When you are ready to practice delivering your speech, you might wonder what to include in your speaking notes. The answer depends on what kind of delivery you plan to adopt.

In chapter 17, we described four modes of delivery: extemporaneous, impromptu, memorized, and manuscript. Two of these typically require no speaking notes. Speakers delivering impromptu speeches develop their speeches as they speak, though they might jot down a note or two just before speaking. Memorized speeches should, by definition, be committed to memory and thus similarly require no speaking notes.

The other two modes of delivery—extemporaneous and manuscript—do necessitate written words to speak from. As we defined in chapter 17, in a manuscript delivery, the speaker writes the entire address and utilizes the text in delivering the speech. In that same chapter, we defined an extemporaneous delivery as when a speaker uses trimmed-down notes to recall the speech’s structure, key ideas, and any direct quotations or source citations.

This chapter focuses first on how to prepare speaking notes for an extemporaneous delivery. We then offer tips for preparing a manuscript for a manuscript delivery. We end by helping you consider what medium to use for your notes or manuscript.

Preparing a Presentation Outline for an Extemporaneous Delivery

Typically, an extemporaneous delivery will use trimmed-down notes, or what we call a presentation outline. A presentation outline is a brief sketch of your speech designed to help you deliver your speech as free from your notes as possible. It allows you to more easily make on-the-fly adjustments and connect with your direct audience (the people who are exposed to and attend to your speech, as defined in chapter 10).

Let’s explore four qualities of the presentation outline: It maintains visual cues from the preparation outline; it is brief, though some elements are written out; and it should include delivery notes. To see each of these qualities in use, there is a sample presentation outline in Appendix C.

Maintain Visual Cues from the Preparation Outline

Recall that in chapter 15, we talked about your preparation outline, or the draft you write as you plan and organize your speech. We instructed you to adopt specific outlining principles for that outline and to include labels for such key components as the introduction, conclusion, transitions, and thesis.

The presentation outline keeps these visual cues and labels. Specifically, it visually shows the structure of your speech by retaining the outlining symbols and indentations. That way, you can quickly glance at the page, locate your place in the speech, and find the information you are looking for. The visual structure can also provide a brief reminder of where you are going next. If you don’t maintain symbols and indentation, you are forced to read through dense text or a full paragraph to find the section you are looking for.

Strive for Brevity

The presentation outline replaces full sentences with keywords or phrases that jog your memory about your points or information, as box 19.1 demonstrates. That means you find your specific wording or expression in the moment. The keywords are simply there to prompt the ideas so you can choose your wording as you go. Consequently, your wording will change slightly each time you deliver your speech using your presentation outline.

Choosing brevity prevents you from reading your speech and encourages you instead to connect with your audience. Otherwise, if you write too much down, the temptation to read can be overwhelming, especially when you feel nervous.

Write Out Minimal Elements

Even in a presentation outline, you will still want to fully write out a few elements of the speech. These include your thesis, quotations, and spoken citations because accuracy is particularly important for each. In the sample presentation outline in Appendix C, you will notice several occasions where these elements are written out. Just keep to a minimum the speech elements you fully write out or, again, you will likely end up reading your speech.

Include Delivery Notes

As you practice your speech, you may receive feedback that you consistently mumble a phrase or you tend to read quotations too quickly for an audience to follow. You may find you have trouble pronouncing a word or you leave out one subpoint repeatedly. All this information is useful as you write your presentation outline.

You can include delivery notes to help yourself through problem spots. Highlight the point you tend to skip. Write out the difficult word phonetically. Remind yourself to “slow down here!” or “pause” in places where those elements of delivery will help your audience absorb the full impact of your words. Again, you can find examples of this in the sample presentation outline in Appendix C.

If you observe the four qualities of a presentation outline, you will more likely succeed in delivering your speech extemporaneously. A presentation outline might even help you with other types of deliveries. You could use it in case your memory goes blank while delivering a memorized speech or to jot down some ideas a few seconds or minutes before delivering an impromptu speech. If delivering a manuscript speech, however, you should approach your speech text differently.

Preparing a Manuscript for a Manuscript Delivery

A manuscript delivery requires a manuscript—a fully written-out version of your speech. Unlike a presentation outline, a manuscript typically looks more like an essay. Thus, it will likely include paragraphs rather than indentations, outlining symbols, or labels.

A manuscript delivery may seem rather easy. Just read your text. However, you still need to achieve the three goals of an effective speech delivery established in chapter 17: engage the direct audience, enhance your ideas, and strengthen your credibility. If you don’t adequately prepare your manuscript, simply reading your speech is more likely to bore your audience, distract from your ideas, and harm your credibility.

How, then, can you prepare a manuscript for an effective delivery? We recommend you alter your manuscript in the following ways to aid your success (and as demonstrated in box 19.2):

• Double-space the typed text and use a larger font (16, 18, or 20 point) so you can find your place more easily when you look down.
• Use such visual cues as underlining, bolding, or highlighting keywords or sentences to help draw your attention to them. Such cues enable you to maintain some eye contact with the audience while reducing the risk of losing your place.
• Include prompts or reminders in the manuscript to enhance your vocal and nonverbal delivery, such as your pronunciation, tone, volume adjustments, and pauses.

Choose the Medium for Your Presentation Outline or Manuscript

With the evolution of technology, it is hard to recommend one preferred medium or means of communication. Should you print your presentation outline or manuscript onto paper or note cards? Or should you read or glance at them from a tablet, phone, or laptop?

To decide, learn as much about your speaking situation as possible:

• Will you have a podium? If so, note cards can rest easily and rather noiselessly there.
• Will it be a windy, outdoor setting? Perhaps a tablet or paper printout is better.
• Will you speak from a seated position, such as at a conference? Then speaking from a laptop might be ideal.

In general, we recommend against using your phone for speaking notes, since the screen size is harder to read and can fit less text, prompting you to continually look at your phone and scroll down.

In addition to the speaking situation, consider what you find most reliable and comfortable. Perhaps you prefer note cards for a presentation outline because their size forces you to include brief notes. Maybe you like speaking from sheets of paper (especially tucked inside a professional-looking folder) so you don’t have to change pages as often. Some speakers like the convenience of a digital tablet so they never worry about getting their note cards mixed up or losing a page. Whatever medium you choose, it is important to practice using your notes or manuscript.

Practice with Your Chosen Notes and Medium

It is hard to exaggerate the importance of practice, especially when sharpening your delivery. Practice with the medium you have chosen for your notes or manuscript. The experience of speaking from your laptop can be very different from printed pages you hold. Practicing ahead of time will help you find the best medium for you.

Also practice with your presentation outline or manuscript. When delivering from your presentation outline, you may discover you need to add words because you are forgetting your points. Perhaps, instead, you need to remove words because you are relying too much on your notes. You might find one section overly confusing and need to rethink it. Similarly, practicing with your manuscript will help you find the easiest font size for you to read from and where you need to add or remove visual cues.

Practicing with your presentation outline or manuscript ahead of your actual speech delivery leaves you time to make necessary adjustments. If you wait until just before your speech to produce your speaking notes or manuscript, you may run into difficulties while delivering it for your audience.