Get a thorough understanding of the most important information in your speech by writing your speech in outline form before writing out in its full, complete form. An outline will touch on all the major parts of your speech, thereby making it easier for you to divide your speech into manageable parts later on.


Your outline should include all major ideas and all major supporting ideas. If you have any special examples or analogies you want to use withing your speech, this also warrants a bullet point.;
, To cement the speech in your head, you need to write it out in its complete form. This includes the introduction, body, and conclusion of the speech.


You should write out the entire speech even if you do not plan on memorizing it verbatim.
 Before using any memorization techniques, you need to speak and hear the speech so that more of your senses are engaged in the memorization practice.


If at all possible, try to read the speech in the place you will deliver it. The acoustics of every room and setting vary somewhat, so reading your speech in the actual delivery location can help you get accustomed to the way your voice will sound from that spot. Additionally, it helps you get comfortable with the layout of the room, making it possible for you to rehearse your movements as well as your words.
 Most of your speech will not need to be memorized word-for-word. As a rule of thumb, though, you should at least consider memorizing your introduction and conclusion word-for-word, or as close to it as possible, while aiming to memorize the key ideas and details of your body without memorizing the body material exactly.


Memorizing the introduction can be a good idea because knowing precisely what to say at the beginning of a speech can help calm you down and ease you into the setting. Memorizing the conclusion is also helpful because it prevents you from accidentally falling into a concluding loop, in which you continually repeat information as you try to close.
Memorizing the full body of the speech verbatim is generally not recommended, however, because a memorized speech can sound stiff and unnatural.
 Regardless of which memorization tactics you use and how effective they are, the most valuable thing you can do for yourself is to practice the speech as often as possible. It's even better if you practice the speech out loud, rather than only trying to recall it in your mind.


For the first couple of practices, you can practice by reading the speech from your notebook or note cards. After the first two to four practices, though, you should start practicing your speech from memory as best as possible. You can refer to your notes when you get stuck, but deliver as much as possible without your notes.
Try to practice your speech from memory for at least half of your practices, if not more.
 Each main idea or major supporting detail should be granted its own part. In other words, if the information was written as a bullet point in your outline, it gets its own part.


If you did not write an outline or do not like the way your information is organized into bullet points on the outline, you could opt to divide your speech by paragraph instead of by bullet point. The idea is mostly to assign one major idea to each part.
 Create a mental image for each part. The more absurd and unique the image is, the easier it will be to recall it later.


For instance, if your speech is about various healthy and beauty uses for organic food products, and a part of your speech mentions that coconut oil can help hair grow faster, you could imagine something like Rapunzel sitting on top of a tower made of coconuts or living in a room filled with coconuts. Rapunzel emphasizes the idea of long hair, while the coconuts help point out the connection to coconut oil. The elements are normal enough but absurd when combined, making it easier to recall them.
 In your speech, you need to weave the mental images together. The easiest way to do this is to visualize yourself traveling along various locations, observing the pictures in order.


The location can be near or far; the choice is up to you. Ultimately, though, you should be able to navigate it well enough in your mind to find your way to your various visuals.
You could choose something as simple as a forest if many of your visualizations seem to belong outside.
Alternatively, you could also use the human body as a map. The images can be “tattooed” onto the body in your mind, and as you travel along the body, you will hit the images in order more naturally.
 With the locations and visualizations set, you need to begin practicing your speech by relying on these visuals for guidance. As you practice, actually imagine yourself traveling from location to location, viewing each image in the order that its corresponding bullet point falls within your speech.


You need to have firm links connecting one visualization to the next. If not, you might forget the order your information is supposed to land in.
In the example with Rapunzel and the coconuts, you could connect that visual to the one before it by ending with the imagined you having your hair ruined, leading the imagined you to seek advice from someone with long, strong hair.
 For small speeches or sections of a speech you want to memorize word-for-word, use the chunking method. Divide the speech into short, manageable chunks that are between two and three sentences long.Take the time to actually mark off each section or chunk of information in your written notes. This can make it easier for you to recall when one part ended and when the next part picks up as you practice, making it harder for you to accidentally forget or leave any parts out.
 Practice reciting the first chunk of information out loud, repeating it until you can recall it completely without referring to your notes.


If you get stuck, do not immediately return to your notes. Start from the beginning and try to say the chunk again. If this fails, spend a few more moments trying to recall the missing information. When you decide that nothing can help you remember it, return to your notes and briefly look up what the missing part consisted of.
When you finish memorizing a chunk of your speech, read through it again to verify that you have it correct.
 Once you finish recalling the first chunk successfully, add the second chunk to it, repeating both until the second chunk can be recited from memory, as well. Continue on in this manner until the entire speech or speech section can be recalled without the use of notes.


It is important that you continue repeating previously memorize chunks so that you do not forget them. Moreover, repeating all chunks of your speech together will help you to memorize how each chunk fits together with the rest.
 Continue practicing your speech out loud. If you have trouble remembering a certain chunk, isolate it and focus on recalling it from memory before trying to weave it back into the speech as a whole.
 While writing and speaking your speech are the two most important practices involved in memorizing the speech, recording the speech and playing it back for yourself can also help.


Use this recording to listen to your speech when you do not have the chance to practice it out loud. You can play it for yourself in the car or play it as you fall asleep, for example.
 Mental images are often the strongest sense to rely on for memory, but these other senses can still help significantly.


For instance, if you say that a certain historical event really made a bang or made a splash, you can imagine the sound of a loud bang or the sound and feeling of something heavy dropping into water.
 If you have a list that you need to recall verbatim, you can use a mnemonic device known as an acronym to recall the items on that list. An acronym uses the first letter of each item in the list to create a sentence or word, which can then be used to recall those first letters.


For example, you can use the acronym HOMES to recall the names of the Great Lakes in the U.S.: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior

, Consider weaving analogies and stories into your speech to illustrate various concepts and ideas. A concrete example can make information easier to recall, and concrete examples can also engage the audience better.


For example, if you deliver a speech about various mental disorders and you know someone in your family or from your past who suffers from a disorder covered in your speech, you can tell a story about that person that illustrates what it is like to suffer from that disorder.
 By incorporating physical actions into your speech delivery, you can help yourself memorize important parts of your speech while also engaging your audience more effectively.


If speaking about a political issue in the United States, you could raise your left hand when talking about what the political left believes and your right hand when talking about what the political right believes.
Write an outline.
Write the entire speech out.
Read the speech out loud.
Know which parts to memorize fully and which to memorize in part.
Practice, practice, practice.
Divide the speech into logical parts.Refer to your outline, if you have one.
Form a picture for each part.
Set locations.
Link the visuals together.
Split the speech into chunks.
Practice one chunk until you can recall it.
Gradually add more chunks to your recall.
Repeat.
Record the speech, if possible.
Engage your other senses.If certain keywords bring to mind particular sounds, smells, tastes, or touches, weave those imagined sensations into the visualization process or recall of your speech.
Create an acronym.
Turn complex data into concrete examples.
Act it out.
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