Do you memorize your speeches and presentations...?

Stop immediately.

Memorizing a speech is the most dangerous thing a speaker can do. If you forget a word or phrase - you could lose it all. I know from experience...mine and many others.

It's a very tough recovery.

The FEAR of forgetting everything will surely make you nervous.

And you can seem very distant from your audience - because you are basically looking up into your head - searching for the words.

Now if you're a very experienced speaker and that method works for you - keep at it.

But for the rest of the 99.97% of us, try this:

1- Use my 3 Buckets + 3 Bullets framework I talked about last Wednesday
• Simple organization = easy to remember for you + for your audience

2- Use a few slides or index card with your Buckets + Bullets as a prompt
• 5x8 index cards are stiff (not noisy) and you can palm them. Old school but super effective.

3- If virtual, use text document with Buckets + Bullets up under the camera

Finally, never use a teleprompter unless you are very experienced = a former: head of state, broadcaster, or CEO with lots of training.

A teleprompter, like memorizing, tends to separate you from your audience -> makes you robotic.

And remember... teleprompters can break and then you have nothing!

What works best for you: bullets, memorizing, teleprompter?