Do you have a presentation at work or for school that you need to prepare for?
Or maybe you’ve been invited to speak at an event and bringing your notes and reading from them is not an option?
The truth is giving a memorized speech can make you appear more confident and knowledgeable and give people the impression that you’re an excellent public speaker.
But how do you go about memorizing an entire speech if you’ve only got a few hours or a night to do it?
In this article, I’m going to share some tested and proven methods you can use to memorize a speech quickly and easily, so you can deliver it flawlessly the next day.
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Ways to memorize a speech in one night
Let’s check out some excellent memorization techniques you can take advantage of when you’re in a time crunch and need to learn something.
1. Create written notes
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Ditch your electronic devices for pen and paper. Writing down your speech will help you memorize and retain it better because your mind is processing the information and ranking them based on their order of importance.
The act of writing forces you to pay attention to the words you put down, which in turn helps you soak in new knowledge faster and makes it easier for you to remember it later.
You can choose to write down your entire speech word for word and then read through it over and over until you are able to recall the main ideas quickly. However, this method can be time-consuming, especially if you plan on giving a long speech.
Alternatively, you can create an outline for your speech and write down the main points and the bullet points you want to cover when talking about each of them.
When you memorize the bullet points, it will be very easy to remember what you want to talk about without having to memorize your whole speech word for word.
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2. Rehearse your speech out loud
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Have you noticed that it’s easier for you to recall conversations with people from so far back than something you read from that same period? It’s because our memory is wired to recollect spoken words more than written words.
So after writing down your speech, rehearse it aloud to yourself at least five times to boost retention. It helps you put yourself in the audience’s shoes so you can hear and feel how your speech might sound to them.
Giving voice to your speech will enable you to pinpoint the aspects of your presentation that needs cleaning up or clarification. Then you can make adjustments to those areas to enable the message to shine through as clearly as possible.
Keep an ear out for jargon and complicated information that might prevent your audience from fully grasping the meaning and value of your speech. Make sure you’re using simple language that can be easily understood.
Not only will you be able to memorize your speech this way, you’ll also become more comfortable and confident with the material to the point where it feels like you’re just talking naturally, rather than simply reciting a script.
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3. Use the memory palace method
Photo by Huseyn Kamaladdin
The memory palace is one of the most effective memorization techniques you can use to learn a speech in one night. It has been around for thousands of years since 80 B.C. so that should tell you just how good this method is.
To create a memory palace to help you remember your speech you need to visualize a place or a journey that you know very well. It could be your office or the route to your house.
Next, break up your speech into bullet points if you haven’t done that already. Then pinpoint significant spots or locations in your office or the commute to your home or whatever place you’re using, and allocate one bullet point to each spot.
This means that if you have six bullet points, you will need to pick six spots in your memory palace to represent each of them.
For example, your introduction could be the door leading to your office, your first point could be your office desk, and your concluding point could be the restroom.
To make your memory palace even more effective, you can visualize objects in the location that relates to your bullet point. So if a bullet point refers to technology you can use a computer to visually represent it.
As you rehearse your speech, imagine walking around your memory palace to get to each bullet point. Practice this a few times and by the end of the night, you’ll be able to walk through your chosen location and remember each aspect of your speech.
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4. Practice the 20-20-20 rehearsal technique
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With D-Day fast approaching, a highly effective method you can use to memorize a speech is the 20-20-20 rule.
Memory experts recommend applying this rule by reading or listening to your speech for 20 minutes, then repeating it immediately for another 20 minutes, and then another 20.
By reviewing the material three times in quick succession, it sticks to your memory better and allows for a stronger recall in the future.
Keep in mind that this rule only works if you repeat the material within 30 minutes of each review session. That means you have to start reading it again no later than 30 minutes after the first and second readings.
Otherwise, the information you’re trying to memorize will not be encoded into your long-term memory.
The beauty of the 20-20-20 memorization method is that it helps you direct your attention to the key parts of your speech and memorize them. So you’re not wasting too much time trying to cram every single word or detail into your head.
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5. Construct mind maps
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Mind maps are simple diagrams that help you break down and visually organize your speech. It works because our minds can easily form connections between visual elements and ideas than with traditional text or notes.
Although mind mapping can help anyone memorize anything, even long, complex, and boring information, it’s particularly useful for people who are visual learners.
Mind maps enable you to be more cognizant of the transitions and connections between different points by organizing them into visual categories.
The visual diagram or image you’ve created will imprint on your brain and make it easier to remember the information you’ve weaved into it.
You can make use of mind mapping software like Mindjet or Freemind or draw your mind maps by hand with a pen and paper. Just start by writing down the core idea or subject you want to remember using one or two words to express it.
Then connect it to other sub-topics and related ideas using whatever lines or shapes you want. Feel free to use arrows, images, colors, charts, and other visual elements to make your map more fun and digestible.
6. Remember the eight seconds rule
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It takes eight uninterrupted seconds for your brain to process a piece of information through your hippocampus and turn it into a memory.
If you’re trying to memorize a speech in one night, keep this in mind and focus on the task at hand.
Whether you’re reading the speech from your notes, practicing with mind maps, or rehearsing it aloud, you need to give all of your attention to the activity to enable the information to be conveyed to your memory.
You can’t go from reviewing the material one second to scrolling through Twitter or responding to messages on your phone the next second.
Eke out time to fully concentrate on rehearsing and reviewing your speech and don’t allow any interruptions during this time. This simple trick will help you memorize the information faster and better.
7. Present it to someone
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Another effective method you can use to memorize a speech is by teaching it to someone else. The act of teaching forces your brain to fetch the information from your memory while also strengthening the memory through repetition.
Find someone near you who is willing to listen to you practice your speech, it could be friends, coworkers, flatmates, family, or even a neighbor.
Rehearsing the speech in front of someone else will prepare you for delivering the material in front of an audience, which will do you a lot of good if the speech is intended to be spoken publicly.
Ask the person or audience to take a seat, then stand like you’re on a stage and say what you want to say. After you’re done giving the speech, they can share their thoughts and give you tips to improve your posture, body language, and speech content.
They can also ask questions and help you clarify any aspect of the speech that’s confusing or riddled with holes. Rehearsing your speech with real people will help increase your confidence in yourself and the material.
However, if there’s no one around for you to give a presentation of your speech to, you can stand in front of a mirror and pretend you’re talking to someone.
8. Attach a mental image to each bullet point
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Our brains are wired to recollect images better than words. So if you’re in a time crunch and need to learn a speech very quickly, you can do this by creating images in your head and linking them to the main topics in your presentation.
If you plan to give a speech about the value of self-development and learning new things, you can create a mental image of books to help you visualize this point.
Let’s say your next point is career growth, you can call on the image of a growing plant to represent this idea.
Keep doing this for the remaining parts of the speech and as time goes by, you’ll realize that conjuring these images in your head helps you recall the message you want to share and the point you want to make.
9. Record and listen to your speech
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When rehearsing your speech out loud, make a video or audio recording of yourself using your phone or computer.
Once the recording is done wait for a few minutes then play it back and listen to yourself. The more you listen attentively to the recording, the more the information will be encoded in your brain, and the stronger your ability to recall it will be.
It’s how you’re able to remember lyrics to songs you never actually sat down to learn. You just played or heard the songs repeatedly and it was assimilated into your subconscious mind.
If you’re an auditory learner, you’ll find this method of memorization particularly helpful for knowledge retention.
You’ll also be able to judge your delivery, see how well you are moving through the material, and make changes where necessary to fine-tune the speech.
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10. Practice using music
Photo by Ivan Samkov
Another efficacious technique you can use to memorize a speech in one night is by practicing along to music.
A renowned psychologist, Dr. Georgi Lozanov, designed a system to teach foreign languages to students using baroque music featuring about 60 beats per minute.
He chose baroque music, also known as classical music because it has the ability to work both your right and left brain. This synchronous action in both brain hemispheres aids in boosting information retention.
The results of this teaching methodology were astounding. The students were able to learn the languages they were being taught in just a fraction of the usual time and they boasted a 92% retention rate on average.
You can apply the learning with music method to the speech you want to master. Just put on some classical music while reviewing and practicing the address through the night to activate your brain hemispheres and maximize the amount of information you digest and retain.
11. Use the substitution method
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As the name implies, you just need to substitute what you remember for something that’s more interesting and can be easily recalled to put this method to use.
Let’s say you’re trying to remember a line from your speech that has to do with dreams, you can associate it with the word “Disney” because it’s a place that a lot of people dream about visiting.
While you can’t use this method to memorize the whole speech, you can use it to remember the main talking points and ideas for a speech which is already half the trouble.
If you’re an auditory learner, you can then rehearse saying each point and the substituted words or phrases representing it out loud so the association is formed in your head.
Visual learners can just practice imagining the substituted words whenever they walk through the key talking points.
Kinesthetic learners can substitute the core ideas in their speech for objects around them, then touch each of those objects when reciting the points they’re associated with. This will help cement the memory in their heads.
For people who learn better by reading or writing, you can just note down the words you want to use as a substitute next to each point in your speech outline.
Using the substitution method, your mind will remember the memorable word or phrase first whenever you need to remember a part of your speech.
This action will then activate the memory of the speech itself, allowing you to recall what you want to say quickly.
12. Build a narrative around your speech
Photo by Henri Mathieu-Saint-Laurent
Everyone loves a good story and so do our brains. When we hear a good story that resonates with us, a hormone called oxytocin gets released, improving our capacity to empathize with the characters in the story.
If you want to memorize your speech in one night, just turn it into a story. Give your memory what it loves; paint a vibrant picture, make the narrative engaging and it will remember it.
You don’t necessarily need to go as far as incorporating a story or nonexistent into the speech itself and deliver it that way. The narrative can be just for you alone.
All you have to do is construct images or stories in your head around the passages or points you want to memorize and organize them in a sequence your brain can keep track of.
The more ridiculous the image or story, the better you’ll remember it, and by extension, remember what the speech says.
13. Leverage the power of cumulative repetition and memorization
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The main struggle with memorizing things is forgetting. To efficiently memorize a speech you not only have to learn it, you also have to slow down the forgetting process.
One of the best ways to do this is by combining repetition with cumulative memorization. Don’t worry, it’s not as complicated as it sounds.
Here’s how it works in practice: start by dividing your notes into sections then pick one section to learn and memorize.
After studying that section a few times, add another section and rehearse them all together a few times, then add another section to what you’ve learned so far.
Keep repeating the process until you’ve gone through the entire text. Make sure you practice each section until you can remember everything easily and don’t jump to another section until you’ve memorized the ones before it well enough.
This will enhance the strength of the memory and prevent it from fading easily.
Tips for improving your memorization skills
Here are some practical tips you can use to boost your ability to memorize information in a limited time frame:
1. Make use of a memorization tool
If you need a little help memorizing your speech or strengthening your memorization skills, there are plenty of apps out there that can help you with that.
Some memorization apps come with games you can play to test and improve your concentration, recollection, and attention span for a variety of situations including presentations. speeches, interviews, and exams.
Others even feature quizzes and recording options to help you practice and recollect what you’ve learned.
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2. Say no to multitasking
Sure, multitasking can help you tackle multiple tasks at the same time. But when it comes to learning, it can actually do a lot more harm than good.
When you’re studying, you want your attention to be focused entirely on taking in and comprehending the information in front of you.
If you’re splitting your focus between learning and other tasks, all you’re doing is undermining your brain’s ability to effectively grasp and store the information in your memory.
To make the most of your time and ensure you successfully memorize the desired material, carve out a dedicated time to sit in a quiet, comfortable, and relaxing place where you can study without distractions or interruptions.
3. Build healthy sleep and eating habits
To improve your brain power, you need to prioritize eating and sleeping better. Exhaustion and imbalanced diets can lead to brain fog and forgetfulness, making it harder for you to take in new information or recall what you’ve learned.
Having healthy, nutritionally balanced meals will fuel your brain and ensure it is functioning the way it should.
On the other hand, proper sleep can help your body get rid of the stress of the day and support your brain in resting before and after preparing to memorize a speech.
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4. Exercise before you begin memorizing
Working out not only does wonders for your physical health and appearance, it also helps to boost your mental health and cognitive capabilities.
To boost your ability to absorb and retain information, try exercising before you start memorizing your speech.
You don’t even have to hit the gym, spend hours weightlifting, or engage in an intense cardio session to unlock the cognitive benefits of exercising.
Practicing a little yoga, going for a jog or walk, jumping rope, or doing any activity that gets your blood pumping will be just as effective.
Conclusion
Public speaking can make even the most confident and experienced people nervous. But you can overcome this anxiety by being well prepared and sufficiently memorizing your speech so you don’t freeze up or forget what you want to say.
Applying the memorization techniques and guidelines above will help you learn your speech well enough to recall it easily. So you can show up relaxed, confident, and ready to deliver your message in an authentic and genuine way.
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