How to Write and Memorize a Speech in 45 Minutes

I recently gave a speech at my toastmasters club, which I wrote and memorized in 45 minutes. The topic of the speech was: How to memorize a speech. The method that I followed was beautifully simple.

I created an image in my mind of a walk I take every day. I have a dog and she gets to walk in the dog park morning and afternoon. The dog park is just around the corner from our house.

In a mindmap program, I create a branch for each noticeable place along the walk.

These places were (walk with me here):

• The front door

• The house across the street

• A house under construction further down the street

• A left turn up the hill going up to the park

• A gorgeous house I walk by just before I enter the park.

• This house has three doors

• The two paths I see when I enter the park

• A brig tree on the left

• Uphill walk and open area to my left.

I then associated these places with things I wanted to say by using ridiculous images.

For instance, instead of walking a dog, I was walking a giant brain. The brain reminds me of the topic of my speech.

In front of each door of the gorgeous house I saw a gnome. The first gnome couldn’t close a door because the room behind it was stuffed with nutrition.

The second gnome barely was able to open a door and once he opened it, he saw a broken elevator and a steep staircase. He had to take the staircase because exercise is important for a good memory.

And in front of the third door, I saw a gaggle of gnomes. They were talking a gossiping and asking after one another. A social life is crucial for a strong brain.

When I entered the park, I saw a large tree, and in that tree I saw a Giant Green Monster with Warts. All ugly looking. This reminded me that ridiculous images create the most powerful associations, which helps you memorize your speech better.

Further up the hill I saw a field and in this field I saw an enormous grasshopper. A locust, think the Exorcist. Locust reminds me of loci, to remind me to tell you that I have just used to ancient method of loci. The word loci is plural for locus which means place.

This is an ancient technique, developed by the Greeks and the Romans so they could memorize tree hour long speeches.

Your speech doesn’t have to be three hours long. Seven minutes is often enough to say something important.

When you know you will remember what you were going to say, you will feel that much more confident when you give your speech.

Read more at brainafter50.com