Should you memorize your speech word-for-word? As Julian’s case will show you, it has some dangers. Inspired by the Spanish film week’s opening movie: El cu4rto pasajero (Four’s a Crowd).
In the movie, Julian plans to profess his love to Lorena. He writes his speech to the tiniest details and tries to memorize it word-for-word. When his time comes, it plays out somehow like this:
👨 When I first saw you waiting for me with your striped suitcase…
👩 My suitcase didn’t have stripes.
👨 What do you mean it didn’t have stripes?
…
And from this point, the speech gets derailed, and the plan goes out the window. This is what memorizing word-for-word might do to you.
The dangers of memorizing a speech word-by-word:
⚡ If you make a mistake or something doesn’t go according to plan, it might be hard to get back on track.
⚡ It is hard to deliver the speech naturally. It often happens that you’ll be too focused on the text. You won’t be fully present, and you won’t seem natural.
⚡ Knowing that you should say the same words you planned might cause more stress.
The advantages of learning a speech word-for-word:
✔️ It helps you to articulate your message accurately. Sometimes, this is crucial.
✔️ It helps you to stay within your allocated time.
✔️ For some people, having a word-for-word text is less stressful.
Memorizing a speech word-for-word might work for:
✔️ Speech competitions
✔️ Political speeches
✔️ Pitches
✔️ People who prefer this method and are good at it
Would I memorize a speech word-for-word?
For business presentations, I wouldn’t. Ideally, you talk about your field of expertise, so it should be enough to remember the topics you want to talk about and then talk about them freely. The opening and closing of a speech may be an exception. For maximum impact, it might make sense to memorize those parts.
Other possible exceptions:
✔️ People who have trouble keeping time
✔️ People who enjoy and are good at memorizing word-for-word
I used to memorize many of my competition speeches word-for-word. In a competition, every word matters, and timing is crucial. However, after some time, I became more flexible about the text. For example, I would change a few words on the spot to react to something happening in the room. But speech competitions are very different from business presentations.
Should you memorize your speech word-for-word?
There is no right or wrong answer. While I think in most cases you shouldn’t, there might always be situations where it can be the right approach.
Try both, know how they feel, and once you do, decide consciously.
Do you memorize your speeches word-for-word? In either case, if you want to work with me on your public speaking skills, you can get in touch here.