How To Effectively Rehearse Your Speech For Impact Every Time You Speak

A common question I often hear is, “What’s the best way to practice my speech?”

There is no one best method, but there is a combination which will help you feel more confident and prepared so you speak with maximum impact every time.

1. Practice the way you will speak in front of the audience

A phrase I picked up years ago from the sporting world is,?“Practice the way you play.”

This means recreate as many conditions in your rehearsals as you will experience in the real event. This helps build muscle memory.

For speakers, we can create our version of ‘muscle memory’ in nearly every respect, with two exceptions:

– We can’t recreate the venue where we will be speaking, and,

– We can’t recreate the audience who will be sitting in front of us.

When you practice, use your speaking area just as you will the event stage. To have some semblance of a crowd in front of you, consider pasting pictures of peoples faces around your room. This will help you rehearse looking into peoples eyes when you make key points or ask questions.

2. Rehearse in chunks

When you are practicing in an ideal situation, you’ll be able to speak from the start of your prepared words all the way to the conclusion.

However, life will invariably interrupt your rehearsals.

When this happens, where do you typically start when you go back to your practice.

Most people make the mistake of starting at the beginning of their talk.

Why is this a mistake?

Because when you start at the beginning you become well-versed in your opening lines. But, the rest of your talk doesn’t get an equal amount of attention.

If you’ve ever heard a speech which started off well, but tailed off in the middle or end, this is one of the main culprits.

When you get interrupted, note where you were in your script. When you begin rehearsing again, start at that point.

A better method is to break your speech up into five minute chunks. Practice each chunk separately. This allows you to give equal attention to each part of your presentation.

3. Color code your script

There are key elements of speech delivery which will affect its impact. One is your use of pauses and another is effectively changing your rate of speech or emotion behind the words.

With regard to pauses, I use a red highlighter and make marks before and after key points I want to make. This red mark reminds me to pause longer before and after those sentences I want the audience to remember.

For key questions, I use a yellow highlighter to make a mark after those questions to allow time for the audience to think about the implication of what they were asked.

I also use a blue highlighter for my transitions between points. This reminds me to either change the pace of my speaking or move to another place in the speaking area to indicate we are now moving onto a new topic.

4. Record every rehearsal

Have you ever said something brilliant, and then immediately forgot what you said?

It happens often in speaking rehearsals. You’re in a terrific flow, and you say words that sound and feel better than what you’ve previously said, and then…

You forget what you just said.

This is why you should record every practice. Words or emotions will flow out of you when you’re into the rhythm of your speech and they may be an improvement. However, they will be useless to you if you don’t capture them.

There is no reason you can’t pull out your camera or fire up a ZOOM call and record it to capture those moments of unexpected brilliance.

These are just four excellent ideas to improve your rehearsals.

What practice routines have helped you improve your speeches?

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