Are you comfortable with speaking from a well-researched and

rehearsed outline? If so, you may be ready to transition from

extemporaneous speaking to presenting with no notes.

Doing so will allow you to become more dynamic and

authoritative in your style—you can move freely in the speaking
area because you aren’t tethered to the lectern, and you can
make lasting eye contact because you aren’t glancing at notes or a
script.

If and when you are ready to speak without notes, here are a few
suggestions to make the transition easier:

1. Memorize selectively.

Giving a presentation with no notes doesn’t mean that you have

to memorize an entire script. Word-for-word memorization is time
consuming, can cause a catastrophic failure if you blank out mid-
delivery, and can lead to a wooden delivery if you focus on
recalling specific words rather than connecting with your listeners.
Instead, memorize the outline of your presentation (the two or
three main ideas and a few pieces of supporting material for
each), the opening and closing lines (so you start and end with
confidence), as well as any key transitions (places where you have
to pivot carefully from one idea to the next so audience members
understand your logic). Memorizing selectively means that your
speech will be a little different each time you deliver it—and that’s
just fine.

2. Tell stories.

Whenever you can, use stories, examples and anecdotes about

yourself or situations you know well to support your main points.
Stories provide powerful “data,” and more important, they are
much easier to remember and share than facts and figures.

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3. Use visual aids strategically.

When you’re speaking without notes, use visual aids to convey key
numbers, figures, and other types of specific information that
would be difficult to commit to memory. Depending on the
situation, you can use a paper handout or presentation software
to display graphs, charts, maps, or infographics for your listeners.
Once you are presenting, you’ll have access to the specific
information you want to share without having to memorize it.
Additionally, you can include in your visual the source from which
you took the supporting material so you can cite it to inform your
listeners and bolster your credibility, all without having to
memorize the name of the publication, author, date, etc.

4. Rehearse more.

You may already know my recommendation that extemporaneous

speakers rehearse from a detailed outline at least six times to gain
command of their material and to deliver the content in a
dynamic manner.

When you are transitioning to speaking without notes, this

number increases; for most speakers, it takes a dozen or more
rehearsals to master the content of a presentation that is
delivered with no notes, but you may find that you may need
more or fewer depending on your proclivity for committing
information to memory.

Speaking without notes is not advisable when you are short on

time to prepare, when you are less familiar with the subject
matter, or when you are delivering a technical talk for which the
accuracy of message is paramount.

Presenting with no notes is not appropriate for novice speakers. If

you have a solid foundation of experience and confidence, though,
consider taking the leap to presenting without any notes for your
next important speech—whether it’s a toast, a conference
keynote, a briefing on your area of expertise, a talk at a TEDx
event, or even a training program.

Why would you want to speak without notes? Because you will
look more confident and knowledgeable about your topic. You will
hold the attention and respect of your audience as they recognize
that you know your topic well.

A presenter that keeps checking his notes looks like he didn't

prepare or he doesn't know the material well. That can damage
your credibility with the audience. Imagine how badly the
audience might feel when you read your presentation from sheets
of paper or worse, your PowerPoint slides. Arrggh!

Speaking without notes is something that you do every day. Every

time you have a conversation you are speaking without notes. So
you know that you can do it.
Let's discover how you can speak without notes while delivering a
presentation to an audience. It's simple and effective when you
know how.

Naturally, the first thing you must do is to know your topic well.
The knowledge must be in your brain.

Here are three techniques that you can use to deliver your
presentation without notes or at least fewer notes.

1. Key Word Notes

The most common technique is to use point form notes. The key
words serve to remind you of the sequence and the points that
you plan to cover. While delivering the presentation you are
simply filling in the blanks between the key words. You can do this
because you know your material well and you rehearsed well. The
challenge is to distill your presentation down to a few key words.
Write those key words on a small piece of paper or better yet an
index card that you refer to while speaking. Imagine getting a 30
minute presentation summarized in about seven key words.

2. Questions

The second technique is to prepare your presentation as a series

of rhetorical questions that you pose then answer. The questions
could be the most common questions about your business. You've
heard and answered those questions many times so you can
certainly talk about them. Asking yourself a specific question is
also an effective way of drawing out the information from your
memory.

A variation of this technique is to pose questions to your

audience. Listen to their responses and then add your comments
to fill in the gaps. This is also the most unpredictable method
because you can't anticipate the direction of the questions.

Both of these variations on using questions will make your

presentation appear more like a conversation. Therefore you will
look more confident and knowledgeable.

3. Props

The third technique to speaking without notes is to use props. Lay

the props out on a table in the order that you plan to address
them. The props could be products, tools and/or toys. You could
even use colored pieces of paper, books and correspondence. The
props replace your notes. They serve as a visual cue to you and
add the show-and-tell flavor to your presentation.
You can deliver your presentation without notes. There's no need
to memorize it. Know your material and use these techniques and
aids to speak without notes.