Scripting

Scripting

This is where you write out a speech and then commit the entire speech to memory. This works for some people because they may be nervious, and when they do not have a paper in front of them they would rather recite the speech as they remembered writing it.

Off-the-cuff

Off-the-cuff does not mean not prepared this means you are:

1.

Doing research and writing it down

2.

mentally structuring what topics you want to talk about and the important infomation you want to give

3.

when you speak you are speaking in the moment about your points

Strategies

We want to make sure that your words have personality if you decide to go the scripted route, so how do we do this. Well your TED Talk's book on page 135 gives us the answer:

"1. Know the talk so well that it doesn't for a moment sound scripted.

2. Refer to the script (either from a lectern-preferably not one that blocks out your whole body- or possibly from a screen or monitor), but compensate by looking up during each sentence to make eye contact with the audience. Notice that I didn't say to READ the script. You may have the entire thing there in front of you, but it's important that you feel as if you're in speaking mode, not reading mode. The audience can tell the difference. It's all about giving meaning to the words as you speak as naturally and passionately as you can. It's about audience eye contact and smiles or other facial expressions. It's about being familure enough with the script that you're really just glancing down once every sentence or two. Yes this takes work, but it's woth it, and it's still far less daunting than full memorization.

3. Condense the script to bullet points and plan to express each point in your own language in the moment. This has its own set of challenges.

When to Read

TED Talks mentions that there are only two circumstances where you might get away with reading your script to your audience on page 136:

"1. Your talk is accompanied by absolutely gorgeous images or videos that play while you are speaking. In this scenario, you are the lyrical caption provider. The audience's attention is on the screen.

2. You are truly a great writer, and the audience understands that they are listening to a piece of written work. But, as we'll see... even for great writers with a script in the lyrical language, it can be more powerful NOT to read.

What happens when you don't have time!

If you do not have time, you may struggle to remember the things that you wrote. You probably will not freeze up, because we know we must give the speech, but your audience will know that it is scripted. Your eyes will roll around between paragraphs to bring things back to mind. Your voice will sound flat, almost robotic because you are trying to make the sentences sound right.

This is a fixable problem!

Phrase Preperation: Uncanny Vally

This is when you rattle off paragraphs robotically. You may even say the words "Let's see" "Just a minute" "let me start that again"

Persistance

If you keep memorizing the "Uncanny Vally" will disappear and you can focus on the meaning of your words, not the memorization of your words.

Memorized talk or off-the-cuff?

Things to help

If you want to sound natural, you may want to record your practice sessions. This is benificial because you can see how you sound and then adjust where things need to be adjusted. You can put passion and emotion into your talk, then record it again to see how it sounds. If you think it sounds flat on the recorder, try until it sounds like you are not reciting.

Unscripted strengths

These speeches can sound fresh, alive and real, like you are thinking outloud. If you are comfortable speaking like thise, and the material is familure to you, this may be your best choice.

When you speak you need to avoid the pitfalls to not being prepaired:

"1. That suddenly you can't in the moment, find the words to explain a key concept. Antidote: Practice outloud several versions of each step in your journey until you're confident tha tyou have complete mental clarity around each one.

2. That you leave out something crucial. It may be worth working on a transition from each step to the next that makes the sequence come naturally. Perhaps you commit to remembering those transition phrases, or add them to your notes.

3. That you overrun your time slot. This is upsetting to conference organizers, and to all the speakers who follow you. It can also stress out your audience. Don't do it. The only antidotes are to A. Try out the talk several times to be sure it can indeed be done within the time limit. If not, you must cut material. B. Be disciplined abou watching the clock and know how far you need to be when half of your itme has gone by. C. Prepare a talk that is no more than 90 percent of you time limit."