow through each segment more easily. A technique I learned back in school before my GCSE's was to create a story in your mind, linking each part or paragraph of the story together. It might seem a bit silly, but once you've practiced this method a few times, I'm sure that you'll take it into other aspects of your life and work.
Another way to rehearse your speech in a time-efficient way is to vary the scenarios in which you practice. This will help you prepare for different situations and challenges that you may face on the day of your presentation. For example, you can rehearse in front of a mirror, a camera, or a small group of people. You can also rehearse in different locations, such as your home, your office, or the actual venue. You can also rehearse with different distractions, such as noise, interruptions, or questions. This will help you build your adaptability and confidence.
I remember my first time doing stand up comedy. I was told it would be a 5 minute bit. Then I got to the venue and they said I had 2 minutes. Then when I got on stage the MC was gone and I had to fill 7 minutes! My point is, practice with what I call various levels of "zoom". Depending on how in depth you go with examples and context you can scale a 5 point outline from a few minutes to 30 minutes. So if your presentation environment is a little uncertain try to have some flex in your timing.
Being in a different space than your bedroom/office will help you develop your delivery in both how loud you need to be, as well as the physical space you take up when delivering it. Going to places that are unfamiliar, or offer different acoustic environments, like car parks, open public spaces like parks etc will all give you a different perspective on your delivery and 'performance.
Feedback is essential to improve your speech and identify your strengths and weaknesses. However, not all feedback is useful or constructive. You need to choose your feedback sources carefully and ask for specific and actionable suggestions. For example, you can ask a friend, a colleague, or a coach to watch your rehearsal and give you honest and respectful feedback. You can also use a recorder or a video to review your own performance and critique yourself. You can also use a checklist or a rubric to assess your speech based on certain criteria, such as content, structure, delivery, and audience engagement.
Getting feedback from trusted people is key. And remind them that you want them to be honest with you! Constructive criticism can help you see things that you might have been oblivious to, and help you refine and tweak your delivery in ways that you mightn't have thought of.
Another worthwhile investment is to see if your local college or university has any speaking coaches available. My alma mater had something called the speaking studio which was a free community resource. You can also find speaking coaches online who will provide feedback.
Finally, you need to rehearse your speech with moderation and balance. Rehearsing too little can make you unprepared and nervous. Rehearsing too much can make you bored and rigid. You need to find the optimal amount of rehearsal that works for you and your speech. A good rule of thumb is to rehearse until you feel confident, but not overconfident. You also need to leave some time before your presentation to relax, refresh, and energize yourself. Remember that rehearsing is not about memorizing or perfecting your speech, but about enhancing and enjoying it.
In my experience, I make sure to practice many times in front of another human. I also try to practice it in different locations. I have found that helps me to remember my talk.
Don’t overcomplicate things. Turn your voice recorder on while driving down the road, while putting your makeup on, while taking a walk. Rehearse to the best of your ability in those scenarios and then listen to yourself back when you have time to sit down with your speech in hand. This always helps me to work out nerves, practice cadence and flow, and to have better recall of the specific things I’d like to say.
I was taught elocution from about the age of five and we had to learn poetry and prose off by heart. If I have to replace someone at short notice, I will print the words in size 18 font so that I only need to glance down to remind myself what to say. If I have time to prepare, I repeat chunks over and over out loud before joining the whole speech together. Above all, believe in what you are saying. If you don’t, no one else will.
I remember my experiences of speaking at large conference centres in the USA and watching the great USA speakers rehearsing early in the morning before the show . It’s not just going over the presentation but the movement around the big stage : the entrance and close . Also it’s important to get the sound right with the aid of the technicians . I was rehearsing one day in a Denver very early in the morning in my enthusiastic manner on the big stage when I was shocked to see a small boy running towards the stage saying “Gee man that was fantastic “ : to which I responded “ Oh Thankyou so much what did you like “ . He said “ Well man I couldn’t understand what you were saying but I sure loved your English accent “ .