Rehearse your Location, Equipment, and Speech

Have you ever heard the phrase “practice makes perfect”? Well, forget it. Perfection is an unrealistic goal by definition. However, practice does make a lot of other things possible. Practice will let you perform at your best without worrying about forgetting main points or losing your place. It will help you look and sound relaxed and natural while calibrating your tone and gestures to captivate your audience. More practice means less anxiety. More practice will give you the ability to deal gracefully with unanticipated problems, interruptions, or technical challenges. More practice will help your delivery be confident, powerful, and polished.

Location

Whenever you know you have to speak in a specific place, gather as much information as possible about the speaking space so that you can be prepared and make adjustments that fit the location. Always ask to have time to be in the space before the actual speech to do a rehearsal if time allows.

What kinds of information should you acquire when you’ve been asked to speak? See the checklist of questions to ask your host below for a speech that is booked in advance.

1. What is the size of the room? Knowing the size of the room will allow you to adjust your visual aids to be seen in that room. It also allows you to consider how loudly you will need to speak to be heard.

2. How many people are expected to be in the audience? Having this information allows you to prepare visuals that can be seen by the size of the audience anticipated. It also helps to know this information if you intend to pass out handouts, etc. You should also try to get the information about your audience demographics and their beliefs, attitudes, and values toward your subject. More on this in another section.

3. What is the audio-visual equipment available to be used and who will operate it? This is critical to the success of the speech delivery. Find out how your visual aids can be displayed; if you can use PowerPoint or Google Slides; and if there’s a projector, pointer, etc.; and if you will be operating the slides or someone else will. You should also find out if microphones are used and/or expected. This will mean adjusting the movement of your speech if it is a handheld microphone that is corded or adjusting your voice volume if you are wearing a lavalier microphone on your lapel, etc.

4. Is there a podium? Podiums are places where a speaker can set down their notecards. They are also sometimes near the console to operate the room’s computer. If you don’t want the podium, find out if it is removable.

5. When is a possible time to access the room and have a rehearsal? Always ask for time to be in the space before the audience arrives to see the room layout, test your visuals, and set levels for your sound and speaking voice. If there are separate operators for sound and visuals, they should be at the rehearsal as well.

For those speaking occasions when you don’t have any information and just have to walk into the space and speak, what should you be prepared for? Everything!

Always have backups for your visual aids. If you’ve prepared a PowerPoint presentation or hope to show video clips, bring your own laptop just in case, but hope that you can use whatever equipment is on site. Put your visuals on a backed-up zip drive so that you can easily transfer it to whatever device or system may be in the room if a laptop connection is not available. Bring a printout of your visuals in case everything else fails and copies can be made as handouts. Have a plan for if your video doesn’t play or was suddenly taken down from YouTube. Prepare a summary of what the clip contained so you can at least narrate what would have happened or have a backup clip in mind so you can switch to it easily.

When you walk into the space, do a quick assessment of the number of audience seats and where they are located. This assessment is for your eye contact and vocal delivery purposes. As quickly as possible, get to wherever you will be operating your visual aids from and turn on everything and see if you can figure out how to operate it all. If not, try to get assistance from someone on site. It is better to lose a few minutes of speaking time and be able to do all you’ve planned than not.

If you feel like the place you are asked to speak from is really far from the audience, don’t be afraid to ask if the audience seating can be quickly reconfigured.

Equipment

Once you get an understanding of the location, focus on how best to work with the equipment on site.

Audio Equipment

Audio equipment is what is used for the amplification of the speaker’s voice. If the audience size is less than 30, it most likely isn’t needed at all as long as the speaker projects well. In general, if a microphone is offered as an option to you, take it. It will save some strain on your voice. Remember that you still need to project your voice even when using a microphone.

Microphones come in varying shapes and sizes. Some have cords and some are cordless. A handheld mic can be problematic for a public speaker as they have to juggle their notes and the microphone. Some handhelds may have a stand for the microphone to rest in. A stand can help when you have notecards and want to gesture with the free hand.

Lavalier microphones are often given to public speakers. They are small and clip on the lapel of a shirt and often have a battery pack that wires run to for energy as the speaker speaks. The battery pack may have a belt clip which holds it in place and frees up the speaker’s hands.  When using a lavalier, be aware of the positioning of the microphone. If it is on one side of your shirt then the voice projection may be lost when the speaker turns from one side to another. Practice with it so you can test the sound quality. Be aware of your movement and how it affects the microphone’s sound. Note that when wearing a microphone, any tiny sound can be heard from scratching to coughing, etc. Also, make sure you know how to turn it on and off so that if you are sitting in the audience waiting to come up to speak that they aren’t hearing anything they shouldn’t be! Save the comedy for that opening joke you plan to tell.

Visual Equipment

The visual equipment you will be using is generally a computer console with a projector screen. Some spaces will have this capability and some will not. It is very important to find out what you have access to and what you need to bring to make sure you are able to use visuals. We know that our society is visual and having visual aids is one of the best ways to engage your audience, so plan to incorporate them into the speech whenever possible. If computers are not accessible, then consider bringing objects, photos, posters, handouts, etc.

When presenting a slide presentation, it is best for the speaker to have control of the slides. This may mean having to stand near the console to hit the next slide. If the distance from the computer is far from the audience or in an odd place for the speaker to speak from, then asking another person to operate the slides is a good choice. When another person is operating the slides on your behalf, try to rehearse with them in advance whenever possible. They should have a copy of your outline in front of them to use as a guide. You can also number the slides on the outline so that they can easily follow along and keep up. When rehearsing isn’t an option, use language such as “next slide, please” to signal the operator to move on. Be professional and treat the operator as a colleague. If they make a mistake, just simply say, “can you go back one slide, please” or something similar. Keep calm and don’t panic if something doesn’t go well. Guide the operator with what you’re looking for. The audience will stay engaged if you are calm, cool, and collected.

Rehearsing Your Speech

Just as a performer practices before they present something to an audience, the skilled public speaker will do the same. Why? Not that practice makes perfect, but because preparedness makes confidence!

1. In public speaking, preparation means you have done sufficient topic research, written your speech outline, created visual aids, and rehearsed your speech out loud.

2. To rehearse effectively, use the following strategies:

3. Start early to allow yourself enough time to experiment, revise, and try again during rehearsal.

4. Plan a feedback strategy by recording for self-analysis or by receiving feedback from a friend or a coach. Remember, practice does not make perfect if you continue to practice ineffective strategies. Therefore, you must experiment and learn from the experience to improve the total speech.

5. Rehearse out loud. Speak in a conversational style. If your rehearsal may disturb family members, speak softly but do rehearse out loud.

6. Rehearse all the parts of your speech. Rehearse with your graphics and coordinate them to your talk. Practice your nonverbal communication as well as the words you speak. A mirror or a recording can be helpful for this practice session so you can look at your physical delivery and make adjustments to facial expressions and gestures. Make sure you are making eye contact and practice looking up along with speaking words

7. Time your rehearsals. Timing is not only about knowing how long you are going to speak, but also about how fast to speak, when to pause, and how long to pause to achieve the desired effect. You can vary the rate of speaking and the use of pausing to achieve different vocal effects as you practice.

   Time the individual parts and the total speech and make sure to have a clock that you can see while speaking. Prepare for interruptions and questions. Make sure to leave room for a Q&A session at the end of your speech. During your final rehearsal, make brief notes for yourself so you know how long each point in the speech takes. Then mark your outline accordingly so you know if you are spending too much time on any given point during delivery.

8. Do a dress rehearsal. If at all possible, do a rehearsal in the actual space where you’ll be presenting. Many classrooms are left empty at certain times of the day and this can make a big difference in the speaker’s comfort level if they’ve already presented it in the actual presentation space. If it’s not possible, your bedroom or living room will do. Lay out your speaking outfit in advance so you don’t waste time and stress tracking down the right clothes. Many speakers find it helpful to rehearse in the clothes they intend to wear for the speech.

   While it may seem tedious to rehearse so much, speakers who practice their speech in advance are way more confident and relaxed during the actual presentation. Very little can go wrong when you already know how you want it to go. It is also much easier to adjust to little things like equipment malfunctions, timing changes, and interruptions when you know that the speech content is solid.