Over the past four weeks we’ve been discussing stagefright, and I’m glad to hear that many of you have found the four articles on that subject helpful. If you’re joining us for the first time this week and haven’t read those articles yet, I urge you to do so because their content has proved helpful to many people – not only here in the blog but also in our Speaking Solutions training courses. This week we’re moving on to something quite different, and a subject which may earn me some growls: the subject of writing out your speeches.

Let me tell you the story of N. N is a popular speaker. He’s fun, has high energy, and is a good story teller. I’ve heard him speak on numerous occasions, either at speech contests and at other events. People like him. But you know what? Over the three or four years I have heard him, he hasn’t improved. Why? Well, because he is not prepared to do what master presenters largely do, i.e. to write out his speech and internalise it. Parts of his texts are improvised, and that means they are more or less successful each time the speech is delivered. A consistently high standard eludes him.

On this issue, I personally absolutely agree with international speech champion, David Brooks, who claims that if speakers don’t write out their speeches they cannot achieve consistent excellence. I’ve seen that this is true for both myself and for those with whom I work. One of the arguments, though, which I often hear in favour of not writing out speeches is that people claim this will mean they can’t be spontaneous. I disagree. In fact, my experience shows that the contrary is true. If you have written out your speech and internalised it (note I use the word internalise and not memorise), you have your plan of action clearly laid out in your mind. If something then happens for which you are not prepared, believe me, you will be able to handle it spontaneously and keep cool while you do so because you know where you’re headed. Afterwards, you’ll find your way back to where you were and be able to stay on track.

So, do I mean that you have to write out absolutely every word? It depends. For a shorter speech, like a contest speech where every word matters, that’s exactly what I mean. For a Powerpoint presentation, you’ll need to have at least your opening and close written out, because they are drastically important. Many corporate speakers also write out their transitional comments so that their storyline remains intact even when they are using slides. If I have a longer session where there is prolonged and direct interaction with the audience and where I am speaking on a subject which I really know well, I may not actually write out every word, but I certainly create a clear sequential plan of my material. I write out my opening and close and internalise these, and possibly also particular points which I want to cover in a certain way. By the way, Sir Winston Churchhill wrote out his speeches and claimed that he needed an hour of preparation time for every minute of his actual speech! We know that Abraham Lincoln wrote out his speeches, too, because there are varying original versions of them housed in museums across the US.

Please don’t think that just because we have entered a fast, modern age, this type of time-consuming and disciplined preparation is no longer necessary. If you want to excell as a speaker, it is entirely necessary. The good news here is that the time and effort pay off. Go on then, growl if you will!