Is it OK to use notes when giving a speech?

Yes. Most good speakers have something in their hand or on the podium. The goal isn’t no notes. It’s notes you glance at instead of read.

How do I stop going blank?

Know the order of the ideas better than the words. If you blank, look at the card, find the idea, and say it however it comes out. Starring the lines you can’t skip gives you somewhere to jump to.

Does the first-letter trick work for long talks?

It works best a section at a time. For a fifteen minute talk, practice it in chunks of a few cards, then run the whole thing.

How to remember a speech when you don’t have long

You don’t need it word for word. You need to know it well enough that a few words on a card bring the rest back. That takes less time than memorizing, and it holds up better when you’re nervous.

Why memorizing word for word goes wrong

A memorized speech is a chain. Lose one link and everything after it goes with it, which is the blank everybody’s afraid of.

Knowing the ideas in order is sturdier. Forget a sentence and you say it a different way and keep going. Nobody in the room knows what the sentence was supposed to be.

Practice with fewer words each time

Cut the speech into cards first, one thought each. Then run it four times, and show yourself less on every run.

01
Run 1: the full text
Read it out loud off the cards, every word. You’re learning the order.
02
Run 2: the first few words
Each sentence shows its first four words and then trails off. You fill in the rest.
03
Run 3: first letters
“When I first met Mike” becomes “W I f m M.” It looks like nothing until you’ve said it twice, and then it’s plenty. It’s an old trick for a reason.
04
Run 4: only the must-says
Just the lines you starred: the names, the thank you, the ask. Everything else comes from you.

Out loud, standing up

Running it in your head doesn’t count. Say it out loud, standing, at the speed you’ll give it. Time one run so you know how long it takes.

Take the least you need up there

Then pick what goes on the card at the podium. Practiced it four times? The first few words might be all you want. Had ten minutes? Take the full text, cut into cards so you don’t lose your place.

Names, dates and quotes stay in full either way. Those are the lines people get wrong, and nobody minds you reading a name.

If you only have tonight

Write it out. Cut it into cards. Star the lines you can’t skip. Run it three times, showing yourself less each time. Sleep. Run it once more in the morning.

Same method for a church talk, a eulogy or a toast. The length changes, the method doesn’t.

Questions

Is it OK to use notes when giving a speech?: Yes. Most good speakers have something in their hand or on the podium. The goal isn’t no notes. It’s notes you glance at instead of read.
How do I stop going blank?: Know the order of the ideas better than the words. If you blank, look at the card, find the idea, and say it however it comes out. Starring the lines you can’t skip gives you somewhere to jump to.
Does the first-letter trick work for long talks?: It works best a section at a time. For a fifteen minute talk, practice it in chunks of a few cards, then run the whole thing.

Try it on your own speech

The free cue card maker cuts your speech into cards and shows them full, as first words, or as first letters, so you can run all four passes tonight. PalmCue does the same on your phone and keeps the level you practiced at for the podium. $0.99 when it’s out.

Make the cards