^Tutorial 15 - Remembering Speeches and Presentations\

The most effective way to deliver a speech is to speak it in your own words,
|thought for thought\. Any speech is basically a |sequence of thoughts\. If
the thoughts are random, out of sequence, they won't make a lot of sense.

You should by now be completely familiar with using the ^Link System\ to
memorise things in sequence. The Link System, with the addition of the ^Key
Word\ idea, will enable you to remember any speech you want to deliver,
|thought for thought\.

This is how you do it.  Firstly, write (or type) out your speech, including
all the ideas you want to get across, and everything you want to say about
those ideas.  When you are happy with the speech, select a Key Word or
Phrase for each of the thoughts in the sppech which will remind you of the
|entire thought\.

This is not as difficult as it may appear. Almost any thought, whether you
intend to express it in six words or sixty words, can be recalled by just
^one\ Key Word or Phrase. Take as an example the following excerpt from a
speech to a sales conference.#
'We have high expectations of our new products, Eclipse, New Woman, and
Femme Fatale.  These products should help us stir a lot of new business.  It
has been over a year since we introduced any new product lines at all, and
we must push these products as hard as we can...'

This paragraph can be summed up by the Key Phrase ^new products\.  Assuming
that you are familiar with the facts about which you are talking - for
example that your company has launched no new products for over a year -
then thinking of ^new products\ sums up the entire thought of the above
paragraph.

Having extracted the Key Thoughts from your speech, if you then link them
together, in sequence, you will have memorised your speech, ^thought for
thought\.

Of course, you could simply jot down your Key Words on a piece of paper and
occasionally glance down at your notes to remind yourself of your next Key
Thought.  However, you may not instantly see the next point if your list is
fairly long, and you can easily miss points out if your eye runs over them.
It can ruin a point finished on a high note to link to the next point with
an 'Er...um....ah...'  as you glance surreptitiously at your notes.#

Once you are confident with the idea oflinking Key Words to help you
remember a speech, you can use the method with more aplomb than even the
scantiest notes.  You will find that you can move smoothly from one point to
another, recalling the next Key Word as you are reaching the end of the one
before it.

Let's consider an example. Suppose you have to deliver a brief speech to a
meeting of company employees, outlining reasons for changes in policy by the
company. Assume that you have written out your speech and selected the
following ten Key Thoughts which you need to remember :
^
(1) New Technology (6)  Productivity
(2) Progress       (7)  Costs
(3) Manpower       (8)  Profit Margins
(4) Redistribution (9)  Overseas
(5) Talent         (10) Morale\

Assume also that you know what you want to say about each of these thoughts.
If you new nothing about the subject, why would you be speaking about it ?
Your problem is simply to remember the Key Thought in the correct sequence,
without missing any.#

The first Key Thought is ^New Technology\. Think of a Substitute Word or
Phrase to remind you of New Technology. For ^technology\ you could picture
your computer (you must have a computer or you wouldn't be running Memory
Master !). For ^new\ you could perhaps visualise your computer being brand,
spanking new - so new that it shines and gleams with newness.

The second Key Thought is ^Progess\, so begin your link by associating that
thought to New Technology.  You might picture your new, gleaming computer
sprouting legs and marching (progressing) down the road.  Or, to make the
image more vivid, you could picture millions of new computers progressing
down the road.  See that zany image, or a ludicrous association you thought
of yourself, in your mind's eye, right now.

The next Key Thought is ^Manpower\, so continue your Link by associating it
to Progress. For ^Manpower\ you might visualise an army of identical little
matchstick men. To associate it to Progress, you might picture that army of
little men progressing down a road, or perhaps progressing slowly up a very
steep hill. Make that association now.#

^Redistribution\ is the next Key Thought. To help you picture this thought,
you could visualise your army of matchstick men being moved around by a
giant hand, like a chess game. See that crazy picture now.

To help you picture the fifth Key Thought, ^Talent\, you could picture some
entrants in a talent contest - jugglers, singers, clowns, comedians - anyone
you might see on a talent contest. Now associate ^Talent\ to redistribution.
Picture those talent contest entrants being ^redistributed\ around a stage
by a huge hand or claw, in a zany, comic fashion. See that picture.

Complete the Link yourself, by adding the remaining five Key Thoughts -
^Productivity, Costs, Profit Margins, Overseas,\ and ^Morale\ to the five
thoughts you have linked so far. Here are some suggestions for Substitute
Words and Phrase to help you make the associations.

^Productivity\   - someone busily producing huge quantities of something
^Costs\          - huge piles of coins or notes
^Profit Margins\ - ma (a little old lady) selling gin and making a profit
^Overseas\       - a ship sailing on the ocean, or just an expanse of water
^Morale\         - more ale (lots of beer)#

Forming a Link accomplishes two things. It forces you to concentrate, and be
Initially Aware of, the thoughts of the speech, and it will give you the
^sequence of thoughts\. When you |know\ that you definitely have that
sequence fixed in your mind, it gives you a confidence you wouldn't have if
you were relying on notes.

If you haven't yet seriously tried to form a mental Link between the ten Key
Thoughts listed on the previous pages, go back and do it right now. When
you are ready, press Page Down to test yourself on how well you have
memorised those ten Key Thoughts.~