How to Avoid Memorizing Your Pitch

People memorize a speech when they write out their script word for word and then commit it to memory. Don’t do that. Put together an outline and then simply begin to practice the presentation, figuring out the exact words as you go. 

 

Your outline might look something like this

 

I.      Safety is important to you.

II.     How we’ll promote safety on the job.

III.    How our program will save you money.

 

Once you have the outline in place, you should think of each of the key points as lead-ins for a short section. You might begin practicing like this:

 

When we met with you last week, you told us that safety was going to be an important issue for you on this job. Indeed, you told us that on your last job, you had a couple of minor injuries. We certainly want to make sure that we do everything possible to ensure that everyone working on and around the job is as safe as possible. That’s why safety is JOB ONE on our worksites.

 

Let me talk about what we’re going to do to keep your job safe. Blah. Blah blah.

 

Next, I’d like to tell you about how our safety program actually will save you money. Blah blah blah.

 

Then you should practice delivering the presentation several times, working on honing exactly how you say everything. Every time you do it, you’ll probably say it a little differently. That’s okay. After several tries, you’ll settle into a way of speaking that sounds natural and works for you. It won’t sound memorized and you’ll be ready to deliver it in a way that connects with the audience.