Without notes??

Recently we heard from a speaker; we’ll call him Dave.

Dave wanted to speak without a script, it worked for him before and he was sure he should try it again even though he was speaking for a good deal longer and he had more to lose.

Of course Dave is a professional speaker with a skill-set of fluency, superior audience awareness and a nice line in presenting himself as the next big thing.

Did he succeed?

On some levels he has been very successful a standing ovation, he still has his job and some say he has scared off the opposition (though they say they don’t scare so easily). On the other hand all the talk is along the lines of ‘look no notes’. Does anyone remember what he said?

Would it work for others? Why not? From day to day we all talk without notes but seldom to an audience.

Of course Dave did have notes; minimal notes, but enough to provide a series of way marks. Think of a list of directions for a motorway journey, simply a series of junction numbers and destinations. Way marks.

Knowing the points to be made and the order in which to make them can be sufficient for many speakers on one condition. Time has been spent in preparation. If you think Dave didn’t prepare you really need to think about the fundamentals of public speaking.