Speaker's notebook

Use these practical notes to prepare the details that make the next conversation useful.

Bring the actual format

Keep the organiser's speaking rules, timing and judging criteria together. Mark the parts that affect your preparation. Where the rules are unclear, seek clarification from the event organiser rather than building a rehearsal around an assumption.

Person recording a practice speech with a phone on tripod

Reduce a claim to one sentence

Write the central claim in plain language before polishing an opening. List the reasons that support it and check whether each example advances one of those reasons. An attractive sentence cannot substitute for a missing step in the argument.

Audience listening in a small learning salon

Practise the transition

Listeners need to know why one point follows another. Rehearse the bridge between sections, not only the first and final lines. A transition can explain a contrast, a consequence or the next question the audience should consider.

Review a recording with a question

If you choose to record a rehearsal, decide what you are checking before listening back. Consider pace, pauses or the clarity of a specific claim. Obtain permission from anyone else recorded and use an agreed channel before sharing a file.

Bring your next speaking challenge

Describe the event, the speaking format and the aspect you want to practise.

Talk about practice