It’s rarely scheduled; usually left to the last minute; and frequently dropped from the agenda entirely. What goes missing in action so frequently is rehearsal. In meeting rooms around the world, speakers routinely stand up to talk with little or no rehearsal. Try as hard as they might to hide it: it shows.

Tolerant audiences sit through the stumbles and mispronounced words. But, while they may be polite, the mistakes distract their attention from the message.

Speakers who do rehearse are more likely to come across as confident and at ease. Take for example, Steve Jobs of Apple, or Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric. Both are famous in the business world for delivering outstanding speeches and presentations. And both are equally famous for making considerable effort to practise their talks.

Carving out the time to rehearse a speech or presentation can be a challenge. However, even if you’re really squeezed for time, try to fit in these steps:

• Practise for performance. Go into the largest meeting room you can find and stand up to read your script. Don’t sit behind your desk or read it while someone drives you to the venue. People breathe less deeply while seated, so a casual reading isn’t good preparation for the real event.

• Have a pen or highlighter handy and mark your script in the spots where you stumble over a word or phrase. Then, rehearse again. If you still have trouble after a time or two, replace the material with something that’s easier to say.

• Time yourself. You may discover that your speech or presentation is too long or too short. Now is your last chance to cut or add content.
• Want to learn more tips, tools, tactics, techniques and templates you can use to write outstanding speeches and presentations? Join Wendy for a webinar or workshop. Visit The Spoken Word store on this site for more details.