68. How to Deliver a Scripted Speech

When the Words Count

Microsoft PowerPoint, the graphic medium of choice for today’s presentations and speeches, has also come to serve as a “script” or a prompt for the speaker’s narrative. This convention gives the speaker the liberty to depart from the slides by either going deep or touching lightly on the main points as needed. However, there are several situations where the words in a speech must be more specific, where the “script” loses its quotation marks and becomes a prescribed text.

• Legal. A speaker having to make a public statement about a legal matter will use words carefully crafted by attorneys.

• Policy. A speaker having to make a statement about a controversial or sensitive issue will use words carefully positioned by public relations or media counsel.

• Lyrical. A speaker having to talk in an emotional situation: a eulogy, graduation, retirement, award acceptance, or patriotic event, will use words creatively drawn by a skilled prose writer.

• Political. A speaker running for public office will make statements written by a team of political consultants.

• Production. A speaker at a “Big Tent” event (described in the next chapter) having to bridge to technical elements, such as, video clips or demonstrations, must use precise words to cue the production team.

In each of these cases, the speaker must rely on a hard copy of the speech—which sets up four potential pitfalls during its delivery.

• The speech appears and/or sounds “read” or “canned.”

• The speaker loses Eye Connect with the audience.

• The voice becomes muffled by looking down at the text.

• The turning of the pages is distracting.

There are two solutions available:

• Teleprompter

• Vertical text

Teleprompter

This is the elaborate system traditionally used by U. S. Presidents in their State of the Union Addresses, the highest profile policy situation imaginable. Television news anchors and commentators use Teleprompter, too, but the system is also being deployed in many other circumstances, particularly in the business world.

In the State of the Union Address, the President stands on the dais, facing hundreds of legislators assembled in a Joint Session of Congress. Discreetly positioned at either side of the speaker’s rostrum are two inconspicuous thin black rods supporting clear Plexiglas panels. These panels reflect the image of a concealed computer screen where the text of the speech scrolls by at a controlled rate. The angle of the panels makes the text visible only to the speaker and transparent to the audience, so it appears that the speaker is looking straight at the audience.

Thus, the Teleprompter system eliminates all four of the major pitfalls above, but it introduces three new ones, each of which requires a solution of its own.

• Malfunction. Mechanical devices can fail, so always have a hard copy as backup.

• The Ping-Pong Effect. As the speaker swings back and forth between the two panels, the repetitive pattern appears deliberate and unnatural. Ronald Reagan was a master of the Teleprompter game, moving back and forth between panels in smooth random swings, but he was a professional. As you read in Chapter 52, “Look, Ma, No Hands!” Mr. Reagan perfected his speaking techniques during his eight years as the host of the television series GE Theater.

For those of us who are not Ronald Reagan, another solution is to use four Plexiglas panels, and to move among them in random sequence. Be sure to make these moves at logical points—when your voice drops to conclude a phrase.

• Cadence. The words you read will most likely have been written by another person whose cadence is different from yours. This could lead to a overly-deliberate or “canned” rhythm. The solution is to for you to preview the computer text and find your own cadence. Mark the ends of the phrases with backslashes. These marks will serve as your prompts to make your move to another Plexiglas panel.

Clearly, Teleprompter is a complex solution—and a costly one. For those on a tighter budget, there is another solution, good old reliable paper.

Vertical Text

When the text of a script is printed in conventional format, it causes readers to move their eyes in both the horizontal and vertical planes: across the line, down to the next line, and back to start the next line across. Please read the first two paragraphs of Abraham Lincoln’s great Gettysburg Address below and feel your eye movements.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

These moves are of no effect when you are reading from the printed page for your own enlightenment or enjoyment. But if you read this text to an audience, you would have to add two more vertical moves: up to look at the audience and back down at the page to go across the line. These additional movements make it difficult to keep track of your place on the page.

The solution is Vertical Text. Reset the tabs of your document to create a narrow column and reformat your script. Define each line as a piece of integral logic, mostly where the commas occur. These are the full phrases where you should drop your voice as you deliver them. Now read the reformatted Gettysburg Address below and note how your eye movements have diminished, making it easier to keep track of your place.

Four score and seven years ago

our fathers brought forth on this continent,

a new nation, conceived in Liberty,

and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war,

testing whether that nation, or any nation

so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

We are met on a great battle-field of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field,

as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives

that that nation might live.

It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

When you have reformatted your text, practice delivering it several times. As you become familiar with the content, you will pick up several lines each time you look down, and you will develop a fluid, comfortable, and varied rhythm.

Most important, you will be more connected with your audience.