example of memorized presentation

Home Blog Education How to Memorize a Presentation: Guide + Templates

How to Memorize a Presentation: Guide + Templates

Memorizing a presentation is the process of internalizing a speech’s concepts, key points, and structure so it can be delivered confidently and smoothly without relying heavily on presentation notes or a script. As a skill, it implies understanding the material as a whole, committing it to memory, and recalling and articulating it effectively in front of an audience. And we mean articulating, as the end goal is not to repeat the content verbatim without emotion or feeling out of the element if questions are asked. 

In this article, we will talk about the advantages of memorizing a presentation, the different techniques for accomplishing it, and some examples of how to put these tools into practice.

Table of Contents

Benefits of Memorizing a Presentation

Technique #1: create an outline, technique #2: the 20-20-20 rule of rehearsal, technique #3: the method of loci, technique #4: using acronyms, technique #5: rhyming, technique #6: visualization linking, technique #7: chunking, technique #8: pqrst, technique #9: write it down, recommended templates for visual aids in memorization.

Although some may think of memorizing a presentation as a sort of counterproductive practice, “ knowing the speech cold ” – as HBR labels this practice – gives us room to be more confident about our understanding of the topic to present, reducing public speaking anxiety , and obtain a better performance outcome. Let’s go through some of the benefits of memorizing a presentation.

Audience Engagement

A well-memorized presentation allows for better eye contact and interaction with the audience, making the delivery more engaging and dynamic. The presentation feels less robotic, allowing you to connect with the public through genuine levels of audience engagement .

Flexibility

Understanding the material thoroughly enables the presenter to adapt to questions, comments, or technical issues without losing track of the presentation. A typical scenario is when the talk drifts off its original intention, such as when an attendee has genuine concerns about some of the presentation’s points or application. Rather than abruptly returning to where you left off, you can resume the presentation by connecting a fact to what you just discussed.

Memorizing helps maintain a logical flow and structure, ensuring that key points are covered effectively and smooth transitions between sections. This is extremely practical if we deliver video presentations , where we need to do a before and after part of the presentation from where the video starts.

A confident and well-delivered presentation is more persuasive and can have a greater impact on the audience, whether the goal is to inform, inspire, or convince. Think of how much of a difference it can make in short-format presentations like elevator pitches , as all your mental and physical efforts are focused on your body language and how you connect with the audience rather than remembering facts.

Reduced Dependence on Visual Aids

With memorized material, the presenter can use visual aids more effectively as supplements rather than crutches. Visual aids for presentations can become more artistic, enhancing the aesthetic of your presentation rather than needing specific word cues to help you remember parts of your speech. 

Enhanced Credibility

Memorizing a presentation can significantly enhance your credibility as a presenter by ensuring a smooth and confident delivery, which audiences often interpret as a sign of expertise and reliability. This phenomenon is supported by the “Halo Effect,” a cognitive bias where the perception of one positive trait (such as confidence and fluency in delivering a presentation) leads to the assumption of other positive traits (such as competence and trustworthiness). When a presenter speaks without hesitation or errors, the audience is more likely to view them as knowledgeable and credible, thus reinforcing their overall message. You can learn more about this in our article about how different cognitive bias impact your presentation .

An outline organizes your thoughts and provides a clear presentation structure . Start with a broad framework, then fill in the details. For instance, an outline for a presentation on a project management course might look like this:

• Definition of project management
• Importance of effective project management
• Defining project scope
• Setting objectives and milestones
• Resource allocation
• Team management
• Tracking progress
• Adjusting plans as needed
• Evaluating project success
• Lessons learned
• Summary of key points
• Final thoughts and call to action

This outline serves as a roadmap, helping you remember the sequence and relationships between points. You can quickly create outlines with AI tools like ChatGPT for Presentations .

The 20-20-20 rule is a structured rehearsal technique designed to enhance presentation memorization and delivery. This rule breaks down practice sessions into manageable segments, focusing on different presentation aspects and ensuring a comprehensive preparation process. The rule involves three 20-minute phases: content rehearsal, delivery practice, and review/adjustment.

Content Rehearsal

The focus should be on memorizing and understanding the concepts of your presentation. Go through the outline or main points of your presentation. Ensure you know the flow and structure.

Cover each key point, argument, and supporting evidence. You can use mnemonic devices, such as acronyms or rhymes, to aid the memory fixation process. Recite the content without worrying about your delivery style. Concentrate on getting the information right, and repeat each challenging section until you feel confident to recall it. 

A good practice is to pair this content rehearsal process with the Feynman Technique , which helps you acknowledge whether you truly understand what you’re talking about.

Delivery Practice

Practice delivering the presentation, concentrating on your speaking style, body language, and engagement with the audience. It is best if you practice standing up and speaking aloud, mentally recreating the conditions of your future presentation to reduce potential anxiety. 

Pay attention to your tone, pitch, and pace. Ensure your speech is dynamic and engaging, and make eye contact with the imaginary audience. Incorporate appropriate gestures and movements to emphasize points and keep the audience engaged.

Review and Adjustment

Review your performance, make necessary adjustments, and refine your presentation. If possible, get feedback from a peer, mentor, or record your practice session and review it.

Simplify complex points and add clarifications where needed. Look at how much jargon you’re using, your vocal variety, pacing, and body language.

The Method of Loci involves choosing a familiar location, such as your home or a route you often take, and mentally placing pieces of information at specific locations within this setting. When you need to recall the information, you mentally “walk” through the location, retrieving the information associated with each specific place.

Spatial memory is powerful, making it easier to remember and recall information. The physical layout of the location helps create a logical sequence for the presentation.

Steps to Implement the Method of Loci

Choose a familiar location, identify specific locations or landmarks, associate information with each location, visualize and rehearse, mentally walk through the location, practice regularly, adapt and expand as needed.

Select a familiar place, such as your home, office, or frequently taken route. Familiarity with the location is crucial because it allows you to visualize and navigate the space in your mind easily.

Your home, including rooms such as the living room, kitchen, bedroom, and garden.

Within your chosen location, identify distinct spots or landmarks where you will “place” information. These should be areas that are easy to visualize and distinct from one another.

• The couch in the living room
• Dining table in the kitchen
• Bed in the bedroom
• Flowerbed in the garden

Assign a piece of information from your presentation to each specific location. Create vivid, memorable images or associations for each piece of information.

For a presentation on the benefits of renewable energy:

• Front door: A bright sun symbolizes solar energy.
• Couch: A spinning wind turbine representing wind energy.
• Dining table: A flowing river representing hydroelectric power.
• Bed: A peaceful forest symbolizing biomass energy.
• Flowerbed: A vibrant array of flowers representing the benefits of renewable energy for the environment.

Spend time visualizing each piece of information in its designated location. Walk through the location in your mind, seeing each piece of information clearly.

Mentally walk to your front door and vividly imagine the bright sun. Move to the living room and picture the wind turbine on the couch. Continue this process for each location and associated image.

When it’s time to recall the information, mentally walk through the chosen location in the same order. As you visualize each spot, recall the information associated with it.

During your presentation, mentally start at the front door (solar energy) and proceed to the living room (wind energy), kitchen (hydroelectric power), bedroom (biomass energy), and garden (environmental benefits).

Regular practice helps reinforce the associations and improves recall. Periodically walk through your memory palace to ensure the information remains fresh and accessible.

Practice your mental walk-through daily leading up to your presentation. Spend a few minutes each day reinforcing the associations.

The Method of Loci is versatile and can be adapted for different types of information and expanded as needed. Add more locations or create new memory palaces for additional topics.

If your presentation has multiple sections, create a new memory palace for each section or expand your existing one by adding more rooms or landmarks.

Acronyms are powerful mnemonic devices that can simplify the process of memorizing a presentation by condensing complex information into easily remembered letters and words. Each letter in an acronym stands for a key point or concept, helping you recall the sequence and details of your presentation more effectively.

Begin by identifying the main points or concepts of your presentation. These could be steps in a process, important themes, or critical details that must be remembered.

For a presentation on effective communication, the key points might be:

• Conciseness
• Consistency

Using the key points above, create the acronym “5Cs” for effective communication:

• C onciseness
• C onsistency

Enhance the acronym with mnemonic devices, such as creating a sentence or phrase where each word starts with the same letter as your key points. This helps reinforce memory.

“ C ats C atch C lever C reatures C arefully”

Rhyming is a highly effective mnemonic tool that greatly improves presentation memorization. Crafting rhymes can result in engaging presentations as an ice-breaker and makes content easier to remember. By utilizing the natural rhythm and sound patterns of language, rhyming helps information stay in your memory.

Identify the key points or concepts you want to memorize in your presentation. These could be main ideas, lists, steps in a process, or important details. Once you have a clear list of these points, you can begin to create rhymes around them.

Create simple, catchy rhymes for each key point. Aim for short and memorable phrases that encapsulate the essence of the information. For example, if you’re presenting on the benefits of exercise, you might create a rhyme like:

“Exercise each day, keeps fatigue away.”

Combine rhymes into couplets (two-line verses) or longer verses if needed. This helps create a narrative or flow that is easy to follow. For instance, for a presentation on healthy eating, you could use:

“Fruits and veggies every day, keep the doctor far away.

Whole grains and lean meats too, give your body fuel to renew.”

Use visual aids that complement your rhymes. Say you have a slide listing the benefits of a product; use a rhyme to introduce or summarize the points on the slide. The combination of visual and auditory cues strengthens memory retention.

Visualization linking involves using vivid, imaginative images to represent key points or pieces of information in a presentation. By creating a mental picture for each point and linking these pictures together logically, you create a memorable and coherent mental map of your presentation. This technique leverages the brain’s natural ability to remember visual and spatial information more effectively than abstract concepts or words.

Unlike the Method of Loci, it focuses on creating a chain of connected images that follow a narrative or logical sequence rather than working with a familiar physical location. Therefore, there’s no need for a physical or spatial structure to help memory recall, and it is a more flexible method.

Let’s say we are wondering how to remember a presentation about the use of chemicals in food preparation. We can retrieve the mental process a consumer makes before buying a product by linking the image of the product—say, a detergent—to the store where you purchase it. Then, we can think of the potential usage by picturing the bubbles this product creates when combined with water when cleaning vegetables. 

You need to mentally go through the sequence until it feels natural. Each image triggers a memory corresponding to a key point in your presentation.

Chunking is the process of dividing large amounts of information into smaller, more manageable pieces, or chunks. Each chunk represents a unit of information that is easier to process and remember. This technique helps reduce cognitive load, making understanding, memorizing, and recalling complex concepts easier.

Once you have identified the main concepts in your presentation, you need to organize them into chunks. 

Group the time management key points:

• Importance of goals
• Types of goals (short-term, long-term)
• Urgent vs. important
• Task prioritization techniques (Eisenhower Matrix)
• Daily planning
• Weekly and monthly planning
• Identifying distractions
• Techniques to stay focused
• Regular review sessions
• Adjusting plans based on progress

Label each chunk with clear headings or section titles. This helps organize the presentation and provides a clear structure for the presenter and the audience. Incorporate visual aids such as slides, charts, or diagrams to represent each chunk. Visual aids help reinforce the information and make it more memorable. Although this technique is a good answer to how to memorize a speech faster, its most common application of chunking is related to data presentations , when we need to recall lengthy numbers critical for discussing our findings.

The PQRST method is a study and memory technique that stands for Preview, Question, Read, Self-Recite, and Test. Originally developed for academic study, this method can be effectively adapted to help presenters memorize their material by breaking down the content into manageable steps and reinforcing understanding and recall.

This method involves five steps: Previewing the material to get an overview, generating questions about the content, reading to find answers to those questions, self-reciting the key points, and testing oneself to ensure the information is retained. This structured approach aids in comprehending, memorizing, and recalling information for a presentation.

Writing things down involves manually recording information on paper. This can include writing out the full text of your presentation, key points, summaries, or notes. Writing engages your brain in different ways compared to simply reading or typing, making it an effective mnemonic device. As we take notes manually, we can implement complementary techniques to further enhance our memory recall process, like storytelling in presentations . 

Suppose your presentation contains words or paragraphs in another language. In that case, this is the best method to implement, as the manual writing process triggers your brain’s reticular activating system (RAS).

There are multiple approaches to writing down a presentation. You can write an outline, but that wouldn’t be enough. Summarizing each section of the presentation in your own words rather than repeating the lengthy speech is a great practice, as you test your comprehension simultaneously. Flashcards, which can be manual or digital, are another alternative to test your memory about the contents of the presentation.

We want to conclude this article with a series of selected PowerPoint templates that can help us work with effective visual aids for memorization. Keep in mind these PPT/PPTX files can be accessed as Google Slides templates as well.

1. Corporate Process Map Template for PowerPoint

Suppose you’re wondering how to memorize a presentation about your company’s processes, either in the change management stages or to coach personnel. In that case, you need to get this PPT template.

Detailed icons help us recall each stage of employee onboarding, sales chain, or customer fulfillment processes, to name a few.

Use This Template

2. 6-Milestone Hanging Platforms Timeline PowerPoint Template

Another template with visual aids for how to memorize speeches, this time intended for team meetings briefing in the implementation phases of specific business operations. Presenters can pair the icons to each stage or associate them with a mnemonic.

3. Data Science Shapes PowerPoint Template

This PPT template is intended for any kind of data science presentation. Its use of a broad selection of icons and contrasting colors makes it easy to remember the contents of a presentation.

4. Statistical Bias PowerPoint Templates

Say you need to deliver an academic presentation about cognitive bias; this template comes with tips to remember a speech in the form of vector art illustrations. Adapt the contents of the slides to your presentation’s needs and let the images help you retrieve concepts.

5. Action Plan PowerPoint Diagram

Share your process for launching a product or service, creating a training program, or setting new action plans for your organization with a highly visual presentation template for PowerPoint and Google Slides. Creative icons allow you to visually link the different stages your team has to complete.

Like this article? Please share

Presentation Approaches, Presentation Skills Filed under Education

Related Articles

Filed under Presentation Ideas • August 29th, 2024

How to Make a Presentation Longer: 7 Strategies to Master

Extend your talk in style. Join us to discover how to make a presentation longer while providing a high-end experience to your audience.

Filed under Presentation Ideas • August 22nd, 2024

How to Write a Presentation Script

The script of a speech is a vital aspect for a presentation’s success. Join us here to learn the process of writing a presentation script.

Filed under Design • August 14th, 2024

Creating Custom Themes for PowerPoint and Google Slides

Do you want your slides to go beyond the average result from a template? If so, learn how to create custom themes for presentations with this guide.

Leave a Reply

How to Prepare and Deliver a Great Memorized Speech

A memorized speech can be a real nightmare; We easily forget most things even setting schedules and alarms, or asking a friend to remind us about important things to do proves to be a challenge sometimes – now imagine memorizing an entire speech.

A Memorized Speech or Presentation is the one that is performed completely from memory, based on a paper or information that is already written, whether it’s from our authorship or not.

Everything we need to say and pitch about is centered on only one content that usually is not new to our public (whichever is other speakers or audience).

 As the speakers in the speech, we need to have some time, days, or weeks, to prepare to perform it to an audience.

Our audience doesn’t expect us to bring notes, books, or any guide besides memory to remind the content. 

There is an implicit requirement that the speaker needs to be familiar with the content and passionate if possible, this way… it will come out naturally; That is why it is crucial to find a reason or something that we like about the content.

Manuscript Speech or Presentation

Successful Memorized Speech Task 1: Preparation

Here we need to focus on developing content, skills, and techniques to perform our speech. The memorized speech requires that we take time to create a bond between us and our subject; after all, we will imprint it on our brains and soul (has to be).

Reading about it or having conversations with people that know about it would be great to create natural memories that we won’t easily forget.

Most times, subjects are given, so we don’t need to focus on producing content, but they’re also those times we need to be the speakers and the content like most poetry contests. 

A memorized speech is not always about saying the words precisely as they were written. To wing it without going out of the original content can be in sometimes an excellent thing. 

Because it passes the message that we own the content, and it is not a set of words that we took memorize and repeat.

Some memorized speeches will produce the content, which means looking for the information that interests us and makes us feel passionate enough to write about it; this is commonly seen in poetry contests. 

They are also those memorize speeches like a sales pitch, in which our primary focus is on getting to know more about the product itself, side-effects, finding positives things, and structure the best way to launch it behind people.

So imagine we are getting ready for a spelling competition, we need to engage this new goal into on our schedule, not as a task that needs to be ticked diary but as visualizing different sets it could be practiced, for example:

Because we want to imprint in our brains and make it a regular action, our memory will be tested.

Successful Memorized Speech Task 2: Delivery

So here we are, the BIG DAY as arrived. What should we first? First of all, breathe. We need to make sure we have time enough to breathe slowly and be in the moment. It is scientifically proven that breathing helps our brains calm down and find solutions when facing a problem. 

When I had to perform my first memorized speech, I took plenty of time reading the content over and over again. All kinds of the way with music, without music, alone, with people, I  did everything but breathe , which was my biggest mistake.

On the day of the delivery, we want to be relaxed and make sure our mind and spirit are in sync. The pressure of practicing too much on the day eventually will create tension between us, trying to remember what goes next and the audience. 

Showing some pictures related to our content or adding some light instrumental to a poetry contest would be a good tip because it would create an open environment.

References and Further Reading

Similar Posts

Want to stand out 15 key tips for an awesome presentation, 8 valuable tips for unemployed fresh grads (and others), 10 best tips for successful business presentations, 15 best communications degree jobs and career paths, 5 learning styles to consider for memorable presentations, deliver an effective debate and speech with this 5-step strategy.

• Internet , Productivity

15 Short Memorized Speech Examples

Giving a speech feels hard and that feeling is so common that a majority of people would rather die than speak publicly. But when it is inevitable, maybe as the best man, mother of the bride, or a speech assignment for class, we turn to memorization.

Why? Because we assume that if we know and remember what to say, we won’t embarrass ourselves. Slightly effective, but it comes with its own limitations.

Here, I will show you how to memorize a speech with 15 examples worth referencing.

But first, let’s go over how to write a speech, because it doesn’t matter how well you memorize one if the content is bad.

How to Write a Speech

The anxiety that fuels the need to memorize a speech comes from either not knowing what to say or how to say it. A sure fire way to overcome that is by writing the speech.

And contrary to what you might think, it is not hard to write a good speech. If you know how to have a meaningful conversation, moving from point A to point B, you can write a speech. You just need to follow these tips.

Set the stage with an introduction

How exactly you start depends on the context of your speech. For instance, you may need to introduce yourself if your audience isn’t familiar with you. This is unnecessary if you’ve been introduced or you’re speaking among your peers.

But the main point here is about how you start your speech. The goal is to explain the what and why in a way that captures the audience’s attention.

It could be a famous quote, a shocking statement, or a rhetorical question. As long as it gets ears to perk up and eyes to focus on you.

Create and follow a structure

Now that you have their attention, it is time to hold it. As the speaker, the audience expects a path and destination from you. They want to know where the gist leads and why the point matters.

Ergo, structure.

Each paragraph in your speech must have a central point and connect with the next. Don’t try and stuff everything you know about the subject in the paragraphs. Focus on the key issues and maintain clear, logical transitions from idea to idea.

That is why it is crucial to understand the purpose of the speech. Are you trying to entertain, argue a point, inspire, or educate? The answer will inform the structure and overall tone of the speech.

Use Anecdotes to illustrate key points

When you write a speech, tailor your language and ideas to your audience. The way you speak in a school seminar is different from how you will talk at your best friend’s wedding, and there is no place where this matters more than in your anecdotes.

Countless studies have shown that our brains remember stories pretty well. That means if you want your speech to be memorable, you have to sprinkle some of them in there to illustrate your points.

That way, even if the facts and figures fly over their heads, the story will stick. And the good thing about anecdotes is, you don’t have to memorize them.

Use Transitions

No matter how great every line in your speech is, there will be moments when the audience drifts off. Use transitions to recall their attention. It signals to them that the oncoming part is worth paying attention to.

There are different ways to deploy this. It could be a rhetorical question like “Why does this matter?” followed by a pause, just long enough to create anticipation.

Other examples include “So here’s the lesson” or “In a similar fashion.”

Summarize with a call to action

Your audience won’t remember everything you say, but they are more likely to remember the last thing you said to them. That means, alongside the introduction, this is an integral part of your speech.

Summarize the speech using sentences that drive home the main point. You can do this by repeating a few key takeaways or sharing an anecdote that illustrates the point.

How to Memorize a Speech

Image by Rodnae Productions ( Pexels )

Hopefully, after reading that section, you are starting to get the idea. Once you know what to say and how to say it, you’ve cracked the first step to memorizing a speech.

The next thing is to observe a few steps, and you are well on your way to delivering a captivating speech from memory.

Rehearse the Speech

After writing the speech, try reading it out loud. The goal here is to figure out how it sounds to fix what doesn’t work.

You can add, delete, or reorder parts of the speech until it sounds compelling and natural during this phase. Like something you wouldn’t mind sitting through yourself.

This process could take a few times, so feel free to pause and come back with fresh eyes and ears. You could also try reading it to someone for a different perspective.

Memorize the main ideas

The best way to memorize a speech is to learn the main points. This is where you benefit from writing the speech. Once you understand the subject matter and the goal of the speech, your mind has a framework to follow.

Instead of trying to capture the entire speech word-for-word, you have memorized the main ideas. Enough to talk about it to an audience as if you are having a regular conversation.

There are two main benefits to this. One, it gives a natural feel to your speech. Regurgitating a speech word-for-word makes you seem like a robot. There is no warmth, and it makes your content less engaging.

Two, it makes you immune to a slip-up. When you forget a word or sentence, it has little to zero impact because you know what you are trying to say and how to say it. You have maximum flexibility.

A practical way to memorize each idea is by quizzing yourself over each paragraph. “What is it about?” “What problem is it describing?” “Why does this matter?”

Practice your delivery

Finally, a speech is only as good as its delivery. Think about the most remarkable speeches you’ve heard or seen. What made them stand out?

One thing that is for sure is it isn’t because they remembered every single word. Not that you would know. But instead how the speaker spoke, entertainingly and informatively.

It is possible to memorize this by rehearsing over and over again.

Since you are more concerned about the meaning than the syntax of your sentence, you start to get a feel of when it’s okay to make a joke, change the timing or intonation.

That is how to memorize a speech, and it all starts with focusing on the content. Now, let’s see some good examples of these tips being put to use in different scenarios.

Short Memorized Speech Examples

Short memorized speech for a college paper.

This example might not align with your definition of “short,” but it gets a whole lot right when it comes to speeches.

First, it starts with a question that piques attention, then immediately establishes what and why they are talking about it. The sentence structure is also conversational, and the author doesn’t have to memorize each word.

The rest of the speech maintains that tone, and the thought flows logically. From explaining what dreaming big is to its downsides and negative impact, all told through anecdotal lenses.

Not only is this speech easier to memorize because it is their story, but it makes it more engaging. More than what a rollout of psychological facts would have been.

Finally, the speaker ties it up in a compelling conclusion that summarizes the key point with a call to action.

Short speech for a company event

This is a much shorter speech than the previous example, but it still follows the same principles. In the introduction, the author uses the scale of time to capture the audience’s attention. With a few sentences, it transports their mind to the past and the future. Engaging!

That thought continues its logical progression in the body. The CEO (presumably) zeroes in on the implications and impact of that journey in time on members of the organization. Relatable!

Finally, they tie up the speech with a nice bow with a call back to the beginning.

Not only does this speech have the perfect length for the occasion, but it is also stirring enough to leave a lasting impression.

Short wedding speech

If you have ever attended a wedding, you are probably familiar with speeches like this. What makes them so common yet effective is how much it understands its audience.

A wedding reception is a relaxed atmosphere, which means the audience experts jokes and laughter. The author doesn’t waste time and delivers right from the beginning. Humor makes us attractive, and with that, the audience is interested in what the writer has to say.

Another thing that makes this speech good and easy to memorize is a total familiarity with the subject matter. In this case, that’s Josh. Because of that, the author can craft a structural narrative that establishes Josh’s personality and character and its relevance to the current event.

Short memorized speech for a presentation

Here is a nice example of a proper introduction if you ever have to give a speech to your peers at school, work, or any other setting. They already know who you are, which means your primary focus is to give them something to listen to.

Next, dive into the what and why it matters. Here, the writer offers both at the end of the first paragraph and in the next. In two paragraphs, the audience knows why she’s talking about her future and why it matters to the speaker and them.

The next logical question is how the speaker plans to achieve that, and they answer in the final paragraph.

Short introductory speech for a college seminar

What if you had to come up with an introductory speech for an event? Well, you still follow the same beats as other types of speeches. Establish the what and the why.

For What, this college seminar speech covers the relevance of the seminar by mentioning the dignitaries that have supported it. Without explicitly stating that it is an important event, the roster of those in attendance and the organizing team conveys that to the audience.

To answer Why, the principal plainly states the value of the seminar. The audience understands they are part of a long history, and the content is valuable enough for commercial publication.

Short Personal Introductory Speech

When you have to introduce yourself, you have a limited time to establish who you are and why you should be listened to.

Thankfully there is not much to learn in this scenario because you are the subject, and no one knows you better than you. Start with your name and your experience like this example to prove your credibility.

Since it is a personal introduction, the body of your content should be something that humanizes you. That way, you go from a name and title to a person, and in this example, a relatable one.

The good thing about this type of speech is it is fun to memorize, and you can rehearse and shape it by giving it to as many people as possible.

Short persuasive speech to students

In the game of attention that is speech writing and delivery, there are multiple paths to victory. This example deploys the rhetorical question method to command the attention of its audience.

By asking questions audience members have most likely asked themselves, the speaker has positioned himself as someone with answers. After all, if you know about these questions, then they have probably figured it out.

Furthermore, each point builds on the one before it, in the direction of a typical day. Because it follows the logical progression of their regular day, the audience has permission to insert themselves into the narrative, making them more receptive to the advice and suggestion.

Persuasive for a diverse audience

What if you are trying to write and memorize a speech for a diverse audience? First, you need to find something that unites you all. In this short excerpt from a speech, the speaker has chosen their identity as residents of Thailand.

It would be difficult for the speaker to memorize every single word in this speech. However, by crafting points around how the central purpose of the speech benefits everyone, they don’t have to.

All that needs memorizing are the broader supporting points. To provide jobs, improve the local economy. Each point is bolstered with verifiable facts, which makes it more convincing.

Short speech for an argumentative speech

If you ever find yourself having a debate, the trick to making a convincing argument is to display a complete understanding of the topic interspersed with your opinions and verifiable facts.

This example does two of those things excellently. It starts by recognizing the conflict. Phones are helpful, and they serve an essential role in modern society, but it has its downsides. Then there’s the referenced medical fact that adds credibility to the conflict.

These points are connected by transitional phrases and words like “On the other hand” and “Worryingly” that make it easy for the audience to follow the speaker’s train of thought.

Short Memorizable speech for a proposal

Found the perfect partner and want to propose? Besides the content, writing and delivering your proposal speech is no different from any other kind of speech. It is all about connecting with your audience.

That means, like this example, you need to speak in the first person a lot, i.e., lots of Is. Your key points, as shown here, should focus on how your partner makes you feel and what their presence in your life means to you.

Memorizing the main points of your proposal is especially important in this context because your speech should come from the heart. Or at least feel like it did.

Memorized acceptance speech

Suppose you’ve received an award or recorded an accomplishment that requires a speech. In that case, the majority of your content should focus on showing appreciation.

First, start by thanking the people giving you the award, then move on to thank everyone else, specifically those who contributed to the achievement.

Feel free to introduce humor into your speech, but it should be appropriate for the event and place.

As always, when you memorize this kind of speech, you should focus more on each section than on the exact words. For instance, you could thank the awarding body first, then move to your peers, then family last.

That way, even after rehearsing multiple times in front of a mirror, it still feels natural and spontaneous.

Short acceptance speech with commentary

There are occasions when you want to do more than simply thank you in your acceptance speech. In scenarios like that, find a way to connect your appreciation with your commentary, as seen in this example.

Start by appreciating the organization or people responsible for the award or accomplishment. Then use transitional phrases or a topic sentence to segue into your commentary.

The example above used “…all the effort of my entire team…” to segue into an inspiring comment. It also used an anecdote to illustrate the point further.

Finally, end with a note of thanks to close the circle.

When crafted this way, you only need to memorize the broad strokes of your speech and perhaps the connective phrase if you came up with the perfect line in your draft.

Short Goodwill speech

Above is an excerpt of the famous Ich bin ein Berliner speech by President John F. Kennedy in 1963. You can watch and read the whole thing here .

The popular name appears at the very end of the speech, but it would have made zero sense or had little impact if it wasn’t the conclusion of logically progressive thought.

Goodwill speeches should be informative and persuasive, and this example does that brilliantly from the first paragraph. It starts by showing great respect to the city and sticks to the theme by highlighting the shared values and beliefs.

If you ever have to deliver one, focus your memorization efforts on what you have in common with your hosts and build out from there.

Short memorized speech for a funeral

Many of us will have to deliver a speech at a funeral someday. When that time comes, it is better to memorize the order of your thoughts than the exact words.

A good order starts with introducing yourself and your relationship with the deceased. Then spend the following paragraphs talking about their life and personality. This includes speaking about their accomplishments, major life events. Each talking point should connect back to the impact on you.

Finally, summarize with a final takeaway from the theme, how you want others to remember the individual, and a thank you to attendees.

Short Farewell Speech after leaving a place or position

Your farewell speech is your last time to leave an impression on your audience. This could be your colleagues, boss, or students. Whoever they are, they will determine the exact tone and style you choose in your speech.

Depending on your experience and emotional attachment to the organization, your speech could be a simple thank you. It could also be exciting stories that highlight your history and journey there.

Whatever you decide, make sure it is personal. The second half of the first paragraph and the second paragraph above is an excellent example of this.

Wrapping it Up

That makes it 15, and depending on the scenario, each one is a useful reference when crafting your speech. Remember, the first step to memorizing a speech is to write one.

It gives you a chance to organize your thoughts, deepen your understanding of the topic, and familiarize yourself with the audience. In turn, you get the confidence to deliver in a way that is both engaging and convincing.

By following these tips and examples, you too will be able to deliver a speech that makes you proud.

Tom loves to write on technology, e-commerce & internet marketing. I started my first e-commerce company in college, designing and selling t-shirts for my campus bar crawl using print-on-demand. Having successfully established multiple 6 & 7-figure e-commerce businesses (in women’s fashion and hiking gear), I think I can share a tip or 2 to help you succeed.

Like what you're reading?

How to Memorize Your Presentation—In 60 Minutes or Less

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Chelsi Nakano April 29, 2016

Learn the simple trick that will help you memorize anything—and that will make your presentations more memorable to your audience.

Originally published on the  SlideGenius blog .

When presenting, it’s never a good idea to read from your slides or note cards. A few quick glances are usually acceptable. And if you read everything word for word, you will seem disengaged from the audience. Even though most presenters know this, the situation still seems unavoidable. What if you experience a mental block and forget an entire section of your presentation? You can’t be expected to memorize an hour-long speech that’s packed with crucial data. Is that even possible? If we were to ask the ancient Greeks and Romans, we would find that the answer is a loud “yes.” How did Cicero remember all of his famous orations? He used a technique called “the memory palace.”

While the term might be new to you, I’m sure you’ve seen this technique portrayed in popular media. The latest incarnation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic character, Sherlock Holmes, uses it to solve the most complex mysteries. In BBC’s Sherlock , we watch Holmes sweep through imagined mental spaces to find crucial information that could help his investigation. In real life, the technique was used by the greatest Greek and Roman orators to memorize their speeches . Currently, “ memory athletes ” use it to memorize a deck of cards or a long list of random names in seconds.

HOW DOES THE “MEMORY PALACE” WORK?

The memory palace technique is formally known as the “method of Loci,” and this name gives us some insight on how the whole thing actually works. Loci is the plural form of the Latin word for location. Our spatial memory is much stronger than our memory for words or ideas, because our hunter-gatherer ancestors evolved to be able to navigate their world and remember their surroundings. When associated with spatial relationships, ideas become much more memorable—that’s why tools like Prezi, which allow you to show your ideas within context and lead your audience on a visual journey, can help make your presentation more memorable.

To practice the technique, imagine yourself walking through a specific location. You then associate each item you want to commit to memory to things you come across en route. Here’s an example from Chloe Cornish of The Independent :

So does the memory palace technique really work? I tried revisiting my secondary school, to help memorise the names of the U.S. Presidents in order (there are 44). To get into the car park, I jumped over a washing line (George Washington), where Adam and Eve (John Adams) were playing cricket with Geoffrey Boycott (Thomas Jefferson). Marilyn Manson (James Madison) was in the IT block getting off with Marilyn Monroe (James Monroe) etc. It took me about 40 minutes to come up with the lurid tale, and apart from occasionally getting their first names wrong (so many Jameses and Adams), it worked a treat.

To see this memory palace visualized, take a look at the prezi below:

SO HOW CAN I USE IT FOR MY PRESENTATION?

While creating a memory palace seems pretty straightforward, it actually takes a bit of practice and preparation. To start, create an outline of your presentation. List down all of your talking points and make note of the most prominent words for each one. You will use these words to make visual associations in your imagined scene. Following that, you can start with your mental construction:

1. CHOOSE ANY LOCATION YOU’D LIKE TO USE FOR YOUR MEMORY PALACE.

It’s better if you go with a place you’re completely familiar with, like your childhood home or the walk you take to the office.

2. SET A ROUTE THAT YOU WILL MENTALLY WALK THROUGH.

For example, if you’re using your childhood home as your memory palace, it can be the walk from the front door to your bedroom.

3. WHEN YOU’VE DECIDED ON A ROUTE, IMAGINE WALKING THROUGH IT AND FOCUS ON THE ITEMS AND FEATURES YOU “SEE.”

From the front door, you enter the hallway and climb the stairs to your right. You go up to the landing where a portrait of your grandfather hangs, and so on.

4. REFER BACK TO THE OUTLINE OF YOUR PRESENTATION.

Take the most important words you took note of and make visual associations you can insert to your memory palace. Place these associations in the specific features you’ve identified in your route. Try to place associations that are extraordinary, like in the example by Cornish.

5. FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH YOUR MEMORY PALACE BY WALKING THROUGH IT A COUPLE OF TIMES.

Take note and memorize all the associations you’ve made. After some time, you will find that you’ve memorized your speech completely. Simply revisit your memory palace if you find yourself stumped during the presentation.

After building your memory palace, you won’t have to worry about forgetting what comes next in your presentation. Take a cue from some of the greatest minds in fiction and history, and you can save your note cards for another occasion.

You might also like

3 presentation templates for industrial professionals, prezi, zoom, and slido walk into a webinar: top tips for engaging virtual audiences, the storyteller’s edge: communication secrets to sell, lead, and grow, give your team the tools they need to engage, like what you’re reading join the mailing list..

• Prezi for Teams
• Top Presentations

How I Memorized a Presentation for TEDx (Word Perfect)

Anthony metivier.

• August 3, 2024
• Presentation

Podcast: Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Beyond that presentation from the stage, what qualifies me to offer you tips for memorizing a speech of any length?

Well, I also spent a decade as a professor at three universities in three different countries. I delivered dozens of lectures during those years. In more than one language.

I’ve also spent over a decade as an online “professor of memory.” My expertise in memory has taken me around the world. I’ve given presentations in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, England, China, Canada, Australia and the USA.

In fact, in the feature image for this post, you see me discussing memory as a part of language learning at a 2016 Polyglot Conference in Berlin. You can also watch hundreds of hours of my presentations on YouTube from several years of live streaming.

And on this page, I’m going to share the best of my experiences with multiple kinds of presentation.

If you want to memorize a speech verbatim, I’ll show you how.

Or, if you prefer to work from mental bullet points, I’ll help you do that too.

When it comes to memory aids for speakers, this is the real deal from someone who practices these techniques week in and week out.

Let’s get started!

So You Need to Memorize a Presentation… Here’s Where to Start

Getting started… this is the tricky bit.

So here’s a story using the Polyglot conference speech I gave to help dimensionalize the starting point I usually use.

Determine Who Your Presentation Is For… And Who It Isn’t For

Before I wrote a single word, I asked myself a very simple set of questions:

Who can I help and who am I unable to help?

And what’s the one thing that will help the listeners above all?

I went through this same process with my TEDx Talk and many other presentations.

Make no mistake, this step can be tricky. It’s a discipline to whittle things down to the biggest and most important point.

But it is possible and often the success of the talks we enjoy most come down to knowing that the audience you’re addressing is defined as closely as possible.

It was hard for me, but I believe focusing on just one kind of person and one message for that person helped my TEDx Talk reach so many viewers.

Of course, some presentations need more details and more nuance, but even then, the principle is the same. If you think about who each principle is for and how to focus on the biggest and most impactful part, it’s going to be easier to digest. And easier for you to remember successfully.

Script The Presentation

When it comes to helping yourself remember your presentation, writing is key. If you write a bunch of mush with endless long sentences, you’re setting yourself up for a struggle.

So when you’re putting the presentation together, ask yourself:

• Do I want to memorize the speech verbatim ?
• Or can I memorize keywords and let my expertise fill in the blanks while speaking?

Both ways work very well. It just comes down to your goal. In the case of my TEDx Talk, I wrote the speech and memorized it verbatim.

In my Polyglot Conference talk, I prepared slides and memorized the key points, which involved speaking some Chinese based on how I’ve studied that language .

Either way, scripting or preparing slides can help you decide how you’re going to memorize the presentation.

Review The Presentation

As a final preparation step, it’s great if you can take a moment to review what you’ve prepared. Ideally, you’ll also get at least one other person to review it as well.

For my TEDx Talk, Thomas Krafft reviewed the script itself and a recording of me delivering it from memory. Before presenting the script of my live-action “Memory Detective” game attached to a memory improvement novel I wrote, I had a test audience go through the entire sequence.

Reviewing the speech, slides and related materials with others helps add an extra layer of understanding that helps with the memorization process. I highly recommend making time for review.

How to Memorize a Presentation from Start to Finish in 7 Easy Steps

As Hanna Pishwa points out in Language and Memory , Aristotle was one of the first to intensively describe the rhetorical strategies used for persuasion in speeches.

But we can go a step further: Aristotle also closed his treatise on memory by explaining that we are moved most by people who speak from memory.

He says reciting from memory is impressive because the person who has memorized their speech doesn’t have to “hunt” for their ideas. They use a “process” that brings those ideas to them automatically.

How can you do that too? Just follow these steps:

One: Learn To Use The Memory Palace Technique

Since long before Aristotle, people have been using the ancient art of memory to commit speeches to memory using Memory Palaces .

A Memory Palace is simply a mental copy of a location you know well, like you home, office, school, church or any place with walls, paths and other environment features.

This is a graphic representation of the Memory Palace I used to memorize my TEDx Talk:

It’s a neighborhood in Brisbane and the numbers represent individual stations.

I teach people who take the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass to number their stations to help them rapidly create these simple journeys .

To do this, it’s helpful to draw your Memory Palaces first. Like this:

Two: Add Interesting Associations To The Words & Ideas In Your Presentation

The best memory techniques all rely on mnemonic imagery .

When it comes to how to memorize lines for a presentation, you can do this very quickly by tapping into a pegword list .

For example, in a speech that starts with, “How would you like…?” my pegword list suggests Howie Mandel for “how” and Elijah Wood for “would.”

Those figures are laid out in the Memory Palace at the beginning of its journey.

This leads us to the next step.

Three: Make Your Associations Zany

Let me make a preemptive strike here:

A lot of people have protested to me over the years:

I’m not creative. I can’t get myself to see Howie Mandel and Elijah Wood to kick a like button on a platform like YouTube.

Stop right there.

I’m not creative either.

All I’m doing is taking too people who already exist and having them do something strange. There are only so many actions in the world. They could kiss the like button, put it in a rocket ship and send it to the moon, or bury it with thumbs-up shaped shovels.

Seriously. There’s nothing “creative” about this. It’s just borrowing from real possible actions and animating them in the Memory Palace. Please don’t overthink this process and make sure of the exercises I’m going to share with you in step four.

If you’re memorizing your presentation verbatim, you’ll need more associations than you would for a speech delivered based on bullet-points.

Either way, the process is the same.

Four: Make Your Associations Multisensory

Once you’ve decided what your characters are going to do with one another, add some multisensory elements. For example, you can hear the voices of your celebrity associations, or imagine that you’re feeling them interacting with the like button in our example.

We do this because scientific research makes it clear that elaboration helps form memories faster.

To get better at making your associations weird and multisensory within seconds, these elaborative encoding exercises will help, as will these visualization exercises .

Five: Use The Memory Palace To Memorize Your Speech

When the ancient Romans delivered their speeches, they often would start a persuasive passage with a set of points.

“In the first place,” an orator would say before diving into the point. Then the orator would say, “In the second place,” etc.

This convention in speeches remains with us today, and those orators were literally using their Memory Palaces in real time to recall their points.

But you can be sure that they had practiced in private before delivering them. We know that Rhetorica Ad Herennium , originally attributed to Cicero , gives many suggestions around how best to practice for both public speaking and reciting poetry.

And you need to practice as well.

You do it by starting at the “first place” of the Memory Palace and then triggering those images to help you recall the words.

Personally, I practice my speeches by following several patterns. For example, instead of always starting at the beginning, I will practice reciting a few lines from the end, then switch to the beginning, then go to a spot in the middle.

This is helpful in ushering the speech into long term memory quickly because it harnesses the primacy effect, recency effect and serial-positioning effect.

Six: Practice Delivering The Speech

Now, this point is a subtly that I personally find important.

I do not go through my Memory Palace while delivering my presentations unless I absolutely have to do so.

See, when you follow the process I’ve described above, the presentation will be in your long term memory .

However, unexpected things can happen. During my TEDx Talk, people laughed at a spot I hadn’t placed a joke. It surprised me for a second and I briefly popped into the Memory Palace I’d made to help me get back on track (instead of standing there like a deer caught in headlights).

But ideally, you want to just have the speech memorized and not have to rely on any mnemonic strategies while in the moment. With optimal setup and execution, the memory techniques will have already done their job and you can do what Aristotle described: speak without looking like you’re hunting for the ideas. This point is especially important when delivering a sales presentation from memory .

And that means you can connect with that audience you identified during the preparation stage. The more you connect with them, the more successful you’ll be during and after your presentation because people remember connection.

Seven: Analyze Your Performance

Want to be a pro speaker?

Then you’ll want to spend some time reflecting on your presentation.

This step is important because it gives you the opportunity to identify areas to improve the next time.

And it will help you congratulate yourself where credit is due. Please make sure to do so. Giving a speech is a huge accomplishment and you deserve recognition merely for making it happen.

But the real gold is some objective and subjective reasoning about the entire process. It will also reveal new ideas for other presentations you might not have thought about otherwise.

In a Pinch? Here’s How to Memorize a Speech Fast

I know that some people don’t have time for all of the steps above.

To be clear: I do all that I can to make sure I have enough time.

But when I don’t, here’s what I do instead.

The Acronym Method

I’m often invited to speak in the community at the last minute. I literally don’t have time to mindmap more than a few ideas.

But I can take those ideas and arrange them into a keyword.

For example, when I was invited to speak at a “Masters of Marketing” event, I arranged my ideas into the acronym F.R.E.E.

• Frequent messaging to a…
• Relevant audience…
• Entertains, Educates and…
• Engages in the direction of a response

I placed that acronym in a simple Memory Palace and talked about what each concept mean for two minutes each.

The great thing about the acronym approach is that you don’t have to practice as much, if at all. The logic of the acronym itself guides you through the parts of your presentation because you’re mentally checking them off by spelling the acronym.

Give this presentation technique a try and you will have no problem committing presentations to memory fast.

Memorize Your Speech in No Time With the Steps Above

Let’s recap:

Presentations are so much easier to remember when you’re clear about who you’re addressing  and  who you’re not.

Once you’ve decided on whether you’ll be speaking verbatim or working from bullet points, the Memory Palace technique is a tried and true technique with thousands of years of success stories .

To make information “stick,” you need a process of elaborating associations. A bit of prep will take you a long way if you complete the exercises I shared on this page.

Finally, it’s worth repeating that reviewing your talk in any way possible is tremendously valuable. Even if you get a last minute invite to speak, you can probably squeeze in a few minutes to record yourself on your phone and tweak a few things.

Even if you don’t have time to change anything, just seeing yourself once will give you ideas about how to make what you’re about to say in front of an audience better.

Just make sure to avoid perfectionism. Relax and if you make a mistake, just call a spade a spade and find your way back to where you got lost.

And if you want more on the memorization process so you always recover quickly when things happen during live presentations (as they inevitably will), check out my FREE Memory Improvement Kit:

So what do you say?

Are you ready to get out there and give the best presentation of your career?

Let me now if you have any questions and I’ll be happy to share with you more granular details from my long career of presenting around the world.

Related Posts

Wondering how to memorize things fast? Read this post for 5 solid steps you can…

Learning how to memorize the books of the bible is easy. You just need these…

This detailed guide helps you learn how to memorize the Quran. Learn to commit the…

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

I accept the Privacy Policy

WANT TO LEARN SIMPLE EVERYDAY THINGS WITHOUT FORGETTING?

Enter your email below to get instant access to my FREE course that gives you a proven step-by-step process for remembering anything you want . You'll discover how to:

• Speak any language fluently
• Recall complicated formulas, math equations, or numbers.
• Master the technical terms for your field of work or study.
• Recite poetry, jokes, and even long speeches word-for-word
• Quickly absorb the most important ideas from books, textbooks, or lectures...

Unlock your natural ability to learn and remember anything 3x faster now!

ABOUT ANTHONY METIVIER

Anthony Metivier is the founder of the Magnetic Memory Method, a systematic, 21st century approach to memorizing foreign language vocabulary, names, music, poetry and more in ways that are easy, elegant, effective and fun.

Dr. Metivier holds a Ph.D. in Humanities from York University and has been featured in Forbes, Viva Magazine, Fluent in 3 Months, Daily Stoic, Learning How to Learn and he has delivered one of the most popular TEDx Talks on memory improvement.

His most popular books include, The Victorious Mind and… Read More

Anthony Metivier taught as a professor at:

POPULAR POSTS

Recent posts, can you really get better at anything scott young says yes, 7 memory champs reveal their best language learning secrets, memory statistics: 10 fun facts about memory and learning, how to remember numbers: 3 powerful techniques, how to become fluent in a language: everything you need to know, pay with confidence.

P.O. Box 933 Mooloolaba, QLD 4557 Australia

MEMORY COURSES

Quick links, memory boosting tips & tutorials.

Copyright © 2012 – 2024 Anthony Metivier · Advanced Education Methodologies Pty Ltd

Remembering & Recalling Critical Information Becomes Easy With This...

Stop needlessly forgetting! Enter your email below to get instant access to my exclusive course that will show you how to MASSIVELY improve your memory so you can remember important conversations, what you read, and even learn new skills .

• Presentations
• Most Recent
• Infographics
• Data Visualizations
• Forms and Surveys
• Video & Animation
• Case Studies
• Design for Business
• Digital Marketing
• Design Inspiration
• Visual Thinking
• Product Updates
• Visme Webinars
• Artificial Intelligence

How to Memorize a Presentation: 12 Ways Only Pros Use

Written by: Mahnoor Sheikh

Memorizing a presentation can sound like a daunting task, but if you do it right, it can help you deliver a powerful and effective talk.

For most people, public speaking doesn’t come easy. Research suggests that as many as 75% of adults have a fear of public speaking.

To overcome this fear and anxiety, presenters often resort to stuffing their PowerPoint slides with text and bullet points. But being dependent on your slides can prevent you from making sufficient eye contact, interacting with the audience, and speaking confidently and fluently.

This is why professional presenters utilize memory techniques and exercises to remember presentation points and speak without relying on their slides.

In this article, we’ll show you 12 ways to memorize a presentation that only pros use.

Create a professional presentation using Visme's presentation maker . Use hundreds of pre-made templates, mix-and-match slides and customize everything with a few clicks.

12 Ways to Memorize Your Next Presentation

Way #1: build a memory palace, way #2: create a mind map.

Way #3: Read Out Loud

Way #4: Practice With a Friend

Way #5: break up the information, way #6: record yourself, way #7: make written notes, way #8: take a nap, way #9: use the 20-20-20 rule, way #10: avoid multitasking, way #11: exercise before memorizing, way #12: practice during the afternoon.

Did you ever wonder how the Greeks and Romans managed to give long, elaborate speeches full of decorative language, facts and data?

They used an ancient memory technique called the Method of Loci, also known as the memory palace method. This technique involves associating words and ideas with spaces.

Our brains are hardwired to remember spatial information more effectively. When you associate ideas with specific locations, they become easier to memorize.

One reason for this could be that forming spatial relationships gives the information context, which helps us make sense of it based on our existing knowledge and beliefs.

Let’s look at an example to help you understand better.

Joe works for a smartphone company, and he wants to memorize a presentation about the latest smartphone his company has launched.

To remember the main points of the presentation, Joe builds a memory palace of his house, where each room is associated with a section of the presentation.

• Bedroom: Associated with “Battery” because he recharges his energy when he sleeps.
• Work Area: Associated with “Camera” because his remote work involves video conferencing.
• Bathroom: Associated with “Storage” because he uses it to relieve the contents stored in his bladder.
• Kitchen: Associated with “Speed” because this is the back-end where things are “cooking” up.
• Living Room: Associated with “Display” because this is where his family watches TV.

A memory palace doesn’t need to be a real place. It can be a series of fictional spaces linked together in your mind where you go to retrieve stored information.

In BBC’s Sherlock, the famous detective uses the memory palace technique to remember crucial information needed to solve cases.

Watch the snippet from the show below where Sherlock’s friend and assistant, John Watson, explains how this works.

How to build your own memory palace.

To build your own memory palace for a presentation, follow the five simple steps below:

• Step 1: Think of a location. This could be a real place, like your home, or a fictional location, such as an exotic palace.
• Step 2: Set a route to walk through in your mind. Establish the beginning, middle and the end of the route you’ll take as you mentally walk through the location. For example, which rooms will you visit and in which order?
• Step 3: Identify the features of each space. Visualize the items, furniture, colors and other features of each room or space.
• Step 4: Make associations between the features and your presentation. Relate specific parts of your presentation with the items and features identified in the previous step to build visual associations.
• Step 5: Practice walking through the route several times. This will help you familiarize yourself with your memory palace and enable you to retrieve memorized information faster during your actual presentation.

Hey marketers! Need to create scroll-stopping visual content fast?

• Transform your visual content with Visme’s easy-to-use content creation platform
• Produce beautiful, effective marketing content quickly even without an extensive design skillset
• Inspire your sales team to create their own content with branded templates for easy customization

Sign up. It’s free.

Creating a mind map is a great way for visual learners to memorize a presentation.

A mind map helps you lay out the main points of your presentation in the form of a diagram rather than a list of words.

You can use colors, images, shapes, lines, arrows and other elements to make your diagram look more interesting and easier to scan through.

Climate Change Concept Map

Harry Potter Concept Map

Writers Concept Map

Food Groups Concept Map

Brand Exploratory Concept Map

Coffee Concept Map

Create your mind map View more templates

Mind maps help you better understand the connections and transitions between points, as our brains are able to form associations between ideas and a mind map’s visual elements.

Mind mapping also imprints the shape of the mind map in your brain — shapes are much easier to remember than traditional notes or a long list of words.

Mind maps are especially useful for memorizing boring or dry information by transforming it into colorful shapes and drawings.

Way #3: Speak Out Loud

Studies show that reading information out loud can help you remember it better.

This happens because the reader is engaging in two personal acts; using their motor speech skills and self-referential information (“I” said it.)

When information gets personal, it automatically becomes easier to remember.

Rehearsing out loud is also a great way to make sense of your presentation content.

Oftentimes, things may seem logical and clear in our minds, but when we say them out loud, the concepts are all over the place.

Speaking out loud can help put all the pieces in places and aid the logical reasoning behind going from one point to the next. It can also help you think of better transition words and phrases along the way.

Practicing in front of trusted friends or colleagues can be extremely beneficial for two reasons.

Not only can it help you memorize the content more effectively, it can also get you honest, insightful feedback to improve your presentation.

Plus, when you’re rehearsing in front of an actual audience, you’ll be more conscious of what you’re saying, which can be a memory booster in itself.

You should also consider sharing your presentation slides with your friend.

Here’s why this can be helpful:

• They can give you suggestions for improving the content and design of your presentation.
• They can raise questions or concerns you may not have thought through, which can help prepare you for the Q&As during the actual presentation.
• Presenting in front of a live audience will boost your confidence.

TED speaker Nancy Duarte also endorses practicing your presentation with a friend, especially if they’re solid presenters and can give you helpful feedback.

In her article, she says:

"When I did my TEDx Talk, I repeated this step four times, twice with my ExComm Manager and twice with my company President. After they added their insights, I was ready to have the slides designed."

Ready to create your own presentation in minutes?

• Add your own text, images and more
• Customize colors, fonts and everything else
• Choose from hundreds of slide designs and templates
• Add interactive buttons and animations

Breaking up information can help you organize it better. Start by creating a rough outline of your presentation.

You don’t need to write everything down. Focus on jotting down the headings of the different sections, and short bullets of what you’re going to talk about under each section.

Next, prioritize the points by importance.

This will help you focus on memorizing the important information first. You’ll also be able to allocate the right amount of time to each point.

Another effective way to break up information is chunking. Chunking is the process of dividing information into smaller parts, or groups, to make it easier to memorize and recall.

For example, you can break your presentation down into sections like introduction, features, challenges and conclusion.

Here’s a visual to help you better understand what chunking is.

Notice how the string of letters have been broken down in two steps.

The first step organizes the letters into 6 three-letter groups. The second step further organizes the groups by theme, such as Animals, Companies and Alphabet.

Memorizing six words that have meaning is much easier than memorizing 18 random letters. And that’s exactly how chunking works.

According to the National Association for Music Education , listening to a performance not only improves future practice sessions, but also boosts overnight retention.

You can apply the same principle when trying to memorize a presentation.

Once you’ve finalized your presentation, make an audio and/or video recording of yourself.

Listen to the audio while you take the bus to work or while you're in the gym, and even before sleeping — the more you listen to the presentation, the faster you’ll memorize it.

You should also make a video of yourself presenting. Not only can this be used for memorization, but can also help you improve the your body language during the presentation.

Studies show that writing down information by hand can help you learn concepts and remember them more effectively.

When you’re preparing for your presentation, jot down the main points on a notepad or a piece of paper. Underline important headings and make bulleted lists to organize your notes.

You can also sketch visuals like diagrams or pictures where possible to aid your memory.

For example, if you’re talking about the sales process of your company, you can create a rough flowchart diagram with circles and arrows.

Drawing a process by hand can help you better remember the details.

Practice sketching the same diagram several times to familiarize yourself with the concept and make sure you’re not leaving out anything important.

This might seem counterintuitive or maybe even like a waste of time when you’re under pressure, but napping has been proven to improve your memory function.

That’s right — a study recently conducted in China found that taking naps can lead to better cognitive function and memory skills.

They took two groups of people; those who took power naps during the day and those who did not. After performing cognitive tests on the two groups, they found that the napping group showed much better results when it came to cognitive function and memorization.

Not only should you consider adding a power nap to your routine while studying to memorize your presentation, but you also need to consider how much sleep you’re getting in the time leading up to your presentation.

According to Dr. Mayank Shukla, a well-rested brain is more effective at recalling information than a sleep-deprived brain. “Not only will you be able to recall information more easily due to sleeping and being well-rested, but it is consolidation, the middle phase of the memory process, that occurs during sleep.” says Dr. Mayank.

Even though you might think you need to just push through and memorize despite being exhausted, consider taking a nap and viewing it as a memorization technique for your next presentation.

Last but not least, a proven way to memorize your presentation is to use the 20-20-20 rule of rehearsal.

According to memory experts, reviewing your presentation material for 20 minutes, and then repeating it twice for 20 minutes each can help you remember the content better.

The rule also says that if the material is not repeated within 30 minutes, it’s not encoded into the long-term memory.

This method is a good way to stop yourself from spending too much time on the individual bits and pieces of your presentation.

Instead, you’ll be able to focus on the important parts to memorize as you’re restricted by the 20-minute time limit.

You might think that multitasking lets you be more productive than if you were to focus on a single task at a time.

But did you know that when it comes to studying, the opposite can be true?

According to a study conducted by the Journal of Experimental Psychology , you actually impair memorization by multitasking.

The study reveals that when you become distracted with other “important” tasks during a time when your brain is learning something new or practicing something unfamiliar, you undermine your efficiency significantly.

This is largely due to the fact that your brain needs time to shift between different tasks. So, when you check a notification on your phone and then go back to studying, it takes your brain some time to get into gear and start memorizing again.

Here's an interesting video from BBC that explains how multitasking can make you inefficient.

In order to see the best results for memorization, set aside a designated time in a quiet, relaxing place and focus solely on studying with no interruptions.

Not only is exercise a great way to improve your physical health, but it’s incredibly game-changing for your mental health and memorization capabilities.

According to this study conducted by Pub Med , there are direct and immediate benefits from exercise that affect cognition for both younger and older adults.

By simply exercising before sitting down to memorize your presentation, you will experience enhanced cognitive processing.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to go to the gym and do an intense cardio workout to get your creative juices flowing. You can simply go for a walk, practice mindful yoga or do anything that gets your heart pumping.

Exercise not only enhances memory function and cognitive processing, but it also rids your mind of stress by releasing endorphins immediately after some physical activity.

So, if you’re experiencing brain fog and an inability to memorize efficiently, try going on a brisk jog with your furry friend, and then come back inside for a second round of memorization.

Many of you may be early risers and like to get things done in the morning so you can have the afternoon free. On the flip side, you might be a night owl who likes to pull all-nighters to get their work done.

But according to a study conducted by the Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research , studying early in the morning or late at night can actually be counterintuitive.

In fact, the research shows that the best time of the day to study and memorize is in the afternoon. Surprising, right?

This study examined the “time-of-day” effect and performance of various people doing different memory tasks, and found that those who studied in the afternoon had much higher recollection and effective long-term memorization than those who studied in the morning or evening.

And according to PSB Academy, studying in the afternoon is best for integrating new information into something you already know.

This is great news because once you know the basic structure of your presentation, you can then begin to add minute details into your memorization process and have your presentation memorized by the evening.

So, if you can fester up the energy and discipline to focus during what many might consider the “hump” part of the day, you might actually get some of your best memorizing done.

Memorize and Deliver a Powerful Presentation

Memorizing your presentation is one of the best ways to appear confident on stage and deliver a powerful speech or presentation without reading off the slides.

Learn more about how to deliver a powerful business presentation , or check out Visme's presentation software to create a unique, engaging presentation that looks extremely professional.

Remember, when you design a presentation that looks as good as the content inside, you’ll be more confident when presenting in front of a large audience.

Create beautiful presentations faster with Visme.

Trusted by leading brands

Recommended content for you:

Create Stunning Content!

Design visual brand experiences for your business whether you are a seasoned designer or a total novice.

About the Author

Mahnoor Sheikh is the content marketing manager at Visme. She has years of experience in content strategy and execution, SEO copywriting and graphic design. She is also the founder of MASH Content and is passionate about tea, kittens and traveling with her husband. Get in touch with her on LinkedIn .

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

Don’t Just Memorize Your Next Presentation — Know It Cold

• Sabina Nawaz

Learn it upside-down and backwards.

Knowing a script or presentation cold means taking the time to craft the words and sequence of what you plan to say, and then rehearsing them until you could recite them backwards if asked. It’s a more effective approach to public speaking than simple memorization or “winging it” because you plan not just the words but the actions and transitions between points, so it becomes one fluid motion for you, all the while allowing time for adjusting or improvising during the speech itself.

To learn your script cold, first, decide how you will craft your script, whether it’s noting key talking points or writing down every line and detail. Next, create natural sections and learn them individually, including transitions. Then, learn your script over time and rehearse. Finally, have a plan for forgetfulness, which can include acknowledging that you need to reference your notes.

The three judges beamed at me. Buoyed by their support, I anticipated winning this college elocution competition. I nailed the first verse of my chosen poem, but might as well have been under general anesthesia when trying to remember a single word of the second verse. Now the judges’ encouraging smiles only roiled my rising panic. Finally, the timer buzzed, ending my turn on stage and initiating a two-decade fear of memorization.

• Sabina Nawaz is a global CEO coach , leadership keynote speaker, and writer working in over 26 countries. She advises C-level executives in Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, non-profits, and academic organizations. Sabina has spoken at hundreds of seminars, events, and conferences including TEDx and has written for FastCompany.com , Inc.com , and Forbes.com , in addition to HBR.org. Follow her on Twitter .

Partner Center

Exploring the Pros and Cons of Memorized Presentations

Acing your presentation will result in the following – an approved business idea, lead conversion and sale, and getting people up to speed with a concept.

So, you need to work hard to create an effective presentation to deliver important information to people as intended. One of the key factors that will assist you in this process is memorizing the material.

Memorized speech is the rote recitation of texts that the presenter has committed to memory, and it has its positives and negatives.

So, let’s delve into what it means to learn by rote, how effective it is in presentations (advantages and disadvantages), and if there is anything better you can do than memorizing material for a successful presentation.

What is a Memorized Presentation?

It is the process where you learn the speech/material in your presentation and present it without the help of your notes. 

Upsides of Memorizing the Presentation

Learning the material in advance has its advantages. It can give you leverage over other methods of recitation (impromptu, manuscript).  

1. You get more time to make eye contact

One of the best advantages of learning your presentation is that you can completely face your audience and make eye contact consistently. You get more time to scan your audience and establish rapport by locking glances.

Why is it so important?

Because it is the quickest and easiest way to build connections, and you wouldn’t want to be the person who keeps looking in the notes or on screen when presenting. It will make your presentation very impersonal, and you will miss out on the magic of forging interpersonal relationships in that crucial duration.

2. Less use of filler words and distracting speech

When you are prepared in advance, you know the content beat by beat, including the sequence, the words, and the entire material. It frees you from the space of not knowing and having to fill up the speech with filler words (um, like, you know) or accidentally using them.

In the process, you might need to go back to your notes or PPT to recall, creating this silent space (use of distracting speech or being quiet) which is an embarrassment for both the audience and the presenter.

3. You look like an expert

In an ideal situation, the memorized speech sounds like an off-the-cuff statement by an eloquent presenter and an organized thinker. It gives you the space to speak with conviction, control, and confidence since you know the entire content like the back of your hand. 

The presenter can’t get sidetracked with the content and can deliver the message exactly as intended. Also, people will feel more confident in your knowledge of the content .

4. Appropriate use of space and body language

Memorizing the presentation will free you from being restricted to personal notes and PPT screens. So that gives you ample time and space to move around the stage and be mindful of your body language and gestures. If you are using visual aids in your presentation, then you are more at an advantage.

However, to use this to your benefit, try to memorize the vocal cues (the varied pitch, tone, volume, and pace), facial expressions, and gestures, as well, to avoid the risk of making your presentation flat and dull.

  Downsides of Memorizing the Presentation

  Let’s go through some of the reasons that make memorized presentations a bad idea.

1. Forgetting the content

Okay, let’s see. Why does anyone memorize a presentation?

The purpose is to remember everything and not miss any key point in the presentation.

But as it stands, memorization might help with short content, like a wedding toast speech. Presentations are complex and lengthy, and the longer they are, the harder they are to remember word for word.

And you will be more likely to forget your speech. So, the very reason for which you wanted to do this in the first place might not be fulfilled, and the situation becomes paradoxical.

Also, a format like that has no personality. When you are too focused on remembering everything, a lot gets lost mid-way. One of the quickest responses would be from your audience disengaging from you as the speaker, and it’s very difficult to get people back from that stage.

2. Unnatural and lack of spontaneity

The primary goal of your presentation would be to engage your audience to elicit the desired result from the presentation. How engaging and interesting the presenter looks reading the content word for word?

How inspired or excited do you think the audience is sitting through that presentation?

A memorized presentation to the T might mean you stand the risk of sounding too rehearsed, resulting in a monotonous tone. It lacks the passion and authenticity of a good delivery from someone with presentation skills .

3. Going in autopilot mode or not being mindful

When you have memorized everything, you can quickly move into an autopilot zone, relaying everything like a parrot. Also, the process of recalling makes you not mindful of the environment. 

Such a thing will make you miss out on emphasizing the relevant and essential points and doesn’t sound too authentic.

4. A lot of work

A presentation is a long document, and not like a 2-minute speech at some political event or wedding. Memorizing the entire thing is a big and tedious task and will require a lot of effort. And it’s not just the texts you will have to remember for effective relaying –  you need to be mindful of the delivery as well. 

Otherwise, your presentation will become too insipid for anyone to engage with. So, including everything, learning by rote is too much effort, and the benefits do not level the risks associated.

5. Discomfort with any changes

Any changes in the audience or situation might become discomforting and distracting as a lot of energy is focused on recalling everything right. Any alterations and interruptions might sidetrack you enough to lose track of the content, and getting back from that stage could be troubling.

Imagine this happening just even twice in your presentation.

Also, if you suddenly start an ad-lib, the audience will notice the change of delivery and the transition that took place. And it will make them see that something is off and wrong.

5. It is wise to practice

Where memorization is lacking, practice will fill all the gaps. The more you practice, the more you will be learning things as a byproduct, and you will realize, eventually, those two are very different.

Practicing the content will help you cover things like specific words you will say, pauses, gestures, etc. On the other hand, memorization is committing the information to memory to be recalled later.

Don’t try to learn the entire manuscript by heart – rather, go with the outline. Practice so you can effortlessly recall the order and content of your main points.

However, there are specific things that you could memorize, like the crucial statistics of your presentation (if you have to), opening and closing speech, etc., where you don’t need to refer to your notes again and again.

To Sum it Up

Memorizing a presentation has its upsides and downsides. On the one hand, it will give you a sense of knowingness; on the other, you stand the risk of looking too robotic and predictable. 

So, it is wise to draw the line in between. You can memorize parts of your presentation and rely on practice and strong presentation skills to cover points. 

Rather than relying on memorizing, you should try learning your presentation cold. Meaning that taking time to craft the sequence of your content and rehearsing it so much that you can recite it backward if needed. Practicing your presentation like this will help you cover all the loopholes and negatives of memorization, rendering you with only the pluses. 

Work on creating solid slides that give you a peek into all the relevant points and transitions and use them to your advantage in your elocution skills. And you are good to go for a rocking presentation!

Leave a Response Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Please enter an answer in digits: eighteen − 5 =

Ashish Arora

You might also like.

Essential Tips to Find the Right Audience for Your Next Presentation

Expert Tips to Handle Distractions When You Speak on Stage

9 Tips to Craft the Perfect Title for Your Next PowerPoint Presentation

Unleash the Power of Agile Communication in the Fast-Changing Digital Realm

How do you memorize a presentation? 13 effective ways to memorize your presentation material

Learn effective ways to memorize a presentation & deliver your next presentation with confidence.

Bharti Jain

Delivering presentations

So, you've got a big presentation coming up, and you want to nail it. But there's one thing standing in your way: memorization. Memorizing your presentation can seem like a daunting task, but fear not!

With the right techniques and presentation creation tools , you can commit your material to memory with ease and deal with the fear of public speaking.

Why should you memorize your presentation material?

Before looking into the how, let's first understand the why. Rehearse your presentation for several benefits:

Common mistakes during memorization of presentation

Now that we understand the importance of memorization, let's address some common pitfalls to avoid:

• Rote memorization : Simply repeating your presentation verbatim can lead to robotic delivery and hinder genuine connection with your audience.
• Over-reliance on slides : Relying too heavily on slides can impede memorization and cause you to lose your place if technical issues arise.
• Ignoring body language : Forgetting to incorporate body language cues into your memorization can make your delivery feel stiff and unnatural.

13 effective ways to help you remember your next presentation

Here are some effective techniques to ensure you deliver the speech or presentation with confidence and poise. Whether you're a seasoned professional or preparing for your first public speaking engagement, these strategies will enhance your preparation process and performance.

1. Understand your material

Before you even begin to memorize your presentation, it's crucial to have a deep understanding of your material. Break down your content into key concepts and frame it like a story with a good flow. This isn't just about remembering words but grasping the essence of what you're going to talk about. Relate these concepts to stories or experiences for easier recall.

After breaking down the content and relating it to personal experiences, map out a narrative arc for your presentation. What are the key points? How does one idea flow into the next? This will not only help you remember the order of your content, but it will also make your presentation more engaging.

2. Employ the memory palace technique

The loci method, or memory palace technique, involves associating parts of your presentation with specific physical locations. By visualizing a familiar place and 'placing' elements of your talk in different locations within this space, you can walk through the area in your mind to help recall information.

Example: For a presentation on the impact of regular exercise, assign each key point to a room in your house using the mind palace technique:

• Front door (Introduction) : Envision stepping over a jump rope to enter, setting the stage for discussing the importance of physical activity.
• Kitchen (Benefits) : Picture a basket of fresh fruits on the counter, symbolizing the health benefits of exercise, like improved heart health and energy levels.
• Living room (Strategies) : Imagine a treadmill and yoga mat, representing strategies to incorporate exercise into daily life.

This concise setup creates a mental journey through your presentation, helping you recall each part clearly during delivery.

3. Create mind maps

It is a powerful tool for organizing your thoughts and ideas visually. By creating a mind map of your presentation, you can see the relationships between different sections and points. This visual representation makes it easier to memorize the flow of your presentation and recall details during your delivery.

Not only does a mind map provide a clear picture of your content structure, but it also encourages creativity. Essentially, it's brainstorming amplified. By the end, you are left with a rich tree of thoughts and ideas - your complete presentation, written out in an easy-to-follow map. So, next time you are preparing for a presentation, take a moment. Create a mind map.

4. 20-20-20 rule

The 20-20-20 rule of rehearsal is simple and very effective. Every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something 20 feet away to prevent eye strain and maintain focus. This technique helps not only to rest your eyes but also to refocus your mind. It's a moment to breathe, to recalibrate, to reassess.

You'll find that when you return to your task, quite often you’ll approach it with a renewed sense of clarity. And guess what? It won't derail your productivity, it will enhance it. So, set your timer, practice the 20-20-20 rule, and see the difference it makes.

5. Practice... a lot!

There's no substitute for practice. The power to influence, inspire, and inform an audience lies in your ability to confidently present your material. Rehearsing your presentation multiple times is an absolute necessity. Each rehearsal should focus on refining different aspects - from your tone of voice to your body language.

Try practicing in front of a mirror. Watch your facial expressions and movements - do they align with the message you're trying to convey?

Don’t shy away from presenting to a friend or colleague. They can offer valuable feedback that you might overlook. Their perspective can help you pinpoint areas for improvement - from your content clarity to your engagement skills.

6. Use mnemonic devices

Mnemonic devices are shortcuts to help you remember information more easily. Create acronyms, phrases, or even songs that are related to the content of your presentation. These tools are particularly useful for memorizing lists or complex information. Example -

• Acronyms : Suppose your deck is about the critical components of a successful team. You could use the acronym "G.R.I.T." to help remember and convey these components: G oal-oriented, R esilient, I nterpersonal skills, and T enacity. Each letter prompts you to recall and discuss each characteristic in detail.
• Phrases : For a deck on the stages of project management, you might use a catchy phrase like "Dogs Prefer Running Through Water" to memorize the stages: D efine, P lan, R un, T rack, and W rap-up. This phrase creates a visual and auditory mnemonic that makes the stages easier to remember and recite.

7. Chunk your information

Rather than attempting to engulf the entirety at once, take it bit by bit. Start with the introduction. Then the first key point. Followed by the next. Revisit each segment, solidifying your grasp before proceeding. This piecemeal approach fosters understanding and retention.

Now apply this tactic in a broader context. Imagine the potential improvement in processing complex instructions, studying for a crucial exam, or even mastering a new skill. Chunking is not just for presentations. It's a powerful tool in our cognitive arsenal to improve productivity and efficiency, providing an antidote to the overwhelm of big tasks. Take it step-by-step.

8. Incorporate physical movement

Our bodies and minds are interconnected. Using gestures or physical movements while assembling your presentation could be your game-changer. The theory is simple: associate different elements of your speech with specific movements. This technique is rooted in the idea of muscle memory - your body remembers.

For example , try pointing up when discussing quarterly growth, or stride across the room when talking about overcoming challenges. The physical act of moving can help reinforce your material, making it easier to recall during the presentation.

9. Take advantage of technology

Use apps and tools designed to improve memorization and practice. From presentation software with storybuilder features to flashcard apps that help you drill main points, technology can be a valuable ally in your preparation. You can even record your presentation to check how it looks.

10. Teach someone else

Teaching someone else about your presentation content is not just a rehearsal; it's a powerful learning technique known as the "Protégé Effect." This strategy is grounded in the principle that teaching information to another person improves the teacher's own understanding and retention of the material. When you explain concepts to someone else, you are forced to clarify your thoughts, identify any gaps in your own knowledge, and think about the material in new and different ways.

11. Stay healthy

The adage "a healthy body houses a healthy mind" is more than just a saying; it's backed by extensive scientific research. The interconnection between physical health and mental acuity cannot be overstated. A good night's sleep, proper nutrition, and regular exercise are foundational elements that support cognitive functions, including memory, attention, and problem-solving skills.

Did you know - A study from the University of British Columbia found that regular aerobic exercise, the kind that gets your heart and your sweat glands pumping, appears to boost the size of the hippocampus, the brain area involved in verbal memory and learning.

12. Visualize success

Visualizing success, particularly in the context of preparing for a presentation, is a powerful technique rooted in cognitive psychology. This practice involves creating a detailed mental image of achieving a desired outcome, including feeling confident and engaging your audience effectively during a presentation.

The science behind visualization is based on the principle that the brain and nervous system respond similarly to imagined experiences as they do to real experiences. This means that by visualizing success, you can condition your mind and body to perform more effectively in the actual situation.

13. Reflect and adjust

Reflecting on and adjusting your approach after each practice session is a critical part of mastering any skill, including memorization and presentation delivery. This iterative process is grounded in the principles of deliberate practice and reflective learning, which are key to achieving expertise in any field.

An example of the reflect and adjust method in action can be seen in medical education, where students often engage in simulated patient interactions. After each simulation, students reflect on their performance, receive feedback from instructors, and identify specific areas for improvement. This process has been shown to significantly improve students' diagnostic accuracy and patient communication skills over time.

What to do if you forget a main point midway?

Even with thorough preparation, forgetting a part of your presentation can happen. If you find yourself drawing a blank mid-speech, take a deep breath, and try one of these strategies to remember your presentation:

1. How long does it take to memorize a presentation?

Memorization time varies depending on the length and complexity of the presentation, but consistent practice can significantly reduce the time required.

2. Is it okay to use cue cards during a presentation?

While cue cards can be helpful for reference, relying too heavily on them can hinder your connection with the audience. Aim to minimize their use through thorough memorization and practice.

3. Should I memorize every word of my presentation?

While it's essential to have a thorough understanding of your material, aiming for word-for-word memorization can lead to robotic delivery. Focus on memorizing key points and transitions for a more natural presentation.

4. What if I make a mistake during my presentation?

Mistakes are natural and happen to everyone. Take a deep breath, acknowledge the error gracefully, and continue with your presentation. Your ability to recover smoothly can even enhance your credibility with the audience.

5. How can I calm my nerves before a presentation?

Practice relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, visualization, and positive affirmations to calm pre-presentation nerves and boost your confidence.

Ways in which Prezent can help you memorize!

Prezent is a comprehensive AI-powered platform designed to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of your presentations, making it easier for you to memorize and deliver them with confidence.

Simplification of complex information:

Generative AI : Converts complex sentences into clear, concise presentations. This feature helps in breaking down intricate ideas into simpler, more memorable pieces.

Executive summary synthesis : Converts detailed decks into a one-page summary, focusing on the essence of the presentation. This aids in grasping and remembering the core message.

Engaging storytelling:

Structured storylines : Utilizes AI to help structure presentations in a narrative format, making the information more engaging and easier to remember.

Access to 35,000+ brand-approved slides : Offers a vast library that can be used to create visually appealing and narrative-driven presentations, enhancing the storytelling aspect.

Efficiency in presentation creation:

Personalized on-brand presentations in seconds : Quickly generates presentations that align with brand guidelines, saving time and allowing presenters to focus more on the content's delivery and memorization.

Story-builder tool : Streamlines the creation process by providing a structured framework for presentations, reducing the time spent on design and layout.

Visual aids for enhanced recall:

Redesign to brand-new look : Instantly transforms slides into visually appealing formats that are consistent with brand identity, making the visual aids more memorable.

Library of curated best-practice presentations : Offers access to high-quality visual and content templates that enhance the visual appeal and recallability of presentations.

Adaptive training and learning modules:

On-demand learning modules : Provides modules on the art and science of business communication, including effective use of visual aids and storytelling, which can improve presentation skills.

Communication fingerprints : A unique feature that helps understand personal or audience preferences, enabling the creation of more personalized and impactful presentations that are easier to remember.

Remember, creating a presentation that is as visually compelling as the information it contains will elevate your confidence, making your delivery in front of a large audience seamless and powerful.

Explore Prezent with a free trial to create such stunning presentations. Schedule a demo to experience all the product features and how it can elevate your presentations.

More zenpedia articles

How to craft an effective pitch deck presentation?

How remote teams can achieve their communication goals with effective strategies

100 interesting persuasive speech topics to amaze your audience

Get the latest from Prezent community

Join thousands of subscribers who receive our best practices on communication, storytelling, presentation design, and more. New tips weekly. (No spam, we promise!)

• EXPLORE Random Article
• Happiness Hub

How to Memorize a Presentation Fast and Deliver It Without Notes

Last Updated: April 22, 2024 References

This article was co-authored by Patrick Muñoz . Patrick is an internationally recognized Voice & Speech Coach, focusing on public speaking, vocal power, accent and dialects, accent reduction, voiceover, acting and speech therapy. He has worked with clients such as Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria, and Roselyn Sanchez. He was voted LA's Favorite Voice and Dialect Coach by BACKSTAGE, is the voice and speech coach for Disney and Turner Classic Movies, and is a member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association. This article has been viewed 72,943 times.

Memorizing a presentation can seem overwhelming but with practice and determination it can be done. All you have to do is be confident in your ability to deliver information to your audience, and you can accomplish this by using some proven memory techniques. Using some great techniques will help you to memorize the information quickly and present it to an audience without needing notes.

Organizing Your Information

• Think about your main topic first—what is the main idea that you're trying to get across? Then, break it down into 3 specific ideas—this is a great way to focus your discussion.

Imagining Pictures as Reminders

• If your point is about a particular animal such as a tiger, visualize a tiger for that point. If your sub point to that main idea is about how a tiger finds prey, visualize a tiger running towards its prey in the wild.
• If you main idea is about how education is changing, visualize a caterpillar turning into a butterfly or a person changing their shoes. If your sub point to that main idea is how different classrooms look, visualize a classroom or visualize two contrasting things like oil and water.

• A trigger word for a sub point about how a tiger finds prey could be “yum” to stimulate you to think about food.
• Trigger words should be short and clear.
• Sometimes using unique trigger words works best.
• Your trigger words or phrases only have to make sense to you.
• Choose words or phrases that quickly jog your memory about the point you’re trying to recall.

• You may want to assign main points to larger body parts such as your feet, stomach, arms, hands, and head.
• You may want to assign details or less important points to smaller body parts such as your toes, knees, hips, fingers, and ears.

• Lets say you have 10 points, you can begin at your feet, move to your knees, then your thighs, next to your hips, ribs, shoulders, neck, ears, head, and finally eyes.

• It is vital that you remember how many points to deliver in your speech. Be sure to memorize this number and count as you go so you don’t go over or fall short.

Memorizing the Information

• Consider your learning style, too. For example, if you're an auditory learner, then play an audio recording of your speech. If you're a visual learner, then highlight important passages that you want to emphasize. Or, you might be kinesthetic—if so, rehearse the body language you'll use.

• Besides just recalling how many points to hit, be sure you know the correct order. You must not be reluctant about where to go next when moving from body part to body part or your presentation will lack fluidity.

• Take some time to simply practice the order you plan on moving around your body. Make sure to do this without actually stopping to present the main ideas at these stopping points. You’ll want to be able to move very swiftly and be certain about where to go next.

• Transition sentences are phrases that link one thought to another. It is so very important that you incorporate these into your presentation.
• If you do not shift from one idea to the next in a proper way using transition sentences you run the risk of sounding robotic and rehearsed. Make certain your thoughts flow so that you are not stopping abruptly or jumping suddenly from one point to another.
• Examples of good transition words or phrases between similar ideas include "Similarly," "Likewise," etc.
• Examples of good transition words or phrases between contrasting ideas include "On the contrary," "Contradictory to," etc.

What Are Tips For Memorizing a Speech?

Community Q&A

• Practice makes perfect, so spend a good amount of time reviewing your information and rehearsing. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Use physical gestures to enhance your storytelling! If you're discussing the qualities of a good leader, you might stand up nice and tall; if you're talking about a time you felt nervous, you might physically feel that experience by hunching over, shaking, widening your eyes, and wrinkling your forehead. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Rote memorization is not the best way to retain information but is a good way to quickly remember and deliver information about a particular topic. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you'd like to learn more about memorizing a presentation, check out our in-depth interview with Patrick Muñoz .

• ↑ https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/business-by-the-book-remembering-presentation-material/
• ↑ https://blog.udemy.com/how-to-memorize-a-speech/
• ↑ http://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/powerspeak/lib0208.html
• ↑ http://www.productivity501.com/how-to-memorize-verbatim-text/294/

About this article

Reader Success Stories

Moeen Al Bakri

Feb 16, 2022

Did this article help you?

• About wikiHow
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

7 Amazing Sales Presentation Examples (And How to Make Them Your Own)

7 Types of Slides to Include In Your Sales Presentation

Inside the mind of your prospect: change is hard, before-after-bridge: the only formula you need to create a persuasive sales presentation, facebook — how smiles and simplicity make you more memorable, contently — how to build a strong bridge, brick by brick, yesware — how to go above and beyond with your benefits, uber — how to cater your content for readers quick to scan, dealtap — how to use leading questions to your advantage, zuora — how to win over your prospects by feeding them dots, linkedin sales navigator — how to create excitement with color, how to make a sales pitch in 4 straightforward steps, 7 embarrassing pitfalls to avoid in your presentation, over to you.

A brilliant sales presentation has a number of things going for it.

Being product-centered isn’t one of them. Or simply focusing on your sales pitch won’t do the trick.

So what can you do to make your offer compelling?

From different types of slides to persuasive techniques and visuals, we’ve got you covered.

Below, we look at data-backed strategies, examples, and easy steps to build your own sales presentations in minutes.

• Title slide: Company name, topic, tagline
• The “Before” picture: No more than three slides with relevant statistics and graphics.
• The “After” picture: How life looks with your product. Use happy faces.
• Company introduction: Who you are and what you do (as it applies to them).
• The “Bridge” slide: Short outcome statements with icons in circles.
• Social proof slides: Customer logos with the mission statement on one slide. Pull quote on another.
• “We’re here for you” slide: Include a call-to-action and contact information.

Many sales presentations fall flat because they ignore this universal psychological bias: People overvalue the benefits of what they have over what they’re missing.

Harvard Business School professor John T. Gourville calls this the “ 9x Effect .” Left unchecked, it can be disastrous for your business.

According to Gourville, “It’s not enough for a new product simply to be better. Unless the gains far outweigh the losses, customers will not adopt it.”

The good news: You can influence how prospects perceive these gains and losses. One of the best ways to prove value is to contrast life before and after your product.

Luckily, there’s a three-step formula for that.

• Before → Here’s your world…
• After → Imagine what it would be like if…
• Bridge → Here’s how to get there.

Start with a vivid description of the pain, present an enviable world where that problem doesn’t exist, then explain how to get there using your tool.

It’s super simple, and it works for cold emails , drip campaigns , and sales discovery decks. Basically anywhere you need to get people excited about what you have to say.

In fact, a lot of companies are already using this formula to great success. The methods used in the sales presentation examples below will help you do the same.

We’re all drawn to happiness. A study at Harvard tells us that emotion is contagious .

You’ll notice that the “Before” (pre-Digital Age) pictures in Facebook’s slides all display neutral faces. But the cover slide that introduces Facebook and the “After” slides have smiling faces on them.

This is important. The placement of those graphics is an intentional persuasion technique.

Studies by psychologists show that we register smiles faster than any other expression. All it takes is 500 milliseconds (1/20th of a second). And when participants in a study were asked to recall expressions, they consistently remembered happy faces over neutral ones.

What to do about it : Add a happy stock photo to your intro and “After” slides, and keep people in “Before” slides to neutral expressions.

Here are some further techniques used during the sales presentation:

Tactic #1: Use Simple Graphics

Use simple graphics to convey meaning without text.

Example: Slide 2 is a picture of a consumer’s hand holding an iPhone — something we can all relate to.

Why It Works: Pictures are more effective than words — it’s called  Picture Superiority . In presentations, pictures help you create connections with your audience. Instead of spoon-feeding them everything word for word, you let them interpret. This builds trust.

Tactic #2: Use Icons

Use icons to show statistics you’re comparing instead of listing them out.

Example: Slide 18 uses people icons to emphasize how small 38 out of 100 people is compared to 89 out of 100.

Why It Works:  We process visuals 60,000 times faster than text.

Tactic #3: Include Statistics

Include statistics that tie real success to the benefits you mention.

Example: “71% lift driving visits to retailer title pages” (Slide 26).

Why It Works:  Precise details prove that you are telling the truth.

Just like how you can’t drive from Marin County to San Francisco without the Golden Gate, you can’t connect a “Before” to an “After” without a bridge.

Add the mission statement of your company — something Contently does from Slide 1 of their deck. Having a logo-filled Customers slide isn’t unusual for sales presentations, but Contently goes one step further by showing you exactly what they do for these companies.

They then drive home the Before-After-Bridge Formula further with case studies:

Before : Customer’s needs when they came on

After: What your company accomplished for them

Bridge : How they got there (specific actions and outcomes)

Here are some other tactics we pulled from the sales presentation:

Tactic #1: Use Graphics/Diagrams

Use graphics, Venn diagrams, and/or equations to drive home your “Before” picture.

Why It Works:  According to a Cornell study , graphs and equations have persuasive power. They “signal a scientific basis for claims, which grants them greater credibility.”

Tactic #2: Keep Slides That Have Bullets to a Minimum

Keep slides that have bullets to a minimum. No more than one in every five slides.

Why It Works:  According to an experiment by the International Journal of Business Communication , “Subjects exposed to a graphic representation paid significantly more attention to , agreed more with, and better recalled the strategy than did subjects who saw a (textually identical) bulleted list.”

Tactic #3: Use Visual Examples

Follow up your descriptions with visual examples.

Example: After stating “15000+ vetted, ready to work journalists searchable by location, topical experience, and social media influence” on Slide 8, Contently shows what this looks like firsthand on slides 9 and 10.

Why It Works:  The same reason why prospects clamor for demos and car buyers ask for test drives. You’re never truly convinced until you see something for yourself.

Which is more effective for you?

This statement — “On average, Yesware customers save ten hours per week” — or this image:

The graphic shows you what that 10 hours looks like for prospects vs. customers. It also calls out a pain that the product removes: data entry.

Visuals are more effective every time. They fuel retention of a presentation from 10% to 65% .

But it’s not as easy as just including a graphic. You need to keep the design clean.

Can you feel it?

Clutter provokes anxiety and stress because it bombards our minds with excessive visual stimuli, causing our senses to work overtime on stimuli that aren’t important.

Here’s a tip from Yesware’s Graphic Designer, Ginelle DeAntonis:

“Customer logos won’t all necessarily have the same dimensions, but keep them the same size visually so that they all have the same importance. You should also disperse colors throughout, so that you don’t for example end up with a bunch of blue logos next to each other. Organize them in a way that’s easy for the eye, because in the end it’s a lot of information at once.”

Here are more tactics to inspire sales presentation ideas:

Tactic #1: Personalize Your Final Slide

Personalize your final slide with your contact information and a headline that drives emotion.

Example: Our Mid-Market Team Lead Kyle includes his phone number and email address with “We’re Here For You”

Why It Works: These small details show your audience that:

• This is about giving them the end picture, not making a sale
• The end of the presentation doesn’t mean the end of the conversation
• Questions are welcomed

Tactic #2: Pair Outcome Statements With Icons in Circles

Example: Slide 4 does this with seven different “After” outcomes.

Why It Works:  We already know why pictures work, but circles have power , too. They imply completeness, infiniteness, and harmony.

Tactic #3: Include Specific Success Metrics

Don’t just list who you work with; include specific success metrics that hit home what you’ve done for them.

Example: 35% New Business Growth for Boomtrain; 30% Higher Reply Rates for Dyn.

Why It Works:  Social proof drives action. It’s why we wait in lines at restaurants and put ourselves on waitlists for sold-out items.

People can only focus for eight seconds at a time. (Sadly, goldfish have one second on us.)

This means you need to cut to the chase fast.

Uber’s headlines in Slides 2-9 tailor the “After” picture to specific pain points. As a result, there’s no need to explicitly state a “Before.”

Slides 11-13 then continue touching on “Before” problems tangentially with customer quotes:

So instead of self-touting benefits, the brand steps aside to let consumers hear from their peers — something that sways 92% of consumers .

Leading questions may be banned from the courtroom, but they aren’t in the boardroom.

DealTap’s slides ask viewers to choose between two scenarios over and over. Each has an obvious winner:

Ever heard of the Focusing Effect?

It’s part of what makes us tick as humans and what makes this design move effective. We focus on one thing and then ignore the rest. Here, DealTap puts the magnifying glass on paperwork vs. automated transactions.

Easy choice.

Sure, DealTap’s platform might have complexities that rival paperwork, but we don’t think about that. We’re looking at the pile of work one the left and the simpler, single interface on the right.

Here are some other tactics to use in your own sales presentation:

Tactic #1: Tell a Story

Tell a story that flows from one slide to the next.

Example: Here’s the story DealTap tells from slides 4 to 8: “Transactions are complicated” → “Expectations on all sides” → “Too many disconnected tools” → “Slow and error prone process” → “However, there’s an opportunity.

Why It Works:   Storytelling in sales with a clear beginning and end (or in this case, a “Before” and “After”) trigger a trust hormone called Oxytocin.

Tactic #2: This vs. That

If it’s hard to separate out one “Before” and “After” vision with your product or service because you offer many dissimilar benefits, consider a “This vs. That” theme for each.

Why It Works:  It breaks up your points into simple decisions and sets you up to win emotional reactions from your audience with stock photos.

Remember how satisfying it was to play connect the dots? Forming a bigger picture out of disconnected circles.

That’s what you need to make your audience do.

Zuora tells a story by:

• Laying out the reality (the “Before” part of the Before-After-Bridge formula).
• Asking you a question that you want to answer (the “After”)
• Giving you hints to help you connect the dots
• Showing you the common thread (the “Bridge”)

You can achieve this by founding your sales presentation on your audience’s intuitions. Set them up with the closely-set “dots,” then let them make the connection.

Here are more tactical sales presentation ideas to steal for your own use:

Tactic #1: Use Logos and Testimonials

Use logos and  testimonial pull-quotes for your highest-profile customers to strengthen your sales presentation.

Example: Slides 21 to 23 include customer quotes from Schneider Electric, Financial Times, and Box.

Why It Works: It’s called  social proof . Prospects value other people’s opinions and trust reputable sources more than you.

Tactic #2: Include White Space

Pad your images with white space.

Example: Slide 17 includes two simple graphics on a white background to drive home an important concept.

Why It Works:  White space creates separation, balance, and attracts the audience’s eyes to the main focus: your image.

Tactic #3: Incorporate Hard Data

Incorporate hard data with a memorable background to make your data stand out.

Example: Slide 5 includes statistics with a backdrop that stands out. The number and exciting title (‘A Global Phenomenon’) are the main focuses of the slide.

Why It Works:  Vivid backdrops are proven to be memorable and help your audience take away important numbers or data.

Psychology tells us that seeing colors can set our mood .

The color red is proven to increase the pulse and heart rate. Beyond that, it’s associated with being active, aggressive, and outspoken. LinkedIn Sales Navigator uses red on slides to draw attention to main points:

You can use hues in your own slides to guide your audience’s emotions. Green gives peace; grey adds a sense of calm; blue breeds trust. See more here .

Tip: You can grab free photos from Creative Commons and then set them to black & white and add a colored filter on top using a (also free) tool like Canva . Here’s the sizing for your image:

Caveat: Check with your marketing team first to see if you have a specific color palette or brand guidelines to follow.

Here are some other takeaways from LinkedIn’s sales presentation:

Tactic #1: Include a CTA on Final Slide

Include one clear call-to-action on your final slide.

Example: Slide 9 has a “Learn More” CTA button.

Why It Works:  According to the Paradox of Choice , the more options you give, the less likely they are to act.

Step One : Ask marketing for your company’s style guide (color, logo, and font style).

Step Two: Answer these questions to outline the “Before → After → Bridge” formula for your sales pitch :

• What are your ICP’s pain points?
• What end picture resonates with them?
• How does your company come into play?

Step Three: Ask account management/marketing which customers you can mention in your slides (plus where to access any case studies for pull quotes).

Step Four:  Download photos from Creative Commons . Remember: Graphics > Text. Use Canva to edit on your own — free and fast.

What are the sales presentation strategies that work best for your industry and customers? Tweet us:  @Yesware .

Get sales tips and strategies delivered straight to your inbox.

Yesware will help you generate more sales right from your inbox. Try our Outlook add-on or Gmail Chrome extension for free, forever!

Hit your number every month

Works on Outlook or Gmail (+ many more integrations)

Related Articles

10 Best Persuasive Techniques for Sales and Marketing [2022]

Melissa Williams

SPIN Selling: All-In-One Guide for 2022

High-Ticket Sales: How to Sell High-Ticket Products and Services

Casey O'Connor

Sales, deal management, and communication tips for your inbox

We're on a mission to help you build lasting business relationships.

75 Kneeland Street, Floor 15 Boston, MA 02111

[email protected]

How to make a great presentation

Stressed about an upcoming presentation? These talks are full of helpful tips on how to get up in front of an audience and make a lasting impression.

The secret structure of great talks

The beauty of data visualization

TED's secret to great public speaking

How to speak so that people want to listen

How great leaders inspire action

How To Memorize a Presentation For a Better Flow

Many presentation veterans and TEDxTalkers will tell you that you should dedicate one hour of preparation for every minute of the presentation. That seems like a lot, right? If your presentation is 15 minutes long, that’s 15 hours of preparation. Who has time for that? However, when you actually sit down and consider the brainstorming and story mining, the physical deck design, and practicing the presentation— 15 hours might not seem so astronomical. After all, you don’t want to spend hours creating a deck just to forget everything you’re supposed to say when you step up to the podium. 

It might not seem important, but how your presentation flows is critical to its overall success. In fact, 90% of people believe that a strong narrative and story in a presentation is critical for engagement. Similarly, 35% of millennials say they will only engage with content they feel has a great story or theme. It just goes to show that presentations are two-fold: the deck, and the delivery. Your presentation could have a great story, but if your flow and delivery misses the mark it’s all for naught. It’s no wonder so many people stress about public speaking, they don’t want to get choked up in front of an audience and embarrass themselves. Practice and memorization are just as important as the physical presentation deck, and vice versa. 

If you’re a last-minute warrior (no judgement), and are wondering how to memorize a presentation in one night, we’ve got you covered. Consider these tips to help you memorize your next presentation for a better flow and overall experience. 

Structure your story in an obvious way

If you structure your story in an obvious way— with a beginning, middle, and end— it will help keep you on track. Become familiar with the character (your product, service, or idea), the villain (the problem you’re solving for), and the narrative. Better yet, think of it as a novel you’ve read again and again, or a funny story you’re sharing with your friends. When you know the flow, positioning, and progression of your story, it will be easier to pick up where you left off if you get lost or distracted mid-thought. 

Beautiful.ai can help you structure your story more effectively with our Smart Slide templates . The guardrails put in place by our design AI force you to format your story more efficiently, but it also allows you to structure it in new, creative ways you might not have thought of otherwise. 

Keep it short and sweet

It’s not rocket science: the shorter your presentation, the easier it is to remember. (The same goes for your audience, too). In order to memorize your presentation, and make sure you’re not leaving out any key points, keep your deck to a minimum. We always recommend Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule, which says no PowerPoint presentation should be more than ten slides, longer than 20 minutes, and use fonts smaller than 30 point size. If you stick to this method, you’ll have less to memorize and more to gain. 

Practice, practice, practice

Obviously, practice makes perfect. The more you practice and rehearse the narrative, in your head or in front of your mirror, the more prepared you will be on game day. Here are some easy ways to practice, and better memorize your presentation.

The 20-20-20 rule

The 20-20-20 rule, which was created by memory experts, encourages you to go over the material (in this case, your presentation) for 20 minutes, and then repeat that twice for another 20 minutes each. According to research, if the information is not repeated or revisited within 30 minutes, it’s not encoded into the long-term memory side of the brain, and therefore would be harder to remember on presentation day. 

Record yourself

When you sit down to practice, you should do at least one dry run in front of the mirror or a friend. And you should record yourself doing it. When you record yourself presenting, you can watch it back to 1) review and memorize the information, and 2) tweak your narrative where necessary. It’s also a great way to manage and tweak your facial expressions and body language. 

There’s just something about hand-written notes that really engrains the information in your brain. No, really. It’s scientifically proven that physically writing down information by hand helps you retain it more effectively. So, take notes. Take notes as you’re story mining, designing your deck, and practicing your speech and refer back to them before your presentation. 

Have a cheat sheet handy

Okay, normally we wouldn’t encourage note cards. Why? Simply because people tend to read directly from the note cards instead of speaking to their audience. But in our new norm of remote work— and virtual conferences, meetings, events, etc.— a cheat sheet can be your friend.

Check out this hot tip. Make a cheat sheet of the absolute highest level key points you need to touch on and tape the note card to the top of your computer near the camera. Even if you need to read from the card (in the case of a mental lapse), it will look like you’re staring into the camera and making eye contact with your virtual audience. You’re welcome. 

Jordan Turner

Jordan is a Bay Area writer, social media manager, and content strategist.

Recommended Articles

Go pro: 5 secrets to prepping for your next big presentation from top pros, examples of how some teachers are leveling up their presentation skills, what are some creative presentation ideas, grab your audience’s attention right away.

• Home →
• Blog →
• Salesperson →

How to Create Your Ultimate Sales Presentation (with examples)

The Presentation is Step 4 of your Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation.

So, you are a dedicated sales professional who has been following my Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation formula! Thus far, you have completed your sales prospecting, so you know the customer is a qualified prospect. You have also spent time developing a strategic presentation plan. Plus, you have even planned your all-important approach to begin your presentation.

Now. At last. It is time to plan a killer presentation; a presentation sure to bring success and well-deserved hearty congratulations from coworkers and bosses!

So, no more delays, let’s get started!

In this article on creating your ultimate sales presentation, we will cover:

• Types of Common Selling Situations

4 Sales Presentation Methods

Basics of a group presentation, win-win negotiating, which presentation method is best, types of selling situations.

When I first started as a sales representative, I only had to master one selling situation. It was me selling to a single buyer. However, as I gained sales experience, I found that I had to present in a variety of selling situations.

As a professional salesperson, you need to be aware of the types of selling situations that you might encounter over the course of your career. Here are five of the most common selling situations.

• Salesperson to the buyer. A single salesperson presenting to a single buyer. This is how most of us start in our selling careers.
• Salesperson to the buyer group. A single salesperson presenting to a buying group or committee. You may present to a buying group when the information is technically complex or when the dollar value of the product is above a single buyer’s authorized level.
• Sales team to the buyer group. A selling team presents to a buying group or committee. The selling team and buying committee is often made up of people from different departments with different skillsets. For example, I led selling teams comprising myself as a sales manager, along with people from sales, finance, product supply, operations, and logistics. We presented to customer buying teams comprising people with the same areas of expertise.
• Consultant selling. A lead salesperson assembles company personnel to deal with specific opportunities or solve specific problems for a customer. For example, when I was a sales manager for Procter& Gamble’s Foodservice division, I was frequently called on to work with customers as a consultant to solve a specific problem. “Why don’t our pie crusts bake evenly?” “Why are the scallops cooked at lunch lighter than the scallops cooked for dinner?” I brought in teams of experts to work specifically on these problems.
• Seminar selling. Seminar selling is often educational in nature. In the “old days,” seminar selling was often held in a hotel meeting room. For example, attorneys put on an educational seminar about wills and trusts. When they were done with the seminar, they sold their services. These days a lot of seminar selling is done via “webinars.” A salesperson presents educational material via a live stream over the internet, and when they are done, they sell their services.

Now that we have a handle on the most common selling situations, we must determine which sales presentation methods we will use for our presentation.

Your sales presentation is a combination of persuasive verbal and visual communications of your business proposition that will solve a customer’s problem. Although to deliver a compelling presentation, you also need to match the presentation method to the specific buying situation.

There are four basic presentation methods most salespeople need to master. They are the

• persuasive selling,
• needs-satisfaction, and
• problem-solution method.

The primary difference between the methods is the percentage of time the salesperson is speaking. In the memorized and persuasive selling methods, the salesperson dominates the conversation. In the needs-satisfaction and problem-solution methods, both the salesperson and buyer share in the conversation.

You can think of these methods as being on a continuum from highly structured to completely customized.

The memorized sales presentation method is the most highly structured method. The salesperson does 80-90% of the talking. The buyer’s participation is generally limited to responding to questions posed by the salesperson.

The memorized presentation is a “canned” presentation; delivering the same basic presentation to every prospective buyer. The salesperson discusses the same features and benefits hoping they will stimulate the buyer’s interest.

The most common use of memorized presentations today is door-to-door and telephone sales.

The memorized presentation method has several advantages.

• It increases the confidence of inexperienced salespeople.
• It ensures that a salesperson or entire salesforce delivers the same features and benefits to prospective buyers.
• It is most efficient when selling time is short.

Drawbacks of the memorized presentation include:

• It is impersonal.
• It may present features and benefits that mean nothing to the buyer.
• It has limited participation with the buyer and, therefore, may be perceived as a high-pressure sales presentation.
• It is not effective for complicated selling situations or technical products.

Persuasive Selling

The persuasive selling presentation method is a powerful tool for both new and experienced salespeople. It is less structured than the memorized presentation. The salesperson typically controls the approach and beginning of the presentation but then engages the buyer more and more as the presentation continues.

The persuasive selling method has several advantages.

• It provides an opportunity for more buyer/seller interaction.
• It provides a logical framework and flow of information.
• It allows the salesperson to handle anticipated questions and objections.

The primary drawback of the persuasive selling model is that the structure is less flexible than the need-satisfaction or problem solution methods. Its more formal structure makes it less suitable for complex selling situations.

With the persuasive selling method, the presentation follows a formula or outline. A typical outline for a persuasive selling presentation includes five steps.

Summarize the Situation

State your idea, explain how it works.

• Reinforce the Key Benefits

Suggest an Easy Next Step

Summarize the situation that leads to the purpose of your presentation.

For example , “Last time we met, you mentioned needing to increase sales by 5%. Is that still the case?”

State your idea regarding a solution in clear, simple terms.

For example , “My idea is for you to feature Product X in your advertising and support the feature with a display.”

Share the details of your proposal. Include information about the product, pricing, timing, and etc., so the buyer understands how your proposal will solve his/her problem.

For example , “We know features and displays on Product X increase sales volume by 5x. I suggest you feature Product Super Duper Extra Large Size in your feature on (date). I will come in the week before the ad and build a display for you.”

Reinforce Key Benefits

Reinforce the key benefits by restating why your proposal solves the buyer’s problem. Focus on the key benefit(s) that are most important to the buyer.

For example , “As I said, a feature and display of Product Super Duper usually has a significant impact on sales. I estimate your sales will increase to (estimate) during the week of the feature and display.

Close the sale by suggesting the next steps, which are needed so you can successfully follow through in your proposal.

For example , “If you submit Product Super Duper for a feature on (date), I will order X number of cases of Super Duper to arrive the week before the feature. Then, on the day before the ad breaks, I will come in and build a display for you.”

Need-Satisfaction

The need-satisfaction presentation method is the most difficult to master. The entire presentation is often a back and forth conversation between buyer and seller. For this reason, the salesperson needs to be able to adapt their style and the information they convey to the seller throughout the presentation.

The need-satisfaction method has several advantages.

• It is highly flexible and customizable.
• It is particularly well-suited for the sale of complex, highly technical products.
• It is most effective at uncovering and prioritizing buyer needs.

The primary drawback of the needs-satisfaction method is the open-ended conversational nature of the presentation process. This makes it a difficult method for less experienced salespeople to master.

As the name suggests, the salesperson begins by discussing the buyer’s needs, then clarifies and summarizes the buyer’s greatest need, and finally, demonstrates how their product will meet the buyer’s needs.

Need Development

The presentation begins with the salesperson, asking a probing question to begin the process of ascertaining buyer needs. The salesperson asks a series of these probing questions to understand as much as possible about all the buyer’s specific needs and problems.

It is not uncommon for half or even more of the presentation time to be spent in the need development phase.

For example , a probing question for a computer salesperson is, “What tasks do your employees use your computers for? Or, “What software do the people in your company use the most?”

Need Awareness

Once the salesperson understands the buyer’s needs and problems, it is time to narrow down the needs/problem to the most important one to solve. The salesperson should then restate the need/problem and confirm with the buyer.

For example , “From what you’ve told me, the biggest problem your accounting staff has is they need to be able to see what people in other departments are spending. They use the Super Deluxe Accounting software package, but they are not on the same network, so they cannot see what various departments are spending. Is that correct?”

Need Fulfillment

The need fulfillment stage is the final phase of the needs-satisfaction presentation method. In this stage, the salesperson demonstrates how their product will meet the buyer’s needs or solve their problem.

For example , “I can certainly understand the importance of having your accounting staff computers networked with common software so they can see what each department is spending. My company makes an internet hub specifically designed to link seamlessly all the computers in the accounting department. It is fast, reliable, and is expandable so it can grow as your company grows. I suggest our training team come in and train your accounting department the week before the technical crew installs the new system Is next week good for the training or would the following week be better?”

I’ve used the needs-satisfaction method numerous times throughout my career.

Often, with complicated situations, I’ve had to spend an entire appointment on just needs development and needs awareness phases. When this happens, I will take the time between appointments to think through all the buyer’s needs/problems and select the best features, advantages, and benefits. Then in my next meeting with the buyer, I will use the persuasive selling method to present my solution because I already know the problem I need to solve for the buyer!

Problem-Solution

The problem-solution presentation method is a completely flexible, customized presentation that requires full engagement between buyer and seller. It is like the need satisfaction method because it is designed to uncover specific buyer needs or problems and then provide the appropriate solution. The primary difference is the problem-solution method is designed to handle a situation where the buyer may not even understand the problem or know how to solve it.

The problem-solution presentation method has several advantages.

• It is highly flexible and completely customizable.
• It is best suited for highly complex technical situations.
• It provides an in-depth analysis of specific needs or problems.

The problem-solution presentation method also has several disadvantages.

• Its complexity makes it difficult for inexperienced salespeople to manage the entire process.
• It is time-intensive, often taking several appointments involving multiple disciplines, over a period of weeks or even months.

Multiple Steps are Needed

The problem-solution presentation method consists of multiple steps. Here are eight steps I follow using the problem-solution presentation method.

• Agreement between buyer and seller to complete the analysis.
• Assemble the seller team and identify the customer’s mirror team.
• Agree on a timeline and the scope of the analysis.
• Conduct the actual analysis.
• Form conclusions and recommended courses of action based on the analysis.
• Develop the sale presentation based on the analysis, conclusions, and recommended course of action.
• The sales team delivers the sales presentation to the customer mirror team.
• Implement the agreed-upon actions.

I can’t give you a verbatim example of a problem-solution presentation, or this article would likely run several hundred more pages than you would want to read! However, I can give you an example of a situation where I used the problem-solution method.

I was in a role where I led teams of salespeople, finance, and product supply experts to analyze entire departments of a grocery store. The goal was to maximize department profits by optimizing the product assortment and layout of the department.

The analysis required the retailer to provide months’ worth of detailed financial and volume information for every product carried in the department. We combined their information with complicated psychographic information to determine the mix of products that would maximize profits and customer satisfaction. Then, with the optimized assortment, we designed shelf layouts that incorporated each product in its most logical and efficient location.

Once the analysis, conclusions, and recommendations were developed, we assembled all the information in presentation notebooks. With all the data these presentations typically ran over 100-pages!

Finally, when everything was printed, our selling team comprising of salespeople, finance, and product supply folks, presented to the customer’s mirror team. Often these presentations ran over two hours.

Once all the agreements were made, we established implementation teams responsible for making the changes in every store.

All-in-all it was not uncommon for this process to take 2-3 months for every retailer we worked with. However, we only committed to this kind of work when there was a significant long-term upside for our company! Given all the time, energy, and expertise to do the analysis and make the presentation.

Both the need-satisfaction and problem-solution presentation methods may involve presenting to a group of people. So next, let’s look at some of the nuances of presenting to groups.

There are two types of group presentations I participated in or delivered over the years. One type is what I call the one-to-many, where I present to a customer’s group. The other type and the one I liked the most is the many-to-many, where a group from the seller company presents to a group from the buyer company.

Delivering successful group presentations is complicated because many people are involved, you cover a lot of material, and the material itself is usually complicated.

I can’t possibly cover everything about running a successful group meeting in this article. Nonetheless, there are a few basics you must understand to conduct successful group presentations.

Get plenty of space

These group presentations are often conducted in a large meeting or board room. There’s nothing worse than stuffing 15 people into a room that holds ten.

Arrange for more time than you think you’ll need

If you need 90 minutes, ask for two-hours. No executive will complain if you finish 30 minutes early, but you stand the risk of losing people if you go over your allotted time.

The more people, the more structured the presentation method. Controlling the attention of any large group requires a presentation that is highly structured and organized.

Start with introductions

Chances are individuals who know each other, but not everyone else in the room, so start with simple introductions of name and role.

Publish an agenda

Let the people know what will be covered and in what order. This is also a perfect time to let people know what to expect for the rest of the meeting.

Have a designated question and answer time

Open questions and answers throughout a presentation with large groups are too distracting. If there are major sections to your presentation you can have a question and answer session for each section. Otherwise, you may elect to have one question and answer section at the end of the presentation.

Assign a timekeeper

For very complicated, long presentations, have someone on your team serve as a timekeeper to help keep you on track and from going over your time limit.

Appoint a designated note-taker on your team

The note taker needs to capture key comments, questions, and agreements for reference later.

Get engagement and agreement as you go

I know I said not to have open questions and answers throughout the presentation, but that doesn’t mean you make the presentation like a robot from the front of the room. If you see head nods, ask if they agree. If you see someone with a concerned or quizzical look on their face, ask if they have a question. If the issue is simple, handle it. Otherwise, say you’ll answer their question in just a moment (or in the Q&A at the end).

Focus on benefits

Talk about and reinforce the key benefits of your solution throughout your presentation. If there is a product supply person in the room, mention the benefits that accrue to that department. If there is a finance person talk to them about financial benefits. And so on! Make sure every person in the room hears the benefit of the proposal as it pertains to them!

Summarize the benefits

Just as you’re getting ready to close, summarize, or restate the key benefits you mentioned throughout your presentation. Again, make sure everyone hears the benefit that your solution brings to them in their work!

These tips are just the basics of running a successful group presentation. I can’t guarantee your success by following them, but I can just about guarantee failure if you ignore any of them!

As you approach the close, you will almost certainly have points the buyer wants to question or negotiate. So next, let’s talk a little bit about how to set yourself and your team up for successful negotiations.

I knew a few salespeople over the years who had a “take it or leave” attitude. They had one proposal, and one way of doing business and they were prepared to walk away from business if the buyer didn’t meet all their demands.

On the other hand, I also ran across a few customers who had a “take it or leave it” attitude. They made whatever demands they felt they could get away with pressuring suppliers to meet their demands. They figured if one supplier didn’t meet their demands the next supplier probably would.

I didn’t like working with either sellers or buyers who took that hardline approach.

In my opinion, a relational salesperson should be prepared to negotiate whether you are talking to a single buyer or a buying group. Over the years, I found the trick is to plan your points of negotiation ahead of time. By planning ahead of time you’ll know where you can compromise and where you cannot.

For example , you should know:

• What extra services can you provide that competitors do not?
• Is your price firm, or is there some flexibility?
• Are there payment terms or a payment plan?
• Can you provide any free services (like training) or equipment upgrades?
• Can you offer flexible delivery dates?

At Procter & Gamble (and most other large companies), our prices and terms were fixed, so I had to create negotiating flexibility in other ways. I could easily offer different shipping dates, different quantities and product assortment, and in some cases, product training.

The point is that I was clear about the things I could not negotiate. Likewise, I clarified that I was happy to negotiate where I had flexibility.

So far, we have covered the five most common selling situations and the four presentation methods. Now, it is time to determine which presentation method is best for you and your situation.

Your selling objective is the starting point in deciding which presentation method to use. If you are making a sales presentation, you will take a different approach than if your objective is to gather the information you can use later to develop a sales presentation.

Generally speaking, if you are making a sales presentation, the memorized or persuasive selling method is best. However, if you need to understand buyer priorities or uncover buyer needs or problems then the needs-satisfaction or problem-solution methods are best.

Yet, there is no single best method. When selecting your presentation method you must consider

• the experience of the salesperson,
• your objective,
• the nature of the product,
• the information about the buyer’s need or problem,
• and a host of other variables.

We’re Not Done with our Sales Presentation!

Although we’ve made a lot of progress, we’re still not ready to see the buyer yet!

Sure, we’ve done our prospecting, some approach planning, and we’ve decided on a presentation method. However, we still need to create that all-important presentation! In the next article, we’ll take a hard look at the important elements we must include in our presentation.

The Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation Series

Step4: The Presentation is the fifth in a series of articles, which have been created to teach you how to craft and deliver the Ultimate Sales Presentation in 10-Steps.

If you missed a prior article in this series or you want to review one again, you’ll find them here:

Kick-Off: The Ultimate 10-Step Sales Presentation

Step 1: Customer Prospecting

Step 2: Pre-Approach Planning

Step 3: The Approach

Step 4: The Presentation – Part 1 (you’re here)

Steps 5-10: Coming soon. A new article releases every two weeks.

If you want to make sure you don’t miss one of these articles, you can sign up to receive the series here .

Join the Conversation

As always, questions and comments are welcome. What questions do you have about the Approach step of the Ultimate 10-Step Presentation model?

I’d love your help. This blog is read primarily because of people like you who share it with friends. Would you be kind enough to share it by pressing the share button?

Category: Salespeople

Related Posts

Your Complete Guide to Customer Retention: Service and Follow-Up (with Examples)

Your Complete Guide to Closing the Sale (with Examples)

Your Complete Guide to Flushing Out Buyer Objections

How to Leverage the Trial Close in Your Ultimate Sales Presentation

Session expired

Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

14.1 Four Methods of Delivery

Learning objectives.

• Differentiate among the four methods of speech delivery.
• Understand when to use each of the four methods of speech delivery.

Maryland GovPics – House of Ruth Luncheon – CC BY 2.0.

The easiest approach to speech delivery is not always the best. Substantial work goes into the careful preparation of an interesting and ethical message, so it is understandable that students may have the impulse to avoid “messing it up” by simply reading it word for word. But students who do this miss out on one of the major reasons for studying public speaking: to learn ways to “connect” with one’s audience and to increase one’s confidence in doing so. You already know how to read, and you already know how to talk. But public speaking is neither reading nor talking.

Speaking in public has more formality than talking. During a speech, you should present yourself professionally. This doesn’t mean you must wear a suit or “dress up” (unless your instructor asks you to), but it does mean making yourself presentable by being well groomed and wearing clean, appropriate clothes. It also means being prepared to use language correctly and appropriately for the audience and the topic, to make eye contact with your audience, and to look like you know your topic very well.

While speaking has more formality than talking, it has less formality than reading. Speaking allows for meaningful pauses, eye contact, small changes in word order, and vocal emphasis. Reading is a more or less exact replication of words on paper without the use of any nonverbal interpretation. Speaking, as you will realize if you think about excellent speakers you have seen and heard, provides a more animated message.

The next sections introduce four methods of delivery that can help you balance between too much and too little formality when giving a public speech.

Impromptu Speaking

Impromptu speaking is the presentation of a short message without advance preparation. Impromptu speeches often occur when someone is asked to “say a few words” or give a toast on a special occasion. You have probably done impromptu speaking many times in informal, conversational settings. Self-introductions in group settings are examples of impromptu speaking: “Hi, my name is Steve, and I’m a volunteer with the Homes for the Brave program.” Another example of impromptu speaking occurs when you answer a question such as, “What did you think of the documentary?”

The advantage of this kind of speaking is that it’s spontaneous and responsive in an animated group context. The disadvantage is that the speaker is given little or no time to contemplate the central theme of his or her message. As a result, the message may be disorganized and difficult for listeners to follow.

Here is a step-by-step guide that may be useful if you are called upon to give an impromptu speech in public.

• Take a moment to collect your thoughts and plan the main point you want to make.
• Thank the person for inviting you to speak.
• Deliver your message, making your main point as briefly as you can while still covering it adequately and at a pace your listeners can follow.
• Thank the person again for the opportunity to speak.
• Stop talking.

As you can see, impromptu speeches are generally most successful when they are brief and focus on a single point.

Extemporaneous Speaking

Extemporaneous speaking is the presentation of a carefully planned and rehearsed speech, spoken in a conversational manner using brief notes. By using notes rather than a full manuscript, the extemporaneous speaker can establish and maintain eye contact with the audience and assess how well they are understanding the speech as it progresses. The opportunity to assess is also an opportunity to restate more clearly any idea or concept that the audience seems to have trouble grasping.

For instance, suppose you are speaking about workplace safety and you use the term “sleep deprivation.” If you notice your audience’s eyes glazing over, this might not be a result of their own sleep deprivation, but rather an indication of their uncertainty about what you mean. If this happens, you can add a short explanation; for example, “sleep deprivation is sleep loss serious enough to threaten one’s cognition, hand-to-eye coordination, judgment, and emotional health.” You might also (or instead) provide a concrete example to illustrate the idea. Then you can resume your message, having clarified an important concept.

Speaking extemporaneously has some advantages. It promotes the likelihood that you, the speaker, will be perceived as knowledgeable and credible. In addition, your audience is likely to pay better attention to the message because it is engaging both verbally and nonverbally. The disadvantage of extemporaneous speaking is that it requires a great deal of preparation for both the verbal and the nonverbal components of the speech. Adequate preparation cannot be achieved the day before you’re scheduled to speak.

Because extemporaneous speaking is the style used in the great majority of public speaking situations, most of the information in this chapter is targeted to this kind of speaking.

Speaking from a Manuscript

Manuscript speaking is the word-for-word iteration of a written message. In a manuscript speech, the speaker maintains his or her attention on the printed page except when using visual aids.

The advantage to reading from a manuscript is the exact repetition of original words. As we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, in some circumstances this can be extremely important. For example, reading a statement about your organization’s legal responsibilities to customers may require that the original words be exact. In reading one word at a time, in order, the only errors would typically be mispronunciation of a word or stumbling over complex sentence structure.

However, there are costs involved in manuscript speaking. First, it’s typically an uninteresting way to present. Unless the speaker has rehearsed the reading as a complete performance animated with vocal expression and gestures (as poets do in a poetry slam and actors do in a reader’s theater), the presentation tends to be dull. Keeping one’s eyes glued to the script precludes eye contact with the audience. For this kind of “straight” manuscript speech to hold audience attention, the audience must be already interested in the message before the delivery begins.

It is worth noting that professional speakers, actors, news reporters, and politicians often read from an autocue device, such as a TelePrompTer, especially when appearing on television, where eye contact with the camera is crucial. With practice, a speaker can achieve a conversational tone and give the impression of speaking extemporaneously while using an autocue device. However, success in this medium depends on two factors: (1) the speaker is already an accomplished public speaker who has learned to use a conversational tone while delivering a prepared script, and (2) the speech is written in a style that sounds conversational.

Speaking from Memory

Memorized speaking is the rote recitation of a written message that the speaker has committed to memory. Actors, of course, recite from memory whenever they perform from a script in a stage play, television program, or movie scene. When it comes to speeches, memorization can be useful when the message needs to be exact and the speaker doesn’t want to be confined by notes.

The advantage to memorization is that it enables the speaker to maintain eye contact with the audience throughout the speech. Being free of notes means that you can move freely around the stage and use your hands to make gestures. If your speech uses visual aids, this freedom is even more of an advantage. However, there are some real and potential costs. First, unless you also plan and memorize every vocal cue (the subtle but meaningful variations in speech delivery, which can include the use of pitch, tone, volume, and pace), gesture, and facial expression, your presentation will be flat and uninteresting, and even the most fascinating topic will suffer. You might end up speaking in a monotone or a sing-song repetitive delivery pattern. You might also present your speech in a rapid “machine-gun” style that fails to emphasize the most important points. Second, if you lose your place and start trying to ad lib, the contrast in your style of delivery will alert your audience that something is wrong. More frighteningly, if you go completely blank during the presentation, it will be extremely difficult to find your place and keep going.

Key Takeaways

• There are four main kinds of speech delivery: impromptu, extemporaneous, manuscript, and memorized.
• Impromptu speaking involves delivering a message on the spur of the moment, as when someone is asked to “say a few words.”
• Extemporaneous speaking consists of delivering a speech in a conversational fashion using notes. This is the style most speeches call for.
• Manuscript speaking consists of reading a fully scripted speech. It is useful when a message needs to be delivered in precise words.
• Memorized speaking consists of reciting a scripted speech from memory. Memorization allows the speaker to be free of notes.
• Find a short newspaper story. Read it out loud to a classroom partner. Then, using only one notecard, tell the classroom partner in your own words what the story said. Listen to your partner’s observations about the differences in your delivery.
• In a group of four or five students, ask each student to give a one-minute impromptu speech answering the question, “What is the most important personal quality for academic success?”
• Watch the evening news. Observe the differences between news anchors using a TelePrompTer and interviewees who are using no notes of any kind. What differences do you observe?

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

• Games, topic printables & more
• The 4 main speech types
• Example speeches
• Commemorative
• Declamation
• Demonstration
• Informative
• Introduction
• Student Council
• Speech topics
• Poems to read aloud
• How to write a speech
• Using props/visual aids
• Acute anxiety help
• Breathing exercises
• Letting go - free e-course
• Using self-hypnosis
• Delivery overview
• 4 modes of delivery
• How to make cue cards
• How to read a speech
• 9 vocal aspects
• Vocal variety
• Diction/articulation
• Pronunciation
• Speaking rate
• How to use pauses
• Eye contact
• Body language
• Voice image
• Voice health
• Public speaking activities and games
• Blogging Aloud
• About me/contact
• Speech delivery
• 4 modes of speech delivery

4 modes of speech delivery | an overview 

Which speech delivery technique is best.

By:  Susan Dugdale  

There are 4 modes (methods) or ways to deliver a speech: to read it from a manuscript word by word, to completely memorize it, as an impromptu, and to give it extemporaneously.

How do you know which mode will be most effective?

The answer depends on how much time you have available, the type of speech you’re giving and, your audience.

Let’s briefly outline each method and their advantages and disadvantages.

What's on this page

An overview of the 4 modes of speech delivery, the pros (advantages) and cons (disadvantages) of each, plus links to examples and further resources.

• extemporaneous

1. Manuscript

One of the most common ways to deliver a speech is to use a manuscript: a word by word document of everything you plan to say from beginning to end. This ensures, when you read it out loud, what you say is exactly what you intend, without deviation.

What is the best way to write a manuscript speech?

As with any type of speech, the best way to start is not with the words but with considering your topic, your audience, how much time you have to speak and the purpose of your speech.

Once you have those clear, then you are ready to begin planning a speech outline: an overview of all the material you want to cover. 

When the outline is completed you’ll use that to write your manuscript.

Click the link for more about the process of preparing a speech outline , with examples. (The page also has a free printable blank speech outline for you to download and use)

And for more about writing a speech, in particular writing oral language, words to be spoken aloud, please see how to write a speech . You’ll find a useful guide covering the principal characteristics of spoken speech. (It is very different from writing an essay!) 

Who regularly delivers a manuscript speech?

Newsreaders, TV personalities, politicians, business leaders and the President! Anybody whose speech is going to be closely scrutinized will use either a manuscript or its electronic equivalent, a teleprompter. These are speeches where the content is significant, perhaps life changing, where facts and figures must be 100% accurate, and where the tone of the language used is important.

What distinguishes a good delivery of a manuscript speech from a poor one, is practice. Some of the greatest public speakers in the world ‘read’ their speeches with so much skill they sound as if they are making up what they’re saying on the spot. The speech comes across as being completely spontaneous and is delivered flawlessly. 

Great public speakers who 'read' their speeches

A famous example is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Winston Churchill. Throughout World War Two (1939-1945) his extraordinary speeches inspired the people he led to persevere in their fight to keep the Nazis out of England in spite of the odds being stacked against them.

To find out more read Winston Churchill's Way With Words - an excellent NPR article, with audio, on how he crafted his speeches. 

And another more recent example is America’s ex-President Barack Obama. 

American Rhetoric has audio and text (pdf) links to his speeches spanning 2002 - 2014. Four are included in a list of 49 of the most important speeches in 21st century America . These are:

• 2004 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address
• Commencement Address at Knox College (2005)
• A More Perfect Union (2008)
• Speech at the 'Together We Thrive: Tucson and America' Memorial (2011)

How to deliver a manuscript speech

Print your speech out single sided. Make sure each page is numbered clearly. Use an easily read font like Arial, black ink, and size the font and space the lines so that the text may be read at a glance.

Use a lectern  adjusted for your height  to put your manuscript on. As you finish reading each page turn it over face down and move it to your left. That will help stop you from getting muddled.

Aim for at least one read through aloud before you deliver it.

The more you can practice the better your delivery will be. 

How to read aloud well

Reading aloud well is a skill. Some people are very good at it, and some are ghastly, largely because they’ve had no practice. (And sadly, many who regularly read their speech scripts don’t realize how bad they are to listen to because nobody has told them. Their presentations have been endured, rather than enjoyed for years!)

If you have to regularly read your speeches here’s how to read a speech effectively: 4 good ways to improve how you read aloud . It will help a great deal!

The pros (advantages) for a manuscript speech

The major advantage of using a script is that it ensures the speaker will deliver the right message, the one that’s been prepared, without errors. This is particularly important when presenting complex subject matter.  

Another is that when there's not enough time to rehearse or prepare thoroughly, reading may be the only real option available. Without the safety of a script you may forget large chunks of information, or misremember important material. The script keeps you on track.

A third reason could be that the mere presence of the script is reassuring for nervous or anxious speakers. Even if they do not actually need it, because they’ve prepared well, the script is calming. If they suddenly blank out, they’ll be alright, as they have the script to refer to.

And a fourth is that you can easily back track, return to a point you made several pages earlier, if you need to.

The cons (disadvantages) of manuscript speeches

The main disadvantages of using a manuscript are:

• being anchored to one place . If you are using a full script you need to remain in front of the lectern, or teleprompter in order to read it. You can not move freely as you deliver your speech.
• lack of eye contact with your audience because you need to keep your eyes on your words. When there is very little or no eye contact between a speaker and their audience, the audience switches off because they feel ignored, shut out.  The ability to look at the audience while using notes or a teleprompter helps your audience to listen better, retain more of what they hear, and feel as if they’ve gained more value from your speech. Click the link for more about the importance of using eye contact [including 5 fun activities to teach students how to use eye contact well]
• Using language that doesn’t flow easily when you say it aloud . There are major differences between writing intended for oral language - something to be spoken aloud, and writing something that is intended to be read, like a newspaper article or an essay. For more please see how to write a speech . You’ll find an infographic on the characteristics of spoken language.   Whenever possible, always read your manuscript aloud before you deliver it. It’s much nicer to find typos, missing words, vital information omissions and other glitches (such as words you are not sure how to pronounce correctly), by yourself rather than in public. Another useful thing to do is to run your manuscript through a grammar checker . It may pick up errors you've overlooked.

2. Memorized speech

A memorized speech is one delivered completely from memory. That means: no notes at all. There is just you: the speaker, the speech you recall, word for word, and your audience.

Why choose to memorize a speech?

There are three likely reasons. 

• You want the illusion of a ‘natural’ conversation between yourself and your audience. The presence of a lectern with your manuscript on it, a teleprompter, or a set of cue cards in your hand makes that impossible.
• You want to be able to ‘play’ freely with your delivery: to be able to move, to gesture, as you see fit rather than be tethered to notes.
• You want to make completely sure the words you have written are faithfully delivered to the audience, without any changes at all. That can be vital in comedy.

What type of speech is enhanced through memorization?

A personal speech, for example one sharing childhood stories, a very carefully scripted humorous speech where you absolutely must get the words in the right order for them to work, or an inspirational one prepared especially to move and motivate a particular audience. All of these can be more effective delivered without notes.

There are also declamation speeches . These are in a special category of their own. They are memorized recitations of known speeches: a task set by teachers to have their pupil's fully experience the power of carefully crafted, well delivered oratorical language.    

What type of speeches are NOT suited to memorization?

• Any presentation or speech covering critical information that people will use to make important, and often life-altering, decisions. For instance, a detailed weather report cannot be inaccurate. The information outlining the state government’s strategy for combating poverty, declining employment rates, and climate change needs to be presented in a way the audience can easily follow and be factually correct. Missing bits out or getting them wrong creates confusion.
• Presentations which include large amounts of data : for example, a roundup of a company’s annual performance figures would be very difficult to accurately memorize, as well as being very difficult for an audience to listen to and retain.   
• Lengthy presentations - speeches running over 10 or more minutes in time.     

How to memorize a speech

If you decide to memorize your entire speech, the very first thing you’ll need is lots of time to practice. This is critical. Do not be tempted to minimize how much is required.

To safely commit it to memory you have to go over and over your speech until you can easily say it out loud without hesitation, deviation or repetition. This can take weeks of regular daily practice, particularly if you’ve not done it before. If you haven’t got that time available to you, opt for an extemporized delivery. (See the notes on extemporaneous speeches below.)

Review your speech outline

Having made the decision to memorize, the next thing you need to do is carefully review your speech outline. 

These are questions you’ll want to consider: 

• Are the major points in the right order? Do you have supporting examples for each of them? Are the transitions between each of the points clear? Is there a memorable conclusion? Does the opening or introduction work as a hook to pull the audience in?
• Does the speech have a clear purpose? Does it meet it? Has it been tailored for its intended audience? 

(Click the link for more about preparing a useful speech outline . You’ll find step by step guidelines, examples, and a free printable blank outline template to use.) 

Repeat your speech out loud, a lot!

Once you are satisfied with your outline, it’s time to begin the process of committing it to memory.

This starts with saying your speech out loud multiple times while using your outline. As you do you’ll be listening for bits you need to change in some way. Perhaps the words you’re using aren’t quite right for your audience. Maybe it doesn’t flow as well as you thought it did and you’ll want to swap pieces around. Or it’s too long and needs pruning. 

It’s a repetitive process: make a change. Try it out. If it’s good, keep it and move on to the next section. Repeat until you’ve worked through the entire speech.

An additional tip is for every significant change you make, make a new document, (eg. myspeech v1, myspeech v2, myspeech v3…) or at least track the changes. That way if you decide you want to revert to an earlier version you can. I’ve got at least 10 versions of some of the speeches I’ve written!

The next step is to begin working without the outline. 

The 'see, walk, and talk' method

The method I use is the same one I use as an actor to learn play lines. 

I call it ‘see, walk and talk’. It's a 3 part approach. Each is essential. 

The seeing part is visualization: seeing the words on the page. Seeing the order they come in, and anything else that distinguishes them from the rest. Is it a heading? Is it a number? Is it highlighted? 

The second part is walking. Walking helps a great deal and is an ancient  technique for  memorizing   now backed by science. *

If it’s fine, I walk outside and as I walk, I talk (the third part), repeating out loud  the section I'm trying to recall over and over until I get it right.

If the weather is bad, then I walk inside, around and around a room, or on a treadmill which works just as well.

*   Schmidt-Kassow M, Zink N, Mock J, et al. Treadmill walking during vocabulary encoding improves verbal long-term memory. Behav Brain Funct. 2014;10:24. Published 2014 Jul 12. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-10-24 ) 

'See, walk, talk' in action

Start with the body of your speech, the main points. Your goal is to remember each one, in their correct order.

There are three steps in this process.

• Look at your outline. If it helps highlight the main points, and number them. Take a mental photograph of it.
• Put the outline behind your back. Walk and say out loud as many of the main points you can in their correct order.
• When you find yourself struggling to recall, stop. Look at your outline. Take another mental photo. Put the outline behind your back, and start over again. Walk and talk. 

Repeat until you can run through the entire sequence of main points, and the transitions between them, without hesitation.

Add the subpoints to the main points

The next step is to add the fine points - the subpoints (additional material) and examples to your main points.

Go back to the first main point. Take a mental snapshot of the subpoints and examples. Note carefully the order they come in, and any specialist vocabulary or phrase you wanted to use.

Now walk and talk. Repeat the sequence until you have it as you want it. Then go back to the beginning and repeat the first main point, its supporting material and then the subsequent main points.

Your next part to memorize is the second main point's supporting material. Once you have that down, you go back to the beginning to run the first main point, its sub points, then the second point and its sub points.  Then you are ready to do the third main point in exactly the same way.

Add the conclusion and the beginning

Once you have completed memorizing the body of your speech, add the conclusion and the beginning.   

The pattern is simple. You add a piece, then go back and repeat it all through from the beginning. Each repetition etches it more deeply into your memory.

Please note : you are not working on delivery as you say it out loud. This is purely routine repetition. There is no need for pausing, emphasis, or changes in volume and pace. Think of it as a vanilla performance - plain.  At this stage the bulk of your energy needs to go into remembering, not expression. 

Sort out and memorize the delivery

Delivery is how you say your speech, not what you say.

Once you have the content (what you are saying) reliably remembered, you are free to work on your vocal delivery: how you are going to say it.

Which parts need to be said more slowly? Which parts need to be highlighted through strategic pausing? What can be spoken quickly? Are there bits that need to be treated as asides? Are there ‘voices’ to take on? Perhaps an angry voice? Or a wheedling, whining voice?

How you say your speech directly affects how your audience receives it. If you deliver it like a monotone robot - one speed, one tone, one pitch, one volume, people’s ears will switch off even if the content is interesting to them. Delivery can make all the difference between listening and not listening.

To be effective, your delivery needs to fit both the content and the audience’s needs.

As with memorizing the content, getting the delivery how you want it requires experimentation and then repetition to ensure you’ve got it safely embedded.

Working with a recorder is useful to actually hear what your voice is doing, rather what you think it’s doing. There’s often a very big difference. You’ll hear if you’re going too quickly, pausing too long, not pausing long enough, mispronouncing words, gabbling, or using the same inflection pattern over and over again.

Find out more about the vocal aspects of speech delivery . 

Use a mirror, a video and a test audience

It’s also useful to either work in front of a mirror or video yourself. That will show you where you need to modify your body language. Do you stand straight? Do you gesture appropriately? 

Rinse, and repeat until you feel happy with what you’re doing. And then practice in front of a select test audience, whom you know will give you honest useful feedback. Incorporate what you want from the suggestions you’re given and practice again. And now you should be ready to deliver your speech!

Pros of memorizing your speech

A memorized speech is generally more engaging. If delivered well it creates the illusion of having a conversation with your audience because you are speaking directly to them and you are able to make eye contact freely, as well as move how, and where you want. This creates a more intimate and personal connection.

Cons of memorizing your speech

There are three major disadvantages to memorizing a speech. The biggest is the risk of forgetting something, especially with a longer speech. This can lead to panic which leads to scrabbling around trying to pick up the threads to start again. That can rapidly become a downward spiral which compromises the whole presentation.

Secondly, using a memorized speech can constrain or limit the ideas you express because everything is prepared in advance. It leaves little room for spontaneity: content adjustments and additions made in response to a particular audience’s needs.

And thirdly, a memorized speech can be incredibly boring if the speaker has not worked on delivery. It has a canned quality, lacking immediacy and vitality. It sounds like a switch got flicked on and out it comes: blah, blah, blah … irrespective of the audience.

3. Impromptu

An impromptu speech is, as its name suggests, a speech made without prior planning, organization or rehearsal.

Although it may be based on a brief outline or written prompt, the speaker will often have little or no opportunity for detailed or extensive preparation.

While making an impromptu speech involves little immediate preparation it require significant amounts of prior practice to give one well.

An effective impromptu speech is structured, (beginning, middle, end), and meets the needs of those listening to it. To give a good one requires versatility and flexibility: the ability to adapt and respond easily and appropriately to the unexpected.

The speaker needs to understand how to quickly choose the best format, how to decide on the main points to cover, how to order them, and how to open and close the speech.

And lastly, impromptu speaking requires confidence, and trust in oneself.  

When should an impromptu speech be delivered?

There are many social or work settings where making an impromptu speech is expected, and if done well, very much appreciated.

At a family get together the person who is asked to say a few words to welcome everyone, or make the toast is giving an impromptu speech. At a meeting to discuss current work issues, a sales manager may be asked to outline areas of challenge without prior warning. The response they give is an impromptu speech.

The ability to summon up succinct, structured remarks is highly valued in all areas of life. 

How do you prepare for an impromptu speech?

The essential preparation for impromptu speaking begins out of the spotlight, long before being asked to speak.

For comprehensive step by step guidelines covering how to gain the necessary skills please see:  strategies and templates to succeed at impromptu speaking .

You’ll find tips to get you started, 7 different structural templates to use, suggestions for keeping any nervousness under control, and links to 100s of impromptu speaking topics to use for practice.

Pros of impromptu speeches

The advantages definitely outweigh any disadvantages. 

Although some people have a natural gift for being able to talk freely and spontaneously, it can be learned. It’s a skill, like riding a bike. (But better!) When you’re beginning you fall off a few times, and graze your knees. If you get back on and keep pedaling eventually you stay upright.

Get better at impromptu speaking and you’ll find it will open many doors, leading to a richer and fuller life.  

Don’t settle for silence when you can learn to speak up for yourself, and others.

If you're reluctant to attempt it and put yourself out there, please read this article:  Speaking in business may be your most important skill .

The cons of impromptu speaking

In some contexts and on some subjects it would be unwise to attempt delivering an impromptu speech.

For instance, when asked for an evaluation of business risks associated with Covid-19, or to comment on possible correlations between socio-economic status and educational achievement in the USA, speaking without consulting a broad cross-section of informed specialists would be ill-advised. 

Each situation needs careful consideration. Are you able to talk knowledgeably on the topic you’ve been given? Are you entitled to talk about it?

If you can not speak on the subject being asked of you, say so politely. You can offer to come back with a full response at a later date. Or you can hand the question on to someone who can answer it. Knowing your limits is very useful for maintaining credibility!

Another possible downside is succumbing to fear. It could be fear of finding yourself with nothing to say, of drying up under pressure, or of muddling material in some way. The only really useful antidote to nervousness/fear is practice. Lots, and lots of it. It does get better! 

4. Extemporaneous speaking

An extemporaneous speech is one where the speaker combines the use of notes or cue cards with improvisation. It’s a mix of carefully scripted and sequenced material and impromptu speaking.  

How do you deliver an extemporaneous speech?

An extemporaneous delivery is naturally flowing and conversational. The points to be made will have been carefully outlined. They will be in the correct order, along with their supporting ideas and examples but the exact wording is made up as you go along.

If you give the same speech to different audiences, the words you use may change because every audience responds differently. The result is a speech that is fresh each time it is delivered, because while you are speaking, you are in the moment, speaking off-the-cuff and from the heart. The text is neither memorized, or being read word for word.

Like the first three modes of delivery, this too needs practice, in order to become good at it. 

You’ll need to practice:

• speaking to time to avoid either going on too long or being too brief
• making effective transitions - finding the bridging words to link one main point to the next, or to link one segment of your speech to the following one. For instance the introduction to the body of the speech,  or the body of the speech to the conclusion.
• openings and conclusions.

For more information here's a very useful 'how to' article from The Dept. of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh on oral discourse and extemporaneous delivery .  

The advantages of extemporaneous speeches

An extemporaneous speech is more spontaneous and therefore natural compared to either a manuscript or memorized speech.  The speaker is free to tailor the presentation to the audience, rather than sticking to a set speech. That could include responding to any questions or objections he receives. 

Disadvantages of extemporaneous speeches

There are three main drawbacks to extemporaneous speaking.

The first is becoming stranded; tongue tied and silent because you don't know how to get from one point on your outline or cue cards to the next.  When that happens, the delivery becomes stilted, a stop-start presentation, which in turn can make the speaker feel anxious, which makes recovering the flow more difficult.

A second drawback is misreading the audience, and delivering the speech using either language, (word choices), or humor they find hard to understand or accept.

As an example, a speech littered with ‘corporate speak’ is not going to win me over. I don’t want to hear about ‘core competencies’, ‘going forwards’ , ‘ducks in a row’ or anything ‘scalable’ at all!

And a third is exceeding the time allowance you’d been given. Because you are fleshing it out from your cue cards or outline as you go along it is easy to lose track of time. The cumulative effect of an additional example or two and further comments, quickly soaks it up, leaving you scrambling to finish properly.  

If you are a first time presenter, probably the safer option is to learn how to read a manuscript speech well and gradually build the skills required to give an extemporaneous speech.

speaking out loud 

Subscribe for  FREE weekly alerts about what's new For more see  speaking out loud  

Top 10 popular pages

• Welcome speech
• Demonstration speech topics
• Impromptu speech topic cards
• Thank you quotes
• Impromptu public speaking topics
• Farewell speeches
• Phrases for welcome speeches
• Student council speeches
• Free sample eulogies

From fear to fun in 28 ways

A complete one stop resource to scuttle fear in the best of all possible ways - with laughter.

Useful pages

• Search this site
• About me & Contact
• Free e-course
• Privacy policy

©Copyright 2006-24 www.write-out-loud.com

Designed and built by Clickstream Designs

Module 9: Beyond the Research Paper

Delivering the presentation, learning objectives.

Explain the elements of effective presentation delivery

Methods of Presenting

There are four basic methods for delivering a speech or presentation: manuscript, memorized, impromptu, and extemporaneous. Depending on the task or assignment, you may or may not have a choice of which method to use; even if the method is stipulated, it’s useful to think about the pros and cons of presenting this way.

A manuscript speech is when the presenter writes down every word they will speak during the presentation.

Speaking from a manuscript

The advantage of using a manuscript is that you have access to every word you’ve prepared in advance. There is no guesswork or memorization needed. This method comforts some speakers’ nerves as they don’t have to worry about that moment where they might freeze and forget what they’ve planned to say. When the exact wording of an idea is crucial, speakers often read from a manuscript, for instance in communicating public statements from a company.

However, the disadvantage with a manuscript is that the speakers have MANY words in front of them on the page. This prohibits one of the most important aspects of delivery, eye contact. When many words are on the page, the speakers will find themselves looking down at those words more frequently because they will need the help. If they do look up at the audience, they often cannot find their place when the eye returns to the page. Above all, the speakers should remember to rehearse with the script so that they practice looking up often.

Wedding toasts are often memorized

A memorized presentation is also fully prepared in advance and one in which the speaker does not use any notes. In the case of an occasion speech like a quick toast, a brief dedication, or a short eulogy, word-for-word memorization might make sense. Usually, though, it doesn’t involve committing each and every word to memory, Memorizing a speech isn’t like memorizing a poem where you need to remember every word exactly as written. Don’t memorize a manuscript! Work with your outline instead. Practice with the outline until you can recall the content and order of your main points without effort. Then it’s just a matter of practicing until you’re able to elaborate on your key points in a natural and seamless manner. Ideally, a memorized speech will sound like an off-the-cuff statement by someone who is a really eloquent speaker and an exceptionally organized thinker!

The advantage of a memorized presentation is that the speaker can fully face their audience and make lots of eye contact. The problem with a memorized speech is that speakers may get nervous and forget the parts they’ve memorized. Without any notes to lean on, the speaker may hesitate and leave lots of dead air in the room while trying to recall what was planned. Sometimes, the speaker can’t remember or find his or her place in the speech and are forced to go get the notes or go back to the PowerPoint in some capacity to try to trigger his or her memory. This can be an embarrassing and uncomfortable moment for the speaker and the audience, and is a moment which could be easily avoided by using a different speaking method.

When you speak up in class or in a meeting, it’s usually an impromptu speech.

An impromptu speech is one for which there is little to no preparation. There is often not a warning even that the person may be asked to speak. For example, your boss may ask you to deliver a presentation on a new initiative you’ve been working on. You may or may not be given a few minutes to organize your thoughts. What should you do? DO NOT PANIC. Even under pressure, you can create a basic speech that follows the formula of an introduction, body, and conclusion. If you have a few minutes, jot down some notes that fit into each part of the speech. (In fact, the phrase “speaking off the cuff,” which means speaking without preparation, probably refers to the idea that one would jot a few notes on one’s shirt cuff before speaking impromptu.) [1] While an impromptu speech can be challenging, the advantage is that it can also be thrilling as the speaker thinks off the cuff and says what they’re most passionate about in the moment. A speaker should not be afraid to use notes during an impromptu speech if they were given any time to organize their thoughts. The disadvantage is that there is no time for preparation, so finding research to support claims such as quotes or facts cannot be included. The lack of preparation makes some speakers more nervous and they may struggle to engage the audience due to their nerves.

Extemporaneous

Extemporaneous speaking uses notes to help keep the speaker on track.

The last method of delivery we’ll look at is extemporaneous . When speaking extemporaneously, speakers prepare some notes in advance that help trigger their memory of what they planned to say. These notes are not full sentences, but help the speakers, who turn them into a full sentence when spoken aloud. Note that if a quote is being used, listing that quote verbatim is fine.

The advantage of extemporaneous speaking is that you are able to speak in a more conversational tone by letting your notes guide you, but not dictate every word you say. This method allows you to make more eye contact with the audience. The shorter note forms also prevents you from getting lost in your words. The disadvantage of extemporaneous delivery is that you may forget what you were planning to say in connection to a given note, or lose track of your place in teh overall presentation. This problem can be avoided through rehearsal and double-checking the note order before speaking.

Many speakers consider the extemporaneous method to be the ideal speaking method because it allows them to be prepared, keeps the audience engaged, and encourages a more natural style of delivery. In academic classes, many presentations will probably be delivered extemporaneously.

Rehearsing Your Presentation

The most important element in delivering your presentation as eloquently as possible is practice. The more you rehearse, the smoother your delivery will be and the more you’ll be able to deal with unexpected interruptions or challenges. Ideally, you’ll find time to rehearse in conditions as close to the actual presentation as possible: using the same equipment and even the same space.

As you rehearse, here are some elements of speech delivery to focus on:

• Breath : Strong, sustained speaking begins with breath. Try to breath from the diaphragm, not from your shoulders.
• Articulation : Pronouncing the words so that your audience can follow the nuances of your argument.
• Pitch : Varying your pitch to avoid sounding monotonous.
• Rate : Speaking at the right rate for comprehension; not too fast and not too slow.
• Emphasis : Using emphasis to call attention to key points.
• Volume : Controlling your volume to add variety and call your listeners’ attention to the most important moments in the speech.
• Pauses : Never underestimate the power of the pause. It focuses the audience’s attention and creates anticipation. Not to mention, pauses give you time to think about what you’re going to say.
• Nonverbal aspects of delivery : Controlled body language and gestures help to reinforce your points and help the audience interpret the impact of your words.

Remember: More practice means less nervousness! Building in time to rehearse productively will make the speech far more effective and far less painful.

• As per the Oxford English Dictionary's entry for "Off the Cuff." See an extensive discussion at Mark Liberman's Language Log here: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4130 ↵
• Speaking from Manuscript. Authored by : Laszlo Tuske. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/MrMLBN . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Toast. Authored by : Rona Proudfoot. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/6V5W9L . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Notes. Authored by : Travis Wise. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/rrfva1 . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Town hall. Authored by : Spc. Pollhein, Benjaman and Spc. Adams, Jordan, Pfc. Min, Min Kwon. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/EDN4Ys . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Delivering the presentation. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

• My Account My Account
• Cards Cards
• Banking Banking
• Travel Travel
• Rewards & Benefits Rewards & Benefits
• Business Business

Advertisement

Related Content

9 easy ways to remember your presentation material.

Published: June 30, 2023

Updated: July 05, 2024

Overcome your anxiety with these methods that help teach you how to memorize a presentation and remember your slides before you get to them.

A common reason we experience presentation anxiety is the fear that we will forget what we have to say and risk losing credibility. A method many use to address this fear is to create presentation slides as a memory aid. However, this can be short-sighted because nothing erodes your credibility as a speaker faster than signaling to the audience that you depend on your slides.

Seasoned presenters are able to announce a slide before showing it. At a minimum, they know their material so well that they only need to briefly glance at the slide to know what's coming next. You can achieve this by doing simple memory-boosting practices to remember your presentation material and, in turn, reduce your anxiety.

Here are nine tips for memorizing a speech or presentation:

1. Use the Palace Method

Among the most effective tips for memorizing lines is The Palace Method or Mind Palace. The Palace Method is based on research into brain science that has proven a very deep connection between how we remember an event and the space in which it occurred. The brain system important for memory is lso important for space; in other words, we remember things based on spatial locations or "spatial scaffolds."

In a nutshell, The Palace Method is a memory technique that involves transforming what you want to remember into images and placing the images in a familiar mental location. In other words, you're giving your memories something to hang on to, a spatial anchor. You can then mentally tour your Memory Palace looking at your memories through these spatial anchors to help you recall each memory.

Seasoned presenters are able to announce a slide before showing it. At a minimum, they know their material so well that they only need to briefly glance at the slide to know what's coming next. 

Have you ever wondered how do you memorize a last-minute presentation? The Memory Palace Method is an ancient memory technique for how to memorize a presentation, and it's worth knowing. 

For further reading, you might consider Joshua Foer's book, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything (or watch Foer's popular video,  To Remember Better, Build a Mansion in Your Mind, which illustrates a specific memory-building technique.) 

So, How do You Create Your Own Memory Palace?

• First, create a mental image for every item you want to remember. You will mentally place these images in a location you're familiar with, possibly the place where you grew up or your current residence. 
• Next, visualize arriving at that location and placing, on the front door, the mental image you created of the first item you want to remember. 
• Next, step inside the house and turn to your left. What's the first thing you see? For this example, let's pretend it's a fireplace. Now mentally place by the fireplace the image you created of the second item you want to remember.
• Continue your mental tour, seeing the other things in the room. Place each image you created for what you want to remember on different things in the room. Do this for the entire list of items you want to memorize. You may move from one room to the other until you have exhausted all the items on your list that you need to remember. 
• Rehearse walking through the route as many times as you can. This will aid in familiarizing yourself with your mental palace and help you recall the memorized information faster during the actual presentation.

You might need more than one memory palace, depending on what you're trying to remember.

2. Use Mind Maps

A mindmap is a diagram that allows you to lay out all of your presentation material in a visual shape rather than in list form. A mindmap can be a powerful memory aid as the visual shape or image is imprinted on your brain, making it easier to recall the information than a linear list of items. 

Drawing a mindmap is also an effective way to memorize a last-minute presentation. Try practicing your presentation from a mindmap rather than traditional notes and see what happens.

So, How do You Create a Mindmap?

Here are the basic steps to build a mindmap:

First step : Write down your main topic. For example, your main topic could be the importance of pausing when delivering a presentation.

Second step : Once you've established your main topic for the mindmap, add branches listing the topics you want to remember. In the case of this example, you would have a branch titled: "When it's important to pause." (You can simply write "When?")

Under this branch, you would insert subtopic branches listing the various reasons for pausing. Subtopics for our example might include:

• Pause before displaying a complex visual.
• Pause between different topics.
• Pause before and after explaining a critical or complex concept.

Short phrases and even keywords should suffice to jog your memory when rehearsing from your mindmap. For example, instead of "Pause before displaying a complex visual," you only need to write "complex visual." 

Third step:  Explore another topic by adding another branch to the main topic in your mindmap, such as "The benefits of pausing."    (You can simply write "Why?") To continue with this example, your sub-topics branches would include: 

• To appear unrushed and confident.
• To replace filler words.
• To engage the audience.

You can draw images and use different colors to help you visualize and recall information more quickly than words. You can draw a mindmap manually or purchase mind-mapping software such as  Matchware,   MindGenius ,  Scapple  or  Xmind , to name a few.

3. Know the Value of Focusing for Eight Seconds

Memory experts tell us that it takes an uninterrupted eight seconds for a piece of information to be processed through the hippocampus and into memory – this is how information is encoded in our brain.

Examine how you go about preparing for a presentation. Are you concentrating fully on the task of transferring the information from your notes into memory? Or are you in the habit of interrupting yourself by checking e-mail, reacting to each social media notification, or answering the phone? Remember the crucial eight seconds rule and carve out dedicated time when you can be laser-focused on rehearing the information without any interruptions. This will prevent you from overthinking your material and considerably shorten your preparation time.

4. Practice the 20-20-20 Rule of Rehearsal

How long should you be rehearsing your presentation? Memory experts recommend the 20-20-20 rule, which prescribes going over the details of a presentation for 20 minutes, then repeating the same material twice more. If material is not repeated within 30 minutes, it is not encoded into long-term memory.

This method can help you from overthinking and spending too much time memorizing your material.

5. Rehearse Out Loud

Rehearse your entire presentation out loud at least five to six times. Do this and watch your confidence in the material grow as you not only boost your memory of the material but also end up turning the presentation from a mere recital of facts to something that you have truly internalized—it changes the presentation from a thespian activity to a message that you deliver from the inside out.

What's more, rehearsing out loud can help you practice your pre-planned pauses to avoid  speaking too fast  when you deliver your presentation.

6. Practice to Music

When you explore tips for memorizing your presentation, don't forget music. Music is an effective tool to help us retain information. Dr. Georgi Lozanov, a psychologist, developed a methodology for teaching foreign languages which involved using baroque music with about 60 beats per minute. This type of music activates the left and right brain; the simultaneous action of both hemispheres maximizes the retention of information.

Students learned in a fraction of the usual time and had an average of 92 percent retention. The same applies to retaining your presentation material. Consider listening to music while rehearsing your presentation to help you absorb and retain large amounts of information.

7. Record Your Presentation

A simple, yet surprisingly not widely-known, feature is the record narration function. This allows you to record yourself delivering your presentation and then replaying it. Hearing yourself narrating your presentation from slide to slide will boost your ability to remember your material, as you now use a visual and auditory memory aid. This is a highly effective way to memorize a presentation or a speech.

8. Rehearse Before Bedtime

Neuroscientists uncovered a link between sleep and learning and memory. The findings showed that sleep enhances the consolidation of recently-acquired information in our memory system. Therefore, if you rehearse your presentation just before bedtime, you are more likely to remember the material more easily in the morning. Try doing this for your next presentation.

What's more, a quick run-through of the material before bedtime can help you calm your mind and get a good night's sleep. Consider doing a "brain dump" before bedtime by jotting down thoughts circling in your mind of any last-minute arrangements you must make the following day so they don't run through your head while you try to sleep. 

9. Improve Your Working Memory

Let's start by defining what working memory is. Working memory, also referred to as our "mental chalkboard," is a system in our brain that allows us to temporarily retain small amounts of information, such as  remembering  a phone number, a grocery list or a set of directions. It's our capacity to retain and control information for brief periods.

Working memory is for things that matter to you now but won't matter in 20 years. Long-term memory, in contrast, refers to all the information stored in our brains throughout our life.

Improving our working memory can help control our ability to pay attention and remember things.

• You might consider using some memorization apps, such as Cogmed, Mindsparke or Elevate, to name a few.
• Rehearsal of information can also help. According to researchers, if information is practiced enough,  it can become more permanent.
• Dividing big chunks of information into manageable bite-size pieces and rehearsing these small chunks will also help you remember your material. Concentrate and rehearse one or two of the small chunks before moving on to the next pieces of the presentation. 

What if You Forget Your Presentation?

Keep in mind that only  you  know the ideas you want to present. You are not delivering an opera where the audience has a libretto to follow your script.

If you forget something, move on, and the audience will likely not notice. If you remember something later, say: "There is one other item I would like to add," or "Let me digress for a moment to mention another point."

Stay sharp by using some of these memory improvement techniques.

Preparing for a Presentation Should be Quick and Effective With these 9 Tips

• Use the memory palace method to encode the information in your long-term memory for easy retrieval.
• Draw a mind map to outline all your presentation material and rehearse from the mind map.
• Practice deep focusing and rehearse your information without interruptions.
• Use the rehearsal rule of 20-20-20 to shorten your practice time.
• Practice your presentation material aloud.
• Create a low-stress environment and listen to music while rehearsing.
• Record your presentation and watch a replay several times. 
• Rehearse before going to bed and write down a checklist of what's on your mind as a brain dump to relax your mind and get a good night's sleep.
• Improve your working memory by using memorization apps and breaking your rehearsal material into bite-size, manageable chunks. 

A version of this article was originally published on April 11, 2012. 

Photo: Getty Images

Trending Content

How to Start a Presentation: 5 Templates and 90 Example Phrases

Starting a presentation effectively means capturing your audience’s attention from the very beginning. It’s important because it sets the tone for the entire presentation and establishes your credibility as a speaker.

Effective Openers: 5 Templates

Your presentation’s beginning sets the stage for everything that follows. So, it’s important to capture your audience’s attention right from the start. Here are some tried-and-true techniques to do just that.

1. Storytelling Approach

When you start with a story, you tap into the natural human love for narratives. It can be a personal experience, a historical event, or a fictional tale that ties back to your main point.

Example Introduction Template 1:

“Let me tell you a story about…”

Example : “Let me tell you a story about how a small idea in a garage blossomed into the global brand we know today.”

2. Quotation Strategy

Using a relevant quote can lend authority and thematic flavor to your presentation. Choose a quote that is provocative, enlightening, or humorous to resonate with your audience.

Example Introduction Template 2:

“As [Famous Person] once said…”

Example : “As Steve Jobs once said, ‘Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.'”

3. Questioning Technique

Engage your audience directly by opening with a thoughtful question. This encourages them to think and become active participants.

Example Introduction Template 3:

“Have you ever wondered…”

Example : “Have you ever wondered what it would take to reduce your carbon footprint to zero?”

4. Statistical Hook

Kick off with a startling statistic that presents a fresh perspective or underscores the importance of your topic.

Example Introduction Template 4:

“Did you know that…”

Example : “Did you know that 90% of the world’s data was generated in the last two years alone?”

5. Anecdotal Method

Share a brief, relatable incident that highlights the human aspect of your topic. It paves the way for empathy and connection.

Example Introduction Template 5:

“I want to share a quick anecdote…”

Example : “I want to share a quick anecdote about a time I experienced the customer service that went above and beyond what anyone would expect.”

How to Start a Powerpoint Presentation: 45 Example Phrases

Starting a PowerPoint presentation effectively can captivate your audience and set the tone for your message. The opening phrases you choose are important in establishing rapport and commanding attention. Whether you’re presenting to colleagues, at a conference, or in an academic setting, these phrases will help you begin with confidence and poise:

• 1. “Good morning/afternoon/evening, everyone. Thank you for joining me today.”
• 2. “Welcome, and thank you for being here. Let’s dive into our topic.”
• 3. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to present to you all about…”
• 4. “Thank you all for coming. Today, we’re going to explore…”
• 5. “Let’s begin by looking at the most important question: Why are we here today?”
• 6. “I appreciate your time today, and I promise it will be well spent as we discuss…”
• 7. “Before we get started, I want to express my gratitude for your presence here today.”
• 8. “It’s a pleasure to see so many familiar faces as we gather to talk about…”
• 9. “I’m thrilled to kick off today’s presentation on a topic that I am passionate about—…”
• 10. “Welcome to our session. I’m confident you’ll find the next few minutes informative as we cover…”
• 11. “Let’s embark on a journey through our discussion on…”
• 12. “I’m delighted to have the chance to share my insights on…”
• 13. “Thank you for the opportunity to present to such an esteemed audience on…”
• 14. “Let’s set the stage for an engaging discussion about…”
• 15. “As we begin, I’d like you to consider this:…”
• 16. “Today marks an important discussion on a subject that affects us all:…”
• 17. “Good day, and welcome to what promises to be an enlightening presentation on…”
• 18. “Hello and welcome! We’re here to delve into something truly exciting today…”
• 19. “I’m honored to present to you this comprehensive look into…”
• 20. “Without further ado, let’s get started on a journey through…”
• 21. “Thank you for carving time out of your day to join me for this presentation on…”
• 22. “It’s wonderful to see such an engaged audience ready to tackle the topic of…”
• 23. “I invite you to join me as we unpack the complexities of…”
• 24. “Today’s presentation will take us through some groundbreaking ideas about…”
• 25. “Welcome aboard! Prepare to set sail into the vast sea of knowledge on…”
• 26. “I’d like to extend a warm welcome to everyone as we focus our attention on…”
• 27. “Let’s ignite our curiosity as we begin to explore…”
• 28. “Thank you for your interest and attention as we dive into the heart of…”
• 29. “As we look ahead to the next hour, we’ll uncover the secrets of…”
• 30. “I’m eager to share with you some fascinating insights on…”
• 31. “Welcome to what I believe will be a transformative discussion on…”
• 32. “This morning/afternoon, we’ll be venturing into the world of…”
• 33. “Thank you for joining me on this exploration of…”
• 34. “I’m delighted by the turnout today as we embark on this exploration of…”
• 35. “Together, let’s navigate the intricacies of…”
• 36. “I’m looking forward to engaging with you all on the subject of…”
• 37. “Let’s kick things off with a critical look at…”
• 38. “Thank you for your presence today as we shine a light on…”
• 39. “Welcome to a comprehensive overview of…”
• 40. “It’s a privilege to discuss with you the impact of…”
• 41. “I’m glad you could join us for what promises to be a thought-provoking presentation on…”
• 42. “Today, we’re going to break down the concept of…”
• 43. “As we get started, let’s consider the significance of our topic:…”
• 44. “I’m thrilled to lead you through today’s discussion, which centers around…”
• 45. “Let’s launch into our session with an eye-opening look at…”

Starting a Presentation: 45 Examples

Connecting with the audience.

When starting a presentation, making a genuine connection with your audience sets the stage for a successful exchange of ideas. Examples:

• “I promise, by the end of this presentation, you’ll be as enthusiastic about this as I am because…”
• “The moment I learned about this, I knew it would be a game-changer and I’m thrilled to present it to you…”
• “There’s something special about this topic that I find incredibly invigorating, and I hope you will too…”
• “I get a rush every time I work on this, and I hope to transmit that energy to you today…”
• “I’m thrilled to discuss this breakthrough that could revolutionize…”
• “This project has been a labor of love, and I’m eager to walk you through…”
• “When I first encountered this challenge, I was captivated by the possibilities it presented…”
• “I can’t wait to dive into the details of this innovative approach with you today…”
• “It’s genuinely exhilarating to be at the edge of what’s possible in…”
• “My fascination with [topic] drove me to explore it further, and I’m excited to share…”
• “Nothing excites me more than talking about the future of…”
• “Seeing your faces, I know we’re going to have a lively discussion about…”
• “The potential here is incredible, and I’m looking forward to discussing it with you…”
• “Let’s embark on this journey together and explore why this is such a pivotal moment for…”
• “Your engagement in this discussion is going to make this even more exciting because…”

Building Credibility

You present with credibility when you establish your expertise and experience on the subject matter. Here’s what you can say to accomplish that:

• “With a decade of experience in this field, I’ve come to understand the intricacies of…”
• “Having led multiple successful projects, I’m excited to share my insights on…”
• “Over the years, working closely with industry experts, I’ve gleaned…”
• “I hold a degree in [your field], which has equipped me with a foundation for…”
• “I’m a certified professional in [your certification], which means I bring a certain level of expertise…”
• “Having published research on this topic, my perspective is grounded in…”
• “I’ve been a keynote speaker at several conferences, discussing…”
• “Throughout my career, I’ve contributed to groundbreaking work in…”
• “My experience as a [your previous role] has given me a unique outlook on…”
• “Endorsed by [an authority in your field], I’m here to share what we’ve achieved…”
• “The program I developed was recognized by [award], highlighting its impact in…”
• “I’ve trained professionals nationwide on this subject and witnessed…”
• “Collaborating with renowned teams, we’ve tackled challenges like…”
• “I’ve been at the forefront of this industry, navigating through…”
• “As a panelist, I’ve debated this topic with some of the brightest minds in…”

Projecting Confidence

• “I stand before you today with a deep understanding of…”
• “You can rely on the information I’m about to share, backed by thorough research and analysis…”
• “Rest assured, the strategies we’ll discuss have been tested and proven effective in…”
• “I’m certain you’ll find the data I’ll present both compelling and relevant because…”
• “I’m fully confident in the recommendations I’m providing today due to…”
• “The results speak for themselves, and I’m here to outline them clearly for you…”
• “I invite you to consider the evidence I’ll present; it’s both robust and persuasive…”
• “You’re in good hands today; I’ve navigated these waters many times and have the insights to prove it…”
• “I assure you, the journey we’ll take during this presentation will be enlightening because…”
• “Your success is important to me, which is why I’ve prepared diligently for our time together…”
• “Let’s look at the facts; they’ll show you why this approach is solid and dependable…”
• “Today, I present to you a clear path forward, grounded in solid experience and knowledge…”
• “I’m confident that what we’ll uncover today will not only inform but also inspire you because…”
• “You’ll leave here equipped with practical, proven solutions that you can trust because…”
• “The solution I’m proposing has been embraced industry-wide, and for good reason…”

Organizational Preview

Starting your presentation with a clear organizational preview can effectively guide your audience through the content. This section helps you prepare to communicate the roadmap of your presentation.

Outlining the Main Points

You should begin by briefly listing the main points you’ll cover. This lets your audience know what to expect and helps them follow along. For example, if you’re presenting on healthy eating, you might say, “Today, I’ll cover the benefits of healthy eating, essential nutrients in your diet, and simple strategies for making healthier choices.”

Setting the Tone

Your introduction sets the tone for the entire presentation. A way to do this is through a relevant story or anecdote that engages the audience. Suppose you’re talking about innovation; you might start with, “When I was a child, I was fascinated by how simple Legos could build complex structures, which is much like the innovation process.”

Explaining the Structure

Explain the structure of your presentation so that your audience can anticipate how you’ll transition from one section to the next. For instance, if your presentation includes an interactive portion, you might say, “I’ll begin with a 15-minute overview, followed by a hands-on demonstration, and we’ll wrap up with a Q&A session, where you can ask any questions.”

Practice and Preparation

Before you step onto the stage, it’s important that your preparation includes not just content research, but also rigorous practice and strategy for dealing with nerves. This approach ensures you present with confidence and clarity.

Rehearsing the Opening

Practicing your introduction aloud gives you the opportunity to refine your opening remarks. You might start by greeting the audience and sharing an interesting quote or a surprising statistic related to your topic. For example, if your presentation is about the importance of renewable energy, you could begin with a recent statistic about the growth in solar energy adoption. Record yourself and listen to the playback, focusing on your tone, pace, and clarity.

Memorizing Key Points

While you don’t need to memorize your entire presentation word for word, you should know the key points by heart. This includes main arguments, data, and any conclusions you’ll be drawing. You can use techniques such as mnemonics or the method of loci, which means associating each key point with a specific location in your mind, to help remember these details. Having them at your fingertips will make you feel more prepared and confident.

Managing Presentation Jitters

Feeling nervous before a presentation is natural, but you can manage these jitters with a few techniques. Practice deep breathing exercises or mindful meditation to calm your mind before going on stage. You can also perform a mock presentation to a group of friends or colleagues to simulate the experience and receive feedback. This will not only help you get used to speaking in front of others but also in adjusting your material based on their reactions.

Engagement Strategies

Starting a presentation on the right foot often depends on how engaged your audience is. Using certain strategies, you can grab their attention early and maintain their interest throughout your talk:

1. Encouraging Audience Participation

Opening your presentation with a question to your audience is a great way to encourage participation. This invites them to think actively about the subject matter. For instance, you might ask, “By a show of hands, how many of you have experienced…?” Additionally, integrating interactive elements like quick polls or requesting volunteers for a demonstration can make the experience more dynamic and memorable.

Using direct questions throughout your presentation ensures the audience stays alert, as they might be called upon to share their views. For example, after covering a key point, you might engage your audience with, “Does anyone have an experience to share related to this?”

2. Utilizing Pacing and Pauses

Mastering the pace of your speech helps keep your presentation lively. Quickening the pace when discussing exciting developments or slowing down when explaining complex ideas can help maintain interest. For example, when introducing a new concept, slow your pace to allow the audience to absorb the information.

Pauses are equally powerful. A well-timed pause after a key point gives the audience a moment to ponder the significance of what you’ve just said. It might feel like this: “The results of this study were groundbreaking. (pause) They completely shifted our understanding of…”. Pauses also give you a moment to collect your thoughts, adding to your overall composure and control of the room.

How should one introduce their group during a presentation?

You might say something like, “Let me introduce my amazing team: Alex, our researcher, Jamie, our designer, and Sam, the developer. Together, we’ve spent the last few months creating something truly special for you.”

• Job Knowledge Performance Review Phrases (Examples)
• 40th Birthday Sayings and Wishes: Heartfelt Sample Phrases
• 70 Example Phrases: Key Marketing Skills for Your Resume
• 8 Templates: A Perfect Letter of Recommendation
• 100 Performance Review Phrases for Job Knowledge, Judgment, Listening Skills
• Cover Letter vs. Letter of Interest vs. Letter of Intent