Preparing Notes for a Speech

00:00 Should I read my speech to make sure I don't make any mistakes? Well, if you ask any presentation coach, this is probably the question we get that drives us bonkers the most.

00:17 It's virtually impossible to read a speech without, by definition, making a mistake.

00:23 You've destroyed all eye contact with the audience.

00:27 You become boring, bland, most likely monotone.

00:31 Now it is true.

00:33 There are some people good at reading the speech.

00:35 Ronald Reagan was good at reading his speech.

00:37 I've seen Dan Rather read his speech.

00:39 Well, but guess what? He was reading teleprompter copy and reading scripts every day for 60 years.

00:45 If you're reading scripts every day for 60 years, yeah, you'll probably get good at it.

00:49 But for most people, business people, people in public life, political life, it's really not a good idea to read a speech because it instantly handcuffs you, destroys your eye contact, robs you of natural rhythm in your voice.

01:09 Makes you sound phony, contrived, and it just evens out the tones, the volumes, the speed, the pitch.

01:16 It makes things too consistent, and that's boring.

01:20 So you may think it's safe to read because that way you won't forget something. But if you destroy people's ability to pay attention because they've fallen asleep, it's actually not safe at all.

01:32 Reading a speech, in my view, is actually the riskiest thing you could ever do.

01:38 If your goal is to actually communicate.