Is there such a thing as being "over-rehearsed" for a speech or presentation?
One of the hardest public speaking challenges is making a pre-planned speech sound conversational, relaxed and off-the-cuff. (Just listen to radio DJs and podcasters try to "casually" read an advert script, many of them fail to give this a natural feel). Many of my clients have a concern about sounding scripted.
But the answer to achieving a sincere and in-the-moment delivery style is not to practise your speech or presentation less!
We need the practice phase before we can enter the presence phase.
We need to rehearse to feel safe and familiar with delivering the script so that our brain can then chill out in front of the audience and enter the presence phase.
The phase when we get to enjoy and speak those words with freshness and sincerity. We are wholly commited to what is happening right then and there. We are not worrying about a mistake in the past or what might go wrong later. We are present.
Presence follows practise.
Natural follows rehearsal.
These two phases work together to give you the best shot at winning your audience.
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