The Actor’s Secret to Memorizing Tons of Lines

I aced my Ice Breaker Speech last night. It was my first prepared speech. For a couple of sessions I was participating in the Impromptu speeches. I wanted to challenge myself onto the next level.

I performed the speech with my fellow ToastMasters (TM) in Ubud at Outpost. If anyone is now in Ubud, I urge you to try it out. Bali has TM Clubs in Canggu and Sanur.

People rank public speaking as their number one fear.

Death comes at number five.

In a TM session there are three speakers who perform their prepared speeches. Then the impromptu speeches for guests. I’m also new to it so I’m not sure if other clubs have other programs.

I was the first speech for the night. Once they called me up, my mind shut down. I was on flow. The next thing I knew, people were clapping. I survived.

It was a wonderful experience.

I heard John, the acting president of the club, says at the back.

“This is his first time. Can you believe it? Awesome!”

This is why I love ToastMaster — positive vibes and people are nurturing. It was a safe haven to perform in public and learn from my mistakes.

I do have an advantage over a complete beginner. I used to do acting and I’ve done countless of scene studies. I am not a stranger from performing.

The difference with public speaking and acting is that I have no partner to work with. I’m not obligated to rehearse with anyone. It did help that my wife is into public speaking. She is 100x better than me in this craft. She has hosted big events back in her corporate days. We helped each another develop material and rehearse.

In ToastMaster and Dale Carnegie’s public speaking classes, they discourage memorizing speeches. It breaks the impromptu feel to it and that it’s a crutch. Students are encouraged to be spontaneous.

I didn’t set out to perform a memorized speech. I just happened to memorize it with my method.

It’s the actor in me that made it happen.

I am that kind of actor — I hate improvisation. I have been with all kinds of actors, I would tell you that most of them hate rehearsing. I was with TV and film actors, I’m sure theatre people will be different. Film actors have this theory that if they rehearse, it will ruin the spontaneity. Most of them believe the one-take magic.

To each, his own. If that works for you then stop reading now. There are people who can improvise their way into a speech and into an acting scene. How I wish I had that skill.

But no, I have to deal with my weakness.

If you’re still reading, here’s my secret to memorizing my lines. To a point where they think I’m improvising.

And the secret is…

Wait, let me give you a backstory.

When I was a teenager, I gravitated towards hip hop and rap. My parents were into music so we had speakers all around our house, even in our bathroom. I remember getting addicted to Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony. I was captivated with their music. It as if they were spouting poetry. It made me feel like an OG. That’s Original Gangster for those who aren’t familiar.

Think of me as that little Asian nerdy kid with glasses and braces rapping. In retrospect, what a weird and funny combination.

I wanted to perform like them. I remember visiting the nearest computer shop to print out music lyrics. We didn’t have desktop and printers at home back then.

I would read the lyrics like I was preparing for an exam. I would listen to a song while reading the lyrics sheet. After I get a feel for it, I then start performing it together with reading and listening. It comes to a point where I don’t need the lyrics sheet.

As a test, I perform it without the music.

There you go. That’s my secret to memorizing lines. It came from my love for rap music.

This is what you do:

Record your speech or scene and listen to it for hours on end. I would suggest reading while listening. Once you get a bit confident, remove the script and try following the recording. Eventually you will be able to pre empt the speech. Lastly, perform with no script and no recording.

It’s easy to create an audio recording now. The iPhone has a built in voice recording app. I use that. If it’s an acting scene I get my sister to read other parts for it. Nothing complicated about it. With a speech you’re good on your own.

When recording, perform the speech or scene as bland as you can. Don’t put in pre conceived renditions. Make it as boring as you can. This is for you to experiment with the delivery whilst listening.

I’ve been recommending this to fellow actors for years but no one has taken my advice. What I see most of them do is the written method. They write it down on paper over and over again. The problem with this method is that you don’t say your lines out loud.

The difference with making a recording is you get to hear it. It gets into your subconscious. It’s also easier to rehearse because you don’t have to force yourself.

I listen to it when I’m doing mundane activities — driving, walking, exercise or showering. You put that audio track on loop.

I perform 5 minute scenes back in acting school. I used to have a two hour commute from my home to the studio, so I get to rehearse my scene 24 times. That’s more than enough to know my lines. I even get to memorize my partner’s lines.

I can’t tell you how surprised they are when I help them with their lines.

A big mistake beginning actors make is that they know their lines but not their partner’s. This is where listening becomes an integral part in acting. It’s as important as speaking.

This is the same in public speaking, you also need to hear yourself. This makes it easier to grasp the next line. You need to hear yourself talk and the recording method helps you with this.

After doing this method, I find it easier to improvise in a scene. Last night I was able to improvise a little with my speech.

I see improvisation as an after effect of good preparation. I don’t see it as a starting point.

I have a recording of my speech, if anyone wants to see it let me know. It’s far from perfect and I have more to learn. A performance is not about memorizing your lines, but that’s a huge head start. The other nuances can follow once you’re not struggling with the lines. I can discuss this in later articles.

Gary Vaynerchuk is a good public speaker. I have seen countless speeches from the guy. At first glance I would think that he’s improvising but now that I analyze it, he’s been doing this for years. All those youtube shows, vlogging and podcasting are his training ground for rehearsals.

The story is all the same, he scaled his dad’s liquor store by producing this Wine Library TV show on YouTube. He keeps repeating this narrative until it becomes second nature to tell the story.

Watch your favourite public speakers. Observe how they repeat these narratives with their writing, podcasts and videos.

Countless hours of rehearsal will get us to a point where they’d think we’re improvising.

The next time you need to speak in public or talk in your YouTube video think of this method. Don’t half ass it.

Recommend a speech in the comments section. Let’s watch our favorite speakers and learn from them.

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