Memorize Your Speech With This Memory Trick

Memorize Your Speech With This Memory Trick

Taking notes on stage with you during your presentation is never a good idea.

The time you spend looking down at your notes during your presentation is time you are not looking at your audience or communicating with nonverbal body language such as hand gestures.

In addition, reading from notes will make you sound as if you are, well, reading from notes, which is the opposite of sounding as if you’re having a conversation with a friend, which is the ideal way to deliver information to an audience. The more conversational and warm you can sound during your presentation, the more your audience will feel connected to you, and pay attention to you.  

Reading from notes will also make you appear less confident during your presentation. While reading, your posture will weaken and become more closed off, your voice will not project as far, and your energy will be focused on your notes, instead of the audience – all of these changes in your presence will impact how you appear to the audience.

Instead of reading from notes while on stage, you need to learn your presentation material well enough so you can present your ideas from memory. You don’t want to memorize a script and then regurgitate it to the audience verbatim because this will make you sound robotic. However you should know by heart the flow of your presentation as well as any key stats or facts that need to be communicated in a specific way. You want to be able to move through all of the points of your presentation without missing a beat, or filling your speech with ums and uhs

To help you learn your presentation material quickly and easily, and ditch the crutch of notes for your next presentation, here is a memory trick for you to try.

The Method Of Loci

To memorize lengthy speeches, the Greeks and the Romans developed the method of loci (also known as the memory palace method). This 2,000-year-old memorization technique has stood the test of time and is still a popular method for memorization today.

The method of loci involves envisioning a physical location that is very familiar to you, and noting different points, or stops, within that location. The area can be a room, a building, a road, or any other real life location. The selected points within that area are going to be the visual hooks that help you remember specific points within your presentation. The best way to help you understand this is to give you an example.

method of loci

For Example…

The location I will use for this example is my home office; these are the selected points within my office which will serve as my memory hooks: 

1. Desk

2. Lamp

3. Window

It’s important to note that you should list your selected points as you would pass them if you were walking along a clearly defined, sensible path. If you do the opposite, and randomly list points or objects associated with your location, you will be forced to remember that randomly developed order in addition to remembering the points of your presentation.

However if you use a specific path to develop your list, you can follow that path in your mind, and each point you pass as you mentally walk the path will trigger a point you need to recall for your presentation. All you will need to do is visualize the path as you move through your presentation material and the pathway will trigger everything you need to recall for your presentation.

Continuing with this example, here is the flow of points within my presentation:

1. Chemical X can transform chemical Y into product B.

2. Users are 80% more likely to use product B than product A.

3. 75% of people prefer product B to product C.

This is how I will use the path I have designated for moving through my office to trigger the correct points within my presentation at the appropriate time:

1. Thanks to my time in the laboratory, I have already committed to memory the outcome of combining chemicals X and Y. Therefore, I simply need to remember to open my presentation by talking about this transformation. To help me remember to open with the point about transformation, I envision a toy representation of a transformer robot sitting on my desk, which is the first point on my path.  

2. Since points #2 and #3 of my presentation compare product B to other products, and also include stats, I connect 80% to product A by mentally acknowledging that 80 and A sound similar. With that taken care of, I simply need to remember to present point #2 after point #1. To remember this order of points, I attach point #2 to the second point on my pathway by envisioning the triangular shape of the lampshade as the letter A. Now, when I mentally move from my desk to the lamp, and I visualize the lamp as well as the A-shaped lampshade, I will be reminded to say: Users are 80% more likely to use product B than product A.

3. Lastly, I mentally note that 75% and C have phonetic similarities. Then, I pretend that when I look out my window I see a sea. During my presentation, when I envision the window as the final point on my mental journey, I will remember to say: 75% of people prefer product B to product C.

If the fictional example above were a real example, I would be prepared to take the stage and present my ideas. All I would need to do is visualize my office, and mentally walk from my desk to the lamp to the window. As I pass each of these points in my mind, I will be reminded of a point I need to make in my presentation.

Conclusion

The method of loci might seem complex at first glance, however it is easier than trying to remember the many points of your presentation by cramming all of your ideas into your memory through hours and hours of rehearsal. You will still need to practice your presentation, however during your practice sessions you can focus on refining your body language, improving your voice control, and finessing your word choice, instead of sweating the order of the points in your presentation.

Additional Resources:

How To Practice Before A Presentation

Why You Need to Practice Before Presenting at a Conference

How-To Conquer Short Attention Spans

The Science of Memorable Presentations





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