Public Speaking 101: Use Notes
D
o you believe that a speaker working without notes is therefore ‘better’ than one who does use notes? I ask because a lot of people ask me the same question. If you’re giving a presentation you have to decide for yourself, should you:
And that’s all it takes! Follow one or all of these and you’ll be giving it less than your best, and putting yourself through hell, and abusing the audience as well. Or, you can do the opposite and give yourself a fighting chance. More on that, anon.
- Try to memorize your notes / script.
- Read your notes.
- familiarize yourself, using notes.
Memorizing takes a lot of bandwidth, trust me. Unless you’re naturally good at it, or have very little to say, I advise not even worrying about it. You should do what supports you best when you’re on, and not concern yourself with how ‘notes/no notes’ looks to an audience. Are they engaged, is what you want to concern yourself with.
Reading your remarks is OK, but only if you’re really good at it. Most people don’t have the training to bring words on the page to life, which is an art. Professional narrators know how to employ the technique, so you can study up on them. One thing you should never read are PowerPoint slides.
This is my advice for the average speaker who wants to do the best possible job. The more you review your content and practice it, the better you’ll be able to fully own it during your actual delivery. Use notes that help keep you focused on your message, but also allow you to tune in to your audience. Make sure the font is larger than usual. Use color or images in the margins, for emotional cues.
People with little experience in public speaking in general tend to underestimate what goes into “extemporaneous” talking- unscripted and improvised. It might look easy but that’s the beauty of excellent communication- it all seems so simple.