How to Memorize a Presentation

I can still remember twenty years ago when I told my first story to my first live audience that wasn't my own family. These people had actually paid to be there and didn't automatically love me 'cause they knew my mamma. I was so nervous I wanted to throw up. My biggest fear? Remembering the words. I had one goal. To get through it. I went through that story at lightning speed. I'm pretty sure I didn't take a breath until I was through. I'm not sure the audience understood a single moment even though they clapped politely. I swore I would never do that again.

Twenty years and thousands of speeches and shows later - well, I broke my promise. I did do it again. And again. And again. Now I don't even recognize the woman I was twenty years ago when I first started. But I sure do remember how she felt. I wish I could go back and give her advice. But I can't. So instead I will give it to you - the person standing in that moment where I was twenty years go.

People think my skill is all natural talent. Those people are wrong. What you think is talent is really a lot of work and a few secrets. Today, I'll share those secrets - specifically, secrets on how to remember the words. Once you can remember the words and feel comfortable with your script, you can actually have more fun delivering it.

Let's start with actually looking at WHY that presentation is so hard to remember.

The main reason that most people struggle with memorizing a presentation, is because they haven't written it to be memorized. They've written it to be read.

Write A Presentation That Is Easy To Memorize

The best way to help yourself memorize a speech, is to write it so that it's easy to memorize. Therefore, many of these memorizing secrets actually pertain to the crafting of the speech.

Write The Way You Talk, Not The Way You Read

Remember when we would come back to school after summer break, and the teacher would make us write about what we did over the summer? Her only instruction was to get out a piece of paper and write until the time was up. No wonder so many of us as adults have trouble writing presentations. We struggle with structure, and the end result is something intended to be read, not spoken.

Speeches aren't articles we read out loud. They are conversations we have with a group of people - even though we are the only ones talking. Hopefully. When you write your presentation, write the way you talk in normal conversation.

Write The Way THEY Talk

My husband was the son of an avid Scrabble fan. His mother raised them on a diet of three-syllable vocabulary words. The more obscure the word, the better. While this makes my husband sound really smart, it also alienates him in many conversations, because the words he uses aren't the words everybody else uses on a daily basis. His listeners can't follow his conversation because they are getting tripped up mentally on some of the words.

In comedy, you want to take the shortest path to the joke. Easy words. Quick trip to get there. Same in your presentation. If you download it with tons of verbose words, your audience will start to get exhausted, even if they do understand the meaning of the word.

The job isn't to sound smarter than everybody in the room. The job is to get your point across and persuade them to take action. You don't get points for a triple word score with a "Z" in it.

Practice As You Write

I used to write stories and speeches without saying a word. (Yes, there are actually times when I am quiet.) Then when I was finished writing it, I started practicing it out loud. It was so hard to memorize, and it didn't feel real. I wrote it. But it didn't feel like me. Why? Because that's not the way I talk. It was the way I write. I ended up having to rewrite every line to be comfortable and authentic to me. Finally, I decided to save time and practice WHILE I wrote. Yep. I changed my process.

Now, as I write each line of a story or presentation, I practice saying the line out loud as I'm writing it. If it feels forced, canned, or not like me, I change it. Sometimes I even think of a better way to say it.

Very cool side note: This process is actually helping you memorize the presentation too!

Have A Structure

Before I ever write a story or a presentation, I map out the structure. I give it a basic outline that follows the progression of my plot or argument.

Your presentation begins with an outline.

Note: If you want to know more about my story formula, or the anatomy of a presentation, then check out my Story Camp or one of my Power UP Workshops. Here's the link to my live event page: Kelly Swanson Live Event Workshops and Camps

Use More Stories

Stories (if structured well) are easier to tell and remember, than a bunch of information or bullet points. Plus, stories are entertaining, engaging, and able to persuade on an emotional level in a way that data can not. Facts tell. Stories sell.

Fight the urge to create a presentation filled with hard-to-remember data. Send that home with them instead on a handout. The goal of a presentation is to persuade instead of teach. If you're teaching, that's more of a lecture or a breakout session.

As you already know, storytelling is my prime area of expertise. You know how to find me if you need help writing corporate stories.

Script The Main Points

Don't feel the need to script every single moment of your presentation - just the important parts. When I give a speech, I have my stories and major points memorized, but the rest is just sort of memorized. In other words, I talk about it, instead of having a scripted moment.

Memorize It Line By Line

People always ask me how to memorize. The answer? Line by line. Word by word. Sentence by sentence. Start with the first sentence and repeat it until you have it memorized. Look at the words as you practice so you set a visual image of the speech as well.

Practice At High Speech

Linda Larsen, a professional speaker with an acting background, taught me this valuable skill. Memorize that story or presentation at a speed as fast as you can say it. This is a technique actors use to learn their lines. It works great for presentations too. I love it.

Practice Out Of Order

Memorizing a wall of words is so hard. It's much easier to memorize the "scenes" of your presentation, and practice them out of order so you are always able to jump around while you practice.

Note: I write all my presentations in five-minute modules. These blocks make it so much easier for me to memorize and keep my place in the presentation.

Practice The Outline

In addition to practicing the presentation, I will also practice reciting the headlines of my presentation - the outline - the progression of my argument. This helps me stay focused on stage without needing PowerPoint slides as prompts.

Use Notes

There is no hard and fast rule that says you can't use notes. I generally do not use notes, unless it's a new piece, and then I often just print out the outline. If you do use notes, do not read them. Practice with your notes, so that it is seamless when you hit the stage. Sometimes I will bring a black music stand, and my notes are printed into a black binder in a really big font. Nobody really notices me turning the pages, and if they do, they don't really care.

Practice is the key to being prepared. But mistakes happen to the best of us, on a regular basis. If you mess up, own it and have fun with it. The audience knows you're human, and sometimes admitting you've lost your place can actually endear you to your audience.

Need more help?

If you need more help crafting a winning presentation that connects, engages, and gets results, then here are some resources to help you:

• Online Business Story Crafting Course
• Corporate Story Crafting Summer Camp
• Power UP Presentation One-Day Boot Camps (NYC - August, Miami - December)
• The Story Formula Book