Admit it … Sometimes we have had to “wing” through a speech or presentation.
This is a risky situation to be in. If you are inexperienced, to ramble and speak without a clear direction would make you sound less credible and may jeopardise your disposition at work.
Practice is key to giving a speech or presentation. I know, it’s hard work and such a chore. Certainly not as fun as preparing slides. That’s why some spend more time doing up fancy slides rather than focusing on practice.
Some may not even know how to begin. How do you practice? How do you rehearse?
This is the method that works for me:
1. Ascertain the timing for your speech/ presentation
2. If you have segments within the presentation, know the time frames for that too.
3. Craft out your speech/ points and important insights for each segment.
4. Practice aloud.
5. Time it, get to know your rate of speech/ pace.
6. Practice and (if necessary) memorise some parts.
It is not possible (and not recommended) to memorise everything in a presentation but at least have the salient points. Everything else can be extemporaneous.
But if the speech is an important one, to an important audience and is time-sensitive within a reasonable duration eg Toastmaster’s speech project … practice to memorise it.
Let me know your methods. Would love to know.
