A natural question during your script preparation process is, "How is this going to come across to the audience?"
A crucial part of the answer will come from hearing your speech read aloud -- from top to bottom. That's how the audience is going to receive it. If it's not working as spoken communication, it's not working.
When you hear your script read aloud, you become a member of the audience. You get what they're going to get.
Too often, this reading aloud step happens late in the process – such as the dress rehearsal the day before the actual speech. That's a mistake. You need to start hearing your content early on, in the preliminary drafts, when you still have time to fix problems.
Have someone else read your script into a recorder. Then listen to it later. Don't read it yourself. Nearly everyone is surprised and distracted by the results. "That doesn't sound like me," is a pretty common reaction -- formed against all reason.
Another "put yourself in the audience" tool is text-to-speech software. Copy your script into the program and, voila, it speaks your words. Add a text-to-speech plug-in like AT&T Natural Voices for more realistic results.
Every day, you read thousands of words -- in business communications, newspapers, books, and on the Web. They're written for the eye -- and that's the way you receive them.
A speech is a completely different animal. It needs to be written for the ears of your audience. Different channel, different rules.
Hearing your speech read aloud turns on a different part of your brain. It's the one your audience will be using when they listen to you.
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