Why Memorising Your Entire Speech Is Making You More Nervous (And What to Do Instead)
When people come to train with me for an upcoming presentation or their first-ever stand-up set, they often admit the same fear.
Dave Crisante at a Future Science Talks event at the Adelaide Fringe
They always say “I’m terrified I won’t remember my speech.”
Honestly? That fear makes complete sense.
One of the biggest challenges with public speaking is we are all scared of looking stupid.
To prevent this, we write out speeches, which is fantastic.
But then we start to put pressure on ourselves: “How can I memorise everything?”
Here’s my lived experience. As someone who delivers speeches, presentations, workshops and more every week, I’ve learned (the hard way!) that trying to memorise my script is the fastest way for me to freeze on stage.
And then I definitely will look stupid.
I ALWAYS write my speeches, but this is to help focus my thoughts so I’m giving audiences my most meaningful material.
All of us are storytellers, and we can learn from actors, comedians, and yes, even shudder politicians.
They have their material, and it is to be drawn from, not necessarily memorised.
So here are my top tips when you have some material that you feel you should memorise.
Remember your key one or two points, constantly repeat them to yourself
When I present this idea to my students, something shifts.
Rather than putting pressure on themselves to memorise every line, they begin to focus more attentively on what actually matters:
What do you want the audience to feel?
What do you want them to remember?
What are the two core ideas you care about most?
Once they stop trying to memorise everything, they suddenly become more engaging, more natural, and more confident.
I help people stop obsessing over perfect phrasing and start focusing on impact.
This helps ensure people speak like a human being, that they’re present, responsive, and authentic.
This is exactly what seasoned stand-up comedians do: they don’t memorise every word, they memorise the idea behind each bit.
The details may change, but the message stays solid.
Once someone has internalised their key points, they instantly look more confident - even if they stumble.
This is because their brain is no longer juggling 600 words, it’s holding onto two.
And that frees up bandwidth for tone, pacing, connection, and presence… the things that audiences instinctively respond to.
And yes, this works equally well for CEOs, researchers, executives, and nervous first-timers alike.
When you know your core message deeply, the words take care of themselves.
2. Avoid the segue trap!
The segue trap is where speakers fall apart.
You try to transition beautifully from one idea to the next.
You’ve crafted a perfect sentence.
You trip on one single word… and suddenly the whole script collapses.
A lot of speakers feel that they’re meant to have a segue to go from one idea to the next.
NOOOOOoooooooOOOoooOoo! Please avoid this trap.
Here’s the secret: segues don’t matter. The audience will never remember them. Can you remember the last segue you heard?
What does matter are your anchor lines: the phrases you want people quoting afterwards, the ideas you want lodged in their memory.
These are the lines you rehearse.
My tip is to remove segues entirely.
I’ve seen it on so many occasions - speakers insisting on keeping segues, and then forgetting their key points.
The best segue is a pause, and then opening up with a new topic. Segue sentences aren’t necessary.
3. Create bullet points of your talk and revise those
This is exactly what I help people achieve:
Clarity, confidence, and real presence.
When your speech is complete, it’s too long to memorise.
Instead, create a roadmap that will guide you by summarising your speech into key bullet points.
They are simple, visual anchors that tell your brain, “Here’s where we’re going next.”
When you rehearse using bullet points, you train yourself to speak with flexibility, not rigidity.
When to practice?
In transit, in the bathroom, on your way to the meeting.
By repeating these bullet points, and rehearsing their sequence, you’ll free yourself from the fear of going blank.
If - during your talk - you lose your place, all you need to remember is your next bullet.
Your audience will never know you skipped something.
They will only see someone who looks grounded, confident, and in control.
This shift from “I must remember every line” to “I only need to remember where I’m going” is transformative.
It changes how you speak, how you present, and how you see yourself.
And it’s one of the biggest breakthroughs I see in students across all my training.