5 Costly Rehearsal Mistakes Speakers Make

My college basketball coach used to always say, “You play like you practice.” I believe it’s the same with speaking. If you take rehearsal seriously,  you’ll have a much greater impact when you are live onstage.

“Rehearse hard and speak easy.” 

If you stay away from these 5 rehearsal mistakes, you will automatically turn yourself into a much more captivating and impactful speaker. Let’s look at the five mistakes.

Mistake # 1: They rehearse in front of a mirror

You want to make rehearsal as realistic as possible because, again, you play like you practice. In your real engagement, will you be looking at yourself in a mirror? No, you will be looking at the audience.

Hence, in your rehearsal, it’s important to look at your imaginary audience and not at a reflection of yourself. Plus, it’s not about you. It’s about them.

Mistake #2:  They always start from the beginning

Here’s what happens to many speakers. Let’s say they have a 30 minute speech. They start rehearsing and, after about 10 minutes, they get interrupted by life. They stop rehearsing. Then, once the interruption is over, they go back to rehearsing but guess what they do? They start over again at the beginning.

Overtime they’ll go over the beginning way more than they’ll go over the middle and the end. As a result, they’ll have what I call a Slope Speech. It starts off on a high and slopes downhill.

Mistake #3: They don’t rehearse the spontaneity

Overtime you will find areas of your speech where you say something and get a specific response from your audience and you can turn that response into a seemingly spontaneous moment.

For example, I often ask the question, “What is the number one barrier standing in the way of most people living their dreams?” I know that eventually I will hear the response, “Procrastination.” By practicing my response to this response, this is how it often goes. 

Click here to listen to the clip 

The first time I responded in that manner truly was spontaneous. However, when I do it now, it is planned. This is a secret you will want to write down and internalize.

“What was unplanned in the past becomes planned for the future.”

Think about that. That’s the way to consistently improve your speech.

Mistake #4: They don’t move 

What many speakers don’t realize is that movement helps with the internalization of their message. For example, if I move to a certain part of the stage to address a character in one of my scenes, that movement helps me know exactly what to say to that character.

When I step out of a scene and approach my audience, that movement reminds me to change my volume and pace as I deliver the point. Movement helps your memory. There’s something to be said for muscle memory helping message memory.

Mistake #5: They always rehearse out loud

Some of my most important rehearsals are with my eyes closed envisioning the entire audience and the environment as I go through my entire speech. This is convenient because I can do it on a plane or in my home.

I believe rehearsing in this manner quickens your connection with your audience because you will already feel at home as soon as you reach the stage. After all, you will have already been there.

Final Thoughts on Rehearsal

When you rehearse as if you are really in front of your audience, those rehearsals will bring your remarkable results. Remember the words of my basketball coach, “You play like you practice.”