The good news is this. If you’ve followed the steps of preparation there is absolutely no need for you to learn what you plan to say.
Remember the Post-it notes and how you concisely summed up your main subjects? Your presentation content on-screen is giving you the same – key words and images to prompt you into the next step of your persuasion.
Remember the coffee machine talks you’ve had about the subject? Those chats arm you with a series of standard phrases and sentences that are ready to come out.
And remember how much (or rather, how little) verbal content the audience will retain? What matters is getting your message across with confidence and prompting them to look for the details later.
Nevertheless, you do need some solid leaning posts across the presentation.
Think about those five things you certainly want them to go away with and remember at the end of your talk. It is worth having a couple of sentences that you know you will definitely say on those subjects. The best way to develop your phrases is through discussing the topic with others in advance of the presentation.
And there is one very important exception to this rule, which we’ll come to in the next chapter.
“I’m not afraid of storms, for I am learning to sail my ship.”
Aeschylus (playwright)