Reply #45: Getting better, Will

[John_H]

a trick tought to me by one of the best speechwriters in DC

1)for your last draft, record yourself giving the speech without the text in front of you. Then play back the recording as you read your prepared draft. You'll likely find your "off the cuff" recorded version is more engaging and concise in many places. Change the written draft to match the recorded draft where you see fit.

2) break up the speech into blocks--each idea gets a block, whether it's one sentence or ten.

3)bold and increase the font size of the first four words in each section. You'll find yourself looking down less and less--your "auto-brain" remembers everything you wrote and the bold helps trigger it.
Some experinced speakers i know just write the four words on notecards without the rest of the text and deliver the speeches almost exactly as written.