Make notes, use notes, keep notes
I read recently that the script for a wartime speech by Winston Churchill fetched £140,000 at an auction (although not £140 million as the Daily Mirror headline stated!) Well, I've got quite a few sheets of A4 from my talks if anyone wants to make an offer...
Seriously, it's a good idea to keep the notes from all your past speaking engagements for a number of reasons:
- you may be asked to give the same presentation somewhere else
-you may be booked to speak to an organisation and wish to ensure that you don't repeat yourself
-as you develop the content of a particular presentation over time, you can look back and see how much it has progressed
Of course, all of the above also apply to recordings of yourself but if you just want to look at content rather than listen to vocal delivery, it's much quicker to look at your notes.
The very popular entertainer Bob 'the Cat' Bevan has written a book about his adventures as an after dinner speaker. It's an interesting read (although I would have preferred less content about his sporting endeavours and even more about his speaking). He writes that he still has notes from his earliest engagements back in the 1970s!
Public Speaking Tip #221: Keep the notes from your past speaking engagements - they can be invaluable for future ones.
