The role of Memory in Speech-making

The role of Memory in Speech-making

Clients often ask me whether they should memorise a speech or presentation - or to what extent they should write out a speech in full. I’ve discussed this question with many of you, but this month I read an interesting reflection on the role of memory in a book titled “You Talkin’ To Me?” Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama by Sam Leith. Leith traces the art of argument from ancient Greece through to the modern day. That sounds historical – and it is – but given that effective speech-making is as much about how we understand human nature and connect with other human beings as anything else, we still have much to learn from the ancients who studied “rhetoric”. 

Lessons from the 1st century A.D.

Early in the book Leith, quotes Roman educator, Quintilian:

“The whole art of oratory, as the most and greatest writers have taught, consists of five parts: invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery”

In other words,

1. you decide what there is to say (Leith suggests this is “doing your homework; thinking up in advance exactly what arguments can be made both for and against a given proposition”. “Invention” in this context doesn’t mean making things up)

2. you decide on the order in which you want to say it

3. you decide on the way you want to say it

4. you get it all into your head

5. you deliver it.

Memory

Let’s look at “memory” – getting it into your head. What role does memory play in speech-making? 

It’s about thorough preparation, rather than rote learning. It’s about knowing really well the points you want to make and how you are going to express them. 

“It’s about allowing the elements of the speech and the ideas behind it, to inhabit your mind” (Leith). 

It can be helpful to write a presentation out in full; if you become entirely comfortable with the content of what you want to say, and how you want to say it, you can probably deliver from notes and it won’t sound “read”. You will also have capacity during delivery to focus on how your audience are responding to you - your mind isn’t searching for the next point or the way to express it. You will be more mindful of pace and volume and are more likely to engage effectively with your audience. 

Lessons from Winston Churchill

Many accomplished speakers will prepare very thoroughly. I was encouraged to see that in his chapter on memory, Leith uses the great orator, Winston Churchill, as an example of a speaker who reputedly spent hours working on drafts of his speeches. His drafts apparently looked like scripts complete with stage directions – with line breaks indicating where to place a pause. He rehearsed his speeches in front of a mirror until he got them right. Conservative politician, F.E. Smith said: 

“Winston has spent the best years of his life writing impromptu speeches”

Leith gives this anecdote:

“When one day his butler heard him thundering away from his bathtub, he approached to see what the matter was. “I wasn’t talking to you,” said Winston irritably, “I was addressing the House of Commons””. 

Churchill prepared and practised and “got it all into his head”. He may have had a gift for speech-making in a public space, but he also worked tirelessly on what he was going to say and how he was going to say it. 

In our working lives we aren’t always given the time we would like to prepare for a presentation, but whatever time you are given, use it. Be in command of your material and how you want to express it – and then, during delivery, you can focus on the most important people in the room: your audience.