TJ Walker says memorizing presentations backfires. Instead, pick a few key points, pair each with a story, and use a single sheet of notes with 3-4 words per line. Speak conversationally and let your passion show.
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So what do you do if you want to remember the words, the phrasing, the exact buzzwords, the examples, but you're afraid you'll forget it in a speech, a presentation, or an interview or a media interview? Well, for starters, don't put that much pressure on yourself. You're not a Broadway star skilled in memorizing words and then making it sound completely natural. If you try to memorize stuff, one of two things will happen. Number one, you'll go through half the sentence, and then you'll forget, and it will like going over a speed bump and everything gets all rattled. That's not good. Your eyes will look up and you'll sort of be out of the moment, and it'll be obvious to your audience or your interviewer that you're just trying to deliver something canned. So that's one big problem right there. The other problem is you're just going to forget completely and not even be able to come back to it. And it puts everything down. It shuts everything down. So I do not recommend that you try to make memorize things. It ultimately doesn't matter that you get the phrasing just right for a speech, a presentation, a talk, or an interview. What matters is that you have an idea in your head. It comes out of your mouth, and words, preferably the simplest words possible, so that your audience understands you and remembers you. That's what's important. So take the pressure off. You shouldn't have to memorize things. If you want to be more successful, then improve your communication skills. The best way to do that, smash the subscribe button. Right now, the biggest problem most people have is they get too greedy. They want to have note after note after note after note. Lots of facts, lots of numbers, lots of pages. And there's no way you can remember that. Well, if you can't remember it and you study this and you're the expert, how in the world do you expect anyone in your audience to. To actually remember it after hearing you one time? So think about that. You can't really have a memory that's a thousand times worse than everyone in your audience. I don't believe you believe that. So if you can't remember it after you've thought about it, reflected on it, even practiced, there's no way anyone in your audience can remember it if they're just hearing it once. So what solves the problem for most people is it has nothing to do with once you're giving the presentation. It has nothing to do with getting an earpiece or putting a Teleprompter everywhere. It all deals with judgment. Before you start to present, you need to use more judgment and eliminate the vast majority of numbers, facts, bullet points you're trying to convey. Even when you're speaking for an hour. Focus. Narrow things down to just a handful of points. Literally, how many are there? Is that 100 points? No, that's five. Focus on a handful of points, then think of an example for each one. Think of a story for each one and you say, well, T.J. fine, but how am I going to remember the order? Well, here's where I can help you. I want you to use notes, but specific notes, not the notes you typically use, which is probably small print and 5, 10 pages. I want you to put it on a single sheet of paper. I want you to use large font, and I want you to try to limit it to maybe three or four words per line so that you can just occasionally glance down and look at it. Now, you can do this even in a job interview. And most of the time no one will notice. And if they do notice, they won't care because you're looking at them. Most of the time, you're conversational. You can have confidence because you don't have to worry about, oh, what if I forget? Well, if you forget something, just glance down. Recently, I had to give a one hour speech. These were my notes. This is what I use for a one hour speech. It's one single sheet of paper. It's bold, it's just a few words. It's not a full sentence, it's not a full paragraph. There's not different indentations and all that stuff. It's simple, it's clear. I can glance down. I see a point, I know I'm going to talk about it for a couple of minutes. When I'm finished, I can sweep down with my eyes or I can put my water down in the act of doing it. I can look at my notes. No one notices. This is a technique I've used around the globe when giving keynote speeches. I have a horrible memory. I never speak without notes, yet nobody ever knows I use notes unless I do, like I did with you, and actually hold them up to show it and demonstrate it so you don't have to memorize things. You also don't have to get it word for word the right way. Which is more important is that you can just present in an engaging way and show your passion and your emotion. That's what will make it interesting and engaging.
