If you prepare your business presentation by memorizing, you will probably end up sounding “canned” — the quickest way to get prospects, clients, and other business listeners to tune you out.   To avoid this problem, do what the best actors do:  internalize, don’t memorize.

Most actors try to avoid rote memorization of a script, because memorization has a tendency to block the most important part (and the most connective part) of speaking: our communication actions that lie beneath the words.  Effective rehearsal is the rehearsal of communication actions/”objectives” (rather than the words themselves), in order to sound conversational and authentic at every moment.

When I played Amanda in The Glass Menagerie last summer, I was working with a young actor who tried to memorize lines by associating them with his blocking (i.e., where he sat, stood, and moved on stage).  The director changed the blocking many times during our rehearsal process:  of course, the actor then had difficulty remembering his lines!  He was then forced to learn lines with a different strategy: he began to internalize his lines by associating them with his underlying actions/objectives.  This allowed him to not only remember his lines perfectly, but to sound conversational, authentic, and believable.  His lines and physical behavior created a unified, seamless whole.

Business speakers, whether using notes or not, should internalize (not memorize) your content.  You need a strategy to help you become deeply connected to your message, so that listeners will believe that you are fully committed and that you and your message are “one”.

Do the following:  divide your notes for a talk into “beats” (individual topics that are smaller than your overall message).  For each beat, choose a communication action directed toward the listeners.  As you rehearse aloud, focus on the underlying communication action of each beat; keep it at the forefront of your mind, and pursue it energetically.

You will be better able to remember your content fully; you won’t have to worry about “memorizing” anything.  Your voice and body language will support your words,  turning your content and demeanor into one organic, unified, and seamless message.

When you rehearse this way, you’ll never have to worry about “over-rehearsing”, because your rehearsal will never produce a “canned” delivery.  Instead, your rehearsal will help you speak with authenticity and maximum impact.

In my last blog, I provided two strategies for successful business speaking that are rooted in theater techniques that I used while I was rehearsing and performing the role of Amanda in The Glass Menagerie this past summer.

Here is another technique you can use in business to enhance your confidence when you are about to make a presentation:  know your venue and become adaptable to the space, so that you can speak comfortably in a range of situations.

Our set for The Glass Menagerie depicted a tenement apartment in St. Louis during the late 1930’s.  Right before one performance, the stagehands had placed a heavy chair in the wrong spot on stage.  I had been directed to sit on the arm of the chair all the way stage right, at an angle facing away from my scene partner.  With the chair in its incorrect spot, my sitting on the chair that way would block half the audience from any view of the action.  I had previously thought of various other options for my stage movement, so I was able to improvise a solution during that performance.  Under the new circumstances, I stood in the stage area far right of the chair, to open up the view for whole audience.

Business speakers, too, should be ready to improvise physically when necessary.

• Whether your business presentation or conversation takes place in an office, conference room, boardroom, or convention hall, visit the space in advance whenever possible.
• Notice what is in the space and how it might help or hinder your ability to communicate.  Request what you do want and do not want to be “in your space”.  Then, assume that the space may not be just as you wish, and look for ways to improvise, if necessary.  Determine Choice B and Choice C for where you will be and where you will move, so that you can be ready to adapt.
• During your advance visit, do a brief “walk-through” or “sit-through” of your talk.  Experiment with a variety of other spots for you to stand, sit, or move.  This will help you improvise gracefully (and give your audience a full experience) whenever you face challenges with the physical setup of the room.

Preparing for uncertainty in this way will give you a wonderful sense of security and the confidence that your message will have impact for your audience, even when your venue is not ideal!

I recently played the role of Amanda Wingfield in the play, “The Glass Menagerie” and was reminded that so much of the rehearsal process for a play should be used by business people who want to make a dynamic impact when they speak.  Here are two tips that can help enhance your credibility during business meetings, presentations, sales calls, and more.

Engage With Vocal Variety:
Our director was confident that we actors would have no problem making ourselves heard by audience members in the last row of the theater.  Knowing that there were some intimate, “lower volume” scenes in the play, she took the extra precaution of planting an assistant at various spots in the last row to listen, so that we actors could be told of any moments when we could not be heard adequately.  Business speakers/presenters who are not using a microphone can benefit from a similar strategy, to help you use a range of vocal dynamics (sound volume) to engage your listeners.  Do the following:  Arrive at your speaking venue/meeting room early; arrange to have someone listen as you speak parts of your talk, and be sure to speak any sections where you will choose to use a lower volume than usual (perhaps for dramatic effect).  Use your sound assistant’s feedback to guide you on your volume levels, so that you can use a range of vocal dynamics with the confidence that you will always be heard.  This range of dynamics is key to listener engagement.

Feel and Look Like Your Message:
As we rehearsed “The Glass Menagerie”, I naturally wanted to immerse myself in the character and the setting as quickly and thoroughly as possible.  One way that I do this when rehearsing a play is to wear rehearsal clothes that give me the same (or similar) feeling as the costume(s) in performance will.  This helps me feel/appear to be “one” with the character, so that the audience will perceive no difference between “Maria” and (in the case of this particular play) “Amanda”.  As a business speaker/presenter, your rehearsal process can help you become “one” with your content, so that every nuance of your delivery will project and support one, seamless message.  Try the following as you rehearse.  Consider the nature of your message, who your listeners are, and how they dress.  Allow this information to help you plan what you will wear.  When rehearsing, wear those clothes or even just one or two pieces from that outfit (shoes, blouses, and jackets are particularly useful for giving you the right feeling).  Become conscious of the way your clothing affects your feelings about yourself and your demeanor, and make any necessary adjustments in clothing.  This will help you feel and project the image you desire.

Use these strategies from the theater, and watch your prospects, clients, and other business listeners become increasingly engaged when you speak!

https://youtu.be/IDM9d7wxBmM

You can increase the impact that you have on your business listeners by revealing who YOU are when you speak!

Consider the impact that actors have on their audiences. Many years ago, Marlon Brando said, “Acting is the ancient, instinctive art of representing ourselves to others in a way that reflects how we truly are.”

Successful business speaking also reflects how we truly are. It shows your business listeners what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and how they might do it better. It also shows them how you, the speaker, truly are. And that means WHO you are.

Convincing actors and persuasive business speakers make their greatest impact through self-revelation.

To play a character convincingly and make the audience believe, actors reveal truths that lie in the deepest places of their own hearts: truths that lie inside every heart. The ability to reveal what is both personal and at the same time universal creates for the audience a transformative experience: when audiences recognize themselves in a character – when they can identify — they can understand more about our human condition, our limitations, and, most importantly, our potential.

This ability to reveal what is personal and at the same time universal is important in business speaking, too. Whether you are giving a power point presentation or talking with a prospect on a sales call, revealing who YOU are is a key ingredient in making a deep connection with your listeners and building their trust.

When you prepare to speak for business, decide what you will reveal about yourself in the following areas:
1. Your personal perspective about your business message
2. Your appreciation of your listeners and your enjoyment in speaking with them
3. True stories from your own life that will help illustrate your message

Be sure that your communication is supported by your vocal delivery, your body language, and every aspect of your demeanor.

Reveal who YOU are when you speak, to build trust and make your greatest impact!