[...]Should I rehearse and for how long? « TJWALKER INTERACTIVE[...]…

Chris
The PC Health Advisor review

Every Saturday, we survey the best public speaking articles from throughout the public speaking blogosphere. But, given my blogging hiatus, this week’s version is super-sized!
Topics featured include:

using repetition;
effective storytelling;
bo…

Put briefly, it depends on _what_ you rehearse.

An over-rehearsed presentation – or an over-rehearsed show – can really stink. The danger is that it can be so automatic that it loses touch with the audience. It becomes a polished set of actions and words and ceases to be two-way communication, a persuasive dialogue. (Working on stage, we know that the real comic aside – the gag improvised when the scenery collapses or a cellphone in the audience rings – is usually the biggest laugh of the evening because the audience know it was one-off, one-time, genuine creativity. Authenticity, if you will.)

On the other hand, bluffing your way through Shakespeare on a wing and a teleprompter will not get you far. You need the confidence to know what happens next, the experience to get you through the technically challenging parts. And that only comes from practice. Lots of practice.

Hmm. So what to do?

I believe firmly that you should not rehearse your _presentation_, you should rehearse your _presentations_. Plural.

Try every line ten different ways. Try thirty different orders. Try missing out this part, and expanding that section. Try it backwards – seriously. Play with the pieces and bang them together until you know every corner.

This will give you all the confidence you need, because you will have mastered your material. But it will also give the flexibility you need. You will know that there is more than one path through the presentation, and that you can cope with anything. Most importantly, you will be able to adjust your presentation with confidence to genuinely respond to the audiences signals – making it a real two-way exchange, not something that could have been done by DVD.

Cheers and thanks for the blog.

Adam
Work•Play•Experience
&
The Business Comedian

My response to clients who say they don’t want to over-rehearse in case they get stale is very similar to yours. There is a one-word difference between someone who feels they get stale if they over-rehearse and someone who is willing to put in the time to ensure that their presentation or speech is top-notch and the word is: PROFESSIONALISM.

Try using that ‘stale’ line with a stage actor who endures weeks and weeks of rehearsal and then months or even years of 8-shows-a-week performances. Stale? In front of a full house who have paid 70-100 bucks a seat? I don’t think so!

The enormous effort put in at rehearsal and the ongoing cycle of refresher rehearsals keeps the show alive and invigorated and fresh – not stale. It’s called professional pride and I sincerely wish that more presenters displayed it.