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Rehearse Your Talk 'Live'

Laurie's 'Public Speaking' Newsletter

Never ever would I speak in front of an audience or conduct a workshop without running through my entire talk 'live'. I actually trick my mind into believing I've been with this audience before so that when I step onto the platform the situation is not foreign to me. But what and how does one rehearse?

As someone who speaks in front of audiences for a living, here's what I do. I wait until I'm completely alone with no distractions. Then when I'm nice and relaxed in my favourite chair, I mentally take myself to the venue on the night with my eyes open. Sitting among the audience `I feel good about who I am, why I'm there, and what I'm about to say. I see all those friendly people enjoying themselves over dinner and can sense an atmosphere of excited expectancy.

Keeping this in mind, I read through my first draft a few times, not to memorise it parrot fashion, but to feel at home with my audience, the content's main ideas, my all-important bridging thoughts, and some key terms and phrases. This phase usually takes two or three sittings of twenty minutes or so. When I'm comfortable with this, I reduce it down to a few key mental joggers. From this point onwards I rehearse to these key points, although I still keep my written draft handy to refer to and make ongoing adjustments. Remember that your talk is never static. It is a dynamic living thing. Now I'm ready to rehearse 'live'.

Creating an Internal Comfort Zone
Still visualizing myself at the venue, I'm a little keyed up but accept this as perfectly normal. As I hear myself being introduced I feel that familiar rush of adrenalin surge through my body. I hear the welcoming applause and confidently step forward, thank the person who introduced me, and begin to speak. The only parts of my talk that are memorised are the opening and closing remarks and the bridging phrases that link my ideas together. In the body of my talk I'm not concerned with the exact words I use, I just mull over my key ideas and let the words flow as they would in normal conversation. I sense the ever-changing mood as I introduce each new idea and involve my listeners in each new story. I see their faces and feel the warm rapport. And each time I rehearse, the words are ever so slightly different ensuring a spontaneous freshness about my talk. I even anticipate the little asides and ad lib bits!

I conclude with a carefully chosen story, quote, or saying that encapsulates the essence of my message and leaves my listeners with something of substance to think about. As I make my way back to my seat the comments and generous applause tell me that I've appealed to both heart and mind. All of this takes about 15 minutes because the mind fast forwards and rewinds a lot of your ideas. The secret is to spend this reflective twenty minutes or so with your talk at least once a day before you speak.

Rarely do I rehearse the whole talk without a break. I reflect between ideas and add the occasional key word or phrase to my list of mental joggers and first draught as I go. At other times I find myself on my feet talking out loud or interacting with a room full of people. However there is one thing that I do not do, and that's rehearse in front of a mirror. I find it very off-putting and unnatural. And the same goes for rehearsing in front of a video camera. Here you run the very real risk of reinforcing long-held negative beliefs of how bad you look and how awful you sound. "I knew it!" I've heard people lament when they see themselves played back on video during a training session, "I look and sound horrible!" I firmly believe that the intimidating presence of a video camera as a training tool for public speakers can do great damage by further locking ingrained self-doubt and anxieties in place.

Having your talk video recorded for posterity on the night from a distance is fine because this is non-intrusive and allows you to be you. But being forced to 'be natural' in front of a video camera during a training session is quite another matter. You are not a television actor so why subject yourself to the unnecessary stress of trying to be one? Anyway the power of the spoken word comes from the heart not clever camera work or a director's insights. When rehearsing, my advice is to steer clear of them.

And the same goes for using a video to meticulously polish the technical aspects of your talk. At the end of a private coaching session with one of Australia's leading acrobats on how to have your audience remember you and your message, she said to me: "This is fantastic! I'm now going to rehearse in front of a video camera until I have it perfect". I cautioned against it. "This is not a circus performance where each movement has to be painstakingly rehearsed for many months because of a life-and-death necessity. This is all about creating intuitive rapport with people and relating to them on a human level. Your rehearsal should anticipate - actually visualize - some spontaneous interaction and asides". I prefer to infect people with my enthusiasm and fire them with my passion than concentrate wholly and solely on a technically perfect 'performance'.

There's one more important thing. On the way to the venue I go over my opening words one final time to make sure I've got them off pat. For what was rehearsed yesterday has a tendency to go cold over night. My list of key mental joggers will keep me on track throughout my talk, but what I say first always needs some last minute refinement to ensure I'm comfortable with my opening ideas.

Tip: I was once part of a small dinner group hosting an international guest who was to speak at our conference the following day. As we chatted across the table I was very impressed with his knowledge of Australia and the stories he shared. When he spoke the next day I was surprised to hear most of what he'd rehearsed with us over dinner! So rehearse your stories in everyday conversation with family and friends to gauge their reactions.

Feel free to use this article in your newsletter etc. or forward it on to a friend. All I ask is that you acknowledge its source with the following byline:
Laurie Smale www.panicfreepublicspeaking.com.au