Practice Makes Perfect?

If you’ve ever performed in a play, you’ve probably been asked the question, “How’d you ever learn all those lines?” In fact, that is exactly what my parents asked after what I thought was a stunning portrayal of Anna in “The King and I” at E.N. Woodruff High many years ago. While the theatre-goer’s fascination with “learning all those lines,” may seem mundane to the artist, knowing your script essentially forms the base of an underappreciated performance art—the art of practice!

As a professional speaker, I have had ample opportunity to use the discipline that my drama background instilled on how to study and memorize scripted language. During the opening of a presentation, especially, the ability to memorize can help a speaker appear both approachable and credible. Throughout the program, memorized stories and examples often can help speakers energize and connect with participants. At the close, a key quotation or story can create an important impact. The effective use of scripted material is an important preparation and delivery skill.
Recently, I have also been speaking professionally, and speaking presents different challenges in learning the material. Speaking, unlike training, involves giving a very well manicured short talk over and over and over. Of course, each presentation is tailored, but many of a speaker’s key stories and concepts are continually repeated. It is assumed that a professional speaker will be extremely confident and familiar with the material.

It is also a speaking industry standard to present either without any notes or with very minimal notes. My theatrical past emerged as I realized I had to memorize a lot of lines again! Though, as a presentations skills trainer, I had often preached, “Don’t worry about perfection,” to any reluctant trainees, I was now practicing to make my presentations as perfect as possible. I have tried several techniques to become familiar with the material, from listening to tapes of myself while driving to running through lines while jogging. I have practiced presentations standing up, notes laid out in front of me on the bed, talking to my bedroom wall. Why the bedroom, you may ask? During the day, it is the only room in my home/office where a phone doesn’t ring.

Mind-map the talk. Have key chunks and sub-points, examples and stories, and then “get into a state” and do it.

  1. Record the talk and listen to it everywhere you go. It will enter into your mind subliminally.
  2. Re-tape the talk every week as you make improvements and continue to listen.
  3. Practice your opening and closing; they’re most important.
  4. Wrap your points around personal stories.
  5. Make an acronym of your points; it helps the audience remember, too.
  6. Practice in front of non-threatening groups.
  7. Use notes with bullet points.
  8. Practice in chunks. Don’t try to get the whole speech down in one sitting.
  9. Remember concepts. Speak from major point to major point.

Speaker Dorothy Wilhelm shared a technique used by the ancient Greek orators: “You visualize your own house, and imagine yourself walking through the house, mentally putting a different part of the speech in each room. For instance, the opening goes in the entryway and the body goes in the living room. You visualize draping the speech parts over the furniture as well. The conclusion goes on the back porch, so that when you walk out the door, the speech is finished. The reason it works so well is that everyone is really familiar with his or her own home.”

Humorist Robert Skoglund expressed respect for practice, saying, “You are lucky if you can practice your talk. I’ve never been able to do it. Sometimes I listen to tapes of things I’ve done years ago, but I can’t bring myself to practice. If you can practice by yourself, you are good. The greats were able to go out in the woods and talk to trees.”

So, it seems that professional speakers have a wide range of techniques to help them memorize. For those of you who are searching for a new approach, remember there are speakers out there mind mapping, jogging, driving, and standing in their bedrooms attempting to sink the language into their heads. Does practice make perfect? Who knows? Is a speech ever perfect? Well, I’d like to hear from anyone who has given the perfect speech so I could interview that person about the unique experience. I can’t help but think that the real reason to practice is best summed up by writer Joann C. Gutin in Discover magazine: “Practice doesn’t make perfect, nor is it supposed to. Practice is about increasing your repertoire of ways to recover from your mistakes.”