To memorize or not to memorize — that is the question….

 

The usual argument presentation coaches make against memorizing your presentation is that you won’t sound natural — that your presentation will sound memorized…

 

They also maintain that you should know your information so well that all you really need to do is have a conversation with your audience.

 

Here’s how I look at it…

 

It’s easy to get tripped up in your conversation when you’re nervous and have a sea of strange faces staring up at you, and…

 

There are going to be some key points in your session where you don’t want to take the risk of losing your credibility… there’s too much at stake…

 

You’ve got to sound professional — no um’s or uh’s.

 

Consider this:  Do theater and movie actors sound like their lines are memorized?

 

You know they’ve spent time memorizing their lines, but if they’re doing a good job delivering those lines, you don’t actually think about it when you hear them speak…

 

You get caught up in the story.

 

The way the actors deliver their lines comes across as natural because they’re applying nuances that make what they’re saying sound natural. Those nuances include pausing, emphasizing, making volume changes, and so on.

 

You can do the same! You can memorize important sections, and then practice them (adding nuances) until they sound smooth and natural. You’ll look and feel so much more confident!

 

Here’s one more thing to consider… if you’re facilitating a learning experience instead of dropping a load of information, you won’t need to memorize much of your session…

 

Why? Because you won’t have a huge amount of lecture-style content…

You’ll have your attendees interacting through brainstorming sessions, discussions, hands-on practice, and case study analysis…

When you comment, discuss, and provide feedback on those activities, you’ll be using your usual conversational skills.