Public Speaking – To Memorize Or Not To Memorize, That Is The Question
- Brainz Magazine
- Apr 4, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 10, 2025
Written by: Jan Bailey, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
A long time ago, when I was working in television and some of that television was live, I got some great advice that I continue to share in my work as a communication coach. My specialty as a trainer and coach is public speaking, presenting, speaking in front of others, and one of the most common first questions I get is, “should I memorize my talk?” The short answer? No.
I realize that answer might be controversial, or openly disputed, so let me share my television advice and some of what I’ve learned in my many years of speaking in front of others and coaching those who are doing the same. With a little further reading you might begin to see the memorization debate from a new perspective.
I also realize there are those of you who are greatly relieved because you’ve convinced yourself through trial and possibly error – that you aren’t all that good at memorization, and haven’t been since 3rd grade. The news is good for you, from here forward.
In the world of live television, concise, engaging and informative are the three golden descriptors when you’re speaking in front of the camera. Ideally, those three descriptive words are ones all presenters in all situations should strive for, but it doesn’t always work out that way. When your audience is only listening for 30 seconds or a minute, however, you can see why the pressure is on. So when I first started practicing to be on air, the advice I got was:
Know your opening: Cold
Whether your opening is a bold one word, or a captivating sentence, when your entire presentation is under a minute, you need to get to the point – and fast. Interestingly, when your presentation is 5 minutes or 50 minutes, the advice still holds, but for slightly broader reasons.
First, most people spend far too much time meandering around trying to work out what they want or intend to say, and that takes too much time. Unfortunately, the attention span of the average audience is short and they aren’t all that interested in working hard to capture the meaning even you are trying to find. As a speaker of any length, work to be clear about what you want to say before you open your mouth.
Second, if you struggle with what you want to say in your opening, it shakes your confidence. If you ‘um’ and ‘uh’ your way through the first few sentences of any talk, it shakes your confidence. If you meander around the point, trying to find it and your audience begins to lose focus, it shakes your confidence. And we all know that one of the most hotly pursued commodities in speaking is confidence.
So know your opening; cold. If that means you memorize the first 1 or 2 sentences. Do it.
Those of you who are in the ‘to memorize’ camp are now nodding sagely and smiling to yourself because you’re thinking – ‘I’ve memorized the first couple of sentences, why not keep memorizing what I’ve written.” Nope:
Never memorize a speech you’ve written out
Please notice that I said a speech (or talk) that you’ve written out, first. What’s important to know is that spoken language is very different than written language and most people aren’t skilled at changing from one to the other. Spoken language is often not smooth, the verbal punctuation is generally not grammatically correct and the words chosen are usually less formal. This all matters because when you write out your talk and perfectly craft the language, from sentence structure to adjective choice it tends to sound awkward and a bit stiff. I’m very confident that you’ve either done this yourself, or heard someone else do it. The talk is simply less conversational and the speaker is therefore less relatable.
Of course there are exceptions to this rule. There are speech writers and writers who are simply skilled and are more than capable of switching into ‘spoken’ language style when they write. For most of us, however, our grammatically correct, long form, written language sounds too formal when spoken aloud.
At this point you are, hopefully, asking yourself how you can prepare if you only know the opening and you aren’t supposed to write out your talk? An excellent question.
Know it, don’t regurgitate it
You’ve been asked to give a talk, a speech or an update at a meeting because you are a subject matter expert. Someone has decided that you have some valuable information or knowledge to share and you’ve been invited to share it. (start with that knowledge, it encourages confidence)
In your preparation, and I certainly recommend preparation, decide on the main points you want your audience to know, to learn or to understand and write those down. Say them aloud or record them on your phone and then write them down again so they sound like your ‘normal’ spoken language. Then, in point form, jot down the supporting ideas or notes of research or ideas for stories – whatever will effectively convey your information and engage your audience and that becomes your practice notes for your talk.
Begin to speak the information aloud, using your main points and your notes to keep you on track and pay attention to how you naturally weave the talk together. As you practice, you’ll say it differently every time and you’ll become smoother as you hear yourself sharing the information aloud. You’ll also pay attention to your time limit and that will also edit your talk very naturally.
If you practice your talk in this way – you will begin to feel the flow and ‘know’ the information even more clearly as you continue to weave the talk together. But the best part? Because you haven’t memorized the speech, you will never, ever get hung up on that word, phrase or sentence you forget when you’re nervous! You are natural and conversational and you trust that you can tie your information together in a coherent and progressive way because you’ve done it over and over. And – every time you rehearse in this way – you’ll become more and more confident in your ability and your style.
So in the end … to memorize or not to memorize your talk? Definitely Not.
Let me know how this practice style goes, for you. Follow me on Instagram @ovationspeakers, connect with me, Jan Bailey, on LinkedIn or reach out via my website.
As a communication trainer specializing in public speaking and presenting, I work with people at all levels of business to improve their confidence in all speaking and presenting scenarios. And I’d be delighted to help you give yourself or your team the skill of clear, confident communication; every time you speak.
Jan Bailey, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Jan Bailey is a seasoned communication and public speaking trainer specializing in leadership presence, clear communication and confident presenting. Fascinated by the reluctance most people have around speaking up, speaking out and speaking in front of others, Jan set out to change the way people think about public speaking and presenting. More laughter and less lecture, more personality and less powerpoint and a whole lot more confidence means professionals at all levels are more effective communicators. A dynamic speaker, an engaging facilitator and an insightful coach, Jan genuinely believes in the power of effective communication to change lives; personally and professionally.
