Page 68 - How to Develop A SUPER-POWER MEMORY

It Pays to Remember Speeches, Articles,
Scripts and Anecdotes

The confused and nervous speaker was introduced after dinner.
He approached the microphone and murmured haltingly:
"My f-f-friends, wh-when I arrived here this evening only God
and I knew what I was going to say to you. And now, only God
knows!"

I guess that one of the most embarrassing things that can
happen to a person is to forget a speech while in front of
his audience. Next to forgetting the speech, is the embar-
rassment of faltering along as if you're not sure of what you
have to say. Actually, it seems to me that anyone who is
asked to give a talk on any particular subject, must know
that subject pretty well; otherwise why would he be asked
to talk about it. No; speakers who falter or hesitate during
their speeches, do so, I think, because they have forgotten
the next word—or because they are fearful that they will
forget the next word.
There, in my opinion, lies the problem. If a speech is
memorized word for word, and then a word, here and there,
is forgotten; it surely will not be delivered as it should be.
Why should you have to grope for one particular word?
If you can't think of it; why, use any other word that serves

72