Toss the Script ~ The Key to Engaged Public Speaking
Have you suffered through an executive presentation read from a script?
What was your reaction?
- Talked to your neighbour
- Played with your iPhone or Blackberry
- Took a bathroom break
Or are you a perpetrator?
Why as presenters do we read our script word for word? Our head down, buried in our notes using a monotone reading voice…clutching to the lectern.
Because we lack faith in our ability as a subject matter expert and our memorization skills. Our voice of self-doubt takes over. But deep in our heart of heart’s we know that our audience is not engaged – they are disconnected from our words. As are we.
So where to begin?
You know of what you speak, right? So take that script and write down only the key points. With each key point make a short note of the supporting argument(s).
Have faith in your ability to tell a story. It was a childhood skill that we all had and many of us have stifled with adulthood. Rekindle it.
Visualize each key point in a room in your home, then each supporting argument to a piece of the room’s furniture.
Now begin practicing! Go to the first room (there is your key message) to each furniture piece (your supporting arguments) and then on to the next room. Carry on through out your home. In each room craft your story around each key message and supporting points.
As with any new technique our brain matter needs to stretch and grow in new ways. That old noggin does adapt. And with anything new, it’s about an open mind and a leap of faith.
The result – you will engage your audience with your words because you will no longer have to read with your head down. You can look up and connect with your audience. You will be relaxed because you are now in control of the story that you have wound through your messaging. And you won’t be worried about memorizing a script because you will be moving through your home and the furniture, which sparks your key points and the supporting arguments.
Voila! Engaged audience captured by a relaxed and entertaining presenter. You.
Photo Attribution: Jeff Martin / Godfrey von Rheinfels
Tags: Corporate Communicaitons, Executive Coaching, Fear of Public Speaking, public speaking
Hi Janice,
Thank you for your helpful post. As a former Methodist Local Preacher I have most definitely been a perpetrator! To this day, if I was asked to preach I would take a full script with me to the lectern, though I have been doing it for so long now and am preparing the script for quite a long time that I have it committed to a point where I can maintain good eye contact.
I would love to be able to make the jump to speaking with only notes as a guide but it’s a matte of being brave enough to make the leap (and having sufficient time for rehearsal!)
I would say though that there is a benefit to crafting a full script first of all and then distilling it to headlines and sub-point notes just so that you craft the structure mentally as you write and review. Not that you are suggesting that you jump straight into only writing notes from the outset, but I think it’s easy to do that without first fully thinking out the structure and the story.
Of course it all takes time and I suppose that’s what few of us have in abundance.
Cheers, Greg.
Well said Greg. Yes, I believe it is about trusting ourselves and taking the leap and you are right that time factor definitely gets in the way of practicing.
It is sad how much speaking leads to audiences using blackberries beneath the table… why do human beings tend to prepare the most boring presentations… and then you find them in the bar afterwards telling jokes and stories and surrounded by fully engaged groups of people. Good to see you are on a mission to change this sad state of affairs and improve quality of life for all!
Even more sad, I watch people use their Blackberries above the table.
It takes a real leap of courage to get in front of an audience and speak and I’m coming to know that sometimes it is harder to move away from status quo and go out on the limb to engage your audience.
The humour in it all is when my clients achieve success and see that they have engaged the audience they feel powerful and become addicted to public speaking.
Yes, we are a complicated lot!