How do you prepare for a major talk?
All styles of prep have both benefits and drawbacks.
During September, I enjoyed the privilege of coaching more than fifty individual speakers for four different events. As I reflected on the success of each event and each individual speaker, I realized that I could probably categorize these speakers on a spectrum of different preparation styles. While we each of us has a prep style that’s more natural or comfortable for us, there are huge benefits in recognizing the other styles available to us and when it makes sense to prepare in a less familiar way.
I placed these six archetypes on the continuum above, from fully scripted on the far left to completely original each time on the far right. Certainly, combinations exist within these broad generalizations, and other categories possibly also exist. But I can easily think of several speakers who fall squarely in each of the above styles. With that construct, here’s what I see as both the benefits and the drawbacks of each approach.
Teleprompter – As I shared in February with Teleprompter Tips, very few of us will use an actual teleprompter, but many of us may use an outline or confidence monitor as a near proxy for such a device. When the precise words matter and the speaker’s confidence is bolstered by having the manuscript in front of them, this option can work. Ironically, it takes more practice, not less, to effectively reference a screen in front of you without having the audience feel like you are reading aloud to them. Which, evidently, is the greatest risk in this approach. If nerves peak, the speaker may, in fact, just read aloud what’s on the screen without connecting with the audience. There is the additional risk of technical failure, which can torpedo your confidence in front of a live audience.
Memorizer – Many of you know my mantra: “Familiarize, don’t memorize.” So you may be surprised that I consider this a legitimate style for presentation prep. I’ve come to see that some leaders actually find comfort in knowing precisely what they plan to say and exactly how long it will take for them to do so. This benefit can outweigh the drawback of sounding canned if the speaker uses vocal variety to have a conversational tone. I have no solution for the risk of “brain freeze” when speaking except to have a copy of the manuscript handy, perhaps with a peer reading along with you, to cue you on the next word or phrase. Since so many talks are recorded and posted online, this can often be repaired in editing for the final video. Also, audiences are generally very forgiving of a speaker who struggles to deliver their talk since so many of us struggle with anxiety when speaking.
Powerpointer – Much like many educators, this speaker will invest time in creating compelling visuals to help cue them for the next section of their talk. So long as the slides do not become a “pseudo-manuscript,” this approach has real benefits. The speaker can be reminded of points as they walk through the content for their audience. The drawbacks here include treating your slides as more important than your audience. How often have you looked at the back of a speaker enamored with their own slides and not making contact with you? To a lesser extent a tech outage can create a challenge, but having a paper copy of your slides usually will enable the “show to go on” even if they cannot see the slides that you thoughtfully designed.
Time Marker – This speaker knows where they need to be at crucial time moments in the talk. They can, like an accordion, expand or contract based on where they know they need to be. This style quite often feels very conversational to the audience. However, the risk is that you may leave out key content that you planned to cover if you are working completely without a net. My husband, Ken, often has a discussion session after each Sunday service where he admits he can share anything that he forgot to cover in his weekly lesson at the Unity Church he leads.
Snowflake – I’ll choose not to “out” my friend and colleague who first gave me this phrase while I was coaching him. He simply told me, “JD, I have a general vision of what I plan to share, but it’s never going to come out the same way each time. Every one of my talks is a unique snowflake.” This has a huge advantage in feeling unique and very much “in the moment” for the audience. However, it’s even a greater risk that you may forget a key concept that you’d hoped to cover. It also can be a challenge when speakers are part of a series where the lengths of talks are crucial to the event’s success.
To be sure, there are several more styles of preparation (or nonpreparation) that deserve mention. In my view, these choices are problematic and should be avoided; they include:
Winger/Procrastinator who believes they will be just fine without prep; in a few cases, charm, charisma, or credibility can carry the day. But it’s too much of a risk to take for me to endorse this style.
Copycat/Imitator who attempts to simply mimic what other great presenters have done, but with less power or success since it’s not their original and authentic style.
Failed Stand-Up Comedian who attempts to cover their lack of preparation with humor, or worse yet, prepared jokes, but adds no true value or contribution to the audience.
My guess is that many of you want me to tell you now, “Which style is best?” I can confidently declare, “It Depends.”
I typically fall somewhere between “outliner and time marker,” but that’s what works for me. Your choice may be different based on your experience and expertise. Further, the audience or setting may require you to lean into a less familiar style.
Throughout my career, I’ve had to adjust my preferred style to match the moment. My 2011 TED talk was nearly memorized. A eulogy that I shared a few years ago was a manuscript that I read since I was fearful I might tear up. And a keynote I had prepared that wasn’t going well became a Snowflake when I chose to completely abandon my outline and talk about a topic that was on the audience’s mind that day.
This week, I invite you to consider your preferred style of preparation. Then consider when and why you should try a completely different approach.
If you care to see some of the talks that I’ve helped prepare, I invite you to look at One Mind’s Science Symposium, Stanford’s Frontiers in Medicine event, or Rugged Elegance Presents…Discovery: Revealing the Power of the Pause. You will see gifted speakers from a wide range of fields deliver compelling and moving talks. You may not be able to tell which prep style they used, but you will be able to see a remarkable array of different presentations. Enjoy!
JD’s Recommendations: what I’m reading, hearing, and seeing:
Reading: This brilliant piece by Julie Pham articulates how leaders can enrich how they lead by expanding what they read. Check out her awesome book lists!
Hearing: The audiobook, A Sliver of Light, is a riveting experience. The narrators beautifully tell the gripping story of three US citizens held in Iran for crimes they did not commit.
Seeing: take five minutes to laugh out loud watching this classic Carol Burnett sketch: The Weirdest Orchestra. The comic timing of Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence and Dick VanDyke is priceless.
Happy to share what’s lighting me up, but I welcome your thoughts too. Let me know what you are reading, hearing, or seeing. All the best, jds
I often use a mix of approaches as well.
For most of my regular speeches, I have a process of sitting down and writing out all of my thoughts as though I'm a speech writer for someone else. I then will read it out loud to myself and think about what works and doesn't work for me. After that I usually break from the script altogether and start honing my verbal ideas (maybe only using a few bullet points if there is a specific line I want to memorize entirely or something I want to make sure I don't miss). But once I have a really good working idea of what I want to say, I will often then use a physical Method of Loci approach where I use my physical space on the stage to give myself prompts on the specific places in time for each section of the speech. I've found I can do that and still make it look just like natural use of the space.
For my recent TEDx talk, the lead coach had us try out a process where we started with the 7-word idea and then created little notes for "head, heart, and core" messaging (those that are data driven, those that are emotionally drive, and those that speak to the core of the idea), and then from there we worked on scripting. It was an interesting approach, but I honestly wasn't grooving as well with it until I really just sat down and wrote out some sections of what my talk could be. (Though, admittedly, when I was on stage, it was the first time in a long time that I really lost my place in a talk and ended up going way off script - I still hit the key ideas and sections of my talk, but I bet my words sounded a lot more "off the cuff" than they would have otherwise).
What a useful breakdown of presentation styles! It seems like the presentation style would need to adapt to the situation. When acting, I know the script so well that I don't worry about the words and can focus on the emotions, etc. of the moment on stage. When presenting under a tight timeframe, I find myself presenting to the clock and rehearse these talks with a stopwatch. I am in this situation next week where I am presenting a lot of material in a short period of time. These to me are one of the toughest talks to prepare and pull off. So, I guess, being flexible is the key and having your styles breakdown is really helpful. We must all be snowflakes for the Q&A?